CSSEdit declares… IE Sucks!

IE Sucks

For a while now I’ve been meaning to write a review of CSSEdit, the fabulous CSS editing software from macrabbit. I don’t have time to do that right now, but given my use of the word, fabulous, I’m sure you’ve guessed it will be a favorable review.

For now, I just wanted to point out this very funny little item in the corner of CSSEdit’s icon. I totally missed this. Thanks to David Holbrook for pointing it out.

I wonder how many other messages are hidden in application icons?

OS X QuickTip: Sort System Prefs Alphabetically

Sort Systems Preferences Alphabetically

By default, Mac OS X system preferences are divided into categories. If you’re like me, you always forget which preference is in what category, so you spend more time looking for a preference than you want to. Sure, you can start typing the name in the search field and it will be hi-lighted, but did you know you can drop the categories and sort them alphabetically? Simply go the the View pull-down menu and select Organize Alphabetically. It makes for a much more compact list, and makes the right preference easier to find, at least for me.

Last chance for cheap Skype calls

Skype 2.5

There are two important things to note today about Skype. First, today they announced the final version of 2.5. It’s no longer in Beta. Second, today (1.31.07) is your last chance to get a cheap calling plan. You can get unlimited calling in the US and Canada for $14.95/year. Tomorrow it goes up to $29.95/year. To be clear, this is a calling plan for using Skype to call real phones. Using skype to voice-chat with another computer is still free. But, if you like to use Skype to call phones, you may want to take advantage of this offer.

Monoface

Monoface

The folks over at design firm, mono-1, have a created this fun, and sometimes disturbing, little flash game, called monoface. You can click the head, mouth, nose, and each eye to create a different monoface. There are 759,375 possible combinations.

Although we all have basically the same parts, it’s clear they don’t always go together.

via Unbiased Bias

Spanning Sync Public Beta… or not

Spanning Sync

Earlier today the private beta of Spanning Sync finally went public. Unfortunately, they under estimated the high demand for this software, and the beta was pulled only hours later. Their servers just couldn’t keep up.

If you’re unfamiliar with Spanning Sync, it’s software that will allow you to sync your iCal calendars with Google Calendar, and back again. So, you can enter information in either place and always have access to your complete calendar.

The guys over at Spanning Sync are hoping to add some server hardware tomorrow, so we should all be able to get access to the beta again shortly. Keep an eye on their blog for updates.

Two things to keep in mind if you try this software are, 1. This is BETA. If you don’t know what that means, you may want to wait for the final release. 2. Although the Beta is free, the software won’t be when it’s done, so don’t be surprised when you have to fork over some cash later if you want to keep using it. They haven’t set the final price yet.

Snap Previews: Yay or Nay

Snap Previews

A while back I started using Snap Previews. They’re those little popup boxes that appear whenever you roll-over a link that leads to an external site. They give you a little preview of where you’ll be going.

Personally, I like the preview, but today I read a post over at Binary Bonsai about disabling snap previews. It looks like Michael, the author, isn’t as much of a fan as I am, and he’s not alone.

So, what do you think? Do you find them useful, or just annoying? Should I remove them completely, or should people who don’t like them just disable the preview themselves?

tip: to disable the previews, click the “options” link in the upper right corner of the preview window. You’ll be able to disable the previews for this site, or for all sites.

UPDATE (1.31.07): I’m still debating on if I’ll be keeping the previews or not, but I’ve noticed 2 things that I find quite interesting…

  1. In the comments here, and on Binary Bonsai, people have equated Snap Previews to pop-up ads. Why is that? I mean, they’re not really pop-up ads, they’re previews. Is it because they have the Snap logo on them?
  2. I’m a very visual person. I like the previews because they give me the opportunity to see where I’m going. For me, seeing a destination may be the deciding factor in my decision to go there. If you follow this story back from here, to Binary Bonsai, to Kottke, the Daring Fireball… you’ll notice that the other three sites use little to no images in any of their posts, and they all hate the previews. I use an image in almost every post, and I like the previews. Is there some connection between people who hate the previews, and people who don’t use images in their blogs?

Keep the comments coming. This is very interesting to me.

5 O’clock

5 clock

This is the 5 O’clock, by the well known husband-and-wife team of designers, Tibor and Maria Kalman. It’s also available in a watch. You can get both from the online moma store, but they’re not cheap. The clock will run you $125 and the watch is $95.

Is there really any other time you need to know?

moma store: clock, watch

found via Vestal Design