how do you set up an omoplata from bottom half guard?

Asked by Otto lai, a pretty cool guy from San Diego

Thanks for the random question of the month otto. For those few that are not into MMA or Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) an omoplata is a shoulder lock applied with your legs. And half guard is the position between full guard and side mount or full mount when the fighter on the bottom has control of one leg. Enjoy.

Is there a definitive checklist for IE6 testing?

Asked by Jay Stonch a design student from San Diego

What conventional considerations are there for IE when designing a website?
I understand that there are box model differences, but is there, like, a “definitive checklist”
of things you need to adjust for when designing across browsers?

We dont have a “definitive checklist” for Internet Explorer and tend to squash bugs as we go

BUT before you even tackle the problems of IE6, remember to code using web standards and test early and often. Ensure you have valid code, javascript included. Also make sure you have a full, valid doctype.

But a checklist is probably a good idea so lets start building one.

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Picking the best CMS Solution, Easy to use OR Feature-Heavy?

Asked by Shaun MacDougall a freelance developer from San Diego

What, in your opinion, would be the best reason to choose a CMS like wordpress over an open source CMS like joomla? or vis versa?

In my experience systems like Joomla and Drupal scare clients

Feature heavy CMS systems can intimidate clients who hesitate to learn and use them.

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What are common design elements in “Web 2.0″?

Asked by Emelda a designer from India

Can you please give me a run-down of common Web 2.0 design elements for making my theme?

Hi Elmeda thanks for your question. Well, there are some common traits in the movement dubbed “web 2.0.”

• A focus on “creative minimalism” with creative use of white space.
• Gradients
• Oversized fonts
• Oversized headers/footers
• Bold use of color
• Large icons

Here are two articles that go into much more depth then I will here.

• Web 2.0 How-to Design Guide
• The Visual Design of Web 2.0

But I should warn you that many of these elements are quickly becoming design cliches. Don’t fall into the trap of designing something like everyone else has. Blaze a new trail, be original, but certainly take the good elements common in Web 2.0 design into your projects.

Writing User-Agent specific CSS

Asked by Andrew a freelance designer from Chicago

How come when i have the “if IE” link to the css, it doesn’t change at all?
It’s linked correctly and the “if IE” is correct, but the css just isn’t showing.
I think cause the link to the regular css is over-riding the “if IE” one. Why won’t it work?

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How do I get the current position of the cursor in a TEXTAREA using Javascript?

Asked by Frank Peterson a design student from New York

How do I get the current position of the cursor in a TEXTAREA using Javascript? I’ve only found scripts on inserting at the current position but not on returning the number of the cursor’s position.

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Adding a View Cart Link without access to the PayPal Account.

PayPal offers a simple, quick way for people to start taking payments online, instantly. The learning curve is smooth and most people get set up and start taking payments within days.

I sub-contract some freelance work on the side and one of the recent requests was to include a ‘View Cart’ Link across the footer of the website.This wasn’t a full-fledged e-commerce website, it was made up of static HTML pages that held item descriptions, images and individually generated PayPal ‘ Add to Cart ‘ buttons.

Currently the only way to get to the cart was to click the buy link and be transferred to the hosted cart at the PayPal website. The client wanted users to get to the cart directly without having to add an additional item to the cart.

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ImageReady is no more, and Photoshop wont open animated GIFs ! WTF !!!

Image from: http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p245/firewalker06/blog%20content/warning.gif

Hot off the missing thumbnails comes another Photoshop CS3 ‘feature’, or lack thereof

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