In today’s tutorial, we’re going to take a quick look behind the process of creating a security icon, and see how we can take some simple shapes and turn them into a finished usable product. So, assuming you already have Figma running in the background, let’s jump straight into it! Tutorial Details: Security Icon Program: […]

The post How to Create a Security Icon appeared first on Vectips.

Welcome back to another Figma based tutorial, in which we’re going to take a quick look behind the process of creating a phone widget app icon, using nothing more than a couple of basic geometric shapes. So, assuming you already have the software up and running let’s jump straight into it! Tutorial Details: Phone Widget […]

The post How to Create a Phone Widget App Icon in Figma appeared first on Vectips.

Hey, welcome back to another icon tutorial, in which we’re going to explore how to create a messaging app icon in Figma, using nothing more than a couple of basic geometric shapes, that we’re going to adjust here and there. Tutorial Details: Messaging App Icon Program: Figma Difficulty: Beginner Topics Covered: Compositional Construction, Shape Alignment, […]

The post How to Create a Messaging App Icon in Figma appeared first on Vectips.

Create a quick and trendy office vector scene with simple line icons. We’ll go through each piece, step by step in no time flat! Tutorial Details: Illustrate an Office Vector in 15 Minutes! Program: Adobe Illustrator CS6 – CC Difficulty: Intermediate Topics Covered: Design Theory, Shape Building, Compositional Skills Estimated Completion Time: 15 Minutes Final Image: […]

The post Build a Trendy Line Icon Office Vector Scene in 15 Minutes! appeared first on Vectips.

Min Ming Lo analyzes the various designs of the share icon currently in use. He concludes:

The best icon is not the one that is the simplest, nor the one that makes the most sense. Instead, the best icon is one with which most users are already familiar. An effective icon is one that requires minimum effort for the user to translate that symbol to an action.

I think part of the problem with coming up with a good share icon is that the concept of sharing physical items doesn’t directly map onto the concept of sharing digital resources, which oftentimes simply involves posting a link on a public feed. The latter is closer to broadcasting a message rather than dividing up a resource or experiencing a thing simultaneously. Icons with more specificity – e.g. a tweet icon, a Facebook like icon – are unambiguous; they relate directly to a service and the kind of interaction that service allows. Trying to cover them all with an umbrella of “sharing” is difficult, if not impossible, to do clearly.

The problem doesn’t lie in the icon, but in the vagueness of what it represents. For this reason I think Apple’s icon resembling an upload action is probably the best choice because what it represents is not so much sharing but putting the content somewhere else. Whether the full file is uploaded or just the link is given doesn’t really matter, what matters is that the thing in question is transmitted somewhere. It’s also worth considering whether the fight for an icon-only button is worth it, and that it may not be easier and better to just use the words “share” to describe the action. There’s a reason why the stop sign just says “STOP” – you can represent it with something else, but the negative effect on clarity is just not worth it.

Curt Arledge ran a user test to find out whether hollow icons perform any different to solid icons. Hollow icons are an icon aesthetic popularized by iOS7 – icons that are composed of thin lines rather than filled in shapes. It was previously theorized that this icon style required more cognitive processing, and thus would perform worse than typical solid icons.

Arledge found no significant variation between the icon styles. One combination performed worse than others: white hollow icons on a black background. Others performed similarly, irrespective of whether the icon was on a white or black background. What seemed to matter most is not the style itself but how meaningful the design of the icon itself is. For example, a filled in speech bubble is less recognizable than a hollow one because a speech bubble is something that is often depicted as an outline. On the other hand, an outline doesn’t add anything to the icon of a cloud, so a solid shape performed better in that case. Arledge also found that the lock icon performed the worst. Looking at the lock icon used in the test one could guess why: the thing has no keyhole, and so looks just as much as a shopping bag as it does a lock. Adding a keyhole would likely provide enough of a clue to dispel the confusion. The takeaway here is that the style doesn’t really matter – at least not enough to make a significant difference. What matters is how well the icon represents its object. If the icon is good, then it will work whether or not it is implemented as a solid shape or as an outline.

Tom and Jerry, the mischievous cat and clever mouse duo, have been captivating audiences for generations with their hilarious antics. As a child, I was capt ...

If you are interested to buy icons from IconDock or themes from Themify, I have a coupon code for you. Use ‘ndesign’ coupon code on IconDock to save 20% off any icon sets. The discount code on Themify is also the same ‘ndesign’. You can save 20% off any WordPress themes.

I know many people attendedWordCamp 2009, in fact I believe there were 700 plus attendees. Well not every one showed up at the development day which was held at the Automattic office on pier 38.

WordCamp Development day was a BarCamp style event, and I was able to record a couple of the conversations. Here is a recording from Ben Dunkle (designer of the WordPress admin icons in 2.7+)

The post Ben Dunkle on designing icons for WordPress [video] appeared first on WPCult.

Center for Biological Diversity Press Release WASHINGTON – Four commonly used neonicotinoid pesticides can harm bees and other pollinators, according to a new analysis by California’s Department of Pesticide Regulation. The study found that current approved uses of the “neonics” … Continue reading →

La igualdad de género y el empoderamiento de las mujeres y niñas se ve reflejado en distintas prioridades de políticas a nivel global y local. El Objetivo de Desarrollo Sostenible 5 busca lograr la igualdad de género y empoderar a todas las mujeres y niñas.

"A fun, action-packed fantasy adventure about a girl, her dog, and magic gone wrong! Quiet … birds … nature … . That's what Aster expects when her parents move their whole family to the middle of nowhere. It's just her (status: super-bored), her mom and dad (status: busy with science), her brother (status: has other plans), and … magic? In her new home, Aster meets a mysterious old woman with a herd of dogs who gives her a canine companion of her own. But when she and her dog Buzz are adventuring in the forest, they run into a trickster spirit who gives Aster three wishes. After wishing for the ability to understand and talk to her dog, she becomes only able to talk in dog language … and the trouble she gets into is just starting. Maybe the middle of nowhere will be more interesting than Aster thought."

"Magic turned Aster's life upside-down— and it's not over! Get ready for more family, more fun, and even more magic in this graphic novel adventure. Moving to the middle of nowhere has been less of a disaster than Aster expected. Her mom's science experiments are actually pretty cool; her dad's cooking has gotten much better; her new dog is possibly the best canine companion anyone could ask for. And she's gotten to save the day— and her family— and the whole valley she lives in— from various magical calamities in what even she has to admit were extremely fun adventures. So now she can have a break, right? Guess what? Oh no; things get even more interesting." -- Description provided by publisher.

El Louvre pone el foco en el enigmático “Pierrot” de Watteau Del 16 de octubre...

L'enorme potentiel agricole de la Republique Democratiqu du Congo (RDC) est bien documente. Le pays est doté de plus de deux millions de kilomètres carrés (km²) de terres, dont 800 mille sont arables, et pourtant, la portion de terres cultivées ne s’élève qu’à 10 pour cent. La RDC bénéficie également de conditions climatiques et météorologiques favorables, permettant plusieurs récoltes de nombreuses cultures chaque année.

Written by locals, Fodor's travel guides have been offering expert advice for all tastes and budgets for more than 80 years. Packed with landmark sights, world-renowned museums, awe-inspiring churches, fabulous trattorias, and, of course, the Vatican, Rome is a city that's worth returning to over and over again. And with so much to see and do in the Eternal City, Fodor's Rome is the guide to help travelers make the most of every trip.

The timing of the Red Sea attacks could not be worse for Democrats (Politico)

Senior research fellow Joseph Glauber is quoted in a Politico story about how the growing military conflict in a key trade corridor is threatening to unleash economic havoc on the global economy ahead of November. “If energy prices go up and remain high, you’d see food inflation persisting,” said Joe Glauber. He added that potential […]

The post The timing of the Red Sea attacks could not be worse for Democrats (Politico) appeared first on IFPRI.

Reporting and reproducibility: Proteomics of fish models in environmental toxicology and ecotoxicology  ScienceDirect.com

Taiwan is at the center of a global feud. Its main defense may be what some call its "Silicon Shield" — its powerful semiconductor industry. On today's show, the story of how one economic hero helped to transform Taiwan's economy and create the "Taiwan Miracle."

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Silicon Valley Bank was the 16th largest bank in America, the bank of choice for tech startups and big-name venture capitalists. Then, in the span of just a few days, it collapsed. Whispers that SVB might be in trouble spread like wildfire through group texts and Twitter posts. Depositors raced to empty their accounts, withdrawing $42 billion in a single day. Last Friday, after regulators declared that SVB had failed, the FDIC seized the bank.

As the dust settles on the biggest bank failure — and bank rescue — in recent memory, we're still figuring out what happened. But poor investment choices, weak regulation, and customer panic all played their parts. We'll look into the bank's collapse to understand what it can teach us about the business of banking itself.

This episode was produced by Willa Rubin, with help from Dave Blanchard. It was edited by Keith Romer, and engineered by Brian Jarboe. Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Our acting executive producer is Jess Jiang.

Music: "I Don't Do Gossip," "Groovy Little Penguins" and "Vision."

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Puerto Rico's beaches are an integral part of life on the island, and by law, they're one of the few places that are truly public. In practice, the sandy stretch of land where the water meets the shore is one of the island's most contested spaces.

Today we're featuring an episode of the podcast La Brega from WNYC Studios and Futuro Studios, a show about Puerto Rico and the Puerto Rican experience. On the island, a legal definition dating back to the Spanish colonial period dictates what counts as a beach. But climate change, an influx of new residents and a real estate boom are all threatening legal public access to some of Puerto Rico's most cherished spaces. The debate all comes down to one question: what counts as a beach?

You can listen to the rest of La Brega (in English and Spanish) here. They have two full seasons out, which explore the Puerto Rican experience through history and culture. Check it out.

This episode was reported by Alana Casanova-Burgess and produced by Ezequiel Rodriguez Andino and Joaquin Cotler, with help from Tasha Sandoval. It was edited by Mark Pagan, Marlon Bishop, and Jenny Lawton and engineered by Joe Plourde. The zona maritimo terrestre was sung as a bolero by Los Rivera Destino.

The Planet Money version was produced by Dave Blanchard, fact checked by Sierra Juarez, edited by Keith Romer, and engineered by Brian Jarboe.

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The program is co-led by the California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA, the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering and Pasadena City College.

New report highlights how Mexico remains unsafe, particularly for people affected by HIVToronto, ON – Canada should remove Mexico from its refugee ‘safe’ list because of the country’s serious human rights abuses, the University of Toronto’s International Human Rights Program (IHRP) said in a new report released today. Failure to do so could place Canada in […]

In this hour, stories of meeting one's idols. A signature turns into a mentorship, a chance to write a song for a revered musician, and heroes within the home. This hour is hosted by Jay Allison of Atlantic Public Media, the producer of this show.

Storytellers:

Valerie Walker has a chance encounter with a life long idol.

Songwriter Beth Nielsen Chapman makes music with a country music icon.

Danny Artese gets not only a signature but a mentor when he attends a book signing.

Elyse McInerney learns her hero may be a lot closer to her than she realized.

Bassist Christian McBride gets a chance to play with a Jazz legend.

Indra Nooyi has ideas for evolving the corporate world, including how we think about talent and improving how we treat all workers.

Vitrek announced that Bob D’Amico has joined the Vitrek sales team as Eastern Regional Manager.

The cost and lead times for Germanium optical components have skyrocketed.