iFontMaker for iPad
iFontMaker for iPad : Create your own handwriting font in TTF format. Check the gallery for samples. /via @wTyeRogers … Read the rest here
Posts Tagged writing
Khoi Vinh Resigns as NYTimes.com Design Director
Khoi Vinh Resigns as NYTimes.com Design Director : A good friend and long-time inspiration for me, Khoi is moving on: It wasn’t an easy decision. I’ve been at The New York Times for four and a half years now, four and a half years that will doubtless figure prominently in my life for years to come. There were some rough patches, as there are with any job, but on the whole it’s been the best job I’ve ever had…. In the short run, I’ll be doing lots of stuff on a smaller scale: personal projects that I’ve been tinkering with, a few public speaking appearances, a bit of writing (including finishing a book I started earlier this year), some short-term work for companies with whom I’m friendly, and more. … Read the rest here
“Google is Bringing Android Software Development to the Masses.”
“Google is Bringing Android Software Development to the Masses.” : It’s called Google App Inventor for Android , and how’s this for user testing: User testing has been done mainly in schools with groups that included sixth graders, high school girls, nursing students and university undergraduates who are not computer science majors. The chances of anything extraordinary coming of this? About the same as me writing a course for nursing students. Or about the same as useful, elegant websites created by FrontPage . … Read the rest here
In Defense of Vendor Prefixes
…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
Unboxing Apart
Writing a book is hard. Ask someone who’s writing a book right now how it’s going and chances are you’ll catch them at a bad moment. But there are good moments. Writing the final words of a book: that’s a good moment. Having conversations with a kick-ass editor : those are good moments. Hearing that the book has been sent to the printer: that’s a really good moment… Read the rest here
Capturing Ideas in the Shower
Two sizes of dive slates, as displayed in my shower. I’ve written before about showering as an ideal model for creative pause —minimal distraction, mental freedom, and a change of scenery. What I haven’t written about is how to capture what comes of the pause. Inspiration is elusive and fleeting, and if it isn’t captured when it comes, it’s often gone for good. … Read the rest here
Welcome to the bitstream
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.
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
Pilot Handwriting
Pilot Handwriting : Print a sheet, write your uppercase and lowercase letters by hand, take a photograph of it with your webcam, and begin typing. Restricted to this (promotional) site, but looks like fun, albeit somewhat tedious fun. … Read the rest here
Herman Miller Desk Adjusts for Work Standing or Sitting
Herman Miller Desk Adjusts for Work Standing or Sitting : Sonia Zjawinski, writing for Unplggd : In the never-ending debate over what’s more ergonomic, working standing up or sitting down, Herman Miller comes out with the ultimate solution—a desk that can do both. Part of their Thrive series, the desk is designed to be able to adjust heights with a simple push of a button. I’ll echo Sonia: The debate about working standing up vs. sitting down is never-ending. To that end, I remind you to do what works best for you, not them … Read the rest here
Comments
“I turned off comments in the last redesign of powazek.com because I needed a place online that was just for me. With comments on, when I sat down to write, I’d preemptively hear the comments I’d inevitably get. It made writing a chore, and eventually I stopped writing altogether. Turning comments off was like taking a weight off my shoulders. It freed me to write again.” Derek Powazeck Your right to comment ends at my front door Derek just echoed some of my thoughts, and helps me explain why I’ve turned of my comments recently. … Read the rest here
Fanboi’s Lament: Falling Out of Love With the iPad
Fanboi’s Lament: Falling Out of Love With the iPad : Rik Myslewski, writing for The Register : I’ve taken it on business trips for note-taking and email, have had no problems with its much-maligned keyboard, and even play the occasional game. But I’m spending less and less time with it. As a fanboi, I’d like to say that the jury is still out, but I’m afraid that the most important evidence—that I’m less frequently using the li’l guy for either business or pleasure—is in. My iPad is clearly moving into Newtonian territory. … Read the rest here
The Web Stack
Following on my “HTML5 vs. Flash” talk of a couple of weeks ago, I’m hoping to do a bit of blogging about HTML5, Flash, mobile apps, and more. But first I need to get some terminology straight. As I did in my talk, I’m going to refer to the collection of front-end web-standards technologies—(X)HTML (of any flavor), CSS, and JavaScript—as “the web stack”. I’ve seen the term used here and there and it makes the most sense to me as a condensed verbal shorthand. It beats writing out the specific technologies every time or trying to use similarly clumsy constructions like “front-end tech”. … Read the rest here
A List Apart: Habit Fields
A List Apart: Habit Fields : Jack Cheng, describing the habits we associate or exhibit with certain objects: Thanks to the computer’s ability to multitask, sometimes these habit fields actually become oriented around the act of switching programs! If you’re conditioned to alternate between different modes of working every few seconds, it’s no wonder you have a tough time staying focused on one thing. Later in the article, Jack shares a method he uses to remain focused: I have a comfortable chair reserved for e-mail, checking status updates, and leisurely surfing the web. I call it my ‘distraction chair.’ I try to reserve my work desk for actual work—writing, designing, and coding—and when I feel the inclination to read Twitter or check e-mail, I move to the lounge chair…. At first, it may seem like a nuisance to get up and move every time, but that’s exactly the point. Jack’s observations hit home a little too hard: I’ve become too comfortable with switching programs every few minutes, even every few seconds at times. The toll this takes on my ability to focus and remain productive is astounding… Read the rest here
Facebook’s Gone Rogue; It’s Time for an Open Alternative
Facebook’s Gone Rogue; It’s Time for an Open Alternative : Ryan Singel, writing for Wired: It’s time for the best of the tech community to find a way to let people control what and how they’d like to share. Facebook’s basic functions can be turned into protocols, and a whole set of interoperating software and services can flourish. Think of being able to buy your own domain name and use simple software such as Posterous to build a profile page in the style of your liking. You’d get to control what unknown people get to see, while the people you befriend see a different, more intimate page. They could be using a free service that’s ad-supported, which could be offered by Yahoo, Google, Microsoft, a bevy of startups or web-hosting services like Dreamhost. While I’d love to see Facebook lose its AOL-in-the-90s grip on the web, Ryan’s vision of an open alternative is nothing more than a pipe dream, I’m afraid. … Read the rest here
Announcing HTML5 For Web Designers
For the third time in my life, I have written a book. HTML5 For Web Designers is available for pre-order now from A Book Apart . That’s right—the same lovely people who brought you A List Apart are now delivering good ol’-fashioned dead tree publications. The quality and craftsmanship of the resultant book is, as you would expect, stratospherically high. How could it not be given the team of superheroes who put it together: Jason Santa Maria is the designer, Mandy Brown is the editor and Jeffrey Zeldman oversaw the whole process. Working with them has been an honour and a pleasure… Read the rest here
Understanding
Every so often I’ll read something on the web that somebody else has written and I’ll think Yes! That! That’s what I’ve been trying to say! I’ve already told of experiencing just that whilst reading Raiding Eternity . Now I’ve experienced it again. This time the culprit is Ben Ward , the talented bastard. He reeled me in with the synopsis of his latest article. It’s called Understand The Web : Perceptions of the web are changing. People are advocating that we treat the web like another application framework. … Read the rest here
We Have Met the Enemy and He Is PowerPoint
We Have Met the Enemy and He Is PowerPoint : There are so many quotable lines in this New York Times story I could very well copy and paste the entire thing here. Instead, a few gems, beginning with this one: ‘PowerPoint makes us stupid,’ Gen. James N. Mattis of the Marine Corps, the Joint Forces commander, said this month at a military conference in North Carolina. … Read the rest here
Library of Congress to House Your Tweets
Library of Congress to House Your Tweets : Kent German, writing for CNET’s Crave Gadget Blog: The Library of Congress announced today —via Twitter, no less—that is acquiring the Twitter’s entire archive through donation…. Though the whole idea may sound bizarre, the Library already holds more than 167 terabytes of Web-based information, including legal blogs and Web sites for political candidates and current lawmakers. We all best write a little more carefully, I suppose. … Read the rest here
Introducing Dribbble
Let the games begin! Rich Thornett and I have been building Dribbble for what seems like years (oh wait, it has been that long). About a week ago, we quietly rolled back the curtain so the public could finally see what’s been happening in private beta. I’m pretty damned excited about this. Firstly, what is Dribbble? From the FAQ : Dribbble is show and tell for designers, developers and other creatives. … Read the rest here