Freakin' asymptotic notation: How does that work?
OK, I'll be the first to admit it - math is my favorite subject. I know that makes me weird - even among fellow working software engineers - but it's the truth. It's also the truth that while they may be boring to many, knowing even a little bit about the numbers of computer science can help make you a better software engineer. Today, we're going to look at a little piece of applied discrete math - the analysis of algorithms - and how we can empirically describe the performance of one algorithm with respect to another using something called "asymptotic notation". If you already know what this is and how to read the various sub-notations, skip the rest of this post: it's old news. If you do not know what this is, and would like to, read on! If you do not know what this is and don't care, read on anyway - I promise you it'll be worth it.
SOPA and PIPA
Today the internet is taking a stand against the Stop Online Piracy Act & the Protect IP Act, commonly referred to as SOPA and PIPA, respectively. You've probably seen these protests take shape in various creative, stark forms. Our favorite – you guessed it – comes from Tumblr, who blacked out actual posts from their users, across every single Tumblr Dashboard. That's millions of words and thousands of posts, hidden from view:
Similarly, Wikipedia has boldly pulled their whole site down for the entire day, letting users understand first-hand what's at stake.
Pilot Podcast Episode
As a great way to ring in the new year, we are proud to present the pilot episode of the Centresource podcast! Inside you'll find what you've come to expect from us: expertise about interactive and the web, Nick Holland hyping Google & Android, and general geeking out. Consider this a general introduction to our podcast but Nick's also got some BIG news to share. Be sure you give it a watch/listen and stay tuned for future episodes!
[iTunes and other subscription links to come shortly]
What the FONT?!?
Web designers have many challenges when it comes to designing a website. Some may include timelines, budgets, client changes, scope-creep, etc. But one of our biggest challenges are fonts. Fonts? Yes. Fonts.
The web was created back in 1945 (not kidding: http://www.w3.org/History.html). It took almost 50 years for them to create the "W3 Organization". The W3 is an organization that makes up the rules for the web. Including what fonts are considered "Standard" and "Web Safe". They had to make rules for what fonts we as web designers can use. This very short list included: Arial, Times New Roman, Georgia, Impact and everyone's favorite...Comic Sans.
Toy Madness! The Salvation Army Angel Tree Program
Last week several folks from Centresource crossed the river to the East Side to help out with the Salvation Army's Angel Tree program. This gift-giving bonanza has been around since the 70s and spread throughout the US and many other countries. The idea is to match kids in need with Angels; people who will shop specifically for that child so they can have something to open on Christmas.
If you've never been in a sketchy warehouse 'down by the river' for a good cause, I can't recommend it enough. Our job was to help sort through the thousands of items still not placed with a kid. Imagine two football fields full of miscellaneous toys and clothing and you get the picture. It was overwhelming at first. But the Salvation Army is very well organized and right away they had us trained and sorting like pros. The most entertaining part of the work was getting to review the popular toys this season, and my mind was blown. Star Wars Transformers. Did you know that was a thing? Star Wars space ships that turn into galactic sword-wielding robots. To be a kid again.
Top 10 Christmas Gifts for that Special Geek in your Life
Christmas is just around the corner. If you're like me, you haven't started shopping yet. If you're trying to shop for your techy mate, it might be hard to find that special something they will love. Here is my Top 10 List of Christmas Gifts for that Special Geek in your Life:
10. Superheadz Clap Camera
9. iPhone Case Bottle Opener
8. A Field Guide to Typestaches Poster
7. BookArc for iPad by TwelveSouth
CSSOff
Recently, Unmatched Style sponsored some "Friendly Markup Fisticuffs" where they issued design files to whoever wanted to compete, and the competitors would have two weeks to create a website using only their brains and their computers. The rules were pretty straightforward: one page only necessary, all external libraries (jQuery, et al.) had to be included, and your submission had to run locally. Otherwise, go nuts.
The judges would then review your work and score it based on code (cleanliness, semantics, and validation); user experience (respect for design, good choice points, interactions); and support (modern browsers, legacy browsers, size of project, resource optimization). In the judges hands rests the responsibility of deciding one grand prize winner, 2 second place winners, 2 third place winners, and 20 runners-up.
Why Your Brand Needs a Tumblr Presence
I love Tumblr. It’s the perfect modern blogging platform: built for posts shorter than, well, this one, but for content that’s longer than a 140-character tweet.
It’s got amazing social features, too. I follow an astonishing 350 Tumblr blogs personally, which provides me a nice constant feed of content. Tumblr’s great Dashboard provides me the ability to like or reblog (plus several other features) each post, like so:
Tumblr has quickly become a source of amazing rich media content: unique photos, videos and text snippets. It’s fast, fun and simple. In recent months many major news organizations and brands are using it to push out short updates and fascinating visuals. A few of my favorites:
Centresource's 25 Books of Christmas!
Earlier this year, we were honored to be nominated by .net magazine as Agency of the Year. We're still blown away by it, and it got us thinking:
A little while ago, .net announced their 25 favorite books for web designers and developers. We thought their list was pretty stellar, so we decided to celebrate the holidays by giving away a copy of those books each day from December 1st to December 25th. Here's how you can win:
Turn It: Red
Tomorrow at Centresource, we're turning it red! Our team is partnering with the local non-profit blood:water mission to 'Turn It: Red' on World AID's Day.
Over 33 million people in the world are infected with HIV/AIDS, and two thirds of them live in Sub-Saharan Africa. While there is no one-size-fits-all solution to AIDS, blood:water mission is working through partners to address the gaps in HIV/AIDS programs, implementing effective and sustainable solutions including education, treatment and support. Because of barriers to education and understanding, many of us don't know anyone affected by this disease. Through their partnerships in several communities, they have been able to walk alongside many living positively and getting to know their stories. We at Centresource invite you to join us in hearing a few inspiring stories that will help you be able to say "I Know Someone."
