In a previous post, I lamented how quickly things were flying past, and promised that I would show you some of what I've been doing… Well, I proudly present the first installment, the newly revamped SASPAC website.

What's SASPAC? Check out the site to find out. We're the Western Cape distributors for it, which means that we help schools reduce paperwork, find details very quickly, record when kids are naughty, print reports and just generally administer school matters efficiently.

The goal was to simplify and streamline communication of the new range of products in the suite, provide a more flexible system for uploading & downloading support documentation and service packs, and explain what the system actually does to schools that aren't aware of it.

The site looks like mine? Yes, that's correct. I've wanted to apply my layout (and thus a blog-based one) to communicating a business product and its benefits for a while, and it made sense to use what I've learnt here to SASPAC. One of the nifty features (and my first application of it), is a dynamic tree browser which (via Javascipt) scans a specified IIS directory and generates a linked, hierarchical file list automatically. If you care about these things, the site is valid XHTML, uses pure CSS (no tables), and has a footprint of 540kb. Yes, that's correct, just 540kb…

The main background image consists of a 20px high tile, the pattern which I drew pixel-by-pixel and shaded afterwards. It's an optimized .PNG, and 5.71kb in size.

In addition, I also created a set of paper-based single-page brochures to go with the site (or is it the other way round?!)

The brochures were designed to be efficiently printed on a standard colour laser printer, enabling low-cost, small print runs with little toner usage.

More to come in the next few days…

:: Update :: I looked at what I said about the image being 5.71kb, and thought "is that the best you can do?". So, I increased the sharpness, and re-optimised it with reduced palette depth (48 colours), down to 3.45kb. Oh yeah...

You asked me if I could do something for you in a rush. I was busy, but you were in a pinch, so I helped you out with pleasure. I gave you an indication of the cost, which we agreed on. I gave you recommendations against what you wanted, and explained why it couldn't be done perfectly - conditions outside of anyone's control make it very difficult. I also told you that I would do it as best as it could be done, which I did.

I completed the task we agreed on, you changed your mind. You gave me a completely new set of parameters, which I adapted to, but against which I recommended. You complained about the rushed timeline, and about how important it was. I understood, and called in one of my colleagues to help ensure that what you requested was done as quickly as possible. We worked until past midnight, getting everything done properly.

After six months, you still haven't paid us. You complain that we're a rip-off, that we charged you double for a certain portion of the work. Yes, that's correct, we did charge you double, because we did double work - not because of a mistake on our side, but because you changed your mind.

Here's the thing: We're very, very good at what we do. I have no qualms in saying that. Our clients are loyal, and we love doing business with them. On many occasions, we bust our balls for them, because we know that they appreciate it. When I recommend something, as an expert, please trust me. Don't complain about deadlines, and then forget to keep up your end when I've already committed way-past-after-hours. I'll be honest… You're one of those unprofitable clients I very happily fire, but I want our money. If I felt that myself and my partners were in the wrong in any way, I'd happily come to an agreement. But we're not, so please give us our money. Then, after that, hit the road.

:: Update :: After some eyebrow-raising, and because I'll always be reasonable, I removed "f*** off" from the end of the post, and replaced it with "hit the road". I'll stand by my belief in business honesty, but I also have to consider my business partners. There you go.

:: Update 2 :: (28/01) Debt settled, thank you very much.

Every day, I read a bunch of RSS feeds, mostly from websites of people who:

• Do work I like (usually, they're good web designers)
• Come up with original ideas
• Understand business better than I do
• Are funny, and entertaining
• Are influential

The first 4 points are valid reasons for reading what these guys (and girls) have to say, but the 5th one is not. At a stage, it was all part of a grand scheme to get 100 comments a day on this blog. If I'm commenting on the A-list blogs, and I'm echoing the general industry "thought of the moment", then surely I'll get in there and become one of them, right?

Wrong.

I've recently realised that I don't want 100 comments on an entry, because chances are good that 94 of them will be pointless, and won't add any value whatsoever. And that's the topic of this post:

My friends Charles, Adrian (blog forthcoming he promises us) and I have been discussing the world's neural network situation since Monday, with Charles very validly criticising blogging. This was what we argued about:

The world's information infrastructure (mainly the internet) is starting to become congested. Not up to a point where it's a real problem, but that point is coming.

Up to now, people who had something worthwhile to say (by publishing scientific information, technical knowledge, or valid, substantiated opinions) were clued-up enough to do the publishing they needed to do. They could create a web page, structure it properly, and fill it with worthwhile information. That's why, when we're searching for a solution to a technical problem, we can usually find it within at most the first 2 pages in Google.

With blogs appearing, and going mainstream, EVERYONE is starting to gain access to publishing information. The problem being that what they're publishing doesn't necessarily have any value at all. There's very little point to entries about getting up in the morning, showering and feeling sad because a partner left for work. Sure, it adds value for the individual involved, but not for the global population. Now, with blogs, that information is getting globally published, where it should be private, if only to restrict congestion. Try to see a few years ahead - sure, search technology will increase exponentially, but it can only do so much with a bunch of rubbish to sort through.

Charles aptly described the problem: "Giving everyone a blog is like giving a kid a machine-gun, and telling him to go play."

Thanks to Rich...! for providing the stimulus to actually put this down on screen like I've wanted to.

As I was driving past the Mercedes-Benz dealership between my office and home, I noticed the following:

•  SL 600 Roadster

•  SL 65 AMG Roadster

And then a colleague spotted a black CL65 the next day, in the same vicinity.

For Pete's sake, this is freakin' South Africa –who's buying these things?

I got back from holiday yesterday, and thought that I 'd say it again. Yes, I've said it before, and I'm going to keep on saying it.

Life is a wonderful thing.

Even through its sad moments, good is always there. I watched and smiled as locals in Thailand not affected as badly as their countrymen banded together to load up trucks with food to deliver to those worst affected by the disaster. I smiled again as I drove past a traffic officer in Swellendam on Sunday, one who'd stopped to help direct traffic past a young couple who'd broken down.

I smiled as I looked at the incredible dinner my mom had cooked us for Christmas, and realised just how lucky I am. I live in South Africa, go on holiday in places like Knysna (where my mom stays) and Stilbaai (where doing nothing gracefully is the best thing to do), bask in year-round sunshine, can swim, canoe, water-ski and windsurf if I like, go for mountain bike rides whenever I want, and live 2km from my office. Sweeeet, just like the mega-tasty trifle dessert pictured below.

Happy new year!