You’ve probably heard by now, Firefox 1.5 is out. This is the first time i’ve seen icons explaining how to install the application on a mac, instead of the “Drag to your applications folder” text you usually see, they went the international route – visually showing dragging the icon to the applications folder. Great job Firefox team!

For a limited time I’m hosting the videos from the 11/10/05 Refresh Dallas meeting.

• View Stephen Anderson’s presentation.
• View Garrett Dimon’s presentation.

Read more about the Refresh Dallas meeting on Garrett’s blog as well as on Stephen’s blog.

I went to Richland College last week to speak to a portfolio class about some things i’ve learned in the past 5+ years in the design field. Titled “10 things I wish they told me” (pdf) I went over things that I noticed students “missing” when I was in school.

One new slide i added (i also gave this talk at ATI earlier this year) was a model I call the “Designer Career Pyramid” (pdf). I wanted to show what I think is a somewhat typical growth/career chart was for a designer.

Starting at the bottom, in school you learn may different types of design – from video to print. As you move “up” the pyramid you start to narrow your skills to a particular design area that interests you. As you continue “up” you move from doing these things to thinking and directing these things, until at the “top” you become a expert at whichever part of the design field you’ve decide you enjoy most (hopefully!). I also added a pay scale to this model, more for the students, as I think college kids really want to know what they can make someday – these numbers were not really researched, but I think it’s possible.

I’ve had this idea in my head for awhile, but have never put it down on paper before. Download the Designer Career Pyramid and see for yourself.

A friend of mine wanted me to plug a local googlemaps mash-up called Friday Night Hangout.

This site was developed by the UTA Libraries: GIS Program to demonstrate the capabilities of geographic information systems, the Google Maps API, and the power of combining the two.

This application demonstrates the integration of geographic information systems analysis with the Google Maps API. Answer all of the following 7 questions and the geoprocessor will calculate the best location in Tarrant County, TX for you to hang out. All user selections are stored, so who knows…maybe someone else will be hanging out there with you…

I’m glad to see some interesting “web 2.0″ apps coming out of North Texas!

I’ve posted some photos I took at the Refresh Dallas meeting.

Great turnout – around 50-60 people!

Take a look and add a note or a comment if you see yourself!