Delicious Redesign
Posted on July 31, 2008 by C Lin
Design, Industry | 1 Comment
‘Change is good.’ So they say. Delicious, the number one most popular bookmarking site has a new design which launched today. Luckily, I got a chance to screen capture the old design so I could compare the two. Overall, I like the organization of the new site. You can find things more readily. The links that your friends send are no longer buried. Navigation is much better on the new site. I also like that the bookmark page lumps your links by the date you posted them. I do have a few complaints, however. First of all, why does the new Delicious have to look so Web 2.0? Don’t we have enough of that style of design already? Secondly, I don’t like that the Save a new bookmark link is on the upper right corner away from your bookmarks. After hitting save, you also have to go through a useless screen, that makes you hit ‘next’ in order to label your bookmark. Thirdly, I’m missing the more obvious color delineation from the links you’ve clicked and one’s you haven’t yet. In the new version, it’s so subtle you can’t tell the difference.
The Design of Science
Posted on July 30, 2008 by B Juergens
Design, Tech | Leave a Comment
Dickson Despommier, a professor at Columbia University, and 82 graduate students designed a vertical farm concept based on LA’s Capitol Records building. Like other designs of vertical farms, such as the one presented by the Center for Urban Agriculture in Seattle and another concept by Atelier SOA Architects in Paris; the high-concept design would ensure protection for a cities’ food supply against floods, droughts, and pathogens. Each vertical farm would be sustained through renewable energy sources i.e. solar panels, wind turbines, and salvaged rainwater. The overall idea is not solely for high-rise downtown city farms, in fact, ‘they’ are hoping you put a small-scale version in your backyard. Welcome to the future of sustainable living.
Consumer Electronics Purchasing Woes
Posted on July 23, 2008 by S Osako
Culture, Tech | 1 Comment
I recently purchased a new monitor for my home office and boy was it frustrating. The thought of buying something new is fun and exciting and I’m envious when I see others getting boxes of goodies at work. Of course I couldn’t just buy the first monitor I saw, I had to do tons of research to avoid buyer’s remorse. I started my exploration for the right monitor with high spirits. By the end of one week, my spirits were crushed. Not only was I drowning in conflicting reviews from “experts” and users, but the manufacturers seem to number their products with the goal of confusing consumers. Why can’t they just number their models intuitively and make it very clear what the differences are?
Review of VECTORTUTS
Posted on July 21, 2008 by C Lin
Industry, Process | Leave a Comment
VECTORTUTS brought to you by PSDTUTS is a great resource for those of you who are in need of Illustrator help. Much like PSDTUTS, the site has tried and true tutorials with loads of tips and tricks that even the savviest user could benefit from. When I personally tested out one of the tutorials, I was amazed at how it broke down complex illustrations into steps that I could understand and grasp quickly. It gave me the tools to be able to create illustrations with simple shapes and shading techniques. Even if you’re not a talented illustrator, you could pull off realistic Illustrator drawings by knowing how to implement these techniques. There were a couple of points I felt needed improvement. For example, the tutorial asked the user to choose a few different shades of yellow without citing the exact Hex number. Missing crucial color information can really change an illustration!
Regardless of your skill level, I highly recommend trying out one of the tutorials, even if it’s just to practice your Illustrator ninja skills!
Marvel Productions and The Incredible Hulk
Posted on July 17, 2008 by J Tepper
Culture, Industry | Leave a Comment
After seeing marvelous Marvel characters such as Daredevil, Elektra, and Ghost Rider get not so great reviews on the silver screen, Marvel comics has decided to take matters into their own hands and create Marvel Productions. This new force to be reckoned with in
iPod Earbud Addiction
Posted on July 10, 2008 by S Running
Culture | Leave a Comment
I’ve noticed an epidemic of people wearing their iPod earbuds to do just about everything. Even during situations that require higher degrees of concentration, like studying, writing and programming. Go to any coffee shop and you’ll see it. As much as I enjoy music and can do many things with headphones, I feel that people are harming themselves by constantly reaching for their mp3 player when they need to focus. Case in point—imagine you are a high school student with dreams of getting into a prestigious college. You are sitting down one Saturday morning to take the dreaded SAT exam. Even if it were allowed, would you really want to strap on some headphones during the test? Unless you don’t want to attend the college of your choice, this probably isn’t the wisest move. When people are doing math homework, reading a history book, or writing a term paper, however, they don’t seem to equate decibels with lack of concentration. Trust me, your concentration is being affected. Next time you’re sitting down to do some serious work, maybe try it without the headphones. Save your battery for the gym.
Feeds: Friend or Foe?
Posted on July 1, 2008 by C Lin
Culture, Design | Leave a Comment
For those of you who are living under a rock, an RSS or Atom feed is a family of Web feed formats used to publish frequently updated content from for example a blog, news site etc. in a standardized format. You have seen the little orange icon on blogs or the blue icon in the new Firefox window. Let’s say you have a favorite blog that you read everyday. You can subscribe to its feeds by clicking on the icon and then selecting a type of reader that you want all of your content to appear on. This gives people quick and at a glance access to updated content.
