Testing after tweaks

Just finished unboxing some book goodness from Amazon. Yes that’s right. A combined 607 pages of pure information architecture goodness.

Communicating Design by Dan Brown arrived today with great anticipation. If you’re a practicing IA or just getting started, this goodie has some great material that you’ll find yourself referring back to time and time again. I’ve cracked it open several times today, just to show people the goodness.

Secondly, designing the obvious by Robert Hoekman Jr, was the other goodie packaged along side it. This book is a perfect example of the simple things that are often overlooked and allows us to recognize how quickly things become overcomplicated.

My advice, buy them both. Read them both. Pass them along to your coworkers and practice what they preach. The world will be a better place.

Things are on shaky ground around here, as I’m cleaing up the site a little and making some changes. Stay on the trail and you won’t get too lost.

I’ve noticed my postings have become less and less frequent. A great deal of that has to do with this blog not really having a purpose. One of the most important factors in keeping readers, is having a purpose. Most of my postings have been brief technology updates or observations I’ve made while out and about. No real rhyme or reason to the post, just whatever hits me.

Well, I’m changing things up here and am looking at focusing more on hobbies that I enjoy. You’ve probably guessed what that is by the new theme. I’ll give it some time and we’ll see how the new intentions work out.

Let me know what you think.

Seems that Chicago is the first large city to implement a “living wage” for big retailers. By 2010, large retailers will have to pay workers at least $10 dollars per hour and another $3 dollars in fringe benefits. While I agree that companies like Wal-Mart, who make billions each year can afford this wage, I think it’ll cause a lot more retailers to think twice about opening large retail chains within city limits.

While many of these retailers will simply move their locations to the suburbs, I want to see how many actually stick it out in the city and pay the wages. How will these added costs be passed along to the us, the consumer? Only time will tell, but I can bet the profits of these companies won’t change much as a result.

What’s your opinion on the “living wage”?