May 2009 Archives
May 31, 2009
The Vendor Client relationship - in real world situations#
Sad, but true. Preposterous to even suggest something like this in these situations, yet it's not uncommon for it to happen to freelancers, even minor freelancers like me.
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Instructables - Electrolytic Rust Removal#
A fairly straight-forward way to remove rust from items. I have a couple things I'd like to try this out on, since it sounds plausible. I'd say I'm bookmarking this more for future reference, as opposed to thinking it's a really cool read.
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May 29, 2009
Cameron's Home (Ferris Bueller's Day Off) - $2.3M#
I might still be able to quote the entire movie for you, and if I had a spare $2.3M, I might own an impractical home near Chicago as well. One of a kind.
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May 26, 2009
Braid Graphics Briefcase - David Hellman#
While we're on the topic of Braid, be sure to check out the full set of graphics released by the game's artist himself, all available for your downloading pleasure. Very cool.
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Braid#
Yesterday I tried out the demo for this side-scrolling game, and couldn't get enough. Honestly, it was one of the first things I thought of when I woke up this morning. I finished the demo, and knew I needed to buy it. Available for Mac/Windows... give the demo a shot.
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May 25, 2009
Official Tooth Fairy Kit#
Very slick letterpress Certificate of Record for reporting and documenting lost teeth with the appropriate authorities. At $16 just for the records, however, this whole tooth fairy thing is pretty expensive. (another old link revived)
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Freedom to Surf - The University of Melbourne#
“People who do surf the Internet for fun at work - within a reasonable limit of less than 20% of their total time in the office - are more productive by about 9% than those who don’t.” I've worked at a couple places that are hyper sensitive about the allowed sites, and I can't tell you how frustrating it can be to be stymied of a simple mental break. (another oldie I'd been hanging onto)
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Kids Albums from the 70s - a set on Flickr#
Another late one, but I really enjoyed this record album artwork. There's something... I don't know... uh... random, or unique, or I don't know. I can't really put my finger on it. I just really like the contrast between the current design styles and the older design of this era. Don't forget to check out the article about them.
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Reflections on Layer Tennis | Jason Santa Maria#
I know I'm really late on this one, but it's very worth the linking. My favorite part is probably the cheat sheet (though I'd like to know how much these guys prepare in other ways). Very insightful to read their thoughts and see what they did. (this has been sitting in my feed reader forever, just waiting for me to read)
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Michael Tyznik - Dollar ReDe$ign Project#
My current favorite of all the submitted designs to the project. I agree with the premise, and appreciate the items he carried through to his design - green presidents. Who knows when we'll finally get a redesigned bill - not just the meager attempts to disguise what we already have.
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axono.me - isometric pixel art grid library for jQuery#
Pretty slick setup. I was most captivated by the racing cubes demo, so I tossed together a little axono.me Mario Brothers Race which wasn't much of a stretch beyond one of the original demos.
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May 19, 2009
Leg Cramp - garfield minus garfield#
My favorite Garfield Minus Garfield strip. Reminds me of my wife.
Sigrid Martinez - Animalphabet#
I really like this alphabet print, and think the illustration style is even better. Lots of fun! (though I suppose it could be difficult for kids, since the letters aren't perfectly aligned and the names are written in cursive)
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May 18, 2009
AMC interview with Brandon Sanderson#
In 2007 I started The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Although Robert Jordan passed away, Brandon Sanderson was asked to finish off the series. I've contemplated how that must feel, and I wholeheartedly agree that if I were to do that, "The biggest struggle [would be] the sheer weight of characters." I don't envy his position, but I sure look forward to the next release. (Also… I'm enjoying The Wheel of Time Re-Read going on over at Tor.com. Very interesting to hear/read others opinions about the series.)
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Government runs nation's only legal pot garden - CNN.com#
I'm not the target audience here, nor am I exactly well-versed with the uh... product involved here, but for whatever reason I found this to be very interesting. What I tend to find interesting is the use of normally outlawed drugs for medicinal purposes, or in controlled environments. Don't expect me to keep posting more about this topic. Seriously.
"Magic Mushrooms" - T-shirt by Ian Summers#
Great t-shirt that just might need to join my wardrobe. While we're on the topic of video games… I think Super Mario Brothers 2 was such an enlightening game, since I still think of the jumping style of each of the characters, based upon on they originally performed in that game. The two characters on this t-shirt (Toad and Luigi) were my two favorite characters in that game, very closely followed by Princess Peach. Sorry... back to your regularly scheduled links.
May 16, 2009
Aller by Dalton Maag Ltd#
Another nice free font. I particularly like the numbers and ampersand, though it has an appealing feel overall.
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Food Connections - Sourdough Starter#
Only once before have we used any kind of starter in our home, and it was originally given to us by somebody else. I'm extremely tempted to give this a shot.
May 15, 2009
Wolfram|Alpha#
Undoubtedly you'll see more about this elsewhere, but I was fascinated by what this search engine could do, as well as its potential. Be sure to watch the intro video to get a good idea of what it does.
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May 14, 2009
Julia Dales - Beatbox Battle Online World Champion#
One of those things that I've always been amazed by. I'm not that orally talented to make those types of sounds that quickly. Very impressive, especially from such an unassuming person.
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May 13, 2009
Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix#
I really enjoyed Phoenix's previous album, and was thrilled to see a new one yesterday. As a band they've come much further than I would have suspected, especially considering their original roots (electronica?).
May 12, 2009
Real World 404#
Perfect.
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Etsy - Geek Book by erinzam#
An old school computer punch-card bound notebook with green-lined computer paper, tied closed with a button and string? Yes please. I love this idea. I think it's well time for these to go beyond Etsy.
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May 11, 2009
Our Favorite Typefaces of 2008 | Typographica#
While I'm on the note of typefaces, I particularly enjoyed two of the typefaces presented in this review - Calgary Script, as well as Dolce Thin and Dyna (technically two different typefaces). All three I can see as wonderful highlights to a piece of work, with the latter two being a bit more liberal and potentially interchangeable. Slick
A Coda Theme based on Ryan Bate's Railscast Theme#
Although I use both Coda and Espresso, this theme by Joe Bergantine is great. I spend too much time staring at code not to be able to appreciate this (plus, who doesn't love the railscast theme?)
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dot colon - Vegur#
I really like this new free typeface. Vegur feels like it has a wider aperture, maybe encouraging a lighter feel than the standard sans-serif fonts. As an added bonus, I like how the dots to the lowercase i's and j's are rounded as opposed to squared. I'm no pro on this stuff, but it's fun to compare. The lightest version is my favorite.
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May 9, 2009
Website Thumbnail Generator Web App - thummer#
Still on the trail of website thumbnail creation, but this time a self-hosted version. If I had a private server with my web host, I'd probably investigate this option a bit closer. It wants me to do more than I'm allowed to do on my host, but seems more accurate than a simple converter like khtml2png. Django, python, kvfb and CutyCapt... the latter two are the real hang-ups for me, since they require me to be able to install as sudo.
thumbalizr - thumb your webpages#
Ever since ma.gnolia crashed I've been looking around for bookmarking options. Although I'm thrilled with my self-hosting, I'm looking around for options to capture screenshots, thumbnails, or just the text of websites (to accompany bookmarks) for my own safe-keeping. Although I'd prefer to host my own engine for this, if at this moment I had to pick a third party to handle it, thumbalizr would be it, since it lets you store the images on your own server.
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May 8, 2009
handdrawncreative's Petrolhead Postcard Col VII (Etsy)#
I really like these illustrations. I'm not sure if it's the vintage feel of them or what… but I dig 'em.
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BBC - Monster Wave Gives up its Secrets#
A super slow-motion video of a fabulous wave. Although I've always wanted to surf well enough to ride a wave like that, I liked the shot at about 11 seconds in to be just as cool.
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Konami Code Sites#
If you remember Contra like I do, or have heard a reference to the magical code… now certain sites on the interwebs give you a bit more too.
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May 6, 2009
YEAR OF MMIX#
We just talked about this yesterday. Have you started on your MMIX yet? This site has.
cufón - fonts for the people#
With full respect to SIFR and how nice it was/is to get alternate fonts into web pages, Cufón is so easy, it makes me wonder why I ever spent the time to figure out SIFR. Very slick.
May 5, 2009
Totally Looks Like…#
_____ totally looks like _____. More humorous than serious, but definitely interesting.
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Asbury & Asbury: Desperately seeking Hanna#
Great illustrations and an enviable style. Best of luck to them in finding out more info about the artist (which is actually the point of the entry). I just liked the illustrations.
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YouTube - Night of the Living Dead#
Discovered my grandfather's favorite movie on YouTube. This page, combined with this handy tip means you could enjoy this classic whenever you choose.
May 4, 2009
Grammar Girl :: Who Versus Whom#
I thought the cheating trick was pretty handy: "When you're trying to decide whether to use who or whom, ask yourself if the answer to the question would be he or him." That ending m is the thing to match. Sure, there's still plenty of room for questions, but that's just how English is.
May 3, 2009
The “Blog” of “Unnecessary” Quotation Marks#
Always a good "blog" and one that I "remind" myself of frequently. I'm commonly frustrated by some people and their use of "quotation marks." (seriously, though... funny, and one I had forgotten about)
May 2, 2009
Coudal Partners' Layer Tennis - Week 11#
I've been enjoying this season's Layer Tennis, and somewhat agree with Jason Lynes that this may be one of the best matches I've seen. Although the first couple layers were battle-ish, the remainder gave much more of a feeling of collaboration than competition. Very well done (plus we'll give them credit for using the Futura typeface on the same site that laud's it in their Field Notes products).
LEGO: 9f Train - Flickr#
I'm obviously late to the show on this one, but with my recent acquisition of the Emerald Night Lego train, this one really caught my eye. Super slick.
DelliStore: A Free Professional CSS/XHTML/PSD-Template#
I wish Smashing Magazine had these back in the day when I started to learn about web design/development, since I would have eaten this stuff up. Instead of chopping apart other people's sites to learn how to adjust stuff, this is a cleanly coded site, just waiting for any manipulation to be made. Slick.
TidBITS: Achieving Email Bliss with IMAP, Gmail, and Apple Mail#
Since I'm on a TidBITS roll here, this is a great write-up of something I've encouraged multiple people to do. I love the combination, and they've documented the steps perfectly. Well worth the effort. Don't own a Mac? You should.
May 1, 2009
TidBITS Opinion: Why Snow Leopard Should Be (Almost) Free#
I thought this same thing when they announced Snow Leopard. In short, if it's not going to be full of things that users want immediately, yet developers want immediately... then help out your developers and make the update cheap/free for users.