“For designers, for business, just as for nations, risk is the essential component to great success.” – Andy Rutledge.

Andy created a series of Desktop Wallpapers based on the article. Risktakers stand out and achieve great success. Take a look at every successful company that has shaped our world today (Google, Apple, Microsoft, YouTube, Facebook, etc.). The question you should be asking is: What do you want to be noticed for?

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1. Introduction of a new series: Impulse Wave

This morning I turned on the Mac, launched Firefox and saw this:

They admit their fault, even if it wasn’t theirs to admit. They offer a smart interface to deselect the tabs that may have caused the crash. As you can see by the side of the scroll bar, I had A LOT going on. I deselected a bunch of tabs, hit “Restore” all without a bit of worry.

This level of attention toward functionality to provide an excellent user experience should be mimicked by other developers. When I’m conceptualizing new ideas, this is the type of quality I incorporate. Thank you, Mozilla.

Which browser do you use, and why?

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Not to give an excuse for only completing 20% of the 2009 to-do list, but College work was harder this year than any other semester, period. Any normal person would’ve gone mad while going through the things I did. I hated it with all my guys, but now it’s all good – and I love it!

2010 will be a very interesting part of my life as I am graduating in June, and the rest of the year will be dedicated to job hunting and working… full time (whoah!). Getting through the final semester will be a pain in the ass FOR SURE. A friend of mine went through it and has now graduated. I will be following his footsteps in no time.

I am also thankful for having travelled to Israel this year and seeing family members I haven’t seen since I was a baby. It was a great experience and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Unfortunately, I wanted to travel to another location in the world (goal was 2 for 2009) but it didn’t happen.

This year, I am going to make 2 resolution lists instead of one, simply because some things take priority over others. The 1st list contain all of the important developmental things I will set out to achieve. The 2nd list will list things that I should always be keeping in mind, like going to sleep on time instead of writing blog posts 5:30 in the morning!

Here are some of the things that will be on the lists:

1. Further develop my programming skills. PHP, MySQL, JavaScript (jQuery), ActionScript, etc.
2. Learn mobile web and web app development. Creating mobile phone optimized sites is insanely important!
3. Write tutorials for this blog! Too bad this didn’t happen in 2009. I love teaching.
4. Start doing Icon Design. This is something I’ve always wanted to do. I LOVE symbols!
5. Work on personal projects! There are at least 4 projects in the works, and 2010 should be the year where it all comes to life!
6. Start earning money from what I do online. I think it’s time to start earning a profit from all of my online activity. This means placing ads on this blog, which everyone tells me to do!
7. Graduate. This will mark a major milestone in my life. The final semester will be tough, but I am ready for anything!

So, what about you, guys? It’s a brand new decade! What do you wish to accomplish in 2010?

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The fact that I am graduating after next semester (June ‘10) makes things extremely exciting! Regardless of the amount of classes I am taking come this January, nothing can surpass the amount of work and sleepless nights I just went through. Here are the classes I took:

1. Advanced Web Animation (Flash, ActionScript 3.0, Web Animation)
2. Advanced Web Strategies (Web strategy, marketing, a bit of JavaScript, PHP, MySQL)
3. Advertising Design II (Concepts, concepts, and more concepts)
4. Design Internship (Interning at an Interactive Design/Development agency)
5. Art History (Prehistoric to Gothic)
6. Macroeconomics (Economy, supply & demand, economic conditions, business)
   

90% of the people who see this list call me crazy, and I don’t blame them. I don’t regret anything one bit. I learned and achieved more this semester than ever before. It’s funny how all the best work happens right as you’re about to finish your degree.

I learned invaluable skills in Flash, and gained amazing portfolio pieces from Advertising Design II. The Design Internship allowed me to work on projects for Fortune 500 companies, and so forth. More after the jump…

Next semester, I will be taking all of the senior level courses, as well as 1 math class, and 1 elective of my choice:

1. Senior Project (Semester-long project that will be graded in the end)
2. Design Team (Work in groups with real clients to provide design solutions)
3. Portfolio (Develop our portfolios both digital and print)
4. PHP Programming (Learn to program and develop web apps in PHP)
5. Quantitative Math (A class I should have taken in my 1st year)

I absolutely cannot wait until Senior Project! The project I have planned (an Operating System) will define who I am as a designer, and everything I can do. This project will be very close to my heart, and I plan to document its development on this blog. I am certain you will find the process very fascinating!

I plan to have a very good job after I graduate, and this project combined with my portfolio, will be my ticket. I will master everything I set my mind to. I will create anything in the best possible way, utilizing my skills in Web Design/Development, Flash, Advertising, and more.

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We are all designers with experiences ranging from vast to none at all. When I started designing websites 8 years ago, I was nowhere near as good as most of these people. Here are some examples of websites from friends of mine. Note: They are still works in progress.

Be Happy Bella – is a website dedicated to the Twilight Saga, and everything about it. You will find everything from summaries of the books, character bios, photo gallery, and so forth. Tons of work went into the making of this website, by someone very passionate.

Road Trip USA 2009 – documents an American Cross Country with a Toyota Prius. It features all the information you would need, including but not limited to gas prices, camping grounds, places to visit, and more!

Toned Physique – This website is dedicated to nutrition, exercise, and straying healthy altogether. It is still in its early stages of development for the time being. It will feature guides on exercising, eating right, and so forth.

Web designers, what are some of your experiences when you first started creating websites? Please share your examples and thoughts in the comments.

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Everybody has an ego of their own. Everyone knows better than the other. There is rarely ever any order when it comes to settling something, no matter what it is. Some things have to do with (apparently) uncontrollable habits, if I may even call it that. Even when dealing with the smallest and the most mundane things, arguments have to break out which lead into further problems.

If they were just a little more considerate of the people living around them, things might be somewhat different. How hard is it to keep the mosquito net up when opening windows? How hard is it to not “clean” someone else’s things because it appears to be unorganized? There is no such thing as setting boundaries with these people. My property. Your property. Understood?

I don’t want to sound like I am blowing steam out of my ears, but after years of constant reptition, it will get to anyone. I just wish that a great opportunity comes along sometime soon that will earn me my ticket out of here. I don’t know, maybe it’s just me who is incompatible with this type of lifestyle.

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On top of the endless conversations I’ve had with her (the fitness model), I received many tips and was shown how to achieve the best results with various exercises. I understand that credibility is extremely important when it comes to giving instructions. As Humans, our egos are responsible for making sure that we are not outdone by an inferior subject. We tear apart and break down anyone who claims something  in which they have no apparent credibility.

What I am getting at is that, to my friend, my above-average knowledge of working out and exercising is rendered useless. I am not a licensed trainer, and I don’t have the physique to compliment the knowledge. Does that mean that my word (aka advice, suggestions, etc) cannot be trusted? After the days of combined online research, professional guidance, and the months spent at the gym, would one still rather hear it from a licensed professional?

Credibility is believability. In cases such as this, your word may not be as worthy as that of an actual professional, regardless of where or how you acquired your knowledge/experience. Why is something like this so complex? Just because I don’t have Arnold’s body doesn’t mean I know any less than he does. If Socrates personally asked me to spread his words of wisdom to others, would people believe it coming from me?

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I’ll leave it up to you to check out the rest after this one.

I understand what these ads are mean, and what they’re supposed to do, but I completely HATE them! Her voice is just traumatizing and lures you in for a few seconds, only to make you say “Uhhhh….. Palm Pre?”

To Ad Agencies: We all love unique and original ads, but stick with trying to surprise us in ways we enjoy. Kthnxbai.

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Working in the design world, file backup is probably the single most important maintenence rule. You ALWAYS want to keep backups of your files, documents, photos, videos, music, and so forth. If you’re running a Windows machine, you should be taking note with extra care as Windows machines are more prone to viruses (and other infections).

External Hard Drive are extremely cheap these days! There’s no reason why you shouldn’t invest in something that can save you hundreds of hours, depression, and tears. Do the right thing and get into the habit of backing up often. There are tons of solutions available out there that will automate this process for you on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis – your choice.

Side note: If you’re one of those people that has a million different files and folders scattered on your desktop and around the computer, you need to learn a big lesson. Organizing your files will not only make your backup-process much easier, but you will feel less cluttered when everything is easily accessible.

Windows Backup sofware, Click here!
Mac Backup software, Click here!

If these solutions are not suitable for you, a simple Google search (or a Bing.com search) will help you out.

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I wake up in a hotel room with my family, somewhere down south, or the west. Had breakfast, spent time with the family, and then I just took off wandering somewhere. Naturally, I find myself all alone. I don’t know where I am, or where to go to ask someone for directions. Then, I was hit with a sudden urge to run. I don’t know why, or where I was supposed to run, but I did, and so I did.

It felt good, as usual, but this time was something special. I wasn’t getting tired, and I felt like I wasn’t running fast enough. The adrenaline was just about ready to explode out of my body if I didn’t do something cater it. I closed my eyes, let out a loud roar to exert the energy, and not a second later my eyes began to tear exuberantly. At first, it didn’t hit me that I was running next to a train going full speed up north. I felt excited, but the fear that was rushing through me trumped it 10 times over.

What seemed like an hour but was really a minute or less, came to an abrubt end when I realized people were expecting me somewhere. A mix of emotions started to pour out of me at a rate that exceeded that of Niagara Falls. I walked back the apparent miles that I ran, slowly, sometimes taking a quick run to verify that what just happened was real. I wasn’t sure. Confused of what was happening. I made it to that somewhere, said nothing of what happened and stayed silent for what was left of the day, trying my best to suppress that Niagara Falls. Continue reading for more….

The day is new, dry, but beautiful. I am lost. I approach a train station waiting for the next one to take me somewhere. Knowing that I did not need a form of transportation, I felt it could guide me in some direction I did not know. The train came and the man said to me, “Where ya’ going boy?” I pulled out a map from my jean pocket I did not even know I had and pointed to a town up North where I thought peace would be. I entered the empty train cart, not a soul in sight. I closed my eyes, feeling strange, different, scared, excited of this “discovery.”

The next day I woke up feeling different. The same in many ways, but some things were a bit off – in a pretty neutral way, if I may add. Before anything could happen, it all jumped to me running as fast as I could, somewhere. I started running after a train, and I saw that it was going underground. It was a challenge, I was scared, excited. WOOSH the sounds went, tunnels magnifying the noise by what seemed like a million. Ecstatic, I ignore it all. Eyes shedding liquid like before, train changes directions and I’m all alone, forgetting the fact that I am now one with the air.

I was approaching a stop where there were a lot of people. I crept up to a platform unnoticeably, and started walking. I recognized a relative of mine waiting to board a train, as he was helping others get on since it was difficult for people for some reason. Some of the people had to cross over the train by climbing on top of it, and then jumping down to the other side. My turn came, but it was too late as the train started to move and distance itself. I told him I can do it, but he didn’t believe me so I just went for it. I used my new “power” of flight in a way that was unnoticable to others, and felt some sort of weird pride that was new to me.

Standing there, all of a sudden everyone is gone with no trains in sight. It didn’t bother me as it appeared that isolation was what I wanted. I look down to the ground while thinking to myself “Now what am I going to do?” Still, with fear and joy, confused, not knowing what would happen from that point on, I rise into the air and wondered as my feet distanced themselves from the platform. I floated and vanished into the real world, somewhere.

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