10 Unusual Places to Get Design Inspiration
Jun/090
Inspiration isn’t something that just pops into a designer’s head. Most of the time, we must make an active approach to discover it. This obviously isn’t a new concept, and there are thousands of inspiration websites from CSS galleries to showcase blog posts. These are way overused, though; in order to create a truly successful design, one must find inspiration elsewhere.
Design clearly isn’t new, and before we got into the habit of spending hours in front of a computer screen, the word’s greatest artists found inspiration from an offline world. To create extraordinary design, search in new places besides CSS galleries and showcases. Here are ten unusual places to get started, where one can look to find truly unique inspiration.
What is AJAX?
Jun/090
AJAX definitions from around the web.
Short for Asynchronous JavaScript and XML, it is a term that describes a new approach to using a number of existing technologies together, including the following: HTML or XHTML, Cascading Style Sheets, JavaScript, the Document Object Model, XML, XSLT, and the XMLHttpRequest object. When these technologies are combined in the Ajax model, Web applications are able to make quick, incremental updates to the user interface without reloading the entire browser page.
(Asynchronous JAvaScript and XML) Using an enhancement in JavaScript that allows Web pages to be more interactive and behave like local applications, which are also known as “rich client” applications. AJAX allows the Web page to retrieve small amounts of data from the server without reloading the entire page. More here>>
Ajax is the catchy term coined by Jesse James Garrett in his 2005 article for “Adaptive Path” called “Ajax: A New Approach to Web Applications,” which can still be found at http://adaptivepath.com/publications/essays/archives/000385.php. You should read this article if you haven’t already! Ajax is also an acronym, but for the same reasons, let’s defer explaining just what it stands for right now. Ajax didn’t exist before this article, but the features the article described certainly did.
In short, Ajax is a set of programming techniques or a particular approach to Web programming. These programming techniques involve being able to seamlessly update a Web page or a section of a Web application with input from the server, but without the need for an immediate page refresh. This doesn’t mean that the browser doesn’t make a connection to the Web server. Indeed, the original article paints a slightly incomplete picture in that it fails to mention that server-side technologies are often still needed. It is very likely that your page, or data from which the page is drawn, must still be updated at some point by a rendezvous with the server. What differs in the Ajax model is that the position at which the page is updated is moved. We’ll look at the two models in more detail shortly. More here>>
And the Best Burger award goes to
Jun/090
Here are the results from 2009 Zagat Fast Food Survey.
Best Burger
1. In-N-Out Burger
2. Wendy’s
3. Burger King
4. McDonald’s
5. Whataburger
Best French Fries
1. McDonald’s
2. Burger King
3. In-N-Out Burger
4. Wendy’s
5. Chick-fil-A
Best Salads
1. Panera Bread
2. Wendy’s
3. McDonald’s
4. Au Bon Pain
5. Corner Bakery Cafe
Best Fried Chicken
1. KFC
2. Popeye’s
3. Bojangles’ Famous Chicken ‘n Biscuits
4. Church’s Chicken
5. Culver’s Frozen Custar
Best Grilled Chicken
1. Chick-fil-A
2. Panera Bread
3. Wendy’s
4. Chipotle
5. El Pollo Loco
Best Value Menu
1. McDonald’s
2. Wendy’s
3. Taco Bell
4. Burger King
5. Arby’s
Best Coffee
1. Starbucks Coffee
2. Dunkin’ Donuts
3. Peet’s Coffee & Tea
4. McDonald’s
5. Caribou Coffee
Best Value
1. McDonald’s
2. Wendy’s
3. In-N-Out Burger
4. Subway
5. Chipotle / Taco Bell (tied)
Top Ice Cream/Custard
1. Ben & Jerry’s Scoop Shops
2. Rita’s
3. Culver’s Frozen Custard
4. Baskin-Robbins
5. Carvel
Top Smoothies/ Frozen Yogurt
1. Smoothie King
2. Jamba Juice
3. Pinkberry
4. TCBY
5. Orange Julius
Best Milkshake
1. Ben & Jerry’s Scoop Shops
2. Dairy Queen
3. McDonald’s
4. Cold Stone Creamery
5. Wendy’s
More results from the survey can be found here>>
Tips and Tricks from the Masters of CSS
Jun/090
There are thousands of sites out there offering tips and tricks for using CSS. But how do you know where that information is coming from? Who says the people writing these “tips” know what they’re talking about? For all you know, it could be someone who has not clue what CSS even stands for, let alone how to use it effectively.
But that’s not the case with the experts below. They’re all well-known for their mastery of CSS and all that goes along with it. Read on for their tips and tricks with regards to everything from avoiding hacks to understanding the box model.
And my Facebook name is….
Jun/090
Starting June 12th Facebook users would be able to create a personal url for their profile… As an example www.facebook.com/myusername. Here is an email from Facebook explaining the same.
Starting on Friday, June 12th, at 9:01pm, you’ll be able to choose a username for your Facebook account to easily direct friends, family, and coworkers to your profile.
To select your username, visit the link below after 9:01pm on June 12th:
http://www.facebook.com/username/
To learn more about usernames, visit the Help Center:
http://www.facebook.com/help.php?page=896
Thanks,
The Facebook Team
Want to learn CSS? and more CSS…
Jun/090
Want to learn CSS but don’t know where to start… here are some resources as starter points.
Also included in this article… bonus links for advanced css users.
1. CSS BASICS – 18 Step by Step lessons covering basics.
2. W3Schools – Lots of examples and with ‘Try-It-Yourself’ editor do real-time learning.
3. Holy CSS, Zeldman – Really big listing of CSS and general web design-related links.
4. Additional reading for advanced users
Divitis: what it is, and how to cure it
Learn CSS Positioning in 10 steps
Flexible width CSS based buttons with rounded corners
iPhone for $99
Jun/090
SAN FRANCISCO – Apple Inc. slashed the entry price for an iPhone in half and lowered some laptops by $300 Monday, the company’s first dramatic price cuts since the recession began a year and a half ago.
With co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs absent until his medical leave is over at the end of June, Apple’s biggest unveiling at its annual conference for software developers was a new model of the iPhone, the 3G S. It looks the same but sports a faster processor, longer battery life, an internal compass, a video camera and a photo camera with better resolution and auto-focus.
A 16-gigabyte version of the 3G S will cost $199 and a 32-gigabyte version will be $299.
The 8-gigabyte iPhone 3G, which came out last year, now costs $99, instead of $199. When the iPhone debuted two years ago, eager Apple fans had to shell out $499 for a 4-gigabyte version and $599 for 8 gigs.
How to add Google Analytics to a WordPress Blog
Jun/090
The Google Analytics for WordPress plugin automatically tracks and segments all outbound links from within posts, comment author links, links within comments, blogroll links and downloads. It also allows you to track AdSense clicks, add extra search engines, track image search queries and it will even work together with Urchin.
More Info Here http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/google-analytics-for-wordpress/
Top WordPress Blogs
Jun/091
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COED Magazine
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CNN Political Ticker
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Celebrity Baby Blog - People.com
Celebrating the lifestyle of Hollywood's newest moms and littlest stars.
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FAIL Blog: Pictures and Videos of Owned, Pwnd and Fail Moments
Fail and Epic Fail Pictures and Videos in one blog. For all those precious fail moments, whip out your camera and see your [...]
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POPSEOUL!
spicy, fun, addictive Korean celebrity gossip. news and style
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Üllői út 129
Hírek Ferencvárosból
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Klip
Video Arşivi - En Geniş Video Kaynağınız
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Listverse
Ultimate Top 10 Lists
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Cute Overload
Cute Overload 
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fashion follows yoochun
meet Chompoo, Shinta, and Legra here!
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Watts Up With That?
Commentary on puzzling things in life, nature, science, weather, climate change, technology, and recent news by Anthony Watts
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Guy Fawkes' blog
Parliamentary plots, rumours and conspiracy
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Macleans.ca
Canada's only national weekly current affairs magazine.
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Lolcats 'n' Funny Pictures of Cats - I Can Has Cheezburger?
Lolcats 'n' Funny Pictures of Cats - I Can Has Cheezburger? the home of lol cats and lol* (other animals). All of our [...]
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Hack a Day
Fresh hacks every day
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Apple 2.0
Philip Elmer-DeWitt reports on Mac news from outside the reality distortion field.
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College Candy
Advice on student style, collegiate dating discussion guides, relationship advice and women's studies.
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Celebrity Pictures, Lol Celebs and Funny Actor and Actress Photos - ROFLrazzi
Lol Celebrities and All That's Famous, Fab and Funny. Your favorite actors and actresses in a funny new light!
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GigaOM
Business, Internet, Technology & Strategy
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The CNN Wire
Latest updates on top stories