Sunspots: The modernist edition - Signal vs. Noise (by 37signals)

Sunspots: The modernist edition 37signals 18 Jul 2006

4 comments Latest by Chance B

Highlights from "Modernism: Designing a new world 1914-1939": Interesting postcards, subway maps, radios, etc. "The buildings we inhabit, the chairs we sit on, the graphic design that surrounds us have all been created by the aesthetics and the ideology of Modernist design."
Print Stylesheet Tips: Covers the basic link up (create a blank stylesheet and set it to media="print"), weeding out the junk (set elements you don't want to print to display:none;), and dolling it up (create print-only elements using a "hide-for-print" class).
Paradox of Choice author on "how software, websites, and retail stores should be designed.": "E-commerce sites should be designed so that the complexity is hidden, so that people who really care, or know a lot, can find their way to the complexity, and the rest of us who can't be bothered to find it, won't have to."
"Top 30 Ruby on Rails Tutorials": List of RoR Tutorials at Webmonkey, Tutorialized.com, Apple, and more.
Why do we dream?: "Dreams weave new material into the memory system in a way that both reduces emotional arousal and is adaptive in helping us cope with further trauma or stressful events."

Using a background image grid to lay out your web site: "I thought it might be useful [to] create a generic grid template that one could use with any layout, and so I came up with the example below..."
Video: Amy Sedaris tumbling on Colbert Report: Other amusing vids we've been watching: Reverend Alecia (psychedelic), Solla Solla Enna Perumai (funky), and The Real Michael Jackson ("Which one is the real Michael Jackson?" "To be safe, you must shoot us both.").
YouTube trends report: A categorical breakdown of the top 100 videos at YouTube. User generated content dominates but four are commercial ads.
Cookbook: "Mexico One Plate at a Time": Recommended. Totally approachable and really great flavors. And the end of each recipe also has a "Riffs" paragraph which talks about minor modifications for different flavors, preparations, or just general inspiration.

4 comments (comments are closed)

SH 18 Jul 06

Jason, if I move next door to you will you shill my cookbook too??

SR@TCS 18 Jul 06

Good reminder to think about getting a print stylesheet up. That article, and links will come in handy.

I also will have to think about trying the background grid thing. Though most of the time, I am going for a flexible layout, but I won’t start a fixed vs fluid war right now :)

Bill P 19 Jul 06

Keep on shilling Jason. ;-)

Topolobampo (Rick’s Chicago restaurant - for anyone who doesn’t know) may have been the best meal I’ve ever had…

Chance B 19 Jul 06

Here’s an interesting piece of news on Dell streamlining their rebates and pricing to backup the “Paradox of Choice” article.

http://money.cnn.com/2006/07/13/technology/dell_pricing/index.htm?section=money_latest

As we all know, trying to figure out the “real” price of something online is a complete pain in the ass. Throw in rebates, incentives and discounts and you have an utterly confused customer.