The weblog of design agency Retrorocket Design, focusing on culture, politics, higher education, technology, and rocket ships. tag:retrorocketdesign.com,2005:a1b2b6c32459d0956e7fd5c907be82b8 Textpattern 2008-10-18T00:50:33Z Nick Caldwell ncaldwell@gmail.com http://retrorocketdesign.com/ This is an XML content feed. It is intended to be viewed in a newsreader or syndicated to another site, subject to copyright and fair use. Nick Caldwell 2008-10-17T01:18:14Z 2008-10-17T01:18:15Z tag:retrorocketdesign.com,1969-12-31:a1b2b6c32459d0956e7fd5c907be82b8/9a4ff36b063e50343f0ff5107b0bb8c1 <p>Partly for my own reference, and partly to gather feedback from other developers, I present below an extract from an email I sent to the developer of <a href="http://macrabbit.com/cssedit/"><span class="caps">CSSE</span>dit</a>, to my mind one of the finest web development tools available.</p> <blockquote> <p>In many ways, I think the tab implementation on <span class="caps">CSSE</span>dit is excellent, but I have a few problems with it. Maybe there are some UI options that I haven&#8217;t seen to mitigate my problems, but I haven&#8217;t found them yet.</p> <p> <ol> <li>Command-W closes the entire window, not the tab. Strictly speaking that&#8217;s probably correct but every other application that I know uses tabs maps Command-W to &#8220;close tab&#8221;. The app doesn&#8217;t also remember the existing tab-set after I frantically re-open the window.</li> <li>I like to have a set of related tabs grouped together &#8211; first the <span class="caps">CSS</span>, then the preview in the next tab along. Currently that requires a bit of manual re-arrangement to set up for a new project, as you can drop a preview tab onto a <span class="caps">CSS</span> file window, but not vice versa. I&#8217;d like &#8220;new preview&#8221; to consistently open to a new tab in the same window but I can&#8217;t figure out yet how to enforce that.</li> </ol></p> </blockquote> <p>Have any other users of <span class="caps">CSSE</span>dit found ways around these problems?</p> <p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/RetrorocketDesign?a=w7gHF6"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/RetrorocketDesign?i=w7gHF6" border="0"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/RetrorocketDesign?a=Iw76M"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/RetrorocketDesign?i=Iw76M" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/RetrorocketDesign?a=cJzIM"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/RetrorocketDesign?i=cJzIM" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/RetrorocketDesign?a=YcFoM"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/RetrorocketDesign?i=YcFoM" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/RetrorocketDesign?a=Ru9bM"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/RetrorocketDesign?i=Ru9bM" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/RetrorocketDesign/~4/423222696" height="1" width="1"/>http://retrorocketdesign.com/weblog/css-edit-and-tabs 2008-09-24T00:00:00-05:00http://del.icio.us/ncaldwell#2008-09-23

<ul> <li><a href="http://lab.artlung.com/unix-batch-file-rename/">Batch change extension of files on the unix command line</a></li> </ul>

<ul> <li><a href="http://lab.artlung.com/unix-batch-file-rename/">Batch change extension of files on the unix command line</a></li> </ul><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/RetrorocketDesign/~4/401467017" height="1" width="1"/>http://del.icio.us/ncaldwell#2008-09-232008-08-23T00:00:00-05:00http://del.icio.us/ncaldwell#2008-08-22

<ul> <li><a href="http://www.teehanlax.com/blog/?p=447">iPhone GUI PSD</a><br/> Layered Photoshop files for creating iPhone GUI mockups (via Daring Fireball).</li> </ul>

<ul> <li><a href="http://www.teehanlax.com/blog/?p=447">iPhone GUI PSD</a><br/> Layered Photoshop files for creating iPhone GUI mockups (via Daring Fireball).</li> </ul><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/RetrorocketDesign/~4/372458927" height="1" width="1"/>http://del.icio.us/ncaldwell#2008-08-222008-08-16T00:00:00-05:00http://del.icio.us/ncaldwell#2008-08-15

<ul> <li><a href="http://www.cs.uml.edu/~ntuck/mozilla/">Mozilla SSL policy bad for the Web</a><br/> Passing on the bad news...</li> </ul>

<ul> <li><a href="http://www.cs.uml.edu/~ntuck/mozilla/">Mozilla SSL policy bad for the Web</a><br/> Passing on the bad news...</li> </ul><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/RetrorocketDesign/~4/366260898" height="1" width="1"/>http://del.icio.us/ncaldwell#2008-08-15 Nick Caldwell 2008-08-08T07:13:00Z 2008-08-08T07:13:00Z tag:retrorocketdesign.com,2008-08-08:a1b2b6c32459d0956e7fd5c907be82b8/8e761e2cfcdc90cf53706c2e104265ef <p>Today, my friend and co-worker Kyle&#8217;s iPhone/Touch application <a href="http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=287288205&amp;mt=8">Ancient Wisdom</a> went live on the iTunes App Store. <cite>Ancient Wisdom</cite> is a small and light-hearted tool that displays koans and sayings by philosophers and writers such as <a href="http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/Philosophy/Taichi/lao.html">Lao Tzu</a></p> <p>I helped out by designing a logo and some background art. The rather cute monkeys who help impart the ancient words of wisdom were created by the developer himself, a noted fan of our simian friends.</p> <p>Here&#8217;s the logo in its current state:</p> <p><img src="http://retrorocketdesign.com/images/17.jpg" width="320" height="169" alt="Ancient Wisdom logo - weathered with a celtic font theme" /></p> <p>I&#8217;ll be helping to polish and refine the user interface over the next few weeks. I&#8217;m also really exited by the prospect of designing in a technology that perhaps requires fewer compromises than <span class="caps">HTML</span>!</p> <p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/RetrorocketDesign?a=I99vdI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/RetrorocketDesign?i=I99vdI" border="0"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/RetrorocketDesign?a=LOhbMK"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/RetrorocketDesign?i=LOhbMK" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/RetrorocketDesign?a=zPeSSK"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/RetrorocketDesign?i=zPeSSK" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/RetrorocketDesign?a=koRDEK"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/RetrorocketDesign?i=koRDEK" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/RetrorocketDesign?a=H5eR2K"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/RetrorocketDesign?i=H5eR2K" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/RetrorocketDesign/~4/359199598" height="1" width="1"/>http://retrorocketdesign.com/weblog/ancient-wisdom 2008-07-17T00:00:00-05:00http://del.icio.us/ncaldwell#2008-07-16

<ul> <li><a href="http://labs.unitinteractive.com/unitpngfix.php">Unit PNG Fix script</a><br/> Promising javascript that fixes PNG transparency for IE</li> </ul>

<ul> <li><a href="http://labs.unitinteractive.com/unitpngfix.php">Unit PNG Fix script</a><br/> Promising javascript that fixes PNG transparency for IE</li> </ul><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/RetrorocketDesign/~4/337736436" height="1" width="1"/>http://del.icio.us/ncaldwell#2008-07-16 Nick Caldwell 2008-07-15T03:48:30Z 2008-07-15T03:48:30Z tag:retrorocketdesign.com,1969-12-31:a1b2b6c32459d0956e7fd5c907be82b8/387621014687b37554545b7fbee8356c <div style="float: right; margin-left: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ncaldwell/2253529315/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2100/2253529315_ea3c775297_m.jpg" alt="" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" /></a> <br /> <span style="font-size: 0.9em; margin-top: 0px;"> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ncaldwell/2253529315/">lizard on the stairs, arty style</a> <br /> Originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/ncaldwell/">Nick Caldwell</a> </span> </div> OK, test posting with Flickr. What magic it is. <br clear="all" /> <p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/RetrorocketDesign?a=M8RnCn"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/RetrorocketDesign?i=M8RnCn" border="0"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/RetrorocketDesign?a=ncg47J"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/RetrorocketDesign?i=ncg47J" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/RetrorocketDesign?a=e94X2J"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/RetrorocketDesign?i=e94X2J" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/RetrorocketDesign?a=1yz98J"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/RetrorocketDesign?i=1yz98J" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/RetrorocketDesign?a=BXtlhJ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/RetrorocketDesign?i=BXtlhJ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/RetrorocketDesign/~4/335716788" height="1" width="1"/>http://retrorocketdesign.com/weblog/lizard-on-the-stairs-arty-style Nick Caldwell 2008-07-13T12:17:54Z 2008-07-13T12:31:15Z tag:retrorocketdesign.com,2008-07-13:a1b2b6c32459d0956e7fd5c907be82b8/f38fb1e04642a97fef13cd34749e1ca8 <p>I&#8217;m starting to get into using 24-bit <span class="caps">PNG</span> files more and more, though I&#8217;m reluctant to use large-dimension images in this format as their file sizes tend to balloon. However, it&#8217;s hard to resist the charm of a logo that can be seamlessly matted over just about any kind of background. </p> <p>One trick &#8212; which works best with mostly flat-coloured logos &#8212; that I&#8217;ve discovered is to posterise the logo with Photoshop before rendering out to a transparent <span class="caps">PNG</span>. Posterise discards colour information from the file &#8212; most people set the intensity level quite high, which results in a visible banding through the image. I&#8217;d take that down to about 7-9, which preserves the integrity of the image but makes the colour range more managable. I&#8217;ve seen file sizes halve without any serious image degradation.</p> <p>Here&#8217;s a close-up crop of a before-and-after posterise treatment. Can you can spot a substantial difference?</p> <p><img src="http://retrorocketdesign.com/images/16.png" width="100" height="150" alt="Illustration of the before and after effects of the Posterise command" /></p> <p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/RetrorocketDesign?a=JzM1LN"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/RetrorocketDesign?i=JzM1LN" border="0"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/RetrorocketDesign?a=7BaJIJ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/RetrorocketDesign?i=7BaJIJ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/RetrorocketDesign?a=jCQ2EJ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/RetrorocketDesign?i=jCQ2EJ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/RetrorocketDesign?a=3C5FEJ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/RetrorocketDesign?i=3C5FEJ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/RetrorocketDesign?a=NGFk7J"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/RetrorocketDesign?i=NGFk7J" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/RetrorocketDesign/~4/334231952" height="1" width="1"/>http://retrorocketdesign.com/weblog/png-graphics-tip 2008-06-27T00:00:00-05:00http://del.icio.us/ncaldwell#2008-06-26

<ul> <li><a href="http://www.macworld.com/article/134120/2008/06/emptyinbox2.html">The fast way to file your e-mail (Macworld)</a><br/> I never knew you could create to-dos directly from selected text in Apple Mail. Sweet</li> </ul>

<ul> <li><a href="http://www.macworld.com/article/134120/2008/06/emptyinbox2.html">The fast way to file your e-mail (Macworld)</a><br/> I never knew you could create to-dos directly from selected text in Apple Mail. Sweet</li> </ul><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/RetrorocketDesign/~4/321058997" height="1" width="1"/>http://del.icio.us/ncaldwell#2008-06-26 Nick Caldwell 2008-06-25T23:08:06Z 2008-06-25T23:08:08Z tag:retrorocketdesign.com,1969-12-31:a1b2b6c32459d0956e7fd5c907be82b8/cdb0fb6e91b11038ec9ae3bd0edb56d1 <p>I&#8217;m only about half way through this <a href="http://jontangerine.com/log/2008/06/the-paragraph-in-web-typography-and-design">revelatory essay on web typography and the paragraph</a> and I already know that it&#8217;s the most important thing I&#8217;ve read on the craft of web design in years. I think it may completely change the way I work.</p> <p>Don&#8217;t miss the <a href="http://jontangerine.com/silo/typography/p/">accompanying piece of stylistic treatments</a>.</p> <p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/RetrorocketDesign?a=0Id3Uh"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/RetrorocketDesign?i=0Id3Uh" border="0"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/RetrorocketDesign?a=7gKTeI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/RetrorocketDesign?i=7gKTeI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/RetrorocketDesign?a=Z3AuxI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/RetrorocketDesign?i=Z3AuxI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/RetrorocketDesign?a=0iJCAI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/RetrorocketDesign?i=0iJCAI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/RetrorocketDesign?a=NNdzpI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/RetrorocketDesign?i=NNdzpI" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/RetrorocketDesign/~4/320074021" height="1" width="1"/>http://retrorocketdesign.com/weblog/jon-tan-on-web-typography2008-06-17T00:00:00-05:00http://del.icio.us/ncaldwell#2008-06-16

<ul> <li><a href="http://freelanceswitch.com/designer/33-new-places-to-get-design-inspiration/">33 New Places to Get Design Inspiration</a></li> </ul>

<ul> <li><a href="http://freelanceswitch.com/designer/33-new-places-to-get-design-inspiration/">33 New Places to Get Design Inspiration</a></li> </ul><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/RetrorocketDesign/~4/313540632" height="1" width="1"/>http://del.icio.us/ncaldwell#2008-06-162008-05-21T00:00:00-05:00http://del.icio.us/ncaldwell#2008-05-20

<ul> <li><a href="http://www.cushycms.com/">CushyCMS - Take the work out of managing content</a><br/> Clean layout. Lovely icon-based logo</li> </ul>

<ul> <li><a href="http://www.cushycms.com/">CushyCMS - Take the work out of managing content</a><br/> Clean layout. Lovely icon-based logo</li> </ul><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/RetrorocketDesign/~4/294784032" height="1" width="1"/>http://del.icio.us/ncaldwell#2008-05-20