Loïc's sent me a link to this dead cool neon lettering thing.

Shane Lennon, SVP, Strategy & Marketing at GyPSii, posted a freelance listing at Authentic Jobs recently and within a few days was all set:

We have gotten over 20+ responses and more than enough capable candidates. Great site and very impressed with the broad range of skills and expertise from people who applied.

Full-time job listings continue to prove successful for employers, but the responses are typically less in number and take longer than freelance listings to accumlate, given the tight job market we're in with record unemployment lows in the industry. This is because the candidate you want is likely already employed happily elsewhere. In talking with employers who've used other job sites, it's apparent this is the norm across the board.

To address this, a few weeks ago we rolled out a new feature called Job Perks:

Job Perks is a simple feature that provides employers with an additional field to really sell their position (and company). If I could, I'd encourage every employer to post their listing like this one. Alas, I believe being forthright about the benefits of the opportunity is the next best thing.

Naturally, employers could include perks in the description about the position, but few do. Job Perks gives them an explicit reason to do so. (Incidentally, fellow job site provider 37signals wrote about writing better help wanted ads just last week.)

Enough talk. Some recent listings are highlighted below.

Full-time (International)

• London, UK Interaction Developer at Addison Corporate Marketing
• Anywhere Talented CSS Web Designer at RocketTheme

Full-time (U.S.)

• Cupertino, CA Senior Visual Designer, Pro Applications at Apple Inc.
• San Francisco, CA Senior User Interface/Experience Designer at Big Tent Design
• Tallahassee, FL Web Developer/Programmer at Taproot Creative
• Ithaca, NY Interface Designer / Front End Developer at Cornell University
• New York, NY Front-end Designer / Developer at Boom Design Group
• New York, NY Advanced JavaScript Developer at KickApps
• New York, NY Amazing User Interface Designer / Engineer at First Look
• Greenville, SC Interactiv Designer / Art Director at Erwin-Penland Interactiv
• Greenville, SC PHP Developer at Erwin-Penland Interactiv

Freelance

• Flash Developer at Estee Lauder Online
• Flash Component Developer at Web Media
• ASP Developer at newmediablends.com
• Drupal Developer at Sideshow
• Web designer at dietOut

The latest Issue of Phirebrush is out #53 and my wallpaper’s on it! Cool! Thanks Phirebrush!

While walking back from the mailbox today, I was reminded of the old “number of pages in WIRED closely matches the NASDAQ” thing as I heaved the latest Dwell magazine back to my house. I have about three or four years of back issues in my new bookshelf and just looking at the spines, it appears that the magazine has gone from ~75 pages to about 300 in each issue. That kind of bloat can’t go on forever and I know they’re becoming a popular brand but I have a feeling there’s a direct relationship between how well people are doing financially and how much they care about how modern their house looks.

Despite the fact that I had managed to keep my home entertainment system "clean" and free of exposed wiring, I was still juggling three different remotes (depending on what I was doing) - one remote for the Toshiba 42HL67, a second for the digital cable box, and a third for the Mvix MX-760HD. Although both the television & cable box remotes claimed to be "universal", neither offered complete control and functionality for both devices. The home entertainment also includes an XBox Elite, Nintendo Wii, and Apple Mac Mini. Although the XBox & Wii have their own game controllers, a true universal remote would provide [at minimum] basic controls for iTunes or Front Row on the Mac Mini.

Being a fan of Logitech (check out the diNovo Edge), and after receiving recommendations from others, I decided a Logitech Harmony was my best bet for controlling most if not all of my electronics.

Hunt for special deals - online and local

After a day of online research, I had settled on the Logitech Harmony 720. CNET awarded the remote with an 8.3. With a suggested retail price of $169, the Harmony 720 is not cheap. Fortunately, Costco offers the remote with a $50 mail-in / instant coupon discount bringing the price down to $119. Once I had ruffled through the included documentation, I inserted the installation CD-ROM (Windows & Mac OS compatible software), and began the remote control programming process.

Gone are the days of seemingly arbitrary device codes

At some point in time, we’ve all had to deal with feature-limited IR remote controls. Chances are high that you have all spent time trying to program remotes using device codes for your electronic components. If none of the device codes worked properly, you were essentially SOL. Remember these?

1. Turn on the device that you wish to control.
2. Point the remote at the device and hold down the Code Search button.
3. Hold down the button [on the remote] which corresponds with the device to be programmed. Release when the LED blinks 3 consecutive times.
4. Enter one device code at a time. Press Power to test whether or not the code works. If the device powers off, you have the correct device code.

Oh the good ‘ol days. Unintuitive, time consuming to program, and unfriendly for the average consumer. Fortunately, universal remote technology has improved just as any other electronic device has improved. The Logitech Harmony 720 is one such remote which offers far more feature-wise than its predecessors, yet manages to deliver in a package which is easier to program and use.

Farewell device codes, hello visual programming guide

Manually entering device codes is a thing of the past. Logitech went to great lengths so that customers could spend less time scratching their head [programming], and more time operating all of their components from a single universal remote. How does Logitech accomplish this? Rather than requiring that device codes be manually inputed and tested on the remote, Logitech uses desktop software (Windows XP / Vista & Mac OS versions included) + a USB cable to program the Harmony remotes. That’s right, it’s 2007, and everything - including the Harmony remote - is programmed and managed from your computer. No computer? I don’t even want to imagine.

Programming devices for the Harmony remote is as simple as answering a few questions including the a) device category, b) device type, c) manufacturer, and d) model. Once the details are in place, Logitech syncs the settings with your Harmony remote via USB. Any necessary updates are downloaded from the net directly. Fortunately, Logitech maintains a considerable database of component programming ensuring that most of the electronics in your collection can be controlled. If, by chance Logitech needs additional programming, your Harmony remote can "listen" to your original IR remote.

Swapping between entertainment "modes"

While programming for use with my electronic components was not surprising, I was excited to see the introduction of "Activities" - pre-set / programmed entertainment modes which enable or disable certain components based on what you wish to do. Examples:

• Want to watch digital cable? Select the My TV activity and the Logitech remote will turn on your television, cable box, and sound system.
• Want to play video games? The Logitech Harmony will turn off your cable box and power on your game console (if supported) and switch your television input.

Activities can be any number of entertainment modes automatically configured by Logitech (recommendations) based on your added devices, or manually configured by yourself. Enable or disable certain audio / video components based on your needs and assign each to its own "Activities" button.

Creating and setting-up activities is just as easy as adding devices to the remote. There may be one or two extraneous steps during the setup process, but the end result is a true universal remote.

All of your components controlled in Harmony? Likes / dislikes

Likes

• Managing / programming the remote via USB from both Mac OS & Windows.
• Auxiliary display provides component controls based on the device which is currently selected.
• Tilt sensor enables the backlit buttons and display whenever the remote is picked-up.
• LOVE how each of my existing (and future) components are supported.
• Re-chargeable!

Dis-likes

• Logitech software is more of a specialized web browser.
• Button labels are painted on.
• Central control buttons (chrome) have too resounding of a click.
• Not all buttons are backlit. Hopefully your television screen provides enough light in a dark room so that you can see all of the buttons.
• Software on Mac OS is still a little buggy.

Do you own a Logitech Harmony? Something else? Drop a comment sharing your thoughts on whether or not you’re controlling all of your components with a universal.

It seems the long list of credits previously synonymous with CD and Vinyl packaging is migrating to the humble crisp packet - Whilst on holiday, I noticed this shout-out to the photographer and stylist on the back of this frankly indulgent sized pack of Walkers Sensations, (perhaps to highten the ‘classy crisp’ cache of this particular brand?). Rumours that the new packaging for Jacobs Cream Crackers are going to feature big props to Mum, Dad, Allah the almighty, Ryvita (big up yerself!) and Peter the dog, are, as yet, completely unfounded…

Radical transparency anyone? Interesting implications for the notions of ‘truth’ and ‘honesty’ in relation to brands and branding.

• Cheap UK Car insurance and home insurance quotes comparison from Confused.com.
  Looks like a placeholder site, but they are actually advertising on TV for this service. Strangely amateurish logo. But mostly, the brand is rather negative. Their names represents your problem that they aim to fix. In other words, do you call your restaurant “Famished” or “Satiated”
• A Designer’s Vacation Photos
  Gagan Diesh shows some great examples of noticing stuff and making sure to tell stories about it. I may try the Paris bicycle thing next weekend.
• Dumped - Reality TV meets enviro-chic
  They’ll be living in rubbish, building rubbish, even sleeping in rubbish. Contestants don’t know that they’ll be brought to live cooperatively in a giant dump near Croydon, UK. Perhaps in the future all reality show concepts will be derived from disparate plot elements from the Simpsons.