Now, I’m not going to say I thought of this first or that I was apart of anything other than the crowd that has been following this trend.  I am apart of the vast crowd that has been using this method of a sitemap style footer.  But I am probably late to the party; by a few years!

If there is one thing I know in web design/development, watch Apple.  And Google and Facebook and everyone else, of course.  But Apple seems to be right at the forefront of “conservative” design.  That being, design that isn’t revolutionary or contreversial, but design that is usable and “just works” as they say.

What I think is tacky and maybe “liberal” design is the stuff that comes out Microsoft or some of these social online communities.  What I mean by MSFT is their new focus on “Live” or live.com or MSN Live or Bing whatever it is they are trying to rebrand themselves as, you must be noticing my bias by now?

I know I can prove it too.  The ease of navigation on Apple sites compared to Microsofts’ corporate website, software support site, or the new Live Search, it becomes evident things are harder to find.  The use of javascript carousels, accordions, sliders or rounded corners showed that these features help us navigate, aside from any “wow factor” these elements may have had at first.

http://www.webdesignerwall.com/trends/modern-sitemap-and-footer/

http://planetozh.com/projects/lightbox-clones/

It’s a nice resource because it shows all the different version of photo galleries, with all the different authors saying They’re sick of all the other lightbox replicas so they created something new, yea right!

You just proved why mass collaboration in open source community works.  Whether or not you we’re original is up to debate.  I love art and artists.  I also know artists and how they think.  Creating something truly original is very hard and possibly never attained by most of society.

That’s a whole different debate.  Love the lightbox clones resource….

When you talk about web design from a designer’s perspective you talk about deep philosophical conversations in design. Left navigation or right? How many kilobytes do you need to pinch to reach 56k Modem users? Can we get away with using PNG’s or can we only use GIF’s?

Not to mention color theory and making a statement through design on behalf of the President. Obviously, the power position that this website represents is in itself a complicated conversation. Perhaps, a guest speaker in a graduate level course.

Basically, the website presents “simple” elements with very deep unobtrustive navigation. Just enough news and 24 hour news channel information, with a little random knowledge thrown around, on secondary pages.

How about one of my favorites, typgraphy. Check out the list of fonts used (“Lucida Sans Unicode”,”Lucida Grande”,Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif). I love Helvetica and use Lucida Grande all the time. Makes me feel like I’m in good company with my choices.

Then the heading serif fonts. Good choice, easy to read in small sizes. In general I find myself inspired by this site design.

Go to the new White House website (http://www.whitehouse.gov).

That said, yesI am a real Steelers fan. I own a terrible towel from the early 1990’s when they were not very good. Granted, they were a winning team for the most part but never really a Championship club. The 1995 Super Bowl team was good but didn’t deserve to win with that offense. Anyways, I have relatives in Pittsburgh and grew up as a Pittsburgh fan of any sport. I played hockey, so my hero was Mario Lemiuex (though he’s not a model citizen as I have come to find out, but who is?).

I am very excited about this because it’s a moment that you can really enjoy as a fan of the team about to win it all, hopefully. Don’t want to jinx or curse anything.

Last year, as the Giants we’re heading to the Super Bowl, I never verbally said their going to win and therefore never expressed the enthusiasm for that Super Bowl as I will for the upcoming. I was more excited to see the Patriots lose! Yes, I did not like New England that year because I felt they we’re running up the score even though that’s how the game is played. I just don’t like the Patriots.  Perhas, it’s because the Patriots have been killers in the Playoff against my black and gold (or white and gold).  Or I suppose it’s because I am a Yankees fan and don’t prefer the Red Sox. But I am definitely NOT they kind of person to heckle someone just because they have a red B on their hat.

My college roommate from Long Island, border of Queens, wore a Boston Hat all around the Bronx and Manhattan just to spite the dispicable New York attitude. He was a true Mets fan.

Back to the point.  I think this will be a great matchup in this years Super Bowl.  Though I was rooting for Philadelphia in the NFC Championship, hoping to see a Pennsylvania Bowl and possibly McNabb’s first Championship win, I have come to realize this is still a great game.

Of course the media will hype it up any way they can.  They will beat this thing like hell over the next week.  But I believe the matchup between the coaching staff’s is a real thriller.  I also believe the media has missed a real storyline here.

Bruce Ariens, the Steeler offensive coordinator who stepped up after Whisenhunt left for Arizona has significantly opened up the playbook compared to when Whisenhunt was in charge of offense.  Granted, Cowher was in charge and played a more conservative style of ball and once Whisenhunt was aloud to go crazy in the Super Bowl, he delivered.  But Ariens is a different coach and some media insiders would say a more creative offensive mind.  The Offense has played more of a spread formation in the last two year.  Combine that with the in-your-face rushing attack and you have the new hybrid Steelers.

I don’t know if this matchup is as much about the head coaches as it is about the Offense Coordinators versus Defensive Coordinators.  Dick Lebeau is in charge of that Steelers defense, like Bruce Ariens with the offense.  Mike Tomlin is a good coach.  He knows how to motivate, how to mediate and more importantly how to delegate.

You can see the only major Steelers weakness, the secondary, has stepped up play and is now a strength.  The solid offensive line of years past entered rebuilding phase at the begining of the year and is now the only major weakness.  The line is very young, with no player having played more than 9 seasons.  Very young for o-line, where you typically see lineman hitting their peak in their thirties and staying healthy well into their late thirties.

I don’t know much about the offensive and defensive coordinators on the Cardinals.  What I do know is that both are potential head coach candidates for the many vacant positions around the league.  While many coaches had successors in place (Colts, Seahawks and Bucs) we are likely to see these coaches atleast interview for poistion openings.  This will be intriguing because the motivation will be high for both teams, but different in nature.

I believe the Whisenhunt-Tomlin storyline is a little overplayed.  Simply because Whisenhunt left Pittsburgh.  Yes the Steelers didn’t make an immediate offer and Whisenhunt felt he needed to take the head coaching job while it was around.  I don’t believe there is any bad blood or revenge in this game.  Perhaps, vindication, but no hard feelings.

Dan Rooney made a good example of his NFL namesake The Rooney Rule by interviewing a black head coach.  It turned out he would end up hiring this coach, and it also turns out that Mike Tomlin was a pretty good coach.  I say pretty because he has a decade yet to prove himself in Steel Country.  I assume he will get that long because of the patience in that organization.

Actually, in my deepest football thoughts, I hope he sticks around for awhile and wins a few Super Bowls.  I really like his demeanor and his coaching style, from what I have gleaned from Peter King and associates.  Tomlin is a perfect fit because he is tough and soft, mixing the perfect combination when the situation is right.  Not too nice to so they go soft, but a friend they can trust and believe in.  Kind of the like the cool dad on the block that everyone likes because he’s fun, but he is still a responsible dad.  Bad example.

Anyways, Steeler are going to win in a great game.  This one won’t be a blowout and I believe will come down to the last drive.  The Pittsburgh defense will hold up on the last drive to stop the Cardinals.

Prediction: Steelers 31, Cardinals 24.

I donated, or more accurately, I purchased t-shirts and a car magnet.  I loved some of the t-shirt designs so much I bought them as gifts.  Anyways, my point is that I hear this man in 2004 at the DNC.  That was it, he has me at hello.

I knew this guy was different because he talked to every class of people without singling out anyone while doing so.  So many white people joke about Rev. Al Sharpton or Rev. Jesse Jackson, and it’s because they emphasize race so much.  Justifiably so, but people don’t want to hear a depressing message if they don’t have to.  Humans tune out things very quickly and easily if they want to, and those two men just weren’t appealing to the masses.  Man black people don’t enjoy their message because it’s alienating some folks.

But Barack Obama had a different message in a time when we all wanted to hear something.  We we’re going through a horrific time of post-9/11 and the second Bush Administration that atleast 51% of the country believed was not deserved.  We were taken into a war we had no intention and right to be in, yet politics was as it has always been.  A game.

Obama… he delivered a serious poignant message that made us believe that things could be different, and more importantly be better.  His speech was absoutely moving.  Not a red America, or a blue America… but the United States of America!

Now I’m not one to drive around with an American flag magnet, but that made me feel very patriotic.  No longer was there this schism in our country.  There was a sense of hope.  That may soud cheesy but it’s 100%.  So many of us hoped for something different and not the same old politics.

I believe while things are not 100% different.  They are different.  Obama did not run a dirty campaign, despite what some skeptics will point out as false advertising.  Obama did not blatantly lie and make stuff up, like his counterpart and those before him have easily done.

The Inaugaration… it was moving not because of what was accomplished, although that is touching it itself.  But his words of motivation inspire you to get up from the couch and want to do something, just as he has done with community service.  He is an inspiring kind of guy.  Today was no exception.

Congratulations.  Make us proud!