I’ve finally (albeit weeks later than intended) created a primer on linear gradients with CSS. It’s a shallow dip into the deep pool of CSS gradients, but it’ll help get you started on taking advantage of gradients with Webkit, Firefox and even Internet Explorer! (Yes, really.)
It’s posted over here at Mindfly Web Design Studio. If you’re curious about gradients but scared of the syntax, check it out.
Usually when I mention Mark Pilgrim, it is with a dismayed tone that is meant to paint him as a dastardly villain who is elbow-deep in foul rituals meant to permanently stain the reputation of the HTML5 effort; an implication is made that he is resurrecting some great beast that will swallow the earth whole and enslave our souls.
What I’m saying is that, on average, I’m not a fan of his work.
However, his recent blog post “Tinkerer’s Sunset” clearly states the case of why the direction the iPad is moving the market is a sad affair. A man who learned his craft on an Apple IIe, he’s dismayed at the thought of the next generation of tinkerers, who will have to pay a fee or commit crimes in order to look under the hood of their own computers.
Many claim the iPad represents what the future of computing will look like: tailored, “safe” devices with little room for modification or customization (unless you plan on spending some time in court). Maybe that’s how it’ll be, and there’s little to be said or done. But Mark helps illustrate why that future will be a sad one. Go read his post.
At Mindfly, my official title is “Interactive Designer.” I’ve unofficially expanded it to “Interactive Designer & Humorist,” because my research has determined that you don’t need a special degree or oath to call yourself that. Which is more than can be said about my now-abandoned plan of adding “MD” to my title, which apparently offends members of the medical community and possibly constitutes a crime.
To complicate matters, my business cards says “Developer” on them. This is largely because I don’t do much conversing with clients, nor am I single, so I don’t have much reason to be handing them out to impress potential clients or dates. As such, I’ve had them for long before my title change. Mind you, my title change didn’t accompany any official change in tasks, merely a redefining what I do, which according to most of my co-workers is “get preachy.”
I’d tell them what to do less if they agreed with me more.
Anyhow, this whole rumination on job title spawned tiny thoughts that crept through my head asking “What do most people in the industry call themselves?” There’s plenty of discussions or surveys on the topic, such as this question from the Web Directions State of the Web 2008 survey, in which about half the respondents called themselves “developer”.
That doesn’t really answer my question. That’s what people call themselves, within the industry, in a survey of their peers. But what do you call yourself to the outside world? When I finally landed a gig in the industry (for which I am eternally thankful to Mindfly for) I called myself a “developer”. That confused most of the people I knew, so I upgraded it to “web developer.”
As expected, I then started fielding questions about how to fix their email problems or broken cable modems.
I’m not normally one to be reposting machima videos, but this is one of the better ones that I’ve seen in a long time, mainly because of all the custom skeletal animations being done (most WoW machimas use the standard animations throughout). It’s a great action scene focusing on the fight between two rogues. The creator (user percula on Vimeo) plans to do one showcasing each of the classes in WoW. I’m hoping she gets around to them all.
An a capella Tribute to John Williams.
It’s worth noting that this is Karina’s fault for linking it to me. I’d put a medley like this on my iPod if it were in MP3 form.