http://cantonbecker.com Music, Web Design, Projects Thu, 25 Jun 2009 17:56:18 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Here are two beautiful, highly functional, self-editable websites that were launched on shoestring  budgets by making good use of off-the-shelf WordPress templates: Deva Foundation [caption id="attachment_609" align="aligncenter" width="424" caption="www.deva.org"][/caption] I started off with this freely available WP theme. Then my client found a nice stock image of clouds on iStockPhoto.com that I converted ... http://cantonbecker.com/work/portfolio/2009/wordpress-templates-fast-affordable-redesign/ Here's how to remove the www. from your domain name so that Google won't "split" your pagerank as a result of some inbound links going to www.foo.com and others going to foo.com. (Google will see this as two separate sites.) This tip is tuned to work at GoDaddy, where using ... http://cantonbecker.com/work/musings/2009/strip-www-off-urls-at-godaddy-using-htaccess-mod_rewrite/ So far I'm enjoying my new compact digial SLR, the Olympus E620, but I'm having a lot of trouble deciding whether or not to shoot JPGs with built-in noise reduction (NR) and/or "Gradation" (SAT) settings. Shadow Adjustment Technology is something I usually do in-computer instead of in-camera, using iPhoto and/or ... http://cantonbecker.com/photo-video/2009/olympus-e-620-noise-reduction-and-gradation-sat/   [caption id="attachment_552" align="alignright" width="200" caption="CSS Zen Garden"][/caption] Sometimes a tricky process during a website design or redesign project is to figure out what kind of a general look and feel the client wants for the new site. Asking a client to "just go find some sites you like and send me ... http://cantonbecker.com/work/musings/2009/narrowing-down-your-design-preferences/ Working from Illustrator mockups (graphic design by avantgarde) this 100% Flash site was built with gorgeous full-screen portfolios, custom text and photo scrolling classes and efficient loading / pre-loading behaviors. [caption id="attachment_500" align="alignnone" width="424" caption="www.gci-sf.com"][/caption] GCI is a succesful San Francisco based commercial contracting / construction management firm. http://cantonbecker.com/work/portfolio/2009/flash-site-for-gci/   [caption id="attachment_372" align="alignright" width="200" caption="Click to see the whole newsletter"][/caption] Here's an example of a really super email newsletter. Even if you're not a Yogi, it should be clear that this newsletter offers real value to its readers. Here's what makes it so great: It's not too long: You don't have to set ... http://cantonbecker.com/work/musings/2009/example-of-a-great-newsletter/ I really enjoy doing rapid prototyping, and from a business perspective there's no better way to figure out how to bring a new product to market. This month, AnswerLab (San Francisco) hired me to produce web prototypes to test a new financial product for PayPal. Here's how this type of study ... http://cantonbecker.com/work/portfolio/2009/prototyping-for-paypal/ This morning, a friend and client of mine emailed me regarding the work we're doing to get his new website built: I interest myself in how the structure of our site will influence our behavior ... As the website design develops, so does my clarity. It’s obvious to me that “site ... http://cantonbecker.com/work/musings/2009/agile-design-with-wordpress/ Today we launched this simple elegant website to promote Upaya's enormously important "Being With Dying" training program: [caption id="attachment_319" align="alignnone" width="425" caption="www.BeingWithDying.org"][/caption]   "The professional Training Program in Contemplative End-of-Life Care has long been dedicated to fostering a revolution in care of the dying. This unique program provides clinicians with essential tools for ... http://cantonbecker.com/work/portfolio/2009/being-with-dying/ On this very snowy Santa Fe morning and with one week left until the 2008 Winter Solstice, I'm pleased to release this new song for free under a creative commons license. Snow Break is a 92bpm 'breaks' piece based around a sampled string melody from a 1960's Mellotron tape loop. (The Mellotron was ... http://cantonbecker.com/my-music/2008/snow-break/