I HEART TO BLOG: 04.16.2006

you look like a monkeeey...

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4.22.2006 by a•pril

...and you smell like one tooooooo!

apple a day / 1993•1993

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by a•pril

MACINTOSH CENTRIS 610

"Introduced in February 1993, the Centris 610 was one of the first mid-range computers to include a 68040 processor (although it had no FPU) and the first Mac to be housed in the now-familiar low-profile case. It was replaced in October with the Quadra 610." (photo credit: Upgrading and Repairing Macs)

This byte of Apple's history from Wired's,"30 Years of Apple Products."

expect the unexpected

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4.21.2006 by a•pril

Ha! I was stumbling around on the web this afternoon and came across a post titled, "Creating a Site Schematic" on Joshuaink.com -- and it struck a major chord. I found myself in just this same situation recently... oh, say around... yesterday. Here's an excerpt:

It's not what we were expecting...

"...the client says nothing until the launch [of the website] and then realises they had actually wanted something different after all.

The bottom line is, I have had to learn, sometimes the hard way, that although a client may nod and agree with everything you are saying, they could well be thinking about the holiday in the Caribbean they are about to take, and it won't be until half way through the project that they will reveal the truth, ooooh! is that what you meant, I misunderstood can we change it?"

If you're a web designer, or graphic designer, you'll no doubt relate! For more smiling-to-yourself-while-nodding-your-head, read this complete post at the very pretty and springtime fresh, Joshuaink.com.

in on the experiment

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by a•pril

Yay! I am officially part of the Cafe Experiment. It's a veritable eyeful (?) of delicious coffee from around the world!

photo friday 04•21•06 - golden

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by a•pril

{fig. 1} golden: a view toward catalina island, ca
visit photo friday

2 apples today / 1993•1994

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4.20.2006 by a•pril

POWERBOOK 270c

"Announced in October 1993, the Duo 270c further improved on previous Duos by adding a 68882 FPU to its 33 MHz 68030 processor. It was also the first Duo to include an active-matrix 16-bit screen. It was priced at $3,100 and was discontinued in May 1994." (photo credit: AppleDesign)

POWERBOOK DUODOCK
"The DuoDock allowed any Duo to immediately expand its features. The DuoDock included a larger hard drive, more VRAM and more input and output ports. The DuoDock and its successors allowed the Duo product line to become office desktop models. The DuoDock was replaced in May 1994 by the DuoDock Plus and the DuoDock II." (photo credit: John Greenleigh/Flipside Studios)

This byte of Apple's history from Wired's, "30 Years of Apple Products."

a (not so busy) day in the life

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by a•pril

•woke up a little later than i wanted to.
•scratched my dog's belly for a couple minutes.
•went downstairs and made coffee, noticing supply is critically low.
•ate an almond sweet & salty bar.
•checked my emails. Just one.
•showered.
•called a/g & worked on a client's site.
•called client. Discussed site.
•ate exactly 3 bites of coleslaw.
•walked the dog. Not for very long -- he was lazy.
•went to the drugstore. Purchased hairdye & de-frizzer cream.
•tried on funky sunglasses. A patron commented they looked nice so I bought 'em.
•returned home. Ate a piece of cold pizza & potato salad.
•called my brother. Waited on hold for several minutes. Ended up getting voicemail.
•im'ed with m. briefly.
•called a/g. We went online to order some e.l.f, but shopping carts weren't working.
•hung up with a/g and took screenshots of my cafeexperiment.com submissions.
•opened Blogger Dashboard and commenced creating this post.
•as for what's yet to come today...? ...it is all just a glorious, exciting mystery yet to unfold!

apple a day / 1992•1993

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4.19.2006 by a•pril

POWERBOOK DUO 210

"The first of a new breed, the idea behind the Duo 210 was to have a fully functional desktop computer (by way of the DuoDock) that also served as an excellent portable machine. Its most innovative feature was the 152 pin PDS that allowed it to dock with a docking station that might contain more RAM, a larger hard drive or more VRAM for a color monitor. The 210 cost $2,250, and was discontinued in October 1993." (photo credit: AppleDesign)

CPU
CPU: Motorola MC68030
CPU Speed: 25 MHz
Bus Speed: 25 MHz
Data Path: 32 bit
ROM: 1 MB
RAM Type: unique
Minimum RAM Speed: 100 ns
Onboard RAM: 2 MB
RAM slots: 1
Maximum RAM: 8 MB
Level 1 Cache: 0.5 kB
Expansion Slots: modem

Video
Screen: Passive Matrix
Max Resolution: 1 bit 640x400

Storage
Hard Drive: 40-120 MB
Floppy Drive: 1.4 MB SuperDrive

Input/Output
ADB: 1
Serial: 2
SCSI: HDI-30
Audio Out: mono 8 bit mini
Audio In: mono 8 bit mini
Speaker: mono

Miscellaneous
Codename: Colt 45
Gestalt ID: 54
Power: 17 Watts
Dimensions: 2.25" H x 11.25" W x 9.3" D
Weight: 6.8 lbs.
Minimum OS: 7.0.1
Maximum OS: 7.6.1
Introduced: August 1992
Terminated: June 1993

This byte of Apple's history from Wired's, "30 Years of Apple Products."

the victoria street air band

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by a•pril

I was blog-hopping this morning and came across "Nanny In New York." I don't have kids, but I have worked with them - and well, she is in New York - so I figured there'd probably be a couple of good stories in there. There was one post titled, "The Power of Music," where she recounts listening to music with her little charges, and how their resounding favourite track that they all uproariously responded to was, "Hey Ya" by Outkast. She comments that when was young, she enjoyed the music her father had listened to, and it got me to thinking back to the music that was most often played in my household when I was young...

My dad's dad, Norm, was passionate about music, and I have vivid memories of him planted in front of his state-of-the-art Marantz stereo with several speakers (almost as tall as I was) blaring The Beatles, The Platters, or his all-time-party-faves, Boney M. I fondly recall our last Christmas together when to Boney M, Norm and I busted our best Kossack dance moves to "Rasputin," with the whole family looking on. When he passed in '79, my dad inherited that amazing stereo, and Norm's copious record collection.

Just like his dad before him, my dad could also often be found sitting in front of that same stereo, singing along to those same records, as well as with some of his own favourites: Elvis, The Edgar Winters Band, Rocky Burnett, Billy Joel, Rod Stewart, The Stones, The J. Geils Band, The Knack, The Cars, Genesis, Queen, Kenny Rogers, Crystal Gayle, Helen Reddy, Bob Seger, and later, Bruce Springsteen, Tina Turner... and Prince's, "Around The World In a Day." I remember having him hook up a mic for me, so that I could sing through the speakers to "My Sharona," "The Gambler," "Delta Dawn," or "Freeze Frame" (ah, if only there were tapes made of that!!!).

My older brother was a huge influence over my taste in music at that time, too, and when we hit on a favourite, we played it to death. We often played "air band," with our red, orange and yellow shag rug as our stage. Of course, we were a 2-piece: a guitarist (tennis racket) and a drummer (stacks of throw-pillows). We took it rather seriously, and if I do say so myself, we pulled off some of the most rockin' air-performances of all time in that rec room on Victoria Street. Our set list looked something like this:

"For Those About To Rock" AC/DC
"Here She Comes Again" - The Cars
"Don't Try Suicide" - Queen
"The Logical Song" - Supertramp
"Heat Of The Moment" - Asia
"The Stroke" - Billy Squire
"I Can Feel It Coming In The Air Tonight" - Phil Collins (that drum solo!)
"Hotel California" - The Eagles
"You Took The Words Right Out Of My Mouth" - Meat Loaf
"Crazy Train" - Ozzy Osbourne
"My Sharona" - The Knack
"Modern Love" - David Bowie
"Don't You Want Me" - Human League
"Tainted Love" - Soft Cell
"Turning Japanese" - The Vapors
"Drugs In My Pocket" - The Monks

Geez, the memories! I gotta wrap this post up posthaste and go make an iTunes playlist already!

i heart stumbling on bembo's zoo

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4.18.2006 by a•pril

It's a veritable menagerie of letterforms & punctuation marks! Wow! Hey, typography junkies! How fun is Bembo's Zoo!? It's so fun!

little itty-bitty prickie buttons

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by a•pril

Awww, these little "Prickie" buttons are the cutest little things ever, aren't they? I just love, love, love them and it's such a great way for artists to distribute their work. I wish I had a button making machine, then I would make cute, itty-bitty little buttons. But I don't have a button machine... so, enter Prickies! (tee hee, I said Prickies!)

apple a day / 1992•1993

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by a•pril

POWERBOOK 160

"Introduced in October 1992, the 160 is distinctive in that it was the first PowerBook that could drive an external color monitor. The 160 could drive up to 8-bit color at 832x624 resolution. It cost $2,480 and was replaced in August 1993 by the PowerBook 165." (photo credit: John Greenleigh/Flipside Studios)

Video
Screen: Passive Matrix
Max Resolution: 1 bit 640x400

Storage
Hard Drive: 40-120 MB
Floppy Drive: 1.4 MB SuperDrive

Input/Output
ADB: 1
Serial: 2
SCSI: HDI-30
Audio Out: mono 8 bit mini
Audio In: mono 8 bit mini
Speaker: mono

This byte of Apple's history from Wired's, "30 Years of Apple Products."

photo friday 04•17•06 - full

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4.17.2006 by a•pril

{fig. 1} Ocotillo: a spiny desert shrub found in AZ's Sonoran Desert.
Click to enlarge...

apple a day / 1991•1992

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by a•pril

POWERBOOK 100
"The first of Apple's truly portable Mac's, the PowerBook 100 had basically the same processor as the old Mac Portable. The 100 was well received despite its slow processor, passive-matrix screen, and lack of internal floppy drive. It originally sold for $2,500 The PowerBook 100 was released alongside the 140 and the 170. While these two models were based on the same motherboard, the 100 had a simpler motherboard design, and was designed and manufactured by Sony for Apple." (photo credit: John Greenleigh/Flipside Studios)

CPU
CPU: Motorola MC68HC000
CPU Speed: 16 MHz
Bus Speed: 16 MHz
Data Path: 16 bit
ROM: 256 kB
RAM Type: unique
Minimum RAM Speed: 100 ns
Onboard RAM: 2 MB
RAM slots: 1
Maximum RAM: 8 MB
Expansion Slots: modem

Video
Screen: Passive Matrix
Max Resolution: 1 bit 640x400

Storage
Hard Drive: 20-40 MB
Floppy Drive: external, HDI-20 port

Input/Output
ADB: 1
Serial: 1
SCSI: HDI-30
Audio Out: mono 8 bit mini
Speaker: mono

Miscellaneous
Codename: Asahi, Derringer, Rosebud
Gestalt ID: 24
Power: 17 Watts
Dimensions: 1.8" H x 11" W x 8.5" D
Weight: 5.1 lbs.
Minimum OS: 7.1
Maximum OS: 7.5.5
Introduced: October 1991
Terminated: August 1992

This byte of Apple's history from Wired's, "30 Years of Apple Products."

i heart stumbling on cybèle

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by a•pril

I stumbled across a great illustrator today. Her name is Cybèle, and she seems to be quite a busy little bee. Besides busying herself with impressive illustrations for clients such as Liz Collins, Sweet 16, Dolly, Dwell and GQ Japan to name a few, she maintains 2 sites and 2 blogs. Her freelance portfolio can be found at walkcycle.com and her newest site is Cybèlicious. From those sites, you'll be able to navigate to her blogs, "Waagblog" and the newborn, "Cybèlicious Sketchblog." Quite a talent! Way to go, Cybèle!

goody of the week - brilliant buttons

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by a•pril

Make brilliant buttons with the Brilliant Button Maker! It's 100% certified brilliant-button goodness for your website or blog! Brought to you by the fine folks at Luca Zappa!

site of the week - bizart

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by a•pril

Luxembourg-based BIZART specializes in visual communication -- and that's clear from their mesmerizing slideshow set to laid-back, trippy grooves. They definitely have a unique approach to presenting their information... grainy b&w photos of airports, runways, plane interiors, each with internal-dialogue-train-of-thought-esque captions like, "teleportaion would be so cool," "...John said getting there is half the fun," and "i'd kill for a double-shot latte." Click FLIGHTS to see their work, or BOOKING to get their contact info. Clever, clever.

my old mac

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4.16.2006 by a•pril

Curious to experience a Mac circa 1990 (just like the ones most recently featured in my "apple a day" posts?) Want to play Snake, Asteroids, Space Invaders, and Pong? Wanna doodle in MacDraw, run First Aid, or see that classic AfterDark screensaver do it's thang? If you're a mac fan, you'll appreciate this lovingly-created simulation of OS 7. It's pretty darn clever. Don't be afraid to click around -- you can pretty much do everything on this simulation but trash stuff -- even open Netscape 3.0 and visit a a few Apple-related sites. I've fiddled with it a few times now, and what I want to know is, whatever became of the googly eyes? Cheesy? I think not. I heart how they follow my cursor around. I've always felt that my macs have their own personalities, so seeing it's little eyes track my every move would be such fun indeed!

apple a day / 1991•1993

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by a•pril

QUADRA 700
"The Quadra 700 was powered by a 25 MHz 68040 processor, which included an FPU. It was the first in a new family of Macs, and was the first Mac to ship in a tower case (a IIcx case on its side, with the label rotated 90 degrees). The Quadra 700 was priced at $6,000." (photo credit: Upgrading and Repairing Macs)

CPU
CPU: Motorola MC68040
CPU Speed: 25 MHz
FPU: integrated
Bus Speed: 25 MHz
Data Path: 32 bit
ROM: 1 MB
RAM Type: 30 pin SIMM
Minimum RAM Speed: 80 ns
Onboard RAM: 4 MB
RAM slots: 4
Maximum RAM: 68 MB
Level 1 Cache: 8 kB
Expansion Slots: 2 NuBus, 1 PDS

Video
VRAM: 512 kB - 2 MB (six sockets)
Max Resolution: 1152x870
Video Out: DB-15

Storage
Hard Drive: 80-400 MB
Floppy Drive: 1.4 MB SuperDrive
Input/Output
ADB: 2
Serial: 2
SCSI: DB-25
Audio Out: stereo 8 bit mini
Audio In: mono 8 bit mini
Speaker: mono
Networking
Ethernet: AAUI-15
Miscellaneous
Codename: Shadow, Spike, IIce, Evo 200
Gestalt ID: 22
Power: 50 Watts
Dimensions: 5.5" H x 11.9" W x 14.4" D
Weight: 13.6 lbs.
Minimum OS: 7.1
Maximum OS: 8.1
Introduced: October 1991
Terminated: March 1993

This byte of Apple's history from, "30 Years of Apple Products."