I love to write blog posts because my ideal reader is a clone of me on the other end. I enjoy my writing style, and I like most of my jokes. I would probably read my blog, except that sometimes I get a little long-winded and I would need Instapaper to help me finish the job on my couch. I also write really long sentences. Somehow, I thought this great feeling would translate to my book.

Unsurprisingly, writing the book has felt much more like slow torture because… well, because I don’t actually enjoy reading it as much. For one thing, I’m not nearly as snarky or personal. I have no illusions; most readers of my book have probably not seen every episode of She Spies and don’t really care how clever I think I am with obscure references that could shame Dennis Miller. On top of that, I’m (obviously) writing mostly about junk I already know. I’ve learned a lot while writing, but I’m still pretty exhausted with TypoScript conditionals before I ever start typing that first draft. At this point, reading thirty pages on browser-checking and boolean logic sounds like hell as a reader.

Here’s my great revelation, though: It doesn’t matter. I am not the ideal reader of my own book in this case. This is my ideal reader:

A combination of Andy Ihnatko and the version of me from four years ago. Technically, my goal is to teach all the stuff that I wish I could have easily learned from one (hopefully) well-written book when I first started TYPO3. In fact, I wish I had understood a lot of this just six months ago, but I already explained that I’m researched-out and sick of this knowledge at this point. As far as my voice, I would like to entertain Andy Ihnatko. In my imaginary world, Mr. Ihnatko decides to give up his career as a freelance journalist and pursue the much less stable career of a freelance web developer. Naturally, he picks TYPO3 as a good platform (he has good taste) and goes looking for the best book on templates that he can find. When he finds out the best book is probably written in German, he buys my book instead. Obviously, he enjoys my book immensely after reading it and recommends it on MacBreak Weekly even though it has nothing to Apple. I enjoy Andy Ihnatko, and I think he would appreciate my subtle sense of humor. As a bonus, he seems generally congenial, and I don’t think he would mind too much if my book wasn’t perfect. I love John Gruber and Merlin Mann, but I would be afraid to show them my slightly-flawed writing efforts. Andy would probably at least humor me and still get something out of it to help him build his new business as a hot shot developer.

Anyway, that’s my ideal reader, and I’m learning to be okay with the fact that it isn’t me. If I have to explain something a little too much, I resolve to stop getting frustrated. I’m writing to the version of me that didn’t know TYPO3 that well and the imaginary Andy Ihnatko that is becoming a TYPO3 developer; I’m pretty sure they appreciate the extra explanation of data structures that I added to the end of that last chapter.

Anyway, the new blog is up as a group project from the whole Vintage 56 crew, and I think it will be a great place to hear some of my friends talk about current projects and what we’re all learning about video, graphics, audio, iPhone development, etc. In the future, I plan on making sure that all of my most accessible web/iPhone goodness ends up on there. I’ll keep using this blog for the more personal and/or deeply nerdy discussions, though, so have no fear. I’ll also keep more sardonic posts on here. I know what you come here for.

In other news, my beautiful, thoughtful wife saw the new Vintage 56 website and blog and immediately gave me her unconditional encouragement: “You really need to update Pocket Revolutionary…  it’s pretty dated.” On that note, I’ll probably start working on that redesign right after I finish her new website.

Aside from my attack on the bourgeoisie of TYPO3 templating, I wanted to mention my big new adventure: Vintage 56. Yes, although I may hate the escapade that was freelancing (on the side), I’m really excited about getting to form an honest-to-goodness production/design agency with some great people that I’ve worked with at Generals International for years. Basically, we’ve figured out how to make our own mark doing web, iPhone apps, graphics, video, and audio production with clients we love and help out a ministry by donating a large portion of our profits to Generals. Actually, we’re helping a lot of ministries and medium-size companies right now because they’re getting the full agency treatment without the full agency budget. Basically, I get to work with really talented people, and I wanted to brag on them. You can check out http://vin56.com to see what I’m talking about (yes, the video works on iPads, iPhones, and iPods).

p.s. – You need to check out our graphic designer’s blog…  she’s awesome.

p.p.s. – We will be launching another blog for Vintage 56 soon, but I’ve been slacking off– writing a frickin’ book. Stop pestering me. Seriously. I need to go.

How does this affect this blog that I’ve been trying to write in more consistently? Well, I’m forcing myself to write an extra hour a night, and at least every once in a while that has to mean something other than “the book”. In fact, in the interest of writing a clear instructional book, I will be channeling 90% of my snarkiness, obscure cultural references, and general temperament toward outlets like this and the occasional telemarketer. The remaining 10% will probably make it into the book in a much more palatable dosage. On the side of helpful effects, though, this will give me more experience writing genuinely instructive articles. I’m already planning on blogging my process a little for those who haven’t already read the thousands of blog articles covering the same topic (I promise, I’ll offer something different…  like what word processor and meth dealers I use for late night working).

Now that we’ve eliminated the lazy readers, let’s get down to business. TYPO3 4.3 Multimedia Cookbook is, like you would guess, essentially 200 pages of little extensions, TypoScript tips, and server hacks for sites with audio, video, images, and pretty much everything that’s not text. It says that it’s aimed at “anyone running or starting a website with multimedia” and recommends “prior knowledge of TYPO3”. That’s pretty vague, but it kind of sounds like everybody with a TYPO3 site to me.

In reality, I think the target they hit was a lot smaller. To actually understand what’s going on, you’re going to want some extensions under your belt. One of my only real problems with the book is that it’s supposed to be targeted at people with “prior knowledge of TYPO3”, and that sounds way too broad compared to who will actually get much out of it. Honestly, I would recommend having some real extensions (with actual PHP you’ve written) under your belt before attempting almost anything in the latter half of the book. If you’re only copying and pasting you can probably make it through without a lot of experience, but— hold on, I need my soapbox for this — you should never, never, never (and I mean never) be copying and pasting code that you don’t fully understand into a real site. If you buy this book thinking that it’s going to explain everything you need to know about API integration, you will either react as a good developer or a very bad developer. If you react like a good developer, you’ll be inspired by the power you can wield with a few tricks, spend some time getting caught up and understanding every command Dan uses, setup a test area, and come back to implement some of these later when you’re wiser. If you react very, very wrong, you’ll go ahead and start pasting code with very little explanation (unfortunately) into a site that you care about. That’s the end of my rant. I think they should have specified the target audience a little more judiciously, but we will all live another day.

Now that I’ve ranted, I’ll say that the rest of the book delivers for anybody with the right experience (or willingness to read other books for understanding). Like I said, it’s very spotty on when it decides to explain more about any subject, but you really can’t expect much more from a cookbook. The first chapter explains setting up a web server from scratch, multithreaded servers, and some concepts that would probably be best studied elsewhere, but the next half of the book really explains file management, editing in the RTE (rich text editor), and basic work with audio and video in good detail. Part of the dichotomy is that those chapters are well-written and complete, but anybody with the experience to read the last few chapters probably doesn’t need help adding images. For the experienced, though, the last few chapters provide some good code for S3, Flickr, YouTube, OpenOffice, services, automation, and even geolocation.

Overall, I’ll be happy to have it on my bookshelf. I will use it to help generate some ideas, grab the occasional snippet of code, and I’ll be happy. If that’s the book you need and you’ve hacked your way through some real TYPO3 extensions before, I’d probably recommend it. It’s “bookshelf candy” for me: not general enough for my desk, but specific enough be necessary when I need to reach for it. The price seems a little high for 200 pages; but remember that, like most cookbooks, you’re paying for the fact that it’s been collected and compiled. No single chunk is worth much more than a free Google search, but a whole collection is just plain handy. You can check it out on Packt’s website (I get no kickbacks).

Packt Publishing released a new TYPO3  book, TYPO3 4.3 Multimedia Cookbook, and it looks interesting. Dan Osipov, the author, is evidently on the team for the DAM (Digital Asset Management) TYPO3 extension, so I’m looking forward to it (even though I don’t use DAM anymore). I know I’ve already solved a lot of these problems for sites I’ve worked on, but I’m interested to see somebody else’s solutions. I’ll have to wait to until my review copy gets here to dive into it, but you can check out more information at Packt.com.

Okay, now that you’ve read the article, I can say that I don’t really agree. I don’t see the iPad as a hit against creators or the death of tinkering. For me, personally, the iPad compares to the other “consumer” devices in my house: TV, DVD Player, Kindle, etc.; except, the iPad is more creative-friendly than any of those options. Let’s face it, I love my TV and DVD collection as a consumer, but they haven’t brought me any closer or further away from becoming a director. I consume tons of books on my Kindle, and the fact that I’m not a published author has never been a setback (although I can dream). I firmly believe that everybody is a creator in some ways (even my mechanic), and they end up being consumers in other places (like my and my TV). I think the iPad encourages creation on two levels that those never can, though; it encourages interaction, and it sets a mark that I, as a creator, can reach.

Most of the apps that that I use daily on my iPhone (Tweetie, Facebook, WordPress, etc.) are actually built for interaction. They are not built for pure consumption. Of course, I understand that’s not really what Alex meant, but I still think it puts the iPad one step ahead of most consumer devices that it is really replacing.

More important than the apps, though, the iPad gives me a target that I can actually achieve as a creator: the web. I savor the idea that a website I build (without Flash, obviously) can be used more places than just a desk. With one deft move by Apple, all of my creations as a web developer have become mobile experiences without always having to squeeze onto a tiny screen. I understand the frustration by some developers, but I’m honestly still excited working in the most “open” development field available today: the web.

Like I said, I respect Alex Payne (and I recommend reading everything he writes), but I don’t see the iPad as a harbinger of a soul-less dystopia. Honestly, the moment that computers left the hobby clubs and entered the homes, they became consumer devices for 90% of their users. I see this as an impetus for the next generation of creatives to get out there and make something for all the single moms, non-techies, and baby boomer parents that might be using this “new class” more than traditional computers.

Finally, this has nothing to do with Alex, but I have no opinion on whether any single person can, could, or should get the iPad. Since I haven’t even seen it in person, this is obviously not a review. If the iPad doesn’t do everything you’ve ever dreamed, you don’t have to buy it. I really won’t be offended. Personally, I still dream of getting one for myself (to replace the Kindle and the practice of squeezing all my newsfeed and web reading onto the iPhone) and my wife (who has an iMac that, while powerful, has never been portable).

Shock. Awe. I know. It was an easy decision based on the server stack we were running, our growth plans, and the fact that we needed to train intern developers with a very quick turnaround. We went with the sexy newcomer, but that’s not the interesting story. The interesting part is that it wasn’t a big deal at all. With good frameworks, it didn’t really matter what language we chose.

Part of the reason that I love frameworks so much is that dropping from CakePHP to Ruby on Rails is a syntactical change and not a process change. In a way, frameworks are just enforced design patterns (MVC, mostly, in my case). Plus, playing with a different language after all this time away has been great experience. This jaunt into the land o’ pure object-oriented madness and strict coding rules has made my PHP coding (especially CakePHP) better. I have new appreciation for fat models and thin controllers, and I throw in the ternary operator more often. On top of that, I’m getting to teach people (like my friend Neil) who have never really done web development on this level. Through teaching others about MVC architectures, I’ve gotten better.

So, I’m still a PHP developer. It’s the basis for 80% of my work projects and all of my freelancing.
I’m having fun, though, on the other side. Stretching my PHP skills, adding to my toolbox, and remembering that I was just a better programmer when I couldn’t rely on ten-year old knowledge.

More than that, though, my mom was my model of a great writer. She spent her whole life wanting to reach people with her words, and she loved the writing freedom that came with the web more than anybody I’ve personally known. She blogged, twittered, and Facebook-ed her way into so many lives this past year, and I know it’s because she reached people with honesty. Anybody can say you should “write with honesty”, but it’s so rare to have a model of what it really means to write from your pain and to truly connect on that deepest, scarred level that we all share.

Because of this slow digression it is easy to catch myself dwelling on all the things I can no longer do or will never do again. A Coleman commercial on television reminds me that my camping days are permanently over. A Six Flags ad reminds me that my last ride on the “Superman” ride three summers ago was my last. Are these laments true? Yes. Honest? Yes. Just? not really (in my eyes) and they are certainly not pure or lovely – and contentment goes right out the door.

I will not find contentment concentrating only on the possibility of my healing but on focusing on those things that are EVERYTHING Philippians 4:8 lists. We cannot cajole anyone into their healing by carelessly quoting Scriptures or platitudes. That is exactly what Job’s friends did and in the end their voices (and I think their ears) were silenced by the booming voice of God who boldly asked Job dozens of rhetorical questions that all had the same answer – God and God alone because He IS Sovereign – period.

How Content I’m Not…  An Honest Confession – Kathleen Gabrielle

Kathleen Anne Gabrielle passed away quickly Tuesday, August 18th, 2009 in her home with her roommate and my wife by her side (and me running to the store to grab her a fan to help her breathing). She wrote many places, but the last place she wrote (with a final posting three days before she passed) was her most devoted project, An Open Heart Journal, which I recommend reading from the beginning. Many of her final posts took her almost a whole day to type (and included actual typos for the first time in her life), but she never quit. I guess that was her final lesson to me.