SWEET! A big envelope was on my porch today when we got home. Inside were a bunch of CryptoBuddy Secret Decoder Rings I ordered online last week. You spin the logo-ed plastic cover disk, which has two small viewing holes to show pairs of letters to reference during encoding and decoding. Sort of like ROT-13 in a ring. A character substitution cipher in the ring creates a crypto-code. I'll be distributing these to my stealth operations team soon.

- mike lee - Z FPTI CLDG HNB!

SWEET! A big envelope was on my porch yesterday when we got home. Inside were a bunch of CryptoBuddy Secret Decoder Rings I ordered online last week. You spin the logo-ed plastic cover disk, which has two small viewing holes to show pairs of letters to reference during encoding and decoding. Sort of like ROT-13 in a ring. A character substitution cipher in the ring creates a crypto-code. I'll be distributing these to my stealth operations team soon.

- mike lee - Z FPTI CLDG HNB!

We're with sleeping baby having lunch at Zola restaurant. Amy had the N.Y. Strip and me the wild mushroom risotto. Both were excellent. This morning was the food fest and white elephant gift exchange in our group at AARP. Next is phase two of the office party at an Irish bar in DC's Chinatown. Baby Cianna has been an angel so far.

- mike lee -

To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Wright Brother's first flight, I went out during lunch today to see the original Wright Flyer at the National Air and Space Museum. They've taken the flyer down from its hanging place in the main Hall of Flight and wrapped an exhibit around it: The Wright Brothers: Aerial Age Begins. The flyer is now at floor level in a second floor gallery where you can inspect it from just beyond arm's reach.

The exhibit offers a rare opportunity to study the finely-crafted and brilliantly-engineered flying machine up close. I didn't have much time to look at the exhibit's info panels and many historial artifacts (including a rare Wright bicycle), so a trip back is certain. I did run into my buddy of 20 years, Bea Mowry, who is the design director of the museum. She's been working almost 'round the clock to get the displays for new Dulles Extension ready.

A TV news crew from Dayton, Ohio was taping a segment on the Wrights, and the museum had two men dressed as the brothers speaking in character to answer questions for visitors. I walked by the Apollo Lunar Module on my way out of the museum to feel the magnitude of how humans first achieved powered flight and later set foot on the Moon in the span of a lifetime.

- mike lee - washington, dc

I would have been in line for the midnight show of Return of the King, but I am living the new life of a working daddy who has to find a babysitter to enjoy an evening out with my wife. I have to cool my jets until next week when we'll be staying at my in-laws who will watch the one for us.

- mike lee - on the train heading into DC

I've just been roaming around at Michael's craft store to collect some materials for Xmas gift projects. Here are some cool things I saw (and some purchased):

• Sculpey Eraser Clay! - Several colors of special clay that you sculpt and then bake in the oven to make your own pencil erasers!
• Wiggle Eyes - Glue-on plastic eyes--makes anything a FUN FACE
• Foam Shapes - By-the-bucket for...whatever
• Tiny Wood Clothespins - In natural wood and color stained
• Instant Insects - Drop one of these clear cellulose capsules in warm water and a foam insect bursts out
• Sponge Shapes - For stenciling and...whatever
• Wire Words - Thin steel wire hand twisted to form cursive letter words. Used for scrapbooking

I'm looking forward to showing our daughter all these cool things and more in the coming years.

- mike lee - amazed at how much money you can blow on a small pile of bits of plastic and foam

Baby's thought bubble: "What's up with daddy's long hair?"



- mike lee - hey, they snagged saddam!

...here in Hampden, Baltimore. That's an Xmas tree made from hubcaps in front of #708. Then to Mamie's Cafe for dinner.

- mike lee - come on down hon!

We did the full family parade this morning to the grocery store, which is a short walk from the house. Baby loves being in her bjorn. She just presses her cheek on my chest and goes to sleep. I am, however, not looking forward to the first time she barfs on me. Fortunately, the bjorn is machine washable.

- mike lee - Mikeway Self-balancing Human Baby Transporter

I had a productive day at work today. Professor John Maeda of the MIT Media Lab signed my copy of his book Maeda@Media this morning after our meeting (first pic). Looks like we'll be working on a project together.

Then I watched two of my designers conduct a paper prototype testing session. Paper prototypes (or "wireframes") are black and white line art mock-ups of user interfaces--in this case, some web forms--that are presented to a carefully recruited test participant to gather feedback. One person leads the discussion from a pre-determined speaking script asking the participant to "think aloud" and describe their impressions of a series of wireframes related to completing a task on the web site. A second person takes notes, and other people sometimes observe from another room. Scheduling these cost-effective internal user testing sessions early in the design process can go a long way towards meeting user expectations and enhancing usability.

I got a bunch of writing done and a budget meeting out of the way in the afternoon. Now that I'm on the train, I *really* wish I had grabbed a beer!

- mike lee -