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Casting my Vote ... on Presidential Websites

Feb 27, 2008
presidential websites


So much time and effort goes into the campaign trail, writing speeches and making promises. That's great and all, but what about those web developers and designers working hard to drive the online campaign? Where's the love for them?

I spent some time researching the four candidate's sites (yes, Huckabee still counts), and here's who I would vote for, based entirely off just visiting their website and knowing nothing else. From top left to bottom right:

Barack Obama (www.barackobama.com): This is the most visually appealing site out of the four. The Obama campaign did a great job creating an up to date layout that's interesting and appealing for people in my generation.

Pros: Stunning icons throughout, easy navigation and feeling like you're part of the site with my.barackobama.com.

Cons: Splash page, embedded YouTube video and unfinished looking footer.

John McCain (www.johnmccain.com): At first glance, the site comes off cold with the black background and reminds me a lot of the Go Army site. I know military is a big push for him, but yellow stars on black backgrounds? I'm not sure I've ever been to the Go Army site before, but I knew that it looked the same.

Pros: Up to the minute delegate counter, easy ways to find out how to support/join and easy navigation.

Cons: McCainSpace, Supporter Spotlight with Sylvester Stallone, search bar in the footer (who's using that down there?) and multiple email sign up within 200px of each other.

Hillary Clinton (www.hillaryclinton.com): After navigation my way through another Democratic splash screen, I finally get to the site. After getting off of McCain's site, hc.com is a patriotic punch in the face with vibrant red, white and blue colors throughout.

Pros: No outward mention of Bill, bilingual functionality and great state images.

Cons: The barn in Nebraska's state image, the constant use of the word "Help" on the home page and the red contribute buttons.

Mike Huckabee (www.mikehuckabee.com): After being mathematically eliminated from the race, I figured I'd add Mike before March 4th, when he sees that it is absolutely impossible to win. Along with Senator Clinton, Mike went with the patriotic red, white and blue to kick off his site.

Pros: Great call to action flowcharts and images throughout, "I Like Mike" favicon and the bold "Faith. Family. Freedom." brand in the top right.

Cons: Extremely unorganized home page, logo seeming like it's fading into the top of the browser and lack of visually displaying the difference between a link and bold text.

After making my decision, based primarily on the sites described above, I'd have to put Obama and McCain on the ticket with Obama winning narrowly in November. To me, it seems like the Obama team put in the most time and effort with their design and development.

Overall ratings:
BarackObama.com: 9.3
JohnMcCain.com: 8.7
HillaryClinton.com: 8.5
MickHuckabee.com: 6.2
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Watermarking for #62

Feb 18, 2008
joba chamberlain watermark


Last week, Ponec asked me if I could photoshop out some watermarks on pictures. I was able to do so, and not until I was finished, did I realize who I was removing these watermarks for. You might not recognize the guy on the left, but any Nebraskan (or baseball fan) should be able to tell you who the other guy is.

I think it turned out pretty good, even on the high res pictures. All I asked for this small favor was to have Ponec tell Joba to keep me in mind when he's ready to launch jobachamberlain.com.
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Valentine's ... an excuse to cook

Feb 15, 2008
brian helge valentine's day dinner


I'm glad Christi and I don't go over the top on Vday. We have a nice understanding of taking the night to relax, cook a nice meal and eat some Sherri's Berries. Well, she eats the berries.

Last night's course was salmon with hollandaise sauce, crab cakes with remoulade sauce and garlic mashed potatoes. The meal was amazing, but neither one of us was able to finish on account of the crab cakes being so filling.

I promise to start writing about new things in the future. Food is always fun, and when you get in the mood to cook, why stop?
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Jerky Turkey Burgers

Feb 13, 2008
jerky turkey burgers


It's been bitterly cold outside, so I decided to warm stuff up in the kitchen last night. For this week's Tasty Tuesday, we threw in a Caribbean flare to the dinner and had some Jerky Turkey Burgers. I marinated the burgers in the same fashion as if I were making jerk chicken. With these aside, I made a sauce of pineapples, red peppers, cilantro and hot sauce to go on top.

I then got fancy with a pineapple, for our side, and made Emeril's nectar cocktail to tie everything together.

Now I just have 6 more days to come up with something else ...
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Tasty Tuesday's Begin

Feb 6, 2008


Yesterday marked the beginning of Tasty Tuesday's. I told Christi that I wanted to start experimenting a lot more for dinners, and that I would dedicate one night a week, for at least the next year, to creating a dish that we've never had before.

The chicken breasts were slit on the thick ends and stuffed with mozzarella cheese. The real stuff. Then it was thrown in a saute pan where garlic was being infused with butter. Next, it was transfered to a mixture of spices and bread crumbs, then thrown in the oven to bake for a half hour.

Once done, I served it with some spiced up green beans and garlic bread.

The picture doesn't look the greatest, but it tasted amazing. Maybe next week I'll focus a little more on plating and presentation.
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1 month and 15817 lines

Feb 4, 2008
That's how long and how much code is required for me to develop a social networking site from scratch.

Back in college, I remember telling Christi and the roommates how easy it would be to code a site such as Facebook or MySpace. A few months into REBEL, I had to put my money where my mouth is.

Throughout January, I created and launched the church-based social networking site ChurchConnector.com. I spiced it up a bit so it was different than the other social networking sites out there.

I'd tell everyone to rush out and join, but the only way to sign up is to have your church be a member first. So, in the meantime, you can get a glimpse of it through the tour.
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