ning 2.0

Last week we released a new version of Ning. With websites and webservices it makes less sense to talk about versions (we've of course made many releases since the launch last October), but this change was both extensive and highly visible. What's new has been discussed at length in the days I was gone, so I won't add to it -- check out the Ning Blog entries (here and here) for the release and David's comments. One of my favorite changes is by now a clear distinction in the UI between developer and non-developer paths. The tension in our first rev between being clear about technical issues and highlighting features developers worry about less but that are crucial for most non-coders was palpable. A single UI can't do everything, and in this case you definitely need two (or, eventually, a self-adapting UI that shows you what you have selected as being interesting, but that kind of degree of control will take more time to implement).

That aside, I have been notoriously slow in producing a blog entry for the ning blog that talks about our architecture and the performance work we've done and continue to do. Hopefully I'll fix that this week.

And now back to work. We've got some pretty cool stuff coming down the line. :)

into the desert

It's been a hectic few weeks, with a new release of Ning (which I'll talk about in a minute) and a 2-week visit by my brother and his wife. Last week we took a four-day road trip down the coast to LA (through Route 1, which is astonishingly beautiful), then to Las Vegas, and finally back home through Death Valley National park. I've wanted to go to the desert for a while now, and now that I've been there I know I'll be going back soon. On the Nevada-California border we stopped for a bit and there was no wind, which created perfect silence. Awesome. Highly recommended if you're ever looking for a cool trip through the area.