Charles Apple

Last night, VizEds founder Robb Montgomery unveiled a massive rethinking of VisualEditors.com — basically, moving from the bulletin-board model that was created four years ago to something more like a social networking model.

Right now, this is really only a beta test. But less than 24 hours in, it’s looking pretty swell.

Is this a good thing or not?

I think it is. Just a couple years ago, the forums — and galleries and chatroom — at VizEds were jammed with activity. The site still has plenty of visitors — and Robb has the bills from his web host to prove it — but folks aren’t participating nearly as much as they once had.

Perhaps this is because navigation there can be a little complicated. Perhaps this is because the site loads so damn slow. Perhaps this is because folks are tired of seeing that drawing of me in the left-side rail.

Either way, I think you’ll find the new site much more flexible for the needs of VizEds members. And it loads faster, too, which won’t hurt.

Robb has set it up so you can integrate links from your new VizEds profile to your Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and NewsPageDesigner pages. I already have my blog spilling into my profile page, thanks to good ol’ RSS.

Robb assures me all our forum galleries will still be there for searching and reference purposes.

The only drawbacks? Two, that I have found, and neither is a major issue. First, you’ll have to join — even if you’ve been a VizEds member for years, you’ll have to create a new profile.

Secondly, we’ll lose our chat room. But hell, no one had used the chat room in ages. We had a ball in there. But we’ve apparently moved on.

Check it out. Take it for a test drive. See what you think.

Tech whiz Ryan Freebern of Plainfield, N.H. — and contributor to The Uber-Review — took the time this week to critique the little score-and-time-remaining screen bugs used by the major networks for their NFL coverage and to suggest a better-designed bug.

CBS bug:

FOX bug:

NBC bug:

Freebern’s proposed bug redesign:

The little “ying-yang” icon would be the network logo, of course.

My take is that Ryan is trying to squeeze too much into such a small space. I don’t agree that we need to know what yard line the ball is on. We can see that — thanks to the little arrows the NFL added to its fields markings a couple decades ago. And I don’t think we need the play clock every down, either.

Still, it’s an interesting exercise. This would make a great class project for some enterprising college professor out there.

Read Freebern’s critique and analysis in his technology and art blog.

Let’s pause a moment to offer the happiest of VizEds birthday wishes today to Brian Immel, a multimedia producer for The Spokesman-Review in Spokane, Wash.

Brian Immel. Photo from
his Facebook profile.
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A gifted photographer and programmer, Brian is perhaps best known for co-creating — along with his pal, Joe Barrentine — the CollegeFrontPage web site. Brian graduated last month from Washington State University.

Joe, by the way, is also a web producer for The Spokesman-Review.

A few samples of Brian’s photo work for The Spokesman-Review and for his college paper:

See more in Brian’s personal page at CollegePageDesigner.

In his final column for the Washington State Daily Evergreen, Brian confessed his addiction to technology:

For those of you who know me, I am a tech-head. A nut. A gear junkie. I have many names, and I am addicted to technology. There I said it. After years of counseling and hours of self-affirmations, I can admit it.

I like the way rubber buttons feel on a good keypad. I smile when software is functional, yet efficient. Hell, I sometimes just let out a big schoolgirl laugh when something works so well it’s just cool.

Brian’s graduation day. Photo by Joe Barrentine.
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…Technology isn’t about materialistic toys, gizmos or gadgets. Although that’s what I generally prefer to talk about. It’s about change, new ideas and new ways of thinking. It’s the direct result of the knowledge gained in the world we live in. Sure, there have been some fads a long the way, but overall I think technology has benefited us all in the long run.

…We’ve been through a lot, you and I. We’ve watched the tech landscape transform before our eyes, but this is just the beginning I tell you. This technology thing is here to stay.

Read more of Brian’s columns for the Evergreen here. Find The Spokesman-Review web site here and CollegeFrontPage here.

Brian shares a birthday with political figures Franklin D. Roosevelt and Dick Cheney, singer Phil Collins and actors Gene Hackman and Christian Bale.

Plus, today is Escape Day. Hmm. Does that mean we need to order Piña Coladas?

Best wishes for a happy birthday, Brian!