So many blogs ...

... so little content.

I'm going to plug a blog (other than my own). I read The Letter D from time to time, and its author is both well-spoken and funny. Not that they're mutually exclusive, just that it's unusual to find both at the same time. In a blog. (See my post about the state of blogs. Ignore the rant about the blog template; it's been history a long time, now.)

I know I won't be helping his popularity (much), but we're all doing what we can, ya know.

"The blogosphere is a cruel mistress." (Maybe I'll become famous for coining that term. Then again, maybe not.)

The view from the captain's chair

OK, if you've been following along, then you know I've been posting updates to the "How to Design Houses" section of the website. Maybe no one reads this blog, but lots of people are making their way to the website and having a look. No matter. I'm going to post here anyway in hopes that some day something I say will inspire someone. Even if it's only me.

My plan of making edits as addendums seems to have gone by the wayside. I've just been editing as I go, with no indication of what's changed, or anything. Oh, well. You'll just have to work with me, here. I've been so damn busy lately, it's quite fortunate I've been motivated to do anything at all with the website.

But of course, I enjoy doing house designs. It's creative, and it's fun, and when I've been busting my ass all day long writing code (Java, or POJO as they call it, with Hibernate for flavor), it's a chance to relax and do some more creative work. You can never have too much, I guess.

I did have another idea, though. I think I will work on cataloging the various tricks and techniques applicable to Home Designer, because that is one thing that I could have used when I began. There are ways to do almost anything (with some notable exceptions), and in the past year I've learned quite a few techniques to make the designs look pretty good. It's hard to be modest when you're good. And it's even harder to be good if you aren't at least a little arrogant. (Or self-assured, whatever.)

Well, it's late and I'm going to bed. You should, too.

Pages Posted, Hell Is Still Toasty

Sounds like a headline from The Onion^®.

The other night I posted 3 pages, thus starting the "How to Design Houses" section on my website. Really all I accomplished was an introduction to the program, which is the list of things you want included in your design. In software terms, it is the customer's requirements, both functional and non-functional. We would also call them 'design constraints'.

Of course, the list is incomplete, but that's not a bad thing. No one can think of everything. Actually, the fact that I need to go back and add things to the program is indicative of the real life process. And in this particular case, it highlights the benefits of using an iterative approach to the design process. Since we don't expect to get it right the first time, it lessens the pressure simply to be perfect and allows us refine as we go without being unnecessarily restrained into insisting that everything be perfect, all the time.

I dunno, I have this tendency to want everything just so. It gets me into trouble, and it also keeps me from finishing things when I want to. I just keep revising, and revising, and ...

I think I'm going to post edits to the pages as addendums at the bottoms of the pages, with inserted bookmark links where I've made changes. I will strike out deleted things (as long as that's practical) and when I revise images, I'm going to keep the 'before' version along with the 'after' version. That way everyone will know when I've changed my mind. And as well, everyone will know that design is a process that is (probably) never complete.

Stay tuned.

How to Design Houses, Redux

Months ago I talked about creating a section for the website to talk about designing houses with Home Designer 6.0 Pro, and though I spent a lot of time working on it, I never managed to take the thing to completion. Harumph!

The biggest problem I had was the design, itself. I chose a design that was much too complex, and the process of resolving all the design issues began to obscure the things I thought were important. Perhaps we would all be better served if I chose a much simpler design (much more like the houses we all live in), and show how to take it from idea to finished renderings. So that's what I'm going to do.

Yeah, I know I said this before (read here, and here), but as Bullwinkle once said (such a sage he was!): "This time for sure!" We will start with a recent design I have already done, and I will go back through the process (knowing the outcome should make that much simpler), and demonstrate the steps. I'm also thinking of publishing pages as I go, so that the website might be more like a serial. You would have to keep checking back to see what might be new.

On a related side note, lately we've been using a new software development methodology called Agile Development that, among other things, stresses an iterative approach, and breaking up large tasks into small tasks. It seems to be working, so I think I might just see how I can take a more "agile" approach to website development. It might not work, but then again, it just might work better.

Some favorite quotes:
"Never begin vast projects with half-vast ideas."
"There is no substitute for clear thinking."

So, on those notes, we will begin ...