Andy Clarke’s Inspired CSS

My latest Andy Clarke purchase arrived from Amazon this morning: CSS Artistry: A Web Design Master Class. The set comprises Andy’s 2006 book Transcending CSS: The Fine Art of Web Design and a new DVD-ROM called Inspired CSS – styling for a beautiful web.

I’ve had the book since it was first published and it’s now well worn. It’s a beautifully produced tome and is packed with inspiration, cool designs and techniques, all based on web standards. So good I’ve now bought it twice [I plan to donate my first copy to the team of web developers I manage at work].

I’ve started watching the DVD this afternoon. I find Andy’s relaxed, but authoratitive style engaging and never dull. He makes what can be a dry, technical subject watchable. I am around half way through and I have learned so much. Tips and tricks that create those ‘ah, that’s what that does’ moments.

The DVD is not aimed at beginners, which is one of the reasons I decided to buy it. I agree, but Andy makes it easy to understand and digest with lots of practical examples. All of the source code is included on the disc, so it’s possible to follow along and play with the code yourself.

The DVD covers:

• Semantic markup
• Typography
• Microformats
• Advanced CSS selectors
• Layout techniques
• CSS3 features

Highly recommended.

Note: this is a DVD-ROM. Requires Flash Player 8 or above and works on Apple Mac and Windows.

Panic Coda

I’ve been a user of Dreamweaver since version 1 and still use it at work from time to time. Having moved to a Mac at home I decided to try out something simpler (and cheaper!) and chose Panic’s Coda, which I’ve been using for a while now.

Version 1.6 introduced plugins and I’ve just updated my software to the latest version (1.6.2). I’m glad to see there’s a growing list of plugins available from third-party developers.

If you’re looing for a reasonably-priced HTML editor for the Mac you won’t go far wrong with Coda.

Cameron Carpenter

I recently bought Cameron Carpenter‘s CD “Revolutionary” having briefly seen him play on BBC2 late one evening on one of the arts shows.

Cameron Carpenter

Cameron is an accomplished player with amazing pedal technique and is apparently an ice skater in his spare time. This might explain his dress sense, which is rather unorthodox for classical music: tight white t-shirt studded with crystals, tight white trousers and white shoes with enormous heels.

There are a number of videos of his playing on YouTube, which are worth watching. I’m not sure why, but the audio is out of sync with the video. This seems to be a problem with many YouTube videos, which is a pity. I’ve included a couple of these videos below. The CD is well worth buying.

Stars and Stripes Forever

John Philip Sousa

Bugler’s Holiday

Leroy Anderson

Read more about Cameron Carpenter at his website and in a recent article in New Yorker Magazine.

Smartphone : which one?

I’ve been in a dilemma…I want a new phone, but which one?

Stephen Fry posted a review of 3 smartphones over on his blog recently and he was pretty scathing about the new Blackberry Storm, so that rules that one out for me.

I’ve read mixed reports about Google‘s first foray into mobile phones, so that’s out.

That leaves me back with Apple’s iPhone. Despite its well-documented shortcomings, it seems to be the best option out there. No video, cut-and-paste, MMS, and so on, but a growing number of third-party applications.

All food for thought.

Five Simple Steps : the book

Mark Boulton

I’ve been a fan of Mark Boulton for a while and eagerly awaiting his new e-book. Good news, it will be available to purchase as a PDF download on 2 February 2009.

Mark has created a microsite over at www.fivesimplesteps.co.uk and you can also follow him on twitter: twitter.com/fivesimplesteps.

While I’m at it, you can read more about Mark’s work at www.markboultondesign.com and visit his blog over at www.markboulton.co.uk. Not that I’m stalking him you understand!