So just what have I been working on lately? Check out my portfolio now & you can find out.

This is the first update in at least eight months. It includes the last couple of projects I worked on as a full-timer at Trailer Park, but more importantly also includes a sampling of my freelance work. In addition, a few older projects have been removed.

In updating my site, it quickly became apparent how much I need to prepare a new portfolio site and get my business site up & running. The current version of my portfolio was created in later months of 2004. I learned a lot in the last three years, and I need to make sure that my portfolio demonstrates that.

So Apple released Safari for Windows, and the world probably won’t notice or care. I am going to pass on all the technical issues of the milliseconds that it renders JS & CSS faster. Those don’t matter to me, and to most of you they won’t matter either. It’s fluff; we’re talking milliseconds, not minutes or hours.

At present my web browser of choice like most of my fellow web developer friends is Firefox. I have customized just about everything there is to change. In fact, I have even customized the default settings of my OS. I prefer a smaller title bar, scrollbar, and font size than the default setting & have grown to love the MS Zune color scheme. In Firefox, I have more than a dozen add-ons. From my Bloglines Notifier to to Adblock to Permatabs, my web browsing experience is built to my own personal preferences.

As a web developer, I felt it was in my interest to give Safari for Windows a try. I downloaded it & installed it. Like iTunes, Apple, is again, breaking one of the most important rules of User Interface. They are forcing the OSX look & feel onto a Windows environment. Putting it into a more sensible means, Apple decided that the average user is not smart enough to know what kind of look & feel they want for their own interface. Sadly, this is enough for me to not bother with further exploration of the software. If I wanted to use a Mac interface, I would buy a Mac. If Apple chooses to port some of their software for a Windows environment, they should meet the anticipated expectation of a piece of Windows software. Can you even imagine how up in arms a Mac user would be if they opened IE on Mac & faced an interface that looked & interacted like a Windows interface?

I am sure Steve will mention some X-thousand downloads of Safari for Windows at his next presentation. Please note to subtract one from that number as I have already uninstalled mine.

Microsoft has a contest going on for the forthcoming Father’s Day holiday. Write an essay about a Dad & Gaming. The writer of the winning essay gets an xbox 360 & the dad it is written about gets 5 minutes of fame. Details can be found here. My buddy James took a crack at it. The essay is quite funny & now I think I am going to have to destroy him.

Jeremy Jacob Schlossberg is a good kid.

He’s an affectionate, confident, and curious child. He doesn’t scream, throw tantrums, or misbehave beyond what comes naturally to a boy his age. JJ is the kind of child that many soon-to-be parents dream about as they build their nurseries or buy their first baby shoes.

JJ wouldn’t be JJ if it weren’t for his parents. While many parents fret over how to raise their first child, Andy Schlossberg and his wife Theresa do us the disservice of making it look easy. It’s infuriating.

As a programmer and designer, Andy has helped develop websites for some of Hollywood’s top grossing films, such as “Pirates of the Caribbean [3]” and “Mission Impossible 3.” He’s an industry professional, but he would never admit to it.

Andy is an atypical parent and husband. Not long ago, his wife went back to school to earn a degree in Landscape Architecture. JJ popped in during the transition. While most fathers would take on extra hours at work to accommodate their family’s new responsibility, Andy quit his job and began working from home. Many didn’t agree with his decision, including myself. It was risky and unorthodox. Yet, after 18 months, Andy landed an impressive list of high-profile contracts. Theresa didn’t miss a class, and JJ has had a father to care for him at all hours of the day. Andy’s commitment to JJ is inspiring. He is gentle, patient, and supportive. Atypical indeed, but all for the best.

Andrew J. Schlossberg is the father of the year.

While Andy may be in his thirties, he’s still a kid at heart. He’s a geek. A big one. But, not the kind of geek that collects odor while surfing the web. He’s a gamer. During the day, he designs web games. At night, he moonlights on his own ideas. Books on game theory, animation, and programming line his shelves. I think he even has a few stacked next to the toilet. In short, Andy is a gaming fanatic.

However, he sucks at it. Oh my God, it’s embarrassing. We’ve been playing together for eight years and I still can’t help but destroy his sorry ass in Halo multiplayer. I try not to laugh as I watch him circle a round rock five times while looking for cover. He can hold his own in Dead or Alive, but that’s mostly due to his strategy of mashing random buttons. Now he’s bought a Wii, but watching him flail around with the WiiMote and Nunchuck makes me wonder if he’s playing or if I’m witnessing an upright seizure.

It just isn’t right. Therefore, should my essay place first in this competition, I vow to donate the Xbox 360 to the Schlossberg family. Andy needs all the practice he can get before JJ trumps his Guitar Hero highscores. From the looks of it, that might happen before grade school. This is a purely humanitarian decision, and I thank you for your understanding.