Brilla.org

We don’t do markup or CSS. We take the code you give us and chop it up with some XSLT, so that it wraps on top of our XML-based content management system beautifully. (If you are still tuning in then you’re definitely a web developer on the hunt for a bug fix… keep reading)

There’s the IE6 problem. It renders everything that should be beautiful to look like absolute ass. Thankfully, that ain’t our problem.

But, for times when it is your problem, someone smarter than me came up with a brilliant solution to this. IE7.js a workaround to get IE6 to play nicely like it should. Just drop it in and it does the rest. Done and done.

Recently a client delivered some XHTML/CSS making use of IE7.js. Done and done; set it and forget it.

So we did. Nobody actually checked out their finished site in IE6 — frankly, because no one with a right mind actually uses that browser.

But, the client’s clients do. They started getting emails that everything was ugly in that awful broken old excuse for a browser.

Henceforth, the IE6 problem became my problem.

So what changed? Assuming we kept all that intact in the process (we did), why then, would a demo page with bogus content look fine, but once it’s filled out with living, breathing pages and news stories, does everything blow up?

JavaScript error. Hm:  ‘v’ is null or not an object.

A little Googling reveals a possible culprit. Apparently, IE7.js starts acting up when frames are involved. Our CMS solution does make unabashed use of iframes.

So, I make the code changes mentioned in that message. Save, dump cache, and hit F5. A new error message appears:

Internet Explorer cannot open the Internet site http://…

Operation aborted.

Seriously? After that, my web page defaults to a yucky The page cannot be displayed screen. Ick.

More Googling and I find myself skeptically glossing over a page on MSDN. And there she is:

2. Adding the defer boolean attribute to the script block (this defers execution of the script content until parsing is complete)

I’d heard of this ‘defer’ thing before. It’s a stupid IE-only attribute that instructs the browser to not load the script until the page is done rendering. Think of it as one big $(document).ready().

So I add ” defer” to my opening <script> tag. Error messages gone. Blank screens gone. Page is no longer looking yucko in IE6, it renders like it should. Everything just works™.

In conclusion (TL, DR)

If your IE7.js is acting a fool on you, put defer to work:

<!--[if lt IE 7]>
<script src="http://ie7-js.googlecode.com/svn/version/2.0(beta3)/IE7.js" type="text/javascript" defer="defer"></script>
<![endif]-->

Set it, and forget it.

To my friends on Twitter and FourSquare, it’s no secret that I’m a karaoke fanatic. I have been good and hooked on it for about a year now, and what started as a fun activity after improv classes at Jet City has snowballed into a welcome addiction. It’s wildly popular up here in Seattle, and seems to be a universal hit with fellow web geeks across the country.

But I have not seen much dialogue on how to partake in this time-honored bar sport. How do you make the most of your four minutes of fame?

Break it On Down

A good karaoke performance is a balance of many things: talent, enthusiasm, inebriation, savvy song choice, energy level, planning, improvisation, crowd interaction, and personal delivery, to name a few. There’s a million ways to do it right, and really only a couple ways to blow it.

At the end of the day, we are all looking for a karaoke “win.” Those kickass performances where you slip into another world for three and a half minutes, oblivious to the bar scene around you. You quit looking at the words; you are rocking out solely for you. Suddenly the applause from the crowd yanks you out of that trance-like state, reminding you that you are, in fact, in a bar with friendly strangers.

Oh.

It’s a beautiful thing when it happens. And now, with that American Idol moment out of the way, I present to you: insights I’ve developed in scoring karaoke “wins.”

Love This Bar

First thing’s first: every bar has its niche crowd and atmosphere. The artsy/theatrical group, or country western, or gay bar, or college crowd, etc. You might be a regular in these tribes, or you may be a visitor. Either way, it’s good to consider their preferences: which songs they’ve heard a million times, and which songs are completely foreign to them.

Sizing up the karaoke songbook will be full of hints about this place and the people inside of it. So pick up that musty blue binder and let’s have a look.

I Choose You, Baby

Trust your gut when looking for your karaoke jam. Go with songs that feel right in the songbook; they always come out right on stage. The good ones will jump out at you and seem like an obvious choice.

If intuition isn’t your strong suit, here’s a few guidelines I try to stick to:

Shoot for originality. We’ve all heard Don’t Stop Believin’ and F**k Her Gently a few bajillion times. Anything from Rock Band is becoming forgettable, too. Which overlooked gem can you breathe new life into? Challenge yourself.

Share the love. Empirically, duets kill. Try on (I’ve Had the) Time of My Life.

It’s tough to anticipate, but know that you are susceptible to speed bumps:

• A 45-second introduction is a long time for dancing, drinking, and/or microphone banter.
• Do you actually know all of the words to OutKast’s So Fresh, So Clean? (Should that stop you? :)
• Super-high vocal pitches might pose an issue. Or, it might pose an opportunity.
• You may have been listening to the squeaky-clean radio edit of your song, and not the KJ’s uncensored counterpart. Or vice-versa.

These don’t always make themselves known before just _happening_. Still, be aware that they will trip you up from time to time. This is part of the magic of performing.

Play to the crowd. Are you eyeing a table of cute ladies? Throw down some Usher or Justin Timberlake. Is your crowd predominately college and, well, drunk? Sweet Caroline is sure to please, so beat them to the punch.

But also, spite them. Even the honky-tonkiest country western folks need a breather from hokey Nashville narratives. Try singing R&B songs about erections; that’ll give them something to talk about.

Ultimately my picks are usually a function of my own mood, and the collective bar mood. It’s more of a gut reaction than a decision. I lean toward songs that either add to the bar’s energy, or try pushing it into a fun new direction.

To that end, the best thing a karaoke singer can do is deliver a performance that the audience didn’t know they were itching for.

Go toss your song into the rotation. And while we’re waiting…

Instrumental 16 Measures: a Brief Interlude of Karaoke Etiquette

Be nice to the KJ. He’s busy, so don’t hound him about how soon you’re up to sing. Toss him a few bucks when you put your song in. At the right venues, a tip will bump you up in the song rotation.

Try to be supportive. Even the one-trick pony. Even the drunk girl squad. Even the outrageously bad singers. This is their “Hello, World!” program of sorts. Clap & give a well-timed “whoo!” Friends and new best friends (strangers) are as good as gold in the karaoke arena.

Liquid courage helps get a lot of people up to the karaoke mic. But watch your booze intake before you go all Courtney Love on us.

And while I’m thinking about it, don’t ever make the mistake of—

Crap, they just called your name. I think you’re up, so go kill it!

Time to Kick Out the Jams!

Fear not. Once you’re on stage, the world is your drunken, merry oyster. So go nuts. That’s my way of saying, “dance like no one’s watching” and also, “don’t be afraid of being a complete lunatic.” Turns out, people are into that sort of thing.

Know your tools, too. Do a super high energy song plainly seated from the bar stool. Or grab the mic stand and rock some air guitar. Or hump it. Hell, leave the stage and get the dance party moving. Just watch out for tables.

Get your crowd involved. Point the mic their way if they’re singing along. Start the clap!

Know your song? Experiment with a few creative notes, or throw a joke into the lyrics.

Be aware that the microphone’s proximity to your mouth will vastly change how IN YOUR FACE your voice is.

Have as much fun as you possibly can. Musicals are only interesting because everyone seems to be really enjoying the spontaneous bursts into song and dance. Karaoke’s kind of the same way.

These are just ideas. The only real way to kill it is to commit. Whatever you get up there to do, do it. Focus everything you’ve got on giving everything you’ve got. Inadvertently, you’ll take care of the rest.

The Story Never Ends, It Goes On, and On…

Don’t stop now; you done did it. Once you feel comfortable crooning and slaying your old favorite, you might dip your toes into other avenues of singing antics:

The Mash-Up: Singing another song’s lyrics on top of the karaoke song happening on the screen. Weezer’s got a fine mashup specimen: MGMT’s Kids with Gaga’s Poker Face. Mashup is particularly tough because you have to consciously ignore all the words flashing up on the screen. It’ll confuse the audience at first: heads will twirl to shoot a “wha?” look to their friends. But soon enough, they’ll start bobbing along and pointing at you once it connects. If that Weezer vid and acts like Girl Talk prove anything, it’s that a little cross-pollination can lead to some really interesting results. Try out your own combo.

The Alter-Ego: Becoming somebody completely different on stage. This sincerely awesome spin was revealed to me while taking improv comedy classes, aptly dubbed ‘characteroke.’ Our hilarious male instructor took the stage to howl out a scornful, haunting rendition of Alanis Morisette’s Uninvited. I still have nightmares of that performance, but I spent the entire song was laughing uncontrollably. There is such rich, creative potential in putting completely new twists on old songs. Bold choices and improvisation will be handsomely rewarded.

The Suicide: The ultimate in feats of karaoke strength! Drop in a song you are uncomfortably unfamiliar with, get up there and wing it! You will be pleasantly surprised with the results. Either, audience members will sympathize with your pain and laugh with you, providing generous applause for your risky undertaking. Or, even better, you might get up there and just kill it. Either way, it’s win win. Very fun in group settings, when everyone is picking eachother’s songs for the night.

Can I Get an Encore?

You should also know that there’s even more nerdy karaoke fun to be had these days.

My pals and fellow karaoke fiends Jeff and Scott just launched Bar Star last week. It’s a fun way to log your karaoke performances, and get reviews and comments from your friends. Also, track how you stack up against the people’s champ of karaoke. Current numbers tell me that I am 14% as awesome as Jeff is. The bastard. Let’s oust him, people.

And don’t forget to mark your calendars for Cog’aoke! at SXSW Interactive 2010, put on by the talented folks at Happy Cog. Web designers + karaoke + ???? = profit! I will be vying for a sliver of karaoke immortality, and you should, too.

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

There are no rules except to enjoy yourself in the process. Find what works for you, and do that a bunch more times.

So I am interested to hear, what works for you? Leave your favorite jams and your own tips in the comments.

What to say about 2009. In many ways, it was a year of stabilizing.

Life and Living

I started out jobless and broke, stuck with an expensive penthouse apartment in Belltown. I’d move twice; once to a cheap, lovable frat house in the ‘burbs, and finally to a pleasant, affordable apartment close to work downtown. This also solidified that I would be in Seattle for the long term. It set me free to focus on bigger things than vagabonding.

Work work work

I landed a short contract gig at Microsoft. My boredom and restlessness ran rampant there. Tired of flimsy contracts and drowning in corporate bloat, I got a new job. It’s a small company where I can have a close relationship with the customer, and a big impact on what we do.

And what I do is changing a lot. It began doing cookie-cutter web development work in XSL. But I quickly showed potential and interest in other areas. After mentioning to a colleague that my background is actually in business, I migrated over to Sales. I gave technical demos, and whipped up prototypes for potential customers (most notably, Seattle Public Library whom we just recently signed fist pump hell yes). It went really well, and I liked the aspect of talking to people, but money and sales ain’t everything.

I stumbled into a Training meeting one day, discussing our class offerings. We came up with the idea of offering training workshops to our clients. The idea is to teach something cool for half a day (maybe mobile web design, CSS3/HTML5, jQuery/AJAX, etc.), then use the other half of the day to put that to work on their sites. We loved it. Boss Man loved it. And next week, we are sending out a survey to size up which workshops our customers will be interested in. It might be in house in Seattle, or it might be on the road, but they’re going to have me leading a lot of them. I’ve said from the get-go that I want to be a teacher after I make my millions off the web, so I am super stoked to be dong this.

There’s other things in the works. Boss Man said outright, “Jon, I’ve got big plans for you in 2010.” I’m bout ready to cash in some of that ‘potential’ I’ve been dragging around for years now. Hell yes!

Et Cetera

I love karaoke. I’ve made an awesome group of very cool friends in the process.

I have a lovely girlfriend. I met her almost a year ago outside of one of those ritzy Belltown bars (thank you, overpriced penthouse!).

I am reading a lot a lot a lot. Mostly web related; design, IA, mobile. Some kinky literature thrown in there — I like my Hunter S. and my Palahniuk. Wonderful to be back, at any rate.

Life is generally pretty jolly, and I feel like I am just getting started.

Yayyy

Good things people. I’m like most everyone, looking forward to 2010 with unbridled optimism and enthusiasm! Eat drink be merry, then get back to work :D we’ve got building to do!

The last couple years have been about things cheap, fast, and accessible. Google and Wikipedia cemented themselves as de-facto brain extensions for anyone working on the web. Twitter became the 140 character venue for the A.D.D. blogger. Life hacks, lists of 46 best blanks to do blank. Even a broader sense of advertising: getting ripped in two weeks with one simple rule. Lose weight & get rich fast have been around for a while now, but you see what I’m getting at.

But there’s a new trend we’re seeing here. Lots of brilliant web thinkers (and even celebrities-turned-Twitter allstars) are turning a new leaf. Project52 insists we start blogging again and revive this mostly-dead medium. Guys like Anil, Merlin and Seth are beckoning us to reach a little deeper and put a lot of creative force and focus into what you produce. Derek dissects burnout beautifully. My buddy Jay has kindly asked all the hack get-rich-on-bullshit-content people to leave his internet alone. Rob Goodlatte preaches it. Even Mister Santa Maria’s new manifesto is fucking righteous.

I am thrilled to see a slow shift away from the hyper-multi-tasking life. From spreading ourselves so thin; we’ve done that. I feel like we as a small society of designers, developers and nerds, have proven to ourselves that we can juggle 528 things at once. But also, we’re going to start getting picky and turning away the 524 things we don’t want to do, and start focusing the handful of engaging projects where our passion lies.

THEN. Oh man. Big beautiful nasty things are going to start surfacing. Geeks being geeks for the sake of being geeks, and not just to fulfill a stakeholder’s wish or some bloated business objective, man. The Pictorys, and the Favrds (bless its little heart); the stuff EJS is talking about.

And, as I wrap up this post now, I see Jina writing on a very similar theme.

I have seen the future, people. It is lovely.

Too much going on, gang. I can’t not blog.

Pleasantries first: since we last spoke, I have moved again. This will be fourth time in the last eighteen months, and should be my last for a while. Most notably, it solidifies that I’ll be in Seattle for a while. Good Christ, I love this city.

Learning. I’ve bought some fifteen books in the last two weeks. Design. Novels. Cocktail recipes. Big photo essays. A visual guide to dream interpretations. A few very trendy web-related topics (Ruby on Rails, Django, and mobile design). Follow along, if you want. It’s more fun if you participate too, though.

Work is blowing up right now in a big way. I built the site for Forbes’ #1 Fastest Growing Tech Company. But there’s more coming that I either don’t want to jinx, or can’t blog about yet. Lotta opportunity before me.

Part of me feels like I’m blowing up, too: quite literally, combusting. There is so much ambition, desire, and passion flowing through me. Sometimes I feel like my skin is going to rupture and just spew all of this energy all over the hardwood floor.

Thankfully, I blog instead.

Good news: I am up for promotion in a few weeks. It is understood that I am deadly dangerous with technology. But the folks at work are discovering that I also have these soft skills: chiefly, talking to people. So, they are moving me into Sales Engineering. I am going to become the technical guru, breaking down the details for the people who write the checks.

In preparation, the next month or two are my veritable ‘rush weeks’ at work. Jim’s goal is to, “throw as much weird shit at [me]” as he can. Which is good on a couple levels:

1. Stress testing. How does Johnny C balance his current workload with these additional new duties? Jury’s still out.
2. Cramming. Soon I’m going to be expected to be a product genius on our software. So it’s good to get exposure to the many strange facets of the software we ship out to customers. I need to know my stuff.

Admittedly, last week was absolute hell. This week I realized I gotta buck up, manage people and get my stuff done. Been reading a lotta that Merlin Mann bullhonkey. I check my email twice(!) a day, and I am loving it. Staying busy and feeling good about it.

This is really a completely new direction, too. My major (MIS) is perfectly suited for this, but every role I have ever had has been strictly development. Ain’t no going back to programming after I make this jump. But, maybe that’s a great thing for me.

These days, we do a lot. A LOT. I don’t even have wife/kids/mortgage to tangle with, or a business to run, and still I feel too busy for my own good sometimes. We have come to expect that out of ourselves; the world being so small and our ability to move so fast, I want to sink my teeth into everything I see.

And we can almost do it, too, if we’re organized enough.

But organization was never my strong suit!

… understatement of the year. There is no way I can get organized to do EVERYTHING I’d like to do—but damn if I can’t fake it! I had an idea today on how to feign organization, efficiency, and other valuable managerial terms.

First, look at all the roles we play to others every single day. On a daily basis, I am a friend. Brother. Son. Coworker. Stranger. Some days, I am also an actor, ultimate frisbee player, or motorist. Some other days, I need to fake like a mechanic, a writer, or a salesman.

Get a list of these roles together. Then once a week, pick three (3) of those roles, and focus that week on being a better ____.

Say, motorist: Get that car tuned up, oil checked, and give it a good wash.
Son: Call your Dad, just ’cause. Shoot the shit, or ask him for practical fatherly advice. Send Mom flowers.
Coworker: Buy the office a box of donuts. Be more proactive in following up on emails & calls. People notice.

Or heck, try out one thing you don’t already do. Make this the week you pick up a book on kiteboarding at the library, or go get First Aid certification.

Three sounds not overwhelming, and a week seems like a healthy time period to spread out conscious, focused efforts on doing these better.

& on that note… Imma go buy a dry erase board to keep track of my 3 things each week.

I recently got a first generation, 30gb white Zune. And I’m here to say, I love it.

My first impression was not a positive one. Installing & setting up Zune 3.0 software was a pain, and a familiar story for Microsoft software. But, four downloads, three installations and two restarts later, she was up and running. The wait was worth it.

Zune’s software is pretty and friendly. ‘Please wait’ is replaced with ‘Hang on.’ Gray backdrops and blue progress bars are now colorful and pink. Pictures of spontaneous youth wrestling and laughing remind me I should be out & about tonight.

The PC software is kind of useless & surely won’t usurp Winamp as my media player of choice, but it gets the job done for syncing files between gadget and computer. It also fills in missing MP3 tags and downloads album art automatically. My inner OCD sufferer is satisfied.

But when you fire up the Zune itself… man. The fun starts. It makes the iPod UI feel boring and plain Jane. Album art & photos of your choice serve as the backdrop. Text and content zip and saunter around your screen when you navigate.

I have to say a bit about the iPod’s trusty clickwheel. Many MP3 players tried to implement something similar or better, and fell incredibly short. Zune got it right. My 1st gen spin wheel thing looks like iPod’s, but functions more like a D-Pad on old video game controllers. Navigating up & down works as expected, but horizontal movement is where this setup shines.

Let’s say I’m listening to Foo Fighters, There is Nothing Left to Lose, when I decide that I really want to be jammin’ to The Colour and the Shape. In 99% of MP3 players ever, I would press Back, then scroll down to my album of choice, and press Enter. On the Zune, you hit Right once, and you’re there. Or maybe you’re window-shopping Foo albums and get a sudden hankerin’ for Foreigner. Hit Left, and you can power ballad awesome 80′s to your heart’s content. I’m the kind of dude who spends lots of time back-tracking through iPod menus, so this is super handy for me.

There’s many little ‘gotchas’ like this where small UI changes go a long way on the Zune. ‘Shuffle All’ is the very first option under Music. Great, but how about when you switch to album play afterward? Zune automatically turns off the Shuffle mode & plays your album straight through. Solid!

Physically, the Zune is lighter than it looks like it should be. Fits the palm nicely when in use, and travels comfortably in my back pocket. It’s very study, I suspect it could take a good deal of abuse from ultimate, parties, etc.

In the coming months, 30 gigs may prove to be a bit too cozy for my music library, but I am very pleased with my Zune so far. It’s the first Microsoft product I’ve been genuinely excited about in a long time. It does stand on the shoulders of tested giants, but it has some unique niceties that won over my affection and adoration. Hats off, Zune Team!

Umbrella Today? will text you on mornings when you should plan for rain. Freaking brilliant.

I’m learning a lot up here, gang. Microsoft’s teaching me plenty about all its latest whiz-bang technologies, and some precious insights on how to climb the corporate ladder—or take the escalator.

But this being on my own thing (or grown up, or whatever) has really been something awesome for me. For the first time, I’m starting to take a step back and evaluate my life. Things are far from bad right now, but I’m finding plenty of room for improvement.

Some of it’s simple… eat better & exercise more. You’ll feel better. Other things are painfully simple & obvious, and that’s why they went overlooked to begin with. Making time and putting forth the effort toward what really matters: people. Family. Friends. Hell, complete strangers. Your career, your success, your money and your fifty Bentleys in the West Indies mean nothing if you have no one to share it with.

So I’m working on being a better son. Brother. Friend. Fellow stranger. Along with this, giving GTD another stab. And, getting back into improv!

Yes, and…

I designed a web site. No kidding. It’s cliché and overdone and for the first time I’m happy with it and can’t wait to see this little bastard go live.

Also, going to be writing more.