This chart by Julian Hansen is beyond lovely. I think I'm going to have to print it out and hang it in my office.
In other news…
Life at Saltmine U. continues apace. It has been exceedingly busy here, leaving very little time for blogging. One of my major projects, the intranet redesign's second phase, shown above, went live a few weeks ago. It was a bumpy road, full of delays in approval, being sidelined by other priority projects, code issues, and a last-minute showstopping bug that took three weeks to work around. (Though really, any last-minute bug is showstopping, I suppose.) This is the first time I've been able to delegate the coding, and just focus on the design and interface. Apart from a few complaints from people who didn't read the notice about the site not being compatible with IE 6, it's been received well. I do love that kind of troubleshooting, though. The phone calls ran like this:
—The intranet's broken.
—When you say, 'broken,' can you be more specific?
—It doesn't work.
—Okay, which bit isn't working, exactly?
—I can't get to [obscure page that by uncanny chance, was only ever used by this person].
—Ah. Are you using IE6?
—What's that?
—Your internet browser; when was the last time it was upgraded?
—Upgraded?
—Right. I don't suppose you had a chance to read that email sent out a couple of weeks ago, in which we let you know that you'd need to upgrade your browser in order to use the new site, did you?
—Oh. Er… no.
These conversations make me incredibly grateful that I no longer have to support an entire office as their IT monkey, on top of everything else I do. Now I only support my own team. (Which is more than enough, let me tell you.)
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I need a new iPhone soon. My first-generation iPhone is still working decently, but has been dropped so often that the camera no longer works. This is exceedingly annoying, as that was one of the features I liked best: being able to quickly take photos of things that caught my eye during the day. Should I get one now, or wait until the fourth-generation comes out in a few months?
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Also, I have a new doctor, who has a plan for treating my lithium-induced hypothyroidism. I don't usually get into health issues on this blog, but it's so massively life-changing to have a doctor who has the same condition I do, and who Gets It. Simply not having to argue with a doctor to try to prove that no, I'm not sitting on the couch and eating Doritos all day -- that's beyond wonderful. I'm optimistic about the plan she has. Even if it does involve giving up one of my two vices: french fries. Alas.