Tumblr excels for small blog posts along with other types of content like photos, videos, quotes, links and more. It compliments the way I like to write; short and informative. Plus it allows for a fully customizable design. Until I get all that squared away, check my new thought dump over at derekbender.tumblr.com.

Once there the Apple tech (I think his name was Kevin) gave me two options: 1. Leave it there to replace the harddrive which would take a week and cost $260 or 2. Go to an electronics store; buy a 2.5 inch internal SATA, a couple computer tools and do it myself... Tough choice. I picked option 2. After finding all the necessary items (the new harddrive from BestBuy and tools I borrowed from Derek Gallo; thanks Derek!) I started the impossible: dissect my beautiful MacBook Pro and replace its heart! So here's the tutorial...with pictures!

First, what you'll need: a new 2.5 inch SATA harddrive (I went with a 500gb from BestBuy), a #0 Phillips screwdriver and a T6 Torque driver. Start by taking the back cover off your MacBook by pressing down on and flipping up the release which is on the bottom. You'll see the the harddrive on the left and battery on the right.

Pull the little plastic tab to pop out the battery. Before you can take out the hardrive you'll need your trusty #0 Phillips to loosen the screw that holds the top clamp in place (on the far side of the harddrive if you're perspective is like in the picture). Once the screw is loose, remove the clamp (see picture) and pull the plastic tab to pop up the drive, then just pull out the connector.

You should now be holding your busted drive free from your MacBook. Notice the four tiny nubs/hex screws by each corner of the drive? These are used for mounting the drive in place. Take them out with the T6 tool.

Your new drive should have identical matching holes where you can put those screws back into. Once you've added the screws to your new drive, repeat the same steps, just in reverse. Plug in the connector, put the drive in its bracket and screw the clamp back in.

Once you have the battery and cover back on you'll need to find your OSX disc to boot from. Power it on and pop in the disc for Snow Leopard (or Leopard if you're old school) and hold the Option key. After a couple minutes (be patient, it takes some time until you get feedback) you should see the option of where to boot from. Select your DVD drive and follow the steps accordingly. Once I got a couple steps in I hooked up my Time Machine drive and picked it to restore my new harddrive from. An important note: once you get to the screen of where you want to install your backup or a fresh install of OSX, you won't see your new hardrive in the list. From here, pick Disk Utility in the top menu and format the new drive. This tripped me up a bit. You must do this step even if its not in the normal path to get back up and running.

Once your backup starts copying it should take a couple hours to restore your system to its former glory. Hope you found this useful! If you have any advice of your own, pointers, or questions, let me know in the comments.

Note: After Derek lent me his tools I bought my own set at Sears. You can easily find them there instead of any electronics store.

I like to cook and a few days ago I tried my hand at a new recipe for Chinese Beef that I was fortunate enough to get from an awesome coworker (thanks Liana!) after I noticed how good her lunch smelled. Here's the recipe.

First, you'll need a crockpot (slow cooker). I was fortunate enough to remember I had one packed away in some boxes that I hadn't opened in years. Here are the rest of the ingredients you'll need:

1. 1 to 1½ lbs. beef
2. 1 cup chicken broth
3. 1 tbsp. soy sauce
4. 1 tsp. ground ginger
5. 1 onion
6. 1 bell pepper
7. 2 4oz. cans of mushrooms
8. 3 tbsp. cornstarch mixed w/ 3 tbsp. water

Take the beef and cut it up into bite size chunks. Dice or chop your onion and cut your pepper into slices. Mix everything, minus the cornstarch & water mix, together in your crockpot. Add a dash of pepper & salt if you'd like to. The recipe calls for either a low heat cook for 7 to 8 hours or high heat cook for 4 to 5. Since my crockpot doesn't have any settings I really couldn't change it but mine came out great in around 4½ hours. At about an hour before the its done you'll want to stir in the cornstarch & water mix so the sauce can thicken up.

Enjoy with your favorite vegetables and rice on the side. Feeds about 3 or, like me, you can have leftovers for a couple days.

Another type experiment, this time using Gill Sans. The poem is She Walks in Beauty by George Gordon, Lord Byron. The piece was made in poster size (18×24), but I also have a convenient iPhone wallpaper size for download.

Get the iPhone wallpaper.

New typography experiment featuring Robert Frost's poem In a Disused Graveyard. In the same vein as my last piece, Walt Whitman Wears Shades, which is basically just me experimenting with new techniques and typography. The typeface used is Lucida Fax. Purposely made the original poster size — 18 × 24 — so maybe one day I'll get some printed up. Enjoy.

Download the iPhone wallpaper.

Last night Orlando celebrated Independence Day in its usual fashion, with a huge fireworks display over downtown's Lake Eola. Apart from the time when a mortar tipped sideways, skipped across the lake and came with 25 yards of going into the crowd, and what looked like a misfire when the raft shooting the fireworks had a couple fireworks explode before they were launched, the show was pretty good, albeit interesting.

Check out the pics in my Flickr photostream.

Q) Could you describe your specific day to day duties and responsibilities?
A) Since the company I work in is smaller (about 13 people w/ 4 designers) I work on almost every creative project that comes through the door at some point. I mostly split my time between web design mockups for miscellaneous client websites and doing UI work for NFi's main product, MemberFuse. My time on Memberfuse is split pretty evenly between front-end coding and actual design/UI mockups. Meetings, emails, feature planning and giving the others direction and support also take up decent size parts of my day.

Q) What are the most challenging and the most rewarding aspects of your job?
A) Most challenging parts are putting out half-finished concepts due to time constraints. When done that will only end up costing more time and energy later to go back and fix. Design comes naturally, dealing with the business side of things doesn't.

Q) How did you prepare yourself for the work you do, in relation to education and work experience?
A) I tried to learn as much as I could from books and classes but real world experience is the best teacher. I've had internships before and those were priceless (even if unpaid and I didn't need college credit).

Q) What preparation would you suggest for someone who is entering the field today and what type of degree do you feel in mandatory?
A) Take a few classes, a good sampling, see what you like first. Then get an internship as soon as possible. Don't be afraid to try new things, it might just change your focus. A degree really isn't mandatory, the right attitude and willingness to learn is, but a degree can help, especially when looking for your first job.

Q) In your opinion, how good are the future career opportunities in this field?
A) People will always need stuff to look pretty. Right now might not be the best time to start looking for a job but things will always turn around.

Q) Do you feel that there is an over or under supply of qualified people entering this field?
A) Probably just enough to make it competitive. If you're coming out of school, you better be the best and have the portfolio to back it up.

Q) What professional organizations within this field do you think I should join or learn more about in order to help me progress in this industry?
A) Any tech networking events, meetups, or local conferences. BarCamp is great and its next Saturday (and free as most events are). Ingite Orlando, Florida Creatives are great too and free. There is something every week. Doterati (the new Central Florida tech assoc.) also throws great events and happy hours. All these events are a little light on the design side (a lot of dev and marketing/social media peeps) but not networking is the biggest mistake people make. Most jobs are gotten through a friend or colleague.

Q) What do you feel is the average salary range for an entry level person in this field?
A) I'd guess for this area $27k for graphic design and around $30k for web design. Also see the List Apart web survey.

Q) In your experience, what do you feel are the advantages and disadvantages to working in a small firm vs a large firm?
A) In a small company you most likely have more creative freedom, but have to play many more roles that you may not have to at a larger place (I'm a designer and front-end guy). Ive only worked for small companies so I can't compare too much.

Q) As I am just beginning my studies in Graphic Design, could you give me some advice in relation to what is important for me to do over the next few years in order to ensure I am best placed to get a job at the end of my studies?
A) Get an internship as soon as possible — you'll get the best experience even if you're getting coffee the first month and you'll meet people who are working in the industry. Also go to meetups and events. Networking is important. Start working on real projects as soon as possible even if they aren't for class. Do a small site or poster for a local band or business you admire but always go to them and offer; turn down all requests for free work. In the end it devalues the whole industry if people think they can get any design work for free.

Aside from the usual non-issues every election seems to bring up (guns, abortion, and religion) there are a few real issues out there, namely the war, the economy and the looming "energy crisis." But instead of talking about the important stuff I'd like to focus on some things that are fresh in my mind.

Recently both candidates called for a more service from the ordinary citizen. Great. The PeaceCorps of the 60s was and still is the benchmark for successful service and other programs since then have followed suit. McCain's stance is that they should be promoted but not forced down your throat by the government while still giving support where needed (by support I mean cash). Obama stance differs a bit. More government regulation and a helluva lot more cash (billions) into promoting, maintaining and starting new programs. Also it seems like he almost borders on forcing these programs on the population. In the end McCain likes small government, and that's good. One thing I do like about Republicans is that most like small government and they won't tell you how to run your lives.

A few days ago I was slightly surprised to learn that McCain can't use a computer or email. Ouch. But given his age I almost expected it. I don't hold it against him at all. Many people I know (mostly older relatives) don't use computers. But in the next four years technology laws could change, mostly due to laws affecting net neutrality. While McCain is the best Republican to defend this, I don't think he's the best one to understand it. This is one of those rare occasions I support the government coming in and doing something (Obama's big vs McCain's small government). Obama's concept of regulation of the big companies gives me more piece of mind in the long run and the fact that he can relate to a younger generation, and not just about tech, helps me trust him in those regards. Although Biden doesn't help that.

The big surprise to me are the outright lies that McCain's commercials try to promote - specifically that Obama will take money from everyday Americans by raising taxes.

I was watching CNN (I know) a few days ago and this caught my eye (see image). I actually did the research on this. McCain will lower taxes across the board, true. Obama wil cut taxes for everyone too but he will also save the average family almost $800 over McCain's cuts. Hmm, but the ad said Obama will raise taxes... Looks like the more of the same from the GOP, ha. (To be fair Dems are guilty of lies to; I just caught this one and had to voice my opinion.)

I could go on for awhile about miscellaneous topcis about the election but I think enough of my thoughts are here for now. In closing I'd like to leave you with this awesome video from JibJab. (I especially like the unicorn.) Enjoy.