Is your name Taylor? Did you lose an iPod Nano in the past year? If so, this email I received may apply to you. I've no idea what level of truth is behind this tale but, giving it the benefit of the doubt, it seems that only good can come of.
My mother in law found an iPod nano in her winter coat pocket that she has no idea how it ended there. Likely an air travel, security checkpoint mishap. The device is named "taylors nano" and has nearly 8 GB of non mainstream music.The only named playlist is called "christmas party 2010" and consists of your Year End Review 2010 v I, ii, and iii. Do you want to help find the owner? I would like to get it to them. There is only one music video in the nano, which they will need to identify to confirm ownership. Best way to reach me is @j41ivi3 twitter.
I run the risk of this being some complex scam that I can't even fathom how it works but I'm going with it being a tried and true attempt to reunite Taylor and his/her Nano. Is this you?
While you're finishing up your last Friday of the year take a few moments to read through this Zeldman article - State of the Web: Of Apps, Devices, and Breakpoints. Basically, it's another well spoken bit of insight from Mr. Zeldman; this time regarding CSS responsive layouts and how specific resolution breakpoints are pretty much useless when you're dealing with the plethora of Android devices out there (no standardization among the 500+ different models). Granted, Responsive Design is just coming out into the mainstream design consciousness but it's not as depressing as you might think - Liquid Layout can save the day.
While I should probably have compiled a Best Of Christmas style Friday Videos for you, I have not. Instead, I've put together another compilation of weird, quirky and amusing videos to round out your week and, potentially, share with your family in those down times you experience sitting around enjoying your time off. Long story short, enjoy!
Morphology - a quick animation from Peter Sluszka that may inspire you to start a little stop animation project of your own. Love the style.
Reindeer - you may remember this E4 ident video from Treat as it was included in a prior Friday Video compilation. However, you need to revisit it now along with the rest of the series: The Carol Singers, Pole Dance, Workshop and Christmas Trees. Show it to your family, they'll wonder how you got so weird.
Sex Is No Accident - a series of promotional videos for MTV Germany that remind you that sex doesn't happen by accident; a mindset that I'm sure countless teens have around the country. Be sure to watch the othervideos in the series as well.
Extended Kung-Fu Auditions - how have I never seen this before? 2 full minutes of earnest auditioning from people that have no business attempting karate in any form. Now when you walk around the house screaming "Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!" it will make sense to all who hear it.
Grandpa Shufflin' - if I can be half this awesome at this guys age I know my life will have been a success.
Best Fails of 2011 - nothing like a twelve minute reminder of all the ridiculous, stupid and terrible things people bring upon themselves.
Epic Santa Dog - don't be fooled, this isn't the cute overload that you think you're getting once it kicks in.
As with every holiday season, I recommend you make time to watch Matt Berry's AD/BC Holiday Special - it's the best, most absurd, Christmas special to grace the airwaves.
If you find yourself in need of more entertainment after this just cruise on over to Wimp.com and you'll be sure to see the top videos that the Internet is offering at any given time.
I could lump this Cinema 2011 tribute in with the Friday Videos but it deserves more recognition than that. This is a gorgeous compilation of films from the past year cut together in a way that spans the emotion spectrum just perfectly. For me, it serves as a reminder of a number of films I still need to see and a handful that I need to rewatch again and again.
PBS has been kind enough to post, in its entirety, the Eames documentary The Architect and The Painter that I told you about. So, if you find yourself with some free time this holiday season it's probably a good idea to fire that up and enjoy.
Yesterday, Mozilla revealed their new Firefox for Android Tablets - a redesigned web experience optimized for the tablet format. There have been some complaints that the scrolling and animations within the application look jerky (in comparison to iOS) but it doesn't look out of the ordinary to me - it looks like a well thought out alternate browsing experience from the standard; I like it. I especially like that yewknee.com apparently snuck its way into the introductory video and is, very briefly, shown a few times. Nerd Bonus Points +10!
The hybrid taxidermy creations of Enrique Gomez De Molina are a fascinating bunch but they, apparently, come with a bit of a sad story attached to them - as he is currently facing five years in jail for illegally importing parts of endangered species. Granted, he's only purchasing these things but he is contributing to the downfall of some species already on the brink of obliteration. So, with that in mind, I'm fascinated and compelled by his work but bummed that he went about it in such a way.
Thanks to a nice heads up from Radiolab I spent a little chunk of my morning checking out this University of Maryland study on underground highway culverts as safe passage for animals. It's not only fascinating that the animals are daring enough to use these tunnels but that such a wide variety of species travel through them. "The study found 57 species in all used 265 culverts to cross the road or build a nest in Maryland, confirming that these drainage structures are carrying more than just streams."
The only bummer is that the photo gallery of images is stuck inside their Facebook page - though you get the best of the best from this Tumblr post.
Education First is a series of programs that helps students study abroad - cultural exchange and immersion learning. As part of spreading the word about their programs they've launched this Live the Language video campaign that showcases seven cities. The videos are, mostly, like music videos depicting kids having a great time hanging out in a new setting but they are chalk full of phenomenal title design. Check out these stills - they're great! So, take a moment to watch all the videos and get inspired to both travel abroad and design some solid type.
Despite it's ridiculous name, Cabin Porn really is a great place to get some "Inspiration for your quiet place somewhere." It's basically an architectural blog of little fortresses of solitude courtesy of Jace Cooke and Zach Klein. Even if you don't feel, personally, that you ever want a little home in the woods it's a great site to just see some great photography.
You're following the works of Jordan Butcher, right? His official site is a little barren at the moment but his Tumblr - well, it's rife with inspirational goodness and new works from the man himself. Get on board.
There's a good deal of Jim Sanborn's work that deals with uranium, nuclear experimentation and creating art from a substance that - for most of us - is directly related with the bomb. However, he also has a series of "Topographic Projections and Implied Geometries" that feature large format light projections sending interesting patterns on to landscapes. The Kilkee County Claire, Ireland and Longsturn County Cork, Ireland pieces are my favorites but I imagine seeing all of them in real life would be spellbinding.
Long story short, there are some fascinating artistic undertakings in the portfolio of Jim Sanborn; visit them.
Melbourne artist Jeremy Kool has taken on the development of an interactive storybook for iPad / Android devices using characters he created with a distinctly origami feel. The actual story within The Paper Fox Project is unknown but Kool has been kind enough to share his character designs and environments to give an idea of what to expect - they look fantastic. Spend some time browsing the project blog to get a sense of where it's going and swing over to the store to get a glimpse at all the characters in one place.
Making an HMTL5 App & Making It Really Fast - aside from any advice about developing web apps being good advice I really enjoy the specifics that get brought up here - i.e. don't use text / box shadow, do use translate3d, not translate, avoid opacity and enable touch events. via Paige.
Using Pluploader - as a bit of a followup to yesterday's post, I found this little tutorial on Pluploader to be incredibly handy.
This edition of the We Own This Town podcast is special for two reasons. One, it compiles a good deal of the best music from the past year. Certainly not all of it but it covers a lot of ground. Secondly, it's the Fiftieth release. 50! When I starting taking the reigns at Volume 9 in 2007 I don't think I ever predicted I would see it this far through. I'm proud of where it's come and I hope it provides a fairly decent reference point for people inside and outside of Nashville to know the kind of great music that this town is capable of.
You know how I like to avoid just about anything political or vaguely controversial on here but this article regarding Congress and SOPA is not to be missed. Dear Congress, It's No Longer OK To Not Know How the Internet Works perfectly sums up my feelings of frustration over politicians setting rules and regulations for a system that they do not understand - even to the point where they are pridefully ignorant.
It’s of course perfectly standard for members of Congress to not be exceptionally proficient in technological matters. But for some committee members, the issue did not stop at mere ignorance. Rather, it seemed there was in many cases an outright refusal to understand what is undoubtedly a complex issue dealing with highly-sensitive technologies.
When the security issue was brought up, Rep. Mel Watt of North Carolina seemed particularly comfortable about his own lack of understanding. Grinningly admitting “I’m not a nerd” before the committee, he nevertheless went on to dismiss without facts or justification the very evidence he didn’t understand and then downplay the need for a panel of experts. Rep. Maxine Waters of California followed up by saying that any discussion of security concerns is “wasting time” and that the bill should move forward without question, busted internets be damned.
Long story short, if you haven't done Something to contact your representative regarding this issue, please do so. This is really not the sort of thing that needs to be decided by people who, willfully, have no understanding of it.
There are a lot of quality photos to take in from Michael Ringor but I think I can safely say I'm the biggest sucker for his night series. Sure, he's got great captures of California, SF and Apartment Life among his arsenal of visual goods to take in but how can you resist this? You can't.
McBess is the Artist of the Month over at Dudes Factory which means that they've got a huge slew of limited edition goods to investigate. Lots of great tees, giclee prints (on birch wood!) and even a 2012 Calendar. I'm typically not one to drop $32 on a calendar but in the case of McBess, it seems absolutely worth it.
Take a moment and browse over to the Rally Interactive site and consider the fact that all of the design and animations on the page are done without Flash. This current era of CSS3 / JS implemented goodness is blowing my mind - just select a portfolio item to see what I mean. Sure, it's a "simple transform" you may be telling yourself but who else have you seen do it? Especially with such a tasteful implementation. Really love it.
