The first interview was with Robert Dempsey, Project Director of Atlantic Dominion Solutions a Ruby on Rails website and application development firm, and Founder and Director of Rails For All a non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion of Ruby on Rails to developers and businesses.

My interview with Robert is available in the Interviews section at Rails for All.

The second interview was with Craig Ambrose, a freelance agile web developer specializing in Ruby on Rails. In November, Craig began producing his Freelancing On Rails podcasts which have been a great insight into the world of freelance web development (something I’d like to try full time down the road).

Read on to view my interview with Craig…

1. How did you get into software development, and more specifically, Ruby on Rails? Did you have any university training or were you more self-taught?

I spent three years at uni (software engineering) but I never finished because I was doing a year of industry placement with a computer games company and got a bit involved in the project and lost interest in going back to uni. So, while I found university invaluable, I did find I was learning more once I left. I’m personally in favour of a more balanced combination of theory and practice. Usually whenever people give me a chance to rant about it I advocate an apprenticeship model for programmers, with a couple of days a week of “trade school”, covering all the theory, and a much heavier programming component that university usually offers, on real projects for real clients, rather than contrived problems.

I started using Rails a couple of years ago when I was at a local industry group (on the subject of design patterns) and pitching about the lack of good object-relational modelling layers in PHP and someone suggested that I try Active Record (and Rails). I tried rewriting a small PHP app I’d written in Rails instead and was surprised by how much faster it came together and how much nicer the code looked.

2. What kind of jobs did you have before freelancing and how did they help prepare you for this work?

I spent about 4 years doing C and C++ programming in a couple of different game development companies, and when the second one downsized, I started doing freelance work as a PHP programmer. After about eighteen months of that I was feeling a bit isolated and stagnant in my learning. At the games companied I’d been part of teams (of about ten programmers) and there were always more senior people to learn from. As a PHP developer I was working with a a couple of other programmers on occasion, but many of them were self-taught, which I don’t have anything against, but they didn’t seem to have much interest in pushing their skills beyond producing spaghetti and calling it programming. Also, I found that I was working more and more for the same client that I ended up being basically an employee.

In the end, I took a job at a .NET firm for a year. The work wasn’t terribly interesting, but I found that my “freelancing mind set” really helped in dealing with management and the companies clients. I was learning more again, but the organisation and technology where very conservative, so obviously I was being left behind. When I finally quit to freelance again (and this time with an intention of having a bigger variety of clients, and working exclusively in rails) I had a bunch of knowledge about what the bigger companies were doing. Still, I don’t think that the experience is entirely necessary, people can start freelancing straight away, providing they have ways of continuing their own learning.

3. What part of your job is the most interesting or rewarding and which is the most challenging or difficult? What motivates you to continue in spite of these difficulties?

The rewarding bit is not working for someone else. It’s good to be able to succeed and fail on my own merits, and make my own decisions about which technologies and development practices are most effective. I enjoy the face to face contact with clients, and the networking and marketting.

The downside is probably cash flow. A single contractor is pretty exposed to the feast and famine income of payments and gaps between projects. It seems to be slowly becoming less of an issue, but it’s probably the single biggest obstacle to freelancing.

4. From your personal experience in this field, what attributes do you think are essential for success?

Confidence. Everything else can be faked if you’ve got confidence. :)

Oh, I guess being able to program helps too, but that just requires practice and a whole lot of books.

When I came to MSU, I thought that the music industry was where I belonged. I knew performance was definitely not the path for me, so I took the production route. MSU offers two courses in audio production, both of which I passed with flying colors, but neither of which left me with a strong sense of confidence or inspiration to jump into the business. This was not the fault of the professor. It just turns out that I’d rather just listen to music and appreciate it, than create it on my own and push it into a market that I won’t waste time critiquing at this time.

Last spring, after finishing both audio classes, I spent a lot of time worrying that I was headed down the wrong road. As I finished up my last audio class, I watched my boyfriend, Adam, code away and make websites. I liked his freedom and I liked that he was making something that people could use. With music, people can absorb it – listen to it, dance to it, appreciate it. With the internet, you can interact – with people and with applications. It only became clear to me recently, but interaction has always intrigued me. I guess this comes from my fascination with determinism – I enjoy observing interactions and the effects of those interactions. Human interaction is particularly interesting. In my interactions with people, I’ve always liked to play a mutual role – lots of different groups of friends, never taking sides in a fight. I’ve also always enjoyed entertaining people – throwing parties is one of my specialties, you know. I like a lot of different types of people, I don’t like fighting, and I like to make people happy. Plus, I enjoy interaction. So, how do I make a career of this? Well, I had a whole summer to figure things out. So, I headed to Europe and forgot about the future. I also signed up for a few web-related classes before I left.

As you may have heard, Europe was incredible and completely life-altering. I came back to Michigan eager to do something enjoyable with my life (as well as, return promptly back to Italy). So, I gave into Adam’s praise of Ruby on Rails and spent the rest of my summer working through RoR tutorials and reading Agile Web Development with Rails. When school started back up, I had a Computer-Mediated Communications class as well as an Interactive Media class. From there, I built ExpressiveConnections.com for my Interactive Media class, and learned a lot about online interaction in the CMC class. It was a good semester.

My Scripting Web 2.0 class this semester is great. My “Is God Dead?” class has allowed me to explore determinism among other things more. And the other classes are, well, okay.

So, I’m enjoying the internet. I really enjoyed making Expressive Connections. I want to learn more, and I want to be really good at it all one day. I’ve only been doing this web thing for eight months, though. So, I feel like I have a ways to go. I also feel like I missed out on a lot during the first three years of college….I could have been taking programming courses and database classes. (It especially irks me that when I was in high school making websites for rock bands (the faces of greenwheel) and templates for Diary-x journals, or Freshman year of college when I made an online portfolio, that I didn’t recognize my interest in the web then. I guess I can excuse myself in high school since the characteristics of today’s “Web 2.0” (like interaction, participation, customization, and collaboration), weren’t quite there yet. I didn’t see the full potential of the web, then. And, I guess I can excuse myself for Freshman year because I built my portfolio site using Adobe GoLive and it was a frustrating experience, to say the least. However, looking at the old source code today gives me a good laugh.)

So now I’m going to graduate and need to figure out what I’m going to do with myself after that. I think I’ve almost come to some sort of clear rational decision, but I’m not there yet. Here are some things I’ve been thinking about:

1. Grad School – Human-Computer Interaction at U of M
2. Freelancing…
3. A real job somewhere…

I like freelancing because I can be my own boss and work on my own hours. I’m hesitant about getting a “real job” mostly because I have only been doing this 8 months. I barely have a relevant resume. And, I feel like there’s a lot more that I should know before going for a “real job.” Finally, there’s grad school. Honestly, this program at U of M sounds perfect. And applying is 90% positively in my near future, however, before I apply – I need to get Michigan residency. No more of these Out-of-State fees, thank you. When I am able to get residency, though, will determine which semester I am able to apply for. If I wait to get a place in Ann Arbor after graduation and then get residency, the soonest I could apply for is Winter admission. So, then I’d need to find something to do on a full-time basis between May and January. Whether that would be freelancing or a job or an internship – I have NO IDEA.

Sigh. But that is where I am now. Trying to make decisions. Excited about the future, unsure of how I’m getting there. I’m good at planning, though. So, hopefully it will all come together soon.

If you read this far, please leave a comment so I can bake you a cake.

Jewls

Check it out, kids: ExpressiveConnections.com has finally been announced.

Expressive Connections is a network for creative professionals – aimed at aspiring and accomplished writers and artists who are looking to begin or advance in a career utilizing their talent.

The site is in a sort of alpha-mode right now. We think it’s got a pretty solid start, though – which is why we’re inviting you to take a look around, create an account and let us know what you think – if you’d use it, or what features you’d like to see added, etc. It’s still got some kinks and we’re still working things out here and there. But we’ve got big plans.

The site started out as a class project for my Interactive Media class. If you’ve read my blog at all, then you have probably heard me speak of it vaguely – referring to it as my first real RoR, HTML, and CSS application. You may have also noticed that I keep referring to “us” and “we,” by that I mean myself and AJ Gorczyca – we are the “team.” Well, once again we find ourselves in the same course – this time it’s TC448 – Scripting Web 2.0. And if you read my very last post, then you would know that this class entails Ruby on Rails, MySQL, and Apache, and other things of the “Web 2.0” nature. Pretty f-ing awesome, basically. Well just like the last course we took together, this one has a group project – that is to develop a web site utilizing the ideas and languages learned in class. Since Expressive Connections already fit into these project requirements, we decided to ask the professor, Kurt Demaagd, if we could continue building onto the project rather than start again from scratch. He agreed and so you can expect to see a lot of new features and changes. Here’s what we’re aiming for:

• On-site private messaging
• Member endorsements and letters of recommendation
• Ability to watch favorite users, see who other users are watching, and see who is watching you
• User-submitted audio and video content for portfolios

It would just be wrong if a network for creative professionals left out musicians, producers, actors, directors, and everyone in between. So, we’re not going to leave you out.

This is where we stand and these are our plans for the next semester. I think you’ll see some exciting changes along the way. And, hopefully you’ll help us, too – by checking it out, creating a profile, or spreading the word around to others who may be interested.

It’s a work in progress and we want you all to help us in building the most exciting site we can, so any feedback you give would be greatly appreciated.

Jewls

• TC448 – Scripting Web 2.0
• ADV456 – Interactive Advertising
• REL491 – Is God Dead? Pantheism, Nihilism, and the Pursuit of Divine Knowledge
• PSY330 – Personality from a Psychoanalytic Perspective
• CAS380 – Job Search Strategies

Two of my classes are relatively related to my field, Scripting Web 2.0 goes over Ruby on Rails, MySQL, and Apache, and is taught by Kurt Demaagd, co-founder of Slashdot and board member on the Perl Foundation. So, needless to say – I’m pretty excited about that one.

The other class potentially beneficial to my future is Interactive Advertising. The class is centered around a group project in which we have to develop a predominantly online advertising plan for a local business. My group is working with John Kodeski of Relish Culinary Boutique. Now, if you visited that link – you’ll see that the site could use some work and this is where our group comes in with a plan (and also where I come in with my web skills – if he likes our plan, maybe I’d be the one to redesign the site, eh?).

The “Is God Dead?” class, is one of my more enjoyable courses. We’re currently discussing the viewpoints of the Dutch philosopher, Spinoza (Pantheism), and the German philosopher, Jacobi, who argued against Spinoza’s views. It’s pretty interesting stuff, if you’re into deep philosophical thoughts of God and the freedom of man, that is.

Next, there’s Personality from a Psychoanalytic Perspective with Bertram Karon. Pretty smart guy, pretty interesting stuff – however, I had him before in Abnormal Psychology and already I’m hearing the same stories . Still, interesting stuff.

And finally, Job Search Strategies. I’ve gotta do what I’ve gotta do.

Additionally, I’m taking introductory yoga classes at Center for Yoga in East Lansing. Those are pretty nice. Good stress relief.

Between all of these classes, I have been working on the site – which will probably be in some sort of alpha mode within in the next few weeks. Once finalized, I’ll of course post it here. I’ve also been working on a portfolio site for myself, once that is up – I’ll post it here, too. And on the weekends, I spend time with Adam. And that’s pretty much life.

Some other random thoughts over the last month:

• iPhone is AWESOME.
• I should have said this back in November but Incubus’ new album – Light Grenades is AWESOME.
• Going back to Europe in July will be AWESOME.
• And if you’ve read this far into my post, YOU ARE AWESOME.

I’ll stop now.

Take care now, bye-bye then.
Jewls

This weeks featured site is Blogs For Learning, an instructional blog for students and teachers that provides, “information and resources about the technical and pedagogical aspects of blogging in the classroom.”

Blogs For Learning is the brainchild of two of my MSU professors: first, Dr. Ethan Watrall, my Interactive Media I instructor, and second, Dr. Nicole Ellison, the instructor of my “Social, Cultural and Psychological Implications of Computer-Mediated Communication,” course.

…

I’ve been visiting the Blogs For Learning site periodically over the last month or so and must say that it is, by far, my favorite site of all the IDMs. It’s an elegantly designed “Web 2.0” site that allows registered users to contribute to a blog and submit articles (pending admin approval) on the topic of blogging in an educational setting.

The layout is clean and simple, yet stylish and modern enough to remain visually appealling. I really like how the site takes four basic colors (blue, green, an orangish/red, and grey) and uses several shades and variations of each to create a well balanced appearance. The small icons around the site also use these colors to spruce up the pages nicely.

The content of the site is all very well organized and simple to navigate. The only area that could possibly use some work, might be the search function. It appears to be somewhat confused in terms of case sensitivity – searching for “dopa” returns nothing, while “DOPA” returns a recent blog article, whereas searching for “rss” and “RSS” return the same results. Also, searching for article content doesn’t seem to be accurate (ie. searching “MSU” returned nothing, where “MAET” returned the most recent article, in which both terms were used). But, that’s a problem with searches that I am becoming more and more familiar with. In attempting to implement search functionality into my own project site, I’ve discovered similar problems and the difficulty involved in overcoming them.

Overall, I give the site 9.5/10 (-.5 for the search problems). Blogs For Learning is a very valuable resource that all teachers and students (of all ages) should be referring to in this new age of social connectivity and technology in the classroom.

First, you know ads are going to reach the News Feed of Facebook users any-day now, when you see flyers all over your campus asking students to join the Crest WhiteStrips Facebook group.

Here’s a link to a picture of the ad: Smile State

I read an interesting article on Web accessibility today. I’ve been running into the topic fairly often recently (as to be expected for web designers of any skill level), and I haven’t really been confident in what the concept really entails. This article helped point me in the right direction, though. One commenter said it best: “Make something accessible and you’re making it easier for everyone, not just ‘disabled’ people.”

The website for Interactive Media I is coming along nicely. Rails is still pretty frustrating for me, but I think I’m picking it up little by little. No designs have been implemented yet, though – it’s becoming critical that we work on that. Adam and I were playing around with the CSS layout yesterday and applied a three column fluid layout with both 100% height and width. It works and it looks good – however it won’t support faux columns and therefore, more than likely, will not work with the type of design that we’re aiming at. So we may have to look at some alternate options.

Well that’s all I’ve got for ya.

Jewls

This week on the class chopping block: “Rustboy”:http://www.rustboy.com/, a Flash site for the Brian Taylor short film project.

…

I normally dislike websites that are entirely made up of Flash, but in this case it works. It is the content itself, that makes this use of Flash appropriate. Brian Taylor is trying to lead visitors through the _process_ of his production and efficiently does so in his site.

The layout is very simple – _almost_ too simple. I think for such a graphically based film project, the integration of subtle textures and logos from the film into the main flash design would have helped to develop the overall theme and feel of the site. However, the fact that the design _is_ so simple, also makes it easier to focus on the more important content rather than the marketability of the film.

In the beginning, I said that I tend to dislike Flash sites and this is because of all the “obvious reasons”:http://www.davidplant.net/design/technology/flash.htm. Today, I think one of the biggest problems with Flash is its inability to allow for changes in text size. More people are upgrading to large, flat-screen, desktop monitors or to small portable laptops. In either case, looking at a Flash site like Rustboy could be difficult with such small text. One of the new trends in web design seems to be creating very fluid sites that can be expanded and enlarged for bigger desktops or shrunken for smaller ones, allowing for the clean and easy resizing of text. We know that Rustboy.com hasn’t been updated since January and was originally created in 2001. However, if the site ever should get a makeover, perhaps this fluid design would be something worth considering – especially when working with such detailed graphics. It would be great to see nice, full resolution images of the concept art and storyboards, etc.

The content speaks for itself on Rustboy. Brian Taylor is obviously skilled at what he does. The progress he’s made with the Rustboy character is impressive, however it’s unfortunate that his online efforts seem to have halted since January of this year. Hopefully we’ll see an update or two on the development of Rustboy, and as mentioned by Taylor – a site redesign “to reflect the new direction of the Rustboy movie.”

_Jewls_

I’m coding (with much help from “the b/f”:http://threadbox.net) a lot of Rails for this, and at first it was extremely frustrating. But, I’m starting to get the hang of things and we’re making a lot of progress. My teammate, AJ (a computer sciences major), is struggling to get MySQL functioning on his XP system – but once that’s up, he is going to try and help out with it as well.

At the moment, I’d say a good portion of the back-end is good to go. Now, we need to begin focusing on and implementing the actual design of the site. So, it’s time for all of us to do some Photoshop explorations.

We’re all pretty excited about the site and I think it will turn out pretty well for my first Rails/HTML/CSS project. Stay tuned for the launch, which should be around early December.

Jewls

UPDATE: Jason has “commented”:http://www.jasonsantamaria.com/archive/2006/10/10/class_critique.php on the collection of critiques by our class and I urge you all to read his response. He’s obviously a very intelligent and humble designer and I’m grateful to have had his feedback.

…

This site is alright. I like it better than the %“last”:http://jewlofthelotus.com/articles/2006/09/07/smalltransport-idm% %“two”:http://jewlofthelotus.com/articles/2006/09/22/idm-2-juxt-interactive%, however I’ve still found some quirks in it. Over the last two weeks, I’ve seen two style sheets applied to this site and even though it is not up now – I MUST complain about the first one.

The “October 2004/2005 Edition”:http://www.jasonsantamaria.com/archive/2004/10/01/october_edition.php featured a thin sidebar image on the left side of the page similar to that of the current layout. My problem with it was that the vertical lettering on the image was cut off on the left side. At first, I thought maybe my browser window was too small for the page, so I spent a moment resizing my window to try and get the whole thing. Well, it turns out that’s just how it was made. I really didn’t like this because I found it distracting and deceiving. Otherwise, the design was pretty interesting.

Unfortunately, the current design features a similar sidebar, only this time the text is horizontal – still cut off, however. This time it’s not as annoying, but I still think it could have been done differently. My second problem with this design is the placement of dirt specs on the background image. I thought there was dirt on my screen – I actually tried to wipe it off. I realize the image is supposed to look like an old page from a book, but those spots are really just unnecessary and annoying.

Lastly, I’d like to comment on the Flash photography gallery. The design is alright. Personally, I like to see thumbs for each image so I can go directly to the ones that interest me. Here, you sort of have to aimlessly navigate through the images with either the previous/next arrows that appear over the image or by randomly clicking the small orange boxes along the top. Also, while it may be a nifty little addition to the site, it doesn’t allow for total accessibility. Someone without the Flash plugin or using a screen reader wouldn’t get any information from this page.

Otherwise, the site is well organized, easy to navigate, and has a relatively obvious purpose.

…

Well I guess I’m really mostly just turned off by this website “[JUXT Interactive]“:http://juxtinteractive.com. It’s definitely designed to market to a very specific audience. It’s got very masculine tones and fonts that the strong masculine images around the page enhance. I found this design somewhat surprising though, once I’d seen their examples of recent work – which were for the most part more neutral than their masculine home page. I also found it surprising that most of their recent websites and past projects had very interactive, javascript and flash heavy designs, while their own home page was very static and hard. There is also no navigation on the site, you’re just supposed to scroll up and down in hopes of finding what you’re looking for – again, unlike many of their client sites.

But I guess the examples can speak for themselves on the design, skills, and creativity of the JUXT Interactive team. Their example websites are entertaining and in some cases addictive (like this site for “Nestea ICE”:http://www.nesteaice.com/index.jsp – in which it is your job as a flying forearm to turn the spastic sheep below you into an ice cube by pouring your ultra cold Nestea ICE on him). Nice.

Still, the JUXT Interactive team can’t impress someone with their portfolio of fancy JavaScript and Flash websites if their visitor doesn’t have images, JavaScript, or Flash enabled. Someone who winds up at JUXT Interactive with these things disabled might not be able to decipher the purpose of the page and move on.

With their impressive list of clients, this approach must be working for them though.