A past post, still valid

NOTE: I originally wrote the following post on September 14, 2006 on a different blog. That blog is withering on the vine, but I still think this post is worth bringing back form the dead:

Hey all, I don’t believe in coincidences and there’s been a lot of converging in my life the past week. I keep hearing and reading stories of people and companies with which I’m familiar and their boiled down mantra is what I already know: Do what you love. Love what you do.

First, I returned to my alma mater over the weekend and presented to the design students. I recapped my life after ND and ended on some of my recent projects. On more than one occasion, I had an out-of-body experience looking back at me and thinking, “Is that all you got?” I wish I could have shown side projects like painting or photography or experiments or something that felt more like me and not an assignment as part of my job.

Empty. Not from a home life standpoint but “professionally” I guess.

On Sunday, I stopped by the old ‘hood in Chicago and ran into some neighbors who passed along an article on the guys who started Threadless. They’ve made a side project into their ONLY project. Well done, gents. I remember when you used to program PHP for my now defunct business.

Flew home that night and caught an interview with Ze Frank on the NPR show On The Media where he has taken a site that experiments with community and has been able to build a living around that (I think!).

Then I get back to the office and come across a fantastic speech by Milton Glaser talking about defining himself as a Designer/Citizen. It’s brilliant. Read it.

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HP.com problems are no mystery.

PC Magazine columnist, John C. Dvorak writes about a pretty miserable experience trying to fix his wife’s HP printer. First, the printer never displays the correct warning for low color ink cartridge. Then, when he tries to search online for updated print drivers,

I typed “2210″ (the model number of our printer) into the Search box. I was told that HP has used 2210 in the names of numerous lines of notebooks, a line of desktop machines, a pocket PC, and even a digital projector. And, yes, some printers.

How can you manage a beast the size of HP when its problems are as basic as redundant model numbering? I have a similar situation with my all-in-one at home. I’ve had it for over 6 years now so, yes, it’s out of date, but finding drivers on hp.com is an exercise in frustration and futility. Add to that the fact I’m on a Mac and the lack of support grows.

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