Staying busy - new site!

OK, so it's not completely new, The Rainforest's website has been ar0und for a while, but this is the new version of it. I worked long and hard on it. The cool part is the gallery of plants that allows the guest to page through thumb nails of plants, immediately see a medium-sized photo, and if the guest uses a modern browser, he can see a maginifying glass when hovering over the medium photo. Clicking on the medium photo causes an in-screen pop-up to appear with the large photo of the chosen item in the gallery.

ParcGateway.info waits for public review

Although The Parc at Gateway (in Salt Lake City) has received a few write-ups, including an entry in Wikipeida, it has gotten my special touch. Check it out here.

Builders make progress on the lodge

As the snow blankets Lakeside at Saratoga Springs, Utah, rooms within the Lodge near completion. Would you like to get a peak? Check out the news section of the website, or go directly to the page about the lodge

Better living with no chores

There's a nice 55+ active adult living community just outside of Provo and Salt Lake City, and between the University of Utah, and BYU. It's called Lakeside at Saratoga Springs, a turn-key kind of lifestyle for those of you who want to live near a big city, yet have the peace and quiet of a small community. Oh, and the golf course next door is a great plus.

The community describes itself as:

A real active adult community with a staffed lodge providing opportunities for you to experience a variety of activities and events that let you enjoy the life you’ve envisioned.

Not bad, eh?

New website coming up!

For those who want to improve their active lifestyle through moving to a better neighborhood, check out iLikeUtah.com.

OK, it's on!

As you all may know, I have a couple kids.  What you may not know is that the neighbor downstairs and the one next door are not thrilled about them and the noise that they occasionally make.  Some of the noise is verbal, some from being heavy footed.  We have been trying to work it out  -- until today.  I got served today, sort-of.  I asked for a meeting of apartments in our building.  At 7:00 pm both showed up - my neighbor from apt. 5 and Macy- but Macy basically served me a noise complaint and left. It's got a legal tone to it, enough to hold on to the letter.  Anyway, the chronology flows something like this:

1900:  Noise Complaint is served to me at the corner cafe.

2000:  I finish my meeting with the neighbor in apt. 5

2140:  Recieved phone call from landlord.  The landlord informed us that he has received complaints about "the walking on the floor and the dog barking."  The landlord told us he appreciated the steps that we had taken so far to be neighborly.  

2300:  I actually read the letter and shared it with H.  We did an analysis of the letter and of the days events.  We arrived at the conclusion that they are laying the groundwork to take legal action against the landlord and ourselves.

Those who know me best, they know that I just want to get along.  So if it takes some reasonable accomodation to help others be happy, no problem, I can do that.

Not now.  I can't associate myself or my family with those using us to get a rent reduction or treat us in a threatening way.  Regretfully I say "OK, it's on!"

Everything is just a blog

I am trying to create an online food court. Since I started my attempt, even with websites to "borrow from," I have had a hard time wrapping my head around what exactly I am trying to do how I can accomplish it. Just Archimedes found the solution to one of great problems in the bath, so did I. I am sure that I felt the same jubilation that he did, but instead of running naked down the street shouting "Eureka!" I sat up to exclaim, "Everything is a blog!" Other things may be structured more complicatedly, but after the relationships within the online application are boiled down, that application acts like a blog.

A blog has several posts. Those posts may have one or more comments. Those comments belong to their individual posts. Each comment has a specific title and a body. A shopping cart has several products. Those products may have several varieties or sizes. Those varieties or sizes belong to their individual products. Each variety or size has a specific price and quality about it. This metaphor continues throughout the application. The noticable difference is not in the creation of the products, but in the presentation to the customer. On the shopping page the customer is not presented with either the blog post or the comment, but both at the same time with the relationship instantaneously displayed, all on the same page, in concise detail, and most likely in a grid format.

That last part may not make the most sense, but trust me. Boiled down, everything is a blog. When everything is clearly communicated, everything on a website is a formatted expression of the wishes and desires of the website's sponsor and his audience.