I decided to pursue a degree in Sociology instead of a computer or web design related degree. Why Sociology? We can discuss that later. For now, here are some highlights from a recent post by web designer Andy Rutledge that explain why a web design education is a scam and a waste of time. I thought this was too good not to share.

If you emerge from university today with a web design degree, chances are rather slim that you’re employable as a user experience (UX) or web designer. Maybe you learned a lot of stuff; it’s just probably the wrong stuff. Congratulations, you’ve been defrauded. Hope it didn’t cost you or your parents too much.

Most academic administrators and instructors simply will not entertain the notion that design brought to the web is anything other than some sort of programming.

My personal experience is anecdotal to be sure, but in more than 5 years of hiring in the web design profession, having reviewed something on the order of 200 resumes, I have come across one (1!) individual recent graduate that was employable at the agency I owned or worked at. I’m talking about a crime here. I’m talking about fraud.

The time for political correctness, courteous patience, and the benefit of doubt has passed. The vast majority of institutional UX design programs are nothing short of scams. We must stop casually entertaining academic fraud and professionals must stop assisting in the scam. We must stop trying to change what clearly will not be changed and concentrate efforts where they will yield results. We must encourage and cultivate proper, relevant programs elsewhere and/or encourage self-directed study and give that path the respect is deserves.

The future is not dim; it’s bright, but universities and colleges have nothing of value to contribute in the context of UX design degree programs outside of the à la carte design and psychology courses they can offer, which form the foundations of that pursuit. But we must cease dialog with these institutions, for a worthwhile dialog requires something other than one interested party and one blind, deaf, unmalleable party, cowering within an ivory tower behind a brick wall and surrounded by a moat, fearful of losing the false cloak of competence.

Read Andy’s full post, The UX Design Education Scam.

To all Random Shapers:

Once upon a time on a Macbook far far away, a group of teenagers decided they needed to come together and fight for good adolescent blogging. Thus, Ranadom Shap–wait, is it coming back to you yet? The weeks without sleeping to stay up on IRC? The podcasts? The incentive to sit down at your keyboard and write?

Why let such fond memories go to waste, let loose and [re]live a little! All Random Shapers, you know that RS was always more than just a linked badge in your blog’s sidebar, it was a community of talented and intelligent young guys and gals (yes, that means you too). You’re more than cordially invited to our online 3.5 year reunion *party*. So stock up on Monsters and Red Bulls, it’s gonna be a pixelly bumpy ride!

Check out the Facebook Event for more info.

The Reunion will be on October 2nd from 8:05pm eastern time until 11:05pm (although knowing you guys it could go even later). The event will take place 3 years, 7 months, and 1 day after the network was initially launched on March 1st, 2006.

Looking back I can’t believe some of the things we accomplished. It wasn’t prefect and never became what I wanted it to but we had a pretty decent amount of participation and I personally truly enjoyed the community.

During the reunion I’ll show you some mockups of what I had in mind for the future of Random Shapes but never was. I really look forward to hearing how everyone is doing and I hope you’ll all join us.

Thanks to Bekka and Kevin for putting this together. The network was only ever successful when everyone helped and I’m glad that still continues today. I love you guys!

- Mattbob

Refresh Phoenix is no longer holding meetups. I think that is perfectly fine. It served its purpose and I for one am extremely grateful for what it provided me. But, as I’m trying to get back into the swing of things and looking to start my new business, what are the best events for marketing in the phoenix area? Which events are worth going to for marketing purposes?

Obviously a lot depends on how much I put myself out there and talk to people when I’m at these events, but which ones are really worth the time and effort? It’s exciting to me to have so many options. It didn’t use to be that way and I look forward to attending the different meetups and getting a feel for the atmosphere and venue.

I’ve been pondering lately what type of a hosting solution would be best to provide to my clients. I host this site as well as about 10 other sites of mine on a Media Temple hosting account. I’ve very happy with it and would recommend it to anyone. When dealing with clients it’s important to set them up with a reliable hosting company but you don’t want to get stuck providing and maintaining the hosting service for them.

Yes, I know you can make some money by providing that service to your clients but in my experience it just isn’t worth the time and hassle to support the hosting.

I haven’t explored enough to know what would be the best web host for my clients but sites like WP Designer provide an effective view of the options and features for some of the top hosting providers. Their ranking method seems to be based primarily on price which most clients are often not too concerned with.

A reliable hosting provider that is simple for the client to use is all they really need. What’s your opinion? Which hosting provider is the easiest to use. Many clients don’t even understand why they can’t just put the website on their computer but instead have to pay a monthly fee for hosting. Who makes it easy for a “non-computer-literate” person to host and manage their website? Also, how do explain things like web hosting and domain names to someone who knows nothing about them or why they are needed?

As the title states if you are reading this on or near todays date, August 21st, 2009, please leave a comment and say hi. I can’t believe you stayed all this time.

Real blogging will begin again shortly. Stay tuned.

I know my blogging has been fairly sporadic but I hope you stick around.

I had planned to redesign the site before I left but I didn’t have time to slice it up and turn it into a theme so this will have to do. The current design is really simple and works so I don’t mind leaving it how it is.

Well… nothin else to say except thanks. I ♥ you guys and I’ll see ya in 2 years!

Random Shapes is 15 months old. It has gone from 7 members to 70. I’m extremely happy with how it has turned out and where it is heading. But I hate letting it go.

I hate letting it go partly because I’m leaving it extremely unfinished. Random Shapes is all about bringing together awesome teens. In the next version of the site we will be really focusing on that. I’m glad I was able to give my input and help with parts of the site but I won’t be here to see it completed. I hate that.

I have spent thousands of hours working on Random Shapes and in return I’ve made $53.12. Obviously, Random Shapes has never been about the money. It’s about the people and I hope that never changes.

Random Shapes, I’m sorry for leaving you unfinished. I’m sorry I didn’t get to know the people better and I’m sorry I didn’t spend more time on you.

In the next 2 years I have high expectations for Random Shapes. When I get back there will be hundreds of members. What happens as a result of the community has been and will continue to be the most impressive part of the network and I look forward to seeing how the site has progressed.

Random Shapes, thank you and goodbye.

Global Alerts is “the leading Cause Media company since 1991″ and it’s where I’ve been spending a lot of my time the past 6 months. They’re the guys that run earth911.org, pets911.com, and amberalert.com. They have a little over 20 employees (I’m probably guessing too low) and they’re constantly adding more members to the team. All the sites do some really cool stuff (just ask Oprah) and it was an incredible experience working there.

At Global Alerts I worked as a “web developer” meaning I did web design, CSS, and some WordPress stuff. It was nothing like what I was used to. My clients had always been small businesses, bloggers, web design agencies or entrepreneurs who just needed a small site that would get the job done. Every day I knew what needed to be done. I worked on my own and everything was my fault, good or bad.

At Global Alerts I was no longer working on small websites. I wasn’t working on my own and some days I had no idea what I would be working on. I was part of a team and we worked on pretty big sites that try to help save the environment, pets, and kids. I was still just working on a website but it was nice to know that my work was going towards a good cause.

At Global Alerts I learned a lot about business. Currently, it’s a small company and so I got to meet everyone. I got to see how the company worked with other really big companies. I got to see how things were done, how decisions were made, how they worked with the larger companies, how people dealt with problems and how people dealt with other employees. I got to be part of discussions with the CEO and VP (even though they’re both a bit crazy… in a good way ) and I was able to learn a lot from everyone.

At Global Alerts I learned what it’s like to work with a team. I learned that this team is not at all like a sports team (no matter how many baseball analogies you hear). It’s still a team but it’s much different. I’ve seen how a lot of other web teams have worked (although not as an employee) and none of them are the same, not even close. I liked the team I was on and when I get back they’re the first people I’ll look up. In the next 2 years they’re gonna do some amazing stuff and I had an awesome time working with them. The sites haven’t changed much now but they’re gonna be incredible when I get back.

Lastly, at Global Alerts I had an awesome experience. Today I was asked if I had any complaints and truthfully the only thing I could think of was the 30 minute drive to work. It was an awesome place to work and I enjoyed my stay. But at Global Alerts I also learned that I’m a terrible employee. Even though I learned a lot. Even though I got to work with an awesome team. I don’t think it’s what I want to be doing. I like working on my own and when I get back I’d like to start my own business. I’m extremely grateful for the chance I had to work there, but I don’t think it’s for me.

Global Alerts and especially Jason (for hiring me), thanks.

Maybe it’s just me but I think the reboot has lost its excitement. There were a few good redesigns this time around but not like what we’ve seen in the past. I’m afraid its become just another way to get a few extra visitors.

Many of the sites don’t even validate. I understand that’s not the most important thing in the world anymore but isn’t that the point of the reboot?

What do you think? Did you reboot?