Meagan Fisher (talented designer, front-end coder and owl aficionado) will be joining us as a part-time assistant. Meagan has recently moved from sunny Florida to Salem, and will help SimpleBits become slightly less tiny than it's been for the past six years or so, beginning next month. I'm really excited about some of the new things this will allow us to work on.

Some of her recent work includes a wonderful Rails Machine redesign (where she worked with Dan Benjamin, who I owe for putting us in touch) and Halogen Guides Greener. You can read more about her big move over at her blog.

So, welcome aboard, Meagan -- and get ready to become a converted Red Sox, Patriots and Celtics fan (I'm omitting the Bruins since they have a bit of catching up to do).

Kerry and I welcomed the birth of our daughter yesterday. Tenley Murphy Cederholm was born June 25th at 1:22pm. Six pounds, eleven ounces of pure joy.

Where our 2 1/2 year old son Jack came six weeks early, Tenley decided to do it her own way, arriving 3 days late. Everyone's doing wonderfully though, and Mom and baby will be coming home tomorrow.

I'll be taking the next month off as much as possible as we adjust to newborn status once again. See you in a bit.

At one of my favorite local coffee shops, I've noticed they have a creative take on generating tips. I'm sure this is used elsewhere as well, but it's the first time I've come across it.

There are two baskets by the register, with a rotating sign above that asks a question. Today it was: "Should Obama pick Hillary as Vice President?" Throw your tip in the appropriate basket, and we get an instant, visible poll as a byproduct of giving your barista a little extra change. Some questions generate a more noticeable swing in basket preference (sorry, Hillary), while others are just fun throwaways.

A small reward for participation. I'm sure there's a parallel here with social web interaction, but I'll let Josh or someone else who's hot on this topic decipher it.