There are a lot of helpful CSS properties out there, available for use, that I am simply not aware of. I came across one recently while reading a post from Sacha Grief [http://sachagreif.com/useful-sass-mixins/] on my iPad. When I tapped on a link, there was a nice highlight colour applied. When designing a site, I know I've struggled at times to pick appropriate styles to indicate both a link, plus the state of the link when tapped. Enter -webkit-tap-highlight-color. I checked out Sacha's sit…
If there's one thing the last two versions of OS X, Lion and Mountain Lion, have shown us, it's that the iOS-ification of a desktop operating system comes with a few bumps along the road. Having worked on Mountain Lion for several weeks now, it's clear that working with files is an area of confusion. Something that Apple has largely removed from the mobile computing experience is still somewhat awkward in the desktop arena. I like Mountain Lion, I do. As I did Lion. Each had their issues at the…
As I mentioned recently [https://chrisbowler.com/journal/keeping-a-daily-journal], I've been journalling almost daily in 2012. This has been an analog, pen and paper activity. Partly because I don't want my journalling time to be fraught with the distractions a connected device brings. But it was also partly due to the fact that I hadn't found an application that suited me well. Today, that changed. And Shawn Blanc explains those changes, as well as why it works for him, in his review [http://s…
Tobias van Schneider thinks so. He shared his thoughts on the subject [http://www.vanschneider.com/work/mail/], including his idea for fixing email. I've read his post several times, but, apart from appreciating the thought he's put into it, his solution is lacking. He's trying to solve the wrong problem. Email clients are not broken. True, there has been no real innovation around email clients since the inception of the platform. But that doesn't mean our current tools are not doing their job.…
The following article is my most recent contribution to the weekly Read & Trust [http://readandtrust.com/] newsletter. If you've looked at this publication in the past, but haven't made the step to subscribing, this is the type of content you're missing from a great bunch of writers with a whole lot more talent than this guy. Check it out now [http://readandtrust.com/newsletter.php]. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Best read with accompaniment,…
It's term that has changed a lot in the past ten years ago. Even five years. One way to approach self publishing is to host a personal blog, like this site or Shawnblanc.net [http://shawnblanc.net/]. This type of setup is fun because it's so flexible. Running a site under your own name allows you to write on any topic that interests you. Another approach is to be focused. Take one subject that you're passionate about and stick to that. I like this concept as well because, if the publisher foll…
Having just finished the second edition of Offscreen [http://www.offscreenmag.com/], self-described as a "new, collectible print magazine about the human side of websites and apps", a couple of thoughts come to mind. First, this is a well executed publication. The quality of the paper and binding are excellent. As well, the photography is very well done and the amount of images makes flipping through the magazine as enjoyable as sitting down and reading through one of the interviews. Second, s…
July is here and the year is half over. The past few weeks have felt a little like the week between Christmas and New Year's. That's always an enjoyable period of reflection and goal setting. This year I've been more aware of the passing of time (my hair blows in the wind as the weeks fly by at breakneck speed. At least it would if I had long hair …) and as the end of June approached I found myself reviewing my progress, or the lack thereof. On that note, one new habit I'…