“I’ve always tried to put things over as directly and rawly as I possibly can, and perhaps, if a thing comes across directly, people find that it is horrific. Because people tend to be offended by facts, or what used to be called the truth.” —Francis Bacon

“Turn on your TV or radio, or just walk through the local mall and listen. Broadcast sound is everywhere. It is deliberately and painstakingly designed to induce laughter, to make you feel good and linger just a little longer while adding yet another item to your shopping cart or making a mental note to dash out and buy another product. In traditional media, sound is an integral persuasive element of the branding and buying experience. Now sit in front of your computer monitor and log onto the Web. Notice the difference? While logos twirl and Shockwave movies flutter, sound additions are rarely used online to create an immersive brand experience.”

“Quick — hum the Intel logo. Amazing how quickly those four notes — and the company behind them — come to mind, isn’t it? Intel has spent billions of dollars making sure that you associate those notes with its corporate identity every time you hear them: on the radio, on TV… and on the Web. Surprisingly, very few companies seem to have noticed that catchy jingles and memorable theme songs are as effective in the online realm as in traditional media. An established brand is perhaps the most valuable asset a business can claim, yet when the brands that large corporations have spent billions of dollars building are extended to the Web, they mysteriously become mute.”

By Scott Kim: “As a computer game designer, I’m always looking for new ideas. One of the best places to look is in earlier non-computer games, such as board games, mechanical puzzles, and paper-and-pencil games. There’s also a wealth of material in books about recreational mathematics that is aching to be exploited. But there’s more to translating an idea into the computer medium than merely copying it. Here are some of the lessons I’ve learned about what works. Most of the examples come from puzzle games — my specialty — but many of the lessons apply to other sorts of games as well.”

“These amazing tutorials will assist you in becoming one with the pixel. Previous experience in the repective programs is assumed, since these tutorials are not for complete beginners. All of the tutorials provide easy step-by-step instructions for a convenient hands on experience.” Contains things like: Starbursts, Drop Shadow, Rounding Shapes, Outlines, My Actions, Froody Grid, Anti Aliasing, Scan Lines, Color Dodge, Screen Blending, Reflecting Sphere, ePlastic, Metallic Wires, Stone Textures, Metallic Panels, Disgruntled Dots and Lighting Effects.

“Although there is a well developed practice and culture of movie sound, computer applications are a new challenge because of the types of information to be conveyed and the interactivity between the user and the sounds. This thesis develops an approach to the design of sounds to support information processing activities. The design approach is supported by a system of case-based and rule-based methods and tools. This hybrid system addresses key design issues in a flexible manner necessary for real world design practice. The approach, methods and tools are demonstrated in a series of scenarios that show how sounds can provide information that is difficult to obtain visually, and how they can provide extra affordances in the human-computer interface.”

“WAP, or Wireless Application Protocol, allows you to create and view web pages on wireless devices like cell phones or within handheld computers like the Palm. Why have a WAP search engine? First, using an ordinary search engine through a wireless device may not be possible or inconvenient. WAP search engines should be designed for low-bandwidth and small screen viewing. More importantly, an ordinary search engine is going to direct you to normal web pages, which again aren’t designed for handheld devices. A WAP search engine will direct you to WAP pages, all which are specifically meant for your device.”

“Although there is a well developed practice and culture of movie sound, computer applications are a new challenge because of the types of information to be conveyed and the interactivity between the user and the sounds. This thesis develops an approach to the design of sounds to support information processing activities.”

“Turn on your TV or radio, or just walk through the local mall and listen. Broadcast sound is everywhere. It is deliberately and painstakingly designed to induce laughter, to make you feel good and linger just a little longer while adding yet another item to your shopping cart or making a mental note to dash out and buy another product. In traditional media, sound is an integral persuasive element of the branding and buying experience. Now sit in front of your computer monitor and log onto the Web. Notice the difference? While logos twirl and Shockwave movies flutter, sound additions are rarely used online to create an immersive brand experience.”

“Quick — hum the Intel logo. Amazing how quickly those four notes — and the company behind them — come to mind, isn’t it? Intel has spent billions of dollars making sure that you associate those notes with its corporate identity every time you hear them: on the radio, on TV… and on the Web. Surprisingly, very few companies seem to have noticed that catchy jingles and memorable theme songs are as effective in the online realm as in traditional media. An established brand is perhaps the most valuable asset a business can claim, yet when the brands that large corporations have spent billions of dollars building are extended to the Web, they mysteriously become mute.”

“These amazing tutorials will assist you in becoming one with the pixel. Previous experience in the repective programs is assumed, since these tutorials are not for complete beginners. All of the tutorials provide easy step-by-step instructions for a convenient hands on experience.” Contains things like: Starbursts, Drop Shadow, Rounding Shapes, Outlines, My Actions, Froody Grid, Anti Aliasing, Scan Lines, Color Dodge, Screen Blending, Reflecting Sphere, ePlastic, Metallic Wires, Stone Textures, Metallic Panels, Disgruntled Dots and Lighting Effects.