The Man in Blue has built a great resource for the Web development community: em Widths. Em is not the easiest measurement to visualize, but it is extremely useful in controlling the size of text relative to a base size, and in the concept of elastic design.
Web Development
IE7 Updated
Dean Edwards has released an updated version of IE 7 which is an amazing tool created to make up for the shortcomings of Internet Explorer‘s implementation of the CSS 2 specs. If you are a Web Developer/Designer, check it out. It isn’t quite ready for production sites, but it shows promise. IE 7 may well leave a mark on the Web Development world. I sure as hell hope so.
Variables from outside PHP
Just a quick link to the documentation describing how to access GET, POST and cookie variables from PHP: PHP: Variables from outside PHP – Manual:
// Available since PHP 4.1.0
echo $_POST['username'];
echo $_REQUEST['username'];
import_request_variables('p', 'p_');
echo $p_username;
// Available since PHP 3. As of PHP 5.0.0, these long
// predefined variables can be disabled with the
// register_long_arrays directive.
echo $HTTP_POST_VARS['username'];
// Available if the PHP directive register_globals = on. As
// of PHP 4.2.0 the default value of register_globals = off.
// Using/relying on this method is not preferred.
echo $username;
centricle : css filters (css hacks)
A great resource of information concerning various CSS hacks is the “Will the browser apply the rule(s)?” chart on the css filters (css hacks) page created by Kevin Smith of centricle.
3D CSS Box Model
Need to visualize how the CSS Box Model fits together? Check out the 3D CSS Box Model the beautiful creation of Jon Hicks. Douglas Livingstone in turn, built upon Jon’s work, creating an interactive version of the illustration, making it all the easier to understand how the pieces interlock.
Top Ten Things They Never Taught Me in Design School
Well, as someone who hasn’t been to design school, I can’t say whether or not I would have learned the lessons Michael McDonough provides in his article entitled Top Ten Things They Never Taught Me in Design School, but he provides valuable insight into the real-world aspects of corporate design and production. Some are pretty obvious to anyone who has spent time in a Marketing department, but I think the importance of the article is taking all of the points together and viewing them in relation to the daily tasks and practices encountered by every designer.
Here are the Ten things he lists, but I highly encourage you to read the article for the explanation of each point.
- Talent is one-third of the success equation.
- 95 percent of any creative profession is shit work.
- If everything is equally important, then nothing is very important.
- Don’t over-think a problem.
- Start with what you know; then remove the unknowns.
- Don’t forget your goal.
- When you throw your weight around, you usually fall off balance.
- The road to hell is paved with good intentions; or, no good deed goes unpunished.
- It all comes down to output.
- The rest of the world counts.
From The Architect’s Newspaper, via Design Observer.