I'm not sure why exactly, but Facebook likes to keep you from seeing posted YouTube videos in full screen. They do this by adding an allowfullscreen="false" parameter to any embed code that you post. I created a workaround for this via a bookmarklet. If there is a video in your news feed that you want to see in full screen, here's what you can do. First, drag the following link onto your bookmarks toolbar. Chrome users can press ctrl+shift+B to make this toolbar appear. IE users will have to right-click the link and choose "Add to Favorites", then "Favorites Bar".

Full Screen

Next, go to Facebook. Find the YouTube video. Click on the thumbnail image with the blue play button so that the actual video appears. Next, click on the bookmarklet you just created on your bookmarks/favorites toolbar. Finally, press the fullscreen button on the bottom right of the YouTube video. Voila, it now works!

P.S. -- This bookmarklet should allow you to fullscreen any video (not just YouTube) posted to any site (not just Facebook), provided the video has a fullscreen button within the player.

I've decided I'm against 'em. There are too many flaws in the experience which distract me from the actual movie. Here's an ordered list:

1. The glasses make the movie too dark. It's like watching with sunglasses on. I can't see shit. Perhaps this could be fixed by making the projection brighter.
2. Glare. The glasses are cheap, so the surface is not perfectly flat. This makes shiny white patches occur all around the periphery. Then there's the additional glare caused by the damn exit signs on both sides of the screen. I understand the importance of safety, but do the exit signs have to light up brighter than the movie screen? Shouldn't they be just a little less bright?
3. The ticket costs more. Boo.
4. At its best, the 3-D effect can be pretty dazzling. However, it's just as often all out of whack, like when there's a lot of quick movement on the screen and your eyes can't quite focus. In between these high and low points, there's the bulk of the movie, where the effect isn't dazzling or messed up, and you don't pay any attention to it at all.

So effect-wise, the lows cancel out the highs, and grievances 1 through 3 bring the net impact into the negative. Damn this newfangled technology. </andy rooney

Man, this was delicious.

Design Hell: This is the kind of thing that all designers have to put up with. I'm so glad to be a developer where there is more of a barrier to client feedback, and when you do get criticism, it's usually pretty constructive, and not as misguided and insulting. I guess it's just how people are. Everybody has their own personal taste in aesthetics, which is likely to be mistaken for actual design knowledge. When it comes to user interface and workflow, though, people seem to have a more reasonable grasp on what works well. That's my experience anyway.

This video is such an impressive achievement, stylistically. The creators originally thought to do a 2D character with 3D backgrounds, but then decided to switch it. The effect is very hip.

But I wonder if they know their oil-drop-shaped character looks exactly like the Drupal logo?

Via Boing Boing

N.A.S.A. did a great job hiring talent for their videos. This one for People Tree is also the bomb.

(IMHO)

In biographical order:

1. Neil Young - Harvest
2. Phish - Rift
3. Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
4. The Beatles - Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
5. Pink Floyd - Animals
6. Radiohead - Kid A
7. The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
8. The Beatles - Revolver
9. Sigur Ros - Agaetis Byrjun
10. Radiohead - Amnesiac
11. Neil Young - After the Gold Rush
12. Bob Dylan - The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan
13. The Flaming Lips - The Soft Bulletin
14. Bob Dylan - Blonde on Blonde
15. The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds
16. Van Morrison - Astral Weeks
17. They Might Be Giants - John Henry
18. The Beatles - Abbey Road
19. The Postal Service - Give Up
20. Ween - White Pepper
21. Cake - Prolonging the Magic
22. Modest Mouse - Good News for People Who Love Bad News
23. Rilo Kiley - More Adventurous
24. Sufjan Stevens - Illinois
25. Death Cab for Cutie - Plans
26. The Decemberists - The Crane Wife
27. Daft Punk - Discovery
28. Midlake - The Trials of Van Occupanther
29. Kanye West - Graduation
30. Jonathan Coulton - Best. Concert. Ever.
31. Joni Mitchell - Blue

A friend of mine in North Carolina plays drums he and asked me to help with his band’s MySpace page. That's right, I’ve made a contribution to the armpit of the Internet. Please forgive me, O Gods of Good Taste! I had originally mocked up a pretty sweet design with some placeholder images, but he doesn't have any band photos yet, so the first incarnation is a bit bland. Anyway, here's the result:

MySpace is so ill-suited for CSS customization, it’s actually a fun test of skill just to apply the most basic design elements. Whenever you see one of those beautiful, tricked-out MySpace pages for a major-label band, you can be assured that the most advanced wizardry and tricks of the light were applied by the Darkest Sorcerers of Stylesheets. I opted for a somewhat lighter approach, but I’m proud to admit the use of a little black magic myself.

In defense of MySpace, though, it’s not too bad for seeking out music. I confess that it’s sometimes the first place I go to find info on a new band I've heard about. You can always reliably find music samples, tour dates, and band info on one page, and there’s no learning curve to figuring out the navigation a high-concept, all-Flash site, like you get with most bands' official sites.