If you’re already using CSS locks, modular scales, and custom properties, Utopia is almost certainly going to be a good fit for you.

If you’re not yet using those techniques, but you’d like to, I highly recommend using Utopia on your next project.

An intriguing new project from some of the brains at ClearLeft for "elegantly scaling type" on the web. Personally, I'm all for anything that reduces or removes the need for breakpoints in my CSS!

An excellent breakdown of the linguistic and grammatical differences between the passive and active voice and the similar but distinct simple and continuous aspect. Not something I've ever truly grasped myself; also some nice tips on writing i.e. don't just avoid the passive voice, understand why and use it appropriately.

An easy test for whether or not you’re dealing with a passive voice construction is whether you can add “by zombies” and the sentence makes sense. “I was robbed by zombies!” “Have you ever been kissed by zombies?” “Our country is built on laws…erm, by zombies.”

Well it's been a long week of other distractions rather than writing, but I have built up several things to link out to, so I guess a round of links from the web is in order.

Originally created by Ritwick Dey (and weirdly hosted on Flickr), the mock-up data visualisation of Dey's life has earned some serious kudos on Reddit and deservedly so. The visuals have an immediate impact and are just very aesthetically pleasing, even if (as many Redditors have pointed out) actually using it as your CV would be a quick shortcut to the reject pile. To be honest, I've been dabbling in something similar (though far simpler) recently, so found seeing the execution of, and reaction to, something much superior to my own attempts kind of fascinating.

Note: this was originally part of a full article titled "Spiders, Dinosaurs and CVs" and the 49^th post in my New 52 challenge. That article also linked to Lucas the adorable arachnid, the trailer for Into the Spiderverse, the Wildlife Photo-Ark project, and an article looking into the history of palaeoart. For posterity, the opening paragraph has been kept above.

I'm a big fan of projects looking to archive information of endangered species, particularly quality images, biomechanics and video, so that if conservation efforts fail future generations still at least have good data. So when I discover a project like Endangered, created by photographer Tim Flach, it has to be shared. Flach's photographs (see more at Gizmodo) are beautiful and frequently incredibly poignant, but they're also paired with detailed information on the animals, and the threats they face, from biologist Jonathan Baillie. It's conservation meets art, both noble goals in their own right that are only amplified by their intermixing. Definitely going straight on my future wishlist.

Note: this was originally part of a full article titled "Spiders, Dinosaurs and CVs" and the 49^th post in my New 52 challenge. That article also linked to a data visualisation CV, Lucas the adorable arachnid, the trailer for Into the Spiderverse, and an article looking into the history of palaeoart.

Lucas the spider has been doing the rounds of the internet this week and I fully understand why. I'm not the world's biggest fan of spiders but I'm also far from arachnophobic, even finding certain real-world spiders adorable. That said, nothing in nature (that I'm aware of) has been designed to tug at the heartstrings quite so cleverly as this short animation test. Others have already called for it, but can I add my name to the petition for Lucas to be in the next Disney/Pixar movie?

Note: this was originally part of a full article titled "Spiders, Dinosaurs and CVs" and the 49^th post in my New 52 challenge. That article also linked to a data visualisation CV, the trailer for Into the Spiderverse, the Wildlife Photo-Ark project, and an article looking into the history of palaeoart.

Weirdly, yet another piece of spider-based animation dropped this week which captured the hearts of the internet, though this time less Tumblr and more Reddit. The first trailer for Sony's new animated Spider-Man film hit and just looks stunning. It's Miles Morales meets Spiderverse so I was already intrigued, but those visuals mixed with that soundtrack has left me with extreme hype!

Note: this was originally part of a full article titled "Spiders, Dinosaurs and CVs" and the 49^th post in my New 52 challenge. That article also linked to a data visualisation CV, Lucas the adorable arachnid, the Wildlife Photo-Ark project, and an article looking into the history of palaeoart.

From ensuring the animals we may soon lose are well documented, to attempting to document those that have already been lost. It should be no surprise by now that I am a huge fan of the field of palaeoart and love both the finished pieces and the processes that go into their creation. There's something incredibly interesting about decoding the past and trying to set it to understandable visuals which I just love.

Stumbling on to an article taking a deep dive into the history of the field, then, was a fascinating read which has been put together very nicely. It's great to see books I find particularly influential, such as All Yesterday's, as well as their author's (and respective blogs) being linked to and discussed on such a main-stream website as The Atlantic. It would also appear that some new books on the subject may be coming out soon, which is great news. An article I will want to come back to from time-to-time, if for no more reason than to explore all the linked resources. Top work.

Note: this was originally part of a full article titled "Spiders, Dinosaurs and CVs" and the 49^th post in my New 52 challenge. That article also linked to a data visualisation CV, Lucas the adorable arachnid, the trailer for Into the Spiderverse, and the Wildlife Photo-Ark project.

In third place is a collection of 'achievement' stickers doing the rounds of the blogosphere right now. Originally designed by Jeremy Nguyen, published on The New Yorker and personally discovered via TheLogoSmith, the stickers are a humorous look at the pitfalls of being self-employed. They're specifically designed for freelance designers, but I feel a lot of them are applicable across disciplines. If you work from home, you'll probably find yourself smiling and nodding.

Note: this was originally part of a full article titled "Stickers, Eclipses and Lighthouses" and the 36^th post in my New 52 challenge. That article also linked to a (then) new tool called Google Lighthouse, a blog post talking about a growing uneasiness with Google AMP, a look at time management, and a critique of data visualisation of future solar eclipses.

Today is a day for another round-up of interesting pieces from across the web. Nothing too special, but hopefully a little intriguing.

First up is Google Lighthouse, one of the many branches of the Alphabet behemoth and a pretty interesting little project. I haven't actually managed to get it up and running, but I'll definitely be trying it out on theAdhocracy sometime soon (and probably weeping at the result). I don't need to test it, though, to see it will be a very useful tool in battling the increasingly problematic issue of internet lag.

Note: this was originally part of a full article titled "Stickers, Eclipses and Lighthouses" and the 36^th post in my New 52 challenge. That article also linked to a blog post talking about a growing uneasiness with Google AMP, a design collection of achievement stickers for developers, a look at time management, and a critique of data visualisation of future solar eclipses. For posterity, the opening paragraph has been kept here.

Finally, I was blown away by the "Lifetime Eclipse Predictor" visualisation created for The Washington Post (discovered via Source). In the wake of the recent total eclipse in the US, along with reading various posts on the rarity of such events, I've been left with a real urge to try and make sure at my path eventually coincides with a path of totality.

It is a ridiculously awesome coincidence that our moon's diameter and planet's solar distance align so accurately. I mean, even if there are other life-hosting
planets out there, we're certainly one of an incredibly small number that can witness this phenomenon. That makes it practically a responsibility to see a total eclipse, at least once.

Note: this was originally part of a full article titled "Stickers, Eclipses and Lighthouses" and the 36^th post in my New 52 challenge. That article also linked to a (then) new tool called Google Lighthouse, a blog post talking about a growing uneasiness with Google AMP, a design collection of achievement stickers for developers, a look at time management.

Fourth on the list is a simple article from Martian Craft outlining "The Importance of Routine". The post is aimed at remote works and is far from news to me, but it is a well-written example of how to apply this kind of thinking. I'm saving it here more to try and force myself into setting something like this up for my own free time.

Try not to build a schedule that’s too inflexible, but always have something in place each day.

Note: this was originally part of a full article titled "Stickers, Eclipses and Lighthouses" and the 36^th post in my New 52 challenge. That article also linked to a (then) new tool called Google Lighthouse, a blog post talking about a growing uneasiness with Google AMP, a design collection of achievement stickers for developers, and a critique of data visualisation of future solar eclipses.

Second is the article which led me to Lighthouse in the first place: AMPersand, by Ethan Marcotte. Not much to add to this one, just another voice adding weight to my uneasiness with the idea of AMP and similar projects. Well worth a read if you're interested in the open web.

Few corporations have done as much as Google to elevate the importance of page speed as a design issue, and the work done by the AMP team is no exception. But in my experience, the only voices promoting AMP’s performance benefits are coming from inside Google.

Note: this was originally part of a full article titled "Stickers, Eclipses and Lighthouses" and the 36^th post in my New 52 challenge. That article also linked to a (then) new tool called Google Lighthouse, a design collection of achievement stickers for developers, a look at time management, and a critique of data visualisation of future solar eclipses.