TextMate 2.0 Alpha
The TextMate we know and love is finally growing up!

The Quicksort Algorithm Explained
…using Hungarian folk dance.

15 Web Conference Talks You Need to Watch
According to .net Magazine

Microsoft Turns on Auto Update Internet Explorer for Everyone
The internet applauds.

An Intro to OOCSS
Let’s all do our part to fight CSS bloat.

Polyfilling The HTML5 Gaps
An excellent slideshow on bringing HTML5 features to non-supported browsers.

Respond.js
Speaking of polyfills, here’s a good one for CSS3 Media Queries

Hidden Industry Dupes Social Media Users
Your captchas aren’t enough anymore.

Why Apps Are Not The Future
The web is dead, or is it? A simple case against apps.

Fullscreen HTML5 Video
Yeah you heard me!

Top 6 HTML5 Trends in 2011
Mobile first, responsive design and offline caching, oh my!

Embedded Tweets
Copy/paste-able HTML for Twitter.

Facebook to Launch a Subscribe Button for Websites
“Publishers will be able to add the button to their websites, much like they do with the Twitter “follow” button today, allowing users one-click access to a person’s public updates.”

The Challenges of Working Remotely
Sam Brown discusses his person experience with working remotely.

A 404 Page with Class
Kudos to mint.com for helping Justin out.

Chrome Take Their Dev Tools to the Next Level (Again)
Paul Irish gives a tour of some of the new features.

It’s safe to say that FINE knows and loves the wine industry, having done perhaps more custom winery sites than any company on earth.  It’s an interesting mix of the old – dusty bottles in a basement, wooden barrels made by hand, revered traditions – and the new – vineyard management with satellites, online marketing, the chemistry of oenology.  Squarely in the “new” camp comes a story (originally from The Guardian) that I recently came across about Greenbottle, a UK firm that is set to start selling a paper wine bottle.

Photo: Felix Clay

Certainly, there’s many questions to be answered.  Would this package allow the wine to age properly, for one.  But 10% of the the carbon footprint of a traditional glass bottle in manufacturing and shipping?  Compostable? And keeps the wine in pristine condition?   What’s not to love?

Regardless of the benefits of this new development in packaging, I think this story emphasizes something even more important – the real test is whether or not it takes hold with consumers.   Is it really that important to consumers to have their wine poured from glass, or is it matter of comfort and expectation?   Does a paper bottle make the wine seem like a commodity, rather than a premium product?   How can wineries (and their partners like FINE) help move the needle of consumer preference for a technology (glass bottles) that has been around nearly as long as people have been making wine?

http://www.hyundai-veloster.eu/

Microsoft recently released this 6-minute, futuristic video that envisions the changing shape of technology in our lives. The video imagines a world in which touch screens and mobile devices pervade; acting as assistants, organizers, communicators, and more. It is at once ‘far out’ and not-that far off. Some nice interface graphics were created, and some really neat concepts are shown. If one thing is clear from this video, it is that the lovely (but certainly already overly-used) typeface Gotham will rule the world.

NETHACK – The greatest game you will ever play
A very cool single page site with effects, on one of the most addictive games.

Logos in CSS3 only
No images. No JS. Just CSS.

The Hubble Blew My Mind
Last night, around 8:30pm, I was sitting in my backyard with my 9 yr. old daughter, Maddie. We were looking at stars, trying to identify constellations, when one of them started moving…

The Picasso of …
On the anniversary of Picasso’s 130th birthday a list of Picasso cliches. Brought to you by the Picasso of Link Clipping.

Injustice for all: The Lou Reed/Metallica album
… It’s not really designed for people who like music. It sounds like what it is: an elderly misanthrope reciting paradoxical aphorisms over a collection of repetitive, adrenalized sludge licks.

Mobile apps must die!
Frog’s creative director Scott Jenson argues that mobile apps must die. He explains why the overall model of native apps is holding us back and that they shouldn’t be the default approach.

Walking in CSS3
A man walking in CSS3, that is all.

NewsBlur
A whole lot of information going on!

Think with Google
A place where innovators, experts and Google’s homegrown visionaries lend their insights and outlook on the digital future.

The great thing about Halloween is its power to make the most left-brained among us pause to celebrate the creative potential of costuming or carving a pumpkin. While you may cop out and go to the costume store to outfit yourself for the party, the pumpkin in particular is a tried and true call to creative action. We answered the call in our Portland office last week. There’s still time for you to express yourself in the pumpkin medium, too, whether for personal or professional reasons. We’ve supplied a few inspirational photos and links to get you started.

Start With Science Friday’s Inspirational Video.
If your brand needs advanced pumpkinometry, seek professional Maniac Pumpkin Carvers.

Read the rest of this entry »

{Each week, our own resident technologist “Dr. Brisko” scours the Interwebs to find examples of the arcane and interesting. They are first shared privately in the inner FINE sanctum, where we retain some as pure trade secrets. But we switch a short list public to give you just a taste, from technology deep dives to design to the, well, unclassifiable info that just may be the cure for what ails you.}

Lytro – the light field camera
Images you can selectively focus after you have shot them! Arstechnica overiew linked above or go directly to the website.

Localize or Fail
Translations are not enough.

Billion Tonne Comet May Have Missed Earth By A Few Hundred Kilometres in 1883
So remember, when you’re feeling very small and insecure, how amazingly unlikely is your birth …

There is only one cloud icon in the entire universe
I knew I’d see this icon somewhere before.

List of Detroit startups
Not dead yet! Not with these phoenix’s rising from the ashes!

Amazon rewites the rules of publishing
Who needs a publisher when Amazon can do it all for you.

Mobile UI patterns
I nice library of mobile site design approaches.

Commit logs from last night (NSFW)
because real hackers pivot two hours before their demo

{Each week, our own resident technologist “Dr. Brisko” scours the Interwebs to find examples of the arcane and interesting. They are first shared privately in the inner FINE sanctum, where we retain some as pure trade secrets. But we switch a short list public to give you just a taste, from technology deep dives to design to the, well, unclassifiable info that just may be the cure for what ails you.}

Lights
HTML5/WebGL – FTW!

Microsoft “impartial” browser test fails the grade
The geniuses at Microsoft’s marketing department have come out with a new tool designed to assist users in determining the safest browser for them to use while surfing the web. The conclusion? Surprise! Only Internet Explorer 9 is suitable for most users’ needs.

A Fold in the Brain is Linked to Keeping Reality and Imagination Separate, Study Finds
But no definitive proof that unicorns are not real.

Photoshop “unblur” leaves audience gasping for air
Algorithms!

Giant prehistoric krakens may have sculpted self-portraits using ichthyosaur bones
Ancient cephalopod’s may have made visual art.

The data crunching power of Barack Obama
Campaign tech!

Thanks, Comcast – Now Piracy Can Reign Supreme
Do people really want to pay $60 to rent a movie online two weeks after release?

Mostly Lost
A programming story without the code.

How to bulletproof @font-face Web Fonts
It looks great, except for one thing: All of your beautiful web fonts are gone and have been replaced with… Arial.

When in doubt, call in the mimes
When you know that traffic is really bad.

Improve your eyesight with an iPhone App
Keeping my eye age a secret.

Our ISP rocks (in SF at least)
The little ISP that stood up to the government

The SFMOMA has a great exhibit up of German industrial designer Dieter Rams. The exhibit features many of the products that Rams designed for Braun from the 50′s through the 70′s, all of which are still strikingly modern and original in their design. He is famous for his “10 Principles to Good Design”, a sort of manifesto that guided his work and continues to inspire designers today. Rams’ influence can be seen in just about every Apple product on the shelf. Read the rest of this entry »