moreCrayons - Easily Expand Your Web Safe Palette

"What is moreCrayons? Most internet users have monitors that can display more colors than the 216 that are used in the traditional 'browser-safe' palette. moreCrayons is a bigger box of crayons; 4,096 colors for the web..."

This is not a new site. But after I found myself using it once again today, I realized it would be a helpful item to add here.

Backpack Launch Imminent As Indicated In New "Manifesto"

Backpack Preview #4 (the last preview): The Backpack Manifesto - "Some have called Backpack a wiki with out the wacky. Others have called it blogish. Others have said it's a project management tool for all the little things in your life. Some say it's a application that helps you get things done. Some have called it Basecamp's little brother. Call it what you will. We call it useful and hope you do too..."

Amazon.com Whittles Down to Three Tabs

Wow, Amazon.com popularized the use of tabs as a navigation metaphor in its early rise to success. However, as their product category portfolio outgrew minimum width constraints, Amazon has had to suffer through a number of creative work arounds to carry forth the legacy of the alimighty tab. Well, they've recently updated the site again and the homepage is now down to 3 tabs opposite some persistent liks. It appears to be part of the navigation strategy to also integrate the A9 Web Search into the navbar - seems forced. I can hear it now: 'when i was a dotcom post-grad, amazon had six tabs, and we had to pay for shipping!...you kids today...'

Firefox doubles market share as IE slips

The Register: "A survey of 168,000 surfers hitting business web sites has found Internet Explorer has lost nearly two percentage points of market share. IE's open source nemesis Firefox, meanwhile, doubled its presence..."

FYI for all you browser war trackers.

Google Turns Attention to RSS

clickz.com: "The search giant started testing a version of its contextual ads that would help advertisers tap into new inventory on RSS or Atom feeds, and potentially help publishers monetize content distributed through that channel... Wednesday, some blogs in the Weblogs Inc. network, including Engadget, the Unofficial Apple Weblog and AdJab, began showing the ads in their RSS feeds..."

Pastor Password App v1.7 Released

mehlau.net: "Pastor is a tool to store all your passwords, website logins, program serial numbers, etc. RC4-encrypted and password-protected. With built-in password generator..."

Thought I'd mention the new update for this great little donationware app that I use for storing information like passwords etc.

Military Free Zone Sheds Light On 'No Child Left Behind'

"Under the No Child Left Behind Act, if you attend a public high school, your school system is required to turn over YOUR private information to the US military unless you OPT OUT! Sec 9528 of The No Child Left Behind Act gives you the right to OPT OUT! by turning in a form signed by your guardian or parent stating that you do not want the military to have access to your private information..."

Uh, it's designed well, yeah that's why I'm posting this, yeah.

HDV / HD for the Masses

"...By the time HDV camcorders come down to a price point that consumers won't balk at, say sub-$1000, computer processing power should be at a point where it won't be so challenging to edit HDV on a home computer."

Since DV is buzzing about in the ether lately, I thought I'd suggest this good overview article - it includes a handy chart from Adobe covering "the varying flavors of DV and that of HDV".

CandyBar Ready for Tiger & Important Pixadex Note

CandyBar, an application that allows you "to customize the icons found in the system and application toolbars of Mac OS X" is ready for OS X Tiger.

Also, Iconfactory posted an important note for Pixadex users: "Another important thing for Pixadex users is to make sure you have a good backup of your icon library. Some backup applications, such as Apple's .Mac Backup application, don't save custom icon resources correctly. If you're doing a clean install of Tiger, you risk losing all the icons in your library.

To make sure you don't have this problem, we suggest that you archive the entire Pixadex folder in your Home > Library > Application Support folder (or whichever folder you've specified as the icon folder location in preferences.) Just click on the folder and choose "Create Archive of Pixadex" from the Finder's File menu."

Flaw in Netscape browser rated 'highly critical'

computerweekly.com: "A security flaw in the Netscape browser could allow hackers to take over users' machines by launching a buffer overflow attack and executing their own code, a research company has claimed."

Security guru slams misuse of 'cyberterrorism'

CNET News.com: "'Nobody's getting blown to bits,' (Bruce) Schneier said. 'I don't think that cyberterrorism exists--if you add 'terrorism' to things, you get more budget. If you can't get e-mail for a day, you're not terrorized, you're inconvenienced..."We should save 'terror' for the things that deserve it, not things that piss us off," he added.'"

Thank you, well put.

RealNetworks giving away 25 songs/month

"RealNetworks Inc., facing intense competition from file-swapping networks and from Apple Computer Inc., will give away 25 songs for free each month as part of a new service that seeks to entice music-lovers to pay for more tunes...For $9.99 a month, users will get an unlimited number of songs each month. For another $5, they can transfer the tunes to selected portable music players..."

Microsoft to add 'black box' to Windows

CNET News.com: "In a move that could rankle privacy advocates, Microsoft said Monday that it is adding the PC equivalent of a flight data recorder to the next version of Windows, in an effort to better understand and prevent computer crashes..."

Flash Projector Tool Showdown

Flashmagazine: "Since Flash 3, Flash has had the ability to export the SWF file as a self-running program for both Mac and PCs. These self-running programs are called Projectors. With the latest version of Actionscript and the help of a third party Projector Tool, there's almost no limit to the applications you can create using Flash...So which is our subjective favorite then? We have to say mProjector is the tool that impresses the most..."

The tools reviewed are Zinc (formerly Flash Studio Pro), SWF Studio, Jugglor, mProjector, ScreenWeaver and iceProjector.

The Good, the Bad, and the Redundant in Graphic Design Business Books

creativepro.com: "There's no lack of business books aimed squarely at graphic designers and creative professionals. Here's a look at some new ones and some perennial bestsellers as well. "

This includes a few books that helped me get started including Selling Graphic Design by by Don Sparkman.

Google allows banner advertising

"I wouldn't say that we have antipathy for the kind of (animated) advertising on the Internet today,' Google's head of ad sales strategy Patrick Keane said. 'We just want it to be more accountable, and more relevant. We think highly targeted (display) advertising will work.'"

A (Near)-Complete List of Mac Keyboard Shortcuts

The Mac Observer: "Some people prefer to use a keyboard to execute commands rather than a mouse..."

First Impressions: Apple Motion 2 & DVD Studio Pro 4

(UPDATED) DMN: "So in my estimation, Motion 2 isn't just a feature-update type of release; it's a significant step forward in motion graphics with, yes, some great new internal features, but also one critical new feature that addresses the workflow needs of artists..."

"Where I think the new version of DVD Studio Pro is really going to make an impact at ship time is in the enhancements to its core capabilities and refined workflow--which, by the way, weren't bad at all to begin with. There's so much that I'm not even sure where to begin here..."

Advice & Opinions: Promote Your Company With a Blog

clickz.com: "What can a blog do to promote a company? I've reached a few conclusions. Here are my personal best practices, gleaned from the blogging trenches..."

I've had discussions with many clients and colleagues about blogging as a marketing practice. This short article shares some thoughtful conclusions.

How-to: Share the Love With Acrobat 7.0

creativepro.com: "Before the current version of Adobe Acrobat, only those who paid for the program could use its commenting tools. People with just the free Reader were left out in the cold and out of all online collaboration and review processes. Now, thanks to Acrobat 7.0 and this easy tutorial, you can bring everyone into the fold."



Short, useful tutorial to share with clients / colleagues if you care to leverage the commenting tools for iterative reviewing.

25 Top Women Business Builders

fastcompany.com: "from 1997 to 2004, the number of women-owned businesses grew twice as fast as all businesses in the United States. One in 18 adult women in the United States is a business owner. Women-owned companies generate $2.5 trillion in annual sales and employ nearly 20 million people.

So who are these women? What kinds of companies are they founding? What have they learned--and what can we learn from them?"

In My Inbox: 'An important message from Rob Glaser, CEO of Real'

I got an interesting email from RealNetworks the other day alluding to an upcoming announcement. What makes it particularly curious is that I can't seem to find any mention of this on the Real website. Here are some excerpts:

"...While we’re proud of our past, I’m also writing to tell you that the best truly is yet to come. We’re as committed to innovation over the next 10 years as we have been for our first 10 years. I know this sounds like an ambitious statement, but we’ve got some stuff coming very soon that I think you will agree is truly a breakthrough.

On April 26, we are changing the rules of the Internet again, and digital music will never be the same. I can’t say more now, but I do encourage you to visit www.real.com on the 26th to learn more. If you’d like to sign up to be automatically notified, click here..." - signed as Rob Glaser

We'll see

DoubleClick Close to Sale

clickz.com: "Marketing technology firm DoubleClick could soon be owned by buyout firm Hellman & Friedman, according to a New York Post report that values the deal at around $1.2 billion."

Wired News: Check Yourself Out on Google

"Google is experimenting with a new feature that enables the users of its online search engine to see all of their past search requests and results, creating a computer peephole that could prove as embarrassing as it is helpful."

Getty Images acquires Digital Vision

spymac.com: "Getty Images, Inc. announced today that it has acquired London-based Digital Vision, one of the world's leading royalty-free photography businesses, for $165 million in cash..."

Adobe-Macromedia Deal Causes Jitters

Publish.com: "The deal may be better for Adobe than for customers, analysts say."

More interesting speculation and commentary on the announced acquisition.

FYI: Beware of FlashEurope, it is a Scam

Flashmagazine: "Many blogs have written about this, but we'd like to add to it so none of our readers fall for this scam. This conference will never be held. Many, if not all, the speakers have pulled out of this..."

Sorenson Squeeze 4.1 Video Compression Software Now Shipping

creativepro.com: "Our users have been demanding time saving integration with the leading DVD authoring applications. We're very pleased to offer video export, with chapter markers, directly to Avid's DVD by Sonic and Apple's DVD Studio Pro," said Matt Cupal, vice president of strategy and business development at Sorenson Media. "The other great news in Squeeze 4.1 is our integration with the new Flip4Mac WMV components from Telestream. This makes Sorenson Squeeze the first cross-platform Windows Media 9 encoding tool."

A School of Visual Arts Grad Remakes the Pill Bottle

"The ClearRx system Adler designed for Target includes bottles for pills and liquids and a measuring syringe. Here%u2019s the pill bottle that hits shelves in May..."

found thanks to Seth Godin's Blog

Microsoft to "Start Something" With XP Ad Campaign

"Involving a newly launched microsite and 250 different online creatives, the company says "Start Something" will be one of the largest and longest campaigns in the history of the Windows brand. The XP-focused campaign comes as the software giant works to prepare its upcoming version of Windows, called Longhorn. The effort also precedes competitor Apple's imminent release of its new OS, Tiger..."

What is it? Something. What kind of something? Something you can start. How? From the start menu. What do you start? Something. What kind of something?

Framed and Exposed: Adobe Photoshop CS2

creativepro.com: "Packed with a huge number of new features, the soon-to-ship Photoshop CS2 has goodies for several key markets. Find out what's in store for digital photographers..."



The various perspective tools definitely look like they fall into the category of 'wonderful features you realize you needed but now can't live without'.

Opera 8 Web Browser Released Today

"Opera 8 for Windows and Linux...is a substantial upgrade from previous versions, and includes new features such as a unique security information field that indicates the trustworthiness of banking and shopping Web sites and voice interaction capabilities...A beta version of Opera 8 for Mac (English) is also available today."

Pictures of Flash 8 from a recent demo

flashant.org: "Mike Downey and Mike Chambers demoed the upcoming 8ball IDE at their Flash In The Can keynote and I was busy snapping away piccies. Here then, is 8ball in all its public glory..."

PodQuest Download driving directions to your iPod

Mibasoft: "PodQuest is an application for Mac OS X that allows you to download driving directions to your iPod..."

Microsoft Brand: no connection

"It's a funny thing. Microsoft's brand power is written about in numerous business and marketing magazines, it ranks No 2 in the Best Global Brands table (Interbrand/BusinessWeek), and yet I don't recall ever meeting someone who actually feels a warmth for Microsoft the way they do for Krispy Kremes or BMWs..."

Adobe to acquire Macromedia

"Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq: ADBE) has announced a definitive agreement to acquire Macromedia (Nasdaq: MACR) in an all-stock transaction valued at approximately $3.4 billion..."

Wow

NIN offers new single in GarageBand format

"Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails has made available the band's new single, "The Hand That Feeds," as a free download for Apple's GarageBand application. The song, which weighs in at a hefty 70MB, features multiple tracks that you can easily tweak. "For quite some time I've been interested in the idea of allowing you the ability to tinker around with my tracks -- to create remixes, experiment, embellish or destroy what's there," Reznor says..."

That's not only smart marketing, it's just plain cool.

Happy Tax Day & Birthday to Leonardo!

Subscribe to Artist's Birthdays iCal: Did you know that April 15 was also Leonardo da Vinci's birthday? Too bad he didn't design our TAX code.

I've created an iCal that you can subscribe to that has the birthdays of a majority of famous artists throughout art history. Check it out...

Uncovering Users In Your Own Organization

Boxes and Arrows: "This article is the first of a two-part series..The User Centered Design process (Norman & Draper, 1980) is well-accepted, endorsed, and integrated into many software corporations...To do this type of research and design can take considerable time, resources, and financial investment. One of the most overlooked areas to inform user interface considerations is within our own companies. Corporate resources are seriously undervalued and underused, but are at our fingertips. As a first step, we should determine where usability issues are already being documented within our organizations and where they could be used to inform our design decisions..."

Wacom Announces Wireless Tablet

Graphire3 6x8 Bluetooth - Product Information "...is expected to be warmly embraced by photo enthusiasts who seek the control and comfort of Wacom’s patented cordless, battery-free pen and the freedom of a wireless device. Mobile office workers, educators and aspiring digital artists will also appreciate the new device and the ability to work where and when they want. Available immediately, Graphire Bluetooth offers a 6” x 8” active area and is priced at $249.99.

Requires: PC or Macintosh computer running Windows 2000, XP, or Mac OS 10.2.8 & higher with Bluetooth 1.1 (or higher) connection, CD-ROM drive, and color monitor."

western edition spring 2005 skateboard collection

When we were visiting San Francisco area, our friend Nikhil was kind enough to give both our boys some brand new models of his signature skateboard from WE. This skate company has a top notch design ethic...

Seth Godin launches new blog to support upcoming book "All Marketers are Liars"

"(Excerpt)...This is a book about doing what consumers demand—painting vivid pictures that they choose to believe. Every organization—from nonprofits to car companies, from political campaigns to wine glass blowers—must understand that the rules have changed again. In an economy where the richest have an infinite number of choices (and no time to make them), every organization is a marketer and all marketing is about telling stories..."

Amazon.com Offering $35 Rebate on Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger Preorder

Price:$129.99
Special Offers: -$35.00
Price After Special Offers: $94.99
Purchase by: 05/31/2005
Postmarked by: 07/01/2005

The don't indicate if it will ship on 4/29 like Apple's Store promises to...

Internet Explorer 7.0 and CSS2

SiteProNews: "Microsoft has announced that it will be releasing Internet Explorer 7.0 this summer...The real question, however, for any website owner and developer is whether Microsoft will create a browser that interprets CSS2 in a standard way. Currently, Microsoft does not support all of CSS2's functionalities and also adds some functionalities that CSS2 never initially supported. The result is nothing more than a major headache for those developing a website that is accessible to all people, regardless of the browser they are using.

So will Microsoft finally adhere to the official CSS2 specifications? Don't bet on it..."

Firefox 1.1 beta slated for May

Australian PC Authority: "Firefox 1.1, an upgrade of a popular open source browser, will go into beta or preview in six to seven weeks, a Mozilla Foundation engineer has said...That would make a public beta of Firefox 1.1 available around 21 to 28 May, in line with a roadmap announced earlier..."

New Free Track by Aimee Mann on Amazon.com

Amazon.com downloads: She Really Wants You - Live at Largo (Exclusive). Had to point out this one. Free high quality MP3 offered in advance of her forthcoming album "The Forgotten Arm". Click the title to get the download, or click here to preorder the CD due out on May 3rd.

J.Y. to PIXIES in PDX

PIXIES *ROSELAND THEATER Oh yeah, got my ticket!

Chart: Silicon Valley's 150 top companies of 2004

MercuryNews.com | 04/08/2005 | SV150 chart "The Silicon Valley 150 ranks public companies headquartered in Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, southern San Mateo and southern Alameda counties on the basis of worldwide revenues ("Sales'') for the most recent available four quarters..."

Top ten in order: Hewlett-Packard, Intel, Cisco Systems, Sanmina-SCI, Solectron, Sun Microsystems, Oracle, Apple Computer, Calpine, Applied Materials

Bill Would Prevent Excise Tax on Internet Services

Senators don't want 1898 tax to hit Net | CNET News.com "...Allen's bill would amend the IRS code to say that any "Internet access service" would be immune from the Spanish-American War tax. That term is defined as applying to any service that lets users "access content, information, electronic mail, or other services offered over the Internet."

Apple Mac OS X Tiger Available Friday April 29, 2005

I was afraid that there might not be enough Mac happy blogging about this... Not.

NPR : 'Wordless Diagrams': Explaining the Everyday

"Pouring a beer or changing a diaper may seem like commonplace activities, but when visualized on paper in step-by-step diagrams, they take on unusual lives of their own..."

Follow title link to listen to the NPR segment (NPR site includes some sample diagrams), or click on image to get the book.

O’Reilly Launches CodeZoo Website

"CodeZoo exists to help you find high-quality, freely available, reusable components, getting you past the repetitive parts of coding, and onto the rest and the best of your projects. It’s a fast-forward button for your compiler."

Electric Rain Announces ZAM 3D for MS Avalon

A New 3D XAML Tool for Microsoft "Avalon" Application Development "Electric Rain ZAM 3D™ is a full-featured 3D modeling application that enables easy creation, customization and animation of 3D interface elements for “Avalon" based applications. Once a 3D scene is created, ZAM 3D automatically generates the XAML (eXtensible Application Markup Language) markup necessary to covert the 3D elements into an “Avalon” 3D scene. XAML files created with ZAM 3D can be directly integrated into your application development environment to create rich and engaging user experiences never before possible."

Contribue 3.1 Update Has Issues On Mac OS

I discovered this after wasting an hour trying to figure out why Dreamweaver didn't realize I had Contribute installed (sigh)...

"Dreamweaver Launch & Administer may not work on Macintosh OS X 10.3.5. When you choose to administer a Contribute site from within Dreamweaver, you get the following error message: "You must install Macromedia Contribute version 2.0 or later to administer a site. Would you like to install Contribute now?" This message appears despite the fact that you have Contribute 3 installed. The workaround has three steps:

1. Copy your Contribute Application folder, and then delete the old folder.
2. Rename the copied version to Contribute 3.
3. Launch Contribute, and then immediately quit.

If you're running Mac 10.2.8 and have multiple versions of Contribute on your machine, the oldest Contribute build in the machine launches when you select Launch and Administer in Dreamweaver.

When using WebDAV, it is not possible to use Dreamweaver's Launch & Administer feature..."

Bookmarklet For Easily Emailing URL Of Current Page Via Safari

J.Y. Design - Safari Resources: Macworld recently offered yet another cool tip for making a JavaScript bookmarklet for Safari that makes it easy to quickly send the link of the current page you are browsing via your mail client. This is one feature of IE that I really had missed. I've posted a handy "Mail" bookmark link ready to drag to your bar or folder at the link above...

EFF Takes Stance To Oppose The REAL ID Act

Electronic Frontier Foundation: "Earlier this year, the US House of Representatives passed the REAL ID Act, bringing us a giant step closer to a "national ID." The REAL ID Act would establish a vast national database of ID holders, where even a small percentage of errors would cause major social disruption..."

This is worth reading up on as it effects both civil and cyberLiberties, depending on your stance you can use their action form to contact your Senators.

Postal Service files for 5.4% rate increase

BtoBOnline.com: As expected, the U.S. Postal Service on Friday filed a request for an across-the-board 5.4% rate increase with the Postal Rate Commission...

The USPS said the decision to seek an increase was based on the requirement that it establish a $3.1 billion escrow fund...

The 5.4% increase would be spread over all classes of mail and special services. The last postal increase took effect in June 2002."

Good to know for all you direct mail campaign creators.