June 30th, 2009
TV has really disappointed me as of late. Even many of the shows I enjoy seem to have been falling short of my expectations. Then the other day I found Virtuality…
I love it. Basically it’s future/space/virtual/ensemble sci-fi (full synopsis). Here’s the brief history of what’s happened to the show, as explained by the Virtuality website:
Virtuality was filmed as a TV pilot, intended to launch a series. However, this “pilot” has now aired on FOX as a “TV Movie” and no network has picked it up for series production.
What? Really? I’d rather watch this play out than the rest of the crap I watch on TV, so I’m joining in the campaign to keep it going.
- Please watch Virtuality at Hulu.com (hurry, available until 7/18)
- If you like it, learn about the Virtuality renewal efforts
- Keep your fingers crossed
Disclosure: This is not a paid content sponsorship. It’s genuine fan support.
See more posts about Mass Media
June 18th, 2009
Sites like Facebook and Digg grab images from links that are being shared to act as an avatar for that particular link. It’s usually a small square image.
I’ve used these in the past - e.g. the 125×125 badge in this article - but it’s not always easy to fit a square image into the aesthetic design of an article.
Luckily I’ve found that it’s really easy to hide these images from readers but still make them available when the link is shared on social networks.
<— There it is. You can’t see it, but it’s there. Here’s the code…
<img src="http://jamesvg.com/media/secret-share.png" alt="Secret Share Square" style="display:none;" />
There’s a few very important things that make this work.
- Include the style=”display:none;” attribute
- Do not include the height or width attributes
- Include the image in-line and not in it’s own <p> or <div>
Optionally you can include the image at the beginning of your content which seems to help the sharing sites select that image by default.
You can give it a try in Facebook or Digg to see what it looks like.
Hopefully you find this useful!
See more posts about Useful, Web Dev & Design
June 8th, 2009
A few weeks ago I found out our landlord was being foreclosed upon. My wife and I were served court documents as Unknown Tenants and listed as defendants. I talked to my landlord about it and he hopes he can set things right, but we’re being very cautious.
Update 30 June: We signed a month-to-month extension of our current agreement so things can get worked out. I’m glad we reached a compromise with the landlord.
So earlier tonight we went to a free legal consultation that was very helpful. We talked to Max Neuhaus about what to expect as this thing plays out and how we can follow online.
Generally speaking, if the bank and our landlord are unable to come to terms then we’ll have to move out, but there’s a long process and many months before it reaches that point.
The St. Croix County Bar hosts their Volunteer Lawyer Hotline on the 2nd Monday of every month from 6:00p to 7:30p. You get a free 10 minute chat with a lawyer. Park on the south side of the St. Croix County Government Center, 1101 Carmichael Road in Hudson, WI and go in the door marked Communty Rooms. Show up and sign-in, but expect a short wait - we waited about 35 minutes.
See more posts about Events & Meetups, Useful, Western Wisconsin
June 3rd, 2009
For about a year now I’ve been using desktop calendars from Smashing Magazine. I use the calendars to…
- keep a calendar handy
- get a little design inspiration
- remember what computer I’m using (e.g. work or personal)
This month, June 2009, I’m using Blue Bells and Tropical Flowers. They’re both floral and spring-ish. Here’s the entire selection on calendars for this month.
If you want to see the latest calendars, visit Smashing Magazine and search for Desktop Wallpaper Calendar [month] [year] - and just use the current month and year that you need.
See more posts about Useful, Web Dev & Design
May 26th, 2009
[photo by Rodrigo Achá is shared]
Photos are an integral part of the web. After all…
- People like pictures.
- People notice pictures.
- People are drawn to pictures.
There are three ways to use a photo on the web legally - take your own picture, buy an image, or get permission from the photographer. It may immediately seem like these methods require an investment of time or money, and too often a quick search on Google Images leads to stealing a photo (i.e. violating copyright).
Luckily, you already have photographer permission to use millions of images for free. The permission is a simple license that waives the typical copyright restrictions that images are subject to.
Read more about free-use Flickr images…
See more posts about Creative Commons, Web Dev & Design
