The Spider King
Brutality of Microsoft, Wine, Heavy Metal and Pets.
I have a confession to make. I am an office supply junkie. It started when I was a mere pup. I loved the beginning of the school year with the laundry list of items my parents needed to purchase for me in hand as we headed to the store to buy pencils, pens, paper, Kleenex, scissors (left-handed mind you). It was toolbox of school supplies that I would cherish. What was even better is that my youth saw the introduction of new school supplies and the epic Trapper Keeper.
To this day, I still make a stop down the office supply aisle perusing folders, spiral notebooks and the latest accessories. You can imagine how my wife, a born accountant, upon finding “perfectly good” pens in the trash rolling her eyes as I tell her “but those didn’t write very well”. Yes, I am one of those people who are very picky about the pen I use (surprisingly, I am not one of those folks who buy $1,000 pens with specialized mechanisms inside it, I love the simple Bic). I get giddy when I approach a Staples or Office Depot.
If you are like me, then I want to show you what I have been turned on to. Field Notes.
I love the simplicity and functionality of Field Notes. They were “inspired by the vanishing subgenre of agricultural memo books, ornate pocket ledgers and the simple unassuming beauty of a well-crafted grocery list…”. You can decide between graph, ruled or plain paper. At their online store you can also order pens and pencils.
I have been through tons of journals and what I like is the size (fits in the pocket of my jackets) and its durability. I am one of those types that when it gets worn or bent, I tend to want to replace it. Even though I have been dragging mine around for a while, I haven’t noticed any deterioration and it seems to do well with the oil on my hands by not having “smudges”. My current one has graph paper which I like and it really picks up the ink of my pen with no smudges.
It is great for notes, sketches, lists, project management and more. The stitching/stapling holds up as well. The only downside is that as I chronicle my life in these, there is not a binding to write on, but it is a minor inconvenience.
I am definitely stoked about Field Notes. Do you have Field Notes? What do you use yours for? Please leave a comment, it would be great to hear about your experience. You can also check them out on Twitter. You can also follow my random musings on Twitter too.
The Devil’s Field Guide to MIX09
In: MIX| MIX Online| Microsoft
9 Mar 2009
Well, we are on the precipice of another great MIX09 conference. It seems like MIX08 was just a few months ago. You are probably hitting the conference site for the latest information on what is going to happen at MIX09. But you are probably not getting the scoop on what you need to know. I will give you some guidance on what the site won’t necessarily tell you. If you are sensitive and delicate, then I recommend you don’t read any further.
Follow the MIX Core team and #MIX09. There are hundreds of people behind the scenes at MIX09, but there is a group that has been meeting every week and working overtime to make sure everything runs smooth. These folks are basically at ground zero for everything that happens. I am fortunate enough to be on this team again this year (somehow I have been on it every year since MIX started and they haven’t thrown me out yet!). For some reason, we love Twitter. We all watch it incessantly before, during and after the event. We tend to push out news, parties and happenings at the event, but it is not one-way. We are also responding to your feedback, concerns, and issues. If something new is breaking, more than likely one of the core team is Twittering it. The event Twitter account is: http://twitter.com/mix09 and make sure that if you are tweeting about MIX that you use hashtag #MIX09. Here are some of the team you want to follow: jritz, anyware, amyrc, adkinn, denisebegley, and if you want to be dangerous, tommylee (me). I will add more as folks want to be added.
Don’t mess with security. I know, you are big on the Internet. You’re the CEO of a big startup? That’s great…but here is a rule you want to obey: DON’T MESS WITH SECURITY AT MIX09. You need to realize that security at the Venetian in Las Vegas is not your typical security guard. These folks deal with gangsters, thieves, cheats, and low-lifes that you never have been exposed to. They have one goal and that is to keep out anyone who doesn’t have an appropriate badge. They don’t give a rat’s ass who you “think” you are. Even being on the core team and a Microsoft employee, they won’t let me go anywhere I don’t have a badge for. Guess what? When you complain on Twitter or to someone at the event about security, I will probably volunteer to come out and talk to you about it. 99% of the time, I am siding with security. So let me make it clear: Don’t be a douchebag and mess with security (but do say hi to them, they have the most AWESOME stories).
MIX is an event and a community. Once the conference is over, you probably think that is it, but no, there is a MIX community site called MIX Online at www.visitmix.com. My team runs this site. It is a great site for web developers and designers. Every 2 months, we post an issue on a topic (past topics include Microformats, Web Standards, and Data Visualization) which includes articles and a prototype you can use (free, open source). Yes, actual bits. We will also be talking about some of our prototypes and website at MIX09. Be sure to subscribe at the site or the Twitter feed. This is a way that you can have your MIX fix all throughout the year!
MIX Online
Don’t wear a kilt during the day. Don’t be that guy. At night, at the party, it’s all good. During the day? Well, you are “that guy”. (Disclaimer: I like the kilt, it is very Viking.)
Go A.D.D. with the Mini-sessions. This year we are trying something new called mini-sessions. These are much smaller in duration (20 minutes). This is content boiled down to its essence. You won’t get a lot of droning on about some incoherent API, you will get it Red-Bulled right into your head. Also, you can stay in the same room to hear 3 in a row. These sessions are the ones I am going to be hitting up.
Save money by going old-school. As you know, times are tight. You need to find values in Vegas. I recommend taking a bus downtown to some of the old-school casinos. I have a hiding place where the shrimp cocktail is as big as your head (disclaimer: slight exaggeration) for a couple bucks. The slots and tables are cheap to buy in and it will remind you of the days of yore, instead of the fancy $25 dollar minimum tables you will find up the street. You also will more than likely sit next to old people, and old people are totally cool and have awesome stories about Vegas!
Check out last year’s Field Guide. Many of the things I said last year still apply, so go check it out.
If you want to keep up with me at the event, follow me on Twitter.
Scary Version of Me
See you at MIX09!
- (7) Comments
- Tags: Field Guide, Microsoft, MIX, MIX Online, MIX09
FWA Site of the Year Announced
In: Uncategorized
15 Jan 2009I have been a big fan of The FWA. That is why I was totally stoked when they asked me to be one of the judges for the FWA Site of the Year Award for 2008. I can tell you that it was not an easy job, there have been some amazing sites at The FWA. This year’s winner was The Eco Zoo. Not only is it visually pleasing, but has an education element to it. I found myself immersed in the experience and wanting more.
I also recommend you check out the people’s choice winner, Hotel 626. Being a huge fan of horror, I really dig it.
Attacking the Cockroach of Work, E-mail
3 Jan 2009
From the title of this post, you can guess how I feel about e-mail. I didn’t always feel this way. Back in the day, I used to look forward to looking at my e-mail. It was a modest 15-20 e-mails a day and just about every one of them brought some kind of goodness. It could be a newsletter, plans to go out with a friend, news about the company or a link to something good on what was called the World Wide Web.
It changed once I started receiving a volume that I could not control and it wasn’t as fun as it used to be because now IT WAS WORK! I unfortunately spend 80% of my non-meeting time (Meetings? Oh boy, I will save that for another post) answering & sending e-mail. I wish I could be like some folks where I have anywhere from 264 to 3270 e-mails in my Inbox and it not bother me. Also, I am not one of those folks who can just disregard e-mails especially if I am on the To: line.
Deep down, I really do like e-mail and blessed that I get paid to do it. So although I may fuss about it, I am happy with the burden.
Now let’s get to the point of this post. I have been on vacation for 2 weeks and have not opened “work” e-mail once. Believe me, I definitely struggled and appreciate everyone on Twitter who gave me support. Now when I get back in the office on Monday, my Inbox will be full. Typically about 1,500 e-mails will be waiting. The good news is that I am aggressive about filters in Outlook/Exchange so those e-mails that I know for a fact that I don’t need to answer or review right away will get filed in folders which will probably leave the Inbox with approximately 500-600 e-mails.
Here is how I will attack the Inbox. I will come in at 7am and begin the following:
- Open Outlook, turn off my Out of Office and take a deep breath.
- Change to conversation view.
- Get rid of the easily identifiable cruft (Social network notifications, random server messages, spam, etc.).
- Look for meeting requests (never fails that someone wants to meet at 8am the day you get back) and accept/postpone them.
- Run a Thread Compressor utility that compresses conversations.
- Ok, at this point, about a 1/3 of the e-mail is processed.
- Look for high priority e-mails that are still relevant and respond. If the priority is not high anymore, I can probably delete the thread it created.
- Look for e-mails from our community (visitmix.com!). Address the high priority items and leave the rest to address later.
- Look for e-mails from my own team (These are color-coded teal). Address the high priority items and leave the rest to address later.
- Look for e-mails from my boss (These are color-coded red). Address the high priority items and leave the rest to address later.
- Look for e-mails directly written to me (These are color-coded blue). Address the high priority items and leave the rest to address later.
- Attack the long, multi-mail, multi-opinioned threads. If I am not asked directly or I don’t need to clear up miscommunication, I will delete or archive.
- At this point, I will go through what is left (probably a 1/3 of what I started out with) and go through them synchronously.
That is the strategy that seems to work well for me. Since I have been gone for quite a while, I will delete/archive most e-mail where I was not specifically asked for feedback. For shorter durations, I would not be so strict.
I have heard of folks who open their e-mail and delete every message and assume that if it is important, someone will follow-up with them or they can always ask to be re-sent the mail. But I assume those folks are hanging out with unicorns and the yetis.
So, how do you handle post-vacation e-mail?
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- Tags: E-mail
Microsoft and Web Standards? You must be kidding.
In: MIX Online| Microsoft| Standards Web
8 Dec 2008
As you know, my team runs the community site MIX Online. Our latest issue came out and our theme is Web Standards. Now you may be shocked by that. Traditionally, Web Standards has been treated as dogma and zealotry. If you did not adhere to them strictly, you were banished as a heretic. I always had a different perspective since I read Jeffrey Zeldman’s “Designing With Web Standards”. Instead of telling everyone how they were doing it all wrong, he laid out a cohesive argument about the business value of Web Standards.
So in this issue, we have Molly Holzschlag who writes a great article on the business value of Web Standards. Another article is written by our own Nishant Kothary on how to design a website end-to-end using MIX Online as the example. I love how he not only is comprehensive, but you get to see sketches, wireframes and even designs that did not make it.
We also released a new prototype in this issue, Oxite.
Oxite is an open source, standards compliant, and highly extensible content management platform that can run anything from blogs to big web sites.
Oxite is the CMS that MIX Online runs on. It allows us to be standards-compliant (try our homepage and you should notice that it is XHTML Strict) and takes advantage of key technologies such as ASP.NET MVC. It is open source so you can use it however you like as well as contribute code to the project.
I am very excited we got this out, so go check it out!
- (6) Comments
- Tags: MIX Online, Oxite, Web Standards
About this blog
This is the blog of Thomas Lewis. I am a Director in Platform Evangelism at Microsoft. My team is responsible for the MIX Online community at visitmix.com. Although I work for Microsoft, this is my personal blog. So if you stick around, you will occasionally have to view pictures of my pets, listen to heavy metal clips, and read about my wine choices. Enjoy!
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- Thomas Lewis: Hi Freddie, what you are experiencing happens to a lot of folks who like Technical Evangelism. It is [...]
- Freddie Beasley: Amazing I identify with everything here, I do this on a regular basis without getting paid good to k [...]
- tobias: looking forward to meeting folks there! Also have some very cool OneRiot/IE8 stuff to demo :) feel f [...]
- Ian Muir: I would add one more. Make time to play some Xbox in the pit. While it's tempting to make sure every [...]
- Mike Swanson's Blog : Getting Ready for MIX09: [...] colleague, compatriot, Mastodon-worshipper, and MIX Online curator, Thomas Lewis, has written [...]
- Confession of an Office Supply Junkie and Field Notes
- The Devil’s Field Guide to MIX09
- FWA Site of the Year Announced
- Attacking the Cockroach of Work, E-mail
- Microsoft and Web Standards? You must be kidding.
- Announcing the new MIX Online
- The Devil’s Field Guide to the PDC
- A Website Named Desire
- Visualizing My Blog With Wordle
- In Hell, A Week with a Kidney Stone