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July 11, 2007 -- DeadFusion & What I've Been Up To
 DeadFusion Just so that everyone's up to speed I'll provide a bit of exposition on . A web development platform is the technology that usually talks to a database of info and powers blogs, shopping carts, generates image galleries, and more. Although there are many to chose from & they do about the same thing, they're either free or expensive. Free platforms include Ruby, PHP, & Python. Expensive platforms include ColdFusion. "Why would someone pay for an expensive technology if there are comperable free ones available?" Good question. I suggest you ask your web master. Recently a good friend pointed me to an article featuring the "Top 10 Dead (Or Dying) Computer Skills", upon which ColdFusion is #5: "This once-popular Web programming language ... has since been superseded by other development platforms, including Microsoft Corp.'s Active Server Pages and .Net, as well as Java, Ruby on Rails, Python, PHP and other open-source languages. It was really popular at one time, but ... premiums paid for ColdFusion programmers have dropped way off." ) ColdFusion Uses PHP To be fair, it surely can't help that ColdFusion has new owners every few years. It was created in the mid-90's by Allaire, then Macromedia acquired Allaire Corp. and ColdFusion, and recently Adobe acquired Macromedia and ColdFusion. One would assume that the upcoming release of ColdFusion8 would signal Adobe's dedication and belief in the ColdFusion development platform. Too bad the Adobe Labs site is running PHP not ColdFusion. That doesn't inspire very much faith in the platform, does it? It should be mentioned that I've started drawing again. Something I really haven't done in about three years. I'm working on simultaneous drawings of the 2007 Shelby GT 500 and the Camaro Concept. If these turn out well my plan is to draw one of my dad's vehicles as a gift to him. May 7, 2007 -- Long Time No See, Bye-Bye TMT, & Hello StartFusion.com
 StartFusion.com Although it's been a few months since I've updated JohnKiser.com tons has happened. As you can tell, we made it back to the States just fine, but to read about the rest of our trip you'll have to read through my Oz Journal. It won't be complete for some time, so be patient... long story so don't ask. The biggest news since coming back to the States is that I've left my position at TMT and gone freelance with my own business, StartFusion Design. Why'd I leave after 3½ years? Even though my responsibilities and abilities as a designer tripled I never received a mention of a raise. Oh, but can't say too much... it might ruin any future chances of contract work. Whatever. Y'know how people say that stress can make you fat? I used to be very skeptical of that -- until I left TMT. When we left for our trip to Oz I weighed 246lbs, and walked here and there for exercise. During the trip I averaged 4-6 beers every day, sat on my ass, walked here and there, ate lots of great food and left Oz weighing 244lbs. 7 days after leaving TMT I weighed 235lbs, and I hadn't changed my lifestyle in the slightest. I lost 10lbs by removing the most damaging stressor in my life. Now in the last couple of weeks we've changed our diet & included moderate daily exercise, which has helped me drop to 223lbs. Anywhoo, StartFusion is up and officially running, and the project I'm most proud of as a freelancer? The cover to Raintree Nursery's 2007 Spring Catalog. Said catalog reaches tens of thousands of customers throughout North America. StartFusion will be the hub for most of my professional art, so check it out from time to time. Also of note, is my StartFusion Gear shop at Cafe Press that has a few basic offerings right now. I'd really love to upload some of the new designs that I've come up with, but when do I have the time?! |
