Use the Best Available Ampersand

admin — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 16:14:12 +0100

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?

Signal vs. Noise

admin — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 15:28:21 +0100

Haven't people figured out by now that any decrees made by 37signals only ever work for 37signals?

Cubescape Highlights

admin — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 15:28:21 +0100

My great uncle Jeremiah once told me these wise words: "If you give a man a painting, he will enjoy it for one day. But if you give a man a canvas, he will draw a giant penis on it." It's that memory of old uncle Jezza that brought a nostalgic tear to my eye as I looked through the submissions on Cubescape. As with any user generated content, looking at what people have done with Cubescape fills me with equals parts dismay and wonder. Because the dismay is somewhat more obvious, I thought I'd share some of the wonder that I've stumbled across.

Cubescape

admin — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 15:28:21 +0100

Cubescape: Your own digital landscape Sometimes I get a little obsessed. And that obsession takes me down a long, winding path. Some might even say a laborious and twisted path. The latest focus of my obsession? Cubes.

Circtangles: A JavaScript art installation

admin — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 15:28:21 +0100

The thought only just occurred to me that I'd never used the newly emerging technology for creating rounded corners in CSS -- border-radius. So to rectify this, I set about experimenting with abstract uses for rounded corner rectangles. This is the result: Circtangles border-radius is only available in Firefox Gecko and Safari Webkit, so don't bother trying Circtangles out in anything else.

An abundance of Web Directions news

admin — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 15:28:21 +0100

There's so much Web Directions news, I don't know what to do with it all. Well, I'll get the most exciting tidbit off my chest first: I'm taking my Oscar-winning* workshops on the road around Australia†. I'll be guiding inquisitive programmers through the Frontiers of JavaScript at both Melbourne's Web Directions UX and also Canberra's Web Directions Gov: Revenge of the Sith. So if you're going to be in either city during May and you'd like to learn some of the more interesting things you can do with JavaScript, come along!

Accidental Clicks

admin — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 15:28:21 +0100

When you start trying to click on your Photoshop mockups, that's when you know you've got a good interface.

widgEditor 1.0.1

admin — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 15:28:21 +0100

As with most of my output, I originally coded widgEditor to satisfy my own curiosity about WYSIWYG editors. Its actual uptake amongst users has -- and still -- takes me thoroughly by surprise. And that's the main reason why I'm feeling a bit guilty at letting it languish in non-maintenance limbo.

Small talk with a web designer

admin — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 15:28:21 +0100

After reading Jason Santa Maria's blog post on occupational titling I figured it deserved a response, so I present mine here: an interpretive visual narrative delivered via the medium of animated GIF.

Breaking news: Blog comments still amazingly relevant

admin — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 15:28:21 +0100

50% of survey respondents agree. via Brand New

Handwritten Typographers

admin — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 15:28:21 +0100

Hit pause for a moment and consider how greatly we -- people in the digital age -- are indebted to typographers. Almost all of our visual communication is delivered using the products of their craft: newspapers, SMSes, instant messages, emails, web pages, signs, posters, billboards; the list of purposes is endless.

Underwear

admin — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 15:27:38 +0100

One of my happiest memories is the day I quit my job. No longer was I a mere office shlub, meekly thanking life for the cold mashed potatoes it deigned to drop onto my plate. I was somebody now—somebody with a destiny. I was a web designer. Times being what they are, more and more of us are working at home, not always by choice.

Your US tax dollars at work

admin — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 15:27:38 +0100

The Computing Community Consortium "supports the computing research community in creating compelling research visions and the mechanisms to realize these visions" and steals copyrighted design layouts from A List Apart magazine.

Customer support on the march

admin — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 15:27:38 +0100

You know that new thing where you call customer support and a robot tells you that there's no need to wait; just leave your phone number and you'll be called back in three minutes? So you do it, and three minutes later, the robot calls you back and asks you to hold while your call is connected? And then you sit on hold for twenty minutes waiting to get connected?

Not at his desk

admin — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 15:27:38 +0100

Have left town for a funeral. Will be gone a week. Updates may be sparse.

Around the Word with Web Talent

admin — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 15:27:38 +0100

My first book didn't sell very well but it had an effect on people's hearts. Web designers around the world circulated a single copy of Taking Your Talent to the Web, adding their autographs, drawings, photos, and other verbal and visual messages to every page—even the covers and spine.

ALA No. 262: Binding & Subversion

admin — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 15:27:38 +0100

In Issue No. 262 of A List Apart, for people who make websites, Ryan Irelan invites us to collaborate and connect with Subversion, and Christophe Porteneuve explains how to get out of binding situations in JavaScript.

Lube Tube

admin — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 15:27:38 +0100

Friedrolling: vt. Gratuitously posting Basecamp referral links disguised as tweets or blog posts.

ALA No. 265: better experience

admin — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 15:27:38 +0100

A List Apart No. 265 is about improving user experience for the deaf and discussion for all.

Pick a Panel

admin — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 15:27:38 +0100

The SXSW panel picker launched today. SXSW Interactive is probably the world's biggest web shebang, and the panel picker is how the festival begins winnowing out which panels, out of hundreds submitted, will actually be presented to the public. A few potential panels feature Happy Cog personnel...