​B​o​n​B​o​n​ ​B​u​t​t​o​n​s​ ​-​ ​S​w​e​e​t​ ​C​S​S​3​ ​b​u​t​t​o​n​s

There was a goal: Create CSS buttons that are sexy looking, really flexible, but with the most minimalistic markup as possible.

​A​l​l​ ​t​h​e​ ​s​i​z​e​s​ ​o​f​ ​i​O​S​ ​a​p​p​ ​i​c​o​n​s​ ​-​ ​N​e​v​e​n​ ​M​r​g​a​n​'​s​ ​t​u​m​b​l

Let’s say you’re working on an icon for an iOS app. The app is universal, so it should run on all iPhones (and iPod touches), and on the iPad. As a designer, you’re used to drawing icons at various sizes; this is a big part of what “icon design” is (as opposed to other types of illustration).

​P​H​P​ ​S​c​r​i​p​t​ ​T​o​ ​M​o​n​i​t​o​r​ ​F​T​P​ ​D​i​r​e​c​t​o​r​y​ ​C​h​a​n​g​e​s​ ​|​ ​f​r​a​n​z​o​n​e​.​c​o​m

I recently had the need to be able to monitor a directory on an FTP server for changes and to then be notified of those changes. I’ve been working a lot in PHP lately so I decided to use that to implement my script.

​W​h​y​ ​P​a​r​e​n​t​s​ ​H​a​t​e​ ​P​a​r​e​n​t​i​n​g​ ​-​-​ ​N​e​w​ ​Y​o​r​k​ ​M​a​g​a​z​i​n​e

​T​h​e​ ​L​a​s​t​ ​P​s​y​c​h​i​a​t​r​i​s​t​:​ ​W​h​y​ ​P​a​r​e​n​t​s​ ​H​a​t​e​ ​P​a​r​e​n​t​i​n​g

New York Magazine's article, All Joy And No Fun: Why Parents Hate Parenting, has 19 million pages of quotes and examples, but no answer.   Too bad; the answer is right there.

iTunes Transitions Gone Sour

I wish iTunes had some sort of feature to stop playing after the current album. Here are alphabetical artist transitions that can bring any sort of zone I'm in, focus I have, or enjoyment of mine to a grinding and complete halt. Bon Iver to Bone Thugs-N-Harmony—From folksy falsetto to Flowmotion in two seconds flat. The most common and egregious transition. The Album Leaf to The Fantastic Mr. Fox soundtrack—Think chill, electronic post-rock. Then think of a hillbilly hoe down. Dixie... [Keep Reading]

Addition by Adoption

23 years ago today, a black sedan pulled into the parking lot of a nondescript brick building. The kind you see everywhere in the suburbs. Built at an indeterminable time between 1975 and 2000, faux columns, concrete stairs. You've seen them before. The film flickers, the camera shakes, whispers become louder. The driver of the car approaches the rear, passenger-side door. Click. Creak. The camera drops. Now there is talking and shouting. "It's Joshua!" "Hold the camera, momma! No, no, take it, ... [Keep Reading]

Efficiency and Community

Efficiency is a friend to business and productivity, but it's an enemy of community. Trust and lasting relationships are built on the belief that the other party values you more than they value themselves. And in order to truly value others, we set aside our schedules and plans. We let our coffee meetings run to two hours. We spontaneously drive an hour to Sonic. We take an hour on the phone even though we have a thousand other things to do. If you're trying to keep your community efficient, you... [Keep Reading]

Proactive Problem Solving

Caroline and I are staying at a hotel in San Diego to get a three-day break from winter in Portland. We fly for nearly free thanks to parents at Delta, I can work from the road, and we scored a great deal on our accommodations on Priceline. Despite the good price, I'd never stay here again, but I'm not going to complain about it. The guest representative let us know the airport shuttle would arrive in ten minutes, but it took an hour. I have called the front desk multiple times with no answer. O... [Keep Reading]

Encouragement for the Unemployed

Those of you who know me are likely to know I've been on the job hunt for awhile now. Little was changing for about seven months, and it was getting fairly discouraging. Unfortunately, the temptation to define our value based on external validation is part of the human condition. It just happens. But then, two-weeks-ago happened. Between Tuesday and Wednesday, I received three job offers. I was on the verge of making my decision Sunday when another organization called to ask me to come in that a... [Keep Reading]