A webreference.com article on the history of the San Serif typeface and the world of fonts. Written in 1998 the article comments on the interesting and somewhat demanding study of ligature and typography.
http://www.webreference.com/dlab/9802/index.html
Understanding web typography
I came across an interesting article on Font choices, accessibility and web design while visiting the new accessibility website called, MadeForAll. The article is written by Jim Byrne and he has published a two part online tutorial on understanding web typography.
The most interesting part of the article comments on the use of accessible typography for brail conversion.
http://www.mcu.org.uk/articles/accessibletext.html
A list Apart: Flash MX and accessibility
A list Apart comment in a April 2002 issue on some of the accessibility concerns of Flash MX. I revisit to look more closely at accessibility in Flash.
The two articles are written by Joe Clark and Andrew Kirkpatrick respectively and they look at conflicts in misunderstandings of WAI and Section 508 and create a roadmap for future improvements. The articles also have an excellent collection of discussions in the forums
www.alistapart.com/issues/143
Joe Clark is a Toronto USA based accessibility consultant and journalist. He has written a book in 2002 titled, Building Accessible Websites and the first 5 chapters are available online. His book blog can be found here and some reviews of his book can be found in Amazon here.
Aaron Swartz on the future of wireless networking
Aaron Swartz comments on the possible future of wireless networking. Somewhat witty, the blog post comments on what would happen when overly saturated wireless networks become too crowded and demand more bandwidth – an interesting view nevertheless
www.aaronsw.com/weblog/000842
Aaron Swartz co-authored the RSS 1.0 specification in 2000, he joined the W3C’s RDF Core Working Group developing the format for the Semantic Web in 2001 and last year in 2002, he became the Metadata Advisor to the Creative Commons.
His personal website is www.aaronsw.com
IE 5 Mac CSS issues & solutions on OS X and OS 9
There is an interesting article in the Apple Developer Connection site which comments on some CSS issues and solutions with Internet Explorer (IE) version 5 on the Mac for OS X and OS 9.
Although being more compliant to standards that IE for windows the Mac version has some problems when rendering CSS DIV tags with absolute positioning. There is also some minor problems with overflow declaration and margins. The article comments on some alternative solutions
http://developer.apple.com/internet/css/ie5cssbugs.html
Here is another page which comments on a similar IE 5 DIV Float issue. The site contains a nice collection of highlighted issues, bugs and oddities
www.l-c-n.com/IE5tests
Netoman – an interactive two-way multimedia tool
netomat is an interactive tool which looks at two-way personal multimedia communication. In the summer of 1999 netomat was conceived as a network-based art project created by Maciej Wisniewski.
It is designed as the following:
1. Create and send personal multimedia emails using unlimited digital pictures, audio, voice, free-form drawing, text and animation which are bandwidth friendly and don’t require large attachments.
2. Create personal multimedia websites which can be published at the push of a button.
3. Turn these emails and websites into personal multimedia blogs by making it easy to embed tools so the recipients/viewers can annotate, respond and forward.
4. Instantly update or change any component of these interactive emails, websites and blogs – even after they have been emailed or published.
View any page in a mobile screen size in Opera 7
If you are developing for mobile or PDA and need to see how a page will look like on a tiny screen… well, try the new version of Opera (7.02) and hit [shift] [F11]. This will change the current page into a small screen, resembling a PDA/Mobile.
Improving search results relevance in Google
37 Signal post an interesting comment on search results from Google, by making comparisons to results for “african coffee trade”. They have created a visual-mockup of how Google might render results more relevant and accurate for the user.
The post also contains some interesting comments by people who both agree and disagree with the concept.
www.37signals.com/svn/archives/000120.php
Preloading hover images using CSS rollovers
Jeffrey Zeldman post a useful article on preloading hover images using CSS rollovers
www.zeldman.com/daily/0203c.shtml#csspreload
Intel TROPFEST’s 2003 Best of the Rest at Popcorntaxi
Popcorn Taxi are screening the INTEL TROPFEST’s ‘Best of the Rest’ Program 1 on Wednesday March 26th – 7:30 pm in Sydney at the Valhalla, 166 Glebe Point Rd. Glebe, from 7:30 pm (sharp)
Entry: $13 / $11 Conc. – Admission R 18+
The Best of the Rest is a collection of film entries from Tropfest which just didn’t make the cut for final selection. They are screened to showcase the immense talent of the entire entry lists.
www.popcorntaxi.com.au
The life of Sir David Attenborough
I watched an excellent documentary on the life of Sir David Attenborough last night on ABC.
Presented by Michael Palin the TV special celebrated David Attenborough’s 50 years at the BBC.
It is amazing just how much Sir David has seen in his lifetime, truly the only man to have seen more of Planet Earth than anyone else.
http://abc.net.au/tv/guide/h185303.htm
PBS Frontline – The Long Road to War
Here is an interesting PBS documentary series on the last 12 years of Saddam Hussein.
The special two-hour FRONTLINE report, “The Long Road to War”, relates the history of America’s confrontation with Saddam Hussein.
www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/longroad
The Alchemy of Experience
Mark Hurst comments on the “Alchemy of Experience”, a look at how great creativity can sometimes come from great constraint, by transforming small amounts of raw material into rich results.
The article looks at how great experiences can also be achieved from small amounts of resources and limitations, a different approach/result from other interactive technologies that enjoy much richer resources.
Dying planet is consumed by its sun
ABC Science news comments on a planet orbiting close to its Sun-like star which is shrinking as its mass is violently boiled off by the pressure.
The gas giant is known as HD209458b
www.abc.net.au/science/news/space/SpaceRepublish_804743.htm
Hael Kobayashi talk on the future of computer graphics in filmmaking
Viveka Wiley, Chair of Sydney ACM SIGGRAPH forwarded me an email of an upcoming talk by Hael Kobayashi on the future of computer graphics in filmmaking and career paths within this industry.
Hael has spoken at the 2001 & 2002 AEAF on computer graphics education and showreel presentation skills and has had senior roles at both Industrial Light + Magic and PDI/Dreamworks.
Hael Kobayashi will be speaking at the Australian Film Television and Radio School on Tuesday 25th March at 6:30pm. The event has been organised by the AFTRS and Sydney ACM SIGGRAPH. Entry is free to AFTRS Students and SydGraph members. $5 cost for other attendees.
Please RSVP to Tanya Vale by emailing: tanyav@aftrs.edu.au