9-Bits

We Feel Fine is one of my favorite, longest-running, interactive...

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 08:45:16 -0500

We Feel Fine is one of my favorite, longest-running, interactive art pieces that aggregates feelings from blogs around the world. The emotions captured are displayed in a self-organizing particle system, with a beautiful UI for sorting and filtering. Now in it’s fourth year, the site has created We Feel Fine: An Almanac of Human Emotion—a wonderfully designed book showing collected data and notes about the exploration.

"My decision to stop iPhone development has had everything to do with Apple’s policies."

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 13:51:18 -0500

“My decision to stop iPhone development has had everything to do with Apple’s policies.”

- Joe Hewitt, developer of the Facebook iPhone app.

Public Gothic is a new gothic font by Antrepo with 4 fantastic...

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 13:44:12 -0500

Public Gothic is a new gothic font by Antrepo with 4 fantastic variations, and it’s free.

The Urban Cursor (via agenerousdesigner)

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 12:44:35 -0500

The Urban Cursor (via agenerousdesigner)

Neven Morgan shows the sad state of Adobe’s UI consistency...

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:03:51 -0500

Neven Morgan shows the sad state of Adobe’s UI consistency with the many sliders of Photoshop CS4.

Luke Wroblewski explains how real relationships drive...

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:03:03 -0500

Luke Wroblewski explains how real relationships drive contribution—and how follower count alone does not promote interaction.

"We keep our products simple. I’d rather have people grow out of our products, as long as more..."

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 12:03:00 -0500

“We keep our products simple. I’d rather have people grow out of our products, as long as more people are growing into them.”

- Jason Fried, The Way I Work

Chris Messina details a new microsyntax for Twitter, using a...

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:02:56 -0500

Chris Messina details a new microsyntax for Twitter, using a slash delimiter to denote metadata (like via, cc, and by). The concept is well described and looks fantastic, but I wonder if widespread adoption is possible—especially considering popular clients like Tweetie employ a different format by default.

The Awesome Book Giveaway

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 10:02:50 -0500

A lot of my friends, colleagues, and flat-out heros have released some excellent books recently. I’ve mentioned a few of them, but I think it would be fun to run a giveaway and help spread some of this fine knowledge around the community. Here are the books I am giving away:

Building iPhone Apps with HTML, CSS, and Javascript, Jonathan Stark
An excellent introduction to creating web applications on the iPhone. I’ve watched this book grow over the past few months and I can say with confidence that it’s ready to become a definitive reference for creating iPhone web apps. In addition to covering the basics, the book also includes a full chapter on jQTouch, my jQuery plugin for iPhone development.
Designing With Web Standards, Jeffrey Zeldman
For anyone getting into web development, Zeldman’s DWWS continues to serve as the ultimate introduction to web standards and best practices. I’ve trained a fair amount of budding designers, and this book is always first on my “required reading” list. Now in it’s third edition, the book continues to stay fresh and relevant.
Mobile Design and Development, Brian Fling
Brian’s a good friend of mine and colleague at pinch/zoom. His presentations on mobile design are beautiful, informative, and comprehensive. This book promises to be a wealth of insight into mobile design practices and industry trends.
Crush It, Gary Vaynerchuk
For anyone who hasn’t had the benefit of seeing Gary speak live, he is the creator of Wine Library TV and one of the most inspirational speakers on social media around. Crush It is not just about doing what you love and making great money while doing it, but shows just how accessible success is in today’s web culture.
Rework, 37Signals
Readers of this blog will note: 37Signals is one of my favorite companies around—it is an overwhelming business success built on principles like communicating clearly and charging for value. Their previous book, Getting Real, remains the authoritative guide on building web apps. This one, set to release early next year, will speak purely to business management—and will doubtlessly be full of exceptional advice.

To participate, just leave a reply below with the number corresponding to the book you want most, a quick note about what type of content you’d like to see more of on this blog, and your Twitter username. I’ll select winners randomly at the end of the week. Also, make sure you’re following me on Twitter so I can DM the details to the winners.

So, which book would you like?

Kind of Bloop

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:07:47 -0500

Kind of Bloop:

“An 8-Bit Tribute to Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue”—brilliant.

Kevin Spacey doing some great impersonations of Al Pacino,...

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:07:53 -0500

Kevin Spacey doing some great impersonations of Al Pacino, Marlon Brando, Christopher Walken, Clint Eastwood, and more. Oh, and man, James Lipton is annoying.

Photo

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 13:07:49 -0500

"Conformity is a powerful instinct. There’s safety in numbers. You have to be different to be better,..."

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:07:49 -0500

“Conformity is a powerful instinct. There’s safety in numbers. You have to be different to be better, but different is scary.”

- Daring Fireball: Herd Mentality (via hiten)

Simon Page has created a gorgeous set of retro-style posters...

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 11:07:47 -0500

Simon Page has created a gorgeous set of retro-style posters created for The International Year of Astronomy (2009).

Closure Compiler

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 10:07:15 -0500

Closure Compiler:

Javascript developers, take note: Google’s new Closure Compiler presents a whole new way to optimize Javascript code. If you use minify or even packer, you’ll want to check this out:

Instead of compiling from a source language to machine code, it compiles from JavaScript to better JavaScript. It parses your JavaScript, analyzes it, removes dead code and rewrites and minimizes what’s left. It also checks syntax, variable references, and types, and warns about common JavaScript pitfalls.

ROPID, from ROBO GARAGE, might just be the coolest robot...

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 11:44:00 -0500

ROPID, from ROBO GARAGE, might just be the coolest robot I’ve ever seen.

Same ol' g? Think again: A visual study of the lowercase g

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 10:59:10 -0500

Same ol' g? Think again: A visual study of the lowercase g:

With swooping necks, quaint ears and abstract loops, the lowercase g has become a beautiful character to fall in love with, and type designers have been creating some extremely lovely and mesmerizing ones for years.

A halloween treat: idsgn takes a quick look at the history and...

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 11:47:09 -0400

A halloween treat: idsgn takes a quick look at the history and design of Fizzers, Rockets, and Smarties.

"The Macintosh uses an experimental pointing device called a ‘mouse’. There is no evidence that..."

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:57:07 -0400

“The Macintosh uses an experimental pointing device called a ‘mouse’. There is no evidence that people want to use these things. I dont want one of these new fangled devices.”

- John C. Dvorak, Feb. 19 1984

Just Ask: Responses, part two

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:03:00 -0400

I didn’t forget! Here’s the final round of responses to my “Just Ask” post from earlier this week. My apologies for taking a bit longer to get to them than expected. Without further ado:

We all know the moon isn’t made out if cheese. But what if it were made out of baby-back spare ribs. Would you eat it? It’s a simple question.
Yes.

What was the first design related book you ever purchased? (via esquareda)
Good question. I believe it was the Art Directors Annual 80.

What do you want for Christmas? (via adrian)
This, obviously.

What would you say to a superior (at work) who was nothing but rude and didn’t seem to care or bother to learn anyone’s names? (via oliverhood)
I wouldn’t say anything, but show, with your actions, that you pay attention and work hard. Earn their respect and they’ll remember your name—it’s just more work with some people.

What motivated you to start a tumblelog about these topics? And: Is Tumblr really enough or do you sometimes feel the need for a “real blog”? (via baschi4d)
These are just the things that inspire me. Tumblr is an amazing platform. As a web developer, I’ve dealt with tons of content management systems—my favorites being Textpattern and ExpressionEngine—but for myself, and this small little creative outlet, Tumblr has all the power I want.

I’m curious about how you can start a discussion. And wear did you get your specs? (via theshining)
Not sure what you mean by discussion, but the glasses are Jean Lafont.

Are you famous enough [real world] that someone has come running up to you at the supermarket: “Mr. Kaneda! Wow, this is awesome!”? (via goobimama)
Absolutely not. I think the first time I was recognized was at the jQuery conference, which doesn’t quite count as “real world.”

What are some of your favorite CMSs? Also - best way to develop sites with social features (CMS, tips?) like logging in, profiles, & “liking”? (via cyn1cal)
Textpattern and ExpressionEngine. I like the template system in each, while I really dislike the one in Wordpress. I’m also a big fan of web apps like Tumblr and Cargo. I’ve never built a back-end for a complex app like you mentioned, but I would probably hand-roll it with CakePHP, an awesome PHP framework.

What’s your most used font? (via mirza)
At the moment, I think Whitney. Generally, I think HFJ makes the most professional fonts available, and a designer could make an entire career out of their collection (Sentinel is another recent favorite).

I would like to know how you went about connecting with a programmer to build Outpost and what kind of arrangement you made. (via jayrobinson)
I simply scoured the web: Google and LinkedIn mostly. In the two days I was looking, I called developers in the Czech Republic, Russia, India, California, and Tennessee. Jim seemed genuinely excited at the idea, so I went with him. We formed Morfunk on a simple equity split.

All in all, I think this “Just Ask” was pretty successful and definitely a lot of fun. It’s like an interview where you guys call the shots, and I really appreciate the mix of professional, general advice, and silly. If anyone want to discuss anything more, hit me up on Twitter. Hopefully I’ll get a chance to do another one soon—thanks again to everyone who wrote in!