From the site:

HTML5 and CSS3 are the future of web development, but you don’t have to wait to start using them. Even though the specification is still in development, many modern browsers and mobile devices already support HTML5 and CSS3. This book gets you up to speed on the new HTML5 elements and CSS3 features you can use right now, and backwards compatible solutions ensure that you don’t leave users of older browsers behind.

I am having a blast working on this book, and I’ve had great support from the publisher and my technical reviewers. If you haven’t considered writing a book before, you really should give it some thought. It’s a very difficult but rewarding journey.

Teddy Bear from Brian Hogan on Vimeo.

Here’s a cute video of Lisa and Ana doing the “Teddy Bear” song that Lisa learned from her talking teddy bear toy.

Reading my book, just received from the printers.

I just received my copies of my book today, and that brings this chapter of my life to a close. Three years of work, two rewrites, a lot of frustration, and close to 3000 copies sold so far. I’m pretty proud of this book, and while there are a ton of things I’d do differently, I am glad I don’t have to do a third rewrite.

However, I’m not done writing. I’ve started something new, and I’ll let you all know more about that very very soon.

The writing process is interesting. It’s like nothing I’ve ever done before, and yet there are a lot of parallels to the rest of the things I do in the computer field. One thing’s for sure… people have no problem telling you what they don’t like!

Reaction to my book is mixed, and I have come to terms with the fact that I’m probably not going to be able to please everyone, and so I’m spending part of my weekend framing the book a little differently.

For now though, it’s time for some sleep. I have a big project day ahead of me tomorrow.

When I went to RailsConf in May, I was immediately shocked by the way Chad Fowler, one of the conference organizers looked. For those that don’t know, Chad was a pretty big guy, but he must have dropped at least 60 pounds (or more) since I last saw him. He looked so different that I didn’t even recognize him

Chad’s a pretty busy guy. He’s been writing a great book over the last year and basically being an all-around good guy in the Ruby community. It was at that point that i thought “well, now I have no excuse.”

So, I started watching what I eat, and have been working out more, trying to find a good routine. This is going to mean a little less time with some of my other hobbies, but I think it will definitely pay off in the long run. I’m not going to be religious about it, but I am going to get back to the way things used to be by being more active and taking lunches to work instead of eating crappy campus food.

Should be interesting to see what happens next.

I spent a long time on the phone with various agents. The first agent hung up on me. The second decided to send me a new bulb. When Carissa put the new bulb in the TV, it didn’t solve the problem, so we spent another two hours on the phone with Sears product support. We had to wait two weeks for a repairman to come out.

He spent some quality time with our TV but decided that it couldn’t be fixed that day, and that new parts had to be ordered. We ordered a new color wheel and a ballast, and the color wheel arrived broken, so we got another one.

Our next scheduled appointment for service is on May 18th.

Don’t buy service plans from Sears. In fact don’t buy anything from Sears. A five year service plan on a television sounds great, but it’s not worth getting jerked around like this.

I’m tired of crappy service from companies. Protip: If you’re not willing to support the products you have, then don’t sell extended warranties.

I don’t maintain this blog as much as I should, and the reason has been mostly technical. I goofed up something with my home network which prevented me from accessing the blog at home. I’ve worked around that now so I can publish again. My goal is to have some sort of update about once a week so that family can find out what I’m up to.

Sorry, but I’m really not that into making phone calls.

I am extremely active on Twitter though, so please follow me.

The last few months have been interesting to say the least. I’ve recently did some work for Inacom Information Systems, where I helped bring a derailed project back on track. It was great to get to work with my friend Jon, who was swamped and overwhelmed by the workload. Being the only Rails developer at the time, Jon was busy supporting other apps and the deadline for the newest product was looming. I jumped in and helped launch the product. In a little over two weeks, we built something pretty solid.

I also recently taught someone how to program with Rails. In less than three weeks, he launched his first site, http://www.youandcharliewu.com/ which was commissioned by David H. Lawrence, a well-known actor and producer. (You may have seen him on Heroes.) I wrote very little of the code, but I spent quite a lot of time teaching the sole developer about the various technologies involved. It feels great to help someone become successful. A paycheck is nice, but it’s nothing compared to knowing that you’ve made a difference for someone. The site is a novel concept – it’s a fundraising site for an independent film. Their goal is to raise $30,000. Anyone who donates more than $10 can get a referral link they can send their friends. Each person gets 1 point for each dollar they donate, as well as a point for anyone their referrals donate. The people with the most points will get featured in the film’s credits, or in the case of the biggest fundraiser, the executive producer credit. Eventually, they’ll expand the site to allow anyone to create a goal, and I look forward to working on that with them.

Lisa’s doing great. She’s close to walking, and she stands up (while hanging onto the couch or my leg) all the time. Ana’s doing well in school, and she still loves reading, and she seems to enjoy playing the “big sister” role, even though she gets frustrated a lot by the fact that we can’t pay as much attention to her as we could before.

Carissa’s still being the awesome wife and mom, but she’s doing that while balancing two kids, a cranky husband, and her new role as the cookie coordinator for the local Girl Scout chapters. She’s been spending a lot of time working with troopleaders and getting the cookie stuff taken care of. All I care about is the fact that my pantry now has Thin-Mints. That’s a win for me.

Due to scheduling conflicts and the addition of a new chapter, the book’s launch date has been pushed back to June now. I’ve set up a new site for the book at http://www.webdesignfordevelopers.com and I’ll be doing updates there.

That’s all for now…

It took nearly six months before Lisa would really let me spend alone time with her, and even today she’d rather be with Carissa if she’s within earshot. Lisa and I get to spend some time together quite a bit now that Carissa’s involved with the Girl Scouts.

One of the most frustrating things about the work I do is how much time it requires. I’d rather be spending that with my family, but Carissa needs to stay home to care for Lisa, so that means I gotta pick up work where I can get it. At least most of what I do is fun, although a few things are starting to wear thin.

As for Ana, she’s nine years old now and she just doesn’t get along with her mother at all. She and I get along quite well; she’s still my little buddy. I’m sure that won’t last very long though. She’s going to have her first sleep-over party here this weekend, so if I’m still alive after Sunday I’ll be sure to post how that went over.

My book Web Design for Developers is now available in Beta form.

You’ll learn how to design a web site from start to finish, and you’ll use many of the techniques and thought processes you’ve come to rely on as an application developer. You’ll learn some color theory, some typography basics, some XHTML and CSS, and how to incorporate Photoshop and Illustrator into a work flow that works for you, not against you.

You can buy an early copy and then contribute to the feedback cycle to help make this an even better book when it eventually ships. You can purchase the PDF and start reading now, or preorder the printed book which will ship after the beta process finishes up.