Cool and somewhat useless

It is amazing the many and varied ways to present data. Here is a site that will take any website and make a graph out of it. The image is this site, before adding this entry, however.

Cool Time Magazine site

This was one of the cooler sites I have found over the past year. It presents information in a very engaging manner. This is a great example of what Flash does well in the hands of a talented designer(s).

Cars

Pixar's newest film is about a week away, but you can check out some of the fun at their website. The site is a great example of fun design; it presents a showroom for all of this seasons new cars. The only detraction being the giant Disney banner at the top of the screen.

Hurricane Season

Have you got all of your supplies? Florida has a tax holiday that ends on June 1st. You can find a list of items on this page. Be prepared this season; these are the major items to plan on storing in case of emergency:

Water

- at least 1 gallon daily per person for 3 to 7 days

Food

- at least enough for 3 to 7 days
• non-perishable packaged or canned food / juices

• foods for infants or the elderly
• snack foods
• non-electric can opener
• cooking tools / fuel
• paper plates / plastic utensils

Blankets

/ Pillows, etc.

Clothing

- seasonal / rain gear/ sturdy shoes

First Aid Kit

/ Medicines / Prescription Drugs

Special Items

- for babies and the elderly

Toiletries

/ Hygiene items / Moisture wipes

Flashlight

/ Batteries

Radio

- Battery operated and NOAA weather radio

Cash

(with some small bills) - Banks and ATMs may not be open or available for extended periods.

Toys

, Books and Games

Important documents

- in a waterproof container or watertight resealable plastic bag

• insurance, medical records, bank account numbers, Social Security card, etc.

Tools

- keep a set with you during the storm

Vehicle

fuel tanks filled

Pet care items

- most shelters do not accept pets, so plan accordingly

• proper identification / immunization records / medications
• ample supply of food and water
• a carrier or cage
• muzzle and leash

Finally, think of what you may need for at least a week. If Katrina has shown America one thing it is the government is incapable of protecting its citizens, so plan for your family.

Webstandards links

Here are some more links for some webstandard design & coding insight from some of the big brains online

(these are all external links populating a new window)

:

A List Apart - explores the design, development, and meaning of web content, with a special focus on techniques and benefits of designing with web standards.

Eric Meyer - if you do not know this man's work or his site, do yourself a favor bookmark his site and grab his books. He is one of the reasons that web standards has gained such notoriety. His knowledge is extensive and his ability to illustrate complex ideas with simple tutorials is without peer.

Tantek Çelik - here is another great leader in the field of web standards and CSS. He has certainly forgotten more about this language than I have learned.

Kurafire Network - here is some real interesting use of compliant CSS/XHTML. Faruk is a talented designer and his reputation is growing in the field.

I will add some more links at a later time. If you have any inspirational designers who you find valuable to your work, please let me know.

Lightbox +

Here is another great bit of code for showcasing imagery on your site. Lightbox

(external link)

offers a dynamic slideshow for your imagery with just a small bit of code from the prototype

(external link)

framework and the scriptaculous

(external link)

library. It works very well and provides an easy to implement and effective showcase for imagery without the overhead of Flash (not that I am bashing Flash since I work with it quite a bit).

Some folks have expanded the effect and there is a good bit of activity in the community

(external link)

for creating nice solutions using this method. When you need to implement something other than the standard Flash gallery, this may prove a valuable alternative.

Free Speech

In an ever continuing struggle to maintain the freedoms we have here in the states, we must stand up for those who speak out. I am not partial to country music, but I defend the rights of those to speak their minds, especially artists in the pursuit of their vision. The Dixie Chicks have caught more than their fair share of flack and have spoken back with this album, Taking the Long Way

(external link to the iTunes Music Store)

, which is a great album.

Rick Rubin produced this album and the women have written some tremendous music. I think that it leans more to the Rock Bluegrass genre than Country, but that is just my 2¢. Buy this album and support free speech.

Let's go Mets!

It is nice when your team is doing well. Having been a lifelong fan, I have become used to the disappoint a season can bring. This year, however, they are playing very well and if they keep playing .500 ball odds are looking good for the fall.

moo.fx

One of the cooler things I have recently run across. Moo.fx is an easy-to-use fast, compliant javascript effects library written with prototype.js. It provides an easy to use framework to create some nice effects to your site. There are some cool things that folks have done to extend the functionality of the code and this just further illustrates the entrepreneurial spirit of development.

Some CSS links

I have been reworking some major projects and have somewhat neglected this site. In the process of working back to some measure of regularity I have found some interesting and inspirational links that others may find useful (

links will open a new window

):











…and of course the grand-daddy of them all



I will add some more items in the coming days.