Interesting take on the Surface tablet from Penny Arcade illustrator Mike Krahulik. Overall, as a multifunctional computer that is both a relatively slick, pressure sensitive sketch device along with baseline gaming device, he liked it.
Very slick jQuery based plugin that adds drag and drop based image uploads, along with built in image previews. As author Matias Meno points out, there are other options, but there is a bit of spin and compactness here that is really interesting.
Very engrossing, well done retelling of how Tarantino’s breakthrough film was made, written by Mark Seal over at Vanity Fair. Take for instance, how they secured John Travolta for a starring role:
So, when he was told that Tarantino wanted to meet with him, he went to the director’s address, on Crescent Heights Boulevard.
Tarantino recalls, “I open the door, and he says, ‘O.K., let me describe your apartment to you. Your bathroom has this kind of tile, and da-da-da-da. The reason I know this is, this is the apartment that I lived in when I first moved to Hollywood. This is the apartment I got Welcome Back, Kotter in [the TV series that made him a star].’ ”
They talked until sunrise. Tarantino told him he had two films in mind for him. “A vampire movie called From Dusk Till Dawn and Pulp Fiction,” says Travolta, who replied, “I’m not a vampire person.”
When you’re working on a responsive design and considering smaller, more compact screen sizes, a minimal nav is generally the way to go. Because many sites rely on a top navigation with more than one or two options, dropdowns are often the best choice in this small screen circumstance.
The problem with this dropdown approach is it can introduce some HTML or CSS bloat if you’re not careful. Enter tinynav.js, a really simple jQuery based plugin that auto converts a classic ul based navigation into a dropdown for small screens.
Geoff Manaugh, writing on his BLDGBLOG (“building blog”) about Die Hard and architecture:
The majority of that film’s interest, I’d suggest, comes precisely through its depiction of architectural space: John McClane, a New York cop on his Christmas vacation, moves through a Los Angeles high-rise in basically every conceivable way but passing through its doors and hallways.
In light of the apparent mess that is A Good Day to Die Hard, it’s great to go back and revisit what made the original so amazing. Usually most attention is lavished on Bruce Willis and the tight direction, but Manaugh really illustrates a new whole angle I’ve never considered.
There are so many native iOS weather apps released on a regular basis that it’s reached a point of near self parody. But Sun is different: web based, fluid, minimal, with some slick off canvas navigation for getting around. I’m still sticking to my own custom web weather app, but it’s awesome to see we have great options out there.
Nice performance pointers by web developer Kelly Norton on the problems of post page load layout (a.k.a. reflow or repaint), and how it can cause such an adverse effect on web sites and web apps.
I agree with Kelly regarding the Chrome extension Speed Tracer. Even though I feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface of what the tool can do, I’ve found it can come in handy for more complex web pages that I’m working on.
I’ve recommended the ShopTalk podcast in the past, but hosts Dave Rupert and Chris Coyier touched on a pressing topic here for me: finding unused CSS selectors in your code. I didn’t realize until it was mentioned in the podcast that one great way to do so was to open up the Chrome web tools, click on the Audits tab and let it run. Scroll to the bottom where ‘remove unused CSS rules’ are listed. It’s far from perfect, but it’s a good starting point for trimming excess CSS.
The whole film is a visual treat, but I remember seeing that opening sequence for the first time in theaters distinctly. I still occasionally pop in Run Lola Run‘s soundtrack today.
Sacha Grief is already a designer I’ve kept my eye on for a while – prolific on Twitter, creator of the amazing Sidebar – but he’s outdone himself with this very long post on the future of web and app design. Loved this line:
When you have a high-definition display and screen-optimized fonts, you quickly realize you don’t need much else to create beautiful work.