HTML (HyperText Markup Language) is the most widely used markup language today. Tags, elements and angle bracket with a bit of help from CSS forms the building block of all that you see around on the World Wide Web.

It has been nearly 20 years since HTML started defining how we 'see' the web. Now, it's on the verge of its fifth major revision HTML5. From its first avatar to its fifth, the web itself has been transformed. HTML5 is an attempt to meet current needs which is heavily based around dynamic and multimedia rich content. But how will it change the way we look and work with the web?

The web of today is increasingly interactive and media rich. Applications are moving online. HTML5 covers all of these needs by introducing ways to embed videos and audio, draw simple graphics, work with apps offline; do all these without plugins, and of course, do it all faster than before.

It is after all a standard. Thus, it's nigh impossible to sweat the details in a few lines. So here are ten resources that give you an insight on HTML5. Let's get to know it, because we all might be using it soon.

WTF is HTML5

Research group Focus breaks down the latest specification and gives it straight up as a simple to understand infographic. Within ten minutes, you will get a helicopter view of what HTML5 is all about and why we should care.

Dive Into HTML5

Written by Mark Pilgrim, it's a hand-picked look at select features of HTML5. It's put together in the conversational style of the For Dummies' series. If you want to grasp the basics, this is a must read.

And there's Professor Markup' to guide you along with answers to common queries. Each chapter is supported by demos and examples. But do check the mentioned supported browser(s) before trying them out.

HTML5Doctor

At HTML5Doctor.com, you have articles that are meant to help you hit the ground running. For example, using the very first article, you can set your webpage to be recognized as HTML5 by browsers. The fourth post helps out with designing a blog with HTML5.

The HTML5 blog also has a Q&A section, where you can upload your questions. Some of the answers come on the homepage as Your Questions Answered' posts.

HTML5Rocks

This HTML5 web resource asks that you be well versed in coding. If you are, there are a few tutorials that help you understand how HTML5 features can be coded. You can experiment with HTML5 at the Playground and even reuse some of the code samples in your own project.

The tutorials are few but comprehensive. Each is also tagged with the icon of the browsers that meet the HTML5 feature requirements.

HTML5games

HTML5 is giving Adobe a few headaches because it promises to do away with Flash (at least for some apps). Will HTML5 prove as effective as online games as the Flash based games we have become used to? Check it out for yourself by playing the HTML5 games that are hosted on this site.

You can also read a brief mention of this HTML5 games resource in our directory.

HTML5 Readiness

All browsers are readying themselves for HTML5. The half wheel on this site is a visual indicator of each browser's groundwork so far for HTML5 and CSS3. You can mouseover the 28 features and gauge the stage from the color coded spokes.

From the looks of it, Safari and Chrome are more down the path than the others.

HTML5 Element Reference Table

Periodic Table of the Elements, a project by Josh Duck is a quirky look at the 104 HTML5 elements (and 2 proposed elements) using the layout of a periodic table. Clicking on each cell brings up a brief description with additional references.

You can also read a brief mention of this resource in our directory.

HTML5 Test

At a glance you can tell your (browser's) score when matched up against HTML5 ready features. As soon as the website loads up, the score from a maximum of 300 gets displayed. You get bonus points if the support extends beyond what the HTML5 specification might lay down.

The scores are also color coded which indicate anything between what's great and what's not available on your browser.

HTML5 Gallery

HTML5gallery.com parades other websites that are using HTML5 in some form or the other. You can click on the thumbnail and reach the websites on view. It is also a learning platform to see how web developers are implementing HTML5.

Each website profiled has a small note that explains how an HTML5 element has been used to design the website.

YouTube HTML5 Beta

The Video' element is touted as one of the bestselling points of HTML5. You can test it out on YouTube by opting to use the HTML5 player instead of the Flash player for most videos. Your tryouts will also tell you how your current browser is coping with HTML5 videos. Do read the Notes section to note the finer points on the beta effort from YouTube.

Everything says its exciting days ahead. These ten websites on HTML5 are just the early starters of a breed that's going to explode soon. Hopefully, they will help to put you in the right element to work with HTML5.

Image: justinsonmia

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Automata guru and MAKE pal Dug North says:

For a limited time, Cabaret Mechanical Theatre is offering a free download of an eighteen page booklet by famed automata-maker Paul Spooner. This is a great resource for the mechanically-curious and must have for automata-makers.

The PDF is free to download until September 30.

[Thanks, Dug!]

If you work as part of an in-house Web team, you have my sympathy. If that in-house team is within a large organization, then doubly so. Being part of an in-house Web team sucks. Trust me, I know. I worked at IBM for three years and now spend most of my days working alongside battle-weary internal teams.

It's hardly surprising that most in-house teams are worn down and depressed. They face almost insurmountable challenges:

• Departmental feuds
  Too often, a website becomes a battleground for pre-existing departmental conflicts. Political power plays can manifest themselves in fights over home page real estate or conflicts over website ownership. After all, is the website an IT function or a marketing tool?
• Uninformed decision-makers
  Rarely does an internal Web team have the authority to make final decisions on a website. Instead decision-making happens higher up in the organization. Unfortunately, although these individuals have more authority, they do not have greater knowledge of the Web. Decision-making is often based more on personal opinion than the needs of users or business objectives.
• Committees
  Committees are the curse of larger organizations. The bigger the organization, the more the number of people who want their say, and that leads to committees. Unfortunately, committees inevitably lead to compromise and design-on-the-fly. Both are the kiss of death to any Web project.
• An inward perspective
  Becoming institutionalized is very easy in a large organization. Eventually you speak an internal language and think in terms of organizational structure. This proves problematic when communicating to end users. Not only do most large organizations have their own internal perspective of the world, some individuals even think departmentally, further aggravating departmental conflict.
• Endless scope creep
  When an in-house Web team is constantly available, calling on their help is easy. This is both a benefit and a curse. The truth is that many Web teams are taken for granted, and websites that should never exist are built and launched because there are no constraints. Worse still, good projects can be drowned as internal clients keep demanding additional functionality that the Web team cannot block.
• Problem people
  The bigger the organization, the higher the chance they will hire a jerk. If you work for a large organization, I can pretty much guarantee you have someone in mind as you read this. These people can really hinder the work of the Web team and prevent a website from reaching its full potential.
• Glacially slow progress
  With endless red tape and painful committees, getting stuff done in a large institution can be nearly impossible. It is not unusual for projects to grind to a halt entirely because they become dependant on other systems or projects yet to be implemented. I have even seen something as simple as the roll-out of a content management system take years to implement.

With the odds stacked so high against them, I am surprised in-house Web teams get anything done at all. Their success depends as much on their ability to navigate politics and bureaucracy as it does on their skills as designers and developers.

But do not despair. I can tell you from the over-subscription to workshops I have run on the subject that you are not alone. This is a universal problem and one that can be overcome, as I will outline in this post.

Our Web design agency specializes in complex projects. During my time there, I have developed certain techniques that will hopefully help others keep their Web projects moving.

Let's look at four areas in particular:

• Improving how your team is perceived within your organization,
• Overcoming politics and problem people,
• Ensuring that a project gets approval from the powers that be,
• Delivering work within scope and on time.

Let's begin by addressing how Web teams are perceived.

[Offtopic: by the way, did you know that there is a Smashing eBook Series? Book #2 is Successful Freelancing for Web Designers, 260 pages for just $9,90.]

Improving How Your Team Is Perceived

In too many organizations, the Web team is considered the lowest of the low. It looks like something straight out of The IT Crowd.

This is all the more bizarre considering that websites themselves are perceived as being important. Somehow there is a disconnect between those who produce websites and the websites themselves.

This poor attitude toward Web teams boils down to two beliefs:

• The Web team is a road block that needs to be detoured.
  Many large organizations find themselves frustrated by their internal Web teams, seeing them as people who constantly block their more imaginative ideas and set restrictions on what they can and cannot do online.
• Web team members are implementers, not experts.
  Management perceives Web team members as techies, there to implement the ideas of others. They are in no way perceived as experts who are capable of advising on strategy.

Fortunately, much can be done to overcome these beliefs. For a start, improve your communication skills.

Communicate Better

Most internal Web teams are terrible at selling themselves. If they were a Web agency, they would be out of business in a few weeks. Perhaps that is their reason for working in-house. But despite what you may think, most internal Web teams could desperately do with communicating and selling better.

To overcome the negative impressions people have of your team, you need to actively promote yourself and the work you do.

Here are just a few ideas to try:

• Hold launch events.
  When was the last time you celebrated the launch of a new feature or the redesign of your website? Holding a launch party is a great way to shout about your successes, and it's fun, too. Email colleagues, telling them how excited you are about the completion of your latest project, and invite them to celebrate with you. Everyone loves free food, and it's a great chance to show off your work.
• Publish a monthly newsletter.
  How will anybody know about the great work you do if you don't tell them? One way to do this is through a monthly newsletter that features work you have been doing and cool stuff happening online. This is a great way to both increase your profile and educate people on the power of the Web.
• Report successes to management.
  Management needs to be regularly informed on traffic levels, dwell time and conversion rates. If you don't have any calls to action to track conversion, get some. If you have no way to measure success, then the team is simply a drain on resources. Demonstrate that you generate income, rather than just spend it.
• Offer training courses and workshops.
  Part of your role as in-house Web team should be to educate those in the organization about the Web. I'm talking not just about technical training on using the CMS, but rather more general training about the Web and how it can benefit your business. Sessions like this not only educate internal stakeholders, but also increase your credibility and establish you as the expert.
• Hold regular meetings with website stakeholders.
  Set up regular meetings with those who most often use the website. Talk to people such as the head of marketing, sales and IT. Meet with front-line staff who answer customer support queries or those who work with suppliers. These meetings build relationships across the organization and demonstrate that the Web team is always looking for ways to help the business.

By improving communication within your organization, you significantly improve the perceived value of your team.

Create Value

There can be little doubt that internal Web teams are undervalued. As an external consultant, if I say exactly the same thing to management as the Web team, management will listen to me and ignore its own people. This is largely because as an external consultant, the cost of my advice is more evident. They listen to me because they are paying me in a very visible way.

Of course, they are paying as much (if not more) for their internal Web team. But that cost is not as evident and so is not valued as highly. The way to increase the value of your team is to make that cost more visible.

People are less likely to ignore your advice or waste your time if they are obviously paying for your advice or time. The way to establish this kind of value is to cross-charge for your work between departments. Have an internal charge-out rate based on salary, infrastructure, training, etc., and then price any new work coming into the department based on that rate.

This not only makes your value obvious, it also makes internal clients think twice before asking you to build some ill-conceived project just because you're free. Nothing will change perception more than making them pay for your time.

Of course, you might not be in a position to cross-charge. But that doesn't mean you can't go through the process of setting rates and costing projects. When you receive a request for work, respond with a breakdown of tasks, how long it will take and how much it will cost the company based on your charge-out rate.

While not as compelling as charging for work, it still drives home the point that your time is valuable. It might also make them think twice before suggesting a project, especially if they know that pricing will be included in your report to management.

Finally, keep track of the time you actually spend on projects. This will help with scope creep (see below) and show management how efficient you are.

Of course, cross-charging can be perceived as another blocking tactic, reinforcing people's negative opinion of your team. Therefore, balance this with a positive and helpful approach

Be Positive

No offence, but most of the in-house Web professionals I meet are a miserable lot. Okay, that was probably offensive. Still, it shouldn't come as a surprise. With so much negativity aimed at Web teams, some of it is bound to rub off on them. It is up to you to keep the website on course, and that involves telling people No or putting constraints on what they can do. The problem is that this damages relationships and eventually forces people to bypass you, often by outsourcing to agencies such as mine!

However, you don't need to say no to people or even constrain them with rules. Take my situation, for example. When clients pay me, I don't have the luxury of saying no. I have to be Mr. Positive, or they'll just find someone else.

The next time someone asks you to implement a stupid idea on the website, try to be positive. Praise positive aspects of the idea (if there are any), and encourage the client to explain their thinking behind the rest. Often you will find something workable in the idea.

Even when the idea has no redeeming feature, there is still no need for you to say no. Instead, explain the probable consequences of the idea to the client, and guide them to the point that they reject it themselves. The problem with No is that it is a dead end. It leads only to confrontation. By focusing on the positive and educating the client on the consequences of their suggestion, you create an open and honest conversation.

The process of educating the client on the potential pitfalls of their suggestion also demonstrates your expertise

Become the Expert

The ultimate aim of improving your reputation is to establish yourself as an expert. If people see you in that way, then they will listen to your opinions and follow your advice. But if your reputation is already damaged, coming to be seen as the expert is hard.

One way to be perceived as an expert is by association. This comes in two forms: referring to another expert or having an expert refer to you.

Referring to an expert is easy. If you have no credibility in the eyes of internal stakeholders, borrow the credibility of others. For example, the next time a client asks you to put all content above the fold, don't just tut and say that it's a stupid idea. Instead, refer to a study on the subject, such as one of the several by Jacob Nielsen. This lends weight to your argument and demonstrates that you are well read on the subject.

The second approach is to get an expert to back you up. Essentially, this is the very reason why I am hired by many Web teams. I am brought in to reinforce the arguments they have been making all along. Because I am perceived as an expert and support what the Web team says, I add creditability to the team and increase their expertise in the eyes of management. It's ridiculous, but it works.

Finally, don't try too hard. A true expert demonstrates their knowledge but is not afraid to admit their limitations. They are confident enough to challenge wrong thinking, but not arrogant or aggressive. I speak with too many in-house Web developers who come across as sneering and condescending because they believe they are above everyone else.

While improving your reputation will go a long way to pushing your projects forward, it is not the only hurdle to overcome. No matter how respected you are, there will always be those with agendas that interfere with the smooth running of your website

Overcoming Politics And Problem People

Politics are unavoidable in large organizations, and yet most of us consider ourselves above them. We claim not to play politics, and we moan about those who we perceive do. But in reality, we all do it. We all have an agenda and want our point of view to be taken seriously. To believe otherwise is naive.

Ultimately, having a holier-than-thou attitude to internal politics is damaging. If you refuse to deal with those who play politics and avoid pushing your own agenda, you will only damage the website.

To get things done in a large organization, don't shy away from playing the political game. As the saying goes, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

While we're citing aphorisms, another one is, keep your friends close

But Your Enemies Closer

One of the biggest mistakes people make with problem people is avoiding them. A far better strategy is to keep them close. The problem with avoiding your enemies is that you are entrenching their position. If they know you are hostile towards them (and trust me, they'll know), then they'll become even more hostile towards you. Eventually, the arms race of hostility will get out of control.

A better approach is to keep talking. Meet with them regularly. Ask them what they want from the website? Look for ways to build bridges. Listen to what they say.

Some individuals only want their voice to be heard. As long as you listen and make them feel important, they'll go away happy. Also, let them win whenever possible. It may dent your pride, but that is a small price to pay for winning the war.

On the topic of war

Avoid Confrontation

When I suggest that you meet with problem people regularly, I'm not setting the scene for a monthly showdown. In fact, avoid confrontation whenever possible, especially when other people are around. No one wants to lose face in front of their peers, which is why people become entrenched in their views in group settings.

Instead, use the tactics I spoke of in relation to being positive. Use the question Why as a way to encourage people to think through their position. Encourage positive contributions with praise, and explain their consequences in the gentlest language possible.

Finally, when you are criticized in a group setting (such as a committee meeting or group email), take a long deep breath before deciding whether to respond.

In my experience, there is little point in becoming defensive or, worse, retaliating. Most of the time I don't say anything at all. It's amazing how often someone else will leap to your defence if given the chance. Better that they say how great you are than saying so yourself!

Of course, it should never come to that, especially if you learn to empathize with problem people

Learn to Empathize

As Web professionals, we pride ourselves on our ability to empathize. We go to great lengths to get into the heads of our users and understand what they want to achieve and how to motivate them. We have become experts at nudging users towards the goals we want them to complete.

Interesting, then, that we totally fail to demonstrate this ability with our colleagues. Instead, we often dismiss them as stupid or not getting it. This kind of narrow-minded attitude causes many of the problems we encounter. Take the time to really understand your colleagues. What makes them tick? What problems do they face in their jobs that the Web could solve? What pet subjects could we use to nudge them in the right direction?

If we tried to empathize with our colleagues and understand their psychology, we would find internal politics much less painful.

Stay tuned for the second part

The second part of this article will be published soon here, at Smashing Magazine. Please stay tuned for our updates: subscribe to our RSS-feed and follow us on Twitter.

You can also check Paul's workshop that he ran on the topic of this article.

Paul Boag for Smashing Magazine, 2010. | Permalink | Post a comment | Add to del.icio.us | Digg this | Stumble on StumbleUpon! | Tweet it! | Submit to Reddit | Forum Smashing Magazine
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Laten we maar een nieuwe afkorting maken voor deze type video's want meer en meer verschijnen er en hier is dan de Griekse versie. Ik denk niet dat Guillaume Nery ooit verwacht had dat hij zo beroemd zou worden van zijn nu al 6 miljoen keer bekeken video op Youtube. De Grieken geven het een twist met een aantal zeer mooie shots en wat grappen.

Klik hier om de embedded video te bekijken.

Richard Byrne at Free Technology for Teachers reviews BlogBooker, an application which will Turn Your Blog to a PDF Book. This brief posts provides a feature summary of the application and short screenshot tutorial for how to export your Blogger or WordPress blogs as XML files for use with BlogBooker.

I'm done. I'm done with the emails asking for a quick chat, I'm done obliging folks who ask me to follow them on Twitter so they can DM a quick question and I'm done being suckered into phone calls only for someone to try to steal as much professional information from me as they can. Because while I'm all for passing it on and sharing the wealth, that's not what's happening when you ask me to lay out a complete social strategy for your business. That's not what's happening when you ask me to review your business proposal. When you ask to pick my brain, you're really asking me to work for free. And while Outspoken Media proudly serves its pro-bono clients, we're also a business. My creative work and my ideas are that business.

A few months ago I received a phone call from a man about to pitch a business idea to a panel of investors. Before he did, he wanted ME to find him some resources to prove to the board there was a need for his business. Hi, LMGTFY. Before that, there was a gentleman who got my cell phone number and called asking if I'd perform a social media audit on his Web site, while he was the phone with me. He'd wait.

There's a weird dichotomy that exists people who obviously respect my expertise, just not my time. At some point we have to start saying no. And I know that I'm not alone in this. I know that there are many freelancers and consultants who are also tired of working for free and the never ending requests for a brain picking session.

Here's a sampling:

• Chris Brogan wrote about the Audacity of Free back in 2009.
• Tamar Weinberg wrote her own products and services edition this summer.
• Peter Shankman wrote an open letter to Kami Watson Hurse, APR that is so good I want to sleep with it under my pillow.
• Nicole Jordan declared, no, you can't pick my brain.
• Sandy Jones-Kaminski wants to start the national no brain picking list, which sounds pretty good to me.

We've all had enough. We're all done and it's time we start protecting our creative work. Below I've listed the 15 responses I'll use the next someone asks for just ten minutes so they can get professional advice without actually paying for it. Will you help me add to it?

Socan I pick your brain/brand over coffee?

1. No.
2. I'm so sorry but I'm super swamped right now. May I recommend [Competitors Name]? They're really great; you should give them a call.
3. Of course, I'd love to chat. I charge in 60 minute increments at $XXX an hour.
4. I'd love to help you create a marketing strategy, check out our blog consulting services, content creation services or any of our other Internet marketing services. Let me know which you'd like us to invoice you for.
5. Sure, let's talk. Then send drop a link to our Contact page.
6. Write up an invoice and send it to them. Let them know that payment must be received before the chat takes place, but that I truly can't wait to hear about their idea/problem/situation.
7. Send them a few links to resources, but only if I know how to quickly find the content. I'm not doing research on your behalf. We have the same Google. Use your own.
8. Send them the link to the blog. We have tons of freely available resources they just have to be adapted to your business.
9. Suggest they call Rae and then hide under my new desk. :)
10. Research what they do and ask if I can have a free X.
11. Make it over beers and let them pay my drink tab. I can drink more Sam Adams in a sitting then I can vanilla lattes.
12. Tell them they can speak with my assistantand then give them my little brother's phone number.
13. Ask them when they'd like to set up a phone consultation and give them Outspoken's rates.
14. Get their question upfront and tell them it will take more than 10 minutes to answer. Ask if they'd prefer we create a proposal to send over. And how much that costs.
15. Tell them to follow me on Twitter. You'll get no better glimpse into my brain than that.

I know. It sounds like yet another reason for people to comment that I'm elitist, but that's not it at all. I live for sharing information. That's why I blog at Outspoken Media, at SmallBizTrends, and write guest posts for countless other blogs. But there's a difference between putting someone on the right path and doing the work for them. Every strategy I give you for free takes time away from paying clients, internal Outspoken work and my own personal projects. I'm not saying consultants shouldn't help people, Outspoken has a number of clients that we've helped free of charge, but respect the value of your own time.

As consultants we like to give back and often get trapped undermining our own businesses just because we don't think we're allowed to say no. If you're a freelance who can't say no, you need to go get bitchslapped because you run a business, not a free clinic. Your time and creative energy are valuable. You can say no. And sometimes you should.

Luckily, some web designers have chosen to end the misery of encountering a 404 error page. Instead of letting their site readers bump heads with a nasty dead-end error message, they've managed to squeeze a little entertainment out of it.

Below you'll find some of the most entertaining 404 error pages on the web. We've listed them alphabetically to avoid playing favorites, but they're all worth a look. Share your favorite 404 error page designs in the comments below!

1. 501st Legion

501st Legion is a Star Wars costume organization. It only makes sense that its 404 page would play on Obiwan's famous jedi mind trick with a "weak-minded" stormtrooper.

2. Abduzeedo

Yes, Houston, a 404 is definitely a problem.

3. Apartment Home Living

A nice ol' chap comes to your assistance on ApartmentHomeLiving.com if you run across a 404 error page. Click the lovely lady peering from behind the frame for proper navigation suggestions.

4. Astuteo

"Uh-Oh! SpaghettiOs!" You know you're a part of pop culture if your jingle makes it into a 404 error page. The popular SpaghettiOs marketing jingle is here to stay.

5. Blippy

Head over to Blippy's 404 page for an adventure. Keep clicking on the boy dressed in a unicorn outfit to discover a triple rainbow! Who knew a 404 page could be so fun?

6. Factor D

In an ode to early horror films, Factor D features an appropriately horrific 404 error accompanied by a beautiful, yet terrified scream queen.

7. SureDev

Many 404 error pages apologize for the error. Not this one. It's obviously your fault.

8. Blue Daniel

This 404 error page is a beautiful depiction of "Track 404," a fictitious NYC subway line. Check it out to experience the full animation.

9. Brandstack

"You can click anywhere else, but you can't click here." Love it.

10. Center'd

Bottom line: You can't go wrong with cute kittens.

11. Chris Jennings

Most of us would like to run into a 404 error page just as much as we'd like to run into the Grim Reaper.

12. Colour Marketing & Design

When you're facing "sharks with laser beams attached to their frickin' heads," what do you expect? Definitely a 404 error.

13. CSS-Tricks

Well, that can't be good.

14. CSSscoop

Picking a 404 error page design that is consistent with your name is an appropriate move. CSSscoop chose a melting ice cream cone, with a scoop of ice cream, of course.

15. Digitalmash

Sarcasm in dire situations is always appreciated, right?

16. Good Old Games (GOG)

Try not to make any missteps on GOG, or you'll end up lost in the cosmos.

17. HomeStarRunner.com

Insulting your readers doesn't usually help, but this 404 made me chuckle.

18 Hoppermagic

Hoppermagic chose to stick to its brand imagery when creating its 404 page.

19. iFolderLinks

There's just something about a really frustrated baby that catches your attention. And if you've made it to this 404 page, you probably feel his pain.

20. Itchy Robot

If you can't think of something clever to say on your 404 page, just write exactly what your users are thinking.

21. Jackfig

Jackfig added a creative touch to its 404 error page, with an inspirational haiku.

22. Jolie Poupe

Jolie Poupe, creator of eco-friendly children's clothes, serves up an audience-appropriate 404 on its site.

23. Mark Dijkstra

This 404 error page is reminiscent of the kitschy tourist shirts that your lousy friends and relatives buy you when they visit amazing places.

24. Merge

Prithee, go medieval on your site's visitors if need be.

25. Milrayas

Imagery always makes a 404 more entertaining.

26. OrangeCoat

Some 404 error pages do a wonderful job of explaining to users exactly what caused the 404 error. OrangeCoat provides a fun decision tree for lost web surfers that is sure to help them along their merry ways.

27. Oroza

Have fun with colors, shapes and exclamations.

28. Sick Designer

Sick Designer captures the depression that a 404 can cause on its error page.

29. Student Market

How fitting that a student-centric site would feature an addition problem on its 404 page.

30. The Brand Surgery

This page just pops. We like it.

31. The North Face

For true entertainment value, why not just tell a story? The North Face does just that by creating a tale about link-eating mountain goats.

32. Tinsanity

You might have been pwned, burned, punk'd or rickrolled recently, but have you been 404'd? Click here to join the party.

33. TK Designs

Excitement! Adventure! Ahhhhh, where I am?!

34. Urban Outfitters

Our sentiments exactly.

35. Urban Pill

If, after searching for hours, you still can't find the page you were seeking, Chuck Norris probably has it.

More Web Design Resources from Mashable:

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- 12 Beginner Tutorials for Getting Started With Photoshop
- Use Adobe Fonts in Your Own Web Designs
- 10 Essential Free E-Books for Web Designers
- 12 Beginner Tutorials for Getting Started with Adobe Illustrator
- 6 New Mac Apps for Designers and Developers

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Epic's spectacular Unreal Engine 3 tech demo free at iTunes App Store originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Sep 2010 15:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

If you have ever searched for a Wordpress theme before, you will have probably noticed that some theme designers use some weird text when showing off their themes which looks like Latin. I have always wondered what it was, why designers choose to use it and where it came from.

After a bit of research I have some answers.

What Is Lorem Ipsum?

Lorem Ipsum is a group of text that people commonly use as filler text, or dummy text. It's basically a bunch of mumbo-jumbo (at least that's what it looks like) that people use to show what a design layout will look like when the proper text has been inserted.

Why Do Designers Use Lorem Ipsum?

What I kept asking myself is why they would use this jumbled up mess of a foreign language and not some English text? It all comes down to focus. It's a known fact that if they were to use actual copy, someone trying to look at only the design would be distracted by what the text says. That is one of the major reasons people choose to use Lorem Ipsum. With text that is unrecognizable, there's nothing to read.

Where Did Lorem Ipsum Come From?

As it turns out, Lorem Ipsum did come from Latin. It's actually a modified version of it. What does it actually say? According to Lipsum.com,

Lorem Ipsum comes from sections 1.10.32 and 1.10.33 of de Finibus Bonorum et Malorum (The Extremes of Good and Evil) by Cicero, written in 45 BC.

Lorem Ipsum has been used since the 1500's. It was made popular in the 1960's and has survived into the digital age with desktop publishing programs like Aldus PageMaker. As we also know, it is still being widely used among web designers such as Wordpress theme designers to show different design elements.

Can I Use Lorem Ipsum For My Projects?

Sure, why not? It is still widely used so join the proverbial club. In fact there are many tools out there that make using it so easy. Here are a few of them.

Lipsum.com

I have already quoted from this site because it contains quite a bit of information on the subject. It also contains a tool to generate a portion of the text.

MakeUseOf's Directory contains a writeup about it. Since that time they have released both a Firefox plugin and a Chrome plugin.

Lorem2: Lorem Ipsum Text Samples

This isn't really a software program or tool per se. It's really a website containing different sample Lorem Ipsum texts. It contains short paragraphs, long paragraphs, short list items and long list items. Web designers should add this site to their tool belt.

HTML-Ipsum

This tool takes Lorem Ipsum usage to a whole different level for web developers.

They offer much of what the last tools offers but with the HTML tags included, making development that much easier.

Tell us, do you use Lorem Ipsum? If so, in what way? What tools do you use that we should know about?

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The online personal-finance assistant Mint often mines user data for trends and interesting charts to feature on its popular corporate blog. Now the Intuit-owned company is preparing to release the data it's collected on behalf of its 3 million users. The new Mint Data product is currently publicly available as a soft launch, and should be announced to the public in the next few weeks. Instead of simply allowing logged-in members to look at their personal finances, now any visitor can access aggregate spending data for hundreds of U.S. cities.

Mint's data can be sorted to find things like the average tab at a certain restaurant, or the actual deals other people are getting for their memberships at a certain local gym. Users can also look at pretty charts that show the average monthly spending by Mint users in a city.

What would be really cool is if Mint released an API for this data, so other services could incorporate it. Imagine if you loaded up the Yelp app to find a nearby restaurant, and instead of sorting by the vague number of dollar signs associated with each venue, you could see how much other customers spent on their tabs on average. You could filter for dinner under $20 within two blocks of here at a four-star restaurant. (Of course, Mint doesn't have item-by-item data, so this would be just the average tab rather than the average meal per person, but hopefully it's still informative.)

I talked with some folks from Mint about the new feature at an Intuit product showcase last night, and they assured me that Mint Data is anonymized because it only features venues where at least 50 Mint users have spent money. In San Francisco, where I live, the most popular Food & Dining establishment is Starbucks, and the one with the most expensive average purchase is the wine bar Bar Bambino, where Mint users spend an average of $167.97.

If you want more publicly accessible aggregate spending data, you should also check out Bundle, which probably offers a more representative data set given it pulls spending information from Citigroup (c c) (one of its investors).

Related content from GigaOM Pro (sub req'd):

Big Data Marketplaces Put a Price on Finding Patterns

Casablanca (PG). In this Oscar-winning classic, American ex-pat Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) plays host to gamblers, thieves, and refugees at his Moroccan nightclub during World War II, but he never expected Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman) the woman who broke his heart to walk through his door. Ilsa hopes that with Rick's help, she and her fugitive husband (Paul Henreid) can escape to America. But the spark that brought the lovers together still burns brightly.

Date:
Friday, Oct. 15, 8 PM.
Live organ pops variety show and sing-along at 7:30 PM.

Admission:
Tickets are $8 for adults and $7 for children, students, and seniors.

Address:
Earl Smith Strand Theatre
117 North Park Square
Marietta, GA 30060

Parking:
Free around square

For more information, please call For more information or tickets, visit www.EarlSmithStrand.org or the Box Office at 770-293-0080 or 117 North Park Square, Marietta, 30060. The Box Office is open Monday through Friday from 9 AM to 12 PM; 1 PM to 4 PM; and two hours before the show.