More Than Meets The Wallet: Transformers Toys for $1,000,000

Posted on July 30, 2008 by Dennison

There are 275 pieces all in all
From eBay:

“This collection consists of all mint-never-removed-from-box (listed as MNRFB below) and mint-in-box (listed as MIB below) Transformer robots and Transformer licensed products. The toys have never been played with by children (sad, I know), and weapons are still sealed inside the boxes. There are approximately 275 items total: 101 Autobots, 81 Decepticons, and 92 Transformers Licensed Products. This page features thumbnails (so hopefully it doesn’t take three hours to load) but each is linked to the full-size picture so you can check out the details.”
The Transformers toys are still sealed in their original cartons
eBay: The Ultimate Boxed G1 Transformers Collection 1984-1987 (item 230150167114 end time Jul-17-07 12:00:00 PDT)

Stylized Designer Country Logos

Posted on July 20, 2008 by dennison

Found some very nice designer country logos. Check them out (Click on the thumbnail below):

The original post is in Spanish(?), so I don’t really know who to to give credit to. No Philippines in the list, though

Using JQuery to make all PDF links open in a new window

Posted on June 4, 2008 by Dennison

Sometimes it can be really annoying for the user to open a PDF file in the same window, and sometimes you might find yourself working on an existing website, faced with the insurmountable task of making sure all PDF links open in a new window.

Just like today.

Forget about manual editing, it will only take too long.

Forget about search and replace, you might mess up the code.

JQuery to the rescue!

See my code below:


$("a[href*=.pdf]").click(function(){
	window.open(this.href);
	return false;
});

Alternatively, you can apply the target=”_self” attribute instead:


$("a[href*=.pdf]").click(function(){
	$(this).attr({"target":"_self"});
	return false;
});

Viola! With Just four lines of code, you now open all pdf links in a new window! Thanks to JQuery’s awesome element matching engine and attribute pattern recognition, you can actually modify the code to apply the same behavior to any link, as long as the text can be found anywhere within the href attribute.

Have fun!

Smart 2.0

Posted on May 26, 2008 by Dennison

Smart Communications, Inc., a subsidiary of PLDT and one of the top 2 mobile telecommunications providers in the Philippines, is now among the rebranders of 2008. The difference is subtle yet fairly noticeable even to non-designers.
Continue reading →

9 Essential principles for good web design

Posted on January 21, 2008 by dennison

Having studied UI design for my Masters degree, I never realized how important design principles were until I started applying them into my work. Principles such as guiding the eye, whitespace, usability, and typography all have a very important role to play in every design project. So, I am happy that I ran into this article over at PSDTuts.com that outlines and provides illustrations for 9 principles of good web design. These are general principles which, back in the day, we were taught to apply in print design:
Continue reading →

Apple MacBook Air: thin is in, even for geeks

Posted on January 17, 2008 by Dennison

“The world’s thinnest notebook”. This is what Apple claims its latest tech toy to be. Having a dimension of 12.8′ (width) x 8.94′ (depth) x .76′ (height) (or 32.5 x 22.7 x 1.94 cm), this 3.0 pound (1.36 kg) notebook really does give new meaning to the term “notebook computer”. Time and time again, Steve Jobs and his team has proven that the mantra “less is more” applies very well to industrial design and make for very sexy and very cool products.

MacBook Air photo

It is also reasonably priced, retailing at $1799 you get a small, light machine that packs a lot of punch: Intel 1.6GHz Core2 Duo processor, 80GB hard drive space, an LCD screen capable of supporting up to 1280×800 resolution, and the all new super shiny Mac OS Leopard X, among other things. What more can you ask for?

My only gripe is that it does not come with an Ethernet port so the user ends up having to rely on WiFi for internet connection — which is fair enough given the purpose of the machine is to be ultra portable, but an Ethernet port would have been nice as a backup. On second thought, forget the Ethernet port. Steve Jobs is a mad genius. Hail, hail.

As parting word when I first heard of “MacBook Air” I was going to come up with jokes but then I saw it and was somehow speechless.

Top notebook manufacturers Sony, HP and Dell were reportedly working on equivalents, dubbed the Sony VAIO “Feather”, HP Pavilion “Paper”, and the Dell Inspiron “Tissue”. Representatives from the three companies refused to comment on the naming convention.

… so I came up with this.

The Immortals: Fifty Greatest Artists of All Time

Posted on December 29, 2007 by Dennison

The second he sang the opening lines — “Close your eyes, and I’ll kiss you” — the crowd’s reaction was so intense that it all but drowned the song out … I understood in that moment one of the reasons why the Beatles had to stop performing. The songs weren’t theirs anymore. They were everybody’s.

– Elvis Costello on The Beatles

Celebrating the “fiftieth anniversary of rock” (so rock was “invented” in uh, 1957? duh!), Rolling Stone magazine is running a special issue listing the top 50 (rock and roll) artists of all time, with a write-up on each artist by a fellow artist who may have worked with them in the past.

Here’s that list:

1. The Beatles by Elvis Costello

2. Bob Dylan by Robbie Robertson

3. Elvis Presley by Bono

4. The Rolling Stones by Steven Van Zandt

5. Chuck Berry by Joe Perry

6. Jimi Hendrix by John Mayer

7. James Brown by Rick Rubin

8. Little Richard by Little Richard

9. Aretha Franklin by Jerry Wexler

10. Ray Charles by Van Morrison

11. Bob Marley by Wyclef Jean

12. The Beach Boys by Lindsey Buckingham

13. Buddy Holly by John Mellencamp

14. Led Zeppelin by Dave Grohl

15. Stevie Wonder by Elton John

16. Sam Cooke by Art Garfunkel

17. Muddy Watters by Billy Gibbons

18. Marvin Gaye by Smokey Robinson

19. The Velvet Underground by Julian Casablancas

20. Bo Diddley by Iggy Pop

21. Otis Redding by Steve Cropper

22. U2 by Chris Martin

23. Bruce Springsteen by Jackson Browne

24. Jerry Lee Lewis by Moby

25. Fats Domino by Dr. John

26. The Ramones by Lenny Kaye

27. Nirvana by Vernon Reid

28. Prince by Ahmir Thompson

29. The Who by Eddie Vedder

30. The Clash by The Edge

31. Johnny Cash by Kris Kristofferson

32. Smokey Robinson and the Miracles by Bob Seger

33. The Everly Brothers by Paul Simon

34. Neil Young by Flea

35. Michael Jackson by Antonio “LA” Reid

36. Madonna by Britney Spears

37. Roy Orbison by K.D. Lang

38. John Lennon by Lenny Kravitz

39. David Bowie by Lou Reed

40. Simon and Garfunkel by James Taylor

41. The Doors by Marilyn Manson

42. Van Morrison by Peter Wolf

43. Sly and the Family Stone by Don Was

44. Public Enemy by Adam Yauch

45. The Byrds by Tom Petty

46. Janis Joplin by Rosanne Cash

47. Patti Smith by Shirley Manson

48. Run-DMC by Chuck D

49. Elton John by Billy Joel

50. The Band by Lucinda Williams

The list goes beyond fifty though. If you’re curious, here’s 51-100:

51. Howlin’ Wolf by Buddy Guy

52. The Allman Brothers Band by Billy Gibbons

53. Eric Clapton by Little Steven

54. Dr. Dre by Kanye West

55. Grateful Dead by Warren Haynes

56. Parliament/Funkadelic by Ice Cube

57. Aerosmith by Slash

58. Sex Pistols by Billie Joe Armstrong

59. Louis Jordan by Ahmet Ertegun

60. Joni Mitchell by Jewel

61. Tina Turner by Janet Jackson

62. Etta James by Bonnie Raitt

63. Phil Spector by Jerry Wexler

64. The Kinks by Peter Buck

65. Al Green by Justin Timberlake

66. Cream by Roger Waters

67. The Temptations by Rod Stewart

68. Jackie Wilson by Peter Wolf

69. Carl Perkins by Tom Petty

70. The Police by Brandon Flowers

71. Frank Zappa by Trey Anastasio

72. AC/DC by Rick Rubin

73. Radiohead by Dave Matthews

74. Hank Williams by Beck

75. The Eagles by Sheryl Crow

76. The Shirelles by Paul Shaffer

77. Beastie Boys by Darryl “DMC” McDaniels

78. The Stooges by Thurston Moore

79. The Four Tops by Smokey Robinson

80. Elvis Costello by Liz Phair

81. The Drifters by Jerry Leiber and Mike
Stoller

82. Eminem by Elton John

83. N.W.A. by Ahmir “?uestlove” Thompson

84. James Taylor by Art Garfunkel

85. Black Sabbath by Dave Navarro

86. Tupac Shakur by 50 Cent

87. Gram Parsons by Keith Richards

88. Miles Davis by Mos Def

89. The Yardbirds by Steven Tyler

90. Carlos Santana by Henry Garza

91. Ricky Nelson by John Fogerty

92. Guns n’ Roses by Joe Perry

93. Booker T. and the MG’s by Isaac Hayes

94. Nine Inch Nails by David Bowie

95. Lynyrd Skynyrd by Al Kooper

96. Martha and the Vandellas by Fred Schneider

97. Diana Ross and the Supremes by Antonio “LA”
Reid

98. Roxy Music by John Taylor

99. Curtis Mayfield by Boz Scaggs

100. Lee “Scratch” Perry by Adam Horovitz

North Park: blacklisted!

Posted on December 7, 2007 by Dennison

Due to sheer hunger I forgot that I had already banned North Park and so the other day I ended up in it. After 15 minutes of waiting I really wanted to get up and leave but decided to stay out of courtesy. When the food arrived it was like somebody splashed cold water all over me and I was reminded why I vowed never to eat in North Park again.

There was a time (around 9 years ago) when North Park had a little more class, but as time went by it seems to have degraded itself into becoming more and more like a fast food chain which is not so bad if they did not charge exorbitant prices for their food. I am willing to pay a premium on food if I can enjoy it but there are a couple of things about North Park that really bother me:

The ambience is terrible. Their outlets are crowded and the diners are boisterous. I wouldn’t mind if this were a bar / hangout joint like Gilligan’s, Congo Grille, or Gerry’s, but even the architecture of North Park is very plain compared to those three. They could have invested in some sound proofing material or spaced the tables a little bit.
Not enough value for money. For viands that cost over 150 bucks per dish and take 20 minutes to prepare I would expect a little more in terms of quantity. Take for example my favorite Chinese the lemon chicken. Super Bowl serves twice the amount and they give you snacks while waiting for your food. Cheap snacks they may be, but this isn’t a fast food restaurant.
Food quality. They serve low quality rice that is a little over cooked … worth the 35-peso price tag. Their tea appears to be oversteeped to the point that I can no longer taste the leaves. I can tell simply by smelling and looking that their tea is no good. I am a tea person. I run a tea store. I am of Chinese descent. If you are a Chinese restaurant I expect good tea. Period. Need I mention the lemon chicken? Okay. Let me tell you the ingredients of their lemon sauce: some lemon, lots of vinegar, sugar, salt (wtf?), and lots of yellow coloring. I can cook lemon chicken and good lemon chicken sauce needs to use soy sauce (black if not white) and it needs to have ginger. I will personally throw in pepper and a few drops of white wine but the main ingredient, lemon, needs to be there!!! VINEGAR != LEMON, and yellow food coloring has no business being in there!! Probably these folks are trying to cut on costs but puh-leeze have some respect for the food you serve to your customers!
Misleading ads. A few months ago Kevin tried to pay with his credit card he was promptly told that they did not accept credit card because their processing system has not yet been setup even though they already had a “credit card accepted” signages up.

All in all the food here is starting to look more and more like Jollibee in terms of proportions. It’s like they’re trying to trick the masses by trying to appear like a classy restaurant so that they can price their meals a little higher when there are so many other classy restaurants (e.g. Cantinetta, Ayala M-Cafe) that give you more for what you pay for and there are lower-end restaurants that serve better food for a whole lot less.

So I was elated to find that strip of paper that read “customer feedback” (or something like that) inside the black sleeve that was handed to me along with the receipt. I wrote down in all caps and multiple underline the word “BLACKLISTED”, made sure to give them failing marks in the food quality and ambience area, and vented out my frustrations in the comments area.

End of story.

Maybe I’ll write about my other blacklisted restaurant, Brother’s Burger. Now that’s going to have to wait for another day.

10 Absolute “Nos!” for Freelancers?

Posted on December 2, 2007 by dennison

Funny how Samuel labels his list as “Absolute Nos” and then contradicts himself in a disclaimer on the second paragraph that goes “… here are ten questions I nearly always answer “No” to”.

I guess people would say anything to come up with a catchy headline. Why don’t they be like Fox News and put a question mark after a headline they could never present as a fact, just like I did?

Anyway, it’s still a good list that made me chuckle for a bit. I definitely agree with #1 being there and it being the highest in the list — there is nothing worse than unpaid labor. Although this list is aimed primarily at freelancers, those who belong to the corporate world should also pick up a thing or two.

Below is the list in brief, along with some of my rebuttals/comments:

1. Can you show me a mock-up to help us choose a designer/developer? No.
If you are a student / startup with nothing to show, tough luck boy — you gotta take the risk.

2. Can you give us a discount rate? No.
You may really want to do this for established clients.

3. Will you register and host my site? No.
Being in the web business this is an unavoidable question. Make sure tech support is billed separately, and if you do not feel comfortable with charging $5/month for hosting, charge higher. I have clients who do not mind paying extra for peace of mind.

4. Can you copy this site? No.
It is very difficult especially for startup clients to envision something that is not there yet. Unless they want to make a YouTube *cough*Revverandallthosevideosharingsitesoutthere*cough* or a Twitter *cough*Jaiku*cough* clone Better to just have them draw a shortlist of websites they would like to draw inspiration from and come up with an idea that can be called their own.

5. Can I pay for my e-commerce site from my website sales? No.
I think this is unrealistic, but if ever this happens, it should be a partnership setup because you are investing something in the business, so establish yourself as a partner and ask for more than just a paycheck for the website.

6. I have a great idea. Do you want to…? No.

Bad. Never cut off your client. Listen first, before saying No.

7. Do you have an IM account? No.
If you’re a hot chick, please give me your phone # as well.

8. Can I just pay the whole amount when it’s done? No.
This should be up there as #2.

9. Is there any way you could get this done tonight or this weekend? No.
This should really depend on who your client is. Also, if you messed up or failed to meet the deadline then suck it up and finish your work.

10. Can I be sure you won’t use this work in anything else? No.

Again this really depends on who your client is and on the premises of this statement. I would definitely want to reuse a login or slideshow script, but I would understand if they do not want me to reuse their proprietary in-video text searching mechanism (hey I came up with this idea myself)