http://www.maxtm.com design | photography | web development Mon, 19 Apr 2010 22:10:19 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en You have to see these. http://www.maxtm.com/?p=623 Got a chance to hop on the new CTA 5000-series test train than entered revenue service today. Some thoughts: Very smooth and quiet ride, fast acceleration, and the A/C motors are quieter than most A/C-powered trains I've heard—a good thing since most of the 'L' is elevated. The exterior looks nearly identical, and ... http://www.maxtm.com/?p=608 Is this really necessary? http://www.maxtm.com/?p=617 This video from the New York Times seemed particularly apt, given that our class was trying desperately to incorporate the (how do I put this nicely) controversial 2012 London Olympics logo into our homework for Communication Design II last week. I get pretty geeky for icon art, but good icons ... http://www.maxtm.com/?p=605 Here's a neat clip showing how pretty much everything is filmed using green screens these days. http://www.maxtm.com/?p=602 Have to add my voice that I think Google Buzz was a terrible launch, especially the really insane invasion of privacy that Google forced upon all of us. What were you thinking, guys? It's not exactly news that people like new features that handle their personal information to be opt-in, ... http://www.maxtm.com/?p=599 I received an Amazon Kindle for Christmas, and I've enjoyed familiarizing myself with it. While I enjoy reading, I often find myself too busy to get around to purchasing books to read. With the Kindle, I can buy a book over the air in a matter of seconds and dive ... http://www.maxtm.com/?p=593 Ever since taking classes in communication design, I am much more aware of the fonts that people use. So I was quite surprised today to see that the blockbuster hit Avatar—which had a $500 million budget—uses a free font for the subtitles that is included on just about modern computer, ... http://www.maxtm.com/?p=586 The New York Times talks about the use of text message donations for disaster relief in this interesting blog post on Bits. People had donated $1.2M by text message for the Haiti earthquake fund by Tuesday evening by texting "Haiti" to the short-code number, 90999, at the U.S. State Department's ... http://www.maxtm.com/?p=582 The 160-story Burj Dubai opened this week (despite some construction left to do), making it officially the tallest building in the world. The Chicago Tribune has an interesting piece on Chicago's involvement and influence in the building. Now if they could only solve the Chicago Spire's financial woes. http://www.maxtm.com/?p=577