[liff] Odds and Sods #2, 2014

3012.

Before I sign out for the day, cats and kittens, here's a few sweepings from the studio floor.

• Ars Technica has a nifty article on the slow-motion fall of QuarkXPress. I still have a copy of QXP on my hard drive … it's QXP6. I learned layout in QXP3. QXP killed PageMaker, danced all over its grave for several years, and then fell asleep. By the time Quark had woke up with Indy in its rearview, it was too late to build up steam. Now it's the minority platform, though it's hard to tell … reliable figures on market shave haven't been available for a looooong time, however, it's a sign of the times when a poster at a GD forum can soberly ask the question Is QuarkXPress still relevant and it's a calm discussion rather than a white-hot flame-war. Meanwhile, Quark is still selling XPress, and it's up to version 10. Still pretty pricy, but if you're not thrilled with the idea of the Creative Cloud …
• Common sense from FastCompany Design about how not to get screwed by clients. My experience is the real trick is not to let your desperation for work cause you to jump where you ought to have stood pat. What happens is you don't seem professional, you don't act professional … and you stay an amateur. Worst, you jump for jobs and hope to bull your way through until you get on top. This never happens. When your reach exceeds your grasp, it'll slip through your fingers and fall ugly. Trust me here. 
• A nifty-looking art contest. I'm against giving away your art for free, so, with all caution advised, this is a good-looking trifle and probably some fun to get involved with, as long as you're down with all you're going to get out of it is 25 bookmarks and Doodlers Anonymous will send 250 out to people what order their books. 
• NoLo, SoBu, TriBeCa, SoWhoTheHellCares, So what's in a cutesy little nabe name? Burrito Justice, a vibrant SanFran blog with a witty what-the-hell attitude, can tell you about La Lengua.
• It's a $20 Megabuck battle-of-the-type-giants as Hoefler and Frere-Jones duke it out in the squared circle of the courtroom over who owns all those fonts really. When it comes to H and FJ, there is no such thing as a little disagreement. 
• … and you know that TriMet cable-stay transit bridge? We have our name finalists. Not bad, but Kirk Reeves' name didn't make the cut, which has me teh sadd. We'll have to find some other way to honor him, is all.
• … and speaking of cats 'n' kittens, we have the story of what happened when one monk in one scriptorium forgot to close his book. Hey, mousing is hard work, and cat's gotta go somehwere, guise … 

Happy Frigga Day, and always remember to keep your precious documents out of Fluffy's way!