Super Ginormous

Author: Chris Harrison

  • Rdio

    Rdio: a Social Music Revolution?Thanks to Luke, I’ve been able to enjoy Rdio for a day now and I like it so far, but I’m not sold on it.

    Follow me on Rdio.

    There are three ways to use Rdio: a mobile app (Blackberry, Android or iPhone), a desktop (AIR) app, or via the web. I downloaded the AIR app and synced my local library. (It checks to see if songs you have are available on Rdio. It doesn’t actually upload your files.) Your friends can then see what kind of music you listen to you. As you add friends you’ll start seeing what’s hot in your network’s rotation. This is arguably the most interesting aspect of Rdio. As you add songs to your Collection or to playlists, your friends will see this in a social stream.

    Pros:

    • Subscription plans are flexible. Either opt for web-only for $4.99/month or $9.99 for mobile access + sync.
    • It’s easy to discover new music based on what your friends are listening to.
    • If you’re listening to something via web browser and open the AIR app, it matches what’s playing in the browser. (You can then close that tab or browser window.)
    • Listen to your music anywhere.
    • Add any song to your collection.
    • Last.fm scrobbling supported!

    Cons:

    • There is no free plan. Competitors like Pandora or Last.fm have free plans. You can try Rdio for three days, but after that you have to choose a subscription.
    • The AIR apps “Match Collection” feature revealed that only about half of my library was available through Rdio. If you have a large collection of music, Rdio may not have everything available.
    • I found a lot of albums had Clips only. I’m sure this will get fixed in time.
    • US only. For now.
    • As far as I can tell, there is no way to play a collection or playlist from the AIR app. If you hit play, it plays from your Queue. If you want to listen to anything else, you have to initiate it through the website first.

    So, should you subscribe to Rdio? I’m still torn. Are you using it? Do you plan to subscribe? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

    Oh. And I have one invite left. ;) If you’re itching to check Rdio out, tell me why. Best answer gets it.

  • Camera Raw 6.1 Released

    Camera Raw 6.1 released. Adds support for several cameras, including the Canon EOS Digital Rebel T2i.

  • US Constitution in HTML5

    About a year ago, I marked up the United States Constitution in HTML5 as a learning exercise. Fast forward a year, and I’m still not 100% certain I’ve gotten it correct. This document is troublesome in that it shares similar naming conventions with HTML5 tags, namely <article> and <section>. Does it make sense to have an Article contained with an <article> tag, or should it be in a <section>? In this case, I opted to stick with the document’s original naming conventions even though it may run counter to what’s currently suggested as a best practice on the matter.

    How would you go about doing the markup for a pre-existing, historical document like this?

  • Hiatus

    I’m addicted to social media. I know it’s sounds stupid, but I have an unhealthy obsession with it. I compulsively check Twitter to see what news people are posting, what links are popular. I’m addicted to information. I crave interaction. And it’s not healthy. I – ashamedly – play games like Social City on Facebook. It’s got to stop. I can’t do it anymore. That’s why I’m giving them both up. I’m not deleting the accounts. (I made that mistake with Twitter once before.) But for now, I’m stepping away. Now is the time for me to focus on being as creative and productive as I can.

    If you @ me on Twitter, I probably won’t see it. If you direct message me on Twitter, make sure you include an email address otherwise I won’t be able to respond. Same goes for Facebook. Email, phone or IM will be your best bet to get in touch with me until I decide the time’s right for me to venture back onto either of those networks.

    You can find my contact information at cdharrison.info

    Thanks for your support.

  • CS5 is here.

    Creative Suite 5 is here. I’ve had the pleasure of testing out CS5 for the past few months and I’m not exaggerating when I say it’s the best version yet. It runs blazing fast on my Mac mini (Intel Core 2 Duo 2.26GHz with 4GB 1066MHz DDR3). Features like Photoshop’s Content Aware Fill are not to be missed. Not sold on an upgrade yet? Grab one of the trials. If you skipped CS4, some of the interface changes are going to take some time to get used to. (Tabs are a productivity lifesaver!!)

  • Leap

    Last month I made the leap back to using a Mac. Since July 09, I’ve worked solely as a freelancer and my trusty Dell laptop has served me remarkably well, but the time came for me to upgrade to something more capable. Budget-wise I was aiming to spend as little as possible. That left me with only a a few choices:

    1. Get another PC. I toyed with the idea of getting a desktop simply because it’d be more upgradeable down the road. I love my laptop, though. Being tied to a desk isn’t ideal when you have to meet with clients or want to work someplace else from time to time. For $500-$1000 you can get some good laptops and/or desktops.
    2. Get a Mac. I was torn between getting a 13″ MacBook Pro, 24″ iMac or a Mac mini.
      1. A 13″ MacBook Pro would be a very capable machine, able to run CS5 without issues. It could be hooked to an external monitor when needed. It’s super portable. The only downside is that it’s a little on the small size. Working on it for extended amounts of time, without an external monitor would probably be a pain in the ass. Starting at $1199, the base model isn’t bad, but not quite what I was after.
      2. The 24″ iMac is fast, has a nice sized screen. Lots of great options. I loved that I’d be able to hook an external screen to it to double screen space. At $1199, the entry-level model is a great deal and I was seriously considering it.
      3. The Mac mini is compact and decently powered for its size. While it’s not portable like a MBP might be, it’s easy to transport. With its ability to connect to multiple screens sporting HDMI, VGA or DVI (via display adapters), I was sold. The price helped as well. I bought the entry-level Mac mini for $579 retail with free shipping and no tax.

    Getting used to Snow Leopard versus several years in Vista and XP has been a bit of a challenge, but not much. The Mac mini is quick, is able to do a lot with it’s seemingly unimpressive hardware specs. All in all, I’m happy with the decision to get it. Given the limited budget, it was most definitely the right choice for me to make, but I could see myself going for either a MBP or an iMac the next time I need to upgrade.

    Dual

    The Setup

    It handles two monitors flawlessly. It runs all of my applications without a problem, even Creative Suite 5. I’m extremely happy with my Mac mini and I can’t wait to build and create some awesome stuff with it.

  • Microformats Made Simple

    Microformats Made Simple, a book my friend Emily Lewis wrote, now has its own microsite. If you haven’t picked up a copy of it yet, you really ought to.

  • Never Stop Learning

    Our industry is in an ever-changing state. Sure, on the surface it doesn’t look like much changes, but that’s where you’d be wrong. You might find it hard to believe, but there are some developers that still use tables. There are some developers that use inline styles or refuse to use CSS at all. Why? They stopped learning or learned just enough to get their job done. How can you stay on top of things and avoid?

    • Follow industry leaders on Twitter. Sure, not everything they say will be relevant, but industry leaders will frequently post links you should be reading. Check out Listorious or WeFollow to get started.
    • Subscribe to the RSS feeds of well-known designer and developers (and their firms, if applicable). If you’re using Google Reader, check out feed bundles.
    • Attend local meetups. Find a Refresh group in your area. Attend a BarCamp or WordCamp. If there aren’t any in your area, change that. You might be surprised to find out how many web designers and developers are in your area. Learn from each other. Push each other to learn and improve your skills.
    • Go to conferences. You’ll learn a lot from conferences like An Event Apart, Web Directions, FoWA/FoWD, SXSWi, etc. If you can convince your boss to let you go, trust me: make this happen. You’ll meet people who will inspire you to improve yourself. You’ll learn from people who really know their craft.
    • Read books related to what you’re wanting to learn.
    • Look for e-learning opportunities.
    • Experiment. If you have a personal site (and you should!), use it to experiment with things you might not otherwise be able to use in your day job.
      Push yourself to learn at least one new thing each day. You never know, some of these experiments might yield better ways to do what you’re currently doing – or may help you land a new job.
    • Go to [back to] school. If a local college or university is offering classes on things you want to learn about and will help you become a better ____, don’t miss out on them. Plus, you’ll be exposed to others who are just as interested in ____.
    • Don’t ever get comfortable. The moment you do is the moment you’ll be left behind

    Make a commitment to learn. Make a commitment to improve your skills. Don’t let yourself or your current situation keep you where you’re at.

    What are your strategies for learning? Does your current employer encourage you to learn and improve upon your current skillset?

  • Broken

    Dear Twitter:

    Twitter Trends are broken. Yes, they can give invaluable insight on the pulse of Twitter as a whole, but they’ve long been irrelevant to me and I don’t feel like I’m alone.. The system is easily gamed. Random hashtags like #SheProbablyAHoe spread like syphillis but why?

    I know what you’re thinking: just ignore them. Use a desktop or mobile client that doesn’t put trends in your face. That’s valid. But ignoring a problem doesn’t make it go away.

    Trends would matter more to me if they applied to the people I followed. I don’t care about what the whole of Twitter is talking about. I want to know what the people I follow and who follow me are talking about. What is important to my social circle is infinitely more important to me than what’s #nowplaying, #pleaseexplainwhy or #omgfacts. But there are people out there who find that sort of stuff interesting, and it’s likely the people they interact with on Twitter do too. That’s why Twitter needs to fix trending – so everyone can get the most of it. So that everyone’s experience with Twitter is a bit more custom-tailored to their own interests.

    And would it kill you to fix replies?

    Love, cd.

  • Badges

    Here are some 125×125 badges I made for Wordcamp Atlanta:

    And some 300×75 badges: