the blog http://blog.kylebisch.com a design and philosophy blog by kyle bisch Mon, 01 Mar 2010 23:04:41 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 Renewing and Rethinking New Years Resolutions http://blog.kylebisch.com/2010/03/renewing-and-rethinking-new-years-resolutions/ http://blog.kylebisch.com/2010/03/renewing-and-rethinking-new-years-resolutions/#comments Mon, 01 Mar 2010 23:04:41 +0000 kyle http://blog.kylebisch.com/?p=183 Of the 40% of Americans who made a New Year's Resolution 2 months ago, 33% have already bagged it for the year, and another 21% will join them over the next 4 months. But there is something wrong with the way Americans make resolutions that is reflected in these statistics. We think of New Year's Resolutions as a make-or-break deal. Either we will or we won't. We will succeed of fail. But this make-or-break mindset goes contrary to the idea of changing oneself and making a resolution in the first place.]]> Of the 40% of Americans who made a New Year’s Resolution 2 months ago, 33% have already bagged it for the year, and another 21% will join them over the next 4 months. But there is something wrong with the way Americans make resolutions that is reflected in these statistics. We think of New Year’s Resolutions as a make-or-break deal. Either we will or we won’t. We will succeed of fail.

But this make-or-break mindset goes contrary to the idea of changing oneself and making a resolution in the first place. Any person who has broken an addiction, wether that be smoking, alcohol, internet or the dozens upon dozens of other addictive things in this world, knows that it is not done overnight. The same is true with a New Year’s Resolution. There is not something magical about the first morning of the New Year that changes us, so why do we think we can change overnight.

A real New Year’s Resolution is not a make-or-break deal. If I forget to exercise 5 days a week (like I have for the past 2 weeks) then I shouldn’t just give up and go back to watching YouTube every afternoon. As I see it, there are 52 chances in every year to renew you New Year’s Resolution, and we’ve only used 8! Success should not be measured on a scale or failure or success, but on a scale of progress.

If I only exercised 3 times last week, rather than throwing in the towel, I should renew my resolution and try harder the next week. Today I took the first step to get back on track with my resolution by running for 30 minutes. I may not have made progress last week, but I sure will this week.

]]> http://blog.kylebisch.com/2010/03/renewing-and-rethinking-new-years-resolutions/feed/ 1 Beacon Rock Trail Review http://blog.kylebisch.com/2010/01/beacon-rock-trail-review/ http://blog.kylebisch.com/2010/01/beacon-rock-trail-review/#comments Mon, 25 Jan 2010 19:55:33 +0000 kyle http://blog.kylebisch.com/?p=163 The Beacon Rock Trail is one of the most unique trails I have ever hiked. It winds around open rock faces, switching back constantly and slowly climbing the giant rock column that juts up from the bottom of Columbia River Gorge. The hike itself is relatively easy and I witnessed young children and a wiener dog make it to the top.]]>
  • Difficulty: Easy
  • Length: 2 miles (out and back)
  • Trail Quality: Excellent
  • Location: 45 Min East of Vancouver, WA (Map)
  • Fee: None
  • Hours: 8am-dusk
  • Hiked: 1/23/10 @ 12:30pm

    • The view of Beacon Rock from the boat dock.

    The Beacon Rock Trail is one of the most unique trails I have ever hiked.  It winds around open rock faces, switching back constantly and slowly climbing the giant rock column that juts up from the bottom of Columbia River Gorge.  The hike itself is relatively easy and I witnessed young children and a wiener dog make it to the top.

    The views from the trail are better than the view from the top, although the trail itself is the most amazing part of the hike.  It appears to have been built by a mining town with no regulations whatsoever (See image below).

    The trail is concrete or rock in most places with a few wooden bridges, but these paths are built directly into the side of the cliff.  Handrails are present for nearly the entire hike.  A few sections through forest do not have railings, but they are necessary in many sections.

    The park also offers several other trails, seasonal campsites, rock climbing (difficult) and other outdoor opportunities.  Find out more information on the Beacon Rock Park website.

    The trail gate is part-way up the trail. Closes at Dusk.

    A section of the trail on the side of the cliff.

    ]]>     http://blog.kylebisch.com/2010/01/beacon-rock-trail-review/feed/ 1     News and updates http://blog.kylebisch.com/2010/01/news-and-updates/ http://blog.kylebisch.com/2010/01/news-and-updates/#comments Wed, 20 Jan 2010 04:11:49 +0000 kyle http://blog.kylebisch.com/?p=153 It’s been awhile, but I’m still here working on projects and surviving as a freelancer. So since the last post I have started and finished the following projects:

    **The Detail Difference website has been designed but we are currently in the middle of the coding process.  Hopefully it will be completed by the end of this month.

    I also spent two months up in Southeast Alaska last summer working on a small fishing boat.  Not anything like The Deadliest Catch, but still very hard work.  After getting back from Alaska I officially changed my business name to Orange Tie Designs and have been working on finding time to get that website going.  For the time being it is simply a “coming soon” site here: www.orangetiedesigns.com.

    Right now I’m trying to finish the coding process for The Detail Difference, create the Orange Tie Designs website, setup a photography blog, setup a blog for a friend, and this website will eventually become an outlet for my meandering thoughts, ideas, questions (along with answers), book reviews, and possibly even philosophical dissertations if I truly end up with to much time on my hands.  You will probably notice some of those things appearing on this blog even before the transition as I get my bearings and work on ‘finding my voice.’

    I will try to make announcements here as I finish those projects and move forward, but you can also follow Orange Tie Designs on Twitter to hear more often what I’m up to in regards to my business.  If you want to hear more absurd updates, that are probably quite meaningless, then you could follow my personal Twitter account.

    ]]>     http://blog.kylebisch.com/2010/01/news-and-updates/feed/ 0     http://blog.kylebisch.com/2009/03/150/ http://blog.kylebisch.com/2009/03/150/#comments Thu, 26 Mar 2009 23:32:25 +0000 kyle http://blog.kylebisch.com/2009/03/150/ Hopefully more posts will be coming next week. I’ve just got so many projects…

    ]]>     http://blog.kylebisch.com/2009/03/150/feed/ 0     http://blog.kylebisch.com/2009/03/145/ http://blog.kylebisch.com/2009/03/145/#comments Fri, 20 Mar 2009 16:43:56 +0000 kyle http://blog.kylebisch.com/?p=145 Welcome to Global Neighborhood, a Spokane non-profit and new client.

    ]]>     http://blog.kylebisch.com/2009/03/145/feed/ 0     Google SketchUp http://blog.kylebisch.com/2009/03/google-sketchup/ http://blog.kylebisch.com/2009/03/google-sketchup/#comments Wed, 11 Mar 2009 21:42:46 +0000 kyle http://blog.kylebisch.com/?p=74 Chip TrayI mentioned using Google SketchUp in a previous post about a wine rack design I could finally render in 3D. While using it for that project I thought of a previous client request to design a plastic chip stand that could hold five bags of chips upright on a larger shelf. At the time of the request I had to decline helping them because I simply didn't have the capability to work in 3D.]]> Chip TrayI mentioned using Google SketchUp in a previous post about a wine rack design I could finally render in 3D. While using it for that project I thought of a previous client request to design a plastic chip stand that could hold five bags of chips upright on a larger shelf.  At the time of the request I had to decline helping them because I simply didn’t have the capability to work in 3D.

    I went back to their design specs with Google SketchUp and I was able to fulfill their request and even include measurements, sizing, color, and some graphics in the final design for them.

    Not actually the house I'm designing. Just some practice.

    Not actually the house I'm designing.
    Just some practice.

    I discovered Google SketchUp in an effort to do some 3D modeling for a house I am attempting to design. I was looking for a simple, free, 3D rending mechanism. Google SketchUp is that and more. It is also very intuitive to use and can be used for both simple designs and more complex designs. It works by pushing and pulling 2D objects into 3D. A square can be easily drawn using that square tool. Then with a simple click and drag that square becomes a cube or crossbeam.

    There are also many more complicated features available that are best explained in the various blogs, tutorials and guides related to SketchUp.

    Download Google SketchUp Here

    ]]>     http://blog.kylebisch.com/2009/03/google-sketchup/feed/ 0     Large Format Printing http://blog.kylebisch.com/2009/03/large-format-printing/ http://blog.kylebisch.com/2009/03/large-format-printing/#comments Wed, 11 Mar 2009 17:33:17 +0000 kyle http://blog.kylebisch.com/?p=124 Large format printing now available. Check out the pricing and more info.

    ]]>     http://blog.kylebisch.com/2009/03/large-format-printing/feed/ 0     LeapFish http://blog.kylebisch.com/2009/03/leapfish/ http://blog.kylebisch.com/2009/03/leapfish/#comments Wed, 04 Mar 2009 23:48:15 +0000 kyle http://blog.kylebisch.com/?p=73 Leapfish

    I recently had a request from a client to evaluate advertising on a new search engine. My first instinct was 'absolutely not.' Why would you advertise somewhere new when Google has about 60% of daily searches, with Yahoo and MSN pulling in the next 30%? But I looked into the company called Leapfish for them and discovered some very interesting things.

    ]]>     Leapfish

    I recently had a request from a client to evaluate advertising on a new search engine. My first instinct was ‘absolutely not.’ Why would you advertise somewhere new when Google has about 60% of daily searches, with Yahoo and MSN pulling in the next 30%? But I looked into the company called Leapfish for them and discovered some very interesting things.

    First, they themselves are not actually a search engine. They simply use Google, Yahoo, and MSN for their searches but try to provide more than just that. Their search feature is unique in that it actively updates the results as you type. So if you type in “a” the results for “a” show up. Then if you continue on and search for “aardvark,” the search results update as you type. Although you would really nave to be a fairly slow typer for the results to update after every letter, it is still a cool concept.

    They have also integrated news, video, images, shopping, and answers into the search feature. Where you would normally see the Google ads, the top results for each of these categories is displayed. By clicking on ’shopping’ the most relevant Amazon.com and Ebay aardvark results show up. Similarly, news is provided by the Yahoo news feed and videos are provided by YouTube. The videos also begin playing by simply mousing over them, so you don’t even need to navigate away from the page.

    The most interesting feature to my client was their advertising model. Where Google and Yahoo charge on a per-click basis, anywhere from 10 cents to $3.50, the Leapfish model is more based on the idea of purchasing a space. A company chooses a keyword, then purchases one of the three ad locations. Their ad will always appear in this location for that search term, as long as they pay the yearly fee, with no further fees no matter how many clicks the ad receives. They can choose to sell the space to someone else, or lease it to another company while retaining ownership, but as long as they own it, their ad cannot be bumped by a company with a higher advertising budget.

    This advertising model very unique although the effectiveness of the ad is still dependent on the number of people using the search engine. So will people leave Google in favor of Leapfish? The keywords are not cheap, but if people make the switch it could be a very effective advertising venue.

    ]]>     http://blog.kylebisch.com/2009/03/leapfish/feed/ 1     IE vs. Firefox http://blog.kylebisch.com/2009/03/ie-vs-firefox/ http://blog.kylebisch.com/2009/03/ie-vs-firefox/#comments Mon, 02 Mar 2009 22:19:29 +0000 kyle http://blog.kylebisch.com/?p=97 Mozilla Firefox LogoYesterday I was doing some research on browsers and search engines for a client and stumbled upon some very happy news regarding browser usage. As of January 2009 Internet Explorer is no longer the majority browser on the internet. It's percentage has been steadily dropping since Firefox was introduced, and now sits at 44.8%. Firefox has been steadily increasing since it was introduced and now controls 45.5% of the market.

    ]]>     Mozilla Firefox LogoYesterday I was doing some research on browsers and search engines for a client and stumbled upon some very happy news regarding browser usage. As of January 2009 Internet Explorer is no longer the majority browser on the internet. It’s percentage has been steadily dropping since Firefox was introduced, and now sits at 44.8%. Firefox has been steadily increasing since it was introduced and now controls 45.5% of the market. 

    Part of this is most likely be due to the introduction of Google Chrome, which has surpassed Opera and Safari, taking 3.9% of the market since its introduction in September.  However, over the last year Opera and Safari have made some progress with increases of 0.9% and 1.1% respectively.

    As a graphic designer who regularly codes HTML, CSS, PHP and some javascript, I am very happy that a browser available in all major computer platforms is in the forefront of the pack, although IE web page rendering, as quirky and annoying as it is, will still be a consideration in coding for a long time.

    Download Firefox
    Give Opera a try
    All statistics came from w3schools.com

    ]]>     http://blog.kylebisch.com/2009/03/ie-vs-firefox/feed/ 0     Wine Rack Design http://blog.kylebisch.com/2009/02/wine-rack-design/ http://blog.kylebisch.com/2009/02/wine-rack-design/#comments Tue, 10 Feb 2009 19:32:02 +0000 kyle http://blog.kylebisch.com/?p=76 Wine RackOnce upon a time I was sitting in a contemporary philosophy class, and while the class was usually quite interesting, my mind would wander. While most students might think about what it for lunch, what homework they had yet to finish or which guy/girl they liked the most, I designed a wine rack. OK, I might have finished the design after class, but I figured out the gist of it while in class. The only problem with my design is that I don't currently have the means to build test models, much less a finished product so the design has stayed in my notebook until quite recently.]]> Wine RackOnce upon a time I was sitting in a contemporary philosophy class, and while the class was usually quite interesting, my mind would wander. While most students might think about what it for lunch, what homework they had yet to finish or which guy/girl they liked the most, I designed a wine rack.

    OK, I might have finished the design after class, but I figured out the gist of it while in class. The only problem with my design is that I don’t currently have the means to build test models, much less a finished product so the design has stayed in my notebook until quite recently.

    Enter Google SketphUp. A program made by Google for 3D design and modeling. The basic version is free to download and use (both Mac and PC), and includes all but a few of the features available in the ‘Pro’ version.

    This program allowed me to model my wine rack design and bring it one step closer to a final product to use and sell. The wine rack will be made from two sheets of thick sheet metal. They will be bent to form a stand and then bolted together with a 2 inch gap between them. Holes drilled in both sheets will support the up to 26 bottles by their necks at a slightly downward angle.

    If your interested in producing the design or purchasing once it is in production, please contact me.

    See more images of the design in my portfolio here.

    ]]>     http://blog.kylebisch.com/2009/02/wine-rack-design/feed/ 0