This song never gets old, and it’s even better in ASL:
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WordPress Theme Generator
I found an interactive page for generating wordpress themes at http://www.yvoschaap.com/wpthemegen/. It’s a very nice bit of Javascripting that lets you use your own logo image, control body size, sidebar location and size, choose a 2 sidebar or 1 sidebar layout, control the menu layout, and control all the colors. The result is a very lightweight wordpress theme with a minimum of images, though you certainly could further modify the CSS to add your own background graphics, etc..
Compared to my own interactive CSS manipulation scripts, this is an impressive bit of programming. The script not only generates the css styles, but also zips up a WordPress-complaint theme package that you can just drop into your wp-content folder. The theme is also Widget-aware and supports tags.
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Here's a song.
Here’s a song I did a while back to test out GarageBand. Backing track is mostly from one of the Garage Band Jam Packs, and the audio is from a live Patty Larkin performance of the song ‘Dave’s Holiday.’ Download DaveTest1AAC (m4a format)
WordPress does allow me to link to these files, will have to also try embedding them. There are also presumably wordpress plug-ins that will help me present multiple media files with the appropriate previews and stuff.
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iBuddha
iBuddha is still going strong on the iPhone App store. You can get it here.
Sales are still underwhelming, but we’re fairly proud of this app, which features 1025 different fortunes culled from such sources as Buddha, Confucius, Mark Twain, George Orwell, Groucho Marx, and your local Chinese take-out place.
If you aren’t willing to shell out 99 cents for the full version, there’s a free version here instead. The free version has only 25 of the fortunes and doesn’t include the lucky numbers feature, but will give you a pretty good idea of what to expect.
Richard Johnston and Simon Rohrmuller’s Watchmen parody comic is now available in full color on the iPhone App Store.
This standalone version of the comic uses our reader software, which we’re calling the Weasel Reader at present. The reader is relatively intuitive, you tap on the right third of the screen to move forward, left to move backward, and in the center to expose other controls. The nice thing about doing the comic as a standalone app is that it’s fairly easy to find on the App Store. The downside is that anyone buying a lot of comics would end up filling up their icon real estate pretty quickly.
Watchmensch is also currently available in black and white on the Panel Fly comics app. I’ve colored the interior pages on the color version (which will also be available on ComiXology shortly).
Verizon’s upcoming Motorola Droid phone has gotten a lot of buzz, and the usual chorus of “this is going to be an iPhone killer” has started. The phone has a very compelling feature set, but people should keep a few things in mind:
- Verizon has been trying to release ‘iPhone killer’ phones since the iPhone was first announced. They’ve released a number of LG touchscreen phones, each with a different incomprehensible interface, and tied to Verizon’s on-deck store.
- One of the more compelling things about the iPhone is its build quality — the touchscreen feels really responsive, and the phone feels solid in your hand. So many of the phones that are trying to compete with it still feel plastic-y and cheap.
- It’s the user interface and ease of use that makes the iPhone a first-class device, and such a game-changer. Also, as frustrating as it is, Apple’s trajectory to today’s App Store has done a lot to ensure the consistancy of that user experience. A wide-open store of apps and the ability to customize away some very thoughtful UI decisions would have diluted the strength of the product.
- Every mobile device is a set of compromises. So, what’s the Droid compromising on? That big screen suggests battery life will be the biggest compromise.
I can’t wait to actually get my hands on a Droid phone and see what Motorola has done. They’ve made a large investment in Android, hiring dozens of programmers, so here’s hoping that their gamble is going to pay off in a flurry of good phones.