A Content Management System (CMS) is a mixture of the technological and the supernatural. Essentially, the CMS (a website) creates and hosts other websites. It’s kind of confusing, but if the relationship were considered in terms of Aliens, as in the movie, the CMS would be the queen and the websites it manages, its spawn. Thankfully, the CMS doesn’t attack and kill humans with slimy goo and sharp teeth. It’s just a metaphor! Anyway, there are several factors that necessitate the existence of the CMS.

Vital forces are constantly at work outside of the design and development “ovipositor” (more alien terminology), and they do affect the outcome. They are the changing genetic codes of technology, ie, the latest intermingling of apps, plug-ins, code, and the platforms on which they all co-exist. Each generation improves upon beauty, efficiency and enhancements, and in this cacophony, the growing website needs a way to maintain its place. In fact, there are many such websites that need a reliable tether to its technological host. These websites might each have disparate needs, but they can use the same means to obtain them.

Alien metaphor aside, another reason for the CMS is that it allows a team to remotely modify the website. This is partly due to the intentional separation of content, style, and code. The contributors don’t need to have an extensive knowledge of HTML—basic WYSIWYG knowledge will usually suffice. For team members who need more control, such as skinners and coders, it’s easy to switch to code view or FTP. With a flexible and unobtrusive CMS, everyone’s needs are met.

To bring the Aliens metaphor full circle…when the CMS (or queen) jumps aboard its server, which is like Ripley’s warship, the Sulaco, it transcends space and time. It carries its websites into the abstract, imperceptible worldwide web, where anything can happen. I see a lot of sequels in its future…

We hand painted some chucks for our friend Daren Wang to help him earn some cool points this weekend as he struts around the 4th annual Decatur Book Fest that he’s organized. The book fest is from September 4th through the 6th. If you like books you really should stop by.

Puff is this years mascot: More on the Decatur Book Fest 2009

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I use Cygwin when I need to use linux tools not available in Windows. The generic windows command line terminal cmd.exe is pretty lame. I use Putty all the time as a remote terminal for our Linux and Solaris machines, it’s wonderful. Here’s how to use Putty for Cygwin as well:
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iCalendar is a file format that allows internet users to download files that automatically add events into their local calendar system. This is how I created All Day Events…
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We at the office have stopped the yelling (or much of it) and have resorting to tapping keys to communicate with others down the hall and even across the desk if need be. Using an IM client such as GTalk or AIM cuts down the e-mail for simple messaging or to ask a simple 1-2 line question. It’s a great way to communicate without leaving your seat or picking up the phone. For those of us on a mac, we already have a built in client, iChat, which can easily be harnessed to use GTalk. GTalk is a jabber based application which allows it to be used within other apps such as iChat and mobile devices. To learn how to do this, keep reading. (more…)

Web 2.0 – It’s the look you’ve been looking for.

Sleek, shiny, straightforward. Soft, rounded edges, crisp-clear text, and a reflection so cool you get chills.

We’ve seen it popping up all over the place; it’s a trend we at Sol Design welcome so whole-heartedly that we’re going to share it with you, honoring the DIY spirit in all of us.

Here’s a really simple tutorial on making a web 2.0 style logo in Photoshop. I used a Mac, with CS2.

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Difficulty: Moderate

You can’t rely on generic, mainstream sources (tv/radio/rolling stone magazine) to bring you new music that you can really connect with. Everybody’s tastes are different, mainstream is a compromise. The best way to find new music you’ll like is to build off your existing musical tastes.
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We recently finished building the harmony-blog.com website. Our buddy Peter brainstormed with the owners of the blog and came up with a great idea to make the blog look like real postcards. When we got the finished design it looked amazing. Problem was, it had a few things here and there that are “impossible” for the web.

But with our turbo nerdy know-how, nothing is impossible at Sol Design. (more…)