Some Random Dude

Some Random Dude is a blog by P.J. Onori that covers design & technology in the broadest sense possible.

Archive for May, 2006

Click on one of the items below to go to the post

Dreamweaver Regular Expressions Are Your Friend

I will be honest, I enjoy enjoyable work. Monotonous chores are a major turnoff. Like everyone else, I have had the displeasurable job to take nasty HTML and make it clean(er). There are a multitude of methods to accomplish this goal, but they basically fall into two camps: take the pre-existing code and clean it or start from scratch. Both are time-consuming as clearing out unnecessary tags and attributes can seemingly take a lifetime as can re-inputting all the information page per page. We should not have to do this, but it is a part of life. Instead of complaining, I decided to do something to help. Read On…

DRAG-ing Your Design Down – How To Style Yourself To Anonymity

Have you seen that site with the pretty gradients and the rounded corners with cute drop-shadows? You know, that one that looks all slick and shiny? I bet you have. The problem is, all of us are thinking of a different one. Why? Because there are, oh, about a million of them out there. I have no doubt that there will be a few of you out there that will like me even less after this article. I have pretty much accepted that.

The internet is in a bit of a design rut. We have fallen in love with a particular visual style and we just will not let it go. Everywhere you turn there is a gradient. Drop-shadows are surrounding us. We are pinned down by rounded corners. This, my friends (and soon-to-be enemies), is a perfect example of how trends can show their ugly side. I am writing this article to ask if we are interested in designing websites or just decorating them. If we are in fact interested in the former, perhaps we should think twice about we are doing. Read On…