Wee planets – “360° panoramas projected to look like small planets.”
Windows Vista: Right on the Button(s)
After experimenting briefly with a beta version, I have determined the best new feature of Windows Vista.
I complained back in 2001 about the rough edges on large form buttons in Internet Explorer. After installing Internet Explorer 7 on Windows XP, this was one of the first things I tested. I was dismayed to discover that the problem still persists.
However, on Windows Vista using IE 7, the corners of wide form buttons are not broken. That alone is worth years and millions of dollars worth of development.
That said, I still don’t understand what determines how wide the form buttons actually become (seems to be some kind of length_of_button_text × 1.N formula).
Tango Theme for Firefox
Garrett LeSage and a group of other good people have completed a nice upgrade of the Tango theme for Firefox 2. The theme brings the icons from the Tango Desktop Project to Firefox along with many improvements in making Firefox look and feel more like a native application on Linux.
There are also a series of “sub-themes” as well. The Gnome sub-theme matches with the default Gnome icon theme, Tangerine matches with the Ubuntu theme, and Industrial for the old Industrial Gnome theme.
Highly recommended for those using Firefox on Linux. There are rumblings of an update for the Tango theme for Thunderbird 2 as well.
Advertising in Microsoft’s Virtual Earth
Design by Disaster on the CBC Website
The CBC.ca website has been down or running in a minimal state due to “technical difficulties” for the last two days.
The stripped-down version of the site they put up in the mean time looks better than the full working version:
Halloween Highlight
The first trick-or-treat-er that came to our house this Halloween had a lit cigarette. I kid you not. That said, it still beats the first year at this house, when I had a handful of Unicef money stolen.
“E-Try It On” Sunglasses Tool – web-twenny for sunglasses
Firefox 2
Since you are on the internet right now (admit it, you are), you are probably aware that Firefox 2 has been released. My congratulations to all involved. While I was much less involved in the visual design this time around, it was still a pleasure to have been involved at all.
The Mozilla.com website has been updated as well. This website update was something that I was much more involved with than the actual browser update. The design itself was done by the Nobox Marketing Group (get it?) with the implementation handled by our team at silverorange and the good people at Mozilla.
My favourite new feature in Firefox 2 (after the spell checking and recently-closed tabs, that is): Try entering a math formula into the Google search box (I’d recommend 57 * 4 / pi). Notice that the solution to your formula is instantly displayed in the suggested results. Thanks to Paul Kim for pointing out this gem.
Signs of the Times
From my neighbours’ truck:
Other signs of the times:
- Watch out for baddies – bank machine in Charlottetown
- Mind your head – on the ferry to Les Îles de la Madeleine
- Urgent bathroom – at an Irving gas station, somewhere
- Don’t “Worry” the wildlife – Hyde Park, London
- Down Under Shampoo – Pharmacy in Charlottetown
- Gender bias at Mozilla – Mozilla summit, 2005
- Don’t Poach Me Bitches! – eco-grafitti in a San Francisco restaurant washroom
- Waring: you may be chosen by god – forget where…
- Small print at Krispy Kreme – at a Krispy Kreme in Mountain View, California
More photos of signs of the times.
Predicting the Future of Late Night
Now that Conan O’Brien is locked in for taking over the Tonight Show from Jay Leno (it’s old news, I know), I have a prediction the other late night show.
In a few years, I predict David Letterman will hand over his show to Jon Stewart.