Paul Dix Explains Nothing

Lowest Common Denominator

I read a few posts this morning about rich ASP.NET applications.  These posts highlight what has been my biggest complaint about web development:  Most web development targets the lowest common denominator.  It reminds me of grade school and how the system is designed to target the below average student.  Well I wasn't that big a fan of grade school and I'm also not a big fan of designing for the user who's running a 6 year old browser.  Now let me preface the rest of this rant by stating clearly what kind of web development I'm talking about.  I think that when you're writing something for the web, there are two different goals:

1. Dissemination of information.  Get it out to as wide an audience as possible.
2. Web applications.  Provide the needed function in the best way possible to the users of your system.

Now these two may mix together but I believe that for most things web related, your primary focus is one of the two.  In the first category we have the following examples:

• The New York Times
• Amazon - While they do have a certain amount of crossover, their goal is to sell to the widest possible audience.

In the second category:

• Backpack
• Google Maps

Another way I'd put it is that category number one represents web sites while category number two represents web applications.  The items in category two have been getting rave reviews because of their richness.  If you're building a web application, why worry about every single browser made in the last 10 years?  The two most popular browsers are free and Firefox is cross-platform.  Make your users upgrade and they may thank you for it later.

Man 1, Bank 0

That's the title of the one man show I saw last night (Man 1, Bank 0).  It's a true story about how Patrick Combs, the author and performer of the show, deposited a 95K junk mail check and his bank actually cashed it.  The venue was very small, but the show was funny and it added more flavor to my week than going to the movies to watch War of the Worlds.  Going to this show was part of a friend's recently launched "take advantage of living in New York" initiative.  We both have the problem of traveling way too much for work so when we're in town we rarely have time to plan things.  Well at the very least that's one show attended with thousands more to see.

A night off for NYLAG

I wanted to get something done last night on a proof of concept I'm working on, but other things required my attention.  LJ is doing her summer internship after her first year of law school at the New York Legal Assistance Group (NYLAG).  Last night they hosted a benefit for the organization and we attended.  The event was at the Scandinavia House and was catered by Aquavit.  NYLAG is a great non-profit that "provides free civil legal assistance to New York's most at-risk, low income populations".  Not a bad cause if you happen to be making some charitable donations.

Introducing the Players

I've been reading lately about microISVs and I like the sound of starting something of your own in your copious free time.  Well going out on my own is alright, but wouldn't it be better to drag a few friends with me?  Sure it would, and I've convinced a few to join in.  Here's the quick lowdown on the team.
The Style Czar - he knows cool and he knows how to make stuff look slick.  I think this is key since the product is going to be web based.
The Adept - he slings code like the Bush White House slings lies (constantly and with a level of skill seldom matched).
Me - the organizer and all around code monkey.  I also get to embarrass myself by posting about all this publicly.

We just started putting down the requirements for this project but we also needed to handle some basic business stuff.  Since there are three of us, we were concerned about starting a partnership together.  We're all green when it comes to business and legal matters so I started a thread on Joel on Software to get some advice on the subject.  One poster was a little frosty but I'll take the advice.  Don't focus on this crap and focus instead on creating a great product.  I guess there's not much to be done except to file the paperwork and leap together.  It helps that I've worked with The Adept on multiple projects and have seen and recommended the work of The Style Czar on multiple occasions.
Can three working people create a marketable product during their free time?  I guess we'll see...

New title, new direction.

Since I've started this thing I've been pretty random about when I post and what I post about.  That may continue, but this is my attempt to get more focus.  Here's the scoop on what's going on here...

New Title:
I picked the original title of Six Demon Bag because I was lazy and didn't want to think about what to name the thing.  That stemmed from a conversation I was having with LJ, my girlfriend, about what a funny movie Big Trouble in Little China is and that quote was mentioned specifically.  For those of you not in the know, here's the exchange:

Egg Shen:  Can see things no one else can see. Do things no one else can do.
Jack Burton:  Real things?
Egg Shen:  As real as Lo Pan!
Jack Burton:  Hey, what more can a guy ask for?
Egg Shen:  Oh, a six-demon bag!
Jack Burton:  Terrific, a six-demon bag. Sensational. What's in it, Egg?
Egg Shen:  Wind, fire, all that kind of thing!

It's funny if you can think of the scene and it has always brought a smile to my face.  Anyway, I actually bothered to Google it a few months after starting this site and noticed that a couple other things had all the hits.  One is a band of the same name and the other is an item of the same name in World of Warcraft.  Not wanting to compete with those, I decided to change the title.  The new one isn't that well thought out either, but it seems to be open territory on Google. 

The other reason for the new title has to do with the new direction:
I've added a new item to the description: entrepreneurship.  I think that the new direction will be focused primarily around this subject.  After years of reading Joel on Software and assorted essays by Paul Graham, I've decided to throw my hat into the software startup ring.  I've been wanting to do my own thing for years and all I've psyched myself up by reading about all the buzz at microISV, Eric Sink's Weblog, Phil Wright's Component Factory, and the JoS forums.  I'd love to post intelligent, helpful essays from a position of experience, but that's not me.  This will be a trial by fire, learn from my mistakes as I make them kind of journal.  Don't get me wrong, I have startup experience and have successfully delivered multiple software projects.  I've just never been a principal.  Thus: Paul Explains Nothing.
Anyway, keep it tuned to the same bat channel and I should be making multiple posts about my initial steps...

Something to read

Well I've been slacking off on this here blog thingie.  I've been too damn busy at work but, there is some light at the end of the tunnel.  Since I'm too busy to write stuff, I'll just link to a few things that are fun or interesting.
A blog I just found that is pretty well written:
http://bigpicturesmalloffice.blogs.com/
And just in case you haven't seen this one yet:
http://www.overheardinnewyork.com/

That's it for now.  Hopefully I'll have time to write a real post this weekend...