I find my success rate with tracking my scroll position of long form content less than 100%. Page flips, on the other hand?  I have never lost my place … Page flips, when done right, are more usable than infinite scroll.

Dude has a point. Note: he’s talking about scrolling on the iPad. Not iPhone.

Being intelligent is like having a knife. If you train every day in using the knife, you will be invincible. If you think that just having a knife will make you win any battle you fight, then you will fail. This [belief] in your own inherent ability is what will kill your startup. Success comes from the work and ability you put in becoming better than the others, and not from some brilliance you feel you may have within you.

I enjoyed the thoughtful story, and it reminds me that success comes from smarts and hard work, not just smarts on their own.

At Ignite LA on March 1, Adam Sadowsky unveiled the new OK Go video. It was one giant, beautiful Rube Goldberg machine that took 20 18 hour days, thousands of ping pong balls two pianos and several TVs to put together. The killer things: they did this in one take, things were in sync with the music, and at one point the song dropped out and had just the machine playing the music.

Seriously, this has to be the sweetest music video ever in life.

If you think people using iPhone OS devices are an important segment of your intended audience, you can no longer build a Flash-dependent web site. And if you don’t think people using iPhone OS devices are an important segment of your intended audience, you’re probably wrong.

Another good, in-depth discussion on the Flash/no-Flash on iPhone and iPad and what this move means for web designers/developers everywhere.

Wow, this was good. My favorite highlight: discussing the lunacy of the 80 hour + workweek. I’m glad he went there, because I’ve seen people who believe in dedicating their every waking moment to a project or startup—and expect everyone else to as well.

I know you can’t always do it in 40 hours, but I really question the efficiency of someone who works 80 hours plus every week on a project.

Chalk one up to working smart, then work hard.

Never having done something before is a bad reason not to do it.

A good story on trying new things. McSweeney’s is such a pile of inspiration.

While I’m acutely aware of our overuse of adjectives (especially on Twitter, where everything is a brilliantly awesomely stunning list of the 35 best CSS techniques) here on the Internets, I’ve got full belief in the fact that this talk is amazing.

In short, teach our children about food—we’ll be a better, healthier and smarter society. My kids will know, and I want to share it with every one of you.

TED Blog: Teach every child about food: Jamie Olivers TED Prize wish, now on TED.com.

It’s not easy to make a great, simple intro video to your product. But Square really managed to pull it off so well. Have a look!

Opinions will be formed, rightly or wrongly, within seconds of laying eyes on your site before they even have a chance to put your code to use. So before you go hiring a crack team of code monkeys, make sure to reserve some roster slots for design all-stars.

Or as I see it: no one will drive a car with tons of good features if they can’t figure out how to open the door. So I’d say that it carries a little more importance than engineering, maybe 60% to 40%.

Don’t get we wrong, there are many aspects of real-time goodness I love.  But the web used to be something we do and now it’s part of who we are.  So isn’t it time to reassess how we interact with it ?

I read this article a few times this weekend and think it’s a complete piece of bliss.

It struck a chord with me, as I’ve been contemplating similar things like: is my blanket high personal availability killing my productivity and peace? I think it is.

It’s why I dropped using AIM as a communication platform, it’s why I don’t always answer my phone when it rings. It’s why my email isn’t open every time I’m in front of the computer.

Why? It helps my productivity, helps my brain focus and it helps me get a good flow going for my work so I can give more to my clients, myself and those I love.

Of course, that’s not to say ignore everything. The point is to prioritize everything.

Definitely recommended reading.

If 80% of success is just showing up, 90% is showing up early.

Living in LA it’s especially true. Both major highways usually are going no more than 20MPH—when they’re moving. So a 5 mile trip takes an hour or more. Even leaving early I find that there’s usually construction or some crazy dude sitting in the middle of the street to further delay my trip.

Make your clients happy and show up early. If you’re going to be late, give them as much notice as you can.

…Over the course of 2010, we will be phasing out support for Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 ​as well as other older browsers that are not supported by their own manufacturers.

They’re still going to support things like IE7, Firefox 3, Chrome 4.0 and Safari 3.0+. Still though, happy to see a really major blow dealt to probably the most problematic browser possible. I hope it’ll be a quick death for IE6. And a little painful.

NEVER lead with features. No one gives a shite about your features other than your product manager and your developers. If you demo your product (which is always great) then tell us part of the story while you’re demo’ing. Talk us through how the person using your product is benefiting through your technology. Don’t: show us every single feature – we don’t care. Don’t: tell us, “and now I enter my name, and then I put in my email address, and then I can pull in my social graph through Facebook Connect, and then then I can select the button here to Tweet out my actions on Twitter.” Zzzzzzzzz.

What I find really interesting is in about 90% of presentations I’ve seen is that they break about every one of these rules. It’s good that I found this list—I really hope to use it next time I present something, even in a private, off-stage setting.

Hey, you want to know how to piss off an author? It’s easy: Keep people from buying their books. You want to know how to really piss them off? Keep people from buying their books for reasons that have nothing to do with them. And you know how to make them absolutely incandescent with rage? Keep people from buying their books for reasons that have nothing to do with them, and keep it a surprise until it happens. Which, as it happens, is exactly what Amazon did.

Blistering article on the Amazon/Macmillian debacle and of course, how everyone’s going to end up wanting that new somethingsomething from Apple.

The Real Work is not formatting the margins, installing the printer driver, uploading the document, finishing the PowerPoint slides, running the software update or reinstalling the OS. The Real Work is teaching the child, healing the patient, selling the house, logging the road defects, fixing the car at the roadside, capturing the table’s order, designing the house and organising the party.

Fraser Spiers published a brilliant article on how the iPad (and iPhone OS) are a complete revolution in computing, and how some of the nefarious geek elite have their days numbered.

Thus, I feel as though credit for “greatness” is often bestowed upon modern-day photographers whose work may soon lose its appeal and become utterly insignificant, while those who are producing great work may fly under the radar and never be noticed by the general public.

Really nice, thoughtful post over at PetaPixel on what greatness is and how we’re so quick to bestow it.

“It’s just a big iPod touch” is the new “less space than a nomad”. The Mac had a great run, but this is the end of the desktop OS.

I don’t generally agree with such grandiose statements on principle, but I tend to agree here—it feels like it is the beginning of the end for the desktop OS. Will I be typing updates on a desktop 5 years from now? Totally doubt it. For most folks, I’m sure this is going to be a great replacement for their desktop. For pixel geeks like me, we’ve got a bit of a wait ahead of us.

(Quote via @atebits)

Today’s so-called cloud isn’t really a cloud at all. It’s a bunch of corporate dirigibles painted to look like clouds. You can tell they’re fake because they all have logos on them. Real clouds don’t have logos.

Good things to keep in mind, friends.

(Be sure to read the PDF)

“Come on, Steve, just think—think, dammit—you’re running out of time,” the exhausted CEO said as he glued nine separate iPhones to the back of a plastic cafeteria tray.

(via The Onion)

It’s like monsoon week here.

I think my head almost exploded from how great this was. A sexy typeface + Lady Gaga parody = just perfect. Enjoy.

Joshua Tree, CA

Found this one in the archives.

NoHo Metro.

I like the view from this room.

Part of an ongoing series of photographs shot only on an iPhone.

In the software world, the first, second, and third versions of any product are really pretty good, because everyone can use them. Then companies start adding more and more stuff to keep their existing customers happy. But you end up dying with your customer base, because the software is too complicated for a newcomer.

- Jason Fried in INC

An all-around good read, full of gems like that.

Just read the book this weekend. Enjoyed how it was written, and so very stoked to see this movie.

Information Is Beautiful posted some great infographics about Twitter and its usage. I make no secret of my love for pretty charts and the like, so I found these to be pretty fun.

Read on for the full graph about peak days, hours, who’s a loudmouth and who’s a lazy tweeter.

Jackie Lay does some really great typographic animations from a Tom Waits song. Slick work.

(via @lemonbar77)

I’ve tried to do screen recordings, video walkthroughs and the like before. They’ve always required software, and that software requires multiple steps to use. Granted, some screencasting tools are pretty nice. Screen Jelly, however, has seemed do something different: they’ve eliminated cost and complexity and made it dead simple to do screen recording.

You’ve got 3 minutes to record whatever you need and share it in a video. You then then tweet, email or embed it on your site. Now it won’t be a hassle to record walkthroughs! Bonus: I can mark these as private and only share them with people who have the URL.

In summary, a zombie outbreak is likely to lead to the collapse of civilisation, unless it is dealt with quickly. While aggressive quarantine may contain the epidemic, or a cure may lead to coexistence of humans and zombies, the most effective way to contain the rise of the undead is to hit hard and hit often. As seen in the movies, it is imperative that zombies are dealt with quickly, or else we are all in a great deal of trouble.

(Via @jennydeluxe and @gideonyago)

“None of us want to go into that creative hoo-ha of a long-play record again. Not straight off,” … “I mean, it’s just become a real drag. It worked with ‘In Rainbows’ because we had a real fixed idea about where we were going. But we’ve all said that we can’t possibly dive into that again. It’ll kill us.”

The WSJ goes on to say that Radiohead will focus on singles and EPs.

(The WSJ via The Believer)

My thought: if that’s what works best for you and gives the best record, then go for it. I’ll miss being able to immerse myself in future full lengths though.

Seriously. Where are you on this Mr. President?

(insert sigh of happiness here)

Why is he climbing a mountain? Total win.

Seriously!

All the haters can put on their haterpants and mourn, cry or simply continue with their hating: Twitter updates are officially known as tweets. A recent little Twitter homepage update changed that today.

I don’t see why people hate it personally. Anyone care to enlighten me on why they hate it? And if you do hate it, what would you rather it be called?

Mix one part Nirvana with one part Rick Astley, stir gently and enjoy a total mindwarp.

And further demonstrates my love for TED and the genius people who speak there. The idea of being able to make it even easier to learn about products you’re purchasing, take photos among a myriad of other benefits just gives me a warm fuzzy feeling.

Reservation: not into the idea of putting a chip into my brain as stated at the end of this talk. It short circuits enough on its own.

Genius? Maybe. Hilarious? Definitely.

Here’s a playlist built around the idea of one word or phrase, including goodies from the UK Office, Jurassic Park and Fargo. Repetition can be funny and sometimes a little weird.

I’ve recently discovered Stereogum’s site, and found they had a great article wherein Trent Reznor talks about good things to do when you’re creating your band’s site and marketing your upcoming record. Among other things, he mentions the benefits of giving away free downloads of your music as a way of building your fanbase and email list, and that you should understand and take advantage of all the social media sites you can.

There was one thing in particular which is worth restating when it comes to bands’ sites:

…Have your MySpace page, but get a site outside MySpace – it’s dying and reads as cheap / generic. Remove all Flash from your website. Remove all stupid intros and load-times. MAKE IT SIMPLE TO NAVIGATE AND EASY TO FIND AND HEAR MUSIC (but don’t autoplay). Constantly update your site with content – pictures, blogs, whatever. Give people a reason to return to your site all the time.

The whole article’s really worth a read, especially if you’re an indie musician who’s trying to get their music out to everyone.

TechCrunch says that a proposed military robot known as EATR would refuel on biomass while deployed on missions. If it’s on the battlefield, it could potentially be eating on people too. I question whether or not that would happen on two counts.

One: dude, it’s HUMANS. Two: if Max Brooks didn’t write a book about it, it’s not possible.

I’ve launched two sites in the last little bit that take advantage of those: a site for musician Brooks Wood and a site for Houston-based Leyendecker Landscape. In both of these, I’ve tried to take advantage of some great CSS features for those browsers that can handle it and just letting those that can’t ignore it. In this demo, I’m focusing on the form elements since they’ve always tended to be boring.

I’ve attached a link to a working demo of the forms with a brief explanation of how I did what I did. Read on for more.

One note before we get started: Firefox 3 supports some of this, but Safari 3 and 4 support much more. I’ve included things which Firefox 3.5 supports, just so those users can have a little fun, too.

Easing the transition

When a user focuses on any of the fields or the submit button, I’ve added a transformation that will magnify the input area, similar to a magnifying glass and ease it in/out for Webkit users. Here’s the code:

-webkit-transition: all 0.1s ease-out;

This smoothes the transition from the normal state of the form to its active state. As of the Firefox 3.5, the transition property isn’t supported. You’ll want to add this onto the main element, in this case we’ve added it to the input tag.

Scaling the elements

Both of these will scale both the input area and the text within it to be just a little larger than they were before the user clicked into them.

-webkit-transform: scale(1.2); -moz-transform: scale(1.2);

I’ve added a few more lines of code for some additional styling, such as border-radius to smooth the edges of the field elements. You can view all that information in the source of this page, but here’s how to smooth the edges of an element:

-webkit-border-radius: 6px; -moz-border-radius: 6px;

Styling the submit button

I’ve also done a little work on the submit button, which is a little more complex.

background: -webkit-gradient(linear, left top, left bottom, from(#fff), to(#fff), color-stop(0.5, #ccc));

While I’ve also added border-radius and a few more goodies to the submit button, the part which creates the gradient is above. It creates a color gradient that starts at the top left of the element and goes to the bottom of the element. The gradient starts with white, goes to silver halfway and then back to white at the bottom. If you wanted to adjust where the gradient goes to silver, you can change the color-stop value to something like .25 for 1/4 of the way down, or .75 for 3/4 of the way down.

Loving that Time Warner Cable, who provides my internet, sends me this today in the mail. I tend to agree.

So what should be in a good agreement? Here are a few things:

• Who the agreement is between and what you’re doing
• How much and by what means you’re being compensated
• When and how you’re to be compensated with a schedule
• When you’re going to deliver what you’re being paid to do
• The scope of the project
• Copyright and ownership
• Who to call if things go technically wrong
• What happens to the work you create if something goes wrong

This article from 24 ways is a great reference and is geared towards web design and development. Even if you don’t do web, it’s a great place to start for any creative service.

MediaInspiration has a pretty nice—and very meaty—terms and conditions (PDF link) form that’s a little more general but has some great tips.

You should also have a look through the Graphic Artists Guild Handbook. It covers a lot more than agreements, such as pricing, legal and ethical practices.

It also doesn’t hurt to have a lawyer read through your contract, just to make sure you aren’t leaving out something obvious.

From here on in, I’ll be building in functionality first and then tailor a theme around it.

• Open your favorite FTP program and navigate to where you host your Wordpress installation.
• Once you’re there, navigate to wp-admin/includes/blogger.php and edit that file.
• Look at line 918. It should say $parser = xml_parser_create_ns();
• Change that line of code to the following: $parser = xml_parser_create(); (You’re basically removing the _ns from there)
• Save your changes and try to import your entries again. Should work like a charm!

Here’s where I found the solution.

I’ve always loved the RSS Screensaver for OS X. But I wanted to have a version of it without any of the text, so I went in and made one and came up with a slightly different color scheme.

If you’d like it, you’re welcome to it. Below are both the link to download and some brief installation instructions.

Here’s how to install in a couple easy steps:

• Download and unzip the sphere.zip file
• Open Macintosh HD » Users » Your User Name » Library » Screen Savers
• Drop the unzipped file into that folder
• Open System Preferences » Desktop & Screensaver
• Look under “Other,” find and select “Sphere”
• Enjoy!

General disclaimers: I’m not responsible if this murders, maims or otherwise does something damaging to your computer (it won’t, I’ve been using it for a while!), and this screen saver requries OS 10.4 or greater to work. Sorry Windows and Linux folks.

An interview Spicy Web Designer did with me for their site went live over the weekend. In here, we discuss the latest fashions, give hair tips and talk about juicy gossip! Or, we might’ve just discussed a few geeky things and how I got to be where I am today. You’ll just have to see for yourself.

I keep wishing that I’ll find more games that are fun and meaningful that aren’t your typical run/shoot/level up/save the girl/die games. Don’t get me wrong, those are a great time. But after playing the same formula for years and years, it’s great to find something different.

That said, I found one after listening to a segment on indie game developers on NPR’s “Future Perfect.” The game’s called “Passage.” The entire game is maybe 2 minutes long, and is probably just as powerful a game as I’ve ever played. It’s a simple premise, you’re a guy walking through life. You can pick up a wife or go it alone. And you get to see the impact of the choices you make. Bonus: it’s free!

Fun illustration by Rosa Pomar.

I found an interesting article on Techmeme this weekend too, entitled “The Australian cancer that will kill the internet.” The article focuses on Australia’s attempt at censoring the internet for their users, the people’s endeavor to block it and why it matters for the rest of the world.

My two cents on the matter: despite all the bad things that are and will be on the internet, having a third party mandate what I can and cannot do or see is a terrible and slippery slope. I fully support the idea that the Internet should be uncensored and unfiltered by any government or company. If anyone wishes their internet to be censored, rather than enlisting their government why not look into something like Net Nanny or Cyber Patrol?

I’ve just joined up with Etsy to sell a few of my prints! I’ll be adding more as time passes, but right now I’m having a “Hi, I’m New Here!” sale and everything’s discounted.

Have a look around my Etsy shop and give the economy a little stimulation, would you?

Monday

I got the photo “Zombies” from Ruipalha’s photo stream, the quote from The Picture of Dorian Gray. The quote reads:

There are many things that we would throw away if we were not afraid that others might pick them up.

Tuesday

Tuesday’s was a pretty fun one. The quote was from Joanna Field and reads:

I began to have an idea of my life, not as the slow shaping of achievement to fit my preconceived purposes, but as the gradual discovery and growth of a purpose which I did not know.

Here’s the original photo.

Wednesday

Wednesday’s photo took me to the beach and brought me to some fun medieval type. I had fun playing with the type. Here’s the quote:

When you meet your antagonist, do everything in a mild and agreeable manner. Let your courage be as keen, but at the same time as polished, as your sword.

Thursday

Thursday’s cover was a little interesting, The title of the article was “Inside Wants Out,” which happens to be the name of an early John Mayer song. Here’s the photo, as well as the quote from Ambrose Bierce:

Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles.

Friday

I had lots of fun on this, and was really lucky to find this photo. It was pretty fun working with it, and the rest of the content was pretty much golden! Here’s the quote from Dante Gabriel Rossetti:

The worst moment for the atheist is when he is really thankful and has nobody to thank.

Let me know if you end up continuing this exercise, I’d love to see your results!

But in the meantime, I keep on the lookout for ways to grow in our current economy, and I’ve seen a few posts with good ideas on how to do it. I’ve read about keeping your current clients very happy, improving your game while you’re not doing client work and lots more. The ones that have hit me most are the ones though were ones about sharing and passing on work to other designers.

Airbag’s “Goldfish” article really sums it up:

To those who own their own business: I challenge you to push harder. If you need $50k to keep your family under house and home then do everything you can to bring in $150k. Chances are you won’t make the larger goal, but you’ll do far better than selling yourself short and it’s likely that you’ll need extra resources to finish all the work, help from people who are looking to supplement lost income. I’m not talking about going through the process and stress of actually hiring more people (there is a good reason why the IRS created the 1099 form). Don’t turn away any work that comes through your door. Get it. Grab it. Take it—as much as you can— and network with the people who are ready and willing and have the skills you need. Team up, and conquer.

Another good read is A List Apart’s “Filling Your Dance Card in Hard Economic Times.” Have a look at this excerpt:

If your agency or company is doing well, do your best to help unemployed colleagues get new jobs or freelance work. Make introductions within your network. Help job seekers with their curriculum vitaes (CVs) and above all, show a little love. (Just dropping someone a line to say “hi” can make all the difference.)

With that said, if you’re looking for work, please send a link (either in the comments or by email) to your portfolio. I’m going to try and pull in as much work as I can and I’d be happy to pass along work to other designers. And yes, I’ll still throw in a reward if you send someone my way.

If you’re a Photoshop or other kind of image making nerd, you may enjoy this.

1. Go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
   The first random wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.
2. Go to http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3
   The last four or five words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album.
3. Go to http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days
   Third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.
4. Use Photoshop (or something else!) to put it all together.
5. Post a link to it and share with your friends!

I love my moleskine. I also have a bit of a penchant for some nice Helvetica.

So to the genius who came up with putting the two together, I want to give you an internet hug. This thing is gorgeous.

Oh how I wish I could buy one. But sadly, I don’t think any more are for sale. But you can check out more photos and drool over this at Nubbytwiglet.

• an iTunes gift card
• an Amazon gift card
• a credit for design work with me

The amount you get on the card or the design will vary based on the project, so I can’t tell you how much you’ll get in advance. But I’ll make sure it’s worth it for you.

I think this is a lot more usable than a plethora of checkboxes or the multiple select menus in my opinion. I’ll definitely make sure I implement this in my next project.

I love information graphics, that’s no secret. After Obama was inaugurated, I found the full text of his speech and made a Wordle with it and put it into a desktop for you.

You can download the background here.

What’s Wordle? It’s a really sweet service that makes word clouds and gives prominence to the words that appear most often. With this, you can see the words that appear most in his speech and get a feel for the overall tone and message of it. Go have a look at their site!

Enjoy it and share it with your friends!

I came across this fun screencast video. It shows off Leopard’s features, but what’s about it is that it’s more like a nice take on a music video. There’s also a Windows version if you’re into that after the break.

Oh how heavenly. Someone’s collected all my favorite chicken dances from Arrested Development and put them to a nice tune.

I really love packaging, but it’s an area where so many companies go into excess and it becomes wasteful. That’s why I was especially happy to see Newton Running’s latest shoebox.  It’s exactly what a shoebox should be: simple, minimal and green. I hope to see—and help—more companies going towards this.

The talented people at TDA Advertising made this up for the Newton folks. Bravo for both!

I’ve added support for Cooliris on my site. It’s a fantastic way of browsing images, and I thought it would be perfect for browsing through my portfolio.

Cooliris is free and works with Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, and iPhone!

So go get it!

I want a reason to visualize data like this. And then eat it. This pie chart is really made of chocolate!

Note to self: find client in chocolate industry. Right now.

Last week I was fortunate enough to get in on the fun that is Boxee.

Boxee is a free media center application that will dig through your computer (and any networked hard drives!), organize all your music, videos and photos. It even works with lots of photo sharing services like Flickr!

The real fun begins when you get to watch video—you can stream video from Hulu, CNN, Comedy Central, MySpaceTV and more! (And as of right now, there aren’t any commercials in the Hulu streams.) Mega bonus.

Anyone else a member? What do you think about it?

I ran across this fantastic collection of photographers today. Michael Ash Partners Photographers cover about every kind of photography you’d need in any kind of project—and all of them are aces.

I loved Markku and the Dennis Manarchy sets a ton. I think I could easily blow a couple hours browsing here.

Daytum is a great, geeky site that lets you create fun little charts. It’s currently in private beta, and I was happy to get in on the action. I’m still figuring out how useful it can be for me, so right now lots of my charts are just fun little bits of pop culture. I’m very much okay with that.

I think it’s great that you can enter sets of data and then chart them in different ways on the fly. Nice job, Daytum!

Have a look at my site and if you’re so inclined, visit Daytum’s homepage and apply for the beta!.

It’ll be great to share more fun things with everyone again.

My time in the Emerald City is drawing to a close. I feel like I should say something about my time here, but it feels kind of like I’m writing a breakup letter to Seattle. Except it’s one of those breakup letters I ask to be friends with the occasional visit benefit.

It’s been quite a ride, and I wouldn’t take anything for my time here. I’ve been honored to meet some of the best people on Earth in Seattle, worked on some exciting projects. The food and coffee here are some of the best I’ve ever had. And the music isn’t too shabby either.

Now it’s onto Los Angeles to see what Hollywoodland has to offer. I hope for lots more freelance work, sunshine and new friends!

And to The Emerald City, thanks for the fun. I’ll see you again sometime.

Undoubtedly a favorite book of mine. The Zombie Survival Guide is a great handbook on how to survive in the event of a zombie epidemic. Filled with excellent do’s and don’ts that are going to help you stay alive!

I’m also going to check out World War Z. Wonder what the Z stands for, mmm?

After much planning, thinking and a little swearing I’m thrilled to share my new portfolio site with you. It features design work, photography and some other goodies!

In the coming weeks, I’m going to be adding more work as well as other fun enhancements. I believe you’ll be pretty pleased with it all.

Have a look at the new site!