Think Vitamin - Latest Comments

Re: 15 Tips for Freelancers Starting Their Own Business

Dish TV Deals — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 19:18:41 -0000

Freelance writing does have many benefits. I hire lots of writers to give me copy about Dish Network Satellite TV.

Re: The Most Interesting People to Follow Twitter

lindano — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 16:16:25 -0000

The experience of Twitter, is tweeting to people all over the world,& having them tweet you back, people you never see & probably never will,it gives you some idea how people think, what they do, how they work,in short Twitter is a modern version of "Pen Pals",lets you commute by computer & not pen.Still it is a intriguing thought.yours Lyndon Sullivan. @lindano on Twitter.

Re: How to Create an RSS-Enabled, Micro-Blog with Twitter

Omega-3 — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 05:27:34 -0000

I really like the idea and the directions you gave! Thanks a lot.

Re: 15 Tips for Freelancers Starting Their Own Business

resveratrol ultra — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 22:44:58 -0000

i really wish i could get out of my 9-5 job and join you freelancers

Re: How to Create an RSS-Enabled, Micro-Blog with Twitter

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Re: How to Create an RSS-Enabled, Micro-Blog with Twitter

skintreatment — Thu, 14 May 2009 16:52:01 -0000

That was really a great post and information - just bookmarked and keep up the good work

Re: Handy tips to help you out

facebook-135000905 — Fri, 01 May 2009 09:21:40 -0000

No problem. I think people over look the usefulness of custom fields in WP which is a shame. I have used them for custom copyright licenses, per post as well as highlighting other authors, etc.

Not much they can't do really.

Re: Handy tips to help you out

ryancarson — Fri, 01 May 2009 09:18:07 -0000

Thanks Chris - might try that out.

Re: Handy tips to help you out

facebook-135000905 — Fri, 01 May 2009 09:16:54 -0000

Right, just set up custom fields for your other authors. I used to do this all the time with WordPress before I moved on to greener pastures. Its not Rocket Surgery, might be brain science though.

Thanks for the tips, although I think the CSS text underlining tip would destroy meticulously laid out designs, since pushing the underline below the descenders would break vertical rhythm and some line height settings.

Re: Handy tips to help you out

Gene Crawford — Fri, 01 May 2009 09:05:22 -0000

Pretty good list of tips, looks like Tipster is useful after all, eh?

On that note, have you thought of adding a search to Tipster? That would be very cool.

Re: Handy tips to help you out

ryancarson — Fri, 01 May 2009 08:55:52 -0000

Great tip - thanks Paul!

Re: Handy tips to help you out

ryancarson — Fri, 01 May 2009 08:55:39 -0000

WordPress doesn't allow you to have multiple authors. I've also named and linked to each tip author.

Re: Handy tips to help you out

Quality Control — Fri, 01 May 2009 08:53:45 -0000

This post was written by: Ryan Carson

Really now, was it? Looks like you wrote the first 30 words and compiled the rest.

Phoning it in again, how about another "top X Y's you must follow on twitter"?

Re: Handy tips to help you out

Paul Downey — Fri, 01 May 2009 08:53:04 -0000

Try this for the Google Maps hack (also works as a bookmarklet):

javascript:void(alert(gApplication.getMap().getCenter()));

Re: To Spec or Not to Spec

ali — Fri, 01 May 2009 07:28:16 -0000

I think spec work as undergone on 99designs and its ilk, are appropriate for a limited set of design, such as logo work for a B2B company. But a web design beyond VERY simple brochure-ware is laughable. Again, as demonstrated on 99designs.com.

I think experienced designers will always refuse spec work. Because experience quickly tells us that it isn't workable. It is based on a one-sided brief, rather than a dialogue on requirements and circumstances.

Maybe its a good thing in many respects. it provides a solution for those who can't afford proper design skills (who will then leave me alone), and gives up-and-comers a low risk place to get burned and unfairly treated. a head start on the industry, so say I. Those who are unhappy will then pay for what they need, so maybe we should quit with the transparently threatened stance.

Re: Tables: The Next Evolution in CSS Layout

Hiren Modi — Fri, 01 May 2009 05:06:45 -0000

awesome tutorials, Thanks.

Re: Streamline your forms with widgets

Hiren Modi — Fri, 01 May 2009 04:46:15 -0000

Hey just superb tut, Thanks.

Re: 44 Web Designers to follow on Twitter

Hiren Modi — Fri, 01 May 2009 04:41:40 -0000

Thanks for this list.

Re: Hey, lose the pedantic negativity

ryancarson — Fri, 01 May 2009 02:22:44 -0000

You obviously don't live in the UK like I do :)

Re: Hey, lose the pedantic negativity

Simon Graham — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 18:45:28 -0000

I worked on one project a couple of years ago where I was training a user who was pretty scared by the web and when she hovered on a link and it changed colour she jumped and asked me "err, what have I done, I didn't do anything!".

She was worried she had started a process or something by accident.

It was a perfectly valid response as it was not something she had experienced before.

The thing that crossed my mind is given how much A/B Testing 37signals do, they may well have found that the static links with no hover get more clicks. Their products are certainly targeted to be easy to use by anyone, not just the tech savvy.

Obviously we don't know, but it is the first thought that popped into my head based on this experience.

Re: Hey, lose the pedantic negativity

Sonburn — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 14:14:46 -0000

Likewise, I thought something being "pants" was a good thing.

Re: The 5 hidden costs of running a CMS

i33t — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 12:09:18 -0000

Out of all the Content Management Systems that I have worked with, Joomla has to be the best by far! It's easy to learn, and there are THOUANDS of extensions, themes, modules and more to make it even better.

Re: To Spec or Not to Spec

kylefox — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 11:12:59 -0000

Nice summary.

You ask "How do you think the issue should be resolved?" -- this is kind of presumptuous; who says spec work needs any kind of resolution?

The simple fact is that spec work is capitalism at its best. Personally, I would never do spec work because I wouldn't want to invest my time without receiving a guaranteed financial benefit. It's just not how I roll, and I assume many other professionals are the same.

However, there *are* designers out there willing to do spec work. Nobody has the right to stop them from doing so.

The fact that spec work exists at all proves that 1) clients want it, and 2) some designers are willing to provide it. Is spec work exploiting designers? Is it resulting in lower value for the client? The answers to these questions don't even matter if both parties willingly engage in an agreement.

As you suggested, a good step would be to educate clients about the benefits of a client / designer relationship, and also educating designers about the value of their services.

It kind of reminds me of going to a used car salesman. Sure, you won't get the best vehicle possible, but you'll find *something* that fits your budget.

Re: Hey, lose the pedantic negativity

Michael Nix — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 07:21:01 -0000

Ryan,

While I do agree with the fact that many designers these days just critique without an actual style or voice of their own, I have to admit this post puts a sour taste in my mouth. For one, I somewhat agree with 37signals having a very flat, overly basic approach to design and while they do make millions, I don't think it's the direction good design should be going. For two, and you may place me in the same party as that negative person for saying this, but this article seems highly contrived and almost leaning towards suggesting a certain behavior or ethical approach to Web 2.0. Perhaps you intend for this, but with the rest of the extremely valuable articles I read on thinkvitamin and your other sites, including attending FOWD, I guess I worry you took your power as the boss of this site to put up a personal defensive rant against one comment about 37signals.

Re: Hey, lose the pedantic negativity

claudia snell — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 05:49:54 -0000

This is an excellent article. I've found myself trying to avoid interacting with 'the community' often because of the childish, self-serving nature of these bashing sessions.