FightinJoe : Aaron Wheeler

Close and Open

Friday, 20 April 2007

Everything seems to be coming to a close all at once, and opening back up all at the same time! Isn’t it curious how spring does that?

As blogged elsewhere, the latest foray into Web 2.0 social networking sites, Kinzin.com, launched last week. For me, this is significant for sevaral reasons:

1. Kinzin doesn’t create a new social network; it enhances the ones you’ve already got. With a focus on family, this is great for those like me who ran away from home to join the circus, but still want to keep in touch and up to date with relatives back home.
2. Kinzin is a gateway drug; with a central focus on privacy and security, plus an intuitave UI designed for those young and old alike, Kinzin isn’t just for Generation Xers. It’s been built from the bottom up for everyone from Baby Huey to Grandpa Dewey.
3. I’ve been anticipating Kinzin for the past 11 months. Why? Because I’ve been working with a talented team of designers, programmers, fire breathers, and lion tamers to build, test, and refine Kinzin for it’s 1.0 release.

Working so long and hard on Kinzin, it’s hard to believe that it’s finally been released. I’d been working so intently on my portion of Kinzin that I hadn’t actually taken the time to sign up for an account! Seeing all of it come together was really fulfilling, especially now that I can share it with my family and let them know what’s been keeping me so busy that I can’t return their emails or phone calls!

Depending on how you count, I’ve either been working 4 years or 6 months towards the other project that’s been monopolizing all of my time: my wedding. Now that the euphoria of releasing Kinzin has settled, it’s time for me to get excited again, because my parents are arriving with my brother in less than two days, and my wedding is in a week! If you’re interested in reading more about it while brushing up on your Japanese, my fiance has been blogging about our planning experience on our wedding blog.

It feels good to complete these things that I’ve worked so hard towards over the last few months, but what is even more exciting are the new projects we’ll be opening come May. Exciting times!