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LJWorld.com: Replay respect
Esquire Magazine calls Lawrence’s bar The Replay the best bar in Kansas. The magazine picked one bar for every state. The Replay is my favorite bar in Lawrence, and probably the best bar I’ve been to in Kansas, as well. Louise’s and The Jackpot in Lawrence are close, and Manhattan’s got a few good ones, as well, but I think The Replay bests them all.
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Textplates ‘07
Textplates is a TxxtPattern template design contest — and I’ll be helping with the judging this year. There are some great prizes, including a Mac mini, books from Friends of ED/Apress, and more. If you’re a designer and a TXP fan, definitely put your name in the hat!
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Joyent Connector to be Open Sourced
Wow, definitely didn’t expect this. Connector is an amazing web app that I’d definitely love to be able to run a local version of and extend for myself. Awesome news. Huge boon to the Ruby and Rails communities.
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Particletree: Rediscovering the Button Element
I’ve always kind of wondered why the
buttonelement never really caught on. I suspect it’s because people don’t want to write the JavaScript hooks to actually make their buttons work (input type="submit"submits a form by default, no JavaScript needed).After this article, I’m definitely thinking about using it more often.
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Kitty Holmes: My response to the JPG community
I’ve been a little sickened at how many people have not only jumped to the defense of Derek Powazek and Heather Champ, but also jumped at the opportunity to publicly blast Paul Cloutier — whom they almost certainly know nothing about.
There are two sides to every story, and yet almost no one bothered to ask about the other side of this one. Instead, they just blindly took Derek’s side.
I don’t know Derek or Heather, but I have a lot of respect for both of their work. I don’t know Paul, either. Do you? Because it’s one thing to stand by your friends. But it’s another thing entirely to blast someone you don’t know because someone else you don’t know said they deserved to be blasted.
Next time, try a healthy dose of perspective. Try to see both sides of the story. My agnostic self has been called a fence-sitter many times, but days like the past few make me glad I am.
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J-Bolt: Breaking Out of the Box
Jina shows you how to craft a grid-based design that doesn’t look all boxy and boring. Because straight lines are boring. Ask anyone. Especially the readers of JeffCroft.com! They obviously hate straight lines!
But seriously — there is a misconception amongst web designers that grid-based layout means boxiness. It doesn’t. Jina’s example is full of swooshy, curvy goodness, but still maintains the underlying grid, for a best-of-both-worlds result.
Grids are there to unify your design and tie everything together. They’re not (necessarily) there to be seen. You don’t have to wear your grid on your sleeve like myself or Khoi Vinh in order to get the benefits of using one.
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Engadget: iPhone delayed until October, Leopard delayed again until January - Engadget
I’m extremely skeptical of this report — Apple just on their conference call a week or two ago confirmed that the iPhone would ship in June. Still, Engadget isn’t wrong that often, so I thought it was worth mentioning.
If it is true, I’ll be bummed and frustrated, probably to the point of looking elsewhere for my next phone. There are too many great new phones coming out (Nokia N95, Helio Ocean, Blackberry Curve, etc.) to sit around and wait on Apple’s failed promises.
Here’s hoping this is totally false.
Update: This turns out to be totally false, thank God. Apparently someone spoofed an e-mail to Apple employees indicating the delay, appearing to be an official Apple notice to its workers.
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Ryan Berg: Why college newspapers should be shaking in their boots
Ryan talks about the impact of Facebook Marketplace on college newspapers, and shows via hard numbers how it’s going to be much greater than the impact of Craigslist on major metro newspapers.
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Jakob Nielsen: Web 2.0 ‘neglecting good design’
Of course, the article doesn’t mention any specific sites that are guilty. I suspect what I consider “Web 2.0” and what Jakob considers “Web 2.0” are very different things, as it’s my impression that the things he is lamenting the lack of — usability, people-centered design, etc. — are actually hallmarks of “Web 2.0.”
Then again, if Jakob ever said web usability was getting better, he’d be out of a job.
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More Django jobs
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is looking for Django developers. There is both this one and that one there for your taking.
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Process is about People
Keith nails it on the head over at the Blue Flavor blog.
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Bruce Sterling on Design
Sterling talks about hostile design. Really great stuff. I loved the part about the CERN particle accelerator. “It’s a physics instrument — you can’t paint it!” Awesome. Thanks, Nathan.
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Patrick Haney, (Still) Not a Sausage
I really like what Patrick is doing with his latest redesign. Well-done!
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The Big Noob: Don’t call it a comeback.
They’ve been here for years.
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LJWorld.com: Learning outside the lines: Home schooling in Kansas
An online package I put together to go with a five-day print special report. Features stories, audio, video, slideshows, graphs, tables, etc. I love these big, in-depth multimedia reports.
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DVD-decoder fiasco shows lawyers are behind the times
John Dvorak, whom I generally consider to be a professional troll, puts together a nice piece on how lawyers are largely inept when it comes to dealing with the Internet and are doing their clients a grave disservice because of it. Clearly, the lawyers behind the threats to Digg over the HD-DVD code simply didn’t get it at all.
And who looks stupid? Not the lawyers — no one knows who they are. Instead, it’s the companies that hire the lawyers that look like morons.
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Aral Balkan: Flash developers don’t know the web
The title is a sweeping statement that Aral himself admits is an attention-grabber more than anything. But, Aral’s real point is that many Flash developers haven’t a clue what’s going on in “our” world of web standards, web apps (Flickr, Twitter, Upcoming, etc.), mashups, and so forth. Obviously there are exceptions, but my experience suggests that Aral is mostly correct here. The flip side, of course, is that most of us have almost no clue what is going on in their world of brand experiences, web-based games, and web video.
That’s okay — not everyone needs to know everything. But, I do think a better understanding of the “other” technology from both camps would go a long way towards promoting a more rich web. I’ve been saying it over and over, but these two camps really need to stop being so separate and get together on things more often.
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Kansas Sen. Brownback disses Favre in Wisconsin
Brownback (who I’m no fan of, despite him being from my home state), asserts that Peyton Manning is possibly the greatest NFL quarterback ever — in Wisconsin, home of Bart Starr and Brett Farve. Whoops.
Hilarious.
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visualcomplexity.com: A visual exploration on mapping complex networks
A terrific information visualization resource. God I love this kind of stuff. Thanks, Christian.
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Control.TextArea: Cross Browser TextArea Manipulation
I wish it didn’t use Prototype.js, but this little textarea toolbar is exactly what I’ve been wanting: it spits out Markdown, Textile, or bbCode and has a live preview. Perfect for the little custom CMSes I’ve been making in Django for small sites like Trio Hair (which are almost always based around Markdown).
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BBC News: Helvetica at 50
A nice article on the typeface and it’s devotees and detractors over at the BBC. The article itself is pretty good, but the comment thread is really hard to read. It’s astonishing how many “laypeople” simply don’t understand what graphic design is. Also, why is the lead photo credited to the AP? That’s a screencap of the intro to the Helvetica film — surely the AP doesn’t have a right to call it their own?
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Brad Rant™ - Twitter.
Brad Smith pretty much sums up my feelings about Twitter, only in a much more hysterical manner. A must-see.
It’s not Twitter itself that’s bad. The concept is great. It’s the Twitter users that annoy the shit out of me. Yes, that means you. All of you.
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Lucas Grindley: The third niche is bias.
“Everyone talks about the two niches we like: geographic and topical. But there’s a growing third niche that, if you can bear it, should be considered.” That third niche, Lucas says, is bias. The fact is not all people want their news presented objectively; some want it “fair and balanced.”
It’s not pretty, but it’s true.
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BBC: Lost drama to carry on until 2010
There you have it. Finally, a chosen and announced end date for LOST. Three more seasons is definitely more than I would have expected and preferred (I was thinking one more, two at most), but I’m really glad to hear that the writers now have an exact finish date to aim at, so they know how to pace the rest of the story. TV shows should do this more often — having an exact timeframe is better for everyone involved and should definitely help ensure the creative integrity of the series. Also welcome news; Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, the main creative forces behind the show, will stay on until it’s end.
Not really that related: the story linked says LOST has dipped to 12 million viewers. This is misleading. When using the DVR-7 Nielsen ratings, which record how many people watch the show within seven days of its airing, LOST has 16 million viewers — about the same number it did in the middle of season two. LOST hasn’t really lost viewers. What has really happened is that the later time slot has caused more people to record LOST, rather than watch it in real time (here’s a link if you don’t believe me).
All in all, this is good news.
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Veen: The New Google Analytics
The new Analytics looks really great. So glad to see the work of the former Measure Map team seeing the light of day. Sadly, you can’t have it yet. The Analytics page hypes the redesign with screenshots, and then when you log in, it infoms you that you’ll get it “over the coming few weeks.” Annoying.
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Montel Williams : Now powered by Django
Oh HELL yes. Django has definitely hit the big time now.
The proof is in the pudding.
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NY Times: Wired but not Web 2.0
Really interesting study about types of people and their likelihood to be participating in so-called “Web 2.0 activities”. The long and short of it is that while most Americans have cell phones and computers, very few are actively Web 2.0-ing.
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ABCNews.com redesign
Three words: Trying. Too. Hard.
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Old Kansas, Still Growing Tall - New York Times
I lived in the Flint Hills of Kansas — the subject for this Times feature — for a couple of years (back when I worked at Kansas State University), and I can sincerely say it’s one of the most beautiful area I’ve been to in the entire world. There’s a lot of negativity out there towards Kansas — mostly from people who have never been here — but I’d put parts of this state up against just about anywhere in a beauty contest.
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Matt Robin
Matt Robin, a really great guy I met in London, has just launched the new version of his site. Lookin’ good, Matt! :)
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Andy Budd suggests CSS 2.2
A great post by Andy in response to the incredibly slow pace of innovation in CSS. Most of the CSS3 modules have been more or less ready to go for five years, and yet no browser really supports them. WTF? Andy suggests an interim CSS 2.2. Personally, I’m not as interested in interim solutions as I am in solving the core problem: why the hell must we wait five years in order to use the next version of CSS?
I left a long comment on Andy’s post detailing my thoughts — which include the suggestion that maybe Flash is the way to go, if the W3C and CSS can’t keep up.
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Haley after her soccer game
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Haley playing soccer
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Haley at her soccer game
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Haley playing soccer
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Haley playing soccer
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Haley playing soccer
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Yahoo To Shut Down Y! Photos In Favor Of Flickr
I’m a bit surprised at this, but I absolutely think it’s the right decision.
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The Register: Nokia N95 review
As I’ve said here many times before, this is the only phone I’d consider over the iPhone (but I’m still planning on getting an iPhone). The N95 looks really great, and it’s built-in GPS, 3G, and much higher-res camera than the iPhone do make it somewhat tempting.
In the end, though, I feel like the iPhone is better suited to my needs. It obviously will play more nicely with a Mac and it’s a bit more focused on web browsing, IM, and e-mail (and less so on multimedia), which I what I anticipate using the most.
Still, the N95 is badass, and really the only other smartphone worth considering, as far as I’m concerned.
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Ryan Berg: May 1st CSS Reboot
Ryan Berg, local Lawrence web geek and all around good guy, launches yet another beautiful Django-powered blog into the wild. It’s really nicely done!
More and more web designers and developers are finding Django a great way to publish their personal content, it seems. And I believe the trend will continue. I have it on good word that one web designer with a very popular blog may be close to relaunching on a handmade Django CMS. All your blogs are belong to Django!
Check out Ryan’s — looks great!
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Jeff Croft
I’m a digital product designer and developer in Seattle, WA. I currently work with Simply Measured, and recently co-founded Lendle, a Kindle book sharing service.
Some of my past clients include Facebook, Microsoft, Yahoo!, Copious, The New York Review of Books, Django, The Lawrence Journal-World, and the University of Washington.
I’ve authored two books on web and interactive design and spoken at dozens of conferences around the world.
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