Katelyn M. Thompson’s Blog

Have a need to know the time in various locations across the world? It can certainly be confusing at times! When I was at H&R Block a number of the people I worked with were in Kansas City which was 1 hour behind us. It was very confusing at first! Luckily it was only one hour! For those of you who have more complex world time needs, I present to you the Bend Hand world clock.

Of course it’s not the easiest thing, but it does display the time zones all at one time. I’m wondering if somehow color coded rings would be helpful?? Anyway, it’s very useful for those of you who have to scan across the wall to find the clock for the time zone at hand.

via Yanko Design

I love these lens “Lance Armstrong” bracelets from Photojojo! I was hoping that the 50mm one was smaller, but they’re both 7inches and I have tiny wrists!

I did however find this to add to my Christmas list: the Photo Strap Tee!

via SwissMiss

Find a problem, create a solution.

Have you ever tried to drink out of the bathroom faucet? Cupping the water with your hand? Making a mess everywhere? I have cups in my bathroom for that purpose now. But Dreamfarm has created the Tapi which allows for most faucets to be turned into a water spout. For $7.95 (includes shipping) it can be yours! Although pictured in many fun colors, it seems as thought you can only buy it in grey.

via SwissMiss

“A dead drop or dead letter box, is a location used to secretly pass items between two people, without requiring them to meet.” – Wikipedia

Wondering why I’m referencing something that sounds like a 1950s spy technique on my chic and up-to-date blog? Because Aram Bartholl has created modern day “dead drops” throughout NYC.

So, if you see someone awkwardly leaning up against a wall, be aware that they might be partaking in secret file sharing. As someone mentioned in the comments section, you might want to bring a cable so you don’t break off the USB stick.

My only concern here is about viruses. What happens if someone is malicous and places something on here to infect any machine that gets attached to it? It’s great idea, but I won’t be running to NYC to plug in my computer! I’ll stick to writing my name on small pieces of paper…

via SwissMiss

When asked about the difference between Twitter and Facebook, I usually reply “Facebook is for the people you knew in high school, and Twitter is for the people you wish you knew in high school.” Well, @shaylamaddox had a slightly different way of putting that, which was then turned into an illustration by Kiersten (although I can’t find the link to the original, she has some cool stuff on her blog).

via tweetmeme

There’s a song that I’ve always enjoyed by Edie Brickell called Circle. There’s a line in that song that goes “and being alone is the best way to be”. I recently came across a poem by Andrea Dorfman that was beautifully performed and illustrated which expands upon this line. When was the last time you were alone with yourself?

via SwissMiss

I just returned from a quick bike ride. Being that it’s turning to fall, I bundled up a bit and added a sweatshirt to my usual biking attire. Well about halfway into my ride my ears were burning from being so cold. I wondered if there was a solution. Could I cover my ears without hindering my safety?

After a quick Google search, I came across the Bike Helmet Earmuffs which actually affix to the chin strap.

Now, I either need to learn to knit or find someone to make them for me. In case you knit, I’m allergic to wool 😉

via Creations and Ruminations

Great! You don’t have to advertise your mobile site to me on your website, just take me to it when I’m on my mobile phone!

While checking out the Staples Center website I came across this indicator on the top right of their site. Really?! Isn’t it kind of a given that you have a mobile site? And why do you need to indicate this to people on your main website? Shouldn’t your technology be good enough that you can notice that I’m on a mobile device and just bring me to your mobile site? It’s not like I’m going to visit your site from my computer.

Well, now my post could end here. A simple gripe about how people just don’t get mobile sites. But, I’m going to take it one step further, and expand upon the implementation of mobile site. I actually visited the mobile site from my computer, just to see what it was like. (Now, as a note, I kind of feel bad picking on the Staples Center but #1, the Lakers play there and #2, it just happens to be the one site that I’ve visited recently like this. I’m sure there are many, many others out there.)

Here is the header from www.StaplesCenter.com.

And now the landing page for mobile.StaplesCenter.com

Why is this a problem?

Since getting my Droid back in February, I’ve been using my PC less and less. (Note: I’ll be getting a Mac very soon and hopefully I’ll be using it more since it’ll be AWESOME!) Perhaps I’m expecting too much from mobile sites, but I expect to be able to do pretty much everything I can do on the “normal” site, just faster and easier and with less clutter. Actually, designing web sites optimized for mobile could actually be a good direction for designers to head. But I digress. Why should I have to suffer with reduced functionality and features just because I’m using a “phone”? It just doesn’t seem fair.

Now I could understand this approach 4 years ago when people were accessing the Internet from their Moto RAZRs with small screens and slow networks. But today’s phones are much more powerful than computers were just a few years ago.

One other thing about mobile sites that annoying me just as much as reduced functionality is the inability to zoom! Why must you fix the width to my phone? Sometimes I need to see the words a little bit bigger. WordPress Blogs (including my own) and Mashable are two sites that come to mind.

Do you have any sites that you use that are like this? Any other gripes you have about navigating the Web on your phones?

Remember back in the day when you used to watch Saved By the Bell? Or, maybe just this morning? I do. Who hasn’t reminisced about the brick of a “car phone” Zack used to have? The only people I know who don’t reminisce about it are the people who actually had one themselves! Now you can be one of those people, assuming you now have an iPhone!

It’s more than just a case! It charges and provides speakers for an iPhone or iPod. No details from RetroCells about pricing, but it comes in white or black.

Also, don’t be fooled by the Windows screen image, it’s apparently thrown in for humor. Obviously these guys are not hard core Appleboys.

via @theresa_mccabe

There are a lot of cool things you can do with photography. As I mentioned I can’t wait to have the time to do some stop/motion animation. Also, I’ve been wanting to paint with light for a long time. It just requires the right tools, and some patience, and the ability to see things as a  mirror. Check out this cool Batman photo by minamac88.

For those of you interested in this, here are some tutorials: DIYPhotography.net, Instructables, and Amateur Snapper. Most of the ones I’ve seen suggest using a flashlight, or a LED colored light. I thought it was interesting that Batman is done using a sparkler, which for many people, are readily accessible at this time of year.

via Gizmodo