Best of the Web: September 2012
After taking a bit of a break for the summer, I am back with another set of the best stuff that I’ve found during my travels on the information super highway this month:
- Lifehacker published an article called Top 10 Simple Things Every Computer User Should Know How to Do. This article covers everything from how to set up a backup system, use keyboard shortcuts, find lost gadgets and keep your personal info safe. No matter what type or level of computer user you are, this is well worth a read to either learn a new skill, or brush up on one you already knew.
- You like free stuff, don’t you? How about I showed you where you can get 11 Free Online Books for Web Designers?
- The smartphones we carry in our pockets are really just tiny computers with a phone antenna inside them. If you start to think about your phone that way, you’ll realize there are tons of cool things you can do with old smartphones like turn your old smartphone into a mini server using an app called Servers Ultimate for Android. I am going to dig out my old Galaxy S Vibrant and give this a try tonight.
- I was just starting to forget about the Old Spice Guy when I found this new Old Spice creation called Old Spice Muscle Man interactive video which is exclusive to Vimeo. Former NFL player Terry Crews is the new Old Spice guy and he plays a one man band using his muscles. Once he’s done, it’s your turn to make your own music. If you think this video is cool, Yahoo! has a cool article about how it’s done.
- The floppy disk icon has been the universal icon for “Save” for as long as I can remember, but who actually remembers what a floppy disk looks like anymore? This article looks at 14 other icons that don’t make sense to use anymore.
- I’ve been trying to find an easy way for people who don’t understand HTML to still be able to create meaningful markup for their content. WYSIWYG editors are good, but aren’t always the right solution. I recently came across a tutorial on Markdown which might be just what I need, and even something I might use myself. There are Markdown to HTML converters for all the major content management systems and web frameworks that I use, which makes it so easy to integrate into my workflow.