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The Perfect Gift for Your Favourite Geek for $20 or Less!

Annie — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 15:42:35 +0000

Christmas—the season of giving!

It may be the season of giving, but it is also the time of year when we get bombarded with age-old hymns and carols blasted from over-heated shops decked with sad decorations. 50 stores later, you find yourself muttering how much you friggin’ hate Christmas! No doubt, your hysterical outcry is spurred on by the omnipresent overabundance of crap and the sheer hopelessness of finding the perfect gift for your favourite geek.

In the true spirit of giving, here are five ingenious gift ideas your favourite geek is sure to love. And / more

When Camouflage Fails

Annie — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 19:13:04 +0000

Some things are ugly. There’s no getting around it, they just are. More often than not, our modern (and therefore oh-so useful) inventions are a source of visual pollution—and attempting to camouflage them can be much worse than simply leaving them in plain sight.

As a case in point, take this cell phone tower, poorly disguised as a plastic palm tree smack dab in the heart of Southern California.

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New York Subway Gets Wi-fi and Cellular Service

Annie — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 21:22:16 +0000

It looks like soon—very, very soon!—New Yorkers won’t be able to find shelter from their stalker employers or lovers in the depths of the subway any longer. That’s right—AT&T and T-Mobile just inked a 10-year agreement with the New York transit system.

These days, you can’t even find refuge in the john! The subway was pretty much the last little haven of peace, where you could put an e-mail on hold or pretend you hadn’t seen it . . . but not anymore!

Thanks to AT&T and T-Mobile, New York subway users will have access to wi-fi and cellular networks similar / more

One Last Thing About the iPad

Annie — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 12:34:50 +0000

This summer’s biggest sensation was without a doubt the long-awaited iPad. With 3 million units sold in just 80 days, it’s definitely not lacking acknowledgment or praise. Everyone has fully entered the “i” Age.

When we say “everyone,” that includes electronic media outlets that are gradually getting in sync with Apple trends. / more

The PLUS Side to Image Licensing

Guillaume — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 13:59:14 +0000

While looking for images is a piece of cake for some, the truth of the matter is that it can be a real nightmare for others. In any event, despite the good intentions of image providers, obtaining image rights is an ordeal for the best of us. We’re often left guessing.

It was surely in an effort to alleviate a few stomach ulcers that the forefathers of the Picture / more

Techno Tops and Flops

sgagne — Tue, 11 May 2010 08:02:25 +0000

The world of technology has seen its fair share of tops and flops. Here are my faves:

Flops

5. Sega Dreamcast

Sega’s most recent video game console got its life cut rather short. Sure, I’ll / more

Google Chrome: Sheer Brilliance!

jc — Mon, 10 May 2010 13:16:41 +0000

How does one break into an already-saturated market? Google (yes, them again) had no qualms about adding another browser to an already ultra-competitive market. Google Chrome (as it’s called) is a modern browser designed for today’s Web, with online applications and multiple tabs open simultaneously, built for users who keep their browsers open for days on end as they tour hundreds of Web sites, each more complex than the last. In order to carve a niche for itself, Chrome had to do some horn-tooting. Here’s a look / more

Search, Find, Give or Humanitarian Search Engines

Annie — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 17:40:19 +0000

There are days when you procrastinate, frying your brain cells reading all kinds of pointless stuff on the Net to the point that you teeter on the edge of a nervous breakdown. Days when—between stories about vomiting volcanoes, pedophile priests, and quivering quakes, the insignificance of your day-to-day hits you like a ton of bricks. Wham! A reality check that hits so hard, it shatters your fragile little ego!

And since, like the Europeans, we spend more time / more

Mouse Trails!

Olivia — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 14:26:47 +0000

IOGraph is a program that renders a visual display of your mouse’s movements (lines) and inactivity (dots) while you work. Not only does it create a unique work of art in a matter of minutes, it’s an interesting way to analyze your work habits.

It could also be an interesting way to analyze the ergonomics of a Web site, by visualizing the mouse movements / more

Three Model Traffic Rules

jc — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 21:42:49 +0000

There are rules when it comes to navigating Web sites. The site’s designer establishes the rules, and ensures the rules are clear for users, consistent throughout the site, and in line with accepted navigation principles.

For example, blogs have links that allow users to jump from one article to another. The designer may choose to use arrows to reinforce the message. The arrow therefore becomes a rule, in the sense that it:

Is clear for users (in any context, arrows indicate a direction, a change)

Conforms to the Web standards (arrows on the Web also / more