Category Archives: Random Stuff

Iterating, iterating, iterating

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I have been messing with the layout and design of stonehippo.com, working little by little to improve the overall feeling of the site. I decided to take a “release early and often” approach, updating not just the code by the live site pretty much as soon as I made a new change. The result has been a relatively rapid evolution over the past few days.

The layout has undergone some tweaks to implement a responsive design that will work well across a range of devices and browser configurations. The design was already responsive to some extent, but after reading Ethan Marcotte’s handy Responsive Web Design, I decided that I could do more.

stonehippo.com on the iPhone

The new responsive design as seen on the iPhone...

I still have some work to do, notably around adding media query polyfills to support older browsers. And I am not entirely happy with the two column layout presented at the widest screen sizes.

stonehippo.com in desktop Safari

...and on desktop Safari.

I have also added some graphic design elements to the page. I wanted to keep the design simple, with minimal embellishment and a focus on the content, but the older text-on-white design felt like it need some accenting.

Take a look and see what you think. And if you get a chance, take a screenshot and send it to me. I am looking for some additional data on how the design holds up under a broad range of conditions, especially mobile and small screen devices. I am pretty happy with the results on the iPhone and iPad, but I’d love to see how it’s working on Android, Blackberry and other devices.

Feeling Crafty

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My new denim iPad sleeve

We took a trip to D.C. in 2010, just a couple of days after I received my iPad. Of course, I didn’t want to be parted from my shiny new toy, but I hadn’t purchased anything to carry it in. So, the night before we flew out, I whipped up a simple sleeve using some craft foam left over scuba costume I’d built for the tyke the previous Halloween. Orange and black, machine stitched and suitably sturdy, I was pretty proud of my custom sleeve.

Unfortunately, after daily wear and tear over the past year, the craft foam was starting to break down a bit. Frankly, I’m surprised it lasted this long. The time had come for a new travel enclosure for the iPad.

Today, I grabbed an old pair of worn out jeans, some scissors and the sewing machine. The result is a nice new denim sleeve with flap for my little buddy to ride in. It’s not perfect—I sort of designed it on the fly—but it like the result. I was able to keep one of the back pockets as a place to hold cables and whatnot. I’d like to add a button closure to the pocket, but other than that, I’m pretty happy with my little craft project.

The pocket on my denim iPad sleeve

The new iPad sleeve

I’m fine. How are you?

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It has been a while since I wrote anything here, but I just wrote a short post for the Cantina blog, so I thought maybe it was time to jot down some stuff here, too.

We just got back from a weekend in dirty, old New Jersey. My grandfather just turned 88.5; my mom has decided that it would be a nice thing to celebrate his semiannual anniversaries. He’s shooting for 90, which seems like a pretty good goal to me. We went down with the tyke to celebrate with the family. The kiddo got to spend some time with her G-ma and we had one of our not-often enough four-generations dinners.

Besides the eight human beings in attendance, there were also four iPads. And I must say, we spent a lot of time jawing about those amazing tablets. I don’t think I ever expected that I would find my mom, or her husband, that interested in a computer. EVAH.

It was also an interesting weekend for us car-wise: we grabbed a MINI Clubman from ZipCar for the trip. I have wanted a MINI ever since I first saw one, perched atop a van on Newbury Street. I don’t know what it is about those little cars. It may be the same thing that drives me to contemplate kidnapping my neighbor’s French Bulldog, Reggie. He’s cute and tough at the same time.

We figured that the best way to figure out if there was any point in going beyond the mere fantasy was to try an extended test drive under real conditions. And it was worth it. The MINI may be small, but the ride was really enjoyable and world’s better than our old Civic or the Subaru we’ve grown to hate too soon. We won’t be getting a MINI soon, unfortunately, but now at least I feel like I can really get one.

In the larger picture, things are going well. My job at Cantina is amazing, largely because I get to work with a crew of super smart, super funny and all around good folks. The tyke is wrapping up her last year of pre-school and the whole family is buzzing a little as we careen towards KINDERGARTEN. Wow, how time flies.

Apple Device Relative Screen Sizes Redux

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A few months ago I posted a showing the relative pixel dimensions of various Apple products. I created the graphic partially as an aid in my decision making process for buying a new MacBook Pro, but mostly because I feel a geeky compulsion to do it.

And now I’ve done a new version, available for anyone who might be interested.

A screenshot of the relative pixel dimensions page.

Relative Pixel Dimensions for Apple Displays

This time I did the whole this using plain old HTML and CSS. I used it as an opportunity to play around with a few CSS3 features, too. The means the it works best using a modern browser.

I also corrected some errors from the original, too.

If you find this useful, let me know.

Five short points to software success

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If you are involved in the creation of software, here’s a short list of things you can do to ensure that your software will sell a bazillion copies of your product, whatever it is.

  1. DON’T piss me off.
  2. DON’T rip me off.
  3. DON’T let your stuff get in my way.
  4. DON’T include shit no one needs.
  5. DO make me feel like a rockstar.

That’s it. If you can do that, your path to fame, fortune and Ferrari’s is assured.*

* Ok, maybe not. But it’s more likely, at least.