When drafting posts, especially those you are working on over a period of days, using the timestamp feature, to set a future date and time for the post to publish, can make a handy hedge against accidental posting. Any future date is fine, as there's nothing worse than clicking the "publish" button when you meant to click the "save" button, and posting what is a work-in-progress draft instead. These sorts of ... Read full entry

The truth about Captain Kirk An analysis of all 79 episodes of Star Trek, The Original Series, shows Captain Kirk wasn't quite as lucky with the ladies as legend suggests. "Shore Leave" Another one from the past, Ruth, apparently from back in his Academy days or thereabouts. Doesn't seem that much really happened within the story itself, unless you count her showing up again at the end (17 episodes in ... Read full entry

Where Do You Draw Inspiration From? About 70 creatives, as of the time of writing this, had answered the Smashing Magazine question. Inspiration means captivate an idea and develop it further. Imitation means identify an idea and use it. As a professional when getting creative, you need to make sure that you pick the right path to follow.

Workin' at the Internet Cafe: Laptop Dilemma Even in paradise there is trouble lurking around the next corner, or around the time the next toilet (ok, bathroom) break beckons. I love internet cafes. Given that my job requires hours of sitting and typing, sitting and drawing, or sitting and procrastinating, a change of scenery is welcome, allowing me to be around people without actually having to interact with them, listen to ... Read full entry

Interestingly Trite The overuse of the word interesting, when in this case, referring to examples of design, is something I am guilty of doing, when referring to everything else as well. Google lists over 9,000,000 results for interesting design amidst images and web pages. I’ve heard the word used equally as much during my life in the classroom, and it makes me groan each time. When I was a student, ... Read full entry

Childish superstition: Einstein's letter makes view of religion relatively clear A recently published letter written by Albert Einstein finally clarifies his views in regards to god and religion. In the letter, he states: "The word god is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of honourable, but still primitive legends which are nevertheless pretty childish. No interpretation no matter how subtle can ... Read full entry

What is the mystical significance of the number 1001, and why are there so many lists of things to do, see, read, visit, or experience, before you shuffle off this mortal coil, that contain 1001 items? There 1001 books to read, plus 1001 cookbooks apparently, 1001 movies to see, 1001 albums to listen to, which may or may not included the 1001 classical recordings that are ... Read full entry

Scarlett Johansson and Walt Disney World Apparently portraying Cinderella. Thanks Coolspotters (via Mike Industries).

Vatican: It's OK to believe in aliens Pope Benedict XVI is proving to be a rather accommodating pope, and has said through Jose Gabriel Funes, director of the Vatican Observatory, that "belief" in the existence of extraterrestrial life will not see you thrown into the fires of hell. "How can we rule out that life may have developed elsewhere?" Funes said. "Just as we consider earthly creatures as ‘a brother,’ and ... Read full entry

Why Dell will not bounce back Sometimes I wonder if this guy really is "the fake" Steve Jobs. Dell Hell is lack of innovation, the rise of China, Windows Vista, and Apple's rebound. Great article. Trouble with this "innovation" is that the advantages it creates are fleeting. What wiped this one out was a little place called China. Have you heard of it? The rise of China means everyone can ... Read full entry