Web: Aardvark Firefox Extension

Aardvark Firefox Extension:

As you glide the mouse over the page, you will see a red rectangle framing each element under the cursor. You will also see a little yellow caption showing the HTML element type and its class or id if they exist.

You can then press certain keys on the keyboard to do various things, such as delete the selected element from the page, isolate the element, or move the selection rectangle outward to the containing element.

Aardvark is a firefox extension that we made for our own use, while developing AJAX-type applications. While we made it for helping with web development, it's actually shown itself to be really handy for "regular folks" for cleaning all the extraneous crap off a page prior to printing it.

[via Blogdex]

Categories: Web, Firefox

Quotes: A Theory about Genius

Recognizing the common thinking strategies of creative geniuses and applying them will make you more creative in your work and personal life.

I enjoyed Michael Michalko's article A Theory about Genius outlining "descriptions of strategies that are common to the thinking styles of creative geniuses in science, art, and industry throughout history":

• Geniuses look at problems in many different ways
• Geniuses make their thought visible
• Geniuses produce
• Geniuses make novel combinations
• Geniuses force relationships
• Geniuses think in opposites
• Geniuses think metaphorically
• Geniuses prepare themselves for chance

[via the book Brain Tattoos (excerpt)]

Category: Quotes

Web: Firefox Tweaks

Here are a couple recommended tweaks on Secrets of Firefox that worked for me:

• Speeding up the maximizing of Firefox
• Fix a memory leak

I can't link to the items directly but you can hit CTL-F to search for the text above.

[via guinn9]

Categories: Web, Firefox

Web: Color Combos

ColorCombos.com:

Built to help web developers quickly select and test color combinations.

Also features a number of color palettes in the Combo Library that you can view and adjust in the Combo Tester.

[via Lifehacker]

Categories: Design, Web

Art: My Painting "Black Hole Sun" (2004)

Category: Art

Art: My Painting "Sway" (2004)

Category: Art

Web: April Issue of Design In-Flight

It's time to go purchase and download the new issue of Design In-Flight:

From tutorials to case studies, Design In-Flight seeks to share useful tips for designers and developers of every skill level. Regular features such as Design Q&A and Design Insider will offer a look at common problems and solutions faced by today’s designers and developers. With Design In-Flight you’ll also be able to keep abreast of recent trends, new technologies and the latest design software releases – all in a print friendly, professionally-produced, accessible PDF.

You may purchase this issue for $3 or add the previous 3 issues for $10 total (the volume one set).

Categories: Design, Web

Architecture: Toyo Ito Tod's, 2004

From Wallpaper*:

Says Ito, 'I realised that all Tod's products are handcrafted with great attention to the natural quality of the leathers. The production steps strongly reflect a love of nature.' So he took his design cue from Omotesando's own bit of greenery, its towering zelkova trees. In an uncharacteristic act of Tokyo preservation, they have been spared, even as buildings have been demolished and rebuilt all around. The distinctive concrete exterior of the Tod's building is both a tree-shaped silhouette and an integral part of the structure.

[Interior and exterior pictures]

Category: Architecture

Quotes: Talk About The Method

I've always had a certain resistance to trying to talk about the Method, not because I want to create some specious aura of mystery but because it's so unscientific. It's mining in the muck.

From Daniel Day-Lewis on acting in the April 2005 GQ - can be equally applicable to painting and some other creative endeavors.

Category: Quotes

Art: Roberto Matta

From Kathy Zimmerer:

All of his works transform and change with meditative viewing, revealing the rich inner life of a Surrealist artist immersed in the poetry of line, space, color and motion.

Tim Rock's matta-art.com features hundreds of Matta's works sorted by era.

Category: Art