I have recently become a huge fan of O'Reilly's The Missing Manual series. Now, as a student of engineering and a designer, I know the bare bones of programming, and have some experience in the field. However, I am still quite enjoying my latest find, JavaScript: The Missing Manual.
Some strong points I find on this book are its in-depth review of the basics of JavaScript programming (I would imagine that this would be great for a person who is just starting out in the programming/design field), as well as its covering various topics including JQuery, Internet Explorer JavaScript (I'm sure others did not realize that even JavaScript has to be tweaked slightly for IE! -insert complaints and protests-), and its tutorials on how things work - I have to admit, the regular expression tutorial really helped me greatly (I have never been that great with ye olde regex, nor even really randomization operations - both of which were very well-covered in this book).
On a scale from one to five, with five being the best, I would give it a five in the eyes of someone beginning programming and JavaScript. For someone a little bit more advanced, it'll probably drop down to a three; the basics span for several chapters, which can be dull for a person who merely wants to expand their knowledge of JavaScript and already knows the basics.
I am looking forward to further installments into The Missing Manual series of books. Unlike O'Reilly's other books, they are more light-hearted and more tuned to the less technically experienced (or those with a little more Attention Deficit Disorder than the next person when it comes to technical manuals). I haven't seen one yet for anything other than JavaScript, HTML, CSS, and a few various Mac and Adobe products, but I'm silently hoping for a PHP/MySQL introduction to give to a family member of mine as a gift.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Friday, October 17, 2008
Growing
In the web design field today, people are wanting more and more out of their web experience. As it stands, plain HTML pages are gone, replaced by dynamic, mostly aesthetically pleasing designs.
The issue is, however, that it can be hard to stay on top of the technical and design industry if a person doesn't make a conscious effort to do so. Design is one in which it is significant to do this, as the competition is especially fierce.
I am astounded when I find designers who merely work to live rather than live to work. In the design industry, living to work is crucial because it takes passion in order to stand out from the rest of the design pack, and to continue to learn and improve in design.
A few weeks ago, someone I knew was fired. I was fairly decent friends with her; we sat next to one another, and I would tease her often. I have come to realize that one of the reasons for her release was a lack of care and laziness - not caring about her designs, or looking to see how she could improve them. It is unfortunate, because she worked with a team of three other very talented designers, and all three of us loved to gather around and discuss the latest in design news, and were just a generally great team with great compatibility because of how we worked and struggled to improve our department, and look for ways to better please our clients.
The best way to improve in design is doing just that. Finding a love for what you are doing - because if you can't enjoy design, then I don't think it is ultimately possible to truly succeed as a designer (on the other hand, I do not feel that it is possible to succeed in anything unless you truly enjoy it or find some other reason to press to do your best). And once you have found that reason to delve deeper into design, exploit it - use things like Google Reader to read syndication feeds from design blogs like Smash, or just read what other designers are saying. And most importantly - don't be completely apathetic to new things.
The issue is, however, that it can be hard to stay on top of the technical and design industry if a person doesn't make a conscious effort to do so. Design is one in which it is significant to do this, as the competition is especially fierce.
I am astounded when I find designers who merely work to live rather than live to work. In the design industry, living to work is crucial because it takes passion in order to stand out from the rest of the design pack, and to continue to learn and improve in design.
A few weeks ago, someone I knew was fired. I was fairly decent friends with her; we sat next to one another, and I would tease her often. I have come to realize that one of the reasons for her release was a lack of care and laziness - not caring about her designs, or looking to see how she could improve them. It is unfortunate, because she worked with a team of three other very talented designers, and all three of us loved to gather around and discuss the latest in design news, and were just a generally great team with great compatibility because of how we worked and struggled to improve our department, and look for ways to better please our clients.
The best way to improve in design is doing just that. Finding a love for what you are doing - because if you can't enjoy design, then I don't think it is ultimately possible to truly succeed as a designer (on the other hand, I do not feel that it is possible to succeed in anything unless you truly enjoy it or find some other reason to press to do your best). And once you have found that reason to delve deeper into design, exploit it - use things like Google Reader to read syndication feeds from design blogs like Smash, or just read what other designers are saying. And most importantly - don't be completely apathetic to new things.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Blog Action Day - Poverty
(just pretend it is October 15th for me; I've been working on this post for a while :) )
For most of my life, I have lived at what is considered the poverty line, or at least below it, in proportion to where I live. The only time that I have ever been above it were the four years in which I lived with my aunt and uncle during our initial coming to Las Vegas. Right now I live on $12/hour in an area where the average wage is probably around $20/hour.
Yet even so, I would say that I am better off than much of the world's population. I'm not even going to kid myself and claim to be poor; times can be hard, but thanks to my current living arrangement, I have to admit I am far better off than I was in the past.
Many of my closest friends from high school (and now college) are from India. Either their parents came here from India, or my friends themselves came during high school or just before high school. The stories they told astounded me, and especially made me very thankful for the lot I was given in life (even if I can't really afford my engineering college right now).
They spoke of schools in which the corruption of the government had spread far enough that children would go there, but not learn. Of people so impoverished and desperate for money that they would break the arms of their own children, just to send them out to beg. They spoke of homes made from cow patties, of people gaunt and bent with hunger, of people who, in the end, were no longer even treated like people.
Poverty is in, and of itself, the result of corruption and, unlike the mindset of far too many people, not necessarily a thing which a person brings upon him or her self. It is dehumanization, created by suspicion and a feeling of superiority among people who do have enough, who can provide for their families - a mindset which must change.
I am brought back to when I was a young girl, and had just moved to Las Vegas. My aunt and uncle and I were going to the store in order to get some things. As we parked our car, a woman of roughly fifty years approached our car. In a thick Russian accent, she inquired whether we had any money. She wore a dress, and had a frightened look about her. Now, my uncle is one which tends to try and pretend that poverty isn't there, and that there are things which people in such situations as the woman could do. My aunt and I urged him to get some money, at least twenty dollars, to give to the woman, for both of us could see that she had quite the story. My uncle relented; I do believe that was the first, and the last, time which we saw him give anyone money, and I believe, unlike most others, that the woman had something terrible happen to her - unlike my uncle, I do not for a moment believe that she was greedy, miserly, or in any other way lacking the need of that which we gave her.
It is this mindset of fear and suspicion that will make any action created to ease or lower the amount of impoverished people extremely difficult. Where I live, there are too many homeless people. I have seen a man, half dead from starvation, attempting to walk in heat that could absolutely kill a healthy person. What is worse, I have seen people who could help him turn up their noses, and walk past him as if he never existed.
I am glad that there are people who are helping. In Africa, cell phones are being given to village women in order to allow them communication with the outside world. Not only does this empower the woman which the cell phone is given to in a highly patriarchal society, but it enriches the village and allows them to find buyers for their crops. There are also, of course, the many Christian missionaries - while I am strongly against pressing religion off onto other people and trying to destroy culture, I will admit that donating time, money, and supplies the way that these missions do can be a very pure thing.
I realize that things will never be perfect and that we cannot always give (otherwise we will become the person which we are donating to), but I hope that the rose-colored glasses worn by far too many people will be lifted - that they can see the poor living in the caves of Andalucia, and find some way to help the flood victims in Bangladesh. Even if a person only gives a little bit, it is a small step in the right direction.
For most of my life, I have lived at what is considered the poverty line, or at least below it, in proportion to where I live. The only time that I have ever been above it were the four years in which I lived with my aunt and uncle during our initial coming to Las Vegas. Right now I live on $12/hour in an area where the average wage is probably around $20/hour.
Yet even so, I would say that I am better off than much of the world's population. I'm not even going to kid myself and claim to be poor; times can be hard, but thanks to my current living arrangement, I have to admit I am far better off than I was in the past.
Many of my closest friends from high school (and now college) are from India. Either their parents came here from India, or my friends themselves came during high school or just before high school. The stories they told astounded me, and especially made me very thankful for the lot I was given in life (even if I can't really afford my engineering college right now).
They spoke of schools in which the corruption of the government had spread far enough that children would go there, but not learn. Of people so impoverished and desperate for money that they would break the arms of their own children, just to send them out to beg. They spoke of homes made from cow patties, of people gaunt and bent with hunger, of people who, in the end, were no longer even treated like people.
Poverty is in, and of itself, the result of corruption and, unlike the mindset of far too many people, not necessarily a thing which a person brings upon him or her self. It is dehumanization, created by suspicion and a feeling of superiority among people who do have enough, who can provide for their families - a mindset which must change.
I am brought back to when I was a young girl, and had just moved to Las Vegas. My aunt and uncle and I were going to the store in order to get some things. As we parked our car, a woman of roughly fifty years approached our car. In a thick Russian accent, she inquired whether we had any money. She wore a dress, and had a frightened look about her. Now, my uncle is one which tends to try and pretend that poverty isn't there, and that there are things which people in such situations as the woman could do. My aunt and I urged him to get some money, at least twenty dollars, to give to the woman, for both of us could see that she had quite the story. My uncle relented; I do believe that was the first, and the last, time which we saw him give anyone money, and I believe, unlike most others, that the woman had something terrible happen to her - unlike my uncle, I do not for a moment believe that she was greedy, miserly, or in any other way lacking the need of that which we gave her.
It is this mindset of fear and suspicion that will make any action created to ease or lower the amount of impoverished people extremely difficult. Where I live, there are too many homeless people. I have seen a man, half dead from starvation, attempting to walk in heat that could absolutely kill a healthy person. What is worse, I have seen people who could help him turn up their noses, and walk past him as if he never existed.
I am glad that there are people who are helping. In Africa, cell phones are being given to village women in order to allow them communication with the outside world. Not only does this empower the woman which the cell phone is given to in a highly patriarchal society, but it enriches the village and allows them to find buyers for their crops. There are also, of course, the many Christian missionaries - while I am strongly against pressing religion off onto other people and trying to destroy culture, I will admit that donating time, money, and supplies the way that these missions do can be a very pure thing.
I realize that things will never be perfect and that we cannot always give (otherwise we will become the person which we are donating to), but I hope that the rose-colored glasses worn by far too many people will be lifted - that they can see the poor living in the caves of Andalucia, and find some way to help the flood victims in Bangladesh. Even if a person only gives a little bit, it is a small step in the right direction.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
When Will Web Design Be Design?
So, there has been an overhaul on my web designer site, BeLinkd. I went for a very minimalistic design with this one, one that isn't too weird, looks slightly web2.0, but isn't quite web2.0.
Frankly, I don't like gradients or all the other cliched things that web2.0 tends to indicate, so I tried to stay away from it. I think the closest I came to what is classified as Web 2.0 is the rounded corners on the navigation.
I find it sad that Web 2.0 has created the general craze it has. While it is true that it can bring some very stunning interfaces, at the same time, it becomes very cliched for every design to have a gradient, for every design to have Mac-like buttons, or even every design to have rounded corners. I like those in interesting ways - but not all together. Oh, and I absolutely loathe gradient backgrounds; I've used them for client sites, but frankly, can we please start being more intuitive?
What I want to see it go more into is concept art, minimalism, and all the other areas that web design features. I want to see more web sites that try to look like things in every day life, that take their inspiration from things around us - but not just common things, but interesting things. I want to see things looking disjointed, and yet flowing smoothly together. I want more designs that take a concept, and blow everyone out of the water with an idea that is new and unique.
I want to see design.
I want to see all of this, and yet continue to improve a user's experience with web pages, in order to better allow people access to web pages and information. Maybe not every design can be the next big thing, but I want to see new things tried out. I'm tired of seeing things that vaguely resemble an iPhone - much less designing them. Sometimes having Web 2.0-esque graphics can be good, but can't we be creative? Try something new in every design, try to improve one part in every design so that it is unlike anything you have tried before.
Maybe this can be difficult, but the more it is done, the further web pages as designs will be advanced, and the more our skill levels as designers will grow - and hopefully, the usage and enjoyment of people on the web will expand.
Frankly, I don't like gradients or all the other cliched things that web2.0 tends to indicate, so I tried to stay away from it. I think the closest I came to what is classified as Web 2.0 is the rounded corners on the navigation.
I find it sad that Web 2.0 has created the general craze it has. While it is true that it can bring some very stunning interfaces, at the same time, it becomes very cliched for every design to have a gradient, for every design to have Mac-like buttons, or even every design to have rounded corners. I like those in interesting ways - but not all together. Oh, and I absolutely loathe gradient backgrounds; I've used them for client sites, but frankly, can we please start being more intuitive?
What I want to see it go more into is concept art, minimalism, and all the other areas that web design features. I want to see more web sites that try to look like things in every day life, that take their inspiration from things around us - but not just common things, but interesting things. I want to see things looking disjointed, and yet flowing smoothly together. I want more designs that take a concept, and blow everyone out of the water with an idea that is new and unique.
I want to see design.
I want to see all of this, and yet continue to improve a user's experience with web pages, in order to better allow people access to web pages and information. Maybe not every design can be the next big thing, but I want to see new things tried out. I'm tired of seeing things that vaguely resemble an iPhone - much less designing them. Sometimes having Web 2.0-esque graphics can be good, but can't we be creative? Try something new in every design, try to improve one part in every design so that it is unlike anything you have tried before.
Maybe this can be difficult, but the more it is done, the further web pages as designs will be advanced, and the more our skill levels as designers will grow - and hopefully, the usage and enjoyment of people on the web will expand.
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