Brian Dys

Author: Brian Dys

  • I Agree to the Terms of Agreement

    A while ago, I was connecting my HTC phone to Mac and it needed a piece of app to do so. Of course, there’s a requirement to agree to something I seldom read.

    My behavior is to press on the label “I agree to the terms of the license agreement” instead of on the checkbox hoping that this will also tick the box.

    I Agree to the Terms of Agreement

    But nothing happens because the label is a mere label unconnected from the form element (checkbox).

    How do we make it easier for the user?

    We must provide an action whether the user’s behavior is to press on the checkbox or on the label – the box should toggle.

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  • Happy(?) Independence(?) Day for the 116th Time

    First of all, let me tell you that I am grateful for our forefathers who relentlessly struggled to gain our independence a long time ago. Independence literally from foreign oppressors.

    But personally, this day feels like celebrating my 13th birthday. Cakes and gifts and party hats didn’t bear much delight anymore. Suddenly it became irrelevant.

    Today, Google is celebrating Philippine Independence Day. And lots of government officials. And organizations. And Filipino people, too.

    Philippines' 116th Independence Day
    A screenshot of Google.com showing a doodle of Philippine Independence Day.

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  • Recreating Spotify’s Album Cover

    Ever use Spotify? It’s been around for many years now but just two months ago it landed here in Philippines – making everyone curb their Aegis.

    Circular images everywhere

    No doubt that the traditional rectangle image has lost its edge literally. CSS border-radius enabled designers to carve the sharp edges into rounded corners. And take it to the extreme, the corners vanish and the shape becomes a circle.

    Spotify’s app presents album and artist covers in a circular manner with the same picture faded in the background.

    Spotify - Album Covers
    A screenshot of Spotify’s Mac application showing the circular album and artist covers.

    This is what we’ll recreate using HTML and CSS.

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  • Week-links 5: Jun 9 – 13, 2014

    1. White-label product

      A white-label product or service is a product or service produced by one company (the producer) that other companies (the marketers) rebrand to make it appear as if they made it.

      Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White-label_product

      If clients say, “We want this widget white-labeled,” theme it, rebrand it, they mean.

  • Getting It, Not Having It

    You know something, Hecate. I wish I could go back to Cliffordville and begin again – I’m starting all over. You see, getting it – that was the kick – getting it, not having it.

    ~ William Feathersmith

    Of Late I Think of Cliffordville
    A screencap of The Twilight Zone episode, “Of Late I Think of Cliffordville”.

    From The Twilight Zone: Season 4, Episode 14 – Of Late I Think of Cliffordville (11 Apr. 1963)

  • Ira

    Ira
    Ira, my niece, right before her recital at SM City. May 31, 2014, San Fernando, Pampanga

  • Croc

    Croc
    A crocodile on top of another. November 11, 2005, Krocodile Grille, Shangri-La Plaza Mall, Mandaluyong City

    This was taken during the first week I purchased a Canon 350D.

  • CCP Riders

    CCP Riders
    June 2005, Cultural Center of the Philippines, Manila

  • Birds on a Wire

    Birds on a Wire

  • Sometimes the Future Isn’t Written on Adobe

    Yesterday, I was scouting for an Adobe Creative Cloud reseller. It was Microphase who sponsored the event at My Cinema, Greenbelt 3.

    Adobe Creative Cloud for Teams looks apt for the Chikka Design team. Joining entails having one administrator who will then purchase “seats” or subscriptions for people in the team. Long gone are the boxes and the discs and the serial numbers.

    The downside (for end users) as I’ve heard (not from the event) is that you can only install any Creative Cloud app on two desktop devices and on five mobile devices and you can only use one at a time. E.g., Illustrator in your iMac at the office and PC at home; Photoshop in 5 of your Cherry Mobile tablets – and leave one not running. Crap if you left one open at home.

    Adobe, get your act together. When you say that we can use Creative Cloud anywhere, mean it. Some people here own a computer shop! Let us use it anywhere there’s cloud up above.

    Oh yeah, sometimes it’s only the sky.

    But let’s see – I have yet to try this big purchase.

    Because imagine, it will amount to one little Kia Picanto car in 5 years for a team of 5.

    —

    Enough of Adobe. And more of X-Men. Because along with the marketing spiel of Adobe Creative Cloud (and Symantec – the part I took a nap) is an X-Men screening.

    This X-Men:

    It’s the one I knew from grade school of the 90s – right after the Ghost Busters era. Storylines didn’t bear much meaning to me. I just wanted to watch Rogue and Gambit get it on. And listen to Storm murmur “Bulburine,” as my cousin pointed out.

    I ensured to not miss my beloved characters so I recorded one damn episode in VHS – the episode recalling Gambit’s past.

    But unlucky me, one kid (I don’t remember who) – there’s always that one kid who will plug in a 110-volt appliance into a 220-volt socket.

    And due to a bout of the crazy, I was forced to record several episodes on cassette tape. And listened to the intro whenever I would miss the X-Men.