As much as I love Make Magazine, I still cannot let them go without a big slap for using Helvetica (actually Helvetica Neue) for the default typeface on their new website. I work in design, I have both of those, but still: It renders like crap on PCs!™

Dear (what I assume to be mostly Mac-based) Web/CSS designers.

I really do agree with the groups of you out there that like Helvetica, I think it’s a wonderful font family. However, I think you should all be aware that it renders like ass poorly in Firefox and IE for windows regardless of the “font smoothing” settings I choose for my system.

So, seriously, consider giving something a little more “mainstream” (and/or designed for screen use instead of print) a shot. I know, Arial is lame, but have you tried giving Verdana or Tahoma (at an equally small size) a shot lately?

Kenguru and The Long Tail

Vehicles for people in wheelchairs aren’t terribly unusual, but they’re nearly always a modification of an otherwise stock car (typically a van, to allow room for the wheelchair). Such vans are often ungainly and extremely fuel-inefficient, and the modifications to allow wheelchair access are expensive. The Kenguru, designed by Hungarian rehabilitative services company Rehab Ltd., is in most respects the exact opposite from the modified van: small, efficient, and built from the ground up to fit the needs of wheelchair users.

Hat tip to Chris.

I had originally wanted to do a brief follow-up to each session after they were done, but it turns out that there’s noplace in the building that I felt like I could talk aimlessly to my dad’s laptop without feeling like I was insane. Therefore: you get end of day wrap-up action instead. Love it!

Here’s what I have for links and resources to go along with the podcast as well.

• Ze Frank’s Creativity Reading List
• WaxPraxis.org (Hopefully Branden will have notes for his presentation up here soon.)
• Ripple open-source HTML/JS/flash framework for more easily useable (and search engine spiderable) sites by Peter Hall
• Say Design (Online Flash Game Design)
• Glyn Thomas (OOP for Flash Games)
• Craig Swann (CrashMedia)
• John (who did not, in fact, kill me)

I’m not an expert in this [creativity], not like Tom Hanks is in psychiatry.

Ze Frank

Experiencing some minor DNS/Apache Configuration issues at the moment, but hopefully everything should switch over correctly and be all live and such shortly.

So: Welcome to the new site! If you spot anything weird going on please feel free to leave a comment to let me know what and where.

Threadless.com gallery of people with Destroy Nifkin shirts.

This should make my job more interesting. Adobe to Acquire Macromedia

DESTROY NIFKIN SHIRTS ARE BACK IN STOCK AT THREADLESS! GO FORTH AND CONSUME

Whoever had my computer at work before me had some bad taste when it comes to typefaces. I’m a condensed sans-serif guy myself, but all the stuff that’s on here is either a script font or what you would describe in positive terms as “whimsical.”

Found this while looking for info on customizing the navigation output for Textpattern, struck me since A- it’s a nice site, and B- I work for the people who publish Firehouse magazine and just did a bunch of work on revising the front page of the site to be in XHTML and CSS…

Arcola Pleasant-Valley Volunteer Fire Department