Haircuts
November 1st, 2009 - No Comments
Me, Far left.
Well it finally happened, i have shorn my hair. Well to be more precise, mike did it for me. It’s shorter than it’s been since i was about 5, but i could feel it was time for a change, and time for something more practical and low maintenance, i have enough on my plate without having to wash my ‘fro every day. Plus i’m sick of sweating profusely after cycling to Uni every morning! So there it is below, unfortunately having less hair means you see more of my ugly mug!
Peer Pressure
October 20th, 2009 - No Comments
“You should never try/do things because you don’t feel part of the crowd, i think. And i’m not talking about being an individual in the cliche sense. But if we truly do only have one life you should feel no need to fit in. If you don’t then…you’re different and that is not a bad thing.”
- The wisdom of my friend Ross.
ODST Live Action Trailer
September 7th, 2009 - No Comments
My Mind Is Blown.
August 23rd, 2009 - No Comments
Simply amazing, everything i thought has just been re-written.
Links Of Interest #1
August 23rd, 2009 - No Comments
Short URL To This Post: http://dan-m.com/i
I’ve got a nice stockpile of interesting links built up in my “read later” list, i thought i’d have a trawl through them and share the ones i saw some serious value in.
Before i delve into my reading list, you should check out “Please start from the beginning” by Ryan Taylor. Loads of great interviews with some inspiring web designers. Hearing them talk about their past experiences in the world of web design really gives you a sense of what’s to come if you’re an aspiring web design or developer.
Getting things done for students is a pretty solid read through of what the GTD system is and how to implement it for the hectic student/assignment based lifestyle. I won’t be trying it (because i know i’ll fail) but i may adopt certain parts and bend them to my own needs.
404 best practices is a post from Chris Coyier over at CSS-tricks (add it to your RSS reader!) which is a really awesome site for things web related, not just CSS. Chris’ site is where i first learned jQuery, and a lot of CSS techniques that i now use daily.
Lessn is a freaking awesome and super-simple URL shortener from Shaun Inman that you can implement on your own site, or use on a shorter domain. When the debate about URL shortening services was raging on, i bought dan-m.com, and have now set it up to work with Lessn for my own personal link shortener. Super simple and free.
And while we’re on that subject, here’s a tutorial from Nettuts on how you can do it yourself using some pretty nifty .htaccess stuff. Definitely worth a look.
Also, i’ve been thinking a lot about getting my new combination blog/portfolio site up and designed really well, and this article about the Erskine design redesign really kicked my creative gears into…well, gear.
Ok, so there’s a few links for you to peruse over your last cup of tea of the night, let me know if you find anything useful here or build anything cool with the tutorials.
“Write when inspired”
August 9th, 2009 - No Comments
I think that this applies to any of the areas of work in the creative industry. Straining yourself to produce something is oh-so ineffective at producing great results.
Whether the task is writing, design, or hanging a picture straight, it is obvious that we do our best work when healthy, rested, refreshed, alert, and eager to do the job for its own sake.
I’ve found myself stepping away from work that needs done because my mind just can’t focus on it, and feeling guilty for sleeping at times. But when i come back to it, refreshed and thinking clearly, the results are always more within my grasp.
If There’s One Thing I’ve Learned.
July 27th, 2009 - No Comments
If there’s one thing i’ve learned over the past few months, it’s that of all the things in life, the people you surround yourself with are the people that make the most difference to your happiness.
I’ve been suffering from the consequences of a terrible decision for the past few months, and the only thing that has brought any consolation is in the form of my friends, they make me smile, keep me motivated, and don’t judge me on my mistakes.
Cry Havoc Wallpaper.
July 18th, 2009 - No Comments
My First Wallpaper
I was playing around in photoshop a little today and became inspired by the line from shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. This is the finished result. Nothing special, but very nice and decorative i feel, and motivational 
Cry Havoc, and let Slip The Dogs Of War.
You can download the full size image here and one sized for your laptop here.
If you like it, please tweet this link to your friends, the short URL to this page is in the top right hand corner.
Ozymandias
July 12th, 2009 - 1 Comment
I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert.Near them on the sand,
Half sunk, a shatter’d visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamp’d on these lifeless things,
The hand that mock’d them and the heart that fed.And on the pedestal these words appear:
“My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!”Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
Eventually, all men, and their empires, no matter how great. Will fall.
Siege "The Stealth" Headphones Review.
July 2nd, 2009 - No Comments
A few months ago, i saw a tweet from @mayhemstudios talking about some new headphones he’d gotten. From a company called “Siege Audio”, so i clicked the link, as i was in the market for some.
A few moments later, i tweeted about said headphones mentioning that “i was in the market for some new ones, and that these looked interesting”
BAM! i was hit with a tweet from @siege telling me they could hook me up. Did i mention i love twitter?
So i bought some, i got a launch discount on them, but i paid for shipping to the UK, so i paid just as much as anyone who bought them in the US, maybe even more.
The general consensus? they are amazing.
I wanted to give it a few weeks before i reviewed them so that i could let the initial novelty wear off so i could give them a proper review, so here it is: