think in pencil - it’s easier to change your mind

Welcome to thinkinginpencil.com - my portfolio and blog site. I'm Jason Pamental, a web strategist, designer and technologist. I work mainly as a consultant for a variety of clients, both directly and in partnership with other firms. Having a career of 15 years that has bridged the gap between design and technology in a variety of roles has uniquely prepared me to tackle the intricate challenges presented to corporations and organizations today. My aim is to simplify those challenges, understand the needs of my clients, and present solutions that make sense for users and site owners alike.

I've had this idea of 'thinking in pencil' for a long time. The notion that one's thoughts, opinions and ideas can shift and grow based on the information at hand, on any given day, at any given moment. Every new experience, sight and sound informs you as a person, an artist and as a designer. That commitment to exploration and the ability to admit and even embrace being wrong is one of the aspects of my own personality that I strive to improve every day. It makes me a better designer, a better manager, a better partner to clients - and a better person.

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recent thoughts

Drupal status message pile-up - HOWTO sort it out on your Media Temple (dv)

Submitted by jpamental on Wed, 08/25/2010 - 11:24
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We recently had an issue where status messages would 'pile up' and fail to clear until you logged out and back in again. We found different possible causes listed but couldn't work out the root of it until we saw this:

https://drupal.org/node/623028

which led to this:

https://drupal.org/node/635042

Turning off the Admin Menu module wasn't really an option right now, so I ventured onto our Media Temple DV via SSH, did a bit more googling for locations and found this:

my.cnf is located in '/etc'

Use VI to edit my.cnf

complicated vs complexity (and how design thinking helps tame one and avoid the other)

Submitted by jpamental on Wed, 06/30/2010 - 12:43
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Recently the topic of complicated versus complex has come up both in relation to a book group discussion I was leading on REWORK and also with an online Twitter-based chat I was moderating on innovation. It's pretty central to everything I've learned, experienced and thought about with regard to design, so it seemed worth it to capture it here.

#D4DBoston slides for my talk on Web Strategy: Using Drupal to Transform Your Business

Submitted by jpamental on Sun, 06/20/2010 - 14:08
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Giving a talk to day at Design for Drupal in Boston on web strategy. I wanted to make sure the slides are available so thought I'd repost here.

new site launched for @DrupalPVD - built in Drupal 7

Submitted by jpamental on Wed, 05/12/2010 - 10:02
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Just launched a new site for a series of Providence Drupal Meetups that I've been putting together with Chris Murray. I decided that we should use this as an opportunity to show where things are going, so I built it in Drupal 7 alpha 4.

Discussing REWORK from 37signals on the BIF Book Group site

Submitted by jpamental on Mon, 05/03/2010 - 08:56
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I've had the honor recently of being asked to moderate discussion of REWORK by Jason Fried & David Heinemeier Hansson (of 37signals) on the Business Innovation Factory's BIF Book Group. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book, and as with other of their writings, take much of it to heart. They have taken a lot of time and effort to impart a lot of what they've learned over the years in a way that is easy to understand and apply to many more endeavors than just software.

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