A massive, massive thank you to Mike Propst. He's the designer behind Emurse, Engadget and now AlexRudloff.com. A pretty impressive lot, if I do say so myself. Probably a few little kinks here and there, as it's getting late on a friday night. Let me (us) know what you think though, and if you find anything looney. Apologies if things look funny during the transition. I think comments might not be working right for a bit as well, sooo... All good.

My site's starting to gain more cred with google lately, and I've encountered a more.. let's say.. diverse group of readers. It's no longer simply a blog to keep my mom and some friends updated with what's going on in my life. I intend to keep writing it exactly for that purpose, but the new design reflects me a little better. The old design was something I threw together on a plane late one night. Mike's the official world's-most-experienced-blog-maker after serving as the sole weblogs, inc designer for, gosh, way to long. It's truely a blessing to have him on our side.

We're looking for some designers for potential contract work with Emurse.com. We've got a really exciting set of features we've been preparing and need to beef up the team a bit.

If you're interested and think you have the necessary skills (CSS wizardry, respect for standards, and a unhealthy love for fades -- to name a few), shoot me an email at alex at emurse.com. Obviously, include some sample/portfolio links. Bonus points for an emurse resume link, as usual ;)

Kathy Sierra is a great writer. I love her style and have been a fan of her Head First books since my java "greenhorn" days over at javaranch.com. By the way, I credit the cow game for my certification ;).

Her blog, Creating Passionate Users, is a great read. I tend to be really busy though and sometimes bloglines gets really backed up on me. Her posts are usually cut out of the "catch up" routine. Not because of quality, but because of size. They take a committed reader, a passionate reader if you will (hah), to make it through.

Anyway, my bloglines account was backed up again tonight, only this time I decided to read one of her entries. I'm really glad I did.

"Hooverin' and the space between notes" is about things not said. The pauses in a great debate or a speech, the space between notes in music, the empty spaces on a clean design, the timing of a comedian.

There's something special about being calm, cool and collected -- in design or in presentation. It's an easy going confidence that draws your audience in. You can usually tell when someone is full of bull by their insistent need to fill silence. You can see a comedians nerves shake if they're timing is wrong. To bring it back home, you can tell when web sites are overcompensating for their lack of defined mission or focus by their clutter. Same with their feature set. Don't try to "boil the ocean", as someone recently advised us.

It's not just about the notes, it's also the spaces between them. That's sound advice that I'll gladly listen to ;)
(my attempt at an Alveyism-tie-in)