steve kwan user experience designer

I ☐ this shirt!

(August 31st, 2005 - 11:38PM)

Props to Joel Spolsky (from Joel on Software) for the link.

Things that came to light from a discussion with a crazy guy outside of Blenz on 15th and Lonsdale

(August 30th, 2005 - 8:23PM)

• A lot of people named Steve smoke.
• Telus is evil.
• If you don't want to buy a cell phone, you can always go to the police station and make a call using their phone.
• Plants feel pain. Perhaps more pain than animals.
• Birds are happy.
• There is no heaven or hell. Hell is right here.

Whua?

(August 29th, 2005 - 11:14PM)

Def Leppard in my top four? I should get new music.

Current music: The Tragically Hip - New Orleans is Sinking
Current news: New Orleans is sinking

#4

(August 28th, 2005 - 3:17PM)

#4: Def Leppard - When Love and Hate Collide

Def Leppard: the age-old punchline to the joke, "what has nine arms and sucks?"

Well, sucky or not, I like 'em. I saw them a few years ago when they played GM Place. I think they were just in town again, but I didn't go this time.

I was originally exposed to Def Leppard by my uncle. Since then, I've listened to their amazing greatest hits album, The Vault, more times than I can count. When Love and Hate Collide is definitely one of the top songs on the album.

Listening to the album reminds me of the many hours I've spent traveling on highways across the United States. The Vault was a staple during Kwan family vacations.

Def Leppard has released a new greatest hits album, Rock of Ages. Check it out.

1. ???
2. ???
3. ???
4. Def Leppard - When Love and Hate Collide
5. U2 - Where the Streets Have No Name
6. The Waterboys - Fisherman Blues
7. Leonard Cohen - Dance me to the End of Love
8. Dave Matthews Band & Paul Oakenfold - When the World Ends
9. Massive Attack - Angel
10. Stereophonics - Mr. Writer

That's the way to fight back

(August 26th, 2005 - 11:14PM)

Doom - October 21st

Insight into social stigma

(August 26th, 2005 - 11:01PM)

I never thought there was an excuse to hit a woman.

Then I met my roommate's girlfriend.

Things that came up in a Google image search for penis

(August 24th, 2005 - 10:24PM)

1 2 3 4 5

Maturity is overrated.

XMHell

(August 23rd, 2005 - 6:53PM)

How many XML formats do I need to implement in our archives system? Today people started showing interest in our ability to export Dublin Core. That's something I tackled in my spare time. So much XML... Don't get me wrong, I think XML is great, but I'm starting to get sick of all these <start> and </end> tags.

I also got into a heated debate at work today about how the Open Archives Initiative's Harvesting Protocol works. What kind have nerd have I become when I get into heated debates about archival harvesting protocols? I majored in Data Communications at BCIT, and that's nerdy by any stretch, but I think I've taken it to a new high.

I think that's enough hyperlinks for one post.

If I were a Dungeons & Dragons character

(August 22nd, 2005 - 9:29PM)

Bye bye baby, don't be long

(August 22nd, 2005 - 3:21PM)

I worry about you while you're gone...

It's my birthday!

(August 21st, 2005 - 1:09PM)

23 years old.

Song of the day: Jimmy Eat World - 23

I am Steve, hunter of mosquitoes

(August 19th, 2005 - 9:37PM)

I was being attacked by mosquitoes!

My room was full of them. I killed a lot, went to bed, and when I woke up in the morning there were a ton more.

How do I win this war?

Bio updated

(August 19th, 2005 - 12:56AM)

For the unobservant, I updated my bio.

Green tea

(August 18th, 2005 - 10:13AM)

I'm trying to replace coffee with green tea. It's not working very well. I'm going for coffee.

Happy birthday Sarah!

Minor changes

(August 17th, 2005 - 7:43PM)

I removed the links page from the site, as it was out of date and generally useless; all of the important links are on the left.

I also added The Caverns to my friends menu. I figure Arvind should get a little more attention.

What I did today

(August 17th, 2005 - 7:22PM)

• Showed a client how cool hierarchical patrons can be
• Talked about family trees with a client
• Did the dishes (this is a major accomplishment)
• Got a little anxious about finding a roommate by September 1st. (If anybody's looking for a roommate, let me know)

They're on a mission from God...again.

(August 17th, 2005 - 10:21AM)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0330083/

Tomorrow

(August 16th, 2005 - 11:07PM)

Currently listening to: Salif Keita - Tomorrow (Sadio)

What I accomplished today

(August 15th, 2005 - 9:19PM)

• Went to work (the first time I've been there since my vacation)
• Took a long lunch
• Shuffled around all the shit on my bedroom floor
• Boarded up the front window of my house to improve air conditioning, thus making my house look more like a shanty
• Posted an overly long vacation discussion on my site, that will probably only be read by Richard
• Learned that, according to Metacritic, the lowest-rated movie made since 1999 is Bio-Dome.

Here I am again

(August 15th, 2005 - 7:26PM)

Back from my Alaskan cruise! Wish I had some good news to report, but quite the opposite. I'm in a pretty lousy state of mind.

The boat - The Norwegian Sun - was beautiful. The food was great - and in almost unlimited abundance. I spent a lot of the time at the gym, which was spectacular. The equipment was great, there was a wonderful hardwood floor, and a whole row of televisions in front of massive glass windows overlooking the water. Really amazing. Sure beats Fitness World.

On account of the many trips I made to the gym, I'm in the best shape I've been in in some time. My left knee and right hand, both of which were injured, seem to be a lot better (thanks to orthopaedic insoles and acupuncture).

The scenery in Alaska was great from the boat, but the places the boat stopped were far from impressive. First was Ketchikan, a quaint Alaskan town that seems to exist for no reason other than to be a stop for cruise ships. This was the only stop that I actually bothered to leave the boat to visit. After were Juneau, Skagway and Wrangell. Although I didn't bother attending any of these towns, the descriptions from my relatives led me to believe that they got less and less interesting until they were just depressing.

Some pretty blonde girl kept eyeing me up. My family said I should go for it. They seem to be ignoring the fact that I've been seeing Sarah for over three years.

Essentially, my one week Alaskan cruise can be summed up like this:

• Eat
• Sit in the sun
• Exercise
• Watch onboard television
• Sleep
• Repeat.

I generally didn't sleep well on the cruise. I'm not really sure why. Perhaps it was the rocking of the boat.

Near the end of the cruise, I really started to get depressed at the thought of returning to work. This is a bit odd, because I really do like my job. However, sometimes trying to convince my boss of a paradigm shift seems to be a lost cause. It can be really depressing when so many mistakes keep happening and you are more or less powerless to change things.

On the last night of the cruise, I had a particularly lousy time sleeping. I only got about two hours of actual sleep before I had to depart. I then had to travel to my parents' house in Port Coquitlam, settle in, go shopping, buy a gigantic air conditioner (which is GREAT), and get to my place. By the time I got to my house, I was "pooched," as my brother would say.

When I got in I ran into James, who informed me that one of our roommates was moving out. On a good day, this news would be enough to send me into a depressive spiral. But I was already worn out and dreading Monday. On top of that, this roommate still hasn't paid August rent. She's half a month overdue. She is also only giving two weeks notice, when tenant law in British Columbia expects four. I really like this roommate, and I'm sad to have her move out.

To those looking to take a cruise to Alaska, I say this: the boat ride is fun, but the scenery could be more impressive. I think a cruise in the Mediterranean or near Hawaii would be far more fun.

But of course, none of you bothered to read my above rant. You want pictures, don't you? Here they are. Check the ALT text on the image thumbnails for descriptions.

			é

Replaced the U2 song

(August 6th, 2005 - 8:16PM)

I replaced the junky live version of Where the Streets Have No Name with the album version. Much better now.

This will probably be the last post I put forth before I leave for Alaska. I'm heading over to my folks' house tonight, and tomorrow we're departing. I'll be back on the 14th.

I might be able to sneak in some updates while I'm gone, but I'll have to find a reasonably priced Internet café.

Alaska

(August 5th, 2005 - 1:24PM)

I'll be going on an Alaskan cruise from August 7th to 14th. I will be drinking and having fun while the rest of you are toiling at work. Seeya!

I'll try to take some pictures I can post here when I return.

#5

(August 4th, 2005 - 8:00PM)

#5: U2 - Where the Streets Have No Name

Greatest band in the world or not, I'm not a big fan of U2. At least, not their recent work. But I certainly like some of the songs they composed in their heyday, such as Where the Streets Have No Name.

I actually wasn't exposed to this song until recently. It doesn't bear much emotional significance to me, nor do I have any story about how this song changed my life. Regardless, it's certainly a great tune and is deserving of being in Steve Kwan's top five.

1. ???
2. ???
3. ???
4. ???
5. U2 - Where the Streets Have No Name
6. The Waterboys - Fisherman Blues
7. Leonard Cohen - Dance me to the End of Love
8. Dave Matthews Band & Paul Oakenfold - When the World Ends
9. Massive Attack - Angel
10. Stereophonics - Mr. Writer

Observation of the day

(August 4th, 2005 - 7:55PM)

Schism by Tool might be about Tetris. "I know the pieces fit 'cause I watched them tumble down." Must be about Tetris.

Steve dealing with clients

(August 3rd, 2005 - 8:37PM)

The following are paraphrased versions of actual conversations I have had with clients regarding our software.

Client: "Steve, I'm having a problem with the software." [Explains problem] "What do you think the problem is?"
Steve: "The user."

Client: "Steve, the software is doing something funny."
Steve: "Funny 'ha ha?'"

Some of you might think that the above comments are a bit flippant for a professional. In, my defense, I think it is a software engineer's job to educate his users and help them solve their problems. Even if they are the problem.

Site down

(August 3rd, 2005 - 8:12AM)

Sorry for the recent downtime. My Shaw connection died. The technical support assistant informed me that it was "a database thing."

The great Style Sheet battle of 2005

(August 2nd, 2005 - 8:11PM)

I've been working on a new Web interface for Eloquent's core product. I'm making heavy use of Cascading Style Sheets, and have been trying out the "trick" of using styles to position elements within a document rather than using old-school <table> tags. What a joke.

I suppose there's a degree of convenience in being able to specify positioning within a Cascading Style Sheet, but I really don't think it's worth the effort. I'm hardly a guru, but if what I've seen so far is a good indication, it's almost impossible to make easily make cross-browser Web pages using CSS positioning. Tables are so much simpler.

I'm testing my new site in IE and Firefox, and I'm encountering a really annoying problem with the <button> element. Buttons in Internet Explorer seem to be overly long. Even if I apply zero padding and margins to a styled button, Internet Explorer seems to add its own spacing to the left and right of the button, making it longer. The more text on the button, the longer Internet Explorer wants to make it. Firefox doesn't have this problem.

Is this familiar to anyone? Does anyone know a workaround for this problem? Please let me know.

Christopher Lee's penis

(August 1st, 2005 - 11:22PM)

So Richard and I were talking about Star Wars (as we often do), and I brought up Count Dooku's lightsaber.

In case you didn't notice: Count Dooku, the idiotically-named Sith played by Christopher Lee in the newer/crappier Star Wars movies, has a very oddly shaped lightsaber. I'm not sure where the need to jazz up lightsabers came from; maybe George Lucas decided to spice things up a bit in the new movies. I figure it started with Darth Maul, whose double-bladed lightsaber in Episode I was admittedly cool.

Now, it's not much of a stretch to imagine a lightsaber as a sexual aid from a galaxy far, far away. But make it a little more curvacious and put a knob on the end, and you're really pushing it. I decided to find a picture of Count Dooku's lightsaber for Richard, and this is what I saw on Amazon:

I don't know what can be said about that. Christopher Lee already has that "creepy old man" image and really doesn't need more help from George Lucas. The "tool" itself is certainly questionable enough, but the boy's enthusiasm to be grabbing it by the hilt is all the creepier. One could work wonders with this picture and Photoshop. Like so.

I wonder if I'll go to jail for that.

#6

(August 1st, 2005 - 1:18PM)

#6: The Waterboys - Fisherman Blues

I hate fishing, but I love this song.

I don't care who you are or what sort of music you listen to. This song will make you want to dance. Even if you're into hardcode gangsta rap, this song will make you wanna get off your fat ghetto butt and jump around.

So to recap, here are Steve Kwan's Top Ten so far:

1. ???
2. ???
3. ???
4. ???
5. ???
6. The Waterboys - Fisherman Blues
7. Leonard Cohen - Dance me to the End of Love
8. Dave Matthews Band & Paul Oakenfold - When the World Ends
9. Massive Attack - Angel
10. Stereophonics - Mr. Writer

Oh, the suspense!