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Archive for June, 2008

Jun
30
2008

Quadrichrome: a New Blog Layout

I’ve created a new blog template for my other blog. I’m calling it quadrichrome as it’s based on four primary colors. It’s a very pared down design, but hopefully easy to navigate and pleasant to look at.

I’m using the colors as a subtle color coding of sort:

  •  red is for primary content. Since red is such a loud color, I use it for the most important thing on the page
  •  blue is for navigation links, the default color for links since the very first web browser
  •  green is for administration and navigation
  •  yellow is for secondary and quoted content.

I’m thinking of using it on this blog as well. Thoughts?



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Jun
27
2008

Skeletool CX: a Lightweight Multitool Worth Carrying on the Road

How can you not like a product with a cool name like Skeletool. The name is directly inspired from its lightweight frame which is stripped down and punctured with holes designed to remove any bit of metal not absolutely necessary.
But the Skeletool also foregoes those extra tools that you don’t really need and its focus is squarely on the essentials. The Skeletool CX includes:
  • Needle-nose and regular pliers
  • Wire and hard-wire cutters
  • Carabiner/Bottle opener
  • Bit driver with 4 bits: Phillips #1 and #2 and screwdriver 3/16″ and 1/4″
  • Combo knife with straight and serrated edge with locking blade (154CM stainless steel)

For a multi-tool, that’s a pretty good selection of the tools you’re likely to use, without any of the more dubious ones. For example, in addition to the above the Leatherman Wave includes two knives, a saw, scissors and two files. I don’t think I’m going to miss those.

The big difference, of course, is the weight. The Leatherman Wave is 214 g (8.5 oz), while the Skeletool is only 142 g (5 oz). A difference that’s well worth it.
There are two models of Skeletool: a based model and the Skeletool CX. While the Skeletool CX has a tungsten coating and a carbon fiber handle insert, this does not affect the weight compared to the base model. The value of the Skeletool CX, and the justification for the higher price, is the combination straight/serrated knife and the 154CM steel used for the blade instead of the 420HC steel of the base model. 154CM steel is a high carbon steel with 1.05% carbon and 14% chromium. It has better edge holding ability compared to 440HC steel, which contains about .4% carbon and 13% chromium.
Having a serrated blade comes in handy to cut ropes or twigs, although the serrated part of the blade is more difficult to sharpen.
The only small disappointment may be the size of the blade, which is a bit smaller than I had hoped. It appears to be about the same size than on the Leatherman Wave, though, and I’m sure it will be large enough for most applications.
An annoyance that I should mention as well: the plastic clamshell that the Skeletool is packaged in is frustrating to open: the plastic is too tough, and as you cut it, it comes apart in sharp shards. You could get hurt just opening the thing! If you didn’t already have a solid knife, I’m not sure how you would open it. Compare this to the experience of opening an Apple product which is a pleasure in itself, before even using the product. Why put your customer in a bad mood just before they get to use your product for the first time and as they form their impression of it? The user experience includes the packaging…
The Skeletool CX makes a good compromise between utility and weight, and I’ll be glad to carry it along in my pack as I get on the road.


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Jun
25
2008

How to optimize a web page for the iPhone

There are a few simple changes you can make to a web page to get it to display better on an iPhone (or iPod Touch). I’ve talked about this elsewhere but I’ve applied it to the layout of this blog as well. Try it out (or look at the screenshots below)!
What are those changes, you ask?
First, in the <head> section, add:
<meta name=“viewport” content=“width = device-width” />
The viewport tag will ensure that the page is taking the full width of the iPhone, without any horizontal scrolling.
Next, add this to the <body> tag:
<body onload="setTimeout(function() { window.scrollTo(0, 1); }, 100);">
This will make sure that once the page is loaded the Safari toolbar at the top will get scrolled out of view so that as much as your web page as possible is displayed on the screen.
Finally, you’ll want a custom stylesheet for the iPhone. My stylesheet is built-in into my blogging template (i.e. not an external file), so I added another <style> tag that overrides and modify the style defined in my “default” stylesheet:
<style media="only screen and (max-device-width: 480px)" type="text/css">

/* Override style definitions as appropriate */
body {
  width:480px;
  background:#f00
  margin:0;
  padding:0;
  font: large "Trebuchet MS",Trebuchet,Arial,Verdana,sans-serif;;
  color:#333;
 }

/* etc… */

.not-iPhone {display:none;}

</style>

There are other ways to accomplish the same thing that are described in Apple’s documentation
Note that I define a #not-iPhone class so that I can hide any content that I don’t want to display on the iPhone, such as large images or content type not supported on the iPhone.
In the iPhone stylesheet, I’ve changed the layout so that it fits the smaller screen of the iPhone (480 px). For example, I moved the sidebar at the bottom of the page, instead of on the right. To take advantage of the limited real estate, I’ve removed some margins. I have also simplified the layout and removed some of the background textures I used on when not on the iPhone. Finally, I used a resized version of the header image (resized to 480 px wide), so that it loads a bit faster.


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Jun
24
2008

Template updated

Updated (more like deconstructed, tore apart and rebuilt from the ground up) my blogging template to work nicely with the iPhone. Still not perfect, but better. I’m sure I’ll continue to tweak it over time.

What are those changes, you ask?
In the <head> section, add:
<meta name=“viewport” content=“width = device-width” />
The viewport tag will ensure that the page is taking the full width of the iPhone, without any horizontal scrolling.
Next, add this to the <body> tag:
<body onload="setTimeout(function() { window.scrollTo(0, 1); }, 100);">
This will make sure that once the page is loaded the top toolbar will get scrolled out of view so that as much as your web page as possible is displayed on the screen.
Finally, you’ll want a custom stylesheet for the iPhone. My stylesheet is built-in into my template (i.e. not an external file), so I added another <style> tag that overrides and modify the style defined in my “default” stylesheet:
<style media="only screen and (max-device-width: 480px)" type="text/css">

/* Override style definitions as appropriate */
body {
  width:480px;
  background:#f00
  margin:0;
  padding:0;
  font: large "Trebuchet MS",Trebuchet,Arial,Verdana,sans-serif;;
  color:#333;
 }

/* etc… */

.not-iPhone {display:none;}

</style>

Note that I define a #not-iPhone class so that I can hide any content that I don’t want to show up on the iPhone, such as large images or unsupported media formats.
In the iPhone stylesheet, I’ve changed the layout so that it fits a smaller screen (480 px). For example, I moved the sidebar at the bottom of the page, instead of on the left. I also simplified the layout and removed some of the background textures I used on the desktop. Finally, I used a resized version of the header image (resized to 480 px wide), so that it loads a bit faster.


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Jun
23
2008

Kili or bust

As Colin Thubron explains, the reasons for the traveler to get on the road are many, and often mysterious, including to the traveler himself. So it is with me: without understanding why, I’ve decided to attempt to climb Mount Kilimanjaro.

One reason might be that I enjoy traveling for the adventure of it, the joy of discovering new things and new people, the excitement of getting from one place to another, the opportunity to challenge myself and to get out of my comfort zone. I haven’t done any serious traveling in a while. A few trips here and there to Europe and South-America, but nothing too challenging. So, maybe it’s time to go on the road again. Aside from Egypt, I haven’t travelled to Africa before, so that’s a reason of sort to explore that corner of the world.

Another reason might be Kenny, a friend who traveled to Africa and climbed Mount Kilimanjaro a few years ago. Kenny came back with pictures and stories that have made me dream of faraway places since. So, yeah, I think I’ll blame Kenny on this one.

For me one the pleasures of traveling is the gear hunting. I am, it is true, a bit gear obsessed. Now, don’t get me wrong: I am a minimalist, I like to travel light. But that doesn’t mean that finding the smallest set of the best equipment doesn’t take a long time. And that hunt of the gear is part of the fun.

I have to start this adventure on the right foot. So my first step (ar ar) is to buy the right pair of boots, my previous Salomon hiking boots having been pretty much destroyed by the alkali salts of Burning Man. After much research online I think that a mid hiking boots is what I’m looking for. I’ve tried all the models I could find in the area sports equipment stores, but finally selected the Merrell Radius Mid, which turned out to have the most comfortable fit.

I also own a pair of Merrell Chameleon, which are very comfortable lightweight hiking shoes. Apparently, Merrell’s shoes are a bit wider than other brands, which fits my feet better. Make sure you try the boots before buying them, as comfort is key. Pick the right size so that the boots are comfortable with the socks you will wear while hiking, such as a thin pair of liner socks and another pair of heavy wool socks.

New boots have to be broken in gradually. I went to hike Mount Tamalpais this weekend with my new acquisition, but I may have pushed a bit too much as I ended up with a small blister. However, that was an opportunity to test blister bandages. See, what did I tell you about being gear obsessed. This is going to be fun.



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