06.26.12 |
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I’ve done a lot of research into various responsive imagery solutions. We’re in a clearly changing browser landscape, so picking just one option can be hard. Yet I currently lean on Scott Jehl’s Picturefill the most. The code is straightforward, well refined, and updated frequently (at the time of this writing, the Github was updated five days prior.)
06.26.12 |
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The Macdrifter:
Twitter is great. I funnel a lot of stuff from Twitter into Instapaper and Pinboard. But Twitter is a flowing river. I am not on Twitter all day so I miss the clever banter and people complaining about Twitter. RSS is time-shifted.
He’s dead on here. I get so sick of people deeming RSS “worthless.” At least a third of the links I post here derive from RSS, along with much of my Instapaper queue. I find scanning through a long (occasionally 300 plus) single list of unread RSS items still the most efficient way to keep up with tech and film news. Flipboard, Pulse and every other alternative out there can’t come close to its speed.
06.25.12 |
Miscellany |
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Writer/blogger Kyle Baxter on the ideal newspaper for the future:
Here’s what it is: an organization whose goal is to be the only place readers need to go to find out what’s going on that’s important (coverage) and what’s meaningful about news events and relevant issues (insight and context). Go deep on certain subjects (politics, technology, sports) and make their writing on it so good that anyone interested in the subject has no choice but to read it.
I use to read The New York Times obsessively – the headlines every morning, usually at least fifteen articles out of the Saturday and Sunday edition when I had more time. No more. I rely on Reuters and BBC more for headlines, RSS, blogs and Twitter for deep dives in subjects like tech, politics, gaming and film. If I could somehow segment off just the NYT politics and film section for a reduced price, I would.
06.25.12 |
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Web developer Le Roux Bodenstein:
I propose a fifth option [to handle responsive images.]
Use a progressive image format and HTTP range requests. Ideally the image metadata at the start of the file would include some hints about how many bytes to download to get an exact image size. The browser can then download the smallest size equal to or greater than the dimensions it needs based on the layout’s width as specified in CSS. If the user zooms or resizes the window, the browser can request more bytes as needed.
One image, one file, one URL, one resource.
Ballsy. Yet even as the author points out, there are significant legacy browser compatibility issues.
06.22.12 |
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Great two minute comparison between the 1990 Schwarzenegger original and the Len Wiseman version opening on August 3rd. It’s clear there’s way more similarities than I noticed the first time I watched the Wiseman trailer. Look for the great The Fifth Element reference at the video end.
06.21.12 |
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E3 discussion continues on the 6/12 edition of the Giant Bomb podcast. Skip to the one hour mark for some thoughtful criticism of several big game press trailers: The Last of Us, Tomb Raider and more.
06.21.12 |
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Giant Bomb’s Patrick Klepek:
We arrived to our Capcom appointment, I plunked down with Lost Planet 3, and Alex Navarro was ushered over to play Devil May Cry. In a room of kiosks, there were pole dancers. It’s unclear what that has to do with Devil May Cry. The girl hired to skimpily waltz around was sitting on the floor, looking bored…
…Elsewhere, I refused to play any 3DS games at Nintendo’s booth because the company didn’t have a table with machines, and instead tethered its lineup to attractive women.
It’s disgusting to hear stories like this. It’s 2012. Console gaming is a mainstream, billion dollar industry. Yet its marketing is crazy violent, often sexist, and almost entirely targeted toward a young, hyper-masculine audience. No wonder so much of their potential target demographic is moving to gender neutral mobile platforms like iOS.
06.20.12 |
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This is a really cool, CSS3 and Javascript based slide presentation library. If you’re looking for a web based alternative to the usual Keynote and Powerpoint styles, check this out.
06.19.12 |
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Exhibit A that “all content on a single scrollable page” is a huge web trend: Apple’s iOS6 preview page. Great layout and typographic hierarchy here.
06.19.12 |
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Developer Nicholas Zakas:
I have a theory. That theory is that software engineers see themselves very differently than those with whom they work. I’ve come to this conclusion after over a decade in the software industry working at companies large and small. Companies (product managers, designers, other managers) tend to look at software engineers as builders. It’s the job of the product manager to dream up what to build, the job of the designer to make it aesthetically pleasing, and the job of the engineer to build what they came up with. Basically, engineers are looked at as the short-order cooks of the industry.
Great article. As Nick goes on to argue, good developers are much more than “builders”. We’re creative minds and demand to be treated as such.