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The companion workshop to Andy's
The companion workshop to Andy's new book 'Transcending CSS - The Fine Art of Web Design', this session will lift the lid on web technologies including XHTML, CSS and DOM scripting and show you exactly where they fit in with modern web design. Andy will reveal the benefits of working with meaningful XHTML markup, he will help you look at structure, semantics and teach the appropriate use of attributes includingsemantics and teach the appropriate use of attributes including...
Archive for August, 2007
The fourth generation monochrome iPodiPod with Click Wheel * First introduced July 2004 The third generation iPod
* First launched April 2003 The second generation iPod
* First launched July 2002. The first generation iPod
* The one that started the mobile white-ear-bud-wearing digital music craze, launched October 2001. The iPod Family
Then came the 20GB photo-friendly iPod (the Photo part was dropped on this and the 60GB versions) and the colourised iPod U2 Special Edition, plus a fresh new price for the AU$199 1GB iPod Shuffle. In late 2005, the dynasty continued with the arrival of the latest iPod wunderkind, the 2GB and 4GB Nano in either black or white. And the superthin 5G iPod (30GB and 60GB sizes, white or black) lost some weight but gained a bigger screen and an appetite for video. The ever-changing family bid farewell to mainstays the iPod Mini and the iPod Photo, including the U2 edition. In early 2006, Apple released a 1GB version of the iPod Nano (not shown) and slashed the price of its first-generation Shuffle range, with the then AU$99 Shuffle 512MB the first iPod to break the AU$100 barrier. Then came that crazy cousin, the Motorola Rokr. The most recent additions to the iPod family arrived on September 12 this year — the colourful second-generation Nanos, with up to 8GB storage space; version two of the Shuffle (billed as the world’s smallest MP3 player); and enhanced fifth-generation iPods with lower prices, brighter screens and longer battery life.
What’s not to like about Boomwave’s Podstar Diablo Spectrum ($20, aka Diablo Series II), a modest evolution of Boomwave’s earlier, “little devil”-themed Podstar Diablo cases for the original iPod nano, now designed to fit the second-generation nano? Since last year’s edition, Boomwave hasn’t just resized the silicone rubber to match the new nano’s curves, and added the single metal hoop earring found on its more recent fifth-generation iPod version of the case; it’s actually updated the line to include six colored versions, and dropped its price by $6. Great deal, right? Company: Boomwave Well, sorta. One of the more distinctive parts of the prior Podstar Diablo was its option to include screened-on, devilish or non-devilish artwork on top of the black or red rubber body, which enhanced the looks of the case’s rubber devil horns and tail. Though Spectrum now comes in black, green, blue, pink, orange and red versions, none has this sort of artwork, and each comes with a color mis-matched silicone rubber Click Wheel protector. While we liked the switch from film to rubber for this protector, we didn’t like how the second colors looked with the cases. Since tastes vary, appearance doesn’t significantly impact our final rating of a case, but we weren’t as favorably disposed towards these as we were their predecessors.
As much as we appreciated the price reduction, the concept behind the rubber Wheel protector, and other small tweaks to the prior Diablo for nano design, we think that smarter color choices or art would have enhanced Spectrum’s appeal. Horns and tail aside, the present lineup comes closer in aesthetic to the “generic silicone look” we’d hope that most major case designers would want to avoid. But if you like the colors and their looks, you’ll find that Diablo Spectrums are both substantially protective and more affordable than ever.
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