Radical Hive

I read a lot of websites to keep up on all of my geek news, but luckily the web is filled with “internet celebrities” who have helped shape and inform my “internet worldview”. It’s interesting that as I was compiling this list I realized that everyone who’s on this list is either self employed, or has created their own start-up. What does that say about me?

I think it might indicate that I’m a cowardly entrepreneur. Read the rest of this entry »

This is something new I’m going to try. Website Wednesdays, I’m going to try to write a bi-weekly column on websites and web usability every other Wednesday where I’ll talk about some of the challenges in developing modern websites.

I thought of a half dozen catchy titles for this post, but really it comes down to one thing. Usability. A usable website is a good website. The more usable your website, the more better a user’s experience will be with it, and the more successful it will be in the long run. Read the rest of this entry »

Comics, every kid's best friend

I finished the ridonkulously long list of titles that needed to get updated to All New Comics very late this month.

After I’m done updating I go through and see what I actually want to add to my list. My list, which I keep online here at RadicalHive, has recently been cut to the quick (I just don’t have enough space in my house anymore to buy tons of stuff). Read the rest of this entry »

About a year ago I decided that I wanted a little more flexibility in my PC use. All New Comics was taking up an inordinate amount of time while I was working on what can only be described as “mindless tasks”. This stuff sucked. We’re talking site updates, which involves copying and pasting. Spreadsheet updating, which involves…copying and pasting. Image editing, which after you’ve created actions in Photoshop really involves…copying and pasting. A little bit of development work, which honestly was just more…copying and pasting. A tiny bit of design work, which was actually unique and fun stuff to do. Checking to see who had paid what, making sure that orders are marked paid, complete, etc, and most importantly, responding to emails.

I was tired of being tethered to my office PC, and I decided that I needed to have the freedom that came with a laptop, so that I could copy and paste on the living room couch rather than begrudgingly sitting on the office PC annoyed that the world was passing me by. Read the rest of this entry »

I recently hired a junior web designer who will work with me to deliver awesome web projects.

Here’s the thing though, I’ve got pretty high standards, and when I’m looking for someone to work with me, I’m looking for something very specific. I want someone who’s basically a junior version of me, a mini-me if you will.

So I got to thinking, and I figured I’d put up what it is exactly I’m looking for when I hire someone to work for me.  I’m not unique in this, I’m sure that even though the postings don’t say this, anybody who’s in my position and is looking for a kick assed front end designer/developer, you’d see a pretty similar posting. Read the rest of this entry »

This is a time of purging for me right now.  I’m in the process of losing a bunch of weight.  Char and I are getting stuff ready for a garage sale next weekend.  Pete and I are almost ready for the end of August HobbyStar FanExpo Canada.  I’m clearing a bunch of designs and layouts out of my archives and killing off anything that I’m not going to be able to execute in the next six months…and finally…

I’m blowing out all of the “draft” articles on my site.

Over the next 10 or so days you’ll see a new post every day.  I have 10 different posts in my queue that are in various stages of completion, and I may as well blow through them.  The one you see below for example is from May, nearly 3 months ago.

As of Thursday July 24th at 7:20pm, there are posts ready to auto-publish at 12:01am for the next two days!

10 posts in 10 days.  As Heath Ledger said in The Dark Knight: “Here…we…go.”

Stardust is a movie based on the graphic novel by Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess, it’s in the vein of The Princess Bride, The Witches, and Willow.

At its heart, Stardust is a cute movie with a good heart, and sometimes that’s all you can ask for in a film.

The tale of a young man who crosses a forbidden wall and finds himself in a land of adventure where he meets a fallen star, recognizes true love, has daring battles, and becomes a better person because of it.

It’s not exactly kid’s stuff, there’s a lot of violence in the flick, and it’s pretty intense, but no more so I’d say than The Princess Bride.

The HD DVD transfer is beautiful, and you can really see the sharpness that makes high definition discs such an attraction.

The best part about this movie is that I picked it up from Blockbuster on their HD-DVD movie sale as part of the 3 for $24.00 promotion (along with Transformers and Beowulf…reviews coming soon).

The Dark Knight

The Dark Knight is blowing up records in a Joker-like orgy of box office destruction, and with good reason. It’s good. Damn good. The performances are once again note perfect, the characters are nuanced and deep, and there are easter eggs abound for comic geeks (not the least of which is the first Watchmen trailer).

The Dark Knight has been getting rave reviews since the first preview screenings a few weeks ago, and people are already murmuring “Oscar” for Heath Ledger, but could it possibly be that good?  Rotten Tomatoes is currently ranking it 94% fresh with 186 reviews!  That sounds pretty promising.

I picked up my tickets on Monday this week, opting for the 10:30 showing.  It was a good thing too, because when we got to the theatre at 9:15, there were signs announcing that all Friday showings of the Dark Knight were completely sold out. Read the rest of this entry »

When last I left you, I had secured hosting for my little secret project, and I had created a wireframe for it.  I settled on a technology, a content management solution, and had a really rough business model in mind.  Well late last night I launched the beta version of the site.

Presenting: Comic Lift, the user generated comic book news website.

Comic Lift is a website where comic fans can submit and Lift stories they think are noteworthy.  Good stories will get promoted to the front page, and stories that are “Lifted” by other users will get priority.

Please visit the site, create an account, and start promoting some comic related stories! Read the rest of this entry »

Last week was a big two movie week for me, I snuck out and saw Wanted by myself, and we took Kaylin to see Wall-E, which I believe based on her constant talk about Wall-E since, is her all time favourite movie.

Wanted currently holds the title of second best comic movie (after Iron Man) of the summer, and Wall-E holds the title of best movie of the summer (and second best Pixar movie of all time) for me personally. Read the rest of this entry »