Selected by iklash

• Most Topular Stories

• Every nerd’s worst nightmare: World’s largest dodgeball game [video]

  Holy Kaw!

  8 Feb 2012 | 6:57 pm

  If dodgeball day in gym class left you nursing wounds both physical and psychological during the eternity that is a bad grade school experience, you might not appreciate the efforts of 4,979 people at the University of Alberta trying to set a new world record. On the other hand, if dodgeball marked the high point of your glory days, revel in the chaos… Full story at Vimeo via Official Hype. Games from the good old days. Permalink | Leave a comment  »

• What’s Next? Lenses & Cameras

  Canon Rumors

  Canon Rumors

  8 Feb 2012 | 3:58 am

  Lenses I’ve heard that Canon will be introducing a lot of new lenses this year. Quite possibly a record amount of new lenses announced in a single calendar year. For the moment, it’s unknown whether the lens count will include any mirrorless camera lenses, or if we’re talking EF lenses. I will say, Canon may be updating lenses to help resolve a coming huge megapixel camera. We’ve heard previously a lot of short focal length lenses are on the update schedule, and we just saw 2 primes and a zoom announced. Keep watching patents for clues. The EF 24 f/2.8 seemed like an…

• Apple Determines iTunes Match Royalties By Counting How Many Times A Song is Accessed

  MacRumors: Mac News and Rumors - Front Page

  Jordan Golson

  8 Feb 2012 | 1:56 pm

  TuneCore president Jeff Price today wrote a blog post praising Apple's iTunes Match service for creating money "out of thin air" for copyright holders. iTunes Match launched with all the major record labels on board, but some small labels refused to participate over concerns the service was legitimizing music pirates. Price disagrees: A person has a song on her computer hard drive. She clicks on the song and plays it. No one is getting paid. The same person pays iTunes $25 for iMatch. She now clicks on the same song and plays it through her iMatch service. Copyright holders get paid.

• Remains of the Day: Apropos of something

  Macworld

  8 Feb 2012 | 4:30 pm

  The first iTunes Match royalties have arrived, and they're music to artists' ears. Elsewhere, one pilot's lawsuit against his airline may not have enough lift for takeoff, and an iOS-based social network apologizes for getting just a bit too social.

• Apple Kills Off White MacBook as Educational Institution Distribution Halted

  MacRumors: Mac News and Rumors - Mac Blog

  Eric Slivka

  8 Feb 2012 | 1:16 pm

  Last July, Apple discontinued the white MacBook from its consumer lineup, pushing consumers toward the company's popular MacBook Air line or the 13-inch MacBook Pro. The company didn't kill off the MacBook entirely though, as it continued to offer it to educational institutions. Apple has now notified resellers that it has ended that distribution channel as well, classifying the MacBook as "End of Life". It is unclear at what point Apple ceased production on the MacBook, as it is likely that the company's manufacturing partners wound down their work on the machine some time ago, with the…

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  Holy Kaw!

• Every nerd’s worst nightmare: World’s largest dodgeball game [video]

  8 Feb 2012 | 6:57 pm

  If dodgeball day in gym class left you nursing wounds both physical and psychological during the eternity that is a bad grade school experience, you might not appreciate the efforts of 4,979 people at the University of Alberta trying to set a new world record. On the other hand, if dodgeball marked the high point of your glory days, revel in the chaos… Full story at Vimeo via Official Hype. Games from the good old days. Permalink | Leave a comment  »

• Text while you walk (safely this time)

  8 Feb 2012 | 6:18 pm

  If you’re ever twisted your ankle off a curb, bumped a stranger, or walked into a street post while texting—you need this app. ‘Transparent Screen’ for Android allows you to look through your device so you can anticipate any dangerous obstacles in your way while you’re texting on-the-go by harnessing the power of your camera to create the illusion of transparency. Just watch out for your battery life while using the app, as it’ll drain quickly. Full story at GeekOSystem. All the top tech. Permalink | Leave a comment  »

• Nintendo and Converse collaborate on an amazing sneaker

  8 Feb 2012 | 5:25 pm

  Clear out room in your closets, gamers. Converse is releasing their ‘One Star Super Mario Bros.’ shoe this March! Via Like Cool. Get your Nintendo fix. Permalink | Leave a comment  »

• Why Congress is way richer than you [infographic]

  8 Feb 2012 | 4:28 pm

  Via Online Schools. Depressing infographics. Permalink | Leave a comment  »

• The bookcase that’s always ready for more

  8 Feb 2012 | 4:19 pm

  The thing about bibliophiles is that, before you know it, the bookcase is full and it’s time to drag in a few more boards and cinder blocks to accommodate the newcomers. With the REK, such worries are a thing of the past, as the system accordions out when more space is needed and collapses into a handy rectangle when it’s time to pack up shop and move on to greener pastures. Unfortunately, the price is listed as “on request” meaning the 99% is out of luck, but perhaps it’ll inspire you to hit the workshop for a little DIY action if you can drag your nose out of…

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  Canon Rumors

• What’s Next? Lenses & Cameras

  Canon Rumors

  8 Feb 2012 | 3:58 am

  Lenses I’ve heard that Canon will be introducing a lot of new lenses this year. Quite possibly a record amount of new lenses announced in a single calendar year. For the moment, it’s unknown whether the lens count will include any mirrorless camera lenses, or if we’re talking EF lenses. I will say, Canon may be updating lenses to help resolve a coming huge megapixel camera. We’ve heard previously a lot of short focal length lenses are on the update schedule, and we just saw 2 primes and a zoom announced. Keep watching patents for clues. The EF 24 f/2.8 seemed like an…

• New Lens Preorders at Adorama

  Canon Rumors

  8 Feb 2012 | 3:36 am

  The New Lenses Adorama is accepting preorders on the new Canon lenses. Canon EF 24-70 f/2.8L II for $2299 Canon EF  24 f/2.8 IS for $849 Canon EF 28 f/2.8 IS for $799 cr

• Canon EF 24-70 f/2.8L II Available for Preorder

  Canon Rumors

  7 Feb 2012 | 8:48 am

  From B&H B&H Photo has posted the new Canon EF 24-70 f/2.8L II. It is available for preorder and is expected to ship on April 17, 2012. There is no 2 for 1 deal if you buy a Canon EOS-1D X as well. Canon EF 24-70 f/2.8L II at B&H for $2299 cr

• New Canon PowerShot Cameras Available for Preorder

  Canon Rumors

  7 Feb 2012 | 8:45 am

  Preorder Madness The new Canon PowerShot cameras are now available for preorder from B&H. Including the new waterproof & shockproof Canon PowerShot D20.   View all the new PowerShots at B&H | Canon PowerShot D20 at B&H cr

• Canon EOS-1D X High Resolution Samples

  Canon Rumors

  7 Feb 2012 | 8:39 am

  Finally! …..again Canon has finally posted full resolution samples from the Canon EOS-1D X. The new flagship in the EOS lineup. View the samples Thanks Evil cr

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  MacRumors: Mac News and Rumors - Front Page

• Apple Determines iTunes Match Royalties By Counting How Many Times A Song is Accessed

  Jordan Golson

  8 Feb 2012 | 1:56 pm

  TuneCore president Jeff Price today wrote a blog post praising Apple's iTunes Match service for creating money "out of thin air" for copyright holders. iTunes Match launched with all the major record labels on board, but some small labels refused to participate over concerns the service was legitimizing music pirates. Price disagrees: A person has a song on her computer hard drive. She clicks on the song and plays it. No one is getting paid. The same person pays iTunes $25 for iMatch. She now clicks on the same song and plays it through her iMatch service. Copyright holders get paid.

• Photo of iPad 3 Rear Shell Suggests Minor Physical Changes, Larger Battery

  Eric Slivka

  8 Feb 2012 | 12:52 pm

  (Click here for larger version) RepairLabs reports that it has received a photo of what is claimed to the inside of the rear shell of the iPad 3, comparing the part to the corresponding version found on the iPad 2. The iPad 3 version demonstrates a few minor changes compared to the iPad 2, with one of the most notable being an apparently narrower logic board that could make room for an expanded battery.A. You can see here that the mounts for the logic board are very different, which means the logic board shape will be different allowing for . . . . B. More battery. The width of where the…

• Siri Support for Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, and Russian Languages Coming Next Month?

  Eric Slivka

  8 Feb 2012 | 10:42 am

  Tech in Asia reports on an article [Google translation] from Chinese information technology website DoNews claiming that Apple is preparing to bring support for the Chinese language to Siri on the iPhone 4S next month. According to the report, Apple is also preparing to launch support for Japanese and Russian, but the initial Chinese support will only include Mandarin, with Cantonese and other dialects being left out for the time being.The Chinese tech site DoNews claims to have heard from an Apple engineer who’s working on the Chinese-language version of Siri, the clever voice assistant on…

• Apple Pushes for Clarification on Licensing of FRAND Patents

  Eric Slivka

  8 Feb 2012 | 8:33 am

  Dow Jones Newswires reports that Apple filed a letter with the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) last November pushing for clarification on how standards-essential patents are intended to be licensed. These standards-essential patents are currently required to be licensed under fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms in order to promote competition in the marketplace, but Apple claims that there is too much confusion in the industry about how such licensing should be handled.Apple said in its letter--which was dated Nov. 11, but not previously…

• Sprint Sells 1.8 Million iPhones in 4Q 2011, 40% to New Subscribers

  Eric Slivka

  8 Feb 2012 | 6:55 am

  Sprint today became the last of the three major U.S. iPhone carriers to report earnings for the fourth quarter of 2011, disclosing that it sold a total of 1.8 million iPhones during the quarter. While well below the 7.6 million activations reported by AT&T and the 4.3 million activations reported by Verizon, Sprint's iPhone surge helped it achieve a new record high subscriber base of 55 million customers. Notably, 40% of Sprint's iPhone purchasers were new to the carrier, highlighting the device's ability to attract customers from other carriers. That percentage is on par with AT&T's…

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  Macworld

• Remains of the Day: Apropos of something

  8 Feb 2012 | 4:30 pm

  The first iTunes Match royalties have arrived, and they're music to artists' ears. Elsewhere, one pilot's lawsuit against his airline may not have enough lift for takeoff, and an iOS-based social network apologizes for getting just a bit too social.

• Google to pay users to track their movements online

  8 Feb 2012 | 3:45 pm

  Amid widespread concern about its new privacy policies, Google is now facing criticism over an offer to give users Amazon gift certificates if they reveal their Web activity.

• EPIC sues FTC over Google's planned privacy changes

  8 Feb 2012 | 3:15 pm

  The Electronic Privacy Information Center has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, asking a court to force the agency to take action against Google.

• iPad app review: Tweetbot is essentially the perfect Twitter client

  8 Feb 2012 | 2:31 pm

  Tweetbot was already great on the iPhone. On the iPad, it gets even more room to shine--and shine it does.

• New social site Pinterest attracts enthusiasm, scrutiny

  8 Feb 2012 | 1:39 pm

  Just as it enjoys an initial surge of popularity, a new social networking site called Pinterest is also experiencing its first bout of controversy.

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  MacRumors: Mac News and Rumors - Mac Blog

• Apple Kills Off White MacBook as Educational Institution Distribution Halted

  Eric Slivka

  8 Feb 2012 | 1:16 pm

  Last July, Apple discontinued the white MacBook from its consumer lineup, pushing consumers toward the company's popular MacBook Air line or the 13-inch MacBook Pro. The company didn't kill off the MacBook entirely though, as it continued to offer it to educational institutions. Apple has now notified resellers that it has ended that distribution channel as well, classifying the MacBook as "End of Life". It is unclear at what point Apple ceased production on the MacBook, as it is likely that the company's manufacturing partners wound down their work on the machine some time ago, with the…

• Apple Adds Another 150,000 SF to Sunnyvale Real Estate Footprint

  Eric Slivka

  8 Feb 2012 | 11:42 am

  Last month, we noted that Apple had signed a pair of leases for over 300,000 square feet of space in Sunnyvale, the company's first venture into the city next door to its home in Cupertino, California. The leases were said to be part of a larger effort in which Apple was looking to secure 700,000-800,000 square feet of space in Sunnyvale as it continues to grow and to tide it over until its massive new headquarters campus opens several years from now. According to a press release (PDF) from the City of Sunnyvale, another piece of that plan has fallen into place with Apple's commitment to…

• Apple Seeking to Bring Store-Within-a-Store Concept to Sam's Club?

  Eric Slivka

  7 Feb 2012 | 7:16 am

  9to5Mac reports that Apple is in "early discussions" with Sam's Club to bring the Apple store-within-a-store concept to the popular warehouse club chain that operates as a division of Walmart.Sam’s Club and Apple are not only in early discussions for the Apple store-in-store program, but a backup plan is also being discussed. This plan consists of Sam’s Club simply selling Apple’s Macs, but without the Apple Store features. Since the discussions are still early, sources could not comment on a timeframe for such partnerships, but we know the store-in-stores will likely not be coming…

• Id Software's RAGE Arrives on Mac App Store

  Jordan Golson

  2 Feb 2012 | 11:52 am

  As the Mac becomes more popular, the arrival of A-List titles to the platform is beginning to become a more common occurrence. The latest top-shelf game to hit the Mac is Id Software's RAGE, which has gone live both on the Mac App Store [Direct Link] and on publisher Aspyr's GameAgent online store. The game takes place more than 100 years after the impact of an asteroid destroys most life on earth. The player awakens after being frozen in cryo-stasis without any memory of who he is or what he is supposed to do. The game plays out in a world similar to Mad Max and the like, with the player…

• Safari 5.1.4 with JavaScript and PDF Handling Improvements Seeded to Developers

  Eric Slivka

  2 Feb 2012 | 10:47 am

  As noted by 9to5Mac, Apple today began seeding Safari 5.1.4 to developers for testing, signaling the next round of improvements for Apple's browser software. Safari 5.1.4 is available in versions for OS X Lion, Mac OS X Snow Leopard, and Windows, and the release notes ask developers to focus their testing on JavaScript performance, interactions between plug-ins and zooming, and PDF printing.JavaScript Performance Enhancements Safari 5.1.4 on Lion includes many fixes that enhance JavaScript performance. Please test webpages that use JavaScript and look for compatibility issues. Plug-Ins &…

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  MacDailyNews

• RUMOR: Apple’s Siri to speak Mandarin, Japanese and Russian next month

  MacDailyNews

  8 Feb 2012 | 6:29 pm

  Siri will launch in Chinese, Japanese, and Russian next month...

• iOS 5.1 beta carrier profiles hint at possible iPad 3 release on March 9th

  MacDailyNews

  8 Feb 2012 | 3:36 pm

  Apple has published eleven new profiles for various iPhone-operators...

• Protestors target Apple Retail Stores in push to fix conditions in Chinese factories

  MacDailyNews

  8 Feb 2012 | 2:21 pm

  If you see somebody dressed as an iPod Thursday during your morning commute...

• RUMOR: iPad 3 rear case housing leaks out of China

  MacDailyNews

  8 Feb 2012 | 1:47 pm

  The mounts for the logic board are very different...

• Apple shares hit new all-time intraday, closing highs

  MacDailyNews

  8 Feb 2012 | 1:36 pm

  Apple Inc. (AAPL) shares today gained $7.85 to set a new all-time closing high...

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  AppleInsider

• Doubts cast on likelihood of quad-core A6 CPU in third-gen iPad

  8 Feb 2012 | 5:50 pm

  A new report has countered rumors that the processor expected to power Apple's third-generation iPad will be a quad-core model, noting instead that the chip will still be dual-core, though with a "significantly more powerful" graphics processor.

• Path apologizes, offers opt-out for address book uploading

  8 Feb 2012 | 3:48 pm

  Social networking app Path issued an apology through its blog on Wednesday for the implementation of a back-end "feature" that uploaded a user's iPhone contacts list to the company's servers, and released an update to remedy the problem with new opt-in/opt-out settings.

• iTunes Match generates 'magic money' for music copyright holders

  8 Feb 2012 | 2:59 pm

  As the first iTunes Match royalties trickle in, online music distribution company TuneCore says that the service created money "out of thin air" as it monetizes music whether pirated or not.

• Siri rumored to gain support for Mandarin, Japanese and Russian in March

  8 Feb 2012 | 1:38 pm

  An Apple software engineer reportedly working on the Chinese-language version of the company's Siri voice assistant says support for Mandarin, Japanese and Russian will be added in March, as well as localized navigation and information services.

• US Air Force may buy 18,000 Apple iPads for cargo aircraft

  8 Feb 2012 | 1:11 pm

  The U.S. Air Force's Air Mobility Command recently put out a notice that it plans to buy as many as 18,000 of Apple's iPad for use on cargo aircraft like the C-5 Galaxy and C-17 Globemaster.

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  Wallpaper* News Feed

• Nicolas Le Moigne at Gallery Libby Sellers, London

  8 Feb 2012 | 1:14 pm

  If there were a visual equivalent of a double entendre, the work of Nicolas Le Moigne would define it. The Swiss designer goes to incredible lengths to make his designs seem at once greater and less than the sum of their parts. His meticulously crafted cast-off concrete stools for Eternit, for example, have the lowbrow appearance of compacted rubbish. His simple spool table is elevated like art on a podium. Most compelling, perhaps, is his 'Reflecting Ring', the diamond in which faces a mirror that makes it look twice its size and value. Le Moigne's talent for trompe l'oeil…

• Book: The Table of Power 2, by Jacqueline Hassink

  6 Feb 2012 | 12:41 pm

  In 1996 when Jacqueline Hassink first published 'The Table of Power', her photo-essays of the boardrooms of Europe's largest industrial multinationals, she was just 27 and the world was a very different place. It was a landmark project, the first time most of these rooms had ever been seen by the general public. In the spring of 2009, with the world already in the grip of financial crisis, the Dutch-born, New York-based artist decided to take another look at Europe's economic landscape through its boardrooms, and to see how boardroom design, revenue and employee numbers in…

• 'The nature of things' at Artists' House, UK

  3 Feb 2012 | 11:56 am

  It's been just over ten years since London architect Stephen Marshall built Artists' House, the contemporary cottage on the grounds of the New Art Centre in Wiltshire and a modern foil for the grand 1804 mansion and Orangery at Roche Court. Originally conceived as a residence for artists putting in long days in the sculpture park, it was repurposed a few years ago by curator Sarah Griffin for the centre's first design exhibition. This weekend Griffin will launch a second design show, which features work by three Britain-based artists - a juxtapostion of domestic household items with…

• Saatchi Gallery collection at Hyatt Regency London

  3 Feb 2012 | 12:00 am

  While hotels often double as platforms for new art, few of them can lay claim to a selection picked from one of the most influential contemporary art galleries today. Settling in until 30 April at London's Hyatt Regency Churchill is 'One Giant Leap' - the first of a series of three exhibitions taking place during 2012 at the hotel, featuring an assortment of works from the Saatchi Gallery collection. Predominantly scattered around the ground-floor lobby and restaurant, the mix of paintings, sculptures and installations - most memorable being a life-sized hippopotamus by Christina Mackie -…

• New Court, Rothschild London HQ, by OMA

  2 Feb 2012 | 12:00 am

  Taken in from Wallpaper* HQ, OMA's new home for Rothschild (the practice's first London building) seems the most exciting addition to the 'City-scape' in years. What makes New Court such a winner, perhaps surprisingly, is its restraint in scale and effect. A ten-storey mesh cube with various annexes, topped by a two-storey 'sky pavilion', it displays a lightness of touch that is certainly missing from the Walbrook Building, Foster's still unoccupied heavy-metal blob it overlooks. Nathan Mayer Rothschild first moved to the St Swithin's Lane site, just round the corner from the Bank of England,…

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  Design is Kinky

• Vimeo Awards

  Andrew

  8 Feb 2012 | 1:38 pm

  Got your entry in yet for the Vimeo Awards? Submissions are open so get filming!

• Ian + Erick = Tungsten

  Murray

  8 Feb 2012 | 2:09 am

  Ian plus Erick = Tungsten.

• David Homer exhibition

  Andrew

  5 Feb 2012 | 10:06 pm

  Friend of Design is Kinky, David Homer, is having a show of his urban collage photography. It opens in Sydney on Thursday 16th at Mart Gallery.

• Graniph Design Awards 2012

  Andrew

  31 Jan 2012 | 4:39 pm

  Design is Kinky is happy to be a sponsor of the 2012 Graniph Design Awards. The entries are now open so check the site and get your t-shirt designs in!

• Leif Podhajsky

  Andrew

  23 Jan 2012 | 11:28 am

  Australian artist/creative director, Leif Podhajsky has some new prints for sale.

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  Fuel Your Creativity

• 10 Designs Inspired by Microsoft’s Metro UI

  Joel Falconer

  25 Jan 2012 | 5:09 pm

  Advertise here via BSA Since Microsoft first unveiled the Metro UI on Windows Phone 7, the rollout has been gradually taking place across every Microsoft product and website. It is the cornerstone of the Windows 8 interface and one of the most notable official uses of Metro UI available now is the excellent implementation on the Xbox 360 dashboard. The new design language has been a refreshing sign that Redmond cares about fixing its messy, bloated and ageing image, and the company is following through and executing. In the process, Metro has picked up a lot of fans in the design…

• Timeless Design, Ferrari

  admin

  25 Jan 2012 | 10:10 am

  Advertise here via BSA To begin with what I hope will end up being a mindful, thought-provoking article on the essence of timelessness in design, I felt it only fitting to start with what gave birth to this idea. As a designer and all around technology consultant, it’s my job to stay up-to-date with current trends and product offerings, which by its very nature is contradictory to the idea of timelessness. I’ve been grappling with this concept for over two years now. A lot of you that follow me on Twitter know that I’m an absolute nut about cars. Up until about 24 months ago my passion…

• Free Web UI Wireframe Kit

  Jeff Olson

  24 Jan 2012 | 3:00 am

  Advertise here via BSA Sometimes you don’t need to build interactive wireframes, or may not feel all that comfortable in Visio or OmniGraffle. I know there are times I just want to open up Photoshop and start laying things out. This web UI template kit is made completely with shape objects and in some cases converted into SmartObjects. So they’re totally scalable. There are no usage restrictions but if you find them helpful give us a shout. We love hearing from you! CLICK TO DOWNLOAD via

• Shape, Color, Content – The Language of Logos

  sara tack

  9 Jan 2012 | 5:00 am

  Advertise here via BSA Before you approve that new logo you’re considering, stop for a moment to consider how people perceive visual information. The content of your logo is third in the sequence of recognition, behind shape and color, because the brain takes more time to process language. Letterforms can be very powerful in creating content and meaning. The use of initials as an identifying mark has been around for centuries, since medieval kingdoms became economic enterprises. Letterforms are often abstracted to create clever symbols which act as metaphor for the core brand positioning.

• Starting a T-Shirt Line with No Money

  blakepoutra

  5 Jan 2012 | 8:25 am

  Advertise here via BSA I have to admit right up front that the title of this article is a bit of hyperbole. You might be quick to think that a t-shirt line that can be started without any money cannot possibly be a good one. It’s true that we could easily end this post in a few sentences by suggesting one of the many turnkey websites that sell one-off digital printing on every product imaginable. However, I am actually referring to starting a high quality screen printed t-shirt line without any money. Thanks to the internet…this is very possible. Tell Your Story One of the main…

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  featured by Carole Guevin

• Featured / by

  Carole Guevin

  8 Feb 2012 | 3:07 pm

  I M P O R T A N T — U P D A T E — I M P O R T A N T People too weak to follow their own dreams, will always find a way to discourage yours. – anonymous. Though obstacles may be insurmountable – the dream is more powerful. In the past week moved to a spanking blazing fast new server and this is a big news. The design culture news will be published on a new domain — Featuredby.com -> URL to new feed. All previous posts can be found in the new location. What will happen here? My C/R. _______ via: Aptly illustrated by Keenan Cummings

• Yoshii world

  Carole Guevin

  8 Feb 2012 | 8:25 am

  Yoshii is one of the most acclaimed digital artists in Japan. He freelanced as an illustrator and created various characters for major TV programs, commercials, corporate websites, campaign and events. He specializes in crystallizing characters for his clients’ needs with little direction. _______ “My three dimensional characters are created by a harmonious combination of beauty, ludicrousness, and comicality and developing them with strong personality..”

• Sawdust *up

  Carole Guevin

  8 Feb 2012 | 8:06 am

  Sawdust rolls out a new website stocked w/ a wonderful portfolio. You can browse / preview each project using the back / forward arrows.

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  Smashing Magazine Feed

• Collaging: Getting Answers To The Questions You Don’t Know To Ask

  Kyle Soucy

  6 Feb 2012 | 7:02 am

     When conducting user research, we all know that asking the right questions is just as important as how you ask them, but how do you know exactly what questions to ask? What if the discussion topic is very personal? How do you get a complete stranger to open up? There is a better way to conduct an in-depth interview, and it doesn’t involve a clipboard. Just imagine what you could discover if the participant’s answers weren’t limited to a predetermined set of questions. This is where collaging can help. Collaging is a projective technique by which participants select images…

• How To Use Custom Post Types To Organize Online Marketing Campaigns

  Joshua Dodson

  3 Feb 2012 | 7:04 am

     Custom post types add a level of flexibility to WordPress that makes this open-source Web development platform more useful on many levels. Whenever I have been faced with a Web-based task, especially one that involves organizing information, the first thing I do is examine WordPress to determine if it can handle the job. It usually can. Image Source As an Internet marketer and analyst, I need to be able to organize online marketing campaigns in a way that is trackable in Google Analytics. This is the perfect task for WordPress custom post types. In this article, we’ll explain…

• Freebie: St. Valentine’s Day Icon Set (10 PNG/PSD Icons)

  Smashing Editorial Team

  2 Feb 2012 | 7:38 am

     Every now and then, we release useful freebies for all of our highly valued readers. Today, it is our pleasure to present to you Cuberto‘s fantastic St. Valentine’s icon set  —  exclusively designed for Smashing Magazine and its loyal readers. The icons presented are available in transparent PNGs as well as Photoshop PSDs (128×128 px) and are perfect for any projects you have coming up for St. Valentine’s Day. Enjoy! Download the Set for free! This icon set is completely free to use for commercial or personal applications without any…

• Ten Things To Think About When Designing Your iPad App

  Julie Stanford

  31 Jan 2012 | 9:03 am

     Like most well-designed things, the magic of an iPad app comes from a union of usefulness, usability and meaning. Games aside, the app must be useful by solving a problem that people actually have through the right set of functionality at the right time. It must be easy to use and, just as importantly, easy to get started using, without a lot of pesky setup and learning steps. And it must hold meaning for the user through visual beauty, an emotional connection, personal insights, etc. In this article, we won’t outline the entire design process for creating an iPad app, but we…

• Desktop Wallpaper Calendar: February 2012

  Smashing Editorial Team

  31 Jan 2012 | 5:48 am

     We always try our best to challenge your artistic abilities and produce some interesting, beautiful and creative artwork. And as designers we usually turn to different sources of inspiration. As a matter of fact, we’ve discovered the best one — desktop wallpapers that are a little more distinctive than the usual crowd. This creativity mission has been going on for over two years now, and we are very thankful to all designers who have contributed and are still diligently contributing each month. We continue to nourish you with a monthly spoon of inspiration. This post features…

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  Psdtuts+

• Easy Dashed and Dotted Lines in Photoshop

  Grant Friedman

  8 Feb 2012 | 9:57 am

  For the last few weeks, the Photoshop team has been giving us some sneak peeks of the latest version of Photoshop. The latest version of Photoshop is due to be released in the first half of 2012. We have already seen videos showing off Photoshop’s new look, and some performance enhancements but this video shows us something new, something that we have been asking them to include for a long, long time – dotted and dashed lines. In this video, Photoshop Product Manager, Zorana Gee shows how you can click on a stroke and quickly convert it to a dotted line. Then, she shows how to quickly…

• Create a Caricature Painting in Photoshop

  Martin Perhiniak

  8 Feb 2012 | 7:00 am

  Photoshop is an excellent tool for manipulating photographs but it can also be used as a means to create stunning digital art. This tutorial is part of a 25-part video tutorial series demonstrating everything you will need to know to start producing digital art in Photoshop. Digital Art for Beginners, by Adobe Certified Expert and Instructor, Martin Perhiniak will begin by teaching you how to draw in Photoshop. At the conclusion of this series you will know all you need to produce your own concept art and matte paintings in Photoshop. Today’s tutorial Part 22: Create a Caricature…

• Retouch a Bland Model Portrait in Photoshop

  Kevin Stohlmeyer

  7 Feb 2012 | 6:00 am

  Sometimes retouching a portrait can be really tricky, specifically when dealing with model portraits. In this tutorial, we will be retouching a particularly difficult shot in which the subject has no makeup or dramatic lighting to emphasize the shot. Using Photoshop, you will be able to add makeup, repair flaws, and add some drama to this shot. Let’s get started! Tutorial Assets The following assets were used during the production of this tutorial. Model (iStockPhoto) Background (iStockPhoto) Step 1 – Selections The first thing I want to do is remove the model from her background.

• See the Next Version of Photoshop Live

  Grant Friedman

  6 Feb 2012 | 5:03 pm

  Recently, the Photoshop team has been publishing some sneak peeks of what they have been working on for the next version of Photoshop. Later this week, Photoshop Senior Product Manager Bryan O’Neil Hughes will be in New York City for a series of live sneak peek events. This will be a great opportunity to see for yourself what the Photoshop team is working on. I’ll be attending and would love to see you there if you’re in the area. The details for the event are below. Thursday, February 9 Event Meetup Hosted at the School of Visual Arts with special guest SVA alum and pro photographer…

• Create a Chewing Gum Packaging Design in Photoshop – Tuts+ Premium Tutorial

  Tim Kyde

  6 Feb 2012 | 7:00 am

  In this Tuts+ Premium tutorial, author Tim Kyde will explain how to create chewing gum packaging in Photoshop and Illustrator. We will begin by showing you how to create print-ready artwork and then how to render that artwork as a mockup that can be presented to clients. If you are looking to take your packaging and print design skills to the next level then Log in or Join Now to get started! View the Tutorial Tuts+ Premium Members can login now for instant access to this tutorial. Membership to Tuts+ Premium gets you access to hundreds of exclusive premium tutorials, top selling ebooks,…

• 

  Web Designer Wall - Design Trends and Tutorials

• CSS3 Image Styles – Part 2

  Nick La

  31 Jan 2012 | 8:18 am

  Previously I wrote two tutorials on how to style the image element with CSS3 inset box-shadow and border-radius. The trick is to wrap the image with a span tag and apply the image as background-image. However, I recently ran into a problem with that trick while designing the PhotoTouch theme. The issue is that the [...]Advertise here with BSA

• UPrinting Business Card Giveaways

  Nick La

  16 Dec 2011 | 10:32 am

  This Friday giveaway is sponsored by UPrinting, a shop that provides a wide range of online printing services. We are giving away 3 sets of 250 die-cut business card printing to 3 winners. Each winner will receive a set of 250 business card printing with free shipping. To enter this contest, all you have to [...]Advertise here with BSA

• Responsive Design in 3 Steps

  Nick La

  8 Dec 2011 | 7:52 am

  Responsive web design is no doubt a big thing now. If you still not familiar with responsive design, check out the list of responsive sites that I recently posted. To newbies, responsive design might sound a bit complicated, but it is actually simpler than you think. To help you quickly get started with responsive design, [...]Advertise here with BSA

• Despositphotos Giveaways

  Nick La

  6 Dec 2011 | 7:59 pm

  As mentioned last week, I will be giving away some goodies in December. So here is the first giveaway sponsored by Depositphotos stock photos. Depositphotos is giving away $50 credit to 5 readers on Web Designer Wall. Hurry, this contest ends in two weeks on Dec 21, 2011. If you need stock photos for your [...]Advertise here with BSA

• MightyDeals is Giving an iPhone 4S

  Nick La

  1 Dec 2011 | 1:43 pm

  Can you believe it is December already? For the joy of December, I'm going to giveaway some goodies to you. The first nice one came across is the iPhone 4S (unlocked model) giveaway from MightyDeals, who gave away 2 iPod Nanos last year on the Wall. For your chance to win an iPhone or one [...]Advertise here with BSA

• 

  SimpleBits

• Pears

  Dan Cederholm

  7 Feb 2012 | 2:40 pm

  Yesterday, on stage at An Event Apart Atlanta, I announced Pears: an open source WordPress theme for creating your own markup & style pattern library. I wanted to create my own database repository of commonly used patterns and figured the tool might be useful for others as well. Breaking interfaces down into patterns has been immensely helpful in learning and re-evaluating the best possible code to implement them. I’ve just gotten started and will be adding more as I create them. But Pears isn’t about how I code these patterns—it’s a tool for creating your own. The…

• Bulletproof Web Design, Third Edition

  Dan Cederholm

  20 Dec 2011 | 8:07 am

  Yesterday, a copy of my latest book arrived in the mail, the Third Edition of Bulletproof Web Design. The first edition came out back in 2005, and I’ve been revising it every few years. This latest edit was a bit larger than the 2nd because so much has changed. HTML5, CSS3, Responsive Web Design—all of these things dovetail nicely into the core bulletproof concepts from the original book. If you have the 2nd edition, the new version is likely not a necessary upgrade (New Riders probably loves me for saying that). Meaning, the guidelines for building flexible websites are still there,…

• My New Ride

  Dan Cederholm

  25 Oct 2011 | 5:57 pm

  A month ago I made one of the best purchases I’ve made in a long time. I bought a kick scooter. Not one of those aluminum things with rollerblade wheels where the handle is so short you have to hunch over—but a scooter built for adults. Check out this video that shows how the KickPed operates—particularly how it folds up. After a fair amount of research I found the KickPed, which is a custom model designed by NYCEWheels. It’s not cheap, but it’s built for the streets of New York and is supposedly maintenance free. The wheels are wide, solid rubber, the birch footboard is…

• New Work: Instapaper 4 Icon

  Dan Cederholm

  17 Oct 2011 | 10:08 am

  I had the honor of creating the new Instapaper icon thanks to Jason Santa Maria and his art direction. The new app is superb, and it’s out today! Read all about it from creator Marco Arment and Jason.

• Adapted

  Dan Cederholm

  19 Aug 2011 | 11:09 am

  There’s no doubt that employing a mobile first, responsive design approach to a new project is a wonderful way forward for many sites. I think the most exciting thing about seeing these best practices develop over the last few years is that it finally feels like web design. Finally. That we’re not designing sheets of paper that happen to be on screen. So yes, for new projects under the right circumstances a responsive plan is often the ideal. But what about existing sites? The ones that were designed before browsers supported media queries and before smart people started stitching…

• 

  You The Designer

• The Rise and Fall of Famous Brands – Why Do They Fail?

  Guest Blogger

  8 Feb 2012 | 12:00 am

  We are living in a world where water is sold with a name, clothes are being marketed with signature signs and food items are being promoted with trademarks. The concept of branding has completely shaped the way people consume commodities. Customers in this day and age prefer status symbols over necessity. This shows the importance of branding and its influence on businesses.   It takes years to erect a successful brand identity, but only an instant to destroy it. All the famous brands and corporations have risen to their current status after a lot of painstaking effort. Failure is common…

• We’ve Started Using PunchTab!

  Cadence Wu

  6 Feb 2012 | 12:00 am

    Here’s another one of our attempts to reward you loyal readers for sticking with You The Designer all this time, and this one is a pretty big deal! PunchTab is a loyalty program that lets us reward you for engaging with the blog, whether you visit, browse, comment on, and vote up our posts and more – with points you can use to redeem a reward from us!     As some of you may have already seen by clicking on the Rewards ribbon tab hovering on the left side of our pages, we have a 30-day leaderboard tracking the most active readers on the blog.     Right…

• Behance Launches Student Show, an Initiative to Support Emerging Designers

  Cadence Wu

  1 Feb 2012 | 12:00 am

  If you’re a student, here’s an exclusive design community where you can get your work exposure, get feedback from peers as well as world-renowned creative professionals, and even get hired! Behance has launched a new student initiative called the Student Show Gallery, which aims to showcase the world’s next generation of creative talent. Membership is free! As a member, your work may be featured, “appreciated”, followed by fellow creatives, and noticed by recruiters. You’ll also receive updates on student competitions and exclusive discounts from some of…

• 30 Examples of Impressive Concept Art

  Gabrielle Mendez

  30 Jan 2012 | 12:00 am

  For both video games and comic books, concept artists are necessary to create the aesthetically-pleasing visuals that enhance the storyline’s action and drama. From simple pencil sketches to 3D models, detailed character turnarounds to costumes, fantastic vehicles to intricate weapon design, the possibilities are endless.   These are some examples of impressive video game and comic book concept art.   BATMAN (DC/Rocksteady Studios) View Source   View Source   View Source   ASSASSIN’S CREED (Ubisoft) View Source   View Source   View Source  …

• The Best Looking Beer Cans – a Beer Can Appreciation Day Special

  Fernando Jose

  24 Jan 2012 | 7:54 am

  January 24, 2012 marks the 77th anniversary of the day Gottfried Krueger Brewing Co. first brought canned beers into the market. Though it hasn’t been (and probably never will be) declared an official holiday, more and more people are celebrating Beer Can Appreciation Day to pay tribute to the creation that has changed the experience of buying, keeping and drinking beer, forever. YTD takes part in the Beer Can Appreciation Day celebration with this collection of 35 tasteful beer can designs. Check them out and don’t forget to leave a comment after. Cheers!   Hurlimann…

• 

  CSS-Tricks

• Speech Bubble Arrows that Inherit Parent Color

  Chris Coyier

  6 Feb 2012 | 9:57 am

  Interesting question: css3 speech bubble question: for the "triangle"'s border color, how can I set it to whatever its parent div's bgcolor is automagically? — Jin Yang (@jzy) February 1, 2012 By "css3 speech bubble", Jin means using a pseudo element on a container to add a little pointer arrow (triangle). Not really CSS3, but that's pedantic. Let's say that pink color isn't practical to set in an external CSS file. Perhaps is a user setting, or perhaps its set dynamically somehow. <div class="speech-bubble" style="background: pink;"> I like bananas, because they have no bones.

• A proposal to drop browser vendor prefixes

  Chris Coyier

  3 Feb 2012 | 1:49 pm

  Interesting idea by Felipe G on using a new at-rule, @-vendor-unlock, to tell the browser to use it's experimental implementation of any particular property, rather than using a vendor prefix on that property. Unfortunately at this point, even if you could get all the browsers on board, you'd need to use this and vendor prefixes to get deep support, which makes the problem worse. What we really need is for all browsers to implement auto-updating so eventually "supporting older browsers" is something we can look back and laugh at. Direct Link to Article — PermalinkA proposal to drop…

• Digging Into WordPress 3.3

  Chris Coyier

  3 Feb 2012 | 1:30 pm

  Digging Into WordPress (the book) is now updated to v3.3. Includes new chapters specially on what's new in 3.2 and 3.3, all the rest of the chapters tightened up and refreshed, better internal hyperlinking (in the PDF), and more. It's a free update (PDF) to all previous buyers. New print copies are on order and will be available soon. Direct Link to Article — PermalinkDigging Into WordPress 3.3 is a post from CSS-Tricks

• ShopTalk Episode 4

  Chris Coyier

  2 Feb 2012 | 5:50 pm

  Dave, Jonathan Longnecker, Nate Croft and I talk shop. Topics include website building apps, where to start designing, when not to design for modern browsers, and more. Sponsored by LessAccounting. Direct Link to Article — PermalinkShopTalk Episode 4 is a post from CSS-Tricks

• New Poll: In The Next 10 Years, Will We See CSS Competitor?

  Chris Coyier

  2 Feb 2012 | 11:23 am

  What do you think folks? Is a new language going to come along in the next ten years that deals with layout / style / design and unseat CSS? Or at least give it a run for its money? You should vote not based on if there will be any attempt at it, which there certainly will be and already has. But instead if you think one of those attempts will actually make it into native support by a browser with significant market share and see a significant number of web workers building web sites in it. Poll is in the sidebar (or, down pretty far if on a small screen). New Poll: In The Next 10 Years, Will…

• 

  CSS Drive News

• Turn.js page turn plugin

  webmaster@REMOVETHIScssdrive.com

  7 Feb 2012 | 5:35 am

  jQuery plugin that adds a beautiful "page turn" transition similar to flipping a book or magazine for HTML5.

• 42 Logo Designs With Creative Use of Pen

  webmaster@REMOVETHIScssdrive.com

  2 Feb 2012 | 9:14 pm

  A showcase of creative logos where the "pen" is the focal point.

• 5 Tips for Designing iPhone Apps in Photoshop

  webmaster@REMOVETHIScssdrive.com

  2 Feb 2012 | 3:22 am

  Some tips on creating the mockup and basic skeleton of your iPhone App in Photoshop.

• Beating Borders: The Bane of Responsive Layout

  webmaster@REMOVETHIScssdrive.com

  19 Jan 2012 | 5:36 am

  This article looks at how CSS's "outline" and "box-sizing" properties can help resolve issues that arise in percentage based layouts.

• Web Typography for the Lonely

  webmaster@REMOVETHIScssdrive.com

  5 Jan 2012 | 5:23 pm

  Cutting edge experiments with HTML5 canvas and SVG graphics to create interesting typography effects.

• 

  Nettuts+

• Easy Script Loading with yepnope.js

  Nikola Malich

  8 Feb 2012 | 6:00 am

  Officially released by Alex Sexton and Ralph Holzmann in late February of 2011, the yepnope.js resource loader features asynchronous, conditional loading and preloading of both JavaScript and CSS resources. This makes managing dependant, conditional code a breeze. March of 2011 This nifty resource loader, which is only 1.6KB minified and gzipped, is now bundled with Modernizer and is great for loading polyfills, preloading or “priming” the users cache, or as a simple asynchronous resources loader / filter! For those of you unfamiliar with polyfills, they are essentially plugins,…

• Turbocharge Your Website With Memcached

  Nicolas Sebban

  6 Feb 2012 | 9:49 am

  Your latest PHP/MySQL website is finally online. And it’s awesome. But it’s not as fast as you want it to be, because of the many SQL queries running every time a page is generated. And above that, you have the feeling it will not scale well under heavy loads. And you are most likely right. In this tutorial, we will see how you can greatly improve your website’s responsiveness, and help it scale to handle many simultaneous visitors, by implementing a cache layer between your code and your database. The good news is it is fairly easy, and can be done in a few minutes!

• JavaScript Testing From Scratch: New on Premium

  Andrew Burgess

  5 Feb 2012 | 12:30 pm

  This likely isn’t the first tutorial on testing that you’ve ever seen. But perhaps you’ve had your doubts about testing, and never took the time to read them. After all, it can seem like extra work for no reason. This tutorial (with screencasts) intends to change your views. We’re going to start at the very beginning: what is testing and why should you do it? Then, we’ll talk briefly about writing testable code, before actually, you know, doing some testing! Let’s get to it. Become a Premium member to read this tutorial/screencast, as well as hundreds of…

• Best of Tuts+ in January 2012

  David Appleyard

  2 Feb 2012 | 7:37 am

  Each month, we bring together a selection of the best tutorials and articles from across the whole Tuts+ network. Whether you’d like to read the top posts from your favourite site, or would like to start learning something completely new, this is the best place to start! Psdtuts+ — Photoshop Tutorials Create a Pimped Out Truck Using Photoshop and Point and Shoot Photos Making modifications to your car or truck in Photoshop can be a lot of fun. In this tutorial we will demonstrate how to create a pimped out truck modification using photos taken with a simple point and shoot camera,…

• Learn jQuery in 30 Days

  Jeffrey Way

  31 Jan 2012 | 8:47 pm

  Sometimes, it’s easy to become overwhelmed by how much there is to learn in this industry. If jQuery happens to be on your personal “need to learn soon” list, then I’m happy to announce my new course: “Learn jQuery in 30 Days”. If you’ll give me fifteen minutes a day for the next month, I’ll help you become a jQuery pro – and it’s free! How Does it Work? Sporadically, your skills will be put to the test, when you take the interactive quizzes! Once you enroll (free) via email, each day, you’ll receive a 10-15 minute video…

• 

  Photoshop Lady

• Form an Imaginative Scene – House on a Shoe

  admin

  8 Feb 2012 | 12:01 am

  Have you ever thought to put a house on a shoe? It is always funny and fantastic to put them together. You can apply the same idea to arrange different stuff together to form a new good funny combination. (View This Tutorial)

• Drawing Fantastic Fur for Animals

  admin

  7 Feb 2012 | 12:01 am

  Most of animals have their own fur. Learning to draw animal’s fur is always useful to your artworks. This tutorial will introduce you to set up your brushes for painting a wolf for your information. (View This Tutorial)

• Create a Lomo Effect in 3 Simple Steps

  admin

  6 Feb 2012 | 12:01 am

  You don’t have to have one of these cameras to produce your own “Lomo styled” photos. With 3 simple steps in Photoshop you can create some very interesting Lomo looks. (View This Tutorial)

• Create a Pretty Lady Portrait in Photoshop

  admin

  3 Feb 2012 | 12:01 am

  Lots of you may wonder how to create a nice human portrait. In this tutorial, it will give you some guidelines on creating a human portrait plus illustrating you some to set up Photoshop brushes. (View This Tutorial)

• Painting a Super Robot using Photoshop

  admin

  2 Feb 2012 | 12:01 am

  Painting different kinds of objects require different sort of skills. To stand out your object to be powerful, adding some lights on its hand and matching it with dim background would be useful. (View This Tutorial)

• 

  Peachpit Press :: Articles

• Article :: Editing DSLR Video with Final Cut Pro X: Organizing Your Media

  7 Feb 2012 | 4:00 pm

  Final Cut Pro X has several tools that let you sort, sift, filter, and find the perfect shot. You can use embedded metadata as well as attach powerful keywords to improve your ability to locate the perfect shot. In this chapter you'll learn the many ways to organize your media.

• Article :: Creating Android Applications: Acquiring Data

  6 Feb 2012 | 4:00 pm

  Learn how to acquire data from a remote source, as well as Android and the main thread.

• Article :: Building iOS 5 Games: Controllers and Sprites

  5 Feb 2012 | 4:00 pm

  In this chapter you will be introduced to the classes that combine to form the foundation of the game engine. Then, you’ll create the sprite classes that draw and control the game characters on the screen.

• Article :: The Family Photographers’ Guide to Setting Up a Working Photography Studio

  1 Feb 2012 | 4:00 pm

  It doesn’t matter if a studio is a designated space within your home, a standalone structure, or an area located within a commercial retail center. But there are several considerations to keep in mind when setting up a working studio. Tamara Lackey explores them in this chapter from her book, Envisioning Family: A photographer's guide to making meaningful portraits of the modern family.

• Article :: Adobe Type Library General Information | English

  31 Jan 2012 | 4:00 pm

  Today, designers and desktop publishers have thousands of typefaces in the Adobe Type Library to choose from, with new designs added on a regular basis. To help make the job of selecting type easier, they’ve organized the library according to a simplified classification system based on type styles. Most of the categories are drawn from the internationally recognized system adopted by the Association Typographique Internationale (ATypI). However, many typefaces fit into more than one category, and even the experts can’t agree. In addition, they’ve added categories unique to the Adobe…

• 

  Google Code Blog

• Google Summer of Code 2012 is on!

  Scott Knaster

  4 Feb 2012 | 12:08 pm

  By Carol Smith, Open Source Team Cross-posted with the Google Open Source Blog Today at FOSDEM I was proud to announce Google Summer of Code 2012. This will be the 8th year for Google Summer of Code, an innovative program dedicated to introducing students from colleges and universities around the world to open source software development. The program offers student developers stipends to write code for various open source projects with the help of mentoring organizations from all around the globe. Over the past seven years Google Summer of Code has had 6,000 students from over 90 countries…

• Fridaygram: science education, simulating galaxies, spider webs

  Scott Knaster

  3 Feb 2012 | 12:11 pm

  By Scott Knaster, Google Code Blog Editor Most software developers started getting interested in technology at an early age. With that in mind, Google Roots in Science and Engineering (RISE) is a program that annually awards grants to groups that come up with great new ways to teach students in Computer Science (CS) and science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). This year’s awards were just announced. The winners included a program that helps primary school students in Dublin, girls in the San Francisco Bay Area, and kids in Uganda who want to learn about technology. Scientists love…

• Angry Birds Chrome now uses the Web Audio API

  Scott Knaster

  31 Jan 2012 | 2:16 pm

  By Fred Sauer, Developer Advocate Cross-posted with the Google Web Toolkit Blog Last week Angry Birds for Chrome was updated to use the Web Audio API for all its in-game audio for Chrome users, which means Chrome users get the full Angry Birds experience, without any plugins. The Web Audio API supports a wide variety of use cases, including the high fidelity and low latency requirements of games. Users of other supported browsers will still get sound via Flash or HTML5 audio. How does this cross-browser audio magic work? As you may have seen or heard, Angry Birds was in no small part made…

• Translating JavaScript to Dart

  Scott Knaster

  30 Jan 2012 | 12:00 pm

  Marcin Aaron By Aaron Wheeler, Senior User Experience Prototyper, and Marcin Wichary, Senior User Experience Designer Cross-posted with the Chromium Blog It took approximately 2000 years for the original Rosetta Stone to be discovered, which helped translate the Egyptian Hieroglyphs. We couldn’t wait that long to bridge the Dart and JavaScript worlds, so today we are releasing the JavaScript to Dart Synonym app. Like most web developers, we are familiar, comfortable, and productive with JavaScript. We were curious about Dart, and thanks to a recent Dart hackathon, we had the chance to play…

• g|saudi arabia 2.0 is back

  Scott Knaster

  29 Jan 2012 | 10:31 am

  By Rania Hadi, MENA Outreach Manager View this post in Arabic Building on a year packed with g|days throughout the Middle East and North Africa, today we are announcing Google MENA’s first 2012 event to kick off the new year. On March 24-25, Google, in collaboration with Badir Technology Incubator, will be hosting our second event in the Kingdom: g|saudi arabia 2.0. We’re coming to Jeddah with a host of fresh sessions on all things technology and business. Google engineers, product managers, and business leaders will be there to not only deliver trainings but will be available for any…

• 

  Apple Developer News

• Engaging Users with Local and Push Notifications

  7 Feb 2012 | 5:00 pm

  Local and push notifications are great for keeping users engaged around timely and relevant content, like score updates on their favorite team or breaking news stories. However, it’s important to adhere to the App Store Review Guidelines and avoid sending users unsolicited messages or spam as notifications. Doing so not only takes away from the user experience, but may cause your app to be removed from the App Store. Read our tips and best practices for using local and push notifications in your app. Learn more.

• Adhering to Guidelines on Third-Party Marketing Services

  6 Feb 2012 | 1:00 pm

  Once you build a great app, you want everyone to know about it. However, when you promote your app, you should avoid using services that advertise or guarantee top placement in App Store charts. Even if you are not personally engaged in manipulating App Store chart rankings or user reviews, employing services that do so on your behalf may result in the loss of your Apple Developer Program membership. Get helpful tips and resources on marketing your apps the right way from the App Store Resource Center.

• Higher Data Limits for Turn-Based Matches in Game Center

  1 Feb 2012 | 12:00 pm

  Turn-based gaming adds another level of excitement to Game Center on iOS 5. We’ve recently increased the data size for turn-based matches from 4 kb to 64 kb, so you can take the fun to another level with more sophisticated gaming scenarios. Learn more about turn-based matches in Game Center.

• Manage Default Language Settings in iTunes Connect

  26 Jan 2012 | 4:00 pm

  You can now edit the default language for app metadata any time. If you have multiple apps, you have the added flexibility of managing metadata localizations for each individual app. Any localizations you add will be displayed automatically based on customers’ OS or iOS language settings. Otherwise, the default language you select will be displayed to all customers. Learn more in the latest iTunes Connect Developer Guide.

• iTunes Connect Holiday Shutdown Details

  20 Dec 2011 | 1:40 pm

  iTunes Connect will be temporarily shut down December 22-29 for the winter holidays. During this time, access to iTunes Connect and the delivery of apps and updates will be unavailable. You should not schedule pricing changes that would take effect during the shutdown, as these changes will not be reflected in the App Store and the app will become unavailable for purchase. In addition, releases scheduled between these dates will not go live until after the shutdown.

• 

  A List Apart

• Responsive Images: How they Almost Worked and What We Need

  31 Jan 2012 | 4:00 am

  With a mobile-first responsive design approach, if any part of the process breaks down, your user can still receive a representative image and avoid an unnecessarily large request on a device that may have limited bandwidth. But with several newer browsers implementing an “image prefetching” feature that allows images to be fetched before parsing the document’s body, some of the web's brightest developers are abandoning responsive images in favor of user agent detection, at least as a temporary solution. For us standardistas, UA detection leaves a bad taste in the mouth. More…

• Pricing Strategy for Creatives

  31 Jan 2012 | 4:00 am

  Strategic pricing helps your brand and helps you to make more money. Issuing a price is like handing out a business card—it’s a great branding tool, but be careful about what it says to your market. Beginning relationships with customers at a high price makes the statement: “we’re good at what we do and we know it.” Fighting with a competitor over a low price says “I’m uncertain about my abilities, so I’ll take what I can get.” Failing to use a considered pricing policy will leave you treading water in a sea of design mediocrity, allowing you to just stay afloat while you…

• Building Twitter Bootstrap

  17 Jan 2012 | 1:00 am

  Bootstrap is an open-source front-end toolkit created to help designers and developers quickly and efficiently build great stuff online. Its goal is to provide a refined, well-documented, and extensive library of flexible design components created with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript for others to build and innovate on. Today, it has grown to include dozens of components and has become the most popular project on GitHub, with more than 13,000 watchers and 2,000 forks. Mark Otto, the co-creator of Bootstrap, sheds light on how and why Bootstrap was made, the processes used to create it, and how it…

• An Important Time for Design

  17 Jan 2012 | 1:00 am

  Design is on a roll. Client services are experiencing a major uptick in demand, seasoned design professionals are abandoning client work in favor of entrepreneurship, and designer-co-founded startups such as Kickstarter and Airbnb are taking center stage. It’s becoming increasingly difficult to ignore the fact that design has a massive role to play in the evolution of the web and the next generation of web products. The result, says Cameron Koczon, is that designers have now been given a blank check—one that lets web designers band together as a community to change the way design is…

• A Pixel Identity Crisis

  17 Jan 2012 | 1:00 am

  The pixel has long been the atomic particle of screen based design: a knowable, concrete unit of measurement. But layouts based on the hardware pixel are fast becoming an endangered species. Even the introduction of a new, W3C standard reference pixel, although it promises stability in the long-term, can't help us navigate the current chaos. Consider the two "standard" pixel definitions and 500 "standard" viewports your user's Android device may support. To create designs that transcend platform differences—the promise of the web and standards—you must normalize pixels across devices.

• 

  cssplay.co.uk

• CSSplay Dropline/Dropdown Menu

  Stu Nicholls

  18 Jan 2012 | 4:00 pm

  Using css3 transitons to animate a dropline/dropdown menu with 'current' page options.

• The Right Move - Puzzle

  Stu Nicholls

  11 Jan 2012 | 4:00 pm

  A puzzle using :target.

• Image Magnifier with Bounce

  Stu Nicholls

  21 Dec 2011 | 4:00 pm

  A simple image magnifier with a bounce animation.

• CSSplay Slide/Fly menu with Image 'Bounce'

  Stu Nicholls

  20 Dec 2011 | 4:00 pm

  Using css3 transitions to animate a slide/fly menu with image 'bounce'.

• CSSplay No Left Turn Maze Puzzle

  Stu Nicholls

  5 Dec 2011 | 4:00 pm

  Using :target to produce a click maze puzzle. Get to the end without turnng left.

• 

  SOTC Recent Posts

• HTML 5 Canvas Tutorial - Converting Images to Grayscale

  The Reddest

  2 Feb 2012 | 7:26 am

  HTML 5 and the Canvas tag has brought a whole world of possibilities when it comes to image manipulation. This tutorial will demonstrate one of those possibilities that is particularly powerful - getting raw image data and transforming it. We've done a conversion to grayscale tutorial before using C# and this tutorial will look fairly similar to an approach outlined in that article. There actually isn't too much code, so I'm going to just throw the entire contents here and explain what's going on after. // Create an image object.      var image new Image() // Can't do…

• Objective-C Snippet Tutorial - The UIAlertView

  The Reddest

  31 Jan 2012 | 8:21 am

  Displaying a message box in an iPhone application is something I have to look up almost every time. I decided it was time to create a tutorial on the subject - then maybe I'd actually remember the syntax. This tutorial will be short, but should cover pretty much everything you'd need to know in order to show alerts in an iPhone application. If you want to display a simple notification, the syntax is actually pretty short. UIAlertView alert [[UIAlertView alloc] initWithTitle"My Title"                        …

• Introduction to the Pulse Engine

  The Hairiest

  27 Jan 2012 | 7:25 am

  One interesting corner of HTML5 development is web-based games. With a few well placed canvases and a healthy does of Javascript, you can create just about any game you can dream. However, the complex nature of Javascript has created the need for a few companies to release game engines built entirely in Javascript and HTML5. This is where Pulse comes in. Pulse is a game engine built in Javascript. It utilizes HTML5 canvases to display and animate various elements and offers features like event handling, audio, and sprite sheet animations. With the recent release of the developer preview, I…

• Switch On The Code - Year End Review

  The Reddest

  20 Jan 2012 | 7:10 am

  Another year has come and gone, which means it's time for us to look back at 2011 and see what happened. This year marks the fifth anniversary of Switch On The Code and so far every year has been better than the last. In February we saw our first ever month of 500k pageviews, and for the most part traffic has held steady ever since. We ended the year with an amazing 5.6 million pageviews - a 10% increase over the previous year. Somehow we managed to publish 42 articles, which is pretty darn close to our goal of one article a week. If we look at every article, not just the ones created in…

• Regular Expressions - Grouping

  The Hairiest

  18 Jan 2012 | 7:23 am

  As we learned in our Regular Expressions Primer, regular expressions can be simple or extremely complex. However, there are a few concepts that were left out. Today we are going to cover one of those concepts... grouping. In regular expressions, grouping allows you to "chunk" parts of your expression and tell the regular expression engine to treat each "chunk" as a separate match. This allows you to, say, find the type of domain (com, eu, biz) of an email address, or possibly whether or not the uri is using encrytion (https). There are a whole lot of reasons you want to use grouping, but…

• 

  The Daily WTF

• CodeSOD: SQL MUGging

  8 Feb 2012 | 6:00 am

  "We're replacing an old PHP website," writes Roggo, "to examine the existing functionality and test the install, we were given access to the live site. Out of curiosity, I had a look at the code that we are soon to replace. The first file I opened was called mug_password_forgotten.php; I was greeted by line 8:" $sql = "select muguser_id, muguser_directory " . "from mugusers " . "where muguser_active = 1 " . " and muguser_email = '" . $_POST["email"] . "' "; mug.php. This file revealed that the developers of MUG…

• The 10 Key, Mr. Kashmere, and More Support Tales

  7 Feb 2012 | 6:00 am

  Mr. Kashmere (from John A)Mr. Kashmere is one of our middle school teachers. There had been a merger of two schools, and everything had changed: administration, policies, procedures... and technology. One of the new technologies they had picked up as a small school was Google Apps, including Gmail. When I heard that Mr. Kashmere was having trouble getting new e-mail, I was curious, and figured I should go have a look at what the problem was. It was true. His Gmail inbox was not automatically refreshing. His solution? Shut down the entire computer, and turn it back on again. I had the pleasure…

• CodeSOD: Dirty Code

  6 Feb 2012 | 7:00 am

  Ever since being hired, Adam had spent most of his time working on new projects. He was aware that there was an "old system" running out there and would someday be shut down and his efforts were to help this come about, but he never had the opportunity to cross paths with it.  Based on what he had heard though, this was a very, very good thing. However, once Adam had earned a reputation of his own of being a good problem solver, he was soon asked to peek at the "old" (ok, current) system and see how it worked. You know, the in lieu of a functional design document, he…

• Error'd: amp, #039 and a0B30000004la04EAA&

  3 Feb 2012 | 6:00 am

  "I saw this on my way home from work," Daniel Moore writes, "thank goodness CVS is doing something about Maryland's crippling shortage of whooping cough!"   "While trying to learn Open Bravo," writes Otmane Malih, "I learned that there are countries I've never heard of."   "My university has a site license of Mathematica for all Mathematics and Physics students," Simon Hollingshead wrote, "when trying to view some information about the license key, I got this message. Not to worry, it can go in my binder named 'Error messages…

• CodeSOD: The Percent Conversion

  2 Feb 2012 | 6:00 am

  "Lucky me," writes Joe from the Submit-To-WTF Visual Studio Add-In, "I just inherited a home-grown system information application." "Judging from the code the previous programmer wrote, this is sadly one of the better pieces." Public ReadOnly Property BatteryPercent() ' This code will retrieve the BatteryLifePercent property and convert it to a percent. Get If SystemInformation.PowerStatus.BatteryLifePercent.ToString = "1" Then Return "100%" ElseIf SystemInformation.PowerStatus.BatteryLifePercent.ToString = "0.99" Then Return…

• 

  CodePlex

• CodePlex Daily Summary for Tuesday, February 07, 2012

  7 Feb 2012 | 4:45 pm

  CodePlex Daily Summary for Tuesday, February 07, 2012Popular ReleasesWebsitePanel: 1.2.1: The following work items has been fixed/closed in WebsitePanel 1.2.1: 24 26 36 116 109 138 129 140 Installed beta of WebsitePanel 1.2.1 is available at http://demo.websitepanel.net:9011. You can install beta in your test environment: 1. Download and install "WebsitePanel Installer". 2. Open "C:\Program Files (x86)\WebsitePanel Installer\WebsitePanel.Installer.exe.config" and place the following URL into…

• CodePlex Daily Summary for Monday, February 06, 2012

  6 Feb 2012 | 2:55 pm

  CodePlex Daily Summary for Monday, February 06, 2012Popular ReleasesElysium: Elysium Theme 1.2 (CTP 2): Note: This is pre-release Community Technology Preview version. We recommended use it only for testing and studying project's possibilities. Note: To use Debug version (for development) you must install Microsoft Expression Blend 4 SDK for WPF. In Release version and Sample application all requested assembly dependencies are included. What's new? added classes: ApplicationBar CommandButtonBase DropDownCommandButton ProgressBarBase…

• CodePlex Daily Summary for Sunday, February 05, 2012

  5 Feb 2012 | 1:12 pm

  CodePlex Daily Summary for Sunday, February 05, 2012Popular ReleasesMVC Controls Toolkit: Mvc Controls Toolkit 1.8.0: Added Now a newly added row of the Datagrid disappears immediately without leaving a placeholder row when the user press the undo button, also when it is not the last row of the grid(Modification required by the users). Now it is possible to register functions that initialize 3rd parties controls/widget. The inizialization functions will be automatically called by the toolkit whenever new content is created(items creations or ajax calls). In particular…

• CodePlex Daily Summary for Saturday, February 04, 2012

  4 Feb 2012 | 12:59 am

  CodePlex Daily Summary for Saturday, February 04, 2012Popular ReleasesTerraria Save Game Editor: TSGE 1.1.1.0: TSGE v1.1.1.0 release. Please see the documentation page for release changes.DotSpatial: DotSpatial 1.0: Minimal -- includes DotSpatial core and essential extensions Extended -- includes debugging symbols and additional extensions Can also be found via nuget http://nuget.org/packages?q=dotspatial End user (non-programmer) version available branded as MapWindow DemoMap compiled as x86 so that GDAL runs on x64 machines. Extensions that you…

• CodePlex Daily Summary for Thursday, February 02, 2012

  2 Feb 2012 | 5:51 pm

  CodePlex Daily Summary for Thursday, February 02, 2012Popular ReleasesFoxbrasil NFe: Leitura de XML de NFe de Entrada: Exemplos mostrando como se pode fazer a leitura de um arquivo XML de uma NFe de entrada, abastecendo o banco de dados do seu ERP.DotNetNuke® Community Edition CMS: 05.06.07: Major Highlightsnone Security FixesFixed issue where non-approved users can gain access to user and role functions Updated Modules/ProvidersModulesnone ProvidersRadEditor Providercallisto: callisto 2.0.15: Added new static class to scripting: Autorun. See documentation for…

• 

  ProgrammableWeb

• Today in APIs: Flickr Competition, the “Real” Google Plus API and 15 New APIs

  Adam DuVander

  8 Feb 2012 | 6:45 pm

  A competitor created an export tool for Flickr ex-patriots, so the photo sharing site shut down the Flickr API developer key. The Google Plus developer page makes some wonder if the “real” Google Plus API is coming soon. Also: questions about the Google Safe Browsing API, free cloud database and 15 new APIs. Flickr Plugs Its Leaky Boat With users exporting Flickr photos to SnapJoy, Flickr apparently shut off access to its API: Snapjoy’s co-founder Michael Dwan tells us that no warning was given to Snapjoy about its access to Flickr’s API being shut down, nor did his company do…

• 81 Analytics APIs: Google Analytics, SendGrid and Awe.sm

  Wendell Santos

  8 Feb 2012 | 10:00 am

  Our API directory now includes 81 analytics APIs. The newest is the Clarabridge API. The most popular by far, in terms of mashups, is the Google Analytics API. We list 49 Google Analytics mashups which is seven times more than the nearest API. Below you’ll find some more stats from the directory, including the entire list of analytics APIs. In terms of the technical details, REST and JSON lead the way. There are 60 analytics REST APIs and 4 analytics SOAP APIs. Our directory lists 54 analytics XML APIs and 39 analytics JSON APIs. The most common tags within analytics are 21 internet…

• Like YQL? Try it with the ProgrammableWeb API

  Sebastian Spier

  8 Feb 2012 | 8:00 am

  APIs are inherently difficult to learn for developers. The ProgrammableWeb API is no exception to this rule either. In this article we will show some examples of how Yahoo’s YQL can be used make developer’s life a bit easier when using the ProgrammableWeb API. The main difficulty with APIs in general is that they require the developer to create and remember a number of cryptic URLs via which certain data can be retrieved from the API. Another issue is, that often fairly simple data requests need to be expressed in multiple API calls, which then have to be merged by the developer…

• Today in APIs: Private Path API, Wolfram’s Siri Love and 18 New APIs

  Adam DuVander

  7 Feb 2012 | 1:31 pm

  Path.com has a mobile app, so of course it has an API. Someone sniffed the traffic and discovered something naughty. And you know the answer-anything Wolframe Alpha? Find out why it really, really likes Apple’s Siri. Plus: Facebook gaming, Google Plus developers and 18 new APIs. Path API Likes Your Contacts The exclusive social network with a friend count cap Path uploads your entire address book to find out your true friends: It all started innocently enough. I was thinking of implementing a Path Mac OS X app as part of our regularly scheduled hackathon. … It all seemed harmless…

• API as Product: With Volume Comes Lower Prices

  Adam DuVander

  7 Feb 2012 | 1:06 pm

  Amazon just dropped prices on its popular Amazon S3 API, which provides storage to much of the web. The service will pass 1 trillion objects stored this year. With that volume comes opportunities to lower the costs, as we’ve seen from other companies whose entire product line includes APIs. The Amazon announcement post shared the new pricing: “We continue to innovate on your behalf to drive down storage costs and pass along the resultant savings to you at every possible opportunity,” Amazon’s Jeff Barr wrote. GigaOm says it’s about getting even more traction:…

• 

  drupal.org

• Drupal 7.12 and 6.24 released

  webchick

  1 Feb 2012 | 10:23 am

  Drupal 7.11 and 6.23, maintenance releases which fix security vulnerabilities are now available for download. Drupal 7.12 and 6.24 also fix other issues reported through the bug tracking system. Download Drupal 7.12 Download Drupal 6.24 Upgrading your existing Drupal 7 and 6 sites is strongly recommended. There are no new features in these releases. For more information about the Drupal 7.x release series, consult the Drupal 7.0 release announcement, more information on the 6.x releases can be found in the Drupal 6.0 release announcement. Drupal 5 is no longer maintained, upgrading to Drupal…

• Drupal elections this week: all candidates meetings and when to vote

  nedjo

  31 Jan 2012 | 6:51 pm

  Elections for at large Drupal Association elections are kicking into high gear with two all candidates meetings this week before voting opens Friday. Election candidates will participate in all candidates meetings are scheduled over the next two days (Wed., Thurs. or Fri., depending on your location). The first meeting, intended to work for people in the Asia and the Pacific, is scheduled for 01:00 UTC on Thursday. That's 5 PM PST on Wednesday for those in the US and Canada. The second all candidates meeting at 17:00 UTC Thursday is timed for participants in Europe, Africa, and the Americas.

• DrupalCon Denver Final Sessions Are Posted

  erinyepis

  26 Jan 2012 | 9:03 am

  The final session selections for DrupalCon Denver were announced this week. DrupalCon will take place March 19-23, 2012. Get your tickets soon so that you don't miss out on over 100 sessions across 8 tracks! This year we have added tracks specifically for Non-profit, Government & Education, in addition to Community, Commerce, Mobile, Design & User Experience, Business & Strategy, Coding & Development, Site Building, and Core Conversations. Conference Dates: March 19 - Pre-conference trainings -- over 16 from beginners to advanced + API Hack-a-thon March 20 - 22 - Three…

• Getting Involved in the Drupal Community: Survey Results

  dcmistry

  23 Jan 2012 | 8:52 am

  Introduction Drupal.org has over 725,000 registered members in 228 countries. However, only a very small percentage of this members contribute back to the project. Why is this? How can we attract more contributors? What can we do to make it easier for people to contribute? Which areas of the Drupal project would people want to contribute? To get answers to these questions, two surveys were conducted in 2011 by the community to understand the experience of contributing or considering to contribute to the Drupal project. This is a combined report of 358 respondents’ responses to the surveys.

• Candidates Needed: Drupal Association 2012 elections are on!

  webchick

  18 Jan 2012 | 6:36 pm

  Come one, come all! As of January 18, 2012 nominations are open for the 2012 elections of two "at large" directors of the Drupal Association. The at large directors are intended to represent the Drupal community. Specifics of the election were decided through a community-based process with participation by dozens of Drupal community members. More details are in the proposal that was approved by the Drupal Association board. Who can vote? Voting is open to all individuals who have a drupal.org account by the time the elections begin and who have logged in at least once in the past year. These…

• 

  Latest PHP Classes blog posts

• Another Serious Security Bug on PHP 5.3.9

  3 Feb 2012 | 5:59 am

  Another Serious Security Bug on PHP 5.3.9 By Manuel Lemos PHP 5.3.9 release was mostly meant to fix a security bug, but it introduced a new more serious bug. PHP 5.3.10 was just released to fix this issue. Meanwhile Debian Linux maintainers decided to stop enabling the Suhosin extension by default. This extension is used by several Linux distributions to provide protection against present and future security bugs of PHP. Read this article to learn more about the just fixed bug what you should do to avoid these security issues. You can also learn more what is the current PHP security status…

• MicroPHP vs Complicated PHP - Lately in PHP podcast episode 20

  1 Feb 2012 | 10:54 am

  MicroPHP vs Complicated PHP - Lately in PHP podcast episode 20 By Manuel Lemos Earlier in January Ed Finkler announced the MicroPHP manifesto. It seems to be a rant about against the practices of developers that make PHP development more complicated than it should be. This is one of the main topics discussed by Manuel Lemos and Ernani Joppert in the episode 20 of the Lately in PHP podcast. They also discuss the final release of PHP 5.4.0 and whether you should upgrade it or not, the repercussion of the PHP Hash Collision Vulnerability, as well the trends of PHP world based on the analysis of…

• PHP 5.4 Features: Shall you Upgrade to the newer PHP Version?

  30 Jan 2012 | 12:25 pm

  PHP 5.4 Features: Shall you Upgrade to the newer PHP Version? By Manuel Lemos PHP 5.4 is being released after many months of development and tests. Read this article to get a brief overview of the features of this new release and learn about criteria that you may follow to decide if and when you should upgrade to the new version.

• PHP Zeitgeist 2011

  18 Jan 2012 | 9:54 am

  PHP Zeitgeist 2011 By Manuel Lemos The PHP Zeitgeist is an initiative that allows us to understand what were some of the main new trends and concerns of the PHP developers in the past year. Read this article to learn about what new things PHP developers have been searching more in 2011 and what are their needs that probably still need to be fulfilled.

• PHP Vulnerability May Halt Millions of Servers

  12 Jan 2012 | 11:56 am

  PHP Vulnerability May Halt Millions of Servers By Manuel Lemos A security vulnerability found in PHP and many other programming languages may allow attackers to halt servers with vulnerable PHP installations. Read this article to learn more about this vulnerability and what you can do to avoid that your servers running PHP may be brought down due to this problem.

• 

  Planet PHP

• Learning JavaScript - Chris Shiflett

  7 Feb 2012 | 8:35 am

  One of my goals this year is to acquire new skills, so I've decided to start by learning JavaScript. As was the case when I learned html and CSS, it's a tricky endeavor, because I'm not exactly a beginner, and most stuff is geared toward beginners, which can make learning so inefficient that I lose my motivation. I've decided to treat this effort just like I treat exercise, which is to focus on rhythm and consistency above all else. Don't break the chain. My days are packed, but I'm setting aside at least half an hour each day to do something related to learning JavaScript. As long as I hold…

• JavaScript Days - Meet the experts - Qafoo - PHP

  6 Feb 2012 | 11:25 pm

  Qafoo is happy to announce the three day JavaScript event taking place in Cologne from 12. - 14. March 2012. Presented by "entwickler akademie" (PHP-Summit) and supported by Qafoo it will be an amazing event fully packed with expert knowledge for all your JavaScript needs.

• The MicroPHP Follow-up FAQ - Ed Finkler

  6 Feb 2012 | 9:00 pm

  My previous post, The MicroPHP Manifesto, resulted in much excitement. In between fits of rage and crying, I found some time to answer folks questions, and also discuss the topic on the /dev/hell podcast with my cohost Chris Hartjes. To summarize and address some of the common questions, I felt I should write a small FAQ. Got a question? Ask me. I’ll add additional entries here as things come up. So you think full-stack frameworks suck? No. I think sometimes they’re very appropriate. It depends on your needs: will the pros you get with library/component/framework X outweigh the negatives?

• JavaScript Days 2012 - Bastian

  6 Feb 2012 | 4:16 pm

  Packed with a huge number of workshops, hosted by well known speakers like Douglas Crockfort, Christian Johanson, Kore Nordmann or Thorsten Rinne the 1st Edition of the JavaScript Days in cologne already sounds like one of those 'need to be there' events. For those who act fast, the early bird period is still ongoing and open until next Saturday, 10th of February.

• Content Security Policy update - Evert Pot

  6 Feb 2012 | 2:57 pm

  A quick update about CSP. Browsers are well on their way to all adopt the specification. An early draft was already adopted by Firefox 4, and I just found out that it's also working in Chrome, Safari and IE 10. IE10 and FF are using the following header: XContentSecurityPolicy defaultsrc 'self' While Safari and Chrome use: XWebkitCSP defaultsrc 'self' When the specification is finalized, the X- will be dropped, and it will simply be 'Content-Security-Policy'. A call for support Hi Developers! Start implementing this feature! It's important for the future and security of the web. The web's…

• 

  WordPress News

• Year of the Meetup

  Jane Wells

  27 Jan 2012 | 12:17 pm

  We hereby declare 2012 as the Year of the WordPress Meetup. You’ll want to get in on this action. meet·up \mēt-əp\ noun A meeting, especially a regular meeting of people who share a particular interest and have connected with each other through a social-networking Web site: a meetup for new moms in the neighborhood; a meetup to plan the trip; a meetup for WordPress users.1 So what is a WordPress Meetup? Basically, it’s people in a community getting together — meeting up — who share an interest in WordPress, whether…

• Internet Blackout Day on January 18

  Jane Wells

  17 Jan 2012 | 3:18 pm

  WordPress.org is officially joining the protest against Senate Bill 968: the Protect IP Act that is coming before the U.S. Senate next week. As I wrote in my post a week ago, if this bill is passed it will jeopardize internet freedom and shift the power of the independent web into the hands of corporations. We must stop it. On January 18, 2012 many sites around the web — from small personal blogs to internet institutions like Mozilla, Wikipedia, reddit, and I Can Has Cheezburger? – will be going dark in protest and to drive their visitors to sites like americancensorship.org to…

• Help Stop SOPA/PIPA

  Jane Wells

  10 Jan 2012 | 11:18 am

  You are an agent of change. Has anyone ever told you that? Well, I just did, and I meant it. Normally we stay away from from politics here at the official WordPress project — having users from all over the globe that span the political spectrum is evidence that we are doing our job and democratizing publishing, and we don’t want to alienate any of our users no matter how much some of us may disagree with some of them personally. Today, I’m breaking our no-politics rule, because there’s something going on in U.S. politics right now that we need to make sure you know…

• WordPress 3.3.1 Security and Maintenance Release

  Ryan Boren

  3 Jan 2012 | 1:24 pm

  WordPress 3.3.1 is now available. This maintenance release fixes 15 issues with WordPress 3.3, as well as a fix for a cross-site scripting vulnerability that affected version 3.3. Thanks to Joshua H., Hoang T., Stefan Zimmerman, Chris K., and the Go Daddy security team for responsibly disclosing the bug to our security team. Download 3.3.1 or visit Dashboard → Updates in your site admin.

• WordPress 3.3 “Sonny”

  Matt Mullenweg

  12 Dec 2011 | 2:58 pm

  The latest and greatest version of the WordPress software — 3.3, named “Sonny” in honor of the great jazz saxophonist Sonny Stitt — is immediately available for download or update inside your WordPress dashboard. WordPress has had over 65 million downloads since version 3.0 was released, and in this third major iteration we’ve added significant polish around the new user experience, navigation, uploading, and imports. Check out this short video that summarizes the things we think you’ll find are the cat’s pajamas: For Users Experienced users will…

• 

  PHP.net news & announcements

• PHP 5.3.10 Released!

  Webmaster

  2 Feb 2012 | 11:32 am

  The PHP development team would like to announce the immediate availability of PHP 5.3.10. This release delivers a critical security fix. Security Fixes in PHP 5.3.10: Fixed arbitrary remote code execution vulnerability reported by Stefan Esser, CVE-2012-0830. All users are strongly encouraged to upgrade to PHP 5.3.10. For source downloads please visit our downloads page, Windows binaries can be found on windows.php.net/download/.

• PHP 5.4.0 RC6 released

  Webmaster

  24 Jan 2012 | 4:05 am

  The PHP development team announces the 6th release candidate of PHP 5.4. PHP 5.4 includes new language features and removes several legacy (deprecated) behaviours. Windows binaries can be downloaded from the Windows QA site. THIS IS A RELEASE CANDIDATE - DO NOT USE IT IN PRODUCTION!. This is the 6th release candidate. The release candidate phase is intended as a period of bug fixing prior to the stable release. No new features should be included before the final version of PHP 5.4.0. The 6th release candidate focused on improving traits. Please test them carefully and help us to identify bugs…

• ConFoo 2012

  Webmaster

  19 Jan 2012 | 9:20 pm

  ConFoo 2012 in Montreal, Canada on Feb 29 - Mar 02 ConFoo is the unique web conference in Canada gathering different tech communities in one place. find working solutions for your day to day challenges; discover new tools that increase your productivity; network with people from some of the world’s biggest companies; 160 presentations focusing on core competencies improvement; Don't miss this great opportunity and register today! Also check out our two training days around PHP, HTML5, Symfony2 and security topics right before the conference.

• PHP 5.3.9 Released!

  Webmaster

  10 Jan 2012 | 1:29 pm

  The PHP development team would like to announce the immediate availability of PHP 5.3.9. This release focuses on improving the stability of the PHP 5.3.x branch with over 90 bug fixes, some of which are security related. Security Enhancements and Fixes in PHP 5.3.9: Added max_input_vars directive to prevent attacks based on hash collisions. (CVE-2011-4885) Fixed bug #60150 (Integer overflow during the parsing of invalid exif header). (CVE-2011-4566) Key enhancements in PHP 5.3.9 include: Fixed bug #55475 (is_a() triggers autoloader, new optional 3rd argument to is_a and is_subclass_of). Fixed…

• PHP 5.4.0 RC5 released

  Webmaster

  7 Jan 2012 | 6:44 am

  The PHP development team announces the 5th release candidate of PHP 5.4. PHP 5.4 includes new language features and removes several legacy (deprecated) behaviours. Windows binaries can be downloaded from the Windows QA site. THIS IS A RELEASE CANDIDATE - DO NOT USE IT IN PRODUCTION!. This is the 5th release candidate. The release candidate phase is intended as a period of bug fixing prior to the stable release. No new features should be included before the final version of PHP 5.4.0. We got a lot of feedback that helped us to improve the upcoming PHP version. Please continue to help us to…

• 

  Advertising Age - Blog Posts

• FlowingData's Nathan Yau: The AdAgeStat Q&A

  7 Feb 2012 | 7:37 am

  Part inspiration and part hands-on tutorial, the FlowingData blog is required reading for anyone into data visualization. Its author, Nathan Yau, sat down with us for a (virtual) Q&A.

• Time for Brands to Play Moneyball, Too

  7 Feb 2012 | 7:00 am

  The old ways of finding 'prospects,' such as targeting with demographics, are growing as outmoded as thinking that a team shouldn't draft a player because his girlfriend is ugly.

• Why the 2012 Presidential Race Will Be Defined By Data

  6 Feb 2012 | 11:55 am

  Forget the Twitter election; in 2012 the presidential campaigns will break new ground in use of data to target advertising.

• Stat of the Day: Which NFL Teams Draw the Best Playoff Ratings?

  3 Feb 2012 | 8:40 am

  Here's an exclusive look at which NFL teams draw the best playoff ratings with a bonus list of markets that tune in even after their team is knocked out.

• Patriots Lead Chatter, But Giants Have More True Fans In Social Media

  3 Feb 2012 | 7:45 am

  Which ones have the truest fans of all? With social media we can begin to answer that question.

• 

  Advertising Age - GoodWorks

• News Corp. Profit Rises on Higher TV Fees, Advertising

  8 Feb 2012 | 3:36 pm

  News Corp. shares have gained 8.6% since the hacking scandal erupted, but it's spent $104 million dealing with the fallout and bought back $2.7 billion in shares.

• Groupon Reports Loss in First Quarterly Filing After IPO

  8 Feb 2012 | 2:53 pm

  Groupon outperformed analysts' revenue expectations on Tuesday by announcing $506.5 million in revenue for the last quarter, more than double the revenue from the year-earlier period. But it still reported a net loss.

• GlaxoSmithKline Moves Global Aquafresh Account to TBWA From Grey

  8 Feb 2012 | 2:31 pm

  GlaxoSmithKline is moving the global creative account for Aquafresh toothpaste from Grey Group to TBWA Worldwide, which will manage the business out of London, said people familiar with the matter.

• Chrysler's Olivier Francois Dishes on Getting Clint Eastwood in the Game

  8 Feb 2012 | 2:13 pm

  So how did Chrysler approach Clint Eastwood to star in its Super Bowl spot? Very carefully.

• RB Pumps up Spending in Developing Markets

  8 Feb 2012 | 1:34 pm

  Reckitt Benckiser will invest around $160 million more in marketing globally but report it through a "Brand Equity Index" that puts more emphasis on digital.

• 

  Advertising Age - The Media Guy

• Is OK Go's Chevy-Sponsored Music Video One of the Best Product Placements Ever?

  6 Feb 2012 | 10:52 am

  Yesterday OK Go expanded its incomparable viral-video oeuvre with "Needing/Getting," excerpts of which appeared in a Super Bowl ad for Chevy Sonic.

• Watch a Ridiculously Charming Fan Video for Sonic Drive-In

  1 Feb 2012 | 12:09 pm

  A video titled "I Love Sonic" was posted on YouTube yesterday, but it's exploding today after landing on Reddit's home page.

• A Few Grim Truths About Media Right Now (and One Happy One)

  28 Jan 2012 | 9:00 pm

  As Ad Age's "Media Guy," it's technically my job to try to make sense of the media world. Here's a quick download of what I've figured out lately.

• Ad Age Reports That HuffPo Reports That Hollywood Life Reports That Us Weekly Reports ...

  14 Jan 2012 | 9:00 pm

  When one site picks up the information of another site that got it from yet another source, web reporting becomes little more than a game of telephone.

• Fab.com Sold 20,000 Magazine Subscriptions Last Month

  10 Jan 2012 | 4:00 am

  We know Apple's newsstand helps sales of magazines' app editions. Here's an example of a promising new channel for print-subscription sales: daily-deals sites.

• 

  Advertising Age - Small Agency Diary

• When It's Bursting at the Seams, an Agency's True Colors Show

  7 Feb 2012 | 9:41 am

  When it feels as if the wheels are about to come off an agency, it is a moment of truth. It's when an agency learns whether its people have the resiliency and imagination to outgrow its problems or whether they stay stuck in the present. Succeed and you emerge a stronger, maybe bigger agency. Fail and the agency shrinks back to its natural level of comfort.

• Are We Ever Going to Top the Greatest Super Bowl Ad of All Time?

  3 Feb 2012 | 8:23 am

  If we compare the most popular Super Bowl commercials from year to year, they all fall short of the one that got this magnificent obsession going in the first place: Apple's "1984." That iconic creation still leads everyone's list of the best ever. Why haven't we taken another huge leap and topped it?

• Two True Hall of Famers in the Ad Business: One Famous, One Not

  26 Jan 2012 | 9:26 am

  Two inductees into the One Club's Hall of Fame, Rob Lawton, co-founder of Creative Circus, and Apple's Steve Jobs both pushed others to achieve the impossible.

• Paterno's Legacy Includes Lessons for Building a Great Brand

  25 Jan 2012 | 8:03 am

  Joe Paterno's model for successful marketing of a national brand: set a smart strategy, instill the right cultural values and execute at the highest level.

• Study: More Regional Ad Agencies Budget for Digital Specialists

  17 Jan 2012 | 1:57 pm

  Social content, web development, analytics and display are significantly different specialties. Yet most agencies don't have the budget to hire full-timers.

• 

  Advertising Age - DigitalNext

• Time for Brands to Play Moneyball, Too

  7 Feb 2012 | 7:00 am

  The old ways of finding 'prospects,' such as targeting with demographics, are growing as outmoded as thinking that a team shouldn't draft a player because his girlfriend is ugly.

• Why the 2012 Presidential Race Will Be Defined By Data

  6 Feb 2012 | 11:55 am

  Forget the Twitter election; in 2012 the presidential campaigns will break new ground in use of data to target advertising.

• Patriots Lead Chatter, But Giants Have More True Fans In Social Media

  3 Feb 2012 | 7:45 am

  Which ones have the truest fans of all? With social media we can begin to answer that question.

• Time For Video to Step Out From TV's Shadow

  2 Feb 2012 | 6:55 am

  We need to stop thinking of video as TV's smaller, harder brother, and start emphasizing its power to deliver brand advertising in ways marketers have never before thought possible.

• Can Tech Get the Budget It Deserves in a Field Where Creative Still Rules?

  1 Feb 2012 | 10:06 am

  Ad tech data lets us to target consumers in ways that can send metrics soaring. Yes it's math, but it merits a place at the planning table right alongside creative.

• 

  Advertising Age - Adages Blog

• How Did H&M Persuade Beckham to Star in Ads? By Asking

  7 Feb 2012 | 1:41 pm

  Beckham tells Ryan Seacrest how he tied up with H&M to do that sultry Super Bowl ad.

• Chrysler Ad May Not Sell Cars, But It's Making Some Americans Stupid

  7 Feb 2012 | 12:19 pm

  Is Clint Eastwood pushing Democratic propaganda? Is Chrysler attempting to airbrush unions from history? Was the Super Bowl ad not imported from Detroit?

• McDonald's Yanks Radio Ad After Angering Pit-Bull Owners

  7 Feb 2012 | 10:31 am

  What's riskier than eating a Chicken McBite? Offending pit-bull advocates.

• Just in Time for Super Bowl: 'The Least Interesting Man in the World'

  3 Feb 2012 | 11:58 am

  Breckenridge Brewery isn't in the Super Bowl but the craft brewer is likely to get folks in Denver talking on Sunday about the latest installments in its "Truth in Beervertising" parody campaign.

• Zing! Chevy Disses Ford in Super Bowl Spot

  3 Feb 2012 | 6:48 am

  In a 60-second apocalyptic-themed Super Bowl spot that will air during the game's first quarter, GM's Chevrolet brand manages to get in a dig at cross-town rival Ford.