Blogs
Screenshoot blurry in OS X?
Submitted by Ivan on Thu, 2008-07-03 20:57.Have you noticed that screenshoots you make with the key command Apple-Shift-3 or Apple-Shift-4 are somewhat blurry and not pixel perfect? That is because by default the screen-shoot format is a made as a jpeg set to resolution 60. That's pretty low and therefore it produces small file sizes which is good for most uses, but not if you want to see every pixel in detail.

To fix this issue you have to set the deafult screenshoot format to png, pdf or tiff. You can do that with Terminal. Type these commands:
defaults write com.apple.screencapture type png
killall SystemUIServer
Press return after each line and replace png with pdf or tiff as you wish. Notice how sharp is the screenshoot above. ;)
CSS theme switching examples
Submitted by Ivan on Sat, 2008-06-28 21:44.
I was looking for a good way to implement a simple theme switcher for creativebits' light theme and found this competition on smashing magazine. The winner has a very sexy OS X style box that moves around and allows switching between several themes. I think it's an overkill for our purposes, but it is certainly inspiring.
Real-Time Gradient-Domain Painting
Submitted by Ivan on Sat, 2008-06-21 18:18.Looks very exciting. More info here.
Coca-Cola takes home the first Cannes Lions Design Grand Prix award
Submitted by Ivan on Thu, 2008-06-19 13:44.The new Coca-Cola visual identity system designed by Turner Duckworth, London & San Francisco took home the very first Design Grand Prix at Cannes, France today. Over the years Coke's visual identity had become cluttered and uninspiring, diluting the brand's iconic status. The design studio clarified the identity, then injected a little fun into everything from cups to trucks.
I work a lot on Coca-Cola branding and I welcome this change with open arms. I always thought simplicity will be refreshing for Coke. This new identity gives opportunity for creativity while leaves the overall look clean and simple.
OurSignal launches
Submitted by Ivan on Tue, 2008-06-17 20:42.How do you get your daily update on the hottest stories of the day? You can get a quick overview of your favorite feeds with an RSS reader, but what about the stories that are hot, but do not fall into your blogosphere? Are you going to check out Digg, reddit, delicious and hackernews? That's way too much effort and time. How about a quick overlook of all four? That's what Our Signal is all about.
OurSignal.com looks at currently popular items on the top social news sites and mashes it all together. The idea is to allow users (you especially) to get a rapid overview of what the latest breaking headlines are at the frontline of the intermatubes. The bigger the box, the more relative votes a story has. The warmer the color, the quicker the story is on the rise. Cooler colors denote negative velocity. Sources are refreshed every 15 minutes.
Special Dreamhost promo codes
Submitted by Ivan on Sat, 2008-06-14 14:33.I have 5 special promo codes that allows you to get these free offers:
* You will get four (4) times the normal disk and bandwidth!
* If you choose our five-year plan, you'll get $150 off!
* If you choose our ten-year plan, you'll get $200 off!
Comment and I'll send you the code in email to be used when you sign-up.
If you only want to sign-up for one year, this popular Dreamhost promo code is still valid (157 people used it so far).
Get ImageWell FREE with purchase of Shutterbug
Submitted by JimD on Wed, 2008-06-11 04:58.
In honor of Father's Day, XtraLean Software is offering a special deal for Mac enthusiasts. Buy Shutterbug at the discounted rate of $29.95 (normally $39.95) and receive ImageWell (normally $19.95) absolutely FREE!
Just use the coupon code MACDAD08 when you make your purchase before June 15th through the XtraLean Father's Day store.
ImageWell allows you to Edit and Send your pictures, screenshots and other files to anyone, anywhere with one simple click of a button! Batch process your images, layer multiple images, label your screenshots, add drop shadows, shapes and borders, save your favorite styles, and much more. Download a demo here.
Shutterbug allows you to get a site up in a hurry. Satisfy the hunger and do more with your website - photo albums, movies, journals, image rollovers, contact forms and a selection of more than 80 fully customizable free themes. Create a simple online gallery or go all the way with a full featured website. Try ShutterBug and experience the control and freedom everyone is talking about. Shutterbug is a template-based Web editor that also allows you FULL WYSIWYG control. Download a demo here.
I can personally vouch for both products. I know the developers quite well and they're very responsive to questions & suggestions. I have used both of these great products for years and they couldn't be easier.
Gmail Labs review
Submitted by Ivan on Fri, 2008-06-06 21:15.Google just introduced Gmail Labs — 13 new optional features that you can try out on your Gmail account. To get them go to your settings and click the Labs button. Let's check the new features out.
Upgrades on creativebits
Submitted by Ivan on Thu, 2008-06-05 15:21.If you're seeing this post you're seeing the site on the new server, an Intel Xeon E5335 2GHz 4-core CPU running on 64bit Linux with 4GB RAM and RAID disks. It's supposed to be really fast. The front page loads in an average of 212ms instead of 1700+ms on the old one running on Dreamhost.
We also upgraded the engine to Drupal 5.7, which forced us to completely rewrite the theme from xtemplate to phptemplate. That's why you were seeing some bugs in the last week. I apologize.
All these changes were possible thanks to JM and Khalid. These infrastructural improvements are paving the way to a new creativebits. If you have a suggestion or comment on what would you like to be changed or improved please chime in.
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