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prior listings

 

• URBAN9 12/29/01 
  Description: atmospheric art (Flash)
  Comments: I've visited today's pick almost every day for the last week or so – not that it updates frequently – there's just something about it I like and each visit was an attempt to put my finger on it.  Well – I really can't express what draws me in except that whatever it is has to do with images and sound – it's a simple Flash site with a futuristic flavor that I find very appealing.  If nothing else, it's a great example of what one can do with stock photos and sounds – and kudos to the site's creator for giving credit to those who provided some of the elements used...
   
• 5pieces 12/25/01 
  Description: an ongoing design project – given five pieces of inspiration (images, words, sounds, etc.), participants create final compositions in keeping with a specified theme
  Comments: Christmas morning.  Someone in Buffalo, New York wished for a "white Christmas" and they got 20 inches last night.  "Careful what you wish for" are the words of the chuckling newscaster in the background at 5 a.m.  Elsewhere in the world, families are facing their first Christmas without that loved one lost to the insanity of September 11th – wish them peace in their hearts and thoughts – it's not easy.  Christmas morning.  Hoping you and yours are safe and sound this holiday season and wishing whatever holiday you celebrate brings you happiness...
  
  
  
  So – I woke up this morning a little earlier to make sure I get done before enjoying this special morning with my wonderful wife Kim – friends and family, though not physically here with us, seem amply represented under the tree and the fun will begin when Kim awakens at a less brutal hour.  For now, I've "gotta make the donuts" as the saying goes – I'm on a long, uninterrupted roll of daily picks and couldn't be happier, either, 'cause I love doing it!
  
  
  
  I've been holding today's pick for Christmas – not sure exactly why – just call me silly, I guess.  My friend John has a special spirit about him and though his site has been listed in the portal cool zone for over a year now, his redesign in early October told me that he deserves more credit than just being another link in the database.  For what it's worth, I'm hoping that picking his site today will not only accomplish giving it a little bit of well-deserved recognition, but might also convey to John how much respect I have for him as a fellow designer, and more importantly, a friend.  His simple "design project" has attracted many participants and the lastest project (#8) is now in the works – the results of John's invitations to collaborate have been outstanding.  The latest version of this site also does quite nicely as a "portal" to other inspirational sites, and his newest features, tutorials and a forum, promise to make today's pick an ongoing winner – his new design simply ROCKS!  We love ya, John!
   
• glish.com 12/24/01 
  Description: I write about my live, my work, my kids, my computers, etc., etc. – and I am a web developer...
  Comments: Today's pick comes from a daily visitor of coolstop (whose site also happens to be previous daily pick) – Brandy's high-spirited love for the web is showing again.  When she originally contacted me about today's pick, she mentioned how useful the tutorials have been to her – after thinking about how frequently Brandy redesigns, each new version outdoing the last, and checking out her site suggestion, there simply was no way I could pass on this one.  I have great respect for the site's design and programming, not to mention its value as a resource for web builders. In addition, I love the photos!  Here's what Brandy has to say about it (thanks, kiddo!)...
  
  
  
  "When matters of XML, CSS, and all those other web-type jargons are discussed, today's pick is usually mentioned. The good solid reason behind this is that site-owner Eric Costello not only has an extensive knowledge of web development, and where web design is heading, but also has been kind enough to set up amazing tutorials and sample layouts for the masses -- sample layouts even a novice could understand--and they validate, too.
  
  
  
  Costello keeps two weblogs – one for coding and internet issues, and the other for "everything else": most notably, thoughts and links relating to his home state New York, thoughts on his family, and other little life-snippets. The site layout is simple and efficient, but this is no average design -- play with the photographs lining the top of the page and you'll see what I mean. Also worth checking out is the annotated comic; apparently, the guy behind today's pick is also in a band."
   
• alphalounge 12/23/01 
  Description: a place where I can play with ideas and words, express my feelings and indulge in myself
  Comments: If possible, you wanna use 1024x768 to view today's pick – the scrollbar for the main window is suppressed and if you're using 800x600, a small part of the content will be cut-off, though most of it will still be there and the news window will still be scrollable.  Klas takes a lot of photos in his travels around Tokyo and the different series in his "anti-Lomo" gallery are quite good.  I like the colorful "gameshow" collection and the interesting "nightbashing" series.  Nice presentation, some using Flash, and Klas' unique perspective and composition makes for some enjoyable browsing.  There's another feature here I really like called "art-O-matic" – users can upload images (the more transparent, the better) and the script generates an artwork using 5 random images on top of each other.  Each time I clicked to generate a new piece, I was amazed by the results.  Klas says "this is about me for me and friends by me" and I'm thinking that Klas' attitude, though his boss might not agree, has a lot to do with making today's pick such a cool personal site...
   
• Levitated 12/21/01 
  Description: daily modules of visualization goodness for education, elaboration, and collaboration – commercial free open source (Flash)
  Comments: Jared Tarbell, the main character behind today's pick, coded and designed the site but there is another person on the "staff" with a most interesting credit – seems Dr. Lola Brine is responsible for "Algorithmic Agitation."  This unique Flash site is a "daily source" featuring the "computational species collection 2001" – a concept which reminds me a little of singlecell – using Flash and actionscript to create "organisms" that live only on the web.  All very intriguing.  Jared has kept up an almost daily routine throughout the past year, sharing his intricate Flash works and source code in the interest of "education, elaboration, and collaboration."  "In a sense, movieclips become computational organisms.  The relationships between these autonomous organisms produce emergent behavior.  It is this emergent behavior that make Flash 5 development so much fun."  If you consider the categories that Jared has sorted his works by, you'll see that Jared's works are not only art, but science as well...
   
• Privacy Foundation 12/19/01 
  Description: To enhance the privacy of U.S. citizens by informing them of threats to their privacy, by providing them tools with which to protect or reclaim their privacy, and by helping develop the broader ethics and culture of information privacy in the electronic world.
  Comments: Ahhh... technology.  Our friend.  It's changed our life.  Isn't it amazing?  We can look for a job online – how convenient!  You're probably doing just that these days – I know I am.  Or maybe you have one of those cool TiVo® devices, a whole new way to watch what you want, when you want.  And then there's email – needless to say, we're all connected and communicating in this wonderful new world.  Ahhh... technology.  So – what do these things all have in common?  Think about your privacy – each of these fantastic tools at our disposal have something going on in the background that may not be so pleasing to you.  Today's pick is all about that very subject – privacy, or the lack thereof, and provides a wealth of information along with ways to enhance your privacy in this new age – now, that's cool...
   
• Wow Web Designs 12/15/01 
  Description: A resource of some the best web designs and web designers. It also focuses on the tools used for creating web designs, and provides advanced web design and development guides to its users.
  Comments: Today's pick calls itself a "comprehensive design resource" that gives users the chance to see "the works of some of the best designers in an easy to use, organized directory."  That's pretty accurate, but the site goes far beyond being a "filter" or "directory" – in addition to a basic review of the site, listings are also categorized by designer, features (such as DHTML or JavaScript), tools used, year created, date added to database, etc. – being able to access listings in so many different ways does add credibility to their saying "we can preserve the history of the Net."  Users can also add their own reviews and ratings to a listed site and the point system seems to work well in getting users to contribute.  There's plenty of resources here besides the listed sites themselves for people interested in design – comprehensive information on various tools used for graphics and site building, including tutorials, plus articles ("Power Guides") about design-related topics and a weekly column ("Pixel Pages").  I was presently surprised that Aycan Gulez, the creator and designer of today's pick, has several additional editors (and good writers) on board who are behind sites which are previous daily picks – like Carole Guevin of netdiver.  Aycan's design is upbeat – the blue skies and palm trees provide unique flavor and the color scheme is different – the backend is nicely done as well (see the "Credits").  Explore the web – explore design and designers – explore today's pick!
   
• Photographies: Philip Janin 12/13/01 
  Description: plunge us into the fogs of a former future (mature content)
  Comments: Okay, kiddies – a warning for you – if you're a minor, skip today's pick because it has what I call "mature content."  Yeah! – that'll work... sure!  Anyway – this site comes from French photographer and illustrator Philip Janin – a fine arts kinda guy for sure.  From Cyborgs to cyberpunk, Philip studies the human form and though nudity is a key element here, it's tastefully done – highly emotional content.  There's a fair amount of pieces dealing with fetishism, etc., so once again, please skip this site if that type of thing bothers you, or if you're getting ready for school right now.  I'm not sure if Philip designed the site himself, but I think it's excellent – see what you think...
   
• One Eye Black 12/12/01 
  Description: a presentation of the art created by Mikkel Holmbo Frandsen (Flash)
  Comments: What can I possibly say about this one?  Want art?  You got it!  Mikkel Holmbo Frandsen, the artist, calls this classy Flash presentation "Inside Another World" and there's nothing I could add to make the description clearer.  Speechless?  Yep – I guess that's the effect it had on me, as Mikkel probably intended...
   
• The Thousand 12/10/01 
  Description: sort of building on a conservative minimalist design, but with an eye to experiment graphically
  Comments: 19-year-old Aliotsy Andrianarivo, born in Madagascar, is currently attending the University of California – he's attempting to complete a double major – International Relations combined with Communication and Computer Science – whoa!  I'll say good luck – it sounds like a real challenge.  His brand new personal site just went live on December 5th and I think his design is great.  Aliotsy says he's "big on minimalism...really simple, elegant design" and I think he's pulled it off nicely – the tableless design looks good in both newer browsers, though I've got to say I like it in IE better because of the stylized scrollbars.  I realize it's a little contradictory on my part to push for standards-compliant code on one hand and then to prefer the nicer scrollbars, even though they're proprietary to IE – it's probably one of the best examples of the challenge of standards – oh, well.  The site features some interesting personal projects and experiments, plus several written "vignettes" and the news is starting to look good – some links you're not seeing everywhere else.  Aliotsy's primary goal "is to glorify God through creative expression" and I respect his commitment to his faith, along with another one of his goals – to "inspire someone to create" as others have done for him.  For a site that's not even a week old, today's pick is a winner...
   
• pupae 12/9/01 
  Description: the end is not finished... (Flash)
  Comments: Special thanks to Irene Marx aka razorshark who originally pointed to today's pick in Friday's news at Experimental Magazine, saying that it had "great illustrations."  This all-Flash site is fun to go through as long as you don't mind a navigation scheme that takes you through all of the content in a predefined order.  There's more than 50 individual works, each one leading to the next, done by illustrator Divya Srinivasan – very child-like, but very good, and some quite thought-provoking.  I don't think we'd ever see creative stuff like this if it weren't for the web – not only because of new media tools like Flash, but also because of the power to self-publish.  There's touches of storytelling among the pieces and overall, I think this is great, homegrown entertainment...
   
• annelizabeth : life through a lens 12/6/01 
  Description: A simple personal space where I can express myself through words and pictures, with the focus squarely on the content - I'd much rather any "oooh's" were for the photographs than for what's around them, so I took the decision to keep the site design very minimalist.
  Comments: "A lot of my early photographs were a combination of blind luck, good camera and taking photographs of just about everything around me."  Funny how that all goes, because the corresponding shot ("Escalationism") is astounding.  The story behind another great photo called "Little Fluffy Clouds" is quite interesting – seems that Ann had a fear of flying that interfered with her being able to look out the airplane window to grab a shot like this, so she asked to ride in the cockpit – "those 20 minutes... were life changing."  It's cool how we can overcome our biggest fears if we just open ourselves up a little, dontcha think?  I always like when positive people like Ann remind me of such things.  So – there's plenty more cool photos (and you can comment on them) and that's just part of Ann's "simple personal space."  The other part deals with "words" but she's obviously still looking at "life through a lens" – her positive perspective and pleasing writing style paints pictures, too, if you will.  Proving that the "freaks" aren't only in Royal Oak (hi Dave), her tale of a "grope-fest" kinda day which also included a strange encounter with fashion (or lack thereof) is really funny – I'm sitting here laughing and wondering if Ann knows that I just moved to the zillaman's 'hood (see WebPeople).  Ann's getting more and more into web design lately and it really shows – the navigation in the "pictures" section is excellent and I see she's been working on the navigation between the two big sections of her site.  That's good, because this is one very good personal site, especially if you like words and pictures...
   
• flash effects 12/5/01 
  Description: experiments exploring the possibilities of Flash
  Comments: Japanese Flash designer Kazuloshi Shirai seems to be an explorer at heart – the possible effects and functionality one can achieve with Flash are what he seeks and his showcase of 31+ experiments represent his many discoveries (so far!).  Several of the "about" pages, or movies are amazing all by themselves – as I learned a little about him, I couldn't stop wondering how he made the text stay upright when you rotated the 3D holder vertically – and the piece about his "environment" is a very cool dynamic diagram.  "Masterpiece" is a drawing application with a big collection of user-submitted pieces (submit your own on the fly).  Another piece called "polygon" shows some 3D effects I didn't know were possible with Flash.  That's just a small amount of the stuff you'll find here – this is one of the better collections of actionscript demos I've seen – if that's something you like, you'll enjoy exploring today's pick...
   
• Poows 12/2/01 
  Description: a design directory
  Comments: I have to admit I didn't get it at first.  Here I am at the helm of a so-called "alternative portal" yet I had trouble recognizing another one because I expected it to fit a certain stereotype.  After all, it calls itself a "directory" and that meant something to me if I wanted to stick with traditional definitions, but – duh! – if it's an alternative, then I gotta let go of stereotypes and definitions to give it a chance.  Makes sense to me, anyway.  So, this morning, something made me think of the site – "maybe I didn't get it – maybe I should check it out again."  Here we are, then, with a pick that's overdue.  It's not a typical "directory" unless you start reading through the news archives and even though it's not all in a language I can understand, there's a wealth of inspiration in the form of the universal language of the web, i.e., hypertext.  Start clicking and exploring and all of a sudden, you're discovering new things – all kinds of new things.  It becomes obvious that someone's putting a lot of love into what they're doing – you just gotta wanna explore and this site will deliver!  Aside from being a great, alternative directory, I like the randomized images on the main page and the splash "posters" which are also randomized – a knockout site design.  Respect, though delayed, is on it's way to Brazil this morning and I'm thankful to have finally gotten it – onto the sidebar with you, my friend...