No, you cannot use your computer to plan out this sketch.  Unless of course again the rule stretches to fit you.  Can you throw around a few Smart Guides in Photoshop or (guides in) The GIMP and quickly achieve the desired box layout?  Can you then immediately throw a few organic compounds into place so your layout starts to flesh out?  Can you then immediately match color schemes to the different components of the layouts?

If you can, the rule does not apply.  If you cannot, then please, understand one thing…

The design process MUST start with paper.

Whether designing an application’s layout or GUI; defining the different components of a Web template; redesigning a company brochure; or creating a flyer for your favorite non-profit or church starting out on paper is a must.

One final tip (as if you could not guess) is if you begin the actual finalization of your layout by taking it from paper to its medium (computer, print, audio, whatever…) and you encounter problems or additional layout concerns then head immediately back to paper.

Going through this process is as much a learning experience as it is developing a work flow that suits your behaviors.

The function is most assuredly the easy part — well, in most cases the functionality is the simplest part to think of — at least for me it is.

My problem has always been in design, project management, and architectural patterns.  For a long time I considered myself to be a Solutions Developer because I’ve ideas aplenty, but my implementation usually falls short.

This is the primary cause for my absence as I’ve tried to focus more on learning HOW to be a successful programmer rather than more study of programming languages.

I’ve also since abandoned my flawed thinking that “just code something” is a viable option to an aspiring programmer — well, it isn’t.

This may hold true for geniuses or very talented programmers in general but for those who struggle to learn new ideas and concepts, just doing something is not an alternative.

First, assess your weaknesses — mine are that I cannot keep on track due to poor organization. Earl struck on a concept that we may not see ourselves and that is to separate our problems into smaller or more manageable problems.

Ultimately we ourselves have to step back and do a little “weakness assessment.” I think I’m on the road to recovery as a viable software and solutions developer by first admitting that I am weak in the non-functional sense.

For example: http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/

Visit this URL while on a mobile device, or using a mobile browser, or even with spoofed user agent settings and you can see that it immediately asks you the type of connection you are on and whether or not you would like the full user experience or a limited one (for those with obvious broadband deficiencies).

Now, let’s be honest.  No one needs to provide everyone anything.  That is, if I have a commercial site or a site that generates revenue in any fashion — it is simply NOT my responsibility to provide for users that have not enlisted my services.

So for them to be aware of this situation and then develop their site accordingly is a very unique, far too uncommon practice.  I would not be surprised if they had an R&D person or two.

Think about these things when you develop your applications or sites.  After all, giving a bear a taste of honey is not a way to scare him off.

Norazza DVDBR2PRO 4 Drive Blu-Ray Duplicator with 500GB HD

Norazza DVDBR2PRO 4 Drive Blu-Ray Duplicator with 500GB HD

I asked a sales representative about archiving Blu-ray discs and whether or not a standard DVD-ROM could at least “read” the Blu-ray data.  I was not entirely thrilled with the prospect of a $500+ internal Blu-ray drive.

As we carried on a moment about the typo and Blu-ray hardware we came upon the subject of the internal workings of why a DVD-ROM is not forward compatible with Blu-ray.

He said, “Anything is possible with software.  But you’d need a programmer to write that software for you as no such software exists like that.”

I chuckled.

As a side note, hopefully I will have something substantial up (famous last words) in a few days or so.

Often I read a tutorial on JavaScript or some advanced Photoshop tutorial and I am left thinking, “What the hell did I just read?”

I know it can be difficult because you may think, “Who do I ask when I do not understand?” The answer is not at all clear, but you can help yourself in a number of ways.

• IRC – Yep, Internet Relay Chat.  You can search for channels (chat rooms) that contain listings such as “programming,” “javascript,” or even “love” — and find someone, somewhere who is willing to deal with your issues.

  Just make sure you obey the laws of netiquette and you should be fine.  In addition, make sure to obey the laws of the given medium.  If IRC, then how to behave on IRC.  If newsgroups, then how to behave on newsgroups, et cetera.

• School
• Internet
• Socially accepted mediums – Twitter, Facebook, Slashdot, Digg, hell, even MySpace.

Woah, woah… the Internet?  Twitter?

What the hell am I talking about you say?

The thing is, that beyond the scope of the millions and millions of blog users out there — you have the “socially accepted mediums.”

These are the sites, chat rooms, blogs, forums, et cetera where like-minded people share and trade ideas, wisdom, and other semi-useful information.

Twitter for example exclaims, “What are you doing?”  Well, I am currently writing this post.  However, it means what are you doing (for the day)!?  Are you studying?  Skiing?  Flirting?

Does it not make sense to ask others who are doing the same thing as you for their opinion?

Seriously.  Whether it is a StumbleUpon’d site or someone who happens to share a few of the same interests as you, it is always wise to let others know that you value their opinion and have a desire to digest the information that only they (or someone just like them) can provide.

Did the Internet response floor you?  Why!?

How many times a day do you Google information?  How many times a day do you fire up a browser just to look up a reference at Mozilla or Microsoft?  How many times a day do you review DevGuru’s CSS reference?  How often do you visit Programmer’s Heaven?

Um… hello!?  That is the Internet!  Every time you seek information that is not included in a software program’s help resource or visit a “reference” site, you are referring to the Internet.

Trust in it, just do not be led astray by it.  Much like Wikipedia.  I do not give two cents for what others think — Wikipedia is an excellent resource!  However, you need to be smart enough to discern the multitudes of shite from the grade “A” fertilizer.

This has 2 primary benefits, possible others:

1. You learn to properly comment your code.
2. Your code explains itself to other programmers.

And anything that increases your efficiency and aptitude in something you enjoy either as a hobbyist or as a professional can only result in positive learning — the best kind.

Wikipedia’s comparison of documentation generators can be found here. This lists the majority of those I could possibly think to show you, so make sure to research the language you code with.

These tools generate API documentation based on your properly formatted comments.

The ones I keep in mind are:

• JSDoc for JavaScript
• Apydia for Python
• GTK-Doc for C
• phpDocumentor for PHP
• See “best for last” at the bottom of the page for PHP, C#, and Python.

Otherwise, I have not used any others, but I have heard that:

• Doc-O-Matic
• ROBODoc
• TwinText
• Universal Report

Are the most robust.  And the article I provided earlier illustrates that same assumption.

I believe I saved the best for last, and that is Doxygen.  As far as I know, Doxygen can automatically generate well-formatted API documentation for several languages and is by far the most robust*.  If it currently had deep support for JavaScript and/or ASM (assembler or assembly) I would tentatively call it the ultimate and only tool necessary.

* Please let me know if there is a more robust or preferred tool — either by industry or by popularity.

Whether a site is usable or not goes far beyond a site “worked” for you in Browser A.

I visited a blog today that loaded 50+ two- and three-page articles on the main page. So, a word to the wise, well, and to the blog users *wink* &mash; configure your blog or CMS to deliver a specific number of results per page — something like less than ten is ideal. Unless of course your posts are several pages deep, then you might consider an even smaller amount.

This goes equally for archives. Just because I want to see all 1,000+ of your < insert topic > articles, does not mean I want to see them all on one page.

Or perhaps I should be saying that compiled free information should not be bundled as expert advice.

You know, I am not entirely sure what I am trying to say.  I will just note my opinions and what sparked the post.

The awesome Killer Tech Tips site is offering a book by Daniel Scocco called Killer Domains.

I have no clue about the quality or value of the material Daniel covers.  This book could be amazing above all others in its domain (no pun intended).

However, from the brief post about it I was left thinking, “Couldn’t I find most of this information on the Internet?”

• The process of researching domain names — is that not a business or marketing responsibility?
• Keyword research is useless in the choice of domain names as it relates to a business model.
• Prefixes and suffixes — this one in particular gave me the “prey” feeling. Such simplistic information should not be paid for.
• Prefixes — the easiest thing to remember is that ANYTHING dot YOURDOMAIN dot SUFFIX is a sub-domain.  That is right.  Even the WWW.
• Suffix — look up any TLD on Wikipedia or another good search engine.

Granted this was a generalized and compacted subsection of Daniel’s book, but it just seemed extremely lackluster.

Not to mention I have been wanting to gripe about people purchasing information that is generally considered publicly available and free.

What I mean by “Acquiring software should be easier than purchasing it — and vice-versa!” simply means that it should be just as easy to (find and) download software as it should be to purchase said software.

This is usually handled by requesting that a customer register so that all future purchases can be handled effortlessly. Dick Blick handles my orders in this fashion quite lovingly.

However, single-software or single-product sites do not handle it quite so nicely more often than not. This writeup by Jeff Atwood sums it up quite nicely how painful this process can be.

Sadly I have lost another feed link whereby < someone > mentioned a feature of < someone else’s application > that featured a seamless login, registration, and I believe payment process. I will update this post if I find that link.

Anyway, back to my original point. I went in search of AMR conversion software and found “AudioCommander.” The problem came in trying to purchase the software — which to be honest had my eyebrows raised.

Here we see that the purchase page for AudioCommander says “AutoCommander” and the link is for the Blaze Media Pro website. They do clarify a bit by having a mailing address for sending payments on the same page. Who do we make the payment out to — Mystik Media.  < confused stare follows >

It is not that big of a deal, but why so many names? So many different entities? These are all things that should be transparent to the end-user. I do not need to know that I am purchasing software through Vendor A, from Retailer B, who purchased in bulk from Manufacturer C, who is ran by Company D, but owned by Conglomerate E.

It made me think twice about my purchase and that is NOT something you want to do to your end-users. You want them thinking that if they leave this site, your software, behind, that the reason that drug them there in the first place will not only not be solved but will multiply into this many-headed beast that will haunt their dreams.

Another tip, but of course not a necessity is placing software at their own domain. AudioCommander should most definitely be at AudioCommander.com, but it is not. < shrug >

Another tip for those who want to design a killer registration system — think about this!

Immediately notify the user that to benefit from the site they will need to provide information.  Minimally they need to provide an e-mail address and title (first and last name or whatever).

Explain that demographically, you will need additional information.  However, they can begin to use the service for free or download trials from the first step (e-mail and title).  You can send them an e-mail reminder at a later point to finish up the details or upon their next use of the site or service.

Never just surprise “us” with these types of information gathering schemes.  I hate to stumble into a user information page that requires 50 fields of data.  Bleh.

Often you can speed up a LOT of processes by recording EVERYTHING!  IPs, e-mails, user information, et cetera.  Store it server-side (database, flat-files, information storage and retrieval system of some sort) and if the user visiting is not authenticated then attempt to retrieve their information by other means.

Would it not be cool to show a user that your application is aware of their presence?  Take this example…

I visit on Monday and look at video encoding software.  I decide not to register, download, or purchase software — fine — store in a cookie what I looked at it and the next time I show up you can show me relevant content or similar items that have been added anew.

Even better though is the server-side option. It may not be feasible depending on the situation but its application should always carefully be considered — especially if you have even one piece of the end-user’s information.

We recently had to tear our floor up, I’m still laboring over which online “university” is best, and a slew of other matters ranging from the minuscule to the multitudinous all the way to the nonsensical.

Long and very boring story, short — I have plenty of topics to discuss and I should be back in the saddle within a day or two.