Updated Layout

I decided to try a more minimal approach to the front page of my site, using an excerpt instead of the standard wordpress read more link, this keeps the blog posts more uniform and allows me to have more per page.

I will also be releasing the last theme as a download; I think it should be a good example of a Grid System Blog Design.

Also make sure to use the social bookmarks on the post pages.

Let me know what you think!

New Job, New Look

I will be starting a new job on Monday working at EventIQ, I’m looking forward to it, ill have a verity of different work from Graphic Design, Service and hopefully some Development. There office is located in a really nifty old mansion the Le Marchand Mansion built in 1912.

Since I was on the hunt for a job I have also updated my site, as I’m sure you can see. I have also created a new portfolio http://www.adampatterson.ca/.

Framework Plugins for Browsers

I’m just expressing an idea i had a few weeks ago involving widely adopted frameworks. More specifically Java Script Frameworks. Browsers should have support for the most recent Java Script Frameworks such as Jquery, Dojo, script.aculo.us, Prototype, Moo Tools, and many others. Changes should never be made to the frameworks them selves so it doesn’t make sense to have each site hosting them on there own, it also doesn’t make sense to make the user download it every time they access a site.

Google Code has AJAX Libraries API, Even if browsers don’t offer the frameworks as plugin’s people using the Google Code version will be caching from Google and there for not download from every unique site containing the framework.

You will have access to the latest stable versions as they are released, save on bandwidth and also be able to mashup different Frameworks much easier.

How to use it:

<script src="http://www.google.com/jsapi"></script>
<script>
  // Load jQuery
  google.load("jquery", "1.2.3");
</script>

Supported Library’s:
jQuery
jQuery UI
Prototype
script.aculo.us
MooTools
Dojo
SWFObject
Yahoo! User Interface Library (YUI)

AJAX Libraries API

Starting from scratch with Reset CSS

Reset Css seams to be on the controversial side, at least to developers and designers. What is it? well its a way to make sure every element has a consistent baseline across many browsers.

With BluePrint, 960 and other CSS frame works becoming so popular many of them are including a reset feature. My current site design makes use of one. And i admit it took some work to get it set up so things were just how i wanted them.

Every thing has a set margin of 0 for example so all browsers will display your Unordered List the same across the browsers, but now you need to add your margins back to give some white space.

But in some cases your content text can be a pixel larger here or smaller there. The user isnt goingto be any wiser unless they are looking specifically for changes.

Jonathan Snook makes the point that you have to include more code to reset the reset elements so they appear how you would like them to be. I agree but still use one. I think it keeps people from neglecting elements that are not styled and may be over looked in the design that would cause blatant style differences.

Jonathan Snook
Eric Meyer

Website Printability

Why should you be concerned with Printability? It’s simple, if you have spent any time at all making your site Pixel perfect and strive to meet the strictest of standards. Even if you offer information in the form of articles and tutorials then it’s in your best interest to go the extra step and create a print.css file.

Another good reason is you make better use of paper when printing, normally you end up with a header or a footer on its own page, maybe a side bar or an add tucked in there some were. all things while serving a purpose in the website don’t have any business being in a print document. Each browser will handle printing differently (default style settings) unless told other wise by a style sheet.

A print.css file should remove all non-essential content, colour, and images from the document, using display: none on any css classes or ID tag you want to hide. At a minimum you should hide the header, footer, sidebar, and Comment elements but keeping your site title, page title and content formatting intact.

If you have images in your articles then make sure to float them so they appear inline with your content and not as an obtrusive chunk.

Considerations:

1. What do you want the printed page to look like?
2. Do you need to include Banners or Adds?
3. Do you need colour?
4. Do you need to keep the header and footer in your printed page?

On my previous site i took the Graphical logo and hid it in the print version while in the standard screen version i hid the text title. Think of a printed page as something you might type in Word. You want it to remain professional while reflecting your sites identity.

What do you need to do to pull this off?

First include the print css file something along these lines:

<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" media="print" href="print.css" />

Next i find its easiest to view the source of your site and attach the print.css file as a screen file to minimize the amount of print preview needed to see the effect. Using display: none on classes and ID’s that are not needed in your print document strip out anything pertaining to style like colour or background images. Padding and alignment are still important to maintain in the content of your site.

Once you have narrowed don’t to what stays and what goes you can then start to gather up like elements to keep a simple and small file.

.header, .footer, .addblock { display: none; }

Its important to set a default font size under the body tag, 10px or 12px work well, you don’t want to go to small or to large. another suggestion is to remove text decorations on links since they will only show up as words so there is no need to differentiate them from the rest of the paragraph.

Once you have the results you are looking for set the media type back to print.

In the end you should be left with your formatting font sizes as few colour’s as possible, all unrelated site content removed and left with a simple to read, printer friendly version of your site.

Bottom Bracket by Chris King

After years of anticipation and some predictions on my part Chris King has finally come out with Bottom Brackets, they have been working on them got god only knows how long. But they are finally here.

Made to fit standark Shimano External Cub Bottom Brackets they will make a sweet upgrade to the lower end and a perfect complement to the high end. One really nice thing about them is they are serviceable, something the Shimano BB’s are not.

Check them out.

Chris King has also released a new colour to there anodizing line up, Brown. A deep right brown i cant wait to see it.

My Favorite OpenSource/Free OS X Apps.

many of these applications are available on both the PC and Mac, but my aim was to list a few of my favorite go to applications for OS X. When i got a MacBook Pro from work i was kind of lost. I had my Windoes Tool Kit. applications that i use to speed up my productivity. ACDSEE, Flash FPX, Win RAR, NotePad 2, and so on, but there isn’t as many “good” open source applications for Windows as there is for OS X. The only free app that i listed previously is NotePad2.

Apple has a better community of Designers, Developers that are willing to share there tools. although i have found that some of the better Open source Alternatives will run you between $20-30. Not to bad.

Adium

Adium – my favorite application that Covers all major IM clients, Google Tlak, MSN, ICQ, AOL, and so on. it is easily sikkned and has a number of addons found at Adium Xtras. the thing i like most is its simple compact and isnt crammed full of useless features.

AirRadar

AirRadar – Best for finding Open Wifi Signals or mesuing signal strength over time on a selected network.

AppCleaner

AppCleaner – When I started using OS X for the first time I had no clue how to uninstall an application, I figured deleting it was the best solution to remove it not knowing that there were preference and user setting files in various places.  App Zapper was an application I had heard of but not willing to pay for an application to simple Uninstall something. AppCleaner does an excellent job and has a fun interface.

Aptana Studio

Aptana Studio – An open source application for Web Developers based on Eclipse. They have come a long way in the past year with feature improvements newly supported languages and seem to be genuine with the community regularly polling for feature requests.

Read on..

BUG Labs vs Liquidware

I have been a big fan of Make: and did some searching on modal based electronics and came across BUG Labs. Plug the bits together hook it to your computer and do some light programming and your creation is alive.

BUG is a collection of easy-to-use electronic modules that snap together to build any gadget you can imagine. Each BUGmodule represents a specific gadget function (ex: a camera, a keyboard, a video output, etc.). You decide which functions to include and BUG takes care of the rest, letting you try out different combination quickly and easily. With BUG and the integrated programming environment/online community (BUGnet), anyone can build, program and share innovative devices and applications. We don’t define the final products – you do.

Unfortunately for me the price seems a bit steep for the modules, $79 for a 2mp camera? $99 for a GPS receiver? there prices seem to mimic something of the actual product. Granted you can just plug a Garmon GPS into a pint and shoot Camera, but there are alternatives. Base Station + GPS + Camera + Viewfinder = $549 for a low resolution digital camera with GPS. you can buy a GPS so i think until the modules and base station become a bit more reasonable you won’t see me using them.

Liquidware on the other hand seems to be a bit better bang for the buck, not to mention it runs on the Arduino controller, Liquidware bases there system on a plug in component system as well but for $249 you get many more practical units that can be multipurpose.

I also like how the modules are not all dolled up and concealed behind a plastic case. Liquidware also seems to have a better selection of modules but not Camera or GPS modules, that’s not to say some Googling won’t find what you need. In a matter of minutes i found a number of Shields to be used with the system including GPS, WIFI, and Servo Controllers.

I would love to get a hold of some components and see what i can make.

Night, Dawn, Day

I have read these books by Elie Wiesel (born Eliezer Wiesel on September 30, 1928) authored 57 books best known for Night, a memoir that describes his experiences during the Holocaust and his imprisonment in several concentration camps.

Night: “His experience as a young Orthodox Jew of being sent with his family to the German concentration camps at Auschwitz and Buchenwald during the Second World War.”

Dawn: “Unlike Night, Dawn is a work of fiction. It tells the story of Elisha, a Holocaust survivor. After the war, Elisha moves to the British Mandate of Palestine and joins a terrorist group determined to oust the British from the area. One night, Elisha is told that he must execute a British officer at dawn, and the novel covers his struggle with his inner demons.”

Day: “Day is the fictional story of a Holocaust survivor who is struck by a taxicab in New York City. While recovering from his injuries, the main character reflects on his relationships and his experiences during the war. Note that Wiesel was struck by a taxi cab in New York City two years after arriving in United States, so it can be inferred that some personal experiences are added into this book.”

I read all three books over the past 2 years, they are short, about 90-120 pages long and although short they are deep and emotional. Night was my personal Favorite of the Three.

“From the depths of the mirror, a corpse gazed back at me. The look in his eyes, as they stared into mine, has never left me.”

I think even if you were yo buy the book and only read the ending “The Nobel Acceptance Speech Delivered by Elie Wiesel in Oslo on December 10, 1986″ i thing it would have an effect on you.

The acceptance speech can be found here.