writtensoul [dot] net

Thanks to a tip from Jason Tan and the power of Feedburner, not surprisingly a product of Google, you can now subscribe to my blog through email! Just scroll over to the right-hand side of the page under “Subscribe” and enter your email address. You need to confirm your subscription by responding to an activation email and then you’re set to go.  If I write a new post, you’ll receive an email with the post embedded in it, so you won’t have to remember to check the website for updates!

Writtensoul [dot] net. Delivered straight to your inbox! Wow, I feel like a magazine.

Okay.  So I’m all for Web 2.0, seriously.  I love the idea of blogs, social network platforms like Facebook, etc.  But, seriously, I just do not understand Twitter. Something about knowing exactly what one is doing at every moment of their life and wanting to let the entire world know exactly what you’re doing at every moment of your life is creepy.

Look, I know I’m your friend and all but I seriously don’t need updates on your life every 5 minutes.  And something about the fact that the entire basis of this platform is just so that you can update every person in your life the moment you go potty or the minute a random thought that you probably shouldn’t share with any other person in the world pops into your mind, just doesn’t make sense to me.  I love you, kiddo, but I really don’t need to know that you just walked your dog at exactly 8:34 PM.  Honestly, I find most personal blogs boring because they’re just a regurgitation of one’s day: “I went to school. We got a new assignment. I did my homework. Yay. Now I’m sleeping,” so why do I need the minute-to-minute update of this anyway?

Also, it’s sort of ironic to me that all of these celebrities are buying into this tweeting business.  All of ya’ll complain already that people need to butt out of your life, so why give them the quick updates?  Why give stalkers more ammunition?

So, someone please enlighten me as to why Twitter is “the next big thing” because I really just don’t see it.

The past few weeks, I have come to realize the great importance of good design. This sounds obvious, but I think that there are few true designers in this world.  And, everyone is a designer in one way or another.  A teacher designs lessons.  An artist or a web designer designs their crafts and artwork.  A lawyer crafts their argument.  And yet, few people do it well.  Why?

There is a need to adopt a backward design methodology wherein desired results are FIRST identified and then decisions are made to support and achieve those desired results.  This is why objectives are such a key period of planning.  Incumbent on choosing these desired results is a deep understanding of the audience of your product or service.  For example, a teacher cannot decide on appropriate objectives if they are unaware of a student’s socioemotional environment or if they do not now the level of the students’ requisite knowledge.  Likewise, in web designing, the artist needs to consider the audience that will be viewing the site.  The artist should use bright colors if the audience is kids under age 12 or a simple, clean design to attract business people.  Further, with keeping the audience in mind and the purposes of the site, making the site user-friendly and easy-to-navigate will eventually increase its productivity.

I’ve finally turned the page and entered the next chapter by releasing my new version of WrittenSoul.Net! The principle that I was really going for here was SIMPLICITY. I wanted it to be easy to access all of the pertinent information on the site without needing to click unnecessarily. I hoped for a clean design without so many bells and whistles as to hide the content. Finally, I was looking for an added sense of professionalism. I’ve matured a lot since I first opened this website, and I hope that this version reflects that.

Yes, there’s still a few kinks to work out–especially in meddling with the Wordpress stuff. But, hopefully it will all be resolved soon. If anyone has any answers or suggestions about the double entry on any of the single post pages, please let me know! I have no idea why it’s doing that!

So, I know that I’ve been gone for a while from my site. College overwhelmed me and I couldn’t find a spare moment to update the website. However, I am very excited to get this new version up and running with cleaner content, a full wordpress backend, and a trimmer layout. The version is still in the works and will be for the next few weeks; but, rest assured, I will be returning shortly!

Here’s a little preview: I’m studying abroad in Beijing this summer, so I’ll be including multiple online updates with pictures-hopefully! Also, I’d like to get my full design portfolio online soon with commentary and room for feedback.