By Michael Garmahis on September 16, 2009
Optimizing images for web you’re making your web site load faster. Visitors don’t want to wait much. In addition you reduce bandwidth usage and consequently your bills. The more visitors your site or blog gets the more important is to optimize and reduce image size. Understanding basics of image compression and which formats to choose lets you not only significantly cut down on image size but even improve image quality. In addition, interactive flash projects (especially banners limited in Kb size) are where image optimization could have the most immediate and practical impact. Continue Reading →
Posted in Tutorials
By Michael Garmahis on September 9, 2009
Most stupid, bad and controversial ads and commercials are handpicked for this review. Most of them either produced a lot of buzz and went viral or were banned. Lack of creativity, bad implementation or just awful idea, there’s tens of reasons why these ads and commercials have appeared. While there’s tons of post for people looking for inspiration, I decided to do completely opposite. Sometimes the best way to learn is to see how NOT to do something. If I missed your favorite stupid or bad ad, please add it in the comments. Enjoy! Continue Reading →
Posted in Inspiration | Tagged ads
By Michael Garmahis on August 31, 2009
Topaz Adjust is a Photoshop plugin that lets you make gorgeous looking HDR photos just from one image. Besides HDR look Topaz Adjust lets you create high contrast, ultra sharp looking images similar to Dave Hill look photo effect. In general, Topaz Adjust provides powerful control over image exposure, detail (or better say microcontrast), and color which you can use either in creative way (create from original image something completely different looking) or use it slightly to correct your photo and make it pop. Continue Reading →
Posted in Software
By Michael Garmahis on August 27, 2009
MODx Web Development book from Packt Publishing provides great documentation for MODx CMS users (if you’re not familiar with this flexible and powerful CMS, check out How to make website with MODx CMS in 10 minutes. MODx Web Development book starts from how MODx fits into family of content management systems and goes to step by step explanation on how to setup, customize and manage site on MODx. The book also contains a lot of code examples and illustrative screenshots. Continue Reading →
Posted in Reviews
By Michael Garmahis on August 26, 2009
Firefox start up speed and operating speed is usually much faster after clean install rather than month of usage. As it turns out the time at Firefox start up is used to load .sqlite bases from your profile which are used to store the history, bookmarks, anti-phishing, etc. With intensive Firefox usage all these databases are growing in size, getting a lot of empty space and become fragmented. There’s special command which solves this problem. VACUUM command recreates all the .sqlite databases but without fragmentation and empty spaces. Continue Reading →
Posted in Tips
By Michael Garmahis on August 11, 2009
Wireframes can be created in many ways with several tools depending upon one’s communication needs and budget. Most simply, pen and paper are key tools for creating web wireframes. In addition some designers and developers are using Illustrator, Fireworks or PowerPoint to create wireframes. There are also interactive wireframe tools available for use by designers, programmers, and project managers, which allow collaboration with clients prior to the website programming stage. Wireframe tools included in this list allows you to make wireframes from low to high fidelity, work in collaboration with your team and clients, get feedback from stakeholders. Continue Reading →
Posted in Reviews
By Michael Garmahis on August 6, 2009
What is wireframe? Why wireframes are essential in web development? How to use them to speed up web development? Those are questions we will talk about in this post. There are also basic tips on how to make a wireframe and which tool can be used to create wireframes. Using wireframes you can get people thinking and generate requirements. Getting sign off on a set of detailed wireframes can save a lot of time and money. Forcing clients to think about the site’s functionality at a page level will avoid endless changes and tweaks. Continue Reading →
Posted in Tips