Dive Into HTML5

Dive Into HTML5 seeks to elaborate on a hand-picked Selection of features from the HTML5 specification and other fine Standards.

The final manuscript has been published on paper by O’Reilly, under the Google Press imprint. Buy the printed Work — artfully titled “HTML5: Up & Running” — and be the first in your Community to receive it. Your kind and sincere Feedback is always welcome.

The Work shall remain online under the CC-BY-3.0 License.
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Pompadour - Free Fat Numerals

Andy Mangold reports: [edited]

I have finally gotten around to wrapping up the numeral set I finished a year ago into a nice, downloadable .eps to share with the internet. I hereby dub it ‘Pompadour.’ I have licensed it under the Creative Commons, so feel free to download, use, modify, and share the numbers as you see fit, just please give props where props are due.
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Metal Grid Textures

Premium Pixels reports: [edited]

I’m a big fan of dark backgrounds and so today’s freebie is a set of 8 seamless dark metallic grid patterns for Photoshop – bit of a mouthful!

The download includes all 8 patterns (.pat) so you can apply the style to your own elements and a set of 2500px x 2000px jpegs so you can quickly drop them into a design. You can also check out the light metal versions.
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Ion Book Saver

Register Hardware reports: [edited]

Ion, the company best known for its USB turntables, is readying a gadget that will help you digitise your paperbacks, hardbacks, magazines and comics.

Called the Book Saver, it's a large frame into which you place an open book. Tap the Scan button and the spread is digitised and dropped onto an SD card, ready to be transferred to your computer. Each page is saved separately, thanks to the unit's two flash-equipped cameras.

Book Saver angles the tome to prevent as little as possible pressure being placed one the spine. You don't have to hold the pages down to get a flat, even surface.

The upper section sits on top of the book. When a pair of pages have been snapped, just lift Book Saver up, turn the page, and put it down again to take the next shot. Scanning a spread takes around seven seconds, Ion said.

The gadget will come with character-recognition software, allowing you to extract the text from the images.

Book Saver is due out in the March-April timeframe. No price has yet been set.
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ArtRage for iPad

Mail Online reports: [edited]

Using the ArtRage app, Kassan, whose Realist portraits are often mistaken for photographs, has embraced a new method of painting. Painting with just your finger has its benefits - no mess and, of course, the invaluable ability to effortlessly correct a mistake or undo the last stroke.

But, says Kassan, it can never replace 'real' painting: 'There are a number of concept painters who only paint using digital tools, and they make some really amazing work. But I think I'd miss the tactile feel of an oil painting and its luminosity too much to go completely digital.'
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Comic Sans Appraised

Amusing and thoughtful site that focusses on the history, use and misuse of this much maligned font, along with a selection of free alternatives.

Thanks to Julie for the link
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Smush.it

smushit.com reports: [edited]

Smush.it uses optimization techniques specific to image format to remove unnecessary bytes from image files. It is a lossless tool, which means it optimizes the images without changing their look or visual quality.

Smush.it runs on a web page it reports how many bytes would be saved by optimizing the page's images and provides a downloadable zip file with the minimized image files.
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