I hereby decree

I hereby decree that if you missed Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog on the web, then I am sorry for you. You can, however, still check it out on iTunes [iTunes Link]. Worth it, I assure you.

Found these beauties in Yellowstone last Saturday. (Did I mention that we went to Yellowstone National Park?) The posters were expensive so I just got the postcard versions.

From the postcard:
Between 1935 and 1943 the Works Progress Administration's (WPA) Federal Art Project printed over two million posters in 35,000 different designs to stir the public's imagination for education, theater, health, safety, and travel. Due to their fragile nature only two thousand posters have survived. The National Park image shown here is also available in the original poster format from many National Park Bookstores.

I am not the best designer in the world, nor do I have the best design eye. I do, however, like these. I think they are beautiful. We need more of this kind of stuff today.

In some spy movies, the secret agent calls a secret phone number and codes in a secret code then gets access to a secret resource. I have been thinking about this and there are a few things that, in the real world, probably don't exist. Think about it, if we are to believe that systems like ECHELON are real, why would a secret agent need a secret phone number? They could just pick up the phone, dial any random number, say a code phrase and then the ECHELON computer system takes over the call. Ya, esta!

Look, you call up some random person and the call goes like this:
"Hello."
"Alpha Bravo Department Store Mayhem Serpentine."
"What?"
CLICK
"Hello? Hello? Anyone there? ... Weird."

It would be awesome. I guess if you ever get a random call from someone and they say random stuff try and remember what they said. There are all sorts of ways that wouldn't work, however. They could have a multistage system. The words you hear could only be a part of a three part combination.

I am so going to be a spy. Of all the places to potentially work/live, Virginia (which is a possible location, interviewing there) is definitely gaining some cred.

Ha ha ha. Instead of Pomp and Circumstance it is Entry of the Gladiators. I crack myself up. Anyway, this is kind of cool, though I am disappointed in how short it is. I added at least 10 more pictures too. Oh well. Check out Animoto.

For more graduation photos check out my Flickr Profile: LeMieuxster

When I was in grade school I got school lunch (hot lunch, as it were). After I picked up my meal I would alway head over to the milk fridges and pick up some chocolate milk. Every once in a while, though, instead of chocolate milk there was rootbeer milk. Yes, rootbeer flavored milk. It was weird and not extremely enjoyable. Unfortunately the packaging was enough like the chocolate milk that I never realized until I got to my table what I had done.

Years later I was telling this story to my wife and some other friends and they all looked at me like I was crazy. Rootbeer milk? Such a thing must surely be a figment of my imagination. Since it happened so long ago and only every once and while and not on a regular schedule I began to doubt my memories. Had I really had rootbeer milk? Did it exist?

Recently a new dairy store opened up here in Rexburg. They have delicious ice cream that is also very cheap. They also sell milk and cheese. The other day we were there to get some ice cream (we walked, it is like five block from our house) and while I was looking through their milk fridge I saw it. Rootbeer milk. I immediately had to try some/buy it. So I did. Still has that same not-quite-good taste from my childhood. My memories were confirmed. I really did have rootbeer milk in elementary school. I now have another arrow in my quiver of times-I-was-right-and-no-one-else-believed-me-so-that-makes-me-more-trustworthy.

Rootbeer milk still tastes funny. Try it once, but don't expect to fall in love.

Observe, Interaction Designer Chris Hall is also the lead singer from the band Cake.

I hereby decree that, except for a few changes I may make to my paper and one more class period I have to attend, I am done with my undergraduate studies.

Weird.

Now I am off to go get myself a copy of the book I Just Finished My Undergraduate Studies, Now What?

Overland Trail Presentation - Upload a Document to Scribd Read this document on Scribd: Overland Trail Presentation

Presentation I made for HIST 300 about my paper. We had to talk about our paper's question, answer, and the sources used.

Mormon Overland Trail Paper - Upload a Document to Scribd Read this document on Scribd: Mormon Overland Trail Paper

Here is my research paper for HIST 300 that I have been working on almost all semester. I may still make some changes before turning in the final copy, but this is more or less what it will be. Neat huh?

Forgive me for being an agregator for a moment and check this out:

12 Websites To Help You Learn Flash/ActionScript

Pretty nice list.

I hereby decree that I am sorry. I made a slight change to the RSS feed an now feed readers are marking everything as new. Sorry, shouldn't happen again.

I hope Daniel and Chelsea continue to grow their love for one another. They certainly need it. Child-like wonder indeed.

For more info on this series check My Brother's Wedding Invitation - Part 1

I hereby decree that my web host is great, but lately (last 4 months of so) they are starting to fail me. Interestingly enough, they are only starting to fail my personal account. My more expensive "pro" account never goes down. Priorities, I guess, and I suppose for that I am thankful.

Anyway, I would like to take a moment to thank the public service utilities in my area for being far more reliable than the internet will ever be. Four years and only one minor power outage, water has never shut off, and the telephone has always worked. Thank you public works, thank you.

In honor of the national holiday, I present a very patriotic wedding invitation. Daniel and Chelsea are both honorable American citizens who love this great nation. Waving flags, bald eagles, fireworks, and patriotic tears will all be a part of their wedding.

For more info on this series check My Brother's Wedding Invitation - Part 1

Independence Day
Declaration of Independence

This is to inform you that I'll never make a payment.

I hereby decree that the Sprint Instinct phone site needs better copy editing. In their intro they introduce you to the main star of their "movies" by telling you that the greatest product placement movie star of all time "is just phone." I am fairly sure they mean "is just a phone" or "is only a phone."

Whoever made that intro should feel embarrassed. The Internet has already done its fair share of helping us to be less literate. The Sprint Instinct site doesn't need to add to the problem.

Next time, Sprint, make sure to copy edit your stuff, or hire someone else. The credibility of an otherwise creative site is completely lost because of that one error. Or, in other words, "it just plain bad."

So, this one is inspired by the beloved Animutation!!! A favorite of mine back in the earlier days of the internet. Bad Flash animation mixed with weird songs = best ever.

For more info on this series check My Brother's Wedding Invitation - Part 1

Word cloud of this blog.

I am not sure why I am fascinated by this tool so much, but I am. I guess I am interested in seeing what words are used most in different content.

This last weekend we went camping up at Riverside in the Teton National Forest. It was a blast. We went with some friends and my brother and his fiance (of My Brothers Wedding Annoucement fame).

Today I was outside playing a quick game of 2x2 basketball and I totally rolled my ankle. It hurts so bad. Anyway, that is what I am up to besides school.

Graduation is less than a month away, wish me luck.

I hereby decree that everyone should go download Firefox 3 on this day, the 17th of June, 2008.

Do it!

I have been using the beta and release candidates for some time now and I must say that I think it is a nice improvement over 2.0. There are some nice new features and it seems pretty quick and responsive. That said, not all my favorite extensions are supported yet.

Only semi-related to the last post, a word cloud of the Book of Alma the Son of Alma.

UPDATE: Word cloud of the entire Book of Mormon.

UPDATE 2: Word cloud of The King James Bible.

Attention! Right face! Or at least glance to your right over at the sidebar and check out the latest addition (toward the bottom). What is that you ask? It is a widget I made while working in the Spori computer lab tonight.



(Above: the widget I made, RSS feed readers might not see it)

I have been thinking about making something like this for some time now. I really like widgets. Combine that with my desire to answer questions anyone might have about my beliefs and the recent emphasis of Church leaders to be involved in online conversations about the gospel (see here, and here, and here), and you get a widget that proclaims my belief and calls people to action to learn more about it.

Now there were certain challenges with making this widget. Not because of the design or technical specifications, but because there exists a "Mormon Culture" that is, at times, almost too capitalistic for my liking. One doesn't have to look very far to see that people are out to make money on the LDS way of life. I do not expect that the Church will come knocking on my door and ask me for my widget because they love it so much. That said, I am trying to make these (I am hoping to make more to share) so that if that did ever happen I would be sure that the Church could use them almost immediately without having to change much. This includes aesthetics, message, branding, and class.

Unfortunately this widget isn't very accessibility-friendly which is something I know the Church is concerned with.

Anyway, that is a brief look at a project I am working on (one of many) I am hoping to have these available to all interested soon. I am planning on making them available in Flash, Javascript, and Image format (this first widget, for example, could just as easily be a static image).

Let me know what you think. If you have ideas, comments, concerns, or if you would like to help please let me know.

P.S. I must give a hat-tip to interaction designer Chris Hall for the design of this widget. It is based off another design he did for WidgetNest that never came to fruition.

I am still here. Don't have anything to post but after so many days I feel almost obligated to say something new. I am not sure why this is. I only have six readers (six!?!?!? that is twice as many as the three from before! I've doubled my readership! I am amazing!) and I personally know at least four of them.

Fun updates soon. More wedding invitations, code, and general silliness.

From the YouTube description: "Early performance of Brel's most often covered song, known in English by Rod McKuen's adaptation "If You Go Away." English subtitles are a literal translation of the lyric as Brel intended it. Not a love song, Brel tells us, but a song of lacheté, weakness, though most would disagree."

Been exploring the realm of Object Oriented vector image editing. So, this example isn't great, but it is a small step in the right direction. I hope to make progress to this project as time goes on. I am considering making the source available, but not until I get closer to a finished version. Right now the code is pretty ugly.

To use it, click one of the shape buttons (circle or rectangle) then draw them in the stage (the large white box). To start over hit "clear all."

Let me know what you think. (Also, those reading the RSS Feed might not see the Flash stuff.)

Let us all go on a jungle adventure together!

When you ignore the blatant image editing done in Adobe's Photoshop software (or, Photoshopping) this image isn't half bad. It looks fun, and the full resolution version is very crisp and clean.

For more info on this series check My Brother's Wedding Invitation - Part 1

I was playing with my daughter, Claire, the other night when she
stopped and said, "Daddy, I'm happy."

"You're happy, huh?" I asked.

"Yeah," she said, then gave me a hug.

She could have then asked for anything and I would have done it/bought it. But she didn't. She is a good girl. For more on my awesome family, check out the family blog.

(photo not related to story, but fun anyway)

I hereby decree that I wish someone would actually give a speech like this, sans wild, hungry lions, at my graduation: A Word to the Graduates

In an attempt to become more involved in the Flash community I have been releasing some of my code in to the wild, for free. Today I would like to direct your attention once more to the WidgetNest Code Page and point out our latest addition: Link.

The Link class is a utility class with only one method, "go." "Go," acts like the old "getURL" method in AS2. After you have imported the class in to your document class, you can simply use Link.go("http://myimaginarysite.com", "_blank"); and it will go to that link for you. Hooray!

Make sure you check it out.