Arkansas Blog

re 6): OR a big, ugly hole in the ground on Dixon St., hundreds of thousand$ down the tube, and the developer declaring "victory" and flipping the bird to the government/public.

$weet!!
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Speaking of entering this millenium, has anyone seen the "Department of Agriculture" web site? I'm a web designer (self-taught thank you) and I called the Department of Agriculture for two reasons:
1.) The site embarrasses me as an Arkansan (See the Kentucky Ag site for some contrast)
2.) I need some more work and could make the site 10,000% better in an afternoon of work

I was told by the nice lady on the phone that a "state agency" handles the web site. I would like to declare here on the Arkansas Times Blog, (the new official state record): I will maintain all state web sites for the lowest bid. Whatever wins, I'll do it for $10,000 per year less.
(Click at my name if you dare)

"more rigorous and productive education, geared to knowledge-based businesses"

Yeah, that's exactly what education should do--teach kids to grow up to be good employees. Why should businesses train their own employees? The taxpayers can foot the bill! That way, see, we have more profit for the businesses to plow into socially important things, like dividends.

Another example of well-monied Arkansas agencies beneath the acceptable technological learning curve:

I was in SW Little Rock one day and the number two guy on the Hiqhway Commission was in the parking lot at Harbor Freight on Asher, he asked me what i was running my Diesel Car on and I told him vegetable oil. We went on to discuss hemp oil and other fuel alternatives. I told him I would send him some more info and he handed me his card. We said our goodbyes. I got in the car and looked at his card. No e mail address. No web site. Perhaps I should send him a scroll or perhaps deliver some stone tablets?

I see more and more instances of people in power without the skills or tools that make their life and mine a lot better. What's a man to do?

above should say "could" make our lives better.

Rod, the 'state agency' is probably Information Network of Arkansas. And it's not really a state agency, it's a private company whose only 'customers' are state agencies. It's a remnant of the Huckster's faith in the free market, kind'a like Freddie Mac & Fannie Mae.

They suxor.

Is there any law against gross inadequacy? Can I get some petitioners to try and get the smart people running shit?

Who said that democracies don't endure because sooner or later people discover that they can vote themselves money?

We are victims of our own prosperity. We have a vaque notion of our own demise but not enough discipline or thoughtfulness to change course.

It's depressing. I'm reduced to making playlists. Click my name for some good tunes.

"Is there any law against gross inadequacy? ...--roderick bryan

LOL...like we would have much government should that become an enforceable standard. And, before state workers get all riled up...there are competent, hard-working state workers, but they're mostly at the ground level.

My particular bitch is the numerous state fiefdoms that have managed to legislate themselves into positions of little, if any, accountability and an ever-growing, unending supply of tax dollars...i.e., Game/Fish...Highway gang...even universities.

I'm going to have to agree with Rod A. B. on this one.

That Ag Department Web site is an embarrassment!

Although I did take a one-semester class in Web design (using FrontPage), I wouldn't begin to presume to design, construct, and publish a site for anything more demanding than a local club or small business.

That said, before I finished that one semester I was designing more attractive sites than that one.

Admittedly, it takes a lot of sophisticated stuff to make a site interactive, but even the simplest low-tech site can be made aesthetically or artistically pleasing. And that was my biggest drawback: I don't have much of "artistic vision." I can RECOGNIZE good stuff, but it is difficult for me to "pre-visualize," which is an absolute necessity for a graphic designer--one of the first things I learned about myself and my limitations when I took a graphic art class many years ago. I developed fairly competent basic technical skills, but never the "pre-vision" artistic eye. It's hard for me to "see it in my head" before I put it on paper.

Looks as if the designer of the Ag Department's Web site suffers from the same limitation.

And maybe that designer didn't even complete the one-semester class???

So, if the State becomes a financier in this Brave New Free Market how come they are too stupid to demand a cut?
.

Oh Wait. How stupid, the state is now acting as broker and using magic money, or Bush money.

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The members of the chamber of commerce have taken over our State government.

Max's pdf is a list of the coup players... and how it's done.

If AR life were a sci fi show.. I would swear we've been taken over by replicators.

It's like a corporate welfare package for the Industrial Economy.

The three most important things for building a knowledge economy in this state are
- education
- education and
- education.

I spent a few years working with DCFS and I have never met a more technically challenged (or badly managed) organization in my life.
Much of the techies were consultants who were on a contract to work for them.
Pretty sad.

This State in general is very technically challenged and is not all that tech friendly.
Finding a tech job here (as a highly educated and skilled worker) for a decent salary is very difficult.
Heck, finding quality workers in IT is hard enough here. Most of the applicants that I have seen/interviewed can only function in a Microsoft world and then only if they have visual studio to lean on. I was amazed just how little practical knowledge a majority of the experienced applicants had. No, being able to build an Access database and make a crappy ASP frontend for it does not make you a web developer, programmer or DBA.