Albertsons sold & Typo3
Job Jeopardy?
Well, it looks like it has finally happened. After a game of back and forth volleys between various offers, Albertsons has been sold today for $17.4 billion dollars to SuperValu, et al. This wasn't exactly ideal news to hear, being that I just started this job last September. In fact, it had been announced previously that the company was not going to be sold. After this caused a drop in stock prices, the shareholders asked that the offer be revisited.
Anyway, I'm not mad or disappointed. It's more of a relief knowing that things are finalized. How this will affect my job I am not yet sure, but suffice it to say that if you wanted to look over my portfolio or résumé, I wouldn't protest. I've got a few options, but nothing definite yet. There was an offer on the table awhile back from the Billy Graham Evangelical Association, but since I told them we were happy in Boise, they went ahead and filled that position.
Typo3 Textbook
In other news, I just bought a book on developing websites with Typo3, an open-source enterprise level CMS (not to be confused with the Rails based Typo). This is what the Web Empowered Church uses. I've been asked to be a contributor to this nation-wide project, so I figured I should learn to speak their lingo. They have a lot of really awesome back-end guys, but just need a little help with CSS and design. This could make for some cool synergy.
I haven't done much with the system yet, other than install it on localhost, but from what I can tell, it's pretty robust. What I especially like is that it starts you with a blank canvas. When I went to the index page after installation, it said something to the effect of "No Template Created." While this might seem intimidating to some, who expect to see Kubrick, it appeals to me because there's nothing to get rid of to start my own templating.
To use an analogy, working in WordPress is like purchasing a plot of land with a house already on it. This is great, if all you want to do is re-paint the house, but if you want to build your own, you first have to tear down the default. Textpattern is like buying a lot with just a framework on it. It's so sparse that you can either start building with it, or tear it down with no trouble. Typo3 would be like buying a vacant lot. There are no presets, and no limitations.
Needless to say, Typo3 would be overkill for my site, or even one like Godbit. It would be better suited to running a site the size of BBC News. So, if you're a perfectionist like me, and are willing to endure the learning curve and get your hands dirty, Typo3 might be a good solution for a mega-church or news website. I'll keep you posted as to how I like it, and will do a book review.