Less Framework : A CSS framework for cross-device layouts, built on the principles in Ethan Marcotte’s “ Responsive Web Design ”. I’m not a huge fan of frameworks, but they can come in handy at times. (See, however, my remarks regarding using media queries for mobile experiences .) … Read the rest here
Google and Arcade Fire Team Up for HTML5 ‘Experience’ : This multi-window browser experience is probably unlike anything you’ve seen before, though eerily reminiscent of the Javascript-controlled browser window resizing and spawning we saw a decade ago (most notably with Flash sites). The big headline here is that it’s built with HTML5. I’ve not dived into this enough to understand precisely what components of HTML5 are being used, and Google’s official post doesn’t offer details either. Given every link and article I’ve seen pointing to this today mentions HTML5, somebody oughta give us the deets. Note: I’ve linked to the Wired article, as the actual site is getting hammered with traffic. … Read the rest here
“In the same way that a movie isn’t good because it’s in color, a movie isn’t good because it’s in 3-D.” - James Cameron … Read the rest here
Macworld: 25 Safari Extensions : Good list. Just installed a few of them. /via Daring Fireball … Read the rest here
Eric Schmidt and Ivan Seidenberg: A Path to an Open Internet : The CEOs of Google and Verizon authored an opinion piece in The Washington Post today, which closes with this statement: There are hundreds of millions of Internet users in the United States, and no two companies should be so presumptuous as to think they can solve this challenge alone. It is up to policymakers to establish broadband policy for the country. We are eager to work with Congress, the FCC and other interested parties to get this right. We hope that our proposal provides some concrete ideas to move this process forward. … Read the rest here
Jason Grigsby: CSS Media Query for Mobile is Fool’s Gold : This is an interesting piece that debates the merits of using CSS media queries to build mobile-optimized experiences, tackling Ethan Marcotte’s influential article on adaptive design, “ Responsive Web Design ”. For the most part, I agree with Jason’s arguments about the context of mobile and hidden/unused files downloading in the background. These same two points are what led me to argue against handheld CSS in my book , and they remain valid in discussions about media queries, too. With the prevalence of wi-fi in daily life and the ever-increasing speeds of mobile networks, it would be easily to write off file size and download speed when creating mobile experiences. However, with such news as the elimination of unlimited data plans and this net neutrality thing , I think it’s safe to say network speed, latency, and cost will remain relevant to mobile discussions for the foreseeable future… Read the rest here
“Web design is not merely building. It’s not just designing. It’s not only the rest of the myriad disciplines and titles we all align ourselves with, but the culmination of all these things.” - Jason Santa Maria, A Real Web Design Application … Read the rest here
A Real Web Design Application : This is a very thorough overview by Jason Santa Maria of the current tools available to web designers, their shortcomings, and the friction and waste created by transferring work from tool to browser. Jason’s argument toward the end of his article will certainly continue a debate that’s already raging: A web designer jumping into the browser before tackling the creative and messaging problems is akin to an architect hammering pieces of wood together and then measuring afterwards. The imaginative process is cut short by the tools at hand; and it’s that imagination—or spark—at the beginning of a design that lays the path for everything that follows. Without it, you’re at best able to make a website that looks like a website—rather than a design that tells a story in the form of a website. To read only the above quote on its own would be to take Jason’s remarks out of context. The paragraphs that follow demonstrate he favors designing in the browser if the tools to do so can be improved. … Read the rest here
Stanford University: iPhone Application Development (iTunes) : If you’re interested in teaching yourself how to develop for iPhone, this might be the ideal resource. Includes videos and presentation slides, all free of charge. And the “professors” are Apple employees Alan Cannistraro and Josh Shaffer. Don’t know Objective-C? Start following Dan Walker’s series of articles, the first titled “ Learn Objective-C: Day 1 ”. … Read the rest here
Phaeton Typeface by Kevin Cornell and Randy Jones : The always-entertaining Kevin Cornell: If you’ve ever made a font, you know how much work it is. Fortunately, I don’t. Because I was lucky enough to have teamed up with Mr. Randy Jones in the creation of Phaeton, which made it significantly more fun and less stressful. It was a good match-up, because brains are like chewing gum. I shall explain. … Read the rest here
How the Old Spice Videos Are Being Made : Just yesterday I contemplated authoring something on what I think is the most fascinating advertising campaign in recent memory. I’m glad I didn’t. It wouldn’t have come anywhere close to the insight offered by ReadWriteWeb in this article. I do wish, however, that the article would have mentioned more about the equipment and software being used for the ingenious, real-time shooting. Video DSLR? Final Cut… Read the rest here
Camera+ for iPhone: $253,000 in First-Month Sales : tap tap tap’s Camera+ , which sells for $1.99 in the App Store, sold 217,000 copies in its first month. That’s a quarter-million dollars in one month of sales for an app that sells for two bucks. Is it surprising to anyone that, right now, any mobile platform other than iOS is “ largely out of the consciousness of your average developer ”? BTW, the article, written by founder John Casasanta, contains lots of good advice for those hoping to accomplish the same as tap tap tap. … Read the rest here
…that having been the original working title for “ Prefix or Posthack “, my latest article for A List Apart . (Sort of like Return of the Jedi had a working title of Blue Harvest .) In a fairly quick read, I make the case that vendor prefixes are not only good, they have the potential to be great and to deliver greater interoperability and advancement of CSS. So far the reaction has been overwhelmingly positive, which frankly came as a bit of a surprise. The annoyance factor of prefixes is undeniable, and it’s been my experience that annoyance dramatically hardens opposition regardless of whether or not there are good reasons to oppose. … Read the rest here
“We ought to praise vendors for using prefixes, and indeed encourage them to continue. Beyond that, I hold that prefixes should become a central part of the CSS standardization process. I do this not for the love of repetition, but out of a desire to see CSS evolve consistently. I believe that prefixes can actually accelerate the advancement and refinement of CSS.” - Eric Meyer on Prefix or Posthack … Read the rest here
Tweet Sleuthing : So, the article I’ve linked to here is actually about a possible acquisition bid for Thing Labs , the makers of Brizzly , by Foursquare . That is of very little interest to me. The real story here, in my opinion, is how Louis Gray pieced together a series of tweets from a VC and two founders to create a convincing speculation of the potential bid. That is of great interest to me. Nice work, Louis. … Read the rest here
Microsoft Calling. Anyone There? : Ashlee Vance, reporting for The New York Times: Stylish designs, an emphasis on flashy social-networking features and an all-out marketing blitz were meant to prove that Microsoft could build the right product at the right time for the finickiest customers — gossiping youngsters with gadget skills. But last week, less than two months after the Kins arrived in stores, Microsoft said it would kill the products. Explicitly marketing something as “hip” to the hipster crowd rarely works, even less so coming from a company with a string of failures in that area (Xbox being the one exception). But it’s more than just marketing. … Read the rest here
Booth is a beautiful annual poetry magazine (and weekly blog) published by Butler University in Indianapolis. To my surprise and delight, this years edition, which came out in May, featured Daniels Daily Monsters ! First, check out the gorgeous cover, which was part-inspiration for the little illustrations I’m doing on the site: The first page of the article featured the Monster that Leigh drew: And the accompanying spread shows not only my monsters, but also 2 that Samantha drew as well. The whole family got published! Tagged: danielsmonsters , press , published … Read the rest here
Like many others before me, I’ve moved the weblog portion of SimpleBits over here to Tumblr . I did this for many reasons. I like that there’s one f!@#$ing template. That’s it. I don’t miss comments… Read the rest here
The Cure for Creative Blocks? Leave Your Desk. : Jocelyn K. Glei, writing for The 99 Percent: Though we are more likely than ever to be tethered to others by our iPhones and Blackberries, it’s more important than ever to carve out periods of uninterrupted contemplation. To take our brains out of their scattershot Internet patterns and navigate a new city, take in nature on a long walk, sit quietly and read a book, or have a serendipitous conversation with a stranger. I’d refer to this as creative pause , and I agree with Jocelyn’s remarks about it being a necessary element in the flow of creativity. … Read the rest here
This uplifting ditty and accompanying Python-esque video about my favourite refreshment was Kula Shaker ‘s free Christmas single from 2007! We wanted George Orwell for the narration, not just because he was a T.O.F.F., but because he actually wrote a very serious article for the Times newspaper in the 1940’s about how to make a perfect cup of tea. Whilst we don’t agree completely with his rather rigid, and to be honest, quite dogmatic creed of ‘no sugar’, we still admire his pioneering work as a social prophet and old skool tea drinker. Good old George. Good on you chaps! Tagged: british , music , tea , video … Read the rest here