BooneOakley

There’s no such thing as a perfect website.

Websites are SUPPOSED to evolve as people’s requirements (and ideas) change. Therefore, while you might get a website that’s perfect for exactly one nanosecond in time where site design, content, product and people work perfectly together, what you mostly get is the need to improve the site.

HOWEVER…some sites come pretty bloody close to perfect, and BooneOakley is one of them. [Read more]

Blender defender

Ever had a problem with your cat getting up on the counter?

http://www.plasma2002.com/blenderdefender/

‘Nuf said.*

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*Although if you’ve got time, also check out the emergency party button, perfect for the friendless geek with a few extra electronics lying around.

200 years that changed the world…and other things

There are few things better than a good data visualization.* “Lies, damn lies, and statistics” aside, it’s one of the best ways I know to debunk dogma and put the universe into a bit more perspective. And, in the bargain, many are absolutely gorgeous works of art.

[Read more]

The lookup game

When I was a kid I used to grab the nearest reference work–dictionary, encyclopedia, my dad’s medical texts, my mom’s artbooks–then close my eyes and turn to a page. I’d read whatever came up, follow all the “See alsos” I came across, look up terms I didn’t understand and just generally take that page to its logical conclusion.

I called it the “lookup game.” It taught me all sorts of totally useless things (for a kid), including the realization that I never met a fact I didn’t like. It also turned me on to doing my own research and discovering things, people, issues, etc., that probably wouldn’t have appeared in the typical suburban whitekid’s daily routine.

[Read more]

Design by the Book

Just a quickie: Cool project with the New York Public Library, called Design by the Book. It’s a collaboration between the library, a group called Design Sponge and five New York artists:

• Mike Perry, an illustrator and author specializing in hand-drawn fonts
• John Pomp, a glassblower
• Julia Rothman, a fabric/wallpaper pattern designer
• Rebecca Kutys, who runs a small printing press
• Lorena Barrezueta, who makes table and body ware in porcelain

The idea is pretty simple: Turn these artists loose in the stacks of New York Public and see what inspires them…and how it changes their work. The results aren’t really revolutionary, but it is interesting. Design Sponge videotaped the process, and incidentally reminded us that libraries are a precious resource and more than just a collection of words that can be put online. 

If you’re into Apple iTunes, it’s available as a podcast there, or you can pick up episodes directly from the site. And the librarian in the series, Jessica Pigza, has a blog called the Handmade Librarian that’s well worth a visit even if you’re not interested in the project.

And go visit your library!

Silk mermaids and great big sculptures

Not a whole lot I can add to this lady’s blog, SilkMermaid.com, except WOW….and that it’s worth a visit if you’re interested in large-format sculpture, robotic-assist costuming and related topics. Sculptor Kim Graham includes some excellent supplies lists and tutorials on creating sculpture and molds. (and notice the resemblance in the two folk on the left)

This blog is the how. If you want to see Ms. Graham’s sculpture gallery, visit her studio website.

Be sure to check out her digitigrade leg extensions. And, thanks to Patrick Gracewood for pointing me to her stuff.

Glenda Watson Hyatt

For those of you feeling a trifle put-upon because you have too much to do, have another heaping helping of guilt, courtesy of Glenda Watson Hyatt,

Ms. Hyatt authors an extremely popular blog (that she just redesigned), is an activist and authority on online accessibility, travels all over giving lectures on personal and corporate blogging, writes books, delivers podcasts, tells terrific jokes, is about to go on jury duty…and mostly does all that with her left thumb (and a pretty good brain).

Ms. Hyatt has cerebral palsy, is classified as “non-verbal” by doctors and confined to a wheelchair. Doesn’t seem to have slowed her down much, and the next time I’m moaning about being too busy, I’m gonna remember Ms. Hyatt and shut the heck up.

No8wired

Just a quick one: Ran across a Kiwi Londoner’s site using relatively inexpensive tools to produce stunning results. Designdev George Coltart did it, and it’s a keeper.

Crazygood artists

I’m in the middle of about six very different web projects right now, all of them centered on making WordPress (the software that drives this blog) stand up and do tricks. My latest personal site, crazygoodartists, popped up this week, and I thought I’d ask you guys what you think.

Far too many people think of a blog as a serial diary that runs on and on like literary diarrhea (OK, no cracks about yours truly). In fact, however, blogging software has evolved into one of the most sophisticated and easy to use content management systems out there.

Add the fact that it’s virtually free, and you get an incredible, low-cost website tool for organizations that don’t have a dedicated web team. (Or for many that do, but that’s another story). Instead of adding a blog to the website, though, I’m suggesting that the blog BECOMES the website.

It helps artists, for example, get around the single biggest barrier to entry for an effective portfolio site: The need to either learn HTML yourself, use a limited number of commercial templates supplied by your host, or hire someone to build your site and keep it current.

Difficult concept to get across, but I’ve been putting together a series of testblogs to show how versatile WordPress can be. And I found a really cool template, Threat to Creativity, from a guy named Max, that I needed to do SOMEthing with.

So I grabbed a cheap domain, installed WordPress and the theme, made a few small modifications, and started uploading content. Whole process took maybe 30 minutes…and crazygoodartists was born.

Personally, it’s a great way to bookmark the sites of my favorite artists, and maybe also give them a minor web traffic boost. It’s also a fast way to share them with others. Click the browse menu on the right to select a medium or type of work you’re interested in, and you’ll see only artists working in those areas.

Whenever I get a chance I’ll be updating and modifying the template–I have a lot of ideas about it–but I’d love to read your opinions. What would you do with this site?

(Oh, and check out some of the artists. They really are crazy-good.)

Mommy needs a cocktail

Until you’re a mother, the whole sweet mommy-baby-birth-toddler syndrome pretty much leaves you cold. (Unless you’re a wanna-be mommy, meaning you’re sucking up the “and then my water broke (giggle) all over Cynthia’s hand-made Tibetan wool rug” jollies like a chocoholic at Godiva.)

I’m one of those hapless non-mommies who listens to mommyflock conversation with a bobbing head and slightly bemused smile until presented with a convenient escape. So far I’ve failed to find the humor in birthing, toilet training and other things involving messy bodily functions, especially over dinner.

Which is why I’m totally astonished that I’m *still* laughing at Mommy Needs a Cocktail (because sometimes the chocolate brownies just don’t do the trick). It’s the blog of a freelance legalist and writer, Kristen, who also sells t-shirts, mugs and bags on a separate site. I can honestly say that she’s written the first birthing story I ever read twice. It ain’t exactly hushed and reverent, and it’s a bit short on the wondrous joy part…which is maybe why I like it…but it sure is fun.

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