Well, Andy has some thoughts on dConstruct.. however is having problems with Technorati and the like at the moment so he has asked me to post a link to them.Highly amusing and well worth a read! Andy, if you are reading, I think you should also post your travel diaries! Anyhow, enough rambling - go check them out ! (more…)

Firstly, I’ve decided that next time I’m forced to skip the country for a few months, I’m taking my Mac. I’ve just booted up, and totally forgotten what my Blog posting software was called!I have to say, aside from the 9 hour flight and inevitable jetlag, the past few days have been brilliant. I am of course talking about dConstruct! Its nice to have a ‘Web Geek’ conference within walking distance of your house.As I have come to expect, the speakers were great - really inspirational and knowledgeable. I only wished that some of my business partners had been there for Jeff Veen’s excellent session on User Experience. Also really enjoyed the presentation from the Yahoo Guys, Simon and Paul - you have me wanting to run a Hack Day at work (or if you read Computer Shopper, apparently ‘Hack Amex Day’ may be a more apt name!). Another great presentation from Jeremy Keith - sorry for mistaking you for Andy Budd at the pre-conference party!Controversially, I really enjoyed Derek Fetherstone’s session on Accessibility. All too often you get people who run through the WCAG guidelines and convince you that if you follow them, then you have nothing to worry about. Derek did an excellent job at highlighting the real issues which, as a developer, you may not even be aware of. Great Job!Unfortunately I had to miss the MicroFormats picnic, which is a shame - I was quite looking forward to it and I think MicroFormats are going to follow in the footsteps of RSS and become the next big thing for making content accessible to non-browser applications. I think I’m going to head to the London Microformats vEvent at the end of the month to learn more….Of course the speakers weren’t the only people who made the conference what it was - it was great to meet the other attendees and put faces to the blogs which I frequent! In particular:

• Andy Mitchell (I already knew your face, but good to see you!)
• Dave Child (I love those cheatsheets!)
• James McCarthy (I saw more than your face…. always a pleasure)
• Stuart Gray
• Tom Anthony
• William Lawrence
• Paul Silver

All in all, I think I’m feeling more inspired (I’m tinkering with XCode now, working out how to go about making a Microformats plugin for Safari! plus also have a new article for the site which should appear in a few days… on resourcing/collaboration) and more…. community spirited? I’m quite interested in going to more of these conference and smaller events like Pub Standards. I wonder if there are any speaking opportunities for Financial Services geeks (more…)

Well, my USA trip is coming to an end… well at least for 3-4 weeks! Ironically, the main reason I’m heading home this week is becuase my VISA is about to expire, and I need to spend 2 weeks in the UK before I can head back! Probably back out here in October for Adobe MAX and more work!I have a 9 hour British Airways flight to look forward too on Tuesday, hopefully airport security will be tighter than my flight to Denver last weekend. I’m a tad worried that my laptop bag may be too big, but hopefully should be alright.Its been an interesting two months, I’ve been living in 3 different cities - New York, Phoenix and Denver. New York was fun, its a great city and I don’t think I could ever tire of being there. It is so big and so diverse, its great! I actually enjoyed the Arizona heat, the wild west atmosphere and Phoenix in general, there are some great people there and some cool things to do. Only weird thing, coming from England, was the fact that you have to drive everywhere… of course if you are driving a Mustang convertable then it does’t really bother you as much! Denver is very much the city in between. I really can’t make up my mind about the place. Parts of it I quite like, other parts I think are a bit scummy/redneck. Also lots of homeless people (compared to relatively few in NYC).Coming from England, its interesting to see the American attempts at British Pubs (a normal American bar, with a picture of the Queen Mum on the wall) and Fish and Chips (Battered Fish Sticks, served with French Fries). Always something to keep you entertained.I’ve also met new and interesting people, and feel that the work side of things has been fairly productive. I’ve really built on my ActionScript skills and had the chance to work direct with folk whom I had previously only spoke to on the phone. We have a long way to go, but we are (almost) on the right tracks, look out for some cool stuff launching later this year!Oh well, no doubt will be posting some more stuff next week from dConstruct. Quite looking forward to the conference, and the pre/post conference drinking! (more…)