29 July 2010
Great minds think alike
Google Makes Custom Web Typography Ridiculously Easy
Google has once again given an excellent new tool to designers and developers (and even CSS-savvy “common folk”) who long for better, more diverse typefaces on the web: a cool Font Previewer that makes adding a new font to your site as simple as copy/pasting a few lines of code.
Back in May, Google rolled out its Font Directory and the Google Fonts API. The idea was that these tools would make it simpler for designers and devs to embed a wider range of fonts in their sites and applications.
The previewer takes a few steps out of that process by giving you an idea of how a given typeface will look on your site; letting you adjust the font size and weight; letting you tinker with the leading, kerning and tracking; generating a number of drop shadows if you require them; and generating the code you need to make the magic happen.
It’s pretty hot. Here’s what it looks like:
If you click “Toggle controls,” you can see what the typeface looks like sans-grid, sans-controls on a plain white screen.
Once you’re done tinkering, you’ll see a dynamically generated code sample beneath the preview area. Your code will look something like this:
Then, just copy and paste the stylesheet link and the CSS into your pages. That’s it; you’re done, and your site has a lovely, interesting new font. We tried it out ourselves, and it worked even better than expected.
All the fonts in Google’s library are open source. Previously, Google’s Font API could be integrated into websites using HTML or a JavaScript WebFont Loader that the company co-developed with Typekit.
28 July 2010
Woman in Technology
Discrimination now rarely takes the form of some guy saying “hey little lady, shouldn’t you let a man handle that?” It is much more subtle, but just as ugly. These days, bright, thoughtful, enlightened people assume that the absence of women in certain fields results from women being unable to compete on merit. The assumption that, if someone creates a scholarship for women, it is because otherwise, women can’t hack it.
Should you worry about the tags on Wal-Mart underwear?
The retail giant Wal-Mart will place radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags on underwear, jeans and other consumer items, according to several news reports, including one today from the Wall Street Journal. Companies have long used such "smart tags" to keep track of the inventory of goods going through the supply chain, but the move by Wal-Mart, the world's biggest retailer, to put them on individual consumer items marks a (not unexpected) shift toward something that privacy advocates have long feared....If the idea that corporations might want to use RFID tags to spy on individuals sounds far-fetched, it is worth considering an IBM patent filed in 2001 and granted in 2006. The patent describes exactly how the cards can be used for tracking and profiling even if access to official databases is unavailable or strictly limited. Entitled “Identification and Tracking of Persons Using RFID-Tagged Items in Store Environments,” it chillingly details RFID’s potential for surveillance in a world where networked RFID readers called “person tracking units” would be incorporated virtually everywhere people go—in “shopping malls, airports, train stations, bus stations, elevators, trains, airplanes, restrooms, sports arenas, libraries, theaters, [and] museums”—to closely monitor people’s movements.
According to the patent, here is how it would work in a retail environment: an “RFID tag scanner located [in the desired tracking location]... scans the RFID tags on [a] person.... As that person moves around the store, different RFID tag scanners located throughout the store can pick up radio signals from the RFID tags carried on that person and the movement of that person is tracked based on these detections.... The person tracking unit may keep records of different locations where the person has visited, as well as the visitation times.”
The fact that no personal data are stored in the RFID tag does not present a problem, IBM explains, because “the personal information will be obtained when the person uses his or her credit card, bank card, shopper card or the like.” The link between the unique RFID number of the tag and a person’s identity needs to be made only once for the card to serve as a proxy for the person thereafter.…
- Wal-Mart already scares the shit out of me for a variety of reasons, none the least being the clientele they attract, endearingly dubbed by me and my family as Wal-Martians.
- There are already dozens, perhaps hundreds of retailers that use RFID tags as anti-theft devices - you only have to cut out the tag after you've bought the garment. HOWEVER, I understand that Wal-Mart may just be creating RFID tags that are embedded in the seams, rather than obnoxiously sticking out, waiting to be cut.
- I certainly don't think that "privacy is dead" as many corporate douchebags do, but I almost never use cash, so i expect that to a certain extent my personal information is already being collected and aggregated. Probably more than I want to know.
Are we slowly becoming a society that resembles 1984? Possibly. Is allowing our personal information enabling the government and corporate interests to know more about us than we want them to know? Likely. But look at the technological advances that are also coming out of it. How nice is it that you can just tap your credit card on the little reader and your transaction is complete? Wouldn't it be cool if you could just walk through a scanner and complete your entire inventory checkout and payment transaction all within an instant? Right? Well that's RFID and related technologies. Am I crazy about the idea of being tracked and data collected about me everywhere I go? Of course not, but it's already happening, and I definitely appreciate the other conveniences this tracking affords me.
Does you know someone who compulsively forwards bogus email rumors?
27th Aug the Whole World is waiting for.............
Planet Mars will be the brightest in the night skystarting August. It will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye. This will culminate on Aug. 27 when Mars comes within 34.65M miles off earth. Be sure to watch the sky on Aug. 27 12:30 am. It will look like the earth has 2 moons.The next time Mars may come this close is in 2287.Share this with your friends as NO ONE ALIVE TODAY will ever see it again.
Just when you thought it was safe to check your email...For the sixth year in a row, a message about the Red Planet is popping up in email boxes around the world. It instructs readers to go outside after dark on August 27th and behold the sky. "Mars will look as large as the full moon," it says. "No one alive today will ever see this again."
Don't believe it.
Here's what will really happen if you go outside after dark on August 27th. Nothing. Mars won't be there. On that date, the red planet will be nearly 250 million km away from Earth and completely absent from the evening sky.
Right: Only in Photoshop does Mars appear as large as a full Moon.
The Mars Hoax got its start in 2003 when Earth and Mars really did have a close encounter. On Aug. 27th of that year, Mars was only 56 million km away, a 60,000-year record for martian close approaches to Earth. Someone sent an email alerting friends to the event. The message contained some misunderstandings and omission--but what email doesn't? A piece of advanced technology called the "forward button" did the rest.
21 July 2010
Damon Lindelof on Inception
iPhone Is Coming To T-Mobile USA In Q3
T-Mobile USA is very close to getting the iPhone in the fall, ending Apple’s exclusive relationship with AT&T, according to a highly placed source at the wireless company.
Talks between Apple and T-Mobile are at an advanced stage, our source says, and it’s 80 percent likely that the iPhone will be coming to T-Mobile in Q3.
The source works at T-Mobile but asked not to be quoted directly and to remain anonymous because they aren’t authorized to talk to the press.
T-Mobile’s parent company, Deutsche Telekom, which carries the iPhone in Germany, was able to influence, the source said. T-Mobile USA is the fourth-largest U.S. carrier with 33.7 million customers.
Apple’s exclusive contract with AT&T is reportedly ending this year, and many expect Apple to offer the iPhone to other wireless companies. Overseas, Apple has routinely added extra carriers when exclusivity deals in those markets expire.
(via Cult of Mac)
-o-o-o-
Now this I can believe! I still don't think Apple iwll ever make a CDMA phone, but opening exclusivity to the only other GSM network in America makes sense. I just expect it will be extrememly limited as the T-Mobile network in America is super miniature compared to AT&T's craptastic network. No way they could handle a fraction of the volume of users and data bandwith that AT&T currently accomodates. But here's to hoping! Any alleviation for AT&T is good news for current subscribers.
Typeface Terrorism
20 July 2010
Is Your Boyfriend Reading Your Facebook Messages?
According to a recent survey put out by AskMen.com, dudes are a nosy bunch — more than a few admitted to snooping around their partners’ inboxes.
AskMen’s “Great Male Survey” — which is currently live on the site, chock full of manly stats — was conducted over a two-month period, during which the website collected the responses of more than 100,000 dudes.
The questions range from Facebook use to online dating, but we found a certain collection of stats intriguing: those pertaining to online privacy and relationships. According to the survey, by and large, men believe that privacy is dead online. Although 21.31% opined that privacy is alive and kickin’, 53.18% answered, “Yes, but not online,” and 25.51% said no.
The gaggle of hombres’ answers in other arenas backed up this assertion. When asked if they had ever read a partner’s Facebook messages, e-mail or other electronic correspondence, the men answered thusly:
- Yes, but only with my partner’s knowledge: 23.51%
- Yes, but only because it was open on the desktop: 13.32%
- Yes, I broke into my partner’s e-mail or messaging account: 8.90%
- No, but I would if I suspected my partner was up to something: 21.54%
- No, I respect my partner’s privacy: 32.73%
While 32.73% is a still a goodly number of considerate bros — and while the survey doesn’t specify what “with my partner’s knowledge” means (it could entail, say, looking up flight information or something of that nature) — it seems a pretty substantial number of guys have snooped on a partner.
RIP: Google Kills the Nexus One
LOST: The bookclub (an update)
Not your father's style manual
The Chicago Manual of Style addresses some recent questions about citation, grammar, and even fashion.
Q. Hi there! For a sign for bachelorette parties, would the phrase "Bachelorette Out of Control" be more appropriate than "Bachelorette's Out of Control"? The question is one of contraction, because I don't see how "Bachelorette's Out of Control" can be correct without "The" prefacing it. Thank you!
A. Out-of-control bachelorettes who require appropriate signage aren't very convincing, but the first version is better.
Amazon: We sell more books in Kindle format than hardcover
16 July 2010
My Cinderella Would Wear These Fiber Optic Heels
15 July 2010
How the Old Spice Videos Are Being Made
Who Actually Made All Those Brand Name Sunglasses?
Do you prefer the "quality" of Ray-Ban to Oakley? Do you think Bulgari is better than Dolce & Gabbana, or Salvatore Ferragamo is better than Prada? Wake up. They’re all made by one company, Italian manufacturer Luxottica–one of the biggest consumer companies that consumers have never heard of. Luxottica also makes sunglasses branded Burberry, Chanel, Polo Ralph Lauren, Paul Smith, Stella McCartney, Tiffany, Versace, Vogue, Persol, Miu Miu, Tory Burch and Donna Karan.
"We manufacture about 70% of those brands in our factories in Italy, and the balance in America and China," says Luxottica spokesman Luca Biondolillo. "We do the design, the manufacturing, and the marketing," he adds. The company makes most of those brands under license, working closely with designers at the relevant fashion houses. But it owns several brands itself, including Ray-Ban, Oakley, Oliver Peoples and REVO. [...]
In many cases, the same company is also selling you the glasses. Luxottica also owns LensCrafters, Pearle Vision and Sunglass Hut. This is extreme vertical integration. The eye doctor telling you that you need a new pair of glasses, the sales people helping you choose them and the people who design and make the glasses all work for the same company.
14 July 2010
5 Useless Gadgets that Solve Non-Existent Problems
For every great automated device that makes our home life easier, there's bound to be several that miss the mark. They can't all be Roombas, right? But even amongst the graveyard of products that don't catch on, there's a few stragglers that really never stood a chance. They're solving household problems that don't exist, and tackling tasks that are easier done by hand or foot.Celebrate Spain's World Cup Win With a Championship Case
Celebrate Spain's World Cup victory with a special edition iPhone 3G/3GS case from Uncommon. Though the company recently launched its line of iPhone 4 cases, iPhone 3G and 3GS soccer fans get some love with this celebratory collection. A month ago at the start of the World Cup, Uncommon launched its World Cup collection, featuring cases decorated with flags of the countries participating in this year's World Cup. One by one as teams were eliminated, the cases were eliminated from the collection. Now, the Spain flag is the last remaining case from the original group - and Uncommon has added several other World Cup-themed designs, including a case decked out in a World Cup trophy commemorating Spain's victory.
I Wirte Like
Check what famous writer you write like with this statistical analysis tool, which analyzes your word choice and writing style and compares them to those of the famous writers.
Given Truth, the Misinformed Believe Lies More
$20,000 Hollandia iCon Bed Is Really Just A Gigantic SNES
12 July 2010
Developers: In UK, Computer Science Graduates the Least Employable on Friday July 02, @05:38AM
E-Textbooks: Barnes & Noble Targets Students with NOOKstudy
Some analysts predict that close to 20% of textbooks sold in 2014 will be in digital form, so it only makes sense for a large retailer like Barnes & Noble to try to move into this market. With this move, Barnes & Noble is challenging Amazon, whose Kindle hasn't been able to succeed in educational settings yet, as well as online textbook services like CourseSmart.
(via RWW)
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I'm actually really excited about this. I'm not necessarily stoked for this particular platform for any reason, but I'm excited about the way this game is developing. Anyone who says digital publishing isn't the future of the industry is delusional, and it's awesome to watch how this new, growing market is being provided for. I am super stoked to see the way publishers are engaging content to keep information relevant and have an advantage over their competitors. I think all these developments serve to better both the industry and its consumers, and I'm really happy about it.
Magnetic Thinking Putty
W00t! sends Associated Press a bill for quoting its blog
One problem: the AP has previously told bloggers that quotations -- however brief -- should be licensed before publication. They even offer these licenses. For a small fee, AP will generously allow you to quote one of its articles on your blog (provided that you don't do so in a way that criticizes the AP, of course, and they reserve the right to take the quote back at any time).
So W00t! sent the AP a bill for $17.50 for the quotation:
The AP, we can't thank you enough for looking our way. You see, when we showed off our good news on Wednesday afternoon, we expected we'd get a little bit of attention. But when we found your little newsy thing you do, we couldn't help but notice something important. And that something is this: you printed our web content in your article! The web content that came from our blog! Why, isn't that the very thing you've previously told nu-media bloggers they're not supposed to do?So, The AP, here we are. Just to be fair about this, we've used your very own pricing scheme to calculate how much you owe us. By looking through the link above, and comparing your post with our original letter, we've figured you owe us roughly $17.50 for the content you borrowed from our blog post, which, by the way, we worked very very hard to create. But, hey. We're all friends here. And invoicing is such a hassle in today's paperless society, are we right? How about this: instead of cutting us a check for the web content you liberated from our site, all you'll need to do is show us your email receipt from today's two pack of Sennheiser MX400 In-Ear Headphones, and we'll call it even.
Typography Activity Book
Love typography? Want to teach your kids how to avoid the typographical faux pas of using Comic Sans?
Did Americans in 1776 have British accents?
Reading David McCullough’s 1776, I found myself wondering: Did Americans in 1776 have British accents? If so, when did American accents diverge from British accents?
The answer surprised me.
I’d always assumed that Americans used to have British accents, and that American accents diverged after the Revolutionary War, while British accents remained more or less the same.
Americans in 1776 did have British accents in that American accents and British accents hadn’t yet diverged. That’s not too surprising.
What’s surprising, though, is that those accents were much closer to today’s American accents than to today’s British accents. While both have changed over time, it’s actually British accents that have changed much more drastically since then.
First, let’s be clear: the terms “British accent” and “American accent” are oversimplifications; there were, and still are, many constantly-evolving regional British and American accents. What many Americans think of as “the British accent” is the standardized Received Pronunciation, also known as “BBC English.”
While most American accents are rhotic, the standard British accent is non-rhotic. (Rhotic speakers pronounce the ‘R’ sound in the word “hard”; non-rhotic speakers do not.)
So, what happened?
In 1776, both American accents and British accents were largely rhotic.
It was around this time that non-rhotic speech took off in southern England, especially among the upper class; this “prestige” non-rhotic speech was standardized, and has been spreading in Britain ever since.
Most American accents, however, remained rhotic.
There are a few fascinating exceptions: New York and New England accents became non-rhotic, perhaps because of the region’s British connections. Irish and Scottish accents are still rhotic.
If you’d like to learn more, this passage in The Cambridge History of the English Language is a good place to start.
5 Organizations Helping Women Get Ahead in Tech
What happens when “equality in the workplace” is simply a numbers game? The ratio of women trained in computer science education is even lower now than it was in the 1930s. In 2008, girls made up just 17% of Advanced Placement test takers in computer science (the lowest percentage of any subject) and held less than 20% of CS degrees.
Felicitaciones, Espana!
09 July 2010
Never fear... The World Cup is alomst over, and I'll resume blog posting next week
I know I've been rubbish about posting the past four weeks, but there are only so many hours in the day, and recently so many of them have been dedicated to following the stats in South Africa. Fret not, faithful follower(s?), for I will resume aggregating geeky things after Spain wins over Netherlands this Sunday. It's going to happen. Paul says so.
Have a great weekend, and check back next week as I kick it into overdrive with posts that I have been reading but not sharing in the past several days.
-o-o-o
01 July 2010
LOST: The book club
Sawyer describes himself as "The Ghost of Christmas Future" while banging on the door of The Swan ("Because You Left"), and The Man in Black as "The Ghost of Christmas Past" ("The Substitute").
Complaining about AT&T to the FCC and BBB: An update
