$0.99 Today Only: Mobile Web Design (2007) : Grab a PDF copy of my book, Mobile Web Design , for just $0.99. Offer expires at the end of today (Aug 30). View a preview on Lulu or on your iPad in the iBookstore (iBooks app), and read the reviews on Amazon . … Read the rest here
Canon 60D Announced : According to Philip Bloom, the 60D is a replacement to the 50D and sits between the T2i and the 7D. It’s due out next month ($1,100 body only). Coolest new feature? This . A camcorder-like flip screen is almost a must for shooting video. (Photo credit: dpreview.com .) … Read the rest here
Twelve South’s Compass iPad Stand: A Review : I needn’t write a review of my own. This one covers everything, both the good and the bad — very little of it mind you, but I have the same problem with the foot peg occasionally muting the volume. However, I currently use the Griffin FlexGrip , which usually prevents the volume button from being depressed anyway. (I had to ditch the DODOcase , regrettably. More about that later.) In short, the Compass is one of the most useful, well-built pieces of hardware that I’ve purchased in quite some time… Read the rest here
Apple Patent for Dual-Mode Touchscreen Desktops/Laptops : Chris Foresman, Ars Technica: Patently Apple recently discovered a patent application filed with the World Intellectual Property Organization earlier this year, which reveals that Apple has considered how both desktop and laptop computers could switch from a more traditional desktop UI best suited for use with a keyboard and mouse to a UI geared for touch input. Such machines could use a sort of hybrid between Mac OS X and iOS, switching UI layers for the most appropriate context. This is purely speculative, and I’m sure Apple will give the idea plenty of time to bake. But if the device were affixed to my desk, it might have little value for me personally. … Read the rest here
Why Free Plans Don’t Work : Guest author Ruben Gamez of Bidsketch : I’m not saying that it’s impossible to be successful if you launch with a free plan. Obviously free plans have worked well for companies like Wufoo, MailChimp, and FreshBooks, so we know they can work. But the problem is that we’re not them. We need to stop blindly copying them and start thinking about ways to bring in revenue. … Read the rest here
Is the New Virb for Me? : An excellent write-up by Virb design extraordinaire Ryan Sims. The new Virb , which launched Monday, focuses on building an elegantly simple website for $10/month. I actually appreciate that they’ve launched with no theme previews or sites featured . … Read the rest here
Tempus Fugit : Former office mate Rob Foster, describing a task management system he’s been proving for several years: Here’s where this system really diverges with the others. Those systems rely on review. You have to refer to them throughout the day as you do things. Some of them are time-based and have date-related features but still require you to go back to them to adjust the system, close things, etc. They require MANAGEMENT. … Read the rest here
Angry Birds Sells 6.5 Million Units, Earns $4.5 Million in Revenue : I’ve contributed $5 to that pile of cash. Who knew a few birds, some pigs, and a slingshot could be so much fun? Clearly, the game’s developer, Helsinki-based Rovio, knew it could be. … Read the rest here
Just How Popular are List Posts? : Collis Ta’eed, after mentioning list posts garner almost seven times as much as his site’s traffic mainstay of reviews, provides this wise observation: The reality is that list posts don’t build a great blog. The problem with lists themselves is that they tend to lack a voice. When a publication has no voice, there’s really nothing to differentiate it from another publication that publishes similar lists. Rather I think of them as traffic traps to catch new readers and to introduce them to our regular content types: reviews and how-to posts… Read the rest here
If you like lush instrumental bands like Explosions in the Sky, you should get yourself over to The Orchid’s Bandcamp page , where you can preview their debut EP ‘New Mexico’. I’ve just picked up my copy! … 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
Diagonal CSS Sprites : Aaron Barker describes a technique for preventing neighbor images from appearing by placing the images in a sprite diagonally, rather than horizontally or vertically. The tradeoff is file size, but Aaron argues the diagonal arrangement is a more reliable approach should the original container change size. … Read the rest here
Tumblr’s Identity Crisis : Following a very positive review, Khoi Vinh describes why he’s not a Tumblr user: As much as I admire it, though, I can’t bring myself to use it. Partly this is because one of its key ideas, the conspicuous omission of comments, is a deal breaker for me. I really value the comments that I get here on Subtraction.com and can’t imagine blogging without the continually rewarding intimacy of that feedback loop…. My biggest complaint, by far, has bothered me for some time but has taken me only until recently to put my finger on. Tumblr discourages identity. Or, to be more specific, it promotes shallow identity. … Read the rest here
When Apple’s Magic Trackpad was announced on Tuesday, I was quick to order one. With the suite of software I use — design, video, sound and so on — having a gestural device on my desktop to interact with that software was an easy sell. I didn’t necessarily see it as a replacement for my mouse prior to purchasing, and since its arrival yesterday, I still don’t see it as a replacement. More about that in a minute. Size-wise, it’s a little over 5” by 5” square (13 cm × 13 cm). Compared to the trackpad on a MacBook Pro , it’s nearly twice as tall and roughly 1” wider. … Read the rest here
“Mad Men” Furniture: Don Draper’s Office : A very detailed review of the show’s mid-century style from none other than The Mid-Century Modernist. I’ve not seen a single episode of “Mad Men”, but I’ve read/seen/digested enough tweets or posts to have seen at least two seasons worth. At least. … Read the rest here
I’m probably way behind the curve on this one, but I recently realized the following: All browsers that support the CSS text-shadow and box-shadow properties also support the new CSS3 RGBa syntax. Which means you can safely combine them today. That’s handy, because it means no worrying about matching a precise hex colour shadow to a specific hex colour background. Instead just let the browser blend. An example: p { text-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0 1px 0; } That will produce a paragraph with a 20% opacity black drop shadow that will blend into any background colour below it. … Read the rest here
Kiva High School : A new effort by Kiva that enables high school students to organize themselves in microfinance clubs with the intent of educating others. I’m a big believer in microfinance, and since March 2008, Authentic Jobs has funded 222 loans by donating 1% of its total monthly revenue. … Read the rest here
“It’s Like a Love Letter to Dieter Rams.” : John Gruber’s exhaustive review of iPhone 4. … Read the rest here
Hello, Craig. : Yes, hello. Good to see you’re finally offering prints for purchase, Craig. Fantastic work. (Craig is an animal on Dribbble and a previous contest winner .) … Read the rest here
Keynote Wireframe Toolkit : Wireframing with Keynote is a reasonable pitch—it’s affordable, rapid, and uploading to iWork.com makes annotating and collaboration easy. (I’m currently sharing concepts with a client via Keynote slides posted to iWork.com, though the original screens were created in Photoshop.) This toolkit by Travis Isaacs contains many of the essential elements for prototyping an app, including 960-based grids, standard banner ad sizes, and click/tap/swipe/pinch indicators for those reviewing the prototypes. /via Mark Wyner … Read the rest here
