http://yummymelon.com/devnull/2013-04-08T16:52:00-07:002013-04-08T16:52:00-07:002013-04-08T16:52:00-07:00Charles Choitag:yummymelon.com,2013-04-08:/devnull/50-years-ago.html

<p>Around 50 years ago, <i>Sketchpad</i> was written by Ivan Sutherland.</p>

<div class="video-container"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/zFWBQKrvz24" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe></div> <p>Sometimes you're told something that happened some time ago. You stash that date in the back of your mind only to recall it much later in life, surprised and chagrined at the time that's passed since you last thought of it.</p> <p>Today I recalled Ivan Sutherland's <em>Sketchpad</em>, arguably the most significant Computer Science Ph.D. thesis ever. I had the fortune in the mid-90's to watch a rare videocassette recording of Alan Kay describing <em>Sketchpad</em> for a computer graphics course taught by Randy Pausch. Fast-forward to today and the video is only a YouTube search away.</p> <p><em>Sketchpad</em> was the first GUI program and it was a Tour de force, being the first to feature:</p> <ul> <li>Interactive graphics</li> <li>Constraint-based layout</li> <li>Object Oriented Programming</li> <li>Pen-based input</li> </ul> <p>Yeah, ordinary stuff nowadays. Watch the video above, then think on this:</p> <p>Ivan Sutherland wrote <em>Sketchpad</em> in 1963. </p> <p>That was 50 years ago.</p> <p>Read more about it here: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sketchpad">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sketchpad</a></p>2013-03-27T10:02:00-07:002013-03-27T10:02:00-07:00Charles Choitag:yummymelon.com,2013-03-27:/devnull/bad-design-always-force-unnatural-solutions.html

<p>Failure to implement resolution independent graphics always induces unnatural solutions. How not surprising.</p>

<p>Minor follow-up to my post <a href="https://github.com/kickingvegas/12pt-should-be-the-same-everywhere/blob/master/absoluteMeasurementDPI.md">A 12pt Font Should Be The Same Size Everywhere: Time to Get Serious About Resolution Independence</a>: Here Radu Chelariu comes up with an unnatural solution to determine whether a web page is being rendered on a small or large physical display.</p> <p>All the more reason to fix computers so that they support resolution independent graphics or we will be stuck with unnatural solutions in perpetuity.</p> <p><a href="http://mobile.smashingmagazine.com/2013/03/21/responsive-web-design-with-physical-units/">Responsive Web Design With Physical Units</a></p>2012-07-12T16:20:00-07:002012-07-12T16:20:00-07:00Charles Choitag:yummymelon.com,2012-07-12:/devnull/a-12pt-font-should-be-the-same-size-everywher-84638.html

<p>Posted my thoughts about the current state of resolution independence here.</p>

<p>Posted my thoughts about the current state of resolution independence here:</p> <p><a href="https://github.com/kickingvegas/12pt-should-be-the-same-everywhere/blob/master/absoluteMeasurementDPI.md">A 12pt Font Should Be The Same Size Everywhere: Time to Get Serious About Resolution Independence</a></p>