December 2004 Archives

what to do when it's a blizzard outside...

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Boxing Day was a bit of a bust when a pretty strong nor'easter blew into town with winds gusting to 100km/hr and a bunch of snow to whip around. So we got to spend that time (instead of fighting the crowds at the Boxing Day sales) as a family down in the basement in front of the TV. We hunkered down in our cozy clothes and popped Lord of the Rings: Return of the King extended version in the DVD. An enjoyable way to spend about 4 hours. By the way, I felt the extended version was much better than the theatre cut because it did tie up some story lines better. Anyway, what do you do to pass the time when a storm keeps you housebound?

it's Christmas Eve...

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... and I almost ran over Santa! No joke, really. I'm still feeling a little weird about it actually. Aliya and I had gone over to my Mom's house to exchange gifts, and then on the way back we decided to cruise around the neighborhood a bit and enjoy the lovely Christmas light displays. Finally turning on to our street and feeling really blissed out I noticed something lurch out of the darkness right in front of my car. I slammed on the brakes and there in the headlights was Santa! (looking a little like a "rein"deer caught in the headlights). He waved merrily so we waved back a little stunned. He then proceeded, sack slung over his back, over to a minivan (apparently Santa drives a Windstar - who knew?) and off we went.
Thank god Aliya wasn't a few years younger - I can only imagine the possible trauma.

actually...it's more like spring

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What is up with this wacky weather? Today was a balmy +7° C and the winter wonderland is one big pool of slush. The weather channel is also predicting +8 or so tomorrow as well as torrential rain overnight. And this to be followed by a quick freeze. *super*
I was out this afternoon trying to chop up the icy slushy mess in the driveway so the water will have somewhere to go and we don't end up with a skating rink. Man, what a chore! Thankfully D helped out when he got home from work but I'm feeling the soreness starting up. Time to cozy up on the couch with a movie.

it's like capturing slices of time

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My dad was an amateur photographer (among other things) and he taught me how to develop black & whites and we’d go out on shoots together – it was lots of fun. He’s gone now and the darkroom’s dismantled. Fast forward a bunch of years and I still think of going out on shoots – but never seem to make time for it. Lately, we’ve been going on about getting a digital camera and finally got the one we’d been looking at, yesterday.

I've added "Take More Pictures" to my list of goals on 43 Things so to start on my goal – I’m going to work on the 26 Things photo challenge.

43 things...

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43.gifI was invited to this site to try it out. How it works is you create a list of 43 things you'd like to do - a list of goals to achive (short term, long term, lifelong). You can look at other people's lists, mark off stuff you've done, add comments to other people's goals. Interesting. In fact - addicting! I think this is an awesome concept and I think perhaps it may even help me to work on my goals (now that I've committed them to writing). Mental lists are fine but they don't seem to have the realness (weight? strength? whatever - ) of the written word. Seriously cool app.

scalable rounded edges part 2...

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I like the look of rounded corners on various elements so I have been experimenting on a method of creating them with CSS. Conceptually, it's simply a matter of onion-skinning the layers so one slides over the other (see ALA: onion skinned drop shadows plus sliding doors of CSS).

For my example, I created 4 corner images which are positioned in divs that layer one atop the other. Semantically, the CSS needs work but the concept is there.

Clarity vs Simplicity...

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There is a very good article on 37 Signals about Clarity vs Simplicity.

Jason Fried writes:
"What really matters is clarity. Clarity in visual design. Clarity in copywriting. Clarity in purpose, mission, and statement. Clarity allows someone to "get it" while simplicity only allows someone to "see it."

Clarity - what a neat concept. I definitely agree with the statement above. I usually say that making the complex is simple - simplifying the complex is difficult. Now, making it clear can be both complex and difficult but it is ultimately necessary since it's all about the content.

One of my favorite reference books is "Don't Make Me Think" by Steve Krug. It was relevant when he wrote it in 2000 and it's still relevant today. People don't want to go through hoops to "get" the information they are looking for. Nor do they want to have to unravel the jargon to find the real meaning of your content. Who has time for that?

scalable rounded edges...

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Now here is a cool technique that I meant to link to ages ago but have just been swamped with work. ACJ (Alexander Christiaan Jacob) shows how to ditch the boxy look for the sleeker, more modern rounded edged boxes for definition lists. I'm definitely going to try this out when I dust off this site.

iTMS Canada....

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It's here! It's here - finally! iTunes music store is open for business in Canada. I'm a happy happy camper - especially since Christmas came early and I'm now the proud parent of an iPod photo :)
(I'm sure the credit card companies are rejoicing too).

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