February 29, 2008

Rich Cirminello moves to Yahoo! Green, then to Yahoo! Finance

After eight months of Yahoo! Tech Rich Cirminello will be assisting with the Yahoo! Green Earth Day 2008 site before moving on to join the Yahoo! Finance front end team in early April, 2008. Yahoo! Green is Yahoo!'s environmentally conscientious site while Yahoo! Finance is arguably the top finance web site in the world.

Tech was a great website for me to cut my teeth, learn about enterprise software development, and work amongst talented engineers, product managers, and get a feel for how things are done at Yahoo!. There are significant challenges to developing software and web sites that typically get more traffic in a few minutes than other sites I have developed see in a typical month, and the time spent on Yahoo! Tech has taught me a lot about that. I am looking forward to the Green project, although quite small in scale, it will give me an opportunity to take a leading role on the front-end. When I finally make the transfer to Finance, I anticipate needing to brush up on some languages and technology that wasn't used much or at all on Tech or Green. I am looking forward to the challenge and to the learning.—Rich Cirminello

January 7, 2008

amorphicMedia hosting to cease April 15^th

After nearly five years, amorphicMedia will stop hosting web sites. Current clients with amorphicMedia hosting accounts should consult the Service Changes page for additional information.

June 3, 2007

Rich Cirminello begins working for Yahoo! Inc in Sunnyvale, CA

Rich Cirminello was offered a position as a front-end development engineer for the popular Yahoo! Tech property, a site about consumer electronics and gadgets. He will begin working almost one year to the day after accepting a consulting position at NewYork–Presbyterian Hospital in New York City. The offer includes a full relocation package that will take Rich to sunny California.

At this time it is unclear what specific role Rich will have in the site's design and maintenance; all that is known is that he will be joining a very small and specialized team consisting of at least one other front-end engineer and two back–end engineers.

November 6, 2006

NewYork–Presbyterian Hospital Intranet Launch

After six months of research, design, user testing, template construction and a grueling eight hour Sunday afternoon conversion with the entire Webdev Team, the new NewYork–Presbyterian Hospital Intranet site launched today. Among the new features:

• Google Mini Search Appliance
• one-click Icon–Based Utility Access
• the addition of several half–way Resource Pages
• a new Wayfinding section with addresses, maps, and directions
• Embedded and Streaming Flash video
• a host of improvements in accessibility, navigation, and usability

The technical challenge was to design a completely new set of templates that are XHTML 1.0 strict compliant and that use 100% CSS for flexible, fluid layout, integrate the templates with an existing and aging content management system while preparing for the implementation of a new system, and apply the new templates to an estimated 800+ pages. Additional challenges were in creating a design that while radically different from the old, cluttered, rigid and table-based Web 1.0 design, did not confuse users who depend on the site to provide information that is critical to helping them get their jobs done on a daily basis.

We will spend the first 3 to 4 weeks identifying and fixing any bugs, CSS issues, and other little problems that will inevitably arise from a project of this scope. We will also be assisting the users adjust to the new format; as a matter of fact, we have set up a telephone hot-line and put a feedback form one click away from most of the new pages. So far a few users have expressed a bit of confusion with the dramatic change in layout and architecture, however, initial indications are that most NYP employees greatly appreciate the improvements. Once the site has had some time to settle in, we will do a vigorous round od usability testing and feedback gathering to identify where we were on target, where we may have missed the mark, and what further features and improvements should be implemented. Rich Cirminello

Addtional phases of this project will involve updating the structure and information architecture of the hospital's many department and organization sites, training content providers on using good clean XHTML compliant content, and teaching content creators how to properly use meta data in their documents to provide the best search possible. The old version of this site was riddled with little problems and inconsistencies, not uncommon to organizations of this size.

Coming in April

Latex-Mania's New Site

Latex-Mania, one of amorphicmedia.com's original and best clients, has a new site that is currently being developed by our team and is expected to launch later this month.

As usual, the latex-mania.com Web site will feature some of amorphicmedia.com's newest techniques including a dynamic photo gallery powered by Ajax, an improved content management system, an all new look, feel, and color scheme with graphic design by Devin Boyce, and many other improvements. Although it won't be the first all CSS design to come out of amorphicmedia.com (Party Productions NYC launched in September, was the first) it will represent the most complex independent design to come out of our studios to date.

The new site will show off some of the latest photography by amorphicmedia's Rich Cirminello as well as the likes of Shiran Nicholson and Karl Giant. In addition, the Virtual Body Painter will get a long–needed face–lift, and the site will be more accessible and search engine friendly.

“This project represents a true departure from old–style Web design based on tables and other holdouts from the past. It also represents a collaborative effort with graphic designer, Devin Boyce, who has also contributed in smaller parts to the Party Productions NYC site and the upcoming Advanced Solar Products (www.advancedsolarproducts.com) redesign.”—Rich Cirminello

September 18, 2006

Party Productions NYC Launches New Site

Party Productions NYC (www.partyproductionsnyc.com), source of New York’s Best Entertainment for parties and special events, announces a new Web site designed by amorphicmedia.com.

Site owner and Party productions NYC President, John Ed McGurk, was interested in updating the old site which had a long list of problems including inconsistent design from page to page, poor use of images, excessive use of non-semantic code, poor search engine rankings due to Flash navigation, and poorly structured textual content. The old site also had several dead links and randomly sized pop-up windows that often surprised and sometimes frustrated visitors, problems all addressed and resolved by the new design.

"The Party Productions NYC Web site is the first of a new generation of sites to come from our studio that is built completely on current Web Standards (XHTML 1.1 and CSS 2.0); we have 3 more in development right now including the next version of Latex-Mania.com (www.latex-mania.com), the new Rockit Aerials site (www.rockitaerials.com) and Advanced Solar Products project (www.advancedsolarproducts.com) all of which will be launched before the end of 2006 "—Rich Cirminello

July 27 , 2006

amorphicmedia.com Photographs Latex-Mania at Tavern on the Green

On Thursday, July 27, 2006, Rich Cirminello of amorphicmedia.com photographed several bodypainted models and dancers at a private party held at Tavern on the Green in Central Park, New York City. The models and dancers adorned in paintend-on costumes by long-time client Latex-Mania with make-up by Karl Giant and hair by Roxanne Rodriguez mingled, danced with, and otherwise entertained guests at an event organized and facilitated by Party Productions NYC with entertainment supplied by Rock-L Productions.

The photos are currently featured in the www.latex-mania.com photo gallery archive and may also be included in a gallery of Latex-Mania work featured on www.rock-l.com.

Additional photo from the event can be seen on Rich Cirminello's personal iWeb pages TOG and animals. Photographs from other recent Latex-Mania events can also be seen on the Club Abyss page, MAXIM Maximum Exposure, bud girls 2, and KatManDu Blacklight Party as well as on the Latex-Mania site gallery archives.

May 9, 2006

amorphicMedia.com to consult on New York–Presbyterian Hospital Intranet Redesign Project

In early May, 2006, Rich Cirminello of amorphicMedia.com begins working as an Information Architect and Usability consultant on the New York–Presbyterian Hospital Intranet Redesign project. NYP was recently ranked #6 by U.S. News and World Report's America's Best Hospitals Honor Roll for 2005. The largest private employer in New York City, this Intranet project will serve over 18,000 employees, doctors, managers, and executives for the respected non-profit. "This is really an exciting time for me and for amorphicMedia.com," says Rich Cirminello.

"This project at NYP gives us an opportunity to put all of our current skills and knowledge of information architecture and usability to the test. At the same time, we will learn how to integrate and balance the needs of the users with the demands and limitations of multiple enterprise solutions for data management. I couldn't imagine being part of anything more exciting right now."—Rich Cirminello

May 1, 2006

amorphicMedia.com Sponsors BYSA Soccer

AmorphicMedia is once again a proud sponsor of the Bayonne Youth Soccer Association. In 2004, amorphicMedia sponsored a division 6 girls team coached by Bob Driscoll of Bayonne. Bob's daughter also played on the team. "Unfortunately, 2005 was a difficult year for amorphicMedia.com and it broke my heart not to be able to sponsor last year," says Rich Cirminello.

This year's division 7 team is all new, new coaches, Michele and Artie Lambos, and the youngest players the league allows: 4 and 5 year–olds, with boys and girls playing on the same teams.

"I played BYSA soccer growing up and it was a very important part of my childhood. I played thoughout high school and my first year in college — after that I coached for St. Peter's Prep in Jersey City and acquired a FIFA referee license. I am very happy to help today's youth in Bayonne have the same positive opportunities and experiences with soccer that I did."

March 30, 2006

Rich Cirminello Earns Project Management Certificate from NYU SCPS

In late March, 2006, Rich Cirminello, president of amporphicMedia.com, completed the final course in the Certificate in Business Project Management Program at the New York University School of Continuing Education and Professional Studies. Rich became interested in the certificate program after reading "Web by Kelly Goto of gotomedia, inc. and Emily Cotler of Waxcreative Design, Inc.

"I had been aware of the importance of proper project management principles, but ‘Redesign’ put them in a whole new perspective for me. Goto and Cotler presented a workflow in their book that really opened my eyes to the places where amorphicMedia could improve it's handling of the entire project lifecycle. I still refer to the book and having studied general project management principles and best practices at NYU has added an incredible amount of value to the amorphicMedia development process."—Rich Cirminello

After completing the Certificate in Business Project Management, Rich Cirminello is considering becoming a Nationally Certified PMP. This type of certification requires a specific number of hours in a project management role in addition to related coursework and passing the national PMI Exam. The Certificate comes from the Project Management Institute.