When the price of a pack of cigarettes doesn't match what's advertised on the shelf, I try to navigate the twists and turns of its complicated consumer arithmetic. Four eighty-five if you buy two packs, five sixty if you only buy one. "Take an Extra Fifty Cents Off" is clearly labeled on the packaging but the clerk assures you that that doesn't count since they're already including the discount in the listed price.
VentureBeat.com has a spotlight on Weebly's new "drag and drop" website builder. Somebody please explain to me why the web needs people who have no clue what they're doing designing websites.
from the article
“Even someone without a ton of web design experience in small town America can jump on the platform and can basically start building websites for their local business clients,” said Weebly CEO David Rusenko.
Until somebody builds a tool that imparts knowledge of compositional elements, color theory, and overall taste these apps are not improving the web. Think I'm wrong? Use the wayback machine and look at a Geocities site.
Looks like Apple has an opportunity for a new graphic designer. I wonder what it's like to work on that team. On the one hand, they're extremely competent at what they do.
On the other, their design parameters are well established and it seems unlikely that a newcomer would be able to change things much.
There's an article over at Ars Technica celebrating the fact that IE has lost it's majority status as top dog web browser. Personally, I find the statement to be a bit premature, if not misleading.
I recently installed the new Get Simple cms and gave it a spin. While it is probably easier to set up and run than Drupal or Wordpress [no mysql required] I don't believe it's simple enough for a neophyte web dev or civilian to use on their own. On the other hand, I'm really not sure why a more advanced dev would be interested in using this, as it's extremely limited in its functionality. Worse, as the needs of a site grows, I don't see how Get Simple scales.
Mayor Bloomberg apparently thinks that quality work comes from people who lack the incentive of having to make money for their efforts. If they want a more intuitive design, they should pay a talented designer to do the work. These contests irritate the hell out of me. Real designers don't work on spec.
On January 8th, 1671 the city of Panama was so badly devastated that when the Spanish decided to rebuild, they moved its location. What horrific calamity befell this pinnacle of Spaniard power in the New World? Was it a hurricane? An earthquake? A plague? The answer is none of the above.
