Brian Dys

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The Ride

Sunday Morning

Published on 26 Oct 2015 16:27:45

Updated on 26 Oct 2015 16:27:45

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Brian Dys

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It Is Sunday Morning

While everyone is asleep still, enjoying their respite from the yesterday’s bustle, I am wide awake. I let the hours pass by an occasional dreamless slumber.

I’ve been loved, hated, loved, hated, loved… And it always ends up the same. Never a cycle and my behavioral pattern abruptly ends at this point.

When it is Sunday morning, I am always like this kid back in the past waiting for the three o’ clock afternoon sun. How I like it up above; blistering, conducive to self-realization.

But I realize nothing but the solace of finding myself alone in the backyard just walking to and fro. Walking to and fro. Going nowhere.

Until I feel the heaviness of lifting the gate handle; watch it swinging behind me.

I am not leaving home. I will find another.

In your heart.

In another’s.

And most of all in my silence.

The very silence that will whisper to cross the street back and lock the gate; take a cigarette and watch people pass by.

—

Originally published on Friendster, 04 August 2007

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Drafting Applicator Version Zero

Published on 23 Oct 2015 12:54:36

Updated on 23 Oct 2015 12:54:36

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Brian Dys

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Branching out from HopScotch, I am reformulating mostly the front-end of the theme. Here comes Applicator – which I plan to submit to WordPress Free Themes.

The basic HTML skeleton are based on WordPress Twentyfifteen and HTML5 Boilerplate / Mobile. Basically the content of <head> are snippets from these awesome frameworks.

Currently, I am building components one by one – starting from the Masthead constructor.

Files

header.php
functions.php
> functions
- initial
  - setup.php
  - aside.php
  - hooks.php
- markup
  - html-class.php
  - primary-navigation.php
- style and scripts
  - styles.php
  - scripts.php

Components of Masthead Constructor

Web Product Name
Primary Menu

Accessibility Features

Accessible Names
Sub-Navigation Toggle Action

Generic Components

comp – Component
notice – Message
accessible_name – Labels for Accessibility
axn – Actions

Classes

State – the state of the UI

Folders

functions – Functions
js – JavaScripts
css – Stylesheets
img – Images

Notes

Always escape text strings (e.g., <?php _e( ‘Label’, ‘domain’ ); ?>)

JavaScript Detection and Class Names

If JavaScript is supported/enabled by the browser, there are two classes added in <html>:

js
Found in functions > setup.php. It replaces the default “no-js” class name that is added by default in <html>

JavaScripts

html5.js
HTML5 Shiv – for IE 8 and below
Located in js > html5.js
plugins.js
To avoid console errors in browsers without a console
Located in js > plugins.js
skip-link-focus-fix.js
Makes “skip to content” link work correctly in IE9, Chrome, and Opera for better accessibility
Located in js > skip-link-focus-fix.js
Source: Twenty Fifteen WordPress Theme

CSS Layers

HTML5 Boilerplate
normalize.css
main.css
Coming straight from H5BP, these stylesheets modify the default browser stylesheet for the better. It is considered “default CSS on steroids”.
Usability
usability.css
It adds usability to Active Elements and other elements that can be interacted with.
Layout
layout.css
Anything visual concerning spacings and dimensions goes here.
Typography
typography.css
Dealing with the CSS font properties. But if there’s a usability issue with the default font-size of an element, it goes to Usability.
Color
color.css
A touch of color for usability and visual design.

Structure

Constructors
1. Masthead
2. Content
3. Colophon
Sub-Constructors
1. Navigation
2. Aside

Image Assets

Vector Assets
located in img > vector-assets.php
called from header.php
Contains SVG markup of basic utility icons to enable color customization

Functions

HTML Class

Adds classes into <html>

html
simply adds the class “html” so that CSS doesn’t need to use the element selector
masthead-aside–active / masthead-aside–inactive
class if Masthead Aside is active or inactive
view–front / view–inner
class if on the front page or inner page
browser–chrome / browser–gecko / browser–safari / browser–opera / browser–lynx / browser–ns4 / browser–ie / browser–unlisted
class depending on the browser user agent
device–mobile / device–not-mobile
based on wp_is_mobile()
theme–parent / theme–child
class if using a parent or child theme

Categories

InVision’s Making a Product Designer: Chapter 5

Published on 23 Oct 2015 11:10:22

Updated on 23 Oct 2015 11:10:22

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Brian Dys

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There’s an old writing adage that advises writers, whenever possible, to “show, don’t tell” when bringing characters to life. The goal is to reveal the story through the character’s own experiences instead of the author’s.

~ Scott Hurff

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GWT Training: Day 5

Published on 23 Oct 2015 11:05:06

Updated on 23 Oct 2015 11:05:06

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Brian Dys

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Since day 1, I drive all the way from Cavite to UP, Diliman. It’s a 46km-drive and given the traffic condition in Manila, it takes me almost 3 hours each way, every day.

It’s like going to work and to school at the same time – I have my laptop for work and I participate in discussions and exercises.

A top-view picture of a street sweeper sweeping the street litter.

With a little bit of effort, I am hoping to be an accredited contributor to the design and development of GWT. Eventually, with more training, I could go into training and assisting government branches that need help transitioning their websites to GWT.

Act now

While being stuck in traffic, I realized something. We, as the people, tend to complain about subpar quality of services the government provides for us. In some areas, we are sure that we deserve better. In some, we know that we can do better. In general, we exactly know how to solve all the problems our city is facing.

But what are we doing exactly aside from paying our taxes? Our professions are devoted to the private sector – I know, it puts more food on the table but we’ve got to do something towards a direct solution to the same problems that are bugging us.

A delivery pedicab of balut eggs.

This is my own way of contributing towards a direct solution to the problems that we are facing when accessing government websites. Now I can complain all I want and shut myself up.

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