Fortunately, it’s possible to put facts on the table. W3C has issued guidelines for making web content more accessible, and these guidelines contain a formula for determining the readablilty of any combination of text color and background color. I think proper use of this formula would go a long way in ending readability discussions.

There are several web tools for determining if the readability is approved or not. I have not been able to find any iPhone, so I decided to write one myself.

Contrast for iPhone

Contrast for iPhone

Contrast for iPhone is an app that lets you enter the foreground color and background color and instantly receive a preview and a readability approval. You can enter the color in HSV, RGB or HEX values.

I personally think the best thing about this app is the bar that shows how far you are from meeting the requirements, and I think the best way of using the app is to apply a reasonable amount of fuzzy logic when deciding on the best color combination. Keep in mind that the formula is pretty strict about font sizes, and it doesn’t consider font faces at all, so I recommend using common sense if you are using very large or very small fonts, or fonts that are thinner or thicker than average.

I made this app and put the smallest possible price tag on it in order to learn by getting first hand experience about iOS development and iTunes marketing.

I hope you will like it, and if you do or don’t, please let me know below!

Web 2.0 + good interface design

As the web is growing up, the browser based applications finally start resembling professional desktop application. We have now started using a web based digital asset management system called Fluxiom. It boasts a range of features such as instant thumbnail scaling, search, tagging, filtering, multi-item upload, multi-item select and download, sharing, preview with metadata, and an rss-feed. Many of these features are not unique to this program, and free sites like flickr gives you much of this plus community services. What makes Fluxiom different is the way the elegant and user friendly interface gives you a great overview of all your assets.

One of the many problems with Apple Mail is the way that it handles typography in rich text messages. You are able to set ‘Message Font’ under ‘Fonts & Colors’ in Preferences, but this is a little misleading. What you are actually setting is how you would like to view your own emails, not how others will view them.

Whichever font you choose in Preferences, your messages will most likely be shown in Times New Roman in Outlook. This font is not the first choice for most graphic designers, and I find it strange that Apple has built the application like this – especially knowing how much Steve Jobs himself cares about typography.

Sometimes the solution is almost too simple, and for now I have found that the solution is to make a signature for each account. The signatures will always be displayed using the correct formatting. If you add a few empty lines with the format of your choice before the actual signature, and make sure you always start typing after the second or third line of the new message, your emails should end up looking the way you intended.

image © Apple

Different places, different needs

Startup Items lets you open the same applications every time you log in, but that is not necessarily what you want. I have different uses for my MacBook Pro depending on where I am, and I want different programs started and different servers mounted at work than I do at home.

Removable hardware and networks disks are not always available for a portable computer. If you try to mount disks when they are not available, you are causing unnecessary delays, and you get annoying error messages. And if you do not have a solution for mounting the disks automatically, you have to do it manually every work day.

The solution

I have made a small applescript that solves most of these problems. Just download the script here and double click it to open in script editor. Then follow the instructions in the comments inside the script.

The script works by assuming that you get assigned an ip address within different ranges in different physical places. You tell the script where each range belong, and what you want done when you are at that place.

It’s easy!

If you are new to programming, I can promise you that this sounds a lot harder than it is. Applescript is made for non-programmers like you, and you will easily understand what is going on. At least take a look at the script before you give up!

Update: Alternative solution

I started working on making a more user friendly application to manage locations, but I put that on hold when I found that WiLMa – The WIreless Location MAnager may do the trick. I will try it out, but my guess right now is that WiLMa may be easier to use, and that the above script gives you more control.

Update II: Added functionality

You may now switch behaviour using the Airport network name in addition to the IP address.

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