Gov. Jeb Bush thinks linking pay to performance for teachers is a matter of common sense. I’m inclined to agree with Jebtard, Florida has a great track record when it comes to properly collating statistical data.
OMFG
Ontario Mega Finance Group. You won’t believe it, eh?
The Bastard Pack
One of the first things that the pedagogical overlords try to pound into our tiny brains is the concept of sharing. We start in pre-school or kindergarten, after that it’s mostly downhill. Over the last few years, there’s been a resurgence of that playground ethos as we gleefully steal music and movies from the entertainment gods.
After harpooning copyright spokemen and lamenting the evils of digital rights management, we jealously guard our precious stylesheets and provide aloof answers to the secrets of our ways. Not everyone is a bastard though. There are lots of great people out there producing themes, pretty pictures and contributing their time to open-source projects. Now, as they say, is the time to put up or shut up.
A Bastard’s Story
Last September, I modelled a theme around the famous portrait of Dwight D. Eisenhower and called it Bastard. That look made it onto a number of CSS gallery sites, and helped me to get my name out there. So it’s only fitting that the look is the first one I give away.
This isn’t a theme release, it’s just some WordPress templates and Photoshop files. It probably won’t work out of the box, but it should give you some insight into the method and the madness. The theme never really existed as one template, it just kind of evolved and got picked up by the gallery crowds before it was fully formed. At this point, the theme is six months old and I can’t attest to the condition of the code, but it’s probably a mess.
The Goods
For the cautious type that won’t get in a car without a map, I present to you the contents of the pack:
- 1 screenshot
- 15 jpg images
- 4 psd images
- 22 php templates
- 1 css document
- 3 rare dinosaur bones
- 2 orbital weapons platforms
Download the Bastard Pack 2.3mb
The Fine Print
Just so we’re clear… there is no support for this package, take it or leave it. There is also no license per se, but that doesn’t mean you can use it for anything. I haven’t made any money off the pack, it wouldn’t be fair if you did. Use it for your personal sites… if you need something professionally, you can do better.
Epilogue
There should be at least two more packs coming out in the near future, but don’t lose sleep waiting for them. I’d like to thank recent SXSW award winner Bryan Veloso for inspiring me to dump a .zip file full of crap on the unsuspecting public. That and answering five questions for Seal Club.
5Q with Bryan Veloso
That stupid dog
Recently, Nintendo celebrated the 20th anniversary of the NES arrival in North America. I found the GameSpot coverage mostly unremarkable (read: nerd wet dreams), but the Duck Hunt conversation hit home last weekend.
My mom’s off in Europe, visiting my brother at school, and taking a much needed break from teaching. Meanwhile, my Dad is left at home working. I know the peace and quiet drives him nuts, so I dropped by to cook steaks and show off my intelligence.
Our after-dinner discussion included the finer points of the other brother’s video system collection, how much wrath I’d incur from borrowing his GameCube and whether or not everything bad was indeed good for you. Conversation then turned to the NES, the lightgun and Duck Hunt — one of the few video games that he has actually played. His comment:
You could never shoot that stupid dog.
I’m probably paraphrasing a bit, but you get the idea. Of course, the internet allows you to satisfy your bloodlust and kill the dog. Maybe the whole Nintendogs craze is just an attempt to even out the company’s canine karma and cultivate some love for man’s best friend.
What’s the point? Even my dad hates the dog in Duck Hunt. That says something.
So long Babylon, hello Olympia
The time has come to say goodbye to Babylon. This intrepid theme has served me well but never quite turned out the way it should have. We will part ways now and welcome Olympia. A longer post will ensue.
Life is random
Sometimes you walk out the front door and there’s a parade going by.
Faking the tilt-shift
Don’t have the cash for a real tilt-shift lens or even a Lensbaby? Here’s a quick tutorial for achieving the fake model photography look. I didn’t have too many photos around with a downward perspective, but I needed to give the technique a shot. This is the result:
As Marc points out on the flickr photo page, it probably would be better with the top of the chimney more focused. Didn’t really have anything better to work with on short notice. There’s a Flickr pool dedicated to tilt-shift miniature fakes if you need more. It’s really not that hard to fake.
Update: Here’s a much better example, from a trip to Bristol:
Fresh baked and fabulous
This photo is brilliant. (via marc)
Newsvine is live
Newsvine is out of private beta, read the official statement to see where the site is headed. It’s been one of my primary news sources for the last few weeks, probably because it achieves a nice balance between automated wire articles and user submitted stories. That and the news breaks fast.
Stealth Sharks?
DARPA is considering the use of stealth sharks to patrol the oceans.
By remotely guiding the sharks’ movements they hope to transform the animals into stealth spies, perhaps capable of following vessels without being spotted.
The report also indicates that sharks were not the Pentagon’s first choice. Amid growing insurgency fears, the Dolphin President refused to commit more troops to the coalition effort.
Transmit
Transmit is the best ftp client I’ve ever used. How’s that for a shill? If you’re looking for something a little more indepth, Paul’s review of the current release goes into more detail. For me, the best feature is the tight integration with text editors (I’m partial to TextWrangler). Overall, it’s simple and easy to use, almost feels like an Apple product.
Now comes the hard part where I tell you that Transmit has been my client of choice for two or three years and I’ve only just purchased it recently. Why? I’m a bastard, that’s why — one of those jerks that stiffs the little guys. It’s equal opportunity jackassery though, I steal from the big boys too. It’s mine now though, and worth every penny.