tiddchristopher's comments

It's a TIE Advanced x1. Although features developed for it were incorporated into the later TIE/IN Interceptor, the x1 had substantial differences, such as shielding and FTL capabilities. The mass-production craft resulting directly from the x series was the TIE/D Defender.

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/TIE_Advanced_x1

To improve the preview for Windows and Linux users, why don't you use Typekit with Nimbus Sans (a rather accurate Helvetica clone)? Many designers and typophiles won't trust a service that doesn't accurately render the type on a typographic product. Also, I'd rather see the flat front of a shirt than the current view when previewing how the text will be set.

I think you're looking at the wrong page. If you go to facebook.com while logged out, the "Log In" and "Sign Up" buttons use the technique described by the above poster.

Excellent points, especially regarding photographs. I was thinking of that case already, and hadn't considered the arrangement of facts within a post; what came to mind first was the collection of posts as their own arrangement of facts.

You're right about that, and I think that's going to make their claim a bit unsteady. But I see an argument they might make:

1. Classified ads are facts, with negligible creativity put into their composition. 2. Facts are not copyrightable. 3. Therefore, 3Taps can scrape the ads. 4. If any ad actually does have creativity / an applicable copyright, the copyright holder can contact 3taps with a complaint.

Basically a "safe harbor" take on the whole thing. What do you think?

It's not at all like that. The interesting thing seems to be the claim that Craigslist posts lack creativity, which Amazon reviews certainly do have. 3Taps is claiming the posts can't be protected by copyright, because you can't copyright facts. I think their case has merit.

This is an example I threw together to demonstrate:

http://i.imgur.com/0z73s.png

I hope it helps explain.

Also, lbotos posted an excellent example of hanging quotes and other non-bullet punctuation.

If you find yourself liking typographic details like these, consider checking out The Elements of Typographic Style by Bringhurst. Old editions are cheap, and it's the best book on typography I've come across.

Designer here. I recommend aligning your bullets with the paragraphs above and below for inline text, and hanging to reinforce the grid when you have blocks of content next to each other horizontally -- say, two paragraphs and a list.

I hope this makes sense.

If you're honestly interested in knowing how I came to that conclusion, here's my proof:

Try telling apart "be" and "ad", with no nearby words. They are identical, because you don't know where the baseline is.

Typographically, this has horrible legibility: the letters are difficult to distinguish and recognize on an individual basis. This contributes to poor readability when the letters are grouped to form passages of text. This seems much more about compacting information in a human-decipherable format than creating a more readable alphabet.

There are no ascenders or descenders in a traditional sense, no contours or apertures, and there is no stroke contrast. Also, the baseline is thrown off in many words. Put this all together, and you have text that's miserable to read.

This isn't even to mention the difficulty of getting readers to abandon tradition.

In all, I'd consider this an interesting experiment, but a practical failure.

To clarify, we measured about 8000 Ohms of resistance through the head, using our electrodes. For some reason, our measurement was off. I'm assuming it's a problem with the electrodes. To fix this issue, we'd need constant monitoring and adjustable resistance. In no way was I planning on running 6mA through my brain.

Nice work, Chris! I particularly like your embedded calling functionality. Where did you get it from?

If anyone's looking something a bit more configurable, https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/sopa-blackout-plugin/ is another option. Disclaimer: I was involved in the creation of this plugin, along with Site5 and Ten-321.

I've been using precisely that solution for several months. It's perfect, and I have absolutely no worries about weight, because there are several screws along the length of each bar. My laptop and monitor go on one rack, and my keyboard and mouse are on another, about a foot beneath the first.

These are all great resources, but remember:

The most important part of design is sitting back and thinking about the impact your choices will make. What will a given element say about your product? How will it affect functionality? If you can ask these questions, you can achieve great design. It easy to be distracted by glossy aesthetics, but a simple, well-thought-out, polished, application is what your goal should really be.

So pay attention to every detail.

No pixel should go unexamined. It sounds hard, and at first it's tedious, but it quickly becomes habitual. You start to look at the corners of boxes, or unfocus your eyes after you read a logo.

If you're going to take this one step further, learn about typography and negative space. Specifically vertical rhythm and the use of 6.

Just like you can't "hack" a well-designed API, you can't "hack" good design. It takes effort, attentiveness, and the willingness to try ten variations before you choose an option.

I sent you an email. ([email protected])

I've had a problem on my system (Firefox 4.0-9.1, Windows 7), where upon clicking a result link, the search results page refreshes. Nothing else happens. I can't get to individual results without middle clicking to open them in a new tab. This has been happening since Google Instant came out. Does anyone know what could be going on?

The room's pretty neat, but I'm having trouble understanding why a college student would put this much effort into something that needs to be torn down at the end of the year. I get the "because I can" hacker attitude, but as someone heading back to school tomorrow, I've got to say I would never put most of that stuff in my room. Hardwood flooring: who has the money to blow on that in college? It's one thing to optimize a room for comfort and utility. It's another to install unneeded gadgets.

That sounds brilliant for single-column layouts. Too bad it wouldn't hold up to a multi-column approach.

One of the things vertical rhythm's used for is making two parallel columns of text align with each other at regular intervals. From my limited knowledge of music, every measure of a song, the song's elements align. In a design, every measure (baseline), the design's elements align. By align, I don't mean with some arbitrary measure, but with the other elements.

Here's a quick example I made: http://i.imgur.com/NEc92.png

You do make a good point: When you get into single-column layouts, like a solo in a song, having mathematical vertical rhythm is irrelevant.

That would be the cynical way to look at it. For a sole inventor, working independently of any company, I think the filing fee is about $150. It's possible he had enough saved to pay for it himself. :) Heck, judging from his report, the kid might have even figured out the whole application by himself. That alone would be just as impressive as any invention.