GridPak - handy tool to create responsive grids with break points as you see fit. Actually very well and useful if you're willing to put in the time to tinker with it.
HTML5 Please - ever wonder what new markup you can and can not use? Well, this insightful list should do the trick in answering all those questions. Box-Reflection is out for the time being and position: fixed seems like it's OK to implement. You'd be surprised at the number of tags listed here that you've never heard of.
If you haven't run across this article on io9 yet, take a moment to cruise over there and wholeheartedly agree with their headline statement: "This no-budget science fiction short looks better than most movies." Okay, maybe that's a bit much but Archetype does look incredibly good; especially for a project done in freetime. The creator, Aaron Sims, has a long history of working with special effects and plans to flesh the short out into a full-length. I'd watch it.
Check out this short-but-sweet gallery of images of Famous Photographers posing with their Iconic Images. It's always interesting to see the person behind the camera that is responsible for creating powerful images - often because they look exactly the opposite of what you'd expect (see: Karen Kuehn). It's a pleasant surprise and some worthwhile praise is due for those creating such impactful visions.
Pictos recently launched their own Font Server service - ala Typekit - that lets you take advantage of using their servers to bear the brunt of any server load that may come from using a custom @font-face look. However, they took it two steps further. One, no Javascript required. Two, the icon font they are offering has 650 icons that you can mix and match into any keyboard combination you want - excluding any extras that you know won't be needed. Given that icon fonts are only going to integrate their way into the standard of web deployment I can't see this as anything except a great idea.
Beating Borders: The Bane of Responsive Layout - great writeup on how to properly use borders in your CSS. Sure, you think it's as simple as making sure your math accounts for the proper width of the box + border but it gets, surprisingly, more in-depth than that. Very handy info to have in the ole noggin.
Better Tabs with Rounded Corners - really nice proof of concept using an unordered list and loads of psuedo elements to create a great looking tab navigation system. Could CSS Tricks be any better of a site? Answer: no.
A short and sweet playlist this week. I intentionally omitted the likes of afewcandidates because I assume you've already seen them.
Drunkest Drummer in the World - next time you feel a little inebriated remember that you're nowhere close to where this guy is at. He actually kind of pulls it together despite it all.. impressive.
Ackbar Practice - yea, this meme has worn out its welcome but I'm still amused by it and hadn't ever seen this compilation. Stupid but perfectly amusing.
Jaaam (Fresh Prince Mix) - typically I'd stray from anything Fresh Prince related but this Pogo mix just gets better and better the long you let it play. You will undoubtedly be singing a bassy "Jaaam" all weekend.
Hello - how about Lionel Richie song lyrics as remixed by movie quotes? Okay, yea, I'm into that.
Rave On - I'm convinced the Internet exists to bring us treats like this. You get to keep a safe distance but still fully enjoy every single moment of jaw-dropping absurdity.
The Alternate Universe Movie Poster Gallery is, without question, ridiculous. It's also surprisingly accurate in its execution of style for vintage movie posters. While not all of the entries are going to blow your mind there's such a huge repository of offerings available that you're sure to be impressed and/or chuckle at least a solid handful of times. The further down the page you go the more ridiculous the entries get but if you miss out on Liam Neeson in Pitfall! you're doing yourself a disservice.
Bullseye is a new podcast featuring interviews with a number of interesting people. You may recall when it used to be called The Sound of Young America but it's been renamed and reset the counter on episode numbers. If you're looking for a program with various pop culture figures, insights into media and discussions on topics like The Uncanny Valley - this is likely right up your alley. I was fascinated with the Chris Lilley interview as I've rarely heard him speak outside of character (you should be watching Angry Boys if you aren't already). The Lawrence Weschler interview covers robotics, our bias towards narrative and other seemingly cerebral topics worth pondering.
Long story short, it's a fine addition to your regularly scheduled podcast listens if you aren't already subscribed.
As you may recall, Caspar Newbolt, of Version Industries, has an ongoing column over at IFP. His latest entry, The Rules, is a discourse on the restrictions you should place on yourself to properly enjoy a film. Here's the three rule breakdown:
Rule 1. (to kill expectation)
Go into the film without having read or watched anything. Trailers are acceptable, as they are sometimes created by film directors themselves, though even that sometimes is questionable.
Rule 2. (to kill projection)
Assess what the film is trying to say or achieve within the realm of what kind of movie it is trying to be. Do not project your own expectations. Let the film dictate the level of expectation, be that tonally, narratively or conceptually.
Then, assess how well you think the film reaches whatever goals it set out to achieve.
Rule 3. (to kill hype)
Don’t talk about the film with anyone who has not seen it, except if you’re encouraging them to go see it. Only discuss the film with those that have seen it, and discuss it hard. That’s what it’s there for.
The majority of the article goes into explaining why Hype and Projection are killing your movie experience. It's a great article that uses a good bit of personal anecdote and critical analysis to explore the ideas set forth at the onset.
I tend to agree completely with the notion that anticipation and expectation will alter your enjoyment of any given work of art. I don't think you can remove your personal experience with the work when reflecting upon its impact but it would certainly be easier to do so if you followed The Rules.
There's a rather long, but quite interesting, article over at N+1 regarding The History of Pitchfork. However, it's not just a historical retelling of the founding and rise-to-success of the site. The article goes into a great bit of detail to describe the musical landscape in general that helped create the atmosphere for Pitchfork to thrive. There's a portion of the piece that gets into the "commercialization" of the site; the slow evolution format change from passionate, sometimes amateurish, writing explorations to more formulaic non-offensive straightforward style.
There's a long discourse that can occur between anyone that's followed Pitchfork from its no-budget beginning to its enormous Music Empire status that it has now and this article touches on all the worthwhile points... though I think it's probably best if you get together with your music nerd friends and discuss them in greater depth.
Web To Text Chrome Extension - do you find yourself wanting to text your phone snippets of text from the web? I can't imagine why.. but if you do, there's an extension for that. Since I didn't install it I can't say if it's let you text any number or just a verified, configured, number of your own but if the former is true then you may just have a great new Prank Text Tool in your midst.
After long last, the entirety of the crowdsourced Star Wars Uncut project is available online. Sure, you may not have 2 hours to spend right now watching it but add it to your respective video watching queues and partake at your earliest convenience. If you don't know the story behind the project, here's a quick rundown:
Thousands of Internet users remade “Star Wars: A New Hope” into a fan film in 2009, 15 seconds at a time.
Contributors were asked to recreate scenes from Star Wars however they wanted. Within just a few months SWU grew into a wild success. The creativity that poured into the project was unimaginable.
SWU has been featured in documentaries, news features and conferences around the world for its unique appeal. In 2010 we won a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Creative Achievement In Interactive Media.
The scope and scale of this undertaking still blows my mind. Watch it.
Words fail to describe how much I love this image of the Palazzo Toschi Mosca inner court. Davide Filippini has a slew of great photos in his photostream.. but you probably knew that already just from one glance at the above image.
The photostream of Every Day Dude is a slice of life collection of photography hailing from the West Coast. There's no shortage of graffiti and train images - two subjects I rarely tire of - and the occasional longexposure that hits just the right spot.
Thanks to Austin I can continue pursuing my latest obsession with symbol fonts via Modern Pictograms; a typeface designed for use on the web. It's quite a bit more fun than the Web Symbols but I like that personality it brings to the table.
Would it be wrong to dive into any of these fonts with Glyphs Mini and combine them into one super typeface? Even if the answer is yes I may still have to do it...
My pal Jed does a curious thing every year, he posts a Best Of Music list for the previous year. So, at the end of December 2011 he posted his Best of 2010 list. This may seem odd but it allows him some distance and perspective on a particular years releases to see what actually had staying power. I respect this tactic but have not embraced it for my 2011 Retrospective.
My selections were made based on creating a decent flow to the mix and selecting songs that caught my ear in one way or another. That being said, I definitely had to cut a load of quality releases from the running that could easily make a Volume 2 of goods (i.e. Tristen, Frank LoCrasto, Toro y Moi, countless others). Despite all of that, I think it's a strong mix and a good representation of the year. I hope when December 2011 comes along I feel the same way (I will).
You may know Keith Davis Young for his strong photography portfolio but he's also got a load of great design work up his sleeve. He's showcasing a selection of it over at the freshly relaunched Live to Make. I love his use of typography and his identity marks are right up my alley.
There's a diversity of work from Sasha Kurmaz that you gotta appreciate. There are plenty of incrediblyclean setups, Street Art, some captivating, yet NSFW, Lifestyle imagery and plenty more. His official site is a bit more thematically organized than the photostream but both should be browsed completely as they contain different bits of work.
The cruiseship Costa Concordia wreck is a devastating piece of news. One horrible decision leading to the death of, at least, eleven people with many more missing. It's horrible, period. However, I must admit that the photogalleries documenting the wreck are fascinating (particularly this satellite photo). The size of these ships is hard to comprehend and the thought of them being able to sink at all is even harder to wrap your brain around.
