Simply Jonathan

Archive for November 2007

Attention to detail

I just noticed that the screen shots on the iMacs on Apple’s website have changed to the Leopard background and -dock. That is what I call attention to detail.

Names on MSN Messenger

It is custom that you can change your name on instant messaging services — many of these go by nickname, so if you change your nickname, as I have done on multiple occasions, it would be fair to be able to do that, on the IM.

But there is an annoying tendency on the MSN Messenger service, at least among Danish teens, to change your name to something non-identifying, such as a quote, a news story or something similar. Remember, folks, these are names. I can live with the fact that you suffix your name with something; I do this myself. (And as we all know, I can’t do anything wrong.) But your entire name? I mean, should I be able to remember you, solely by your email?

Cut Israel Off – by Charley Reese 

Great analysis of the problem with Israel

Them

They won the election. Damn it.

Oversættelse, men så ikke alligevel

(This post is in Danish)

Hvorfor er det, at man på dansk tager fremmedord til sig, som ikke betyder det samme på originalsproget? Det klassiske eksempel er “flûte” — et ord der betyder “fløjte” på originalsproget (fransk), men som er betegnelsen for det, man på fransk kalder “baguette”.

type basics 

Permanent location of 'type basics'

Quite neat guide to the basics of type creation.

Nick Cave – Brother, my cup is empty

I counted all my blessings, and I counted only one.

Dock

The new dock in Leopard is a little odd, but it’s a little cool that it reflects application windows if they get close enough. Useless, but quite cool. It’s just a shame that it doesn’t reflect the cursor — that would complete it.

John Lennon – God

God is a concept,
By which we measure our pain

Comic Sans and the future

I’m afraid that when people in the future are going to depict type from our time, they will use Comic Sans. Consider this: Comic Sans is awfully popular, and the important thing for typography in a movie isn’t to be pretty, but to be authentic.

I hope this won’t be the case, but I’m scared.

This is Simply Jonathan, a blog written by Jonathan Holst. It's mostly about technical topics (and mainly the Web at that), but an occasional post on clothing, sports, and general personal life topics can be found.

Jonathan Holst is a programmer, language enthusiast, sports fan, and appreciator of good design, living in Copenhagen, Denmark, Europe. He is also someone pretentious enough to call himself the 'author' of a blog. And talk about himself in the third person.