Paul Smith and A List Apart, the venerable interactive design publication, have a fantastic article discussing open source online mapping tools. In projects involving maps and related information I often wish for more control over the visual interface than what Google Maps provides. It’s nice to see some alternatives exist.
“In art or hot rodding, I revel in the hand wrought elements and love to touch both the gloppy oil paint and the smooth finish of a hand-hammered aluminum fender. As an authenticity snob, the connection to the hand that crafted it means as much as the value of the object.”
- Mister Jalopy
Rhizome.org’s post on aesthetics of the spreadsheet is an interesting look at information organization. Not to nerd out on databases, but I spend a lot of time working with grids. They’re my go-to in graphic design, 3D modeling, MySQL, pencil sketching, and even in navigating Chicago. I’ve definitely got a soft spot for a good table.
Sketchpad is pretty impressive for an application built on Javascript and HTML 5. It really speaks to the complexity achievable in web applications.
From what I can tell, Sketchpad is a demo for some sort of online photo-manipulation app called Mugtug. While probably not as sophisticated as Photoshop, it’ll be great for basic cropping and resizing, especially if you’re running a “slim” operating system like that on the iPhone or iPad.
Atom