Archive for the ' General' Category

EndNote “COM Exception”

Posted by Tom on June 10th, 2009

I’m working in a research paper we hope to get submitted to an Information Systems conference. I was going through the references when EndNote X2 stopped working together with Word 2008. Every attempt to change a citation resulted in the error “COM Exception: Command not found.” (I’m running OS X 10.5)
A quick Google showed a [...]

Don’t use Frontier Airlines, Priceline.com

Posted by Tom on March 17th, 2009

I’m stuck in Atlanta.
I booked on Priceline.com. I needed to be in Atlanta for a day, so flew in late last night via Frontier Airlines.
On the first leg of the trip (with Frontier partner, United), the flight left 20 minutes late because a computer failure required all baggage to be processed manually. Fortunately, the [...]

Blogging and cancer

Posted by Tom on December 20th, 2007

It’s been nearly six months since I last posted. Some have suggested I’ve fallen off the face of the earth. ‘Tis not so. I’m still here.
In July and August I was able to finish up work with the startup I’d been developing for, helping them see their first profitable quarter. The long hours hunched [...]

Saving lives: death and seat belts

Posted by Tom on January 23rd, 2007

This post isn’t about public education. It’s not about technology. It’s about tragedy.
I was driving home from a family reunion over the Christmas holiday when someone ran out in front of my car, waving for me to stop. It was dark. I was on the freeway. I swerved, missed him [...]

Provo Storm

Posted by Tom on August 2nd, 2006

It’s not very often you’ll find a comment here about my personal life, but a hail storm in July (after a week of 100° temperatures) and 90mph winds is a bit of a big deal. The storm tossed around helicopters at the nearby airport, and took out a couple of streets worth of power lines.
Being [...]

ABC Should Be Ashamed

Posted by Tom on June 18th, 2006

Like many soccer fans around the world, I watched yesterday’s World Cup match between Italy and the United States. The match was enjoyable, both teams were fun to watch.
I am however, embarassed and disgusted my the ABC announcers who repeatedly insulted not only the match referee, but every person who has ever officiated a soccer [...]

Goals for 2006

Posted by Tom on January 10th, 2006

‘Tis the season for New Year’s resolutions. I’ve put off the introspective musings which are all too common with bloggers; I want my blog to be about more than just me. However, with the hope that public goals are more likely to be accomplished than private ones, I’ve listed some of my goals, in no [...]

Helped by the World

Posted by Tom on September 13th, 2005

I had decided to not comment on hurricane Katrina or its aftermath, primarily to avoid the conversations devolving into finger-pointing and racism. I have some very strong opinions on these topics, but nothing which hasn’t already been said. My adding to it won’t change anyone’s mind.
However, I did come across an article that deserves [...]

Back to Blogging

Posted by Tom on September 8th, 2005

Nearly a year after a rather abortive attempt at blogging, I’ve decided to try again. I’ve chosen to violate one of Jakob Nielsen’s Top Ten New Mistakes of Web Design, by removing a handful of my old posts (it’s number six on his list). They weren’t me; they lacked personality, and tended to [...]

TAG-Strategia

Posted by Tom on July 28th, 2004

As this blog is in its (very) early stages, I think I should take a moment to explain where I plan to go with this blog. I wanted a place where I could discuss usable web design, and evangelize internet standards. The site layout is also in its infancy, and as I discuss [...]