tinynow

Man Almost Understands Woman

Fri, 04 Mar 2011 01:22:51 -0800

Beginning of Poem About Heaviness Distracted By A Song

Sun, 27 Feb 2011 09:34:05 -0800

The Unwilling Heaviness of Being A day later - we're at the Pavement show, watching the kids play futbol. 5 days later - I've got the same song on again - the b-side of Trigger Cut, and a live recording

from the 90s - So Stark (You're A Skyscraper).

http://blip.fm/profile/dawnrises/blip/62527527/Pavement%E2%80%93So+Stark+(You're+a+Skyscraper)

Matthew Kreiling

We're all in it together.

360-359-6473

Tinynow Design is a slick little design company.

Seat@theTable Writing is a business that helps with words.

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Going to See Picasso

Thu, 13 Jan 2011 20:40:00 -0800

http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/11131

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Is Colbert Right About Obama's Hopeless Romance?

Tue, 07 Dec 2010 12:46:00 -0800

The Colbert Report

Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

The Word - Unrequited Gov

www.colbertnation.com

Colbert Report Full Episodes

2010 Election

March to Keep Fear Alive

I am certainly would be more enthusiastic if he fought some more.

http://blip.fm/listen/The+Flaming+Lips::Fight+Test

What do you think?

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David Allen Says, "It's time to purge"

Tue, 07 Dec 2010 12:11:50 -0800

Want to know what to do with your life when you grow up? Start by cleaning the center drawer of your desk.

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Song: Mountaineers Got It Right 7 Years Ago

Fri, 05 Nov 2010 10:28:00 -0700

This song came out in 2003, but it feels like they're playing it right now!

Does any one else feel that this was ahead of it's time?

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Animation to Swallow Your Gut

Sun, 10 Oct 2010 16:08:00 -0700

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Six Sneaky Ways Stores Get You to Buy More - DailyFinance

Wed, 06 Oct 2010 11:51:40 -0700

http://www.dailyfinance.com/story/special-report/six-sneaky-ways-stores-get-you-to-buy-more/19647876/

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If I Decide To Go Into Hyperlocal Journalism...

Sat, 14 Aug 2010 18:55:00 -0700

...I might write some stories or series of stories like these:

Glass Street - (photo journal)
The Perennial Garden Sells Annuals - (an awesome nursery, more Boston Harbor than Eastside.
Mapmakers - Have a Rum Ball - "What's Growing Next to the Bakery?" (and where did the map go?)
Joy Berries - More Strawberry Than Strawberry (wild berries on joy street - what kind "beach strawberries" "coastal strawberries" or just delicious.)
The Delicious Curse - Blackberries are Sweet This Year.
Garden Envy - (photos through fences - easily an ongoing series)
Thimble Berries - Where to Find Them & Why They're My Girlfriend's Favorite
Who Has Honey? - Beekeeping on the Eastside
From the Same View - Business People Next Door (bad title - but good idea - profile people from neighborhood - pic in front of house?...)

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Lowering costs with improved usability

Fri, 06 Aug 2010 20:51:52 -0700

Public Servants,

Your are not alone among government agencies in having a difficult to navigate website - But, if you truly want to serve your clients (the workers, not the businesses) you will overhaul the website.

Here is one particular example among many.

Please excuse the sarcasm in the following illustration. I feel strongly that everything should be done to design an interface (human or electronic) that doesn't demean, confuse, and demotivate.

Please take a minute to follow a user's experience following a trail to nowhere.

Imagine being unemployed seeing a banner ad on the Tacoma News Tribune - training benefits! Good for me, good for the economy, good for the state.

Click.

Ok - how do I find some training programs.....

Here is what I see:

(PS: This is the address I would have to type to get back here or share with another interested person.)

http://www.esd.wa.gov/uibenefits/specialservices/training/training-benefits.php

I want to learn a specific thing. I'm very passionate about career x and I want to find "acceptable training program".

Click...

These five criteria aren't really helping too much right now, but it is nice to see that there is a link to a list of "eligible training providers." I assume that these are also "acceptable."

Hopefully, I don't try to read these criteria, because I might forget what I was her for trying to figure out what this "Workforce Training and Education Coordinating Board" what "my labor market" and "workforce development council."

If I carefully read this page I read the shortest bullet point (the 4th), and repeat to myself "Is not primarily intended" until my English degree kicks in and I realize that though an "acceptable training program may be "secondarily intended" for BA's "or higher" the sentence in fact says nothing new or helpful about the program.

I won't even get into the relevance of the last bullet point.

If I am like most people, I won't read everything on this page, but will go straight to the link, filled with excitement that I may be able to find a program that helps me build a career doing something I love -

"Eligible Training Provider List"

Click...

http://www.careerbridge.wa.gov/

Ok. Not looking like a list, but I see the link I'm looking for - "are you looking for the Eligible Training Provider List"

Click...

http://www.careerbridge.wa.gov/Page.aspx?cid=132

Yea! The page tells me that I've found the Eligible Training Provider List...

....

...

..ok

I realize there is not "list of Eligible Training Programs" per se, just another link to a page where I presume I will be able to enter "career x" and I'll know, when I see an x in the ETP column, I will find the info I need, which if you forgot was "a training program for career x."

...sigh...

Click...

Finally, I arrive at something that I think may be useful.

Why can't I get here on my first click?

Why doesn't it simply say, "Use this tool to find a training program and then contact us to see if we can help you afford it."

I applaud your efforts at gathering so much valuable information, but if it can't be used, or even found by the people who need it, your efforts are wasted.

Please forward this to whoever can make a difference in this widespread and COSTLY problem.

One more note: If the intention is to "force" clients to come to WorkSource offices, instead of using zero-cost electronic resources, this is an effective website.

Thank you for your time. Please contact me if you need more examples or more suggestions on improving your sites usability.

Sincerely,

Matthew Kreiling

Tinynow DesignSeat@theTable Writing

Social:

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“Remarkable Signature”

Sun, 01 Aug 2010 12:01:06 -0700

I send you what I regard as one of the most remarkable signatures ever devised by a writer. It is one which I have seen on hundreds of Government papers at Washington, D.C., where the man who uses it was for some years Expert Computer of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey and Astronomer of the Carnegie Institution. His name is Herman S. Davis, and he writes it as here shown. This signature is easily made with two swift strokes of the pen, and is not a mere monogram of initials, for it contains the full name, H.S. Davis, and also the year, month, and day of his birth — namely, 8.6.68. It has the further remarkable quality of being so symmetrical as to read exactly the same viewed upside down. — Mr. Russell Lang, Pittsburg, Pa., U.S.A.

– Strand, December 1908

via feedproxy.google.com

via Futility Closet

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201 A-List Tips to Rock Your Blog

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 17:54:30 -0700

There is a free .pdf that you can download (for the cost of your email address).

Just started looking at it and it is pretty good. I trust the authors, so I thought I would pass this link on.

http://www.alistbloggingbootcamps.com/goodKarma/?ref=arqwcic

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Not Shy?

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 14:15:50 -0700

Have you ever sent out a mass unsolicited email?

I'm about to.

All those friends, family and acquaintances who haven't heard from me in months or years are about to hear from me.

What will I be saying?

I'm not sure of the specifics, but it will basically go something like this:

Please help me to find clients who need custom websites. Small businesses or individuals who are looking to use a website or blog to grow should check out tinynow.com and get on the Slick Little Newsletter mailing list.

Why?

Two reasons.

1)In August, Tinynow Design (my new company) will be giving away a free website. The contest details will be in the first issue and will arrive in your inbox during the first week in August - unless you don't join the list.

2)There are 99 reasons to hire Tinynow Design to build you a beautiful, functional, affordable, and accessible website - analyze them here

What do you think?

Annoying, persuasive - a little bit of both?

I'd really love to get some general advice on how to approach asking people you haven't heard from to help you out.

Luckily, I'm not really asking for anything but a few minutes of their time and attention - but I value my time and attention highly, so I'd like to provide them with a feeling that it was worth it to click a few links and get distracted for a little while....

Anyway, let me know what you think.

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Clay Shirky on LOL Cats

Sat, 17 Jul 2010 10:31:00 -0700

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Aquarium Joke

Fri, 16 Jul 2010 20:17:00 -0700

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Good Joke About Speed Dating

Fri, 16 Jul 2010 20:00:00 -0700

When you open up with, "I'm kind of important, so you should listen to me," you mat be off to a good start. This is Nick Thune.

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Help A Clown Get A Job

Thu, 15 Jul 2010 16:58:03 -0700

I just got off the phone with Jusby the Clown

He was asking for some advice about how to find his dream job.

Or at least a better-paying, slightly dreamy job.

What kind of job do you imagine for a guy can get people to do this?

Matt Kreiling

kreiling@gmail.com
360-359-6473
----

Seat-at-the-Table Writing

DreamingRight.com

What can I do for you?

My profiles:

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All the Images for My New Website Stacked In a Pile!

Thu, 15 Jul 2010 11:30:00 -0700

I'm almost ready to launch my web design business site - you can imagine that I spent a lot of time messing with images.

Before laying them out into on big image file - called an "image sprite" - I imported all of them into Gimp - a powerful and free image editing program.

I liked the way it looked all by itself.

Not all the images are used on the final version of the site, but man! I want to use them all.

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7 Job Tips From A Confederacy of Dunces

Tue, 13 Jul 2010 15:42:00 -0700

7. When a true genius appears, you can know him by this sign: that all the dunces are in a confederacy against him. -Jonathan Swift

6."I find, dear reader, that I have grown accustomed to the hectic pace of office life... I have succeeded in in initiating several work-saving methods. I have taken to arriving at the office one hour later than I am expected. Therefore, I am far more rested and refreshed when I do arrive, and I avoid that bleak first hour of the working day during which my still sluggish senses and body make every chore a penance. I find that in arriving later, the work which I do perform is of a much higher quality. My innovation in connection with the filing system must remain secret for the moment, for it is rather revolutionary..."
~ Ignatius J. Reilly (as filing clerk) in Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole

5. 'Employers sense in me a denial of their values.'

4. 'They fear me. I suspect that they can see that I am forced to function in a century I loathe.'

3. 'I am still in the process of adapting myself to the tension of the working world.'

2. I do admire the terror which Negroes are able to inspire in the hearts of some members of the white proletariat and only wish (This is a rather personal confession.) that I possessed the ability to similarly terrorize. The Negro terrorizes simply by being himself; I however, must browbeat a bit in order to achieve the same end. Perhaps I should have been a Negro. I suspect that I would have been a rather large and terrifying one, continually pressing my ample thigh against the withered thighs of old white ladies in public conveyances a great deal and eliciting more than one shriek of panic. Then, too, if I were a Negro, I would not be pressured by my mother to find a good job, for no good jobs would be available. Pg. 123

1. Apparently I lack some particular perversion which today's employer is seeking. Pg. 156

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A Straightforward Approach to Problem-Solving

Tue, 13 Jul 2010 11:27:00 -0700

Maybe too obvious, but I liked it.

http://mysuperchargedlife.com/blog/10-techniques-for-effective-problem-solving/print/

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