Some free time sketches.

As seen on Core 77's Design blog: download free CAD drawings of standard parts from thomasnet.com.

One of the greatest aspects of designing web pages, is that all of the information that you need is available for free. I was asked to do a site that would help a distributor list his products on a password-secured form. Well-Worth New England recently acquired a customer with multiple branches and they requested to have an online ordering form. Because the basket of products offered to them may be different than the basket offered to another customer, a protected page was necessary. Now, I had never done forms or password protected pages before, but with good research and a solid HTML base, it's a fun task to lean new tricks.

Now, without the password, you won't be able to view the form, but I'll let you in on a few of the tricks I found. First, as you can see I put a box with rounded corners around some items. To create this with strict HTML and images would not only be time intensive on my end, but also lengthen the page loading time. There are several ways to go about simplifying this process, many utilizing one small corner image and some CSS. In a place where most code can be taken, it's great to see code being organized and offered.

Another trick I employed was to allow each item box (containing the image and ordering information) to flow like text. Much the same as when you scale a window and the text then reflows down the page, the images on the page would reflow based on the width of the current window. This was done using the "float" attribute, also in CSS.

Of course, I won't give away the password protection method, but I'm sure you can see by now that it's simply a matter of filtering a Google search and testing the code. Granted, the details usually end up being time-consuming and tricky, but do-able nonetheless.

Wow, it's been a while since my last post. I've been enjoying my full weeks at Reebok. I've been teaching myself Applescript to help automate their workflow, which is very rewarding because of the endless possibilities of it's capabilities coupled with its English-based scripting language. As I plug away at learning the Applescript, I am excited to be able to reduce the amount of repetitive tasks (and the possibility of human error that goes hand in hand with that). (I also have fallen in love with the facilities and work atmosphere there that encourage commuting to work by bike and group training during lunch. In addition, the cafeteria food is fantastic, and quite reasonably priced!)

In addition, I've still been riding to a fro on the weekends. This, paired with biking to work one day per week, has helped keep my gas consumption down to about one tank per two weeks! Currently, my car is parked about a mile from my house, which certinately influences my decisions between biking and driving to my weekend destinations. I am also looking to join up with local ride-share and carpooling networks to reach my goal of carpooling or biking at least 2 days per week. (OK, ideally, I'd bike everyday...)

On a related note, check out MIT's solution to the polluting gridlock that is driving in Boston. A good bit of the blog's comments are also insightful and address key points about bringing this concept car onto the streets.