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TOMS makes life more comfortable through its ultra lightweight design and the company’s commitment to match every pair purchased with a donated pair to a child in need. There are no complicated formulas, it’s simple…you buy a pair of TOMS and the company gives a pair to a child on your behalf.

How excellent! Buy a cool pair of shoes and help put a pair on someone else’s feet. They’re a great deal too!

I’m ordering two pairs, cause I just can’t decide between all the rad patterns.

[via Dean (who does not blog)]

Trent Reznor/NIN does not give up.

They just released another free album, entitled “The Slip.”

You can download it over here: http://theslip.nin.com/, for free.

One of the most interesting things, is the mainstream use of BitTorrent as a distribution method (for all but the MP3 version). We really are entering into uncharted waters, both with distribution and revenue models. Despite other artists doing similar things, we’re seeing lots of permutations on the “free music” model lately.

Why all this legitimate free music all of a sudden, though? Do the concerts really make the artists that much money? Or, is it all just a fad (like Radiohead reported earlier this month? I really hope not. The retail store is on its way out of the music selling business - unless we start seeing digital kiosks real soon.

I hope that artists learn to make this digital world work for them, by charging for high quality versions and letting the fans decide what it’s worth. NIN isn’t accepting any money for “The Slip.” If I wanted to give them money, I couldn’t. That’s unfortunate.

I’m counting on mankind and music lovers around the world to be honest with themselves and the artists they like to hear. Call me an optimist. So, instead of buying another beer next weekend, and murdering your liver, go download GHOSTS I-IV, and pay for it, it’s worth it. Even if it is a wild foray into a very unique genre.

Update: I really am enjoying this album, almost as much as the previous instrumental album, GHOSTS I-IV.

• A is for Atheist.

  The OUT Campaign allows individuals to let others know they are not alone. It can also be a nice way of opening a conversation and help to demolish the negative stereotypes of atheists. Let the world know that we are not about to go away and that we are not going to allow those that would condemn us to push us into the shadows.

• A collection of Madonna photos from Vanity Fair.
• Why I won’t vote for hillary. Among other things.
• For some reason, the idea of another SPEED movie just doesn’t get old. Ha! [via Joshua Blankenship]
• Rob Wychert is venturing out across america in a kick ass Corolla. His site for the journey, just flaunts brilliance. I love it.
• Why is it, I have no problem with the Miley Cyrus pictures, except for the fact that Billy Ray, who if you don’t remember wrote “Achy Breaky Heart”, is in them.

During some blurry years from 2003 to 2006, I attended The School of Visual Arts, for photography. It was an amazing time in my life. Unfortunately, it caused me to stop blogging and start being an assistant to a fashion photographer who was repped by Avedon’s former agent, and then started a retouching company with said photographer. Too many parties, a few nervous breakdowns, and enough beautiful models to make a man die happy later, and here I am; finally realizing that beauty is usually just skin deep, and doing what I love, designing things. (I’m still an insane fashion fanatic. I openly admit to buying Vogue Italia. I have a mid-90s fashion magazine collection that rivals many.)

During my stint at “Art School,” all the freshmen would usually get really into one of the classic photographers, Avedon, Cindy Sherman, etc. Cartier-Bresson was one of the most referenced. For what he calls “The Decisive Moment.”

“There is a creative fraction of a second when you are taking a picture. Your eye must see a composition or an expression that life itself offers you, and you must know with intuition when to click the camera. That is the moment the photographer is creative,” he said. “Oop! The Moment! Once you miss it, it is gone forever.”

Henri Cartier Bresson

Today I ran across a lego reproduction of one of Bresson’s most infamous photos “Behind the Gare Saint-Lazare.” Pictured side by side below:

The Lego™ rendition is genius. But, the original, is a classic, if not a tale in itself. The photography, is said to have been staged. He still clicked the shutter, but only after many tries. Or so goes the legend.

If that’s true…

Henri wasn’t just a photographer, but an brilliant self-marketer. He created a “brand” around himself. He built upon this idea of “Henri” being in the right place at the right time, all the time. People thought and still do think, he was truly a photographic GENIUS.

Cartier-Bresson knew his audience. He was a masterful photographer, but beyond that, he truly understood what his audience wanted. They wanted to believe in magic and coincidence and fate. He gave it to them. Maybe, even if it was decisively.

[picture of lego guy via clusterflock via coudal]

Trent Reznor’s newest minimalist instrumental album is an amazing feat. The music is beyond the grasp of most of the public. Yet, Reznor, with his early rock-death-metal-electronica releases in his career, made himself so well known and thus made it possible for him to release such an abstract instrumental album. This is one of the most substantial minimalist electronic albums - maybe, of all time.

But, the coolest thing about the album, is the artwork. Aside from the tons of extras you get by just paying $5 for the CD, each song has it’s own high-res image to go along with the song. The artwork is really spectacular. Definitely pick this album up, even if it’s just for the cool wallpapers.

Having trouble getting your CSS rollovers un-glitchy? Pre-load them, easily… If HUGE can learn from me, so can you! ;) (I’m saying this jokingly.)

Yes, this a real email I sent HUGE. They fixed the problem by doing exactly as I said. And they didn’t even say THANK YOU!

I’ve sent this same sort of email to lots of people - including some pretty great designers and developers. All not preloading their rollovers. So, for the sake of helping to spread the gospel of the css preload, I’m just going to email everyone the link to this article from now on…

Some of you asked for a video (okay, one person). I love clusterflock, and they don’t have non-semantic HTML (despite putting H2s before H1s), but they’ve got the same problem with CSS rollovers: clusterflock rollover (144KB) (Did you catch the glitch?)

From: noel@eight6.com
Subject: Attention, you have a website bug…
Date: February 20, 2008 12:27:29 AM GMT-05:00
To: nameremoved@hugeinc.com
Hi HUGE!

-
noel jackson
founder eight6 | http://eight6.com
noel@eight6.com
+1.734.642.9187

As if we all didn’t know it would come someday… Cingular is now, AT&T. Again.