Linked List: August 11, 2009

Tuesday, 11 August 2009

Another URL-shortening WordPress plugin, this one by Phil Nelson. Includes support for Short URL Auto-Discovery.

Vanderbilt Republic Foundation ‘Masters’ Project at Kickstarter ★

A few weeks ago I linked to the Vanderbilt Republic Foundation, a new creative initiative whose first project is an upcoming month-long photographic documentary project in Cambodia, to capture the stories of performing arts masters whose ranks were nearly wiped out by Pol Pot’s regime in the 1970s. A few days later, I linked to Andy Baio’s announcement that he’s taken the position of CTO at Kickstarter, an amazing new fundraising platform for artists, designers, journalists, and more.

VRF and Kickstarter are two of the most interesting new projects I’ve been following this year. (I’ve gone so far as to accept a position on the VRF’s advisory committee.) And, now, I can link them together: the VRF is using Kickstarter to raise funds for the Masters project.

I got things started with the first backing pledge, for $100. I hope you’ll watch the project video and consider backing this project too.

Managing UI Complexity ★

Splendid piece by Brandon Walkin on designing complex user interfaces. The side-by-side comparisons are excellent; I especially like the comparison between Adobe Lightroom and Microsoft Expression Blend.

Safari 4.0.3 ★

Apple’s list of security issues fixed in today’s new Safari release.

Doctype ★

New Stack-Overflow-style question-and-answer site for web designers, from the makers of Litmus.

Tr.im ‘Resurrected’ ★

The tr.im URL shortening service, which announced it was shutting down a few days ago, now says they’re back, for good. But who’d trust them now? I’ll never use them again.

Apple Brings Back Matte-Finish Display Option for 15-Inch MacBook Pro ★

$50 option.

USAA Bank Will Let Customers Deposit Checks by iPhone ★

Susan Stellin, reporting for the NYT:

USAA, a privately held bank and insurance company, plans to update its iPhone application this week to introduce the check deposit feature, which requires a customer to photograph both sides of the check with the phone’s camera.

What a great idea.

Steven Soderbergh on HDTV Aspect Ratios for 2.40:1 Films ★

You thought the pan-and-scan vs. letterboxing wars were over with the move to 16:9 HD TVs? Wrong. Steven Soderbergh, in the DGA Quarterly:

Television operators, the people who buy and produce things for people to watch on TV, are taking the position that films photographed in the 2.40:1 ratio should be blown up or chopped up to fit a 16:9 (1.78:1) ratio. They are taking the position that the viewers of television do not like watching 2.40 films letterboxed to fit their 16:9 screens, and that a film insisting on this is worth significantly less—or even nothing—to them. They are taking the position that no one will dare challenge them and risk losing revenue.

(Via Nat Irons.)

How a Macworld Cover Is Made ★

Captivating time-lapse video from photographer Peter Belanger, showing the process for creating the cover of Macworld magazine.