So what did I do? I’ve signed up for new dynamic website builder The Grid.

The Grid promises to do something different. It pledges to take any image, video, copy and links that you throw at it, and The Grid will automagically transform itself into beautiful website that dynamically reacts to the content you feed it. Well, that’s my interpretation on their hyperbole.

Making a website shouldn’t be difficult, but for most people (myself included) the process is often time consuming, fraught with the potential for technical disaster and the results usually do not meet up with our intended vision. I’ve been looking for a super-easy to use website building tool or service for as long as the Internet has become popular and I must have tried them all; Webflow, Squarespace, Wix, Ghost, Unbounce and even the slew of new easy-as-pie theme templates for WordPress such as Div and Theme X. And if we want to go back further I could mention Dreamweaver, FrontPage and PageMill. My dream of making it easy for anyone to be able to own and run a website is the inspiration behind Everybody Internet and the reason why I became a founder of dedicated photography website and e-commerce builder Fotomerchant.

The Grid harnesses the power of artificial intelligence to take everything you throw at it – videos, images, text, urls and more – and automatically shape them into a custom website unique to you. As your needs grow, it evolves with you, effortlessly adapting to your needs.

All of them have their own particular little quirks and learning curves, and none of them, every truly deliver on their promise of an easy-to-use website creation experience (except Fotomerchant of course, that thing is incredible!). Out of all the tools, Webflow is my favourite web building tool – it finally allows me to skip the photoshop design process and get straight into the stunning WYSIWYG and responsible creation tools. Webflow, is awesome – it’s still requires people to have an inner geek to make it really work, but it does generate excellent results.

If I never have to install another wordpress plugin or wrestle with a shonky theme and still have a beautiful website that iterates changes majestically,  intelligently and automatically… then i’m happy to roll the dice and see how it turns out.

Can The Grid actually deliver?

That’s the big question. They’ve done a great job in promoting and pre-selling their vision, but being able to deliver on the promise of artificial intelligently designed website is either way too ambitious or potentially the start of something amazing. Whatever they deliver in Q2 of 2015, it’s bound to be disappointing, if only because my expectations are unrealistic. But then again, maybe i’m an early adopter in the future of creative web production.

@KainTietzel I remain highly skeptical.

— Roger Sho Gehrmann (@roger_sho) November 10, 2014

I’m founding sucker member #7744. You’re welcome to join me and wait for the future to arrive.

The post I just paid for The Grid, an Artificial Intelligence website builder that doesn’t exist yet appeared first on Kain Tietzel.

Why spend time redesigning your website when you could just start blogging and see if that sticks first?

Good question inner devils advocate! It’s true, I could start blogging straight away, but I find that chipping away at a new look is the first step in resolving the meaning for my renewed activity. There’s something to be said for just starting something, and that by starting something, the true meaning for your action will reveal itself to you…

I find this to be one of life’s golden rules. It’s not a “build it and they will come” philosophy, but rather, a “build it and I might actually inspire myself and create some momentum to keep going” sort of philosophy.

Okay, so what was wrong with the old site then? Surely this is just a covert mission in masking your procrastination…

Touché inner critic, you know me too well! You mean apart from looking like a pair of broken old shoes? Well, the main reason was that the site was not responsive. I checked the stats and of the 330 people that had visited my website in twelve months, nearly 5% were on mobile and tablets.

Clearly, my site design was not waterproofed from the future, especially when 100% of all mobile traffic was bouncing. This mix of truth and sarcasm is coming off a little confusing (even for me) but the point was, in order to build a great band website I was going to need Eddy Van Halen a new responsive theme.

Right. And this redesign, how long is that going to take?

Hopefully not too long. The basics of the theme is in place, I just need to reformat the images, tweak a few of the portfolio projects (aka finish writing them) and put up a new home page. Give it a week, maybe two… [in the end it was eight months later – Ed]

Well this has been fun. Let’s do it again some time.

That’s the plan. Thanks for the chat.

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The post First pictures from my FujiFilm X100 appeared first on Kain Tietzel.

From everything that i’ve read and seen, it’s not without its faults: quirky interface, inconsistent Auto Focus, sluggish write times and the face that it’s a fixed lense. Some of these claims have been debunked here and others (i’m hoping) will be updated by firmware down the track. The fixed lens is actually what’s turning me on about the whole damn thing – super sexy photo maker that comes in an very cool retro casing.

Not only am I about to own a totes-awesome camera, but I paid an incredible price for it – $995 instead of the usual $1200 retail. Fingers crossed the order will arrive in the next 24-48 hours as promised – i’ll let you know how it all goes with the vendor, Cameras Direct.

Thanks to my awesomely wonderful wife for allowing me my expensive hobbies. This’ll be my birthday and christmas gift for the next few years, honest!

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-VoXxwGWYc]
By Digital Rev

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Q3hojfb5E0]
By That Nikon Guy

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjUuDcn0DSQ]
And this excellent Digital Rev pastiche which doubles as a really good review. Particularly the Hands On Field test the did below:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3oyhQGcKYs]

I’ll be sure to post my first images and a review of my own in the coming weeks. Woo-hoo!

_{Image used without permission (sorry, but I have sent you a message asking) from Oh Gizmo}

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This is my third Crumpler bag and my other two are still in tip-top condition and are used on special occasions. They’ve never ever fallen apart, they’re strong, durable and look great. I’m impressed with the quality of their clips and zips, and the craftsmanship is second to none. My only criticism is that there are some superflous straps that may be useful in some situations, but i’d rather have the ability to remove them than have them flap around unused.

If I could afford them, I’d make all my luggage Crumpler.

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I know they don’t mean to be bastards. But luck bastards they are.

I will get those arm rests back I swear!

The post Stuck in the middle with you appeared first on Kain Tietzel.

Episode 1

In this episode Coco boasts about her fine collection of toys, shares a sad story of Rainbow Dash and gives a big warm shout-out to the Adelaide crew.

Episode 2

Coco talks about what she did today and what she wants for her fourth birthday

Episode 3

This one goes on a bit; squinkies, facepaint and the zombie song

Sadly, the series never went beyond the first three episodes but I believe Coco is working on some other shows.

The post The Coco and Daddy Show appeared first on Kain Tietzel.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Otaq2tmNMM&w=520&h=292]

Iceland is so hot right now.

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My wife (Lea) hasn’t been overseas since our honeymoon in 2006 and this will be her first US trip to a non-asian country. For her, the excitement is palpable and for me it’s an opportunity to look at America from another perspective. lea is the kind of person who gets caught up in TV drama and says things like “oh no!” when something bad happens. Everything is a kind of pantomime to her and I love the purity and innocence her perspective brings.

If we are going to move to the states I’m going to need her insight and wisdom on how we can start a new life over there. Sure, it might only be temporary but it’s a big move for two adults and kids below four.

It’s going to be great. For better or for worse.

The post A different perspective on America appeared first on Kain Tietzel.

The game reviewed pretty well even though it looked pretty ordinary. Full of flaws and with some pretty ropey draw distances and lip syncing, the games is pretty standard fantasy fare excepts that the combat works pretty well and makes you feel pretty powerful even though you’re just starting out. The first level is a fun but long tutorial – the only thing you want to skip is the tiresome conversations with cardboard cutout characters. When the game starts truly a d you set off on your adventure the game opens up pretty quickly and the quirks begin to feel like rough charms.

That is until the game froze, killed my saved progress and the only way out was a hard reset – just like crappy games of old. For a demo it passed the time nicely but I don’t think it’ll make my short list.

7/10

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