February 2012
2 posts
1 tag
Usability
The extent to which a product can be used by specified users to achieve specified goals with effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction in a specified context of use.
2 tags
Extending Awkward Showcase
2012 has been a busy year, so busy that I just now noticed I didn’t post anything in the month of January. Recently during a scrum in the dev pit at touchstone group, someone mentioned they were going to need some jQuery help. So the plugin being used was Awkward Showcase and what was needed was to call a custom function on every slide transition. Awkward Showcase has an option to call a...
December 2011
4 posts
3 tags
The New York Times: When features break normal...
Feature Creep is a nightmare for many. Some features are useful and when it doesn’t push a project back and improves the experience then it’s okay to have them. One day I was on The New York Times’ website and I highlighted some text to act as a marker while I replied to someone on messenger I noticed something. A small tool tip popped up with a question mark and as I hovered...
2 tags
1 tag
Die a designer: 10 steps to a long career →
Designers need to be planning for career longevity, says Christopher Cashdollar, creative director for Happy Cog. His 10 tips will get you thinking beyond the pixel and on a path towards long-term professional relevance
2 tags
Why you should move that button 3px to the left →
October 2011
4 posts
1 tag
Innocence lost is not easily regained.
Recently I was at a retail store playing with some tablets and I discovered that by not using a tablet very often or almost at all that it allows me to experience how it feels to use new technology as someone who would receive such a tablet as a gift.
While I’ve played with devices that are touchscreens - such a smart phones, tablets aren’t exactly the same to their non-tablet...
2 tags
“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be...”
– Steve Jobs (via blissed)
1 tag
If you were to design a piece of hardware that was... →
September 2011
4 posts
2 tags
Have a cup of Cozy...
I was at Panera recently and as I enjoyed my meal I noticed two kids who sat behind my table walk up and place an order. When they came back to their table I heard them say - “It’s not called a cup of cozy” to their mother and how the daughter felt so stupid for asking for it. In Panera there was a hanging banner that on the top says “Have a cup of Cozy” - The word...
2 tags
Mobile Web: Taiwan, Opera and WebOS →
I bought a WebOS device and went to Taiwan. Now I understand why the Web on Mobile is a pretty big deal.
Cay Soda - DO WANT →
1 tag
August 2011
5 posts
“We want bells, whistles, and fluffy things.”
– Adrian D. Alvarez during lunch with Chris Gajus. 8/26/2011
5 tags
Caps lock Detection
Recently I was working on detecting if someone had caps lock on. Rather than try and reinvent the wheel, I looked to see if anyone had created a plugin that did so. Which as you can guess - someone did. So I looked into and and noticed that it was firing a false positive. When someone had Caps Lock on and hit Shift it was saying that caps lock was off. So I modified the plugin and email it to the...
1 tag
An original take on the "challenge question": →
Mensch -- A coding font →
I’ve used this as my default font when developing and for some reason I didn’t save the link on here so when I switched machines I could easily download it.
3 tags
autocapitalize="off" on login inputs...
A little over a week ago I drove from Cincinnati up to Indiana and attended the re:build 2011 conference. While Brad Colbow presented on how it’s the little things in design that adds up and shows you really care.
I noticed him stating when he logged into a website from a tablet computer he would have to make sure to lowercase the first character so he could login, however he then noticed...
July 2011
6 posts
1 tag
There are no web experts →
1 tag
You Are U! →
Because creative discussions are more interesting when it’s more than just yourself.
1 tag
5 tags
Ramen Game →
Let’s go back in time, it was near my last year of college and my assignment was create a website with no words that explains how to do something… It could be anything so I did it on “How to make Ramen Noodles”. The challenge was that someone who might rarely use a computer must be able to use the site, finish it completely and (hopefully) know what the explanation...
June 2011
8 posts
3 tags
3 tags
Good Designers Copy, Great Designers Steal
A while back I found a CSS Tip on 37Signals blog which I thought was very useful. So I stole it (Okay I suppose it’s copying but whatever) and added the idea to my stylesheet. However depending in my project I might not be able to make it an ID. So I made it a class - however I didn’t really agree with the idea of calling it a Flash Bar like 37Signals just because if someone else was...
A Year Later
I’m surprised it’s been a year already. So what has changed since I started this?
Got hired Full Time.
Almost got a minion (see intern)
Quit my Full Time Job and became a freelance consultant.
Developed www.YouAreU.org with a good friend of mine who designed it.
Manage to discover errors in code I wrote and used for a while. Fixed Them Also.
Got offered a Full Time job by a...
3 tags
HTML5 Boilerplate: image replacement helper class...
In our latest project in the office, we’ve started using the HTML5 Boilerplate (Woot!) however we still have to support IE7 (Boo!). So I was playing with the image replacement helper class to change the our submit button to a nice little Add to Cart image with a fancy cart next to it. Worked just as planned, Awesome!
Then came the time to check if it worked in IE7, (which I don’t hate...
3 tags
3 tags
1 tag
How to create an unobtrusive print this page link... →
May 2011
8 posts
3 tags
Better conditional classnames for hack-free CSS →
2 tags
Live and learn
Take a step out of your normal environment and you learn a lot. I’ve had the luxury of having most of the control over the markup & css on previous projects I’ve worked on. With the last five web applications I’ve written in the 2011-2010 year I’m surprised I never caught some of the things I’ve learned from working on someone else’s project. If markup was...
“I’m obviously a typo-maniac, which is an incurable, if not mortal, disease. I...”
– Erik Spiekermann
Portal Turret →
2 tags
Revised jQuery with multiple CDN Fall backs with...
So a while back I posted my solution of jQuery with an alternative CDN fall back with the local as a fail safe, it turns out there was a flaw with my code. While I was using YSlow I noticed that when I included a broken link to Google’s hosted jQuery instead of just downloading Microsoft’s jQuery it downloaded Microsoft’s jQuery & the local hosted jQuery. So I’ve made...
1 tag
Understanding Designer-Developer Workflow →
2 tags
CSS Reset 5/01/2011
Rather than updating my CSS Reset post again, I figured I would post my updated CSS Reset with some of the changes highlighted.
Added the removing of quotes from blockquote & q which I had a few years back (left commented out for personal reasons, if you want it to remove the quotes un-comment it).
Added the hand cursor on clickable elements - Felt really foolish not having this included in...
April 2011
4 posts
its been a LoooooooonG timE...
how have you been?
It’s near third week since I started helping out at Touchstone and it’s been (and still is) fun. Really great people here, great environment. They understood that I prefer to remain a front-end developer which is awesome. Another plus is the fact we don’t have to support IE6 (Woot!) however we do have to support IE7. I have learned I need to manage my time a...
1 tag
A few reasons why I love being a consultant
Today I thought I should write why I enjoy being a consultant, however I forgot to do it earlier… and now that it’s almost 12am I feel it would be best if I just made it short and sweet.
Reason 1 - By me being a consultant, it allows me to meet new people in different companies/agencies/firms/groups/whatever and gain a new outlook on things.
Reason 2 - It allows me to share knowledge...
1 tag
Font Conference →
Pencil Telephone Hourglass Diamonds Candle Candle Flag. Mouse Scissors. Bomb. Mailbox! Mailbox! MAILBOX!
2 tags
“protocol-less” jQuery with alternate CDN Fall...
Back in September 23, 2010 I posted a link to a fallback from a CDN hosted jQuery with a local host. Now I’m pretty sure most people uses the one Google hosts for them, while the lesser amount of people use Microsoft’s CDN hosted jQuery (I don’t have any stats, so I could be wrong but just call it a hint).
Now if you’re the type to update your jQuery on your site shortly...
March 2011
7 posts
1 tag
Rethink: Workspace
As I’ve been collaborating with Chris Gajus on YOU | A collective introspective most of it has been virtual and I’ve come to realize that most of what we’ve done has replaced the need of a workspace or “office”. Granted Chris has a shared studio space in downtown cincinnati but that’s a bit of drive, plus when you see familiar faces you tend to get distracted.
...
2 tags
Curious on what a fellow colleague has learned
For the past few months I’ve been collaborating with a colleague who I also consider a good friend on what would be my first public web application. Technically I created a public web application (PURL Application) a few months back - however the most the public does with it is fill out a survey. I consider that application more of a mini-app rather than anything major.
While working on...
WatchDavid Carson on Design + Discovery
2 tags
Reflecting on AIGA Speed Networking event
Monday was Aiga Cincinnati’s Speed Networking event - it had a decent turn out - new and old faces. I was stuck in table 2, seat 1. So I had to stay in table 2 the whole time, which part of me wants to go - well that sucks, but at the same time I didn’t have to jump from table to table.
I started off seeing a student from my college, so I decided to critique her resume, it was a good...
Dear Design Students
Breathe Design, Eat Design, Sleep Design.