Uber-Quick Update – Welcome, 2010!

I got in a car accident on January 1; someone ran a red light and destroyed my car. I’m still feeling pretty banged up—my left wrist, lower back, chest, and lower abdomen are still bruised almost two weeks later. My left wrist hurts the most, so that’s why I haven’t been making any posts and have been trying to avoid typing in general. Shoot, even washing my hands hurts.

That said, I hope the beginning of 2010 treated you a little more gently!

Been busy with everyday life happenings lately

Been pretty busy with a variety of things going on in life these days, so sorry for the lack of posting to this blog.

Here’s what I’ve been working on for the past month or so:

• Working
• Attending social media events
• Messing around with Windows 7
• Refreshing the columnbreak website and brand.
• Generally getting out of the apartment with Yang more often.

So, yup, that’s about it lately. Oh, I’ve also made myself discoverable on Facebook, so feel free to add me. Who knows? Maybe I’ll accept the request. ;)

Seattle-Area Tweetup on Wednesday, February 18!

Tomorrow, I’ll be going to my first Twitter-based meeting. I’ll be dragging along rookie Twitterer and long-time friend Eric Nguyen to further introduce ourselves to offline social networking events.

We hope to see you there!

Going the monetization route, but not entirely

In an effort to help with funding of this Web site, I’m going to start placing ad links in certain blogs that I write. The links will not be cost-per-click links; instead, they will be affiliate links, similar to the image ads on the Ads page. Not each post will have one, so if you’re really against this subtle, almost passive marketing technique, don’t worry.

If I mention a neat product or service like, say, a moderate interest rate on a savings account from ING Direct, then I would add a link to the company’s name, directing you to the site in a new window or tab. (Speaking of which, I just signed up for an Orange Savings Account through this bank last night. It’s definitely worth a look!)

While this is going on, I’m continuing to market this site to a larger audience. Comments to blog posts are always welcome, especially if you have an idea to expand on or to introduce.

Thanks for helping to keep this site running. It’s been a lot of fun so far!

Welcome the newest update to the Web site

Introducing… the long-overdue Projects feature! I know, I know… it’s been a long time coming. Check it out on pretty much any page, except for this one. In case you don’t know what I mean, follow this link (www.columnbreak.com/japan/joso.html), click the glossy-looking button titled “Stuff,” and click “Projects.”

Voila! Now you know what I work on outside of my 9am–5pm (or 8am–4pm in the summertime) job.

Now, let’s see how long it takes for me to update the “Favorites” link…

Updates to the home page

If you haven’t noticed, I made a significant change on the home page; the videos should now be viewable in Mozilla Firefox 3. I originally created it in Microsoft Silverlight, but I had a few issues with that:

• I wasn’t sure when Microsoft Expression Blend (the program that I used to customize the video player) would no longer be available as a free trial.
• There’s less of a developer circle for Silverlight.
• Adobe Flash already has a solid user base and is installed on most computers.

Let me know if you experience any problems with the new video player. Enjoy!

A formal e-apology

I didn’t know that the video on the ColumnBreak home page was not in service until I started using Mozilla Firefox regularly… and that kind of irks me. Sorry for not finding it out earlier. Hopefully it hasn’t deterred the steadily growing 20 percent of Firefox users.

Because of that, I’ve now got a new project where I have to convert the Microsoft Silverlight Web component to Adobe Flash, which requires me to learn Flash. Maybe it’s my calling… I started working with Flash, but then I found Silverlight, which seemed to be a more interactive, rich Web experience. Unfortunately, it hasn’t really caught on as much as I thought it would.

Flash and Flash Lite truly provide a lot more opportunities across multiple platforms and browsers, so for marketing purposes, that would be the way to go.

And since I didn’t make this Web site to sell oatmeal cookies, it looks like I might be busy learning more Web technologies for awhile…

Wedding planning

You might have noticed that I've been a little absent from blogging lately. Well, lucky for you (and me, too), I've got two good reasons for being busy.

The first is that Yang and I are getting married on December 7 (fairly soon, huh?) and have been planning and coordinating things like crazy. Fortunately, we've have had a ton of help from my mom, who called around to various places to set up the essentials. Last Saturday, we went cake tasting, courtesy of Jacqui's Cakes. If you live in King County or Pierce County, I suggest Jacqui; her knowledge of cake styles and taste combinations really helped Yang and I, who are novice cake eaters. For more details, visit her Web site: www.jacquiscakes.com.

The second is, if you haven't noticed, the new Web site. Yup. After three redesigns that will never have the light of day because they're lost forever in PC Recycle Bin land, I've created a design and structure that I really like. It's simple, and I can make updates to it fairly easily. And, I've come to terms with not having to do so much when I know only a handful of people visit this Web site daily.

That's all for now. Yang and I still have quite a bit to do until we can call it good on getting prepared for our wedding day.

A couple of setbacks won't set me back from this Saturday

In less than 48 hours, I'll be revealing the new ColumnBreak Web site. Not only will it be nicer for my audience in terms on visuals and content, but it'll also be much more convenient for me to make updates. I won't have to be near my computer to make HTML changes; instead, sometimes I'll be able to make changes directly from my phone or from an application on my computer.

More details to come on Saturday when I've posted it.

Changes to the Web site

I think it's time to narrow the focus of what the ColumnBreak Web site is supposed to be, since it's been up for almost a year. When I first started this site, I had this idea that I'd update a bunch of sections fairly often, which turned out to be too demanding. Here's what I'd like to do within the next month:

• Delete the News page
• Delete the Technology News page
• Redo the Japan landing page—just the page with the map of Japan
• Redo the ColumnBreak Mobile site
• Add new videos to the video player on the main page
• Start a new ad campaign through CitySearch
• End the ad campaign on Microsoft AdCenter
• End the ad campaign on Facebook

Guess I better get to mapping my plans to make these updates.