willie jackson

Month: May 2010

  • I’m an artist

    When I started getting serious about my studies in college, I felt like I needed to make up for lost time with each day that passed (which was true). I was involved with a summer internship program called INROADS, and I met dozens of other young professionals determined to make their mark on the world. This internship program had a strong professional development component, and there were frequent day-long training sessions.

    One Saturday, we participated in the True Colors personality test. I was unsurprised to find out that I’m a Blue (warm, kind, compassionate) but many of my friends in the program were a bit shocked to see that my main color wasn’t Gold (organized, punctual, dependable) or a Green (knowledgeable problem-solver).
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  • Speaking Tour with Pam Slim

    This Fall, I’ll be joining forces with Pam Slim (of Escape From Cubicle Nation fame) as we embark on a speaking tour at college universities across the nation. For the eleven of you who don’t know who Pam is, let me summarize who she is to me:

    Pam is a catalyst of more meaningful existences. Before I even knew her on a personal level, her message resonated with me in a powerful way.

    In addition to assisting corporate employees as they escape their unfulfilling job, Pam is an extraoardinarily gentle soul with the capacity to motivate objectively and with grace, regardless of the situation.

    If you want to be technical (smile), Pam is also the author of a popular blog and bestselling book. So yeah, a speaking tour with Pam is pretty much the killerest gig ever.
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  • Introductions, connections, and serendipity

    I’m a huge proponent of making introductions. If you’re familiar with Malcolm Gladwell’s work, you’ll know what I mean when I say that I’m a connector. Often I’m able to make an introduction that leads to someone getting a job, doing business, or generally reaching a goal.

    The latest product of this habit apparently assisted with the logistics behind bringing LessConf 3010 to Atlanta: My friend Allan Branch wrote a post today on what he learned from planning LessConf.

    It’s a great feeling to help great people do awesome things by doing what comes natural.

  • Toilet paper trucks

    I saw a Tweet yesterday that made me smile and think at the same time (a dangerous combination). Jamie‘s son asked if the logo on the side of a truck indicated that it was a toilet paper truck.

    Click to see what Jamie's son saw
    Later that day, I had a great conversation with a graphic designer at a coffee shop who was working on an amazingly ornate digital tire tread for a client logo and she asked for my feedback.
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  • Make it exciting

    Complicated doesn’t mean dull, nor does technical imply boring.

    The Google Chrome team released version 5 of their already lightning-quick web browser today. The post accompanying the release delves into some technical details that likely interest only a small subset of software engineers and the technically inclined.

    This post could have been (and almost was) written off as the standard “technical press release” in the form of a blog post, but the team is obviously very serious about getting the word out about Google Chrome:
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  • Making WordPress Faster: Integrate a CDN

    One of the most effective ways to increase the speed of a website is to integrate a Content Delivery Network (CDN).

    A CDN is essentially a network of highly optimized servers that replicate the static content of your site (CSS, Javascript, images, etc.) and serves it from the closest Point of Presence (POP).

    Um, why do I want this again?

    There are several reasons why you might want to consider integrating a CDN. Let’s walk through six of them (or skip to my recommendation):

    1. Dramatically decrease load times
    2. Increase in the number of concurrent users
    3. Lower hosting costs
    4. Lighten the load on your server
    5. Better search engine rankings
    6. It’s easy to do—there’s no excuse

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