For those interested in what I’ve been working on at work lately, I introduce our Star Trek Online Community Site.  I was responsible for designing and setting up the site.  I was quite glad to find out my coworkers were all geeks– they all understood when I told them I based the design off of the LCARS interface.

I normally don’t dream about work, but since the site’s launch I’ve had two dreams of being on the U.S.S. Enterprise.  It was quite fun to mentally be on board of a spaceship for a night.

Also on the site, you’ll notice I’ve implemented new share links on each article.  These allow you to share content on Facebook, Digg, Twitter, and Buzz.  It was a small project, but one I’m proud of since I worked up the solution myself when other premade options didn’t fit my needs.

Join the conversation! What have you been working on lately?  Do you dream about work?  Have you ever wanted to join Starfleet?  Post a comment!

I’m not one to complete too many Internet memes, but Jerry Godwin posted an Album Art meme that caught my eye:

1 – Go to “wikipedia.” Hit “random” or click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
The first random wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.

2 – Go to “Random quotations” or click http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3
The last four or five words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album.

3 – Go to flickr and click on “explore the last seven days” or click http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days
Third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

4 – Use Photoshop (or similar) to put it all together.

5 – Post it to Facebook as a note and tag the friends you want to join in

So after a short amount of tinkering, here’s what I’ve come up with.  I’m not entirely satisfied with it, but for the small amount of time I put into it, I’m pleased:

Attribution: The Flickr image I found

Maybe one of these days I’ll even post the 25 Things meme.

UPDATE: Derek’s done one as well. Looks like mine is the only one to seem to make sense.

Related Posts:

• Don’t tell Egad…

With a new year comes new year’s resolutions.  Many of which include blogging more.  Here are some of my thoughts to kick start your blog in 2009:

After setting up blogs for a handful of developers and other companies, here are my Four Tips for a Successful Blog*:

1. Post on a consistent schedule. In high school, my week would revolve around the facts that simcity.com was updated Tuesday and drcsite.org updated Thursday. Keeping a consistent schedule of posts will bring a consistent stream of people coming back. I know it’s tough, but it’s worth it.
2. Be human and humorous. My favorite blogs show that their authors are real people I can relate to. The best blogs make me laugh or learn. Also, ending the post with a question is a great way to draw in user feedback and grow the discussion.
3. Descriptive titles are awesome. My first blog only used one word from each post as the title. Although it was poetical, it wasn’t helpful for users–or search engines–to tell what the post is about.
4. Each post should have at least one image. We’re visual creatures and a great image will draw people in and also instantly provide an idea of what the post is about.

Currently my favorite blog to read is  Tim Schafer’s Double Fine Action News.  For more examples, check out my links page.

*Successful can be defined in numerous ways.  For many, it’s an increasing number of readers.  For some, it’s a small but dedicated community of readers.  For others, it’s something else entirely.

What do you think?  Do you like blogging?  Do you read a lot of blogs?  Do you prefer to write in a paper journal?  What are the reasons you blog?  Share your comments!

Recently some of my awesome friends have started blogging.  This inspired me to start blogging again as well.  Which kindled some redesign thoughts for AbstractPenguin.com.

I don’t plan any major rehaul until 2009, but I thought it would be nice to start with a new penguin logo.  Don’t get me wrong, I love Egad (shown right).  He’s done wonders for the site over the past four years. But…

Um, how else can I say it? “You’re being let go.” “Your department’s being downsized.” “You’re part of an outplacement.” “We’re going in a different direction.” “We’re not picking up your option.” Take your pick. I got more.

Although I greatly enjoy working in Photoshop, my digital illustration skills needed improving.  So I’ve started doodling around to create a new penguin.  Once a frightening stranger, I’m becoming fast friends with the Pen Tool.  Here’s a sneak peak at what I’ve got so far, but it’s far from done:

Vector Penguin

His left (right on screen) fin seems a little… strange.  That needs some fixing up.  And he’ll need a face.  And a name!  Perhaps Victor because he’s a vector graphic?  Perhaps Egad the Second?  I’m also thinking about making him more abstract somehow…  Further bulletins as events warrant.

What do you think?
So while I’m working on a new penguin, your job is to start thinking of what other changes you’d like to see to the blog and Abstract Penguin.  What sections do you like the most?

These past few months have had some thrilling adventures in both the real and virtual worlds I explore. For now, I present you with Journey, my in-character journal for Myst Online: Uru Live. I think dinah and xamount at Angled Whiteboards get the award for most accurate and humorous description of one of my web sites:

“Deg [...] is journaling his experiences deep in Myst Online. So deep, in fact, that I have no idea what he’s talking about (Bahro screams? Hinged versus sliding doors?). But it sure sounds all kinds of intriguing.”

Check out Journey and see what I’ve been up to down in D’ni. In the meantime, I’ll keep chugging away on school/social/work/everything excitement.

Myst Blogs, after a rather inconvenient outage, has returned online today. I apologize for the downtime and have taken steps to reduce the chance of it occurring again.

I’d also like to mention that Tweek has started Uru Blogs, an aggregate of Uru explorers in-character journals.