Information Architects has just released version 4 of their Web Trend Map. They’ve really pumped up the detail and complexity of the map to an impressive level. Go inspect it and put your name on the list for one of the 1,000 prints they will be selling.
Blurb prints my photo books. I highly recommend it. The only downside is that you must use their BookSmart application to put together your book. It may break your workflow a bit if you’re used to software like InDesign. Read Sam Edge’s color management PDF to improve the quality of your book.
I’m building my own HTPC with help of the excellent guide by renethx at AVS Forum. Selecting the remote controller is turning out to be the biggest challenge…
I watched Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005) again tonight. What a great movie. If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend it.
Auditorium is a beautiful, elegant puzzle game that you can play in your browser. The gameplay is simple as you manipulate a flow of sound towards audio containers. The tools you are given and layout of the audio containers increase the complexity of the puzzle as you advance. If you like it, sign up to be a beta tester or donate to help the team port the game to consoles and the iPhone. Thanks Veerle!
After Gears of War 2, my friends and I needed a new Xbox Live coop fix. Where Gears only supported 2 player coop for the storyline, Call of Duty: World at War let’s you play through the game with 4 friends. It’s also not just regular coop, it’s competitive coop which makes it more fun to play with/against your more competitive friends.
I used a screen reader (JAWS) again on some of the new XHTML we produced. The screen reader’s shortcut keys and features like skim reading made me realize we abuse our heading elements too much. A screen reader really amplifies the semantic values of your markup. It’s a good test, you should try it.
Google Chrome Beta is out. Google’s open-source web browser based on WebKit. My first impression is that the simple straightforward approach works well. So far the application seems very solid and pages render fast and mostly as they were intended. Give it a spin, you may fall in love with it. Read the comic to get a sense of what Chrome is all about.
The Wordpress iPhone app lets you write in your blog. If you encounter & fix XML-RPC issues, reboot your phone before trying to connect to your blog again.
FLCL →
Long story short, this 6 episode anime series blew my mind. People new to anime may find FLCL overwhelming but it is nevertheless one to put at the top of your list. I often scan sites such as AnimeNewsNetwork for high rated series but FLCL somehow always slipped through.
FLCL—also known as ‘Fooly Cooly’ or ‘Furi [...]
Web users don’t double click. On the web you have to alert users when a double click is required to interact.
I love the STUDIO E-SPACE website and how they brought everything to life without making the content secondary or resorting to Flash animation. Well, I think they did… my Japanese is a bit rusty… Do click, because the illustrations are wonderful.
Note to self: You watched a pretty interesting documentary by Alan Berliner who explores his insomnia.
I accidentally came across a news article from 2006 about how Drachten stripped its streets from traffic lights to increase safety. And it works. The concept relies on shifting responsibility back from the government to the driver. Because drivers are no longer lead by the hand, they approach junctions with more care and are more aware of others. Although it does sounds like it’s nothing a little road rage can’t undo, as the level of safety does require certain amount of respect for your peers.
I frequently confuse Google AdWords with Google AdSense. Just now I noticed how Google kindly asks me if I’m looking for Google AdSense when I log in at Google AdWords. Of course they also ask me if I want an AdWords account and are eager to tell me more about it, but it’s nice to see a web service that tries to help me along when I get all confused. It is much friendlier than getting an error thrown saying something like “no such AdWords account exists”. Of course both pages look so much alike it’s bound to happen to many of us, but I do like Google’s solution.
Lime, Wild Strawberry, Cerulean and Dusty Grey are the colors of oddend. Name that Color is a simple tool by Chirag Mehta that translates your hex color codes to the closest named color. I was pleasantly surprised by ‘Wild Strawberry’ which is an awesome name for that color. It’s not that useful, but it somehow feels good to know the name of the colors you’re using.
The Perry Bible Fellowship is the home of tons of incredibly funny cartoons by Nicholas Gurewitch. I love the various styles and dry humor. Warning, lots of wasting time and snickering ahead. Don’t go there if you’ve got work to do.
I just watched Garden State (thanks for the tip Sandrijn!) and although I rather liked it, I must say I prefer the quite similar Lost in Translation. The numbness in Garden State just didn’t catch me as much as the dreamy, intimate feeling I got from Lost in Translation. Plus, I guess I’m a bigger Bill Murray fan than I thought.
I know it’s a bit late, but you’ve got to love Florentijn Hofman’s Rubber Duckie. This giant 20 meter high rubber duckie floats the river Loire in France during the contemporary-art exhibition Loire Estuary 2007. Thanks Wooster
I’ve been wanting to see Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind for a while, but kind of forgot that I wanted to…how fitting. I’ve just seen it and it really is a great movie with a spectacular atmosphere. I highly recommend watching it.
