Lasha Krikheli

It's been a long time since I've come across an idea as unique as this one. 18th.me is, to put it simply, a custom painting service. Select a painting out of the "collection," send in a photo, and receive a hand-painted picture with your face instead of... Napoleon Bonapart's.

No more searching for original ideas for gifts – this is pretty much it. As the 18th.me website states, whether you're looking for a conversation piece or a house warming gift, a custom painting of 'Mona Lisa' or 'American Gothic' with your buddies' faces will certainly surprise.

More recently, an option to buy prints instead of an oil painting was introduced for an even more affordable price tag. Of course, they're not as impressive as an actual painting, but definitely a solid alternative.

So, head over to http://18th.me/, check out the collection, and start planning birthday presents!

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This past week I've gathered some links to useful tools. If you use Photoshop regularly, browse coding docs, use forms, and/or manage projects, the following will make your life easier and improve productivity:

Dochub.io - Quick language documentation browser for HTML, CSS, JavaScript, DOM, jQuery, PHP.

GuideGuide - Photoshop plugin that allows you to quickly generates accurate grids for your designs/projects.

Inquire.ly - Collects data from your website's forms, with easy management and notifications. Will also be available as WordPress and ExpressionEngine plugins.

Asana and Do - Both Asana and Do are highly robust task and project management tools with great interfaces, multiplatform synching, team communication, and more. Hard choice, this one is.

Bonus link after the jump!

Codecademy.com - Codecademy is probably one of the coolest new projects to hit the internet. It is an easy, interactive, and fast way to learn coding, all hands on. Courses are gradually being added, starting from the basics and building up to advanced material. The language being taught JavaScript, arguably the most important language of the web today.

Double bonus!! Complementary to Codecademy, check out the appendTo Developer Learning Center. The video material covers beginner to intermediate JavaScript and jQuery coding. Free!

Enjoy! Share your great links/resources in the comments and I'll add them to the list.

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2. Another month into the New Year

The last 12 months have been truly life altering. So much has happened that changed the course of my ambitions. Life after college (since June 2010) is pretty much how I expected it to be; Steady but motivated. Progress is now my top priority – to take more steps in the journey to success, and top the year before. Here are a few highlights from 2011:

• Taught my first college class, which was an absolute delight.
• Quit working full-time to pursue and grow my freelance work.
• Formed my own company, a web design/development boutique.
• Got my first car, a Volkswagen Passat.
• Went on a week-long food extravaganza with a good friend from Australia, one-of-a-kind hole-in-the-wall joints!
• Played Airsoft for the first time, got shot in the privates, received a cup as a Christmas present.

Nine days into the New Year, and things are looking alright so far. I am trying to take my company to the next level, setting priorities both professionally and personally. Continue reading for a list of goals for 2012:

• Continue living a relatively healthy lifestyle. Exercise regularly and stay in shape. Typical, right?
• Fully come to terms with my guilts and insecurities, and become a better person out of it.
• Develop a complex sense of gratefulness. Appreciate the things that make a difference in my life.
• Further develop the company; Build an identity, grow clientele, get office space, expand workforce.
• Launch 2 or more personal project ideas, out of the dozen or so domains I own.
• Redesign this blog, write Design and Code tutorials, create a new direction.
• Build and launch my first free or premium WordPress theme.
• Up my design and coding skills by a few notches, through practice and experience.
• Travel to Australia, and hopefully more places in the world.
• Teach at a college again, and/or create a workshop for professional training.
• Be perceptive of great opportunities, and act upon them. People good at this are often seen as "lucky."

Some of the items above are quite broad, without a specific plan of attack. They almost require a certain level of ongoing subconscious thought, like meditation. If you put your mind to it, you can accomplishing anything, right? This now becomes a test of how badly I want to be healthy, productive, knowledgeable, successful, and well-travelled.

2012 will be a year of challenges and new endeavors. What am I willing to do for the things that I need and want most?

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Is it really JUST the marketing that they're kings of? Today, most of Apple's marketing consists of showing the product being used, doing what it does best, combined with a few words in the end for the finishing spice. This is where I believe Apple's secret lies.

All ads are (or should be) based on truth, and then exaggerated to deliver a message and/or to prove a point. Fact is, people aren't stupid. We know when something is taken "too far" in an ad or commercial, and usually don't take it literally. Of course, there are cultural aspects to consider when using metaphors as some may be offended, and in return end up biting you in the rear. Read more...

My point is that Apple's ads are based purely on the truth, and in the past, some feel, have been expressed in controversial ways. The "I'm a Mac" campaign in the past was often exaggerated and often criticized as well, but it was always based on some truth. Marketing 101: take stabs at the competition where it will hurt the most.

When I watch an Apple ad, particularly the ones that I personally relate to, I'm sold. Apple shows me what its products are capable of with someone else performing the tasks that I may want to do myself. They are representations of real people doing real things. No technical jargon, megahertz and gigahertz, or robots. Just people.

Critics say the only reason Apple's products are so successful is because they're the kings of marketing. Let's not kid ourselves – they're all absolutely right. Great marketing for great products. It's not possible to create so many affective ads if the products didn't allow it. As many have also said, and will continue saying, great products sell themselves.

Apple's Ad Agency of Record: "TBWA\Media Arts Lab (TBWA\MAL) was launched in 2006 and is made up of a broad collective of creative talent from a diversity of backgrounds and media disciplines. With client Apple at its core, the group develops communication ideas that leverage all kinds of innovations. It is a place for experimentation for new ideas about connecting people with brands."

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Mobile phones are still on a growth spurt throughout world. With our phones by our sides at all times, virtual assistants can gain traction and become a critical part of how we function and utilize technology. The point of technology is to make things easier and more efficient for us, right?

With the introduction of Siri, Apple's new virtual assistant platform for iPhones, the bet for the future is on! If you're thinking "Why does this matter? Speech recognition and task dictation is nothing new," you're absolutely right. However, there is one great differentiating factor in that Siri is the first to actually understand what you mean. Rather than passing blunt commands, you talk to it and hold a conversation. More after the jump...

Siri board member and investor, Gary Morgenthaler, says that Siri challenges the very nature of Google's search domain and shakes it down to the foundation. Siri would directly connect users to merchants, services, and content providers to bypass the ad-ridden, blue link results frenzy that is Google. What can/will Google do to adapt to this paradigm change? Publicly denying it can't be right, can it?

"Google has made a huge contribution to all of our lives … they’ve made search comprehensive and instantaneous … but the whole paradigm is wrong,” he says. “People don’t want a million blue links, they want one correct answer. All the rest is noise that you’d rather have go away."

Having said that, where do advertisers fall into the picture? The competitive nature of keywords and search terms is virtually eliminated in favor of directly connecting users to very specific providers of services and products. In a CNET interview, Morgenthaler states:

"Because Siri provides that semantic layer that can take you all the way to the specific goal you are seeking, cost-per-action ads become much more achievable for service providers--in this case, Apple--and also for e-commerce sites. If you're an e-commerce site, why do you want to sprinkle ads everywhere in hopes of bringing someone in the funnel if you have someone right here who wants to make a transactions?"

If search for knowledge, information, and solutions become so linear and specific, how will "discovery" be handled? We often learn and find things through search that we generally wouldn't if single answers were always given. Will this in turn make us lazy, or smarter and more productive? Could Siri promote curiosity by providing various answers and "suggestions" for our requests? If so, then Google can remain relevant in the future, but with a few tweaks.

While Siri sounds and performs impressively, it's important to note that the current implementation is relatively de-featured compared to what Siri used to do when it was just a downloadable app. Once Apple opens the APIs for Siri, the possibilities are endless, just as Apple opened up the iPhone to software developers. Targeted queries vs. general search, will be the name of the game.

Will searching the "old school" way start to vanish with the presence of Siri and the likes to come? Will virtual libraries and encyclopedias be accessible through an artificially intelligent computer, allowing new ways of learning and discovering knowledge?

Please share your views of the future in the comments below.

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Note: This entry originally started out as a reply to a Facebook wall post about succeeding in the Web Design & Development world, but I decided to take it to the next level. I hope you enjoy.

I am 23 years old and my life revolves around freelance. As a matter of fact, I recently formed a business around it, and things are getting better, and better. What's the secret? DON'T GIVE UP AND KEEP TRYING.

You said you're developing your skills? Excellent, keep doing so and never stop. Network with people. Attend local meetups about design, development, and fields relative to yours. Have an identity on the web – a portfolio and blog of sorts. If you don't already have business cards that you carry with you EVERYWHERE you go, do it asap!

Regularly check design/development specific job boards. Authentic Jobs and Krop are some of them. Keep up with trends, what's hot and emerging on the web, and the ever-changing job requirements of employers. The web industry is one of the most rapidly changing, evolving, and growing. Continue reading...

Personally, networking and word of mouth have been the NUMBER ONE aspect of finding work and growing my business. Don't listen to the external forces of pressure, and move at your own comfortable (yet reasonable) pace, doing only what you love, while never seizing to constantly educate yourself. To put things in perspective, I am still living with my parents, which has been very difficult for me as of late, but I am slowly progressing towards bigger and better things, including finding an apartment and/or office space.

Having lived in NYC for most of my life, one of the things I am considering is relocation. As I creep up to a quarter century of life, I feel I haven't experienced enough of the world – not even through travelling. To me, success isn't just about money, but also the wealth of global culture, food, language, nature, and most importantly, experiences.

Some inevitable forces of life halt us from doing what we truly love. These forces include but are not limited to our environment, family, traditions, and religion. Sometimes life doesn't give us the opportunities we need to succeed doing what we love. However, understanding and trying to change things can make a world of a difference.

I learned from a wise man to always try to do work that's meaning to you, and not waste time pursuing other people's dreams.

"Stay hungry. Stay foolish." - Steve Jobs

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Let's face it, thermostats suck, and the guys at Nest saw a brilliant opportunity to create the perfect solution. "The Learning Thermostat" is functional, useful, time saving, green, economical, super cool, and last but not least, beautiful! There isn't a single sane person who would refuse to install this in their home.

Nest is led by two former members of the iPod division at Apple; Tony Fadell, who served as SVP, and Matt Rogers who served as lead engineer . The influence of the rich "click wheel" history of the iPod is comfortably evident. The elegance and minimalism of both the hardware and the interface makes it desirable to use, while saving money!

Yes, it looks gorgeous and easy to use, but what makes Nest THAT much cooler? Read more after the jump...

• Programs itself. "Nest programs itself based on the temperatures you set. Nest learns your personal schedule in a week and starts automatically turning down heating or cooling when you’re away to save energy. Nest will keep refining its schedule over time."
  
• Loaded with sensors. Its 150° activity sensor detect when you're approaching, as well as when you've left the house to set itself to Auto-Away (energy saving!). Walking up to it lights up the display, and if it's dark, it won't blind you. It even uses WiFi to monitor outside weather and how it affects your energy consumption.
• Connected. With your Nest.com account, you can log in to remotely control temperatures, adjust schedules, and check weather. Software updates are done automatically through WiFi so you'll always be up to date. There's an iPhone app, too!
• Energy History. Monitor how much energy and money you save, your usage patterns and how the weather and Auto-Away have affected everything.
• What's in the box? Nest display, base, screws and screwdriver, Optional Mounting Kit, Start Here guide and Installation guide.

At $249, it's a steal when you consider the amount of money you could be saving annually (up to 50%). Watch the video below to learn more about the Nest Learning Thermostat. This is going to spark a new home electronics trend.

If Apple was in the home appliances market, this is pretty much what it would be like. After all, what can you expect from a company running on Apple DNA? I am confident that after the Nest is a huge hit, they will slowly expand into other areas of the home.

What could possibly be next? Tell me in the comments below. You know you want to!

Click here to learn everything about Nest Learning Thermostat.

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It has taken me a little while to gather the courage to begin writing this piece. I knew this day was coming, as did everyone else. 6 days ago, Steve Jobs stepped down as CEO of Apple, Inc., one of the most valuable companies in the world, which he built with the vision and ambition to change the world.

It isn't to say that Steve Jobs invented the markets in which he sought out to dominate, but he certainly did redefine them. This applies to most things Apple has touched since 1997, including all-in-one computers, MP3 players, mobile phones, and tablet devices. He drove Apple with the goal to make the best products possible, and nothing less. With this philosophy, which he is notorious for rubbing into CEO's faces, Apple has seldom failed at delivering best-selling products.

For many years, everything Steve Jobs has ever poured his heart into has come down to this very moment; What's next for Apple. It is now time to see Apple play itself out with the foundation and forward momentum that Steve Jobs has instated. The "foundation" that I speak of includes choosing a rock-solid executive team to carry out Apple's image, including Tim Cook, Scott Forstall, Jonathan Ive, Phil Schiller, and so forth.

I will not lose faith in Apple, nor will my opinions and and feelings towards their future actions be affected by the fact that Apple is no longer run by Steve Jobs. Being "Apple" is larger than any one person, and Steve Jobs himself is not the only one responsible for it. It is all a result of a magnificent collaborative effort to create the best products possible.

Steve Jobs presented his last keynote as CEO of Apple, and introduced what I believe is their "next" major investment for the future (last was flash memory, and it worked out quite well). To reiterate, Apple did not invent cloud computing, synching, and so forth. However, I believe Apple's approach of seamlessly integrating the cloud into Apple products to the fullest extent is superior to most of its competitors. In other words, it is transparent – you don't even know it's happening, but when you log onto your other devices, everything is already there.

No matter how you look at it all, Steve Jobs and Apple moved, created, and shook industries. The end of the beginning of Apple is here. Now begins the life of Apple.

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This post a response to The Next iPhone on Sliceofmymind.com.

First of all, you've got it all wrong. The upgrade from 3G to 3GS was significant. The processor speed and graphic performance were improved to the point where iPhone 2G/3G were practically (with the older hardware) were slow as hell, and a gigantic pain in the ass to use!

Processor is 600MHz up from 412MHz, with a dramatically improved GPU, and double the RAM, 256MB up from 128MB. Digital compass for directional uses, dramatically improved 3.2MP camera with tap-to-focus, video capability, improved battery life, etc. The list just goes on! So don't even go blabbering that 3G to 3GS was a "minor" upgrade.

Now, speaking of the iPhone 4, and if Apple released an iPhone 4S, it wouldn't be a "minor" update. After all, the A5 processor that the iPad 2 sports is about 2.5x more powerful than the Samsung Galaxy S II, which currently has the one of the most powerful guts of all available phones, and if that's not pretty damn good to you, I don't know what is.

Overall performance wise (software AND hardware), the iPhone 4 to this day even outperforms MOST new phones that come out, and that says something about what putting a simple little A5 inside an iPhone would do, whether or not Apple redesigns the external hardware. We'll all just have to wait and see!

Update: Click here to follow the liveblog on Engadget!

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