Where to keep up with the web and continue learning

In my last proper post I introduced a couple of resources I recommend to those getting started on the web.
But where do you go from there to keep up to date and continue learning? Apart from browsing these hallowed pages of course.

Here are a few of the resources I regularly use to keep track and reference, I have plenty more in my RSS reader (Google reader! I’ll be looking for an update) but these are the ones I regularly end up visiting and reading from. They offer a variety of levels of interest and difficulties.

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A look ahead to the rest of 2012

V for Vendetta

IMG Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kashklick/3406150405/sizes/m/in/photostream/

A little late, this post was supposed to go up on Six Revisions at the start of the year as “Five things that will keep shaping the web in 2012” however there were a few issues over there so I’ve decided to publish it here anyway. As it was written at the end of December some of the things may already have moved on a little.

So having looked back at last year’s predictions and having survived a sober new years eve (I was driving and had places to be on New year’s day) I’m back to have a look at what 2012 might have in store for us.
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The site gets a new look

Kamikaze Music old design
If you’ve made your way to the site since last night you’ll have seen the new look (a picture of the old one is above if you can’t remember it). I’m not sure if it would be classed as a redesign or realign, but it’s the biggest overhaul I’ve done in a while. I had a few new things I wanted to try out and I had some ideas that had sat around for ages, plus the site was seeming a little sluggish so I got stuck into it and decided to get it done at the weekend.
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It’s not about succeeding, it’s about trying something new

There are some very interesting things going on recently in terms of how we put together our sites and it’s leading to quite a few interesting discussions, mostly between those who aren’t ready to even consider using new web technologies until IE offer support for them and those who have whole heartedly embraced the ideas of progressive enhancement and graceful degradation. Personally I fall into the latter category, using HTML5 to code up sites and using CSS3 all over the place.

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The Blonde Board

The Blonde Board is a personal project that has long been in need of a revamp.

Started after a bit of fun at university the web site aims to collect together examples of all the daft things people say.

Having intially worked with a custom CMS (Content Management System) the redesign moved the site onto the wordpress platform with a custom theme.

The Design

The main focus of the theme was to keep things simple and easily readable as the site is heavily text based.
To add a bit of visual interest drop caps were added to the main body of text on each entry making use of a font devlivered by the TypeKit service.

CSS3 and Typekit

The theme makes use of new CSS3 properties and animation. Currently only viewable in webkit based web browsers (Safari and Chrome) the animation of a
stickman dunce character is made when hovering over menu items on the main navigation.

The use of non web safe fonts delivered from TypeKit enable the drop caps to be styled without using image replacment techniques and are also used on the
main site navigation.

Details

  • Word press site with custom theme
  • Full design and coding of theme
  • Use of new CSS3 and TypeKit font replacement
  • Site live at http://www.theblondeboard.com
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