Hoping to find:
- Renaming blocks (or at least groups)
- Yes!
- Better font management
- Yes!
- Native lightbox
- wawa
- Styling links
- wawa
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Testing out WP 6.5
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How to frame paintings
E.G., a 30″ x 40″ painting:
1. Get your supplies at lowes or homedepot or whatever
-2 x these for the outer frame:
https://www.lowes.com/pd/1-1-2-in-x-8-ft-Pine-Wood-Lattice-Moulding-Actual-1-5-in-x-8-ft/1000443635 (or deeper than your painting**)
-2 x these for the inner frame: https://www.lowes.com/pd/EverTrue-1-1-8-in-x-8-ft-Pine-Wood-Lattice-Moulding-Actual-1-125-in-x-8-ft/3042181 (or less deep than your painting**)
-Clear (or whatever color you want) and Black wood stain like this:
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Cabot-Tintable-Solid-Exterior-Stain-Actual-Net-Contents-7-25-fl-oz/5001615019 (or use sharpie or acrylic paint or whatever)
-Wood Glue
-Clamps
-Miter saw (if you want to miter) or just a good hand saw
-Sand paper
**Make sure the painting is somewhere between the depth of the lattice strips:
They sell lattice in various depths, so the links I pasted above would be good for a 1 1/4″ deep painting.
2. Measure and cut
That diagram shows you the general idea of where to make your cuts and how to line up the strips, but in reality those exact measurements won’t be perfect. So actually line up the lattice strips and mark them with pencil, then cut along the line. Err on the side of too long; you can always shave more off. Gaps are bad.
3. Sand the cut edges and stain them. You can use sharpie marker if you don’t feel like waiting for the stain to dry…
4. When the stain is dry, run some wood glue along the bottom edge of the black lattice and clamp them to the stretcher. Those will be the inner frame.
When that’s dry enough (like the next day) do the same with the natural stained lattice. Use as many clamps as you can to hold it together. You can even run twine around to make it super tight, but it’s probably not necessary unless you only have a couple of clamps.
Once the glue is dry, it’s pretty solid. You can drill small holes and hammer brads in, then cover the openings with wood putty but that’s a lot of hassle.
If you’re feeling adventurous, you can try mitering the corners. Use the pencil measurement method, then cut with a miter saw. Make sure you have extra wood since you will mess up the first time. It’s really not necessary though.
Good luck!
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Lichess Patron Icon
I probably am on lichess.org more than any other single website, mostly losing chess games. It’s an absolutely perfect example of the best open-source software can be.
As an open-source project, the developers do not charge for membership. It’s totally free. There’s something extraordinarily humane and selfless about open-source, especially when it rises to the usage levels that Lichess and others (Linux, Blender, WordPress, e.g.,) have achieved.
Alternatively, closed-source projects usually offer a free membership, but include motetization strategies such as ads that only go away, or features that can only be accessed if you purchase a membership.
That’s not to say they don’t need money, but almost all of the revenue open-source make comes from donations.
One of the interesting ways Lichess monetizes is via the “patron” badge. If you donate at least $5, you get a little wingy icon next to your username:
That’s it–instead of a boring little circle, now you have a bit of “flair” that distinguishes you as someone who supports the hard work it takes to make an open-source project great. It’s a brilliant strategy to encourage donations. But I have to wonder, is it a feature? In other words, does paying for Lichess actually improve your chess skills and help you win more often? Does it help your rating improve?
I think this would be a great study. Lichess has a monumental open data set. One could conceivably analyse the data and determine that become a member does, in fact, make you a stronger player. At the very least, it would make you a stronger player on Lichess.
Symbolism and iconography have a powerful effect on us. They form our communication methodology and influence our decisions. When you play someone with a wingy badge, you may feel empathy toward them, and thus not play with your typical competitive drive. Or you may feel intimidation, or some other form of distraction that might throw you off your game, even if it’s just the tiniest bit. Placing the Lichess dataset under a microscope might reveal patterns that show that patreons are not only being supportive, they’re being tactical.
Here’s my hypothesis: becoming a Lichess patron makes you a better player. Time to get the abstract written.
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Life in 2024 so far
Teaching has shifted to administration
The huge migration is nearly done
My wife and kids are beautiful
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Movies and shows, 2024
I’ll try to post the stuff I watch with reviews this year. I saw some great stuff last year and meant to do this, but didn’t :/
- Barbarians (Shudder). Cool concept. So many dumb and useless scenes. Too bad, since the actors were great.
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On designing logos
I’ve designed a ton of fonts. I’ve designed a ton of icons. I’ve designed only a few logos.
I always lump logos into the other categories, because I take the same approach to their crafting: get to the core of the symbol/s’ purpose and express it basicly, purely, and fundamentally. Then build on that solid core into something that resonates, based on feedback and outcomes.
The problem with logos is that, unlike those other categories, they demand an immediate connection to an extremely specific audience: namely, the client.
Who is the client? Good question. The client is not an anonymous user of creative output. The client is not a disconnected associate with little to go on when evaluating your work. The client is a stakeholder in your value as a professional creator. The client needs your work to “work,” because if it doesn’t, the client has problems that you’re responsible for.
And the client is always right. Which means you can’t expect them to see things the way you do. They’re paying money.
The client anticipates glitz and glamour out of the gate. They immediately compare raw sketches to a fully armoured cavalier, repleat with plate armor set in golden trim smelted with golden trim acquired from valorous raids. They want it to look Las Vegas.
This is how it goes whenever I take on a new logo project, which is why I get so stressed out whenever one lands on my doorstep. On the one hand, nothing makes me more satisfied as a graphic designer than to see my designs “in the wild;” i.e., actually used by the client and viewed by people I have never met. I see that as an enormous responsibility, that if fulfilled, validates my self confidence as a bonifide designer.
On the other hand, there have been so many cases where I’ve poured my heart and soul into something I know is perfect, only to find out that the client hates it, or worse, doesn’t even notice it before it’s even left the gate.
I guess all I can do is to try different approaches. I look at work done by insanely talented people and wonder how they evaded these trysts. I can only conclude that they didn’t evade them, but instead learned from them and evolved into producers of content that appeals to the public they’re trying to reach. That’s what I’m trying to do.
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a couple of samples from the Fontself iPad beta app
I’ve made a bunch of these since testing the ipad app at https://fontself.com … Nice app
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Trip to Fordham
At the LGA getting ready to fly back to Buffalo.
Brian’s talk was great. I understood it well enough to get excited about the stuff he’s digging into.
Brian Dunkle S.J. Giving the Loyola Chair Lecture at Fordham University Highlights
The lecture
Trip to botanical gardens
The sausage slice at new moon pizza (might be best ever)
Dinner at zero Otto or something with bri and dad. Got more pizza, wood fired, diavolo- pretty good.
Mass w/bri
Drag me to hell on Netflix, great Sam raimi on Netflix. How did I not see that yet?
Lowlights
Dealing with work issues while trying to be in travel mode
Getting dropped off at terminal b instead of c
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Best movies of all time (bmoat) list
- Napoleon Dynamite
- Apocalypto
- Alien
- Lilo and Stitch
- Blue Velvet
- The Matrix
[more to come]
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Crystal Beach 7-28-23 — 7-30-23
What a weekend. It’s an idyllic Eden here. Days were spent laughing on the deck and the beach. Nights were filled with music and magic. So many beautiful people.
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Kerning animation concept
A machine that pours water down a chute with a word at the bottom.
A measuring cup directly underneath each gap between the pairs of letters.
Each cup has the same amount of water in it after all the water has poured down and through the gaps.
