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SimpleBits Go to the source

It’s been a long five years since it was orginally published, but last month month a new Web Standards Solutions, Special Edition was released by Friends of ED . Late last year, I gave the manuscript a little freshening up, mostly reviewing things in the crop of browsers that have been released since the initial version. I’ll stress that this was not a large overhaul of the book (hence Special Edition rather than Second Edition), so if you’ve already read the original, or own it, you’re better off spending your dime on another book. But while it wasn’t a giant update, it was nice to give it some extra attention, and pass it through through tech editing, copy editing, compositing and proofreading cycles once again. In the end, I’m really happy it just made the book that much more solid for folks that haven’t read it—and hopefully still a good introduction for those getting started with semantic markup and CSS . In other book news, I’ve been toiling away on something brand new, and look forward to sharing much more about that very soon… Read the rest here

SimpleBits Go to the source

Back by popular demand, we’ve just printed a fresh batch of Charge tees , and they’re now once again available in all sizes. Just in time for Summer, the Charge tee is printed on heather gray “Tri-Blend” shirts by American Apparel, which is a soft, lightweight, super-comfortable shirt. We also think @wrycoder said it best when he declared : Softest shirt ever. Like being hugged by kittens. Couldn’t agree more… Read the rest here

SimpleBits Go to the source

The Bitcave was temporarily transformed into a video studio this week, while shooting a DVD for New Riders . I’ll have much more info on the video and other fun stuff related to it, soon. After seeing all the work that goes into setting up a simple shoot like this (lighting, sound, rigging, data transfers) I have newfound respect to those that produce motion stuff for a living. There were parts of the taping where I felt comfortable (when presenting against familiar material) and other times where it was downright grueling (talking directly to the camera for 30 takes in a row). Major props to those that can do this kind of thing on a regular basis, and make it look effortless… Read the rest here

SimpleBits Go to the source

… Read the rest here

SimpleBits Go to the source

I’ve always loved the constraint of a 4-track cassette recorder. So when I first came across FourTrack , a simple recording app for the iPhone, I figured I’d give it a whirl. I grabbed my trusty ukulele and laid down a little tune I often play to the kids. The audio records right from the iPhone’s built-in mic. The quality is impressive. Then I grabbed my three year old son Jack’s toy percussion kit, and banged along to the uke track… Read the rest here

SimpleBits Go to the source

We’ve rolled out some changes over here at SimpleBits that have been chipped away at for months. Visually, it’s not a drastic difference, but lots of adjustments and polishing were done in other areas. Chunks of copy were chopped, multiple pages combined into one, things simplified. More care and attention was given to the internal layout of pages that aren’t weblog pages. Finally. Also, the idea of fluid grid layouts has intrigued me since I heard Ethan talk about them at a Markup & Style Society event we threw a year ago… Read the rest here

SimpleBits Go to the source

We’ve rolled out some changes over here at SimpleBits that have been chipped away at for months. Visually, it’s not a drastic difference, but lots of adjustments and polishing were done in other areas. Chunks of copy were chopped, multiple pages combined into one, things simplified. More care and attention was given to the internal layout of pages that aren’t weblog pages. Finally. … Read the rest here

SimpleBits Go to the source

… Read the rest here

SimpleBits Go to the source

Eight years ago (almost to the day), Jeffrey Zeldman wrote, To Hell With Bad Browsers , signaling the dawning of “The CSS Age”. Explaining how the use of @import for referencing stylesheets is ignored by Netscape 4, was an important step in shedding away the problems related to supporting an ancient browser. Eight. Years. Completely ignoring a browser in terms of CSS is a wonderfully freeing thing… Read the rest here

SimpleBits Go to the source

We’re once again happy to announce a new icon set for sale over at our IconShoppe . It’s called Boxtrot , and it’s a simple little set of perfectly square icons that come in 7 colors, 3 sizes and 2 formats ( GIF and PNG ). It’s also reasonably priced at just thirty-nine bucks. The new set is based off the previously released Disco and Square Dance sets. Also released today is the Ballroom SuperPack , which includes all three sets at a discount of over 30% (and similar to our Chameleon SuperPack which is another way of getting multiple sets in one discounted purchase). … Read the rest here

SimpleBits Go to the source

Apparently there’s a market for battery-adorned garments! Our Charge Tee (released earlier this month) was a hit, and the first batch sold out quickly. We’re expecting a new shipment tomorrow, and will be shipping any remaining orders as fast as possible. We’ve also opened up ordering for all sizes again — we just can’t guarantee a pre-Christmas delivery on new orders from today forward. Then again, a battery-adorned t-shirt really makes a great New Year’s gift, doesn’t it? Also, it seems our initial batch is starting to make its way into the wild. … Read the rest here

SimpleBits Go to the source

It’s been awhile since we designed a t-shirt, and today we’re happy to announce the fresh-off-the-presses and just-in-time-for-the-holidays Charge Tee : a simple black battery icon screen-printed on an athletic grey Tri-Blend shirt from American Apparel. The Tri-Blend is the softest, most comfortable shirt I’ve owned. And you’ll love it too. Wear it to the gym, coffeeshop, pub—or wherever you recharge. The shirts (like previous designs) were printed by Acme Prints in Arizona, and will be hand-packed by myself, Meagan, or anyone else we can coax into helping. … Read the rest here

SimpleBits Go to the source

Last month, we launched Disco , and today we’re happy to announce the second installment of the Ballroom Family of stock web icons over at the IconShoppe . It’s called Square Dance , and it’s a simple little set of rounded- square icons that come in 7 colors, 3 sizes and 2 formats ( GIF and PNG ). And just like Disco, it’s also reasonably priced at just thirty-nine bucks. I’ve been meaning to put more time into stocking the shelves of the ‘Shoppe for a while now, and Meagan has been handling the meticulous color/format production of these new sets, with more to come. … Read the rest here

SimpleBits Go to the source

I returned from Tokyo on Monday. I gave a talk at the Web Directions East conference. I’ve never had a simultaneous translation of a presentation before. I hope it went OK. … Read the rest here

SimpleBits Go to the source

We’re happy to announce a brand spanking new icon set for sale over at the IconShoppe . It’s called Disco , and it’s a simple little set of disc-shaped icons that come in 7 colors, 3 sizes and 2 formats ( GIF and PNG ). It’s also reasonably priced at just thirty-nine bucks. The IconShoppe has been offering our hand-crafted web icons to go for designers and site owners. We’re excited to finally add a new family to the shelves, with more to come in the coming months. Also, going on sale today is Chameleon16 , a TrueType pixel font for Mac and Windows that’s inspired by the Chameleon family of color-changing icons we’ve been serving since 2005… Read the rest here

SimpleBits Go to the source

We’ve created a special place where we can recommend various books, music and products that help us design and kick ass. That place is called SimpleGoods , a custom little Amazon Store (or “AStore” as those in the know call them). Design and customization by Meagan , who is now an expert in overriding horrendous legacy code via a tiny textarea. One is limited in terms of what’s customizable in an AStore, but Meagan found a way to make it unique and awesome (just don’t look under the hood, and send your code grievances directly to Amazon.com, thanks ;-). Some of the categories are merely stubs for adding products in the future as we come across them. … Read the rest here

SimpleBits Go to the source

The best Twitter interface, in my humble opinion, is (currently) Hahlo : a web application designed for the iPhone that uses the Twitter API to offer an alternative skin for the service. There’s a lot I like about the way Hahlo approached the UI . So much so, that I started missing those features when Twittering from the desktop. That’s where Fluid comes in. I’m certainly late to the game here, but Fluid is a pretty handy little Mac application… Read the rest here

Adactio Go to the source

Dan Cederholm is in the house at An Event Apart San Francisco. He’s all about the bulletproofing. Simplebits describe what they do as hand crafted pixels and text . This idea of craft, building something with your hands, is what Dan wants to concentrate on. It isn’t always obvious in web design how well-crafted a web site is. Dan will run through a case study that focus on three aspects of web design: being bulletproof, being adaptable and focusing on the details. … Read the rest here

SimpleBits Go to the source

I love ampersands. And interest in this quirky character seems to be on the rise as of late. Case in point: Just last week, I purchased not one, but two t-shirts adorned with nothing more than an ampersand. That’s telling, no? For much of last year, I had a little portion of a presentation dedicated to using CSS to serve up alternate, compelling ampersands. It’s also something I’ve done here on SimpleBits for quite awhile in our tagline. … Read the rest here

Jason Santa Maria Go to the source

I like my old site design; it feels distinct even now, and I didn’t really see the point in redesigning until I needed to. It stayed in generally the same form for nearly five years. But I finally caved and redesigned. So, why the change? I’m glad you asked. Professionally, I’ve recently become a bit disillusioned with my design work because it feels static. … Read the rest here