So I’m doing the urban beehive thing this year, the empty hive constructed and sitting in the garden to get the neighbours used to the idea. While it’s unlikely to reap much honey in the first year, it might be useful to supply me with some data. Here’s the plan.
Yes, always late to the party but my old code plaything of choice (Director) seems to be at the end of it’s very long road so time to learn some new tricks. Xbee integration is some way off, but on my roadmap.
I had a little design exercise to complete for a recent job interview, and got a little carried away. Rather than file it away, I thought it might be fun to post it here, at least.
See, having stepped away from an intense, blinkered three years in a social network startup and having had a brush with mortality, trying to define what to do next has got me a bit stumped.
As a designer, it’s fulfilling to make good things so it’ll be along that broad path I think. While doing visual stuff is great fun, especially in motion graphics and the like, the youngsters seem to have a good deal more energy to put into it than I do just now. As design in a more basic sense, there are ideas around that are entering a phase of frantic arrival into reality – these include ubicomp, spimes, personal informatics. Massively interesting and important fields that are an inch away from mainstream everyday applications.
On the other hand, having been involved in a bigger picture for a while, something in the broad field marked strategy feels a bit more comfortable now, picking up on trends such as those mentioned above and fitting them into others from the ground (the street, more correctly) up.
Got this email from a new media design recruitment and freelancer shop yesterday.
To date [agency] has undertaken to pay you every four weeks provided you invoice us during that time frame.
Because several of our clients are taking much longer to pay us, [agency] will in future only be able to pay you once we have received the monies owed to us from our client with whom you have been temporarily employed on site. I do assure you that once we receive these funds, we will pass them on to you promptly.
This decision has not been taken lightly, but is designed to safeguard the financial health of [agency] and, therefore, you, as a much valued candidate.
I haven’t used them for probably a decade, so I doubt they have an up to date CV. Still good to see they are in business, although doing what now, it’s hard to say. If you don’t even get relieved of the risk of chasing clients for payment, seriously, what’s the point?
Well, we’ll see how long this keeps up. It’s been a long while since I did any blogging and in the intervening time a few things have happened which I shall mention once only, here:
Tioti – Started up a startup, got funded by angels and a VC, parted company from co-founder, got ill (see below) exited startup.
Being ill – Got bacterial endocarditis with multiple complications, nearly died, spent 3 months in hospital, received a replacement pulmonary heart valve, nearly died, mostly recovered now thank you.
There, done. Next post, onto more happy things.