I know there’s been lots of talk about the new iPod mini Apple introduced yesterday. Price-point aside for a minute while I focus on marketing/branding: Is it just me? If we’re speaking in relative terms, shouldn’t the name of this new device be iPod Slightly Smallerâ„¢? Ok, so it doesn’t have the same ring as Apple’s dubbing. But let’s be honest. There’s not much difference in physical size between the new mini and the full-size iPods. The problem everyone is decrying: not much difference in cost either. continued

Each spring, the Interactive portion of the South by Southwest Conference in Austin, Texas brings together some of the most creative and inventive individuals of the online and interactive world for several fun days of keynotes, sessions, panels, and parties. Last year, I finally had a chance to go for the first time, and had a blast. [Do we still use that word?] continued

Apparently, there’s been some huff and commotion (3, 4, 5, …) out there about SimpleBits and Stopdesign dropping liquid layouts in favor of fixed-width designs. This probably wouldn’t have been as big an issue if we both hadn’t changed (by chance) the very same week.

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After HP’s “you blog” ad attracted enough attention a couple days ago, I thought it appropriate to add a little more context, so no one thinks the campaign is entirely blog-focused. That ad just happened to catch my attention (and interest) because of its subject matter. As others pointed out in the comments for that entry, this could have been part of the ad agency’s intent. But I actually think whoever thought of the blog ad might just be trying to capitalize on a rapidly rising trend before anyone else does. continued

Spotted in the Montgomery BART station last week, I finally snapped a photo of this ad on the way into the office today. It’s part of a large HP campaign that has ads plastered all over the walls and floors of the Muni/BART stations, promoting their computing products. This one obviously stood out from the others. Somewhat presumptuous, wouldn’t you say? It shares that same haughty feeling that Wired was known for throughout the mid ’90s. In fact, I think all the other current HP ads are declarative like this one: “You travel light…”, “You do this…”, “You do that…”

Update: I’ve added shots of a few more HP ads in the same BART station, to provide some context for this one.

Spawned by recent conversations with friends, I’ve been thinking about people who are known for designing and working with web standards. Specifically those who have a strong interest in CSS or are already using style sheets to compliment or construct beautiful design. In these conversations, we’ve noted that this space seems heavily dominated by men. This concerns me. continued

World AIDS Day

2002-2003 campaign: Eliminate stigma and discrimination.

(Post time modified to move this entry to the top.)

It’s not often that I point out or write about standards-compliant site designs and launches which get sent to me by email, especially personal sites. But designer Cameron Adams just launched a site that I think is worth your attention. The Man in Blue boasts a simple, attractive design created with lots of background-image goodness. Notice the soft shadows everywhere, the cracks in the corners which move as the window is resized, and the intricate way lots of small borders match up to create a subtle 3D effect. A brief technical overview highlights a few more features. continued

Luck and some last-minute arrangements have me on the opposite coast right now. I’m in New York, in the middle of a whirlwind trip which only removes me from San Francisco for a span of about 48 hours. You do the math. Figure about a five hour direct flight each way, and time to get in and out of each city via train, and it doesn’t amount to much time here.

Trips to New York are always like this for me. This is only the third time I’ve been here, but each time, my visit is extremely limited, no doubt confining my experience of the Big Apple to portions that I can see in such short time. continued

If you happen to be fluent in Russian, you might be interested in Andrei Smirnov‘s recently completed Russian translation of my Sliding Doors of CSS article, originally published at A List Apart. The translation is hosted on Andrei’s personal site, which provides a Russian-language resource dedicated to web standards and related web design topics. Many thanks to Andrei for volunteering his time to translate the article. continued