I think it’s fair to say that people often describe owning your own home as the American dream. (Let’s put aside for the moment the number of those dreams experiencing a setback in today’s economy.) Back in May 2007 the New York Times described the dream of home ownership as “a bedrock notion of society [...]

It took awhile but today we finally got a piece of mail from someone who either lives (or lived) in Elmore City, Oklahoma. Elmore City, for those who don’t know is not only the name of our make-your-own-dance app - Elmore City Dance Club, but also a real place on which the movie Footloose was [...]

It’s late December, Seattle is covered in snow (finally) and what more could you want than some adorable delicious gingerbread cookies made by Jenny? How about a picture of some adorable delicious gingerbread cookies made by Jenny? And yes, I know, this is the bloggiest break we’ve ever had. The blog is supposed to be [...]

Welcome to the second installment of Jackson Fish Market’s Holiday Gift Guide. We’re pleased to share a few gift ideas for your favorite designer, friend, or family member. And if you’re worried about spending in this down economy, we’ve provided gift ideas ranging from a nifty $3 up to a hefty $100 buckeroos. Enjoy and [...]

Hi Dell folks:
I have a monitor I purchased from you awhile ago. The power button is busted. All my other Dell products perform admirably, so while this is irritating, I wasn’t too upset. However, after dealing with your customer service organization for the last hour I am on the verge of killing myself. A [...]

I’m not as quick as most smart folks I know but I do eventually figure things out. It was after the third or fourth Pixar film that I realized that not only would animation be done almost entirely on computers going forward, but that someday, the bulk of films in general would be made entirely [...]

We learn more and more every day here at Jackson Fish Market. And hopefully we’re improving with each new app we release. One of my favorite (most hopeful and most inspiring) studies is by University of Chicago Economist David Galenson — Old Geniuses and Young Masters. Now Malcolm Gladwell writes about this same topic in [...]

I admit it. This weekend I attended the 2008 BrickCon conference targeted at Adult Lego Hobbyists (ALHs). The conference lasted for essentially three full days from Friday to Sunday. I even took off work on Friday. Super nerdy? Yes. But before you judge… hear my story.
I always loved Lego as a kid. What’s not to [...]

Yesterday I was perched on an ebay auction page about to purchase this little gem:

You’d think that Playmobil Victorian Fish Market sets would come up for sale all the time, but they don’t. This one would have looked awesome in our office. Of course, in the final 2 minutes of the auction a friend IM’d [...]

I think it’s clear that the opening sequence to the Simpsons has entered the opening sequence hall of fame.

Awhile ago in the office we had a debate over which super power would be best to have. (Yes we have plenty to do, but these types of debates are apparently just as important as actual work.) I remember hearing an episode of This American Life where the debate was between flying and invisibility. The [...]

Now that we’ve corralled some interns here at JFM (they started 3 weeks ago and are off to the races on their project), we’re trying to shake loose the rust on some actual management skills. Not that there’s much “managing” ever going on around here.
That said, this writeup making fun of a U.S. News [...]

Over break I saw a bunch of movies. A friend really wanted to see Beowulf. You may direct your chortles at him. Since we’re all busy, I’ll try and make my comments on Beowulf concise (spoiler alert):

I didn’t know it was animated or in 3D before I saw it. Am I oblivious, or did they [...]

At JFM, we have no shortage of design lust. We’ve come up with a dozen holiday gifts will keep your designer friend/colleague happy, productive and feeling appreciated.

1. 1923 Manual of Linotype Typography.
It’s a total gem if you can score one (try Alibris or eBay). I promise your design peers will [...]

Blogging has been suffering a touch over here at the Jackson Fish Market global headquarters (our 3 person office in Seattle) as we’ve been focused on shipping our second offering and some heavy duty consulting work. But just so you know there are still folks who care, we’ve decided to share some of the JFM [...]

As a small business owner you find yourself suddenly deluged with all sorts of weird junk snail mail. The credit card offers are to be expected, but the catalogs of items that you only saw in stacks behind counters come as well. I suppose I should have wondered where takeout boxes, marquee letter menu boards, [...]

Or as Richard Figueroa would say…

“the newist intrenet (?) is hapnin now”
If you weren’t there for Hampster Dance, or Star Wars Kid, or even Dramatic Chipmunk, now’s your chance to say you were there for Richard Figueroa.
Go to TechCrunch and read it now. And read the comments. They are delicious.

(Thanks to Ted for pointing it [...]

I hate those lame blog excuse posts where the person whines about all the crap they have going on that is keeping them from blogging. This is one of them. Just fill in the blanks mad lib style to customize the post to suit your needs:

Whoa, we’ve been super busy here at Jackson Fish Market. [...]

One of my odder leisure activities is reading old issues of Popular Mechanics, Mechanix [sic] Illustrated, and Popular Science, specifically from the 1950s and 1960s. This was the post-war period when “modern technology” as we know it was being invented, and I often find interesting parallels with today’s world. Of course, the technologies themselves changed [...]

As a parent you can find yourself in all sorts of situations you never imagined (or desired). Mixing with the crowd of moms (I was the only dad) who are parents of my daughter’s classmates at the ballet school she attends was just such a situation. I’m sure they’re all lovely people, but it’s just [...]

As most folks know, last week Apple briefly lost 4 billion dollars in value after Engadget (unwittingly) posted a fake memo saying that the iPhone and Leopard were being delayed. You can get a decent history and some perspective on it here. There are all kinds of discussions trying to figure out who was behind [...]

I have a fascination with Art Deco architecture and design. I am specifically in love with Office Buildings created in this style. While I don’t remember specifics, I imagine that I must have once as a kid gone into the Empire State Building — a treasure trove of Art Deco office building goodness. But I [...]

Happened upon this article discussing Jakob Nielsen’s opinion of the latest crop of user interfaces on the web:
“Although people in their late 30s make very different use of the web to those in their teens, Mr Nielsen expects that when those teenagers grow up the time they spend online will diminish.”
I was just talking to [...]

Given our penchant for the “old school” aesthetic (or is that “skool”) around here it should be no surprise that we appreciate the retro fonts over at Font Diner. And it’s not just fonts that catch our eye. Seattle is filled with great examples of early 20th century architecture and signage. I often take more [...]

Sometimes I wonder why record labels even exist anymore. I know they do marketing and distribution of their acts. But aren’t we at the point where they can be service bureaus? I guess they have their leverage because the way they do distribution and marketing cost a lot of money. So they’re kind of like [...]

I realize this is slightly off topic, but I am desperate for help. We watch lots of tv at our house. We like to consume all kinds of media, and lots of it. We have lots of tvs, lots of pcs, and the kids watch tv too. Here’s what I want:

live tv (from my directv [...]

Here I’ve been wondering how to ensure success for my new business and look what arrives in the mail:

I was so nervous, but now I know success is assured.

I know that many people would say that Saturday Night Live hasn’t been funny in years. But I’ve found that there’s been enough to keep me watching relatively consistently over the years despite the shows ups and downs. This year however, with the exit of Tina Fey, the writing has gone in the toilet. 30 [...]

Fine. I’ll admit it. This morning, on one of the rare occasions that I actually use a stamp, I noticed how much I enjoyed using the DC superhero stamps from the post office. I bought a couple of sheets when they came out last summer knowing I would love them. But as my small supply [...]

While nominally the online headquarters for Jackson Fish, this website is really two blogs. There’s our main blog - this column of the page where we post our thoughts. And there’s the column to the right with the header “Interesting to Us”. This “blog-within-a-blog” is our link blog where we get to send you to [...]