Ok so I was off by about a month in my estimation (ah, life, always getting in the way), but Thebackwall v3.0 is finally up and running smoothly! I’m a tinkerer, so expect a few small changes here an there over the next few months, but the basics are in place. Of course, the timing on this unveiling isn’t ideal with most schools already in the second half of the semester, but what are you going to do?
Anyway, give the new interface a spin and let us know what you think! If you run into any issues, please don’t hesitate to contact me (link at bottom of the page). Oh and I’d love to see what people are currently working on, so pin something up!
Just a quick update on the status of the site. As you can see, the switch from v2.0 to the new and improved v3.0 is currently underway. Most of the public areas are already up and running, but I’m still working on getting the profile portions updated. Consequently, the log in will be down for another couple of days, as will the Mark-up, Favorite, and Quick Critique features.
It’ll be worth the wait, I promise!
UPDATE: 3/10
Hey, so it’s taking longer than anticipated to get the new features up and running so I thought I’d add a quick update. The new features are in place, it’s just finding the time to test them that’s holding things up. I’m hoping to test everything this weekend, so once I’m satisfied that the system is working properly, I’ll let you know. Sorry for the delay!
Well I’m at it again with the redesigning here at Thebackwall. It’s only been 8 short months since the current design went live, and I’ve already had it up to here with the fake PS textures and the orange/blue color combo. TBW v2.0 was more of a back end redesign anyway, so look for v3.0 to really concentrate on updates to usability and functionality. We’re talking less loading times, better browser compatibility, and less Flash. In other words, much better.
V3.0 has been in the works over the last few weeks, so I’ll probably start switching things over in chunks sometime this weekend. I may have to take the site offline for a brief period of time, but it shouldn’t be for more than 24 hours.
A few epic illustrations/diagrams to check out if you’re looking to do some cut-away shots of a large space. I’m currently in the process of creating something similar for a project and thought these were pretty amazing in how detailed they are. I especially like the last one, which really gives you a feel of the enormity of the space and the intricacy of the systems operating within.
After much anticipation and speculation concerning what Apple’s “next big gadget” would be, we finally have the iPad. You can read about all the gritty tech specs at apple.com or at wired.com, but the basics:
9.5 inches by 7.5 inches by 0.5 inches
1.5 pounds
9.7-inch display with 1024 x 768-pixel resolution
16 to 64-GB flash storage
10 hours of battery life
Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity
Starts at $499 (up to $829)
Although the slim, sleek design is very Apple-y, for my money, it looks more like an enlarged iPhone than the smartphone/laptop hybrid it has been billed as (similar to the iPhone, it also appears to only run a single app at a time). I’m not sure what kind of hardware requirements led to that massive black band around the screen, but I’d probably be a little more impressed with the design without it. That’s not to say I wouldn’t take a new iPad in a heartbeat if it was offered to me, but I wonder if a slightly different design may have helped to keep it away from the “swollen iPhone” description and pushed it into the hybrid category they were aiming for?
We’ll see. I have no doubt that Jobs and Apple will find a way to make these things look like you can’t possibly live without one — I can’t wait to see what kind of marketing scheme they come up with for this one.
How do you make a mundane insurance commercial instantly interesting?
Have President Palmer narrate it?
Well ya, but besides that…
TILT-SHIFT PHOTOGRAPHY!
Agreed! Although tilt-shift photography is nothing new, it’s been popping up here and there over the past few years, so we all knew it was only a matter of time before a random car insurance company picked it up, right? Right!? Maybe not, but it sure does make 30 seconds of nothing interesting to look at.
If you’re unfamiliar with the technique, it basically creates the optical illusion of a miniature scene by focussing on the middle part and blurring everything else. Although real tilt-shift lenses are quite expensive, you can fake the effect by either making a homemade lens or better yet, by Photoshopping it.
