The Adventures of Accordion Guy in the 21st Century

Beware the powerful stare of Captain Crunch. You know what I’m talking about…

There’s a lot going on today for me: I’m getting some much-needed plumbing repairs done, putting together a proposal for a big consulting gig, moving into a new office and trying to launch a coworking space. Understandably, I had a little trouble getting to sleep, so I decided to be productive and update the hell out of my LinkedIn profile. If you check it out now, you’ll see that it now includes a lot of media links, including an article from Der Spiegel about Peekabooty, the censor-busting proxy application that Paul Baranowski built and for which I programmed and designed the UI (also the last time I did any coding in C++). I can’t read German, so for me, the article is most notable for one of its photos (shown above) featuring Paul, me and a wild-eyed John “Captain Crunch” Draper taking a break from CodeCon 2002 in San Francisco.

Also featured in my LinkedIn profile: Developer Jr., in which my fantasy to host a Sesame Street-style show for kids came true…

…this hastily-put together clip in which I talk about HTML5 and rich internet applications (which Microsoft may have disavowed)…

…and that time when my fantasy to play the opening number for a big keynote at a developer conference came true…

It would appear that LinkedIn approves of the changes, judging by it’s “Profile Strength” gauge:

If you’re bored, go ahead and check out my LinkedIn profile. If you’re feeling inspired, go ahead and update yours!

This article also appears in Global Nerdy.

While my line of work has been largely software development, technical evangelism and technical consulting, it’s often crossed over into the land of creatives, where advertising people, marketers, writers and designers practice their craft. So when I saw the posters from A Creative Catharsis — an exhibit of Irish creatives’ clients’ worst feedback turned into beautiful posters — there was a slightly rueful note mixed in with my laugh of recognition. 

Here’s a sampling of the Creative Catharsis posters — make sure you see the whole set!

A Very Wide Target Audience

I’ve heard something similar in my software development work about the target user base:

I’m No Semiotician, But…

…when I see a globe and passport, travel is the first thing that comes to mind.

“Lorem ipsum dolor sic amet…”

Okay, this one I’ve actually heard from clients. Yes, I’ve heard it more than once.

I Bet They Could Do It on “CSI”…

Very Unclear on the Concept

If your client says this, you should take him or her to an emergency room immediately — head injuries are no laughing matter!

Following the theme from an earlier post…

I couldn’t stop with the previous picture.

Cue the angry Tea Partier hate mail in 3…2…1…

And now, a collection of photographs documenting (mostly) simple minimum-wage tasks done in exactly the wrong way. Enjoy!

Found via Margot Lewis. Here’s the original.

If you watch just one YouTube video today, watch this one: Catnip – Egress to Oblivion?

Shot and presented in a style reminiscent of the anti-drug-abuse films from the late 1960s and early 1970s, this film purports to cover the dangers of every cat’s favourite street drug: catnip!

The video was run through filters to make it look and sound like crappy 16mm films, and the psychedelic soundtrack is perfect.

And of course, there are plenty of shots of high-as-kites cats singing the praises of their favourite weed:

Clocking in at 7 minutes, 6 seconds, it’s a good video to watch during your next break. Enjoy!