Green Label Design

In case you didn’t know, this week is beer week in Philadelphia, I’ve been trying to enjoy some of it, though I’ve cut down my beer consumption quite a bit in the recent months. There’s lots of great stuff going on, including a Monday night with Flying Dog brewery at the P.O.P.E, which I ventured out to. Pretty cool place, nice neighborhood bar, great beer selection. For this special event, they were playing a Hunter S Thompson documentary, and of course all the Flying Dog brews were available. I happen to be reading a Ralph Steadman book right now, so I had to go.  It also inspired me to pick up a Flying Dog variety pack (along with a shiney new beer fridge) for a UX team brainstorm I scheduled for tomorow…who doesn’t love brainstorming with a tasty beverage?

Tomorow night, it’s to the Caribou Cafe for some french food, paired with some select Biere de Guard. Should be awesome!

Well, it’s been a while since I’ve posted anything, so I figured I was due for an update. A lot has happened in the past 3 months….among other things - I’ve settled into a new fulltime gig with Avenue A | Razorfish as a senior experience architect, which is going well. I’m learning a ton, and I’m getting exposed to some great people and projects - including re-architecting a new philly.com website.

I took a weeklong vacation to Roatan, Honduras to do some diving. Roatan was awesome - the diving was incredible and I logged another 18 dives. The island of Roatan is beautiful, with great people, and much to do for someone who prefers to avoid the typical tourist destinations.

In contrast to diving in the tropics, I also finally tried skiing for the first time in my life, and a good time was had. After falling on my face a few times, and taking a lesson, I started to get the hang of it, and enjoyed it. Hopefully I get to go once or twice more before the season is up and hone my skills a bit.

So, I finally broke down and purchased an iPhone. Guess I’m kind of late to the bandwagon, as most anyone who is hip to web design probably has one these days, but I’m the kind of person who usually waits until some of the bugs are worked out of these kinds of things before I jump in. But, after messing with some of my friends’ iPhones, and seeing how cool they were, and the imminent fact that my 2+ year old Razr was soon going to take a dump, I decided I had to have one.

All I can really say about this thing is that it is awesome. All the hype is well deserved. Back around 2001 I had a Palm IIIc, and while I thought it was pretty cool, overall it didn’t serve much use for me. The iPhone, I can see that I will probably use every day. The interface is so intuitive, that I was really able to fluently use it in minutes. Live the gestural zoom in and out functionality. If you’ve used a laptop touch pad, this will be second nature. Apple has stayed true to their less-is-more design philosophy, in the tradition of the ipod. The fact that it can link up to a wifi connection is awesome too, I can see myself sitting on the couch with it, browsing the web, instead of using my laptop. Despite the fact that the screen is a bit smaller than a business card, it is so sharp that I can read text on a website that is sized to fit within those dimensions. I’m looking forward to messing with and actually using this thing.

Though not really a follow up post to my first “The Last Dive” entry, I aptly named this post referring to a book I just finished called The Last Dive. Bernie Chowdhurry’s true story based on father and son divers who lost their lives diving the wreckage of an unkown submarine off the coast of New Jersey. Interesting in many ways, and a very popular book within the diving community. Especially interesting to me is the proximity the places they frequented - Dutch Springs, Underwater World dive shop, Quakertown, etc. as I’ve been to these places myself, some on a regular basis. Overall, a great read for anyone, especially a diver. I learned a lot of the history of diving, as well as some decompression theory, and the many facets, and inherent risks of technical diving, which I have not yet ventured into. But, it is a real story, and somewhat of a memoir in my opinion, gonzo storytelling perhaps, and a story of the Rouses, who lost their lives diving. I’ve certainly come away with a new appreciation for how dangerous diving can be, and that will probably help me to be more aware, and take more precautions to have a safe dive when I am out there.

Of the 2007 season that is….most likely

Went to Dutch Springs on Sunday for a day of diving, and added 2 more dives to the log book. More importantly, I got a chance to try out my new camera (the little Olympus FE-280) and underwater housing, there’s a few photos here. I’m pretty happy with the way they came out, considering I don’t have an external strobe. Everything is a little blue looking, but I got to at least document the fun.