Outgoing FCC chairman, Harvard scholar make a pitch for private networks to aid public safety.

As the Boston Marathon bombings unfolded, thousands of anxious people in the region pulled out their mobile phones to connect with friends and family—and found that calls couldn’t be placed or received. Rumors that officials had shut down these mobile networks for security reasons weren’t true. The system was simply overloaded at a time when people needed it most.

The Education and Outreach Working Group (EOWG) invites comments on a new draft document: Easy Checks - A First Review of Web Accessibility. Easy Checks helps you assess if a Web page addresses accessibility. It provides simple steps for anyone who can use the Web; no accessibility knowledge or skill is required. The checks cover just a few accessibility issues and are designed to be quick and easy, rather than definitive. Learn more about the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI).

This is the first of a three post series by one of our moderators, Joah Gerstenberg.

What's git?

Git is a Version Control System (VCS), a tool used by coders around the world to keep track of their code and the changes they have made to it. A VCS will save a snapshot each time you check your code into the VCS, allowing you to go back to any revision along the way and restore your code to the way it was then.

Every programmer should use a VCS.

Here's why:

Ever made change to your code, but just after you saved the file, you realized that you made a horrible mistake and you need to go back? A VCS lets you quickly jump back to before you made the mistake.

Ever wanted to be able to prove (or disprove) that one particular line of code is breaking your project? A VCS lets you see multiple revisions of your code to enable you to do just that.

Ever wanted to try out a new innovative feature in your project without accidentally messing up the project altogether? A VCS lets you create parallel deviations to your code which can later be merged into the final project.

Step 1: Download git

Although not alone with alternatives such as SVN or Mercurial, Git is by far the most popular VCS available.

Get started with git by downloading the appropriate package from Git's Download Page for your OS. Git installs by default as a command-line tool, so follow the appropriate instructions to access the git command line for your OS (in Mac and Linux, simply go to the Terminal).

From there, all you need to do is cd into the directory your code is stored in, and git init. That will initiate a versioned git repository in the current directory you are in.

Step 2: Add a new revision

When you are ready to add a new revision to the git repository's records, simply (while cd'd into the git repository) git add what you want to add to this specific revision. For example, if your folder was like this:

- Code # <== this is a git repo
    |- index.html
    |- js
     |- script.js
    |- css
     |- style.css
    |- img
    |- .git # <== this is a hidden directory, but exists if {Code} is a git repo
    

And you just wanted to add the changes in /js to your current revision, simply use git add js, or if you wanted to just add the style.css file, you would use git add css/style.css.

Step 3: Commit your revision

Git uses the term "commit" for the different versions recorded to connote that you are "committing" the current code to the pretty-much-permanent record held by the git repo. Once you have git add'd the files you want to be a part of your next commit, simply use git commit -m "Your Commit Message Here".

Git highly recommends that you include a commit message as a part of your commit, so that you, and anyone else looking at your code, can easily recognize what the current version of the code does. One less-known trick that you can use while using the git command line is that you can use git commit -m "" --allow-empty-message, and bypass having to supply a message with your commit.

Step 4: To the Internet!

By following the above instructions, all your code and commits associated with it will be stored locally on your computer. This is perfectly acceptable, but in my next post I'll discuss the more popular approach; storing your code online with a service such as GitHub.

Researchers work to develop passwords so secret that only your unconscious mind knows them.

Some efforts to replace traditional letter-and-number passwords rely on gestures, wearable devices, or biometrics. An approach in the works from research-and-development company SRI International and Stanford and Northwestern takes a different tack: passwords that you know but don’t know you know.

Jessica Walsh is a multidisciplinary designer and art director living and working in NYC. She is a partner at the New York based design studio Sagmeister & Walsh. Her work has been featured in numerous magazines and books as well as won design awards from the Type Directors Club, Print, Graphis and more notable Computer Art’s "Top Rising Star in Design" and Art Directors Club "Young Gun".

Cutting a path through the clouds, heading to some far-flung destination; or working through the night to connect national and international business; the way we perceive airlines has barely changed in the past 50 years.

And that perception — one of glamour, efficiency, and professionalism — is almost entirely due to clever advertising and careful branding. The actual experience of travelling by air is, in reality, one of queues, delays, lost baggage, high-cost and ever decreasing leg room. But we forget all that when we see the proud colors of our nations’ flags emblazoned across the tail of an aircraft. As the reaction to American Airlines’ rebranding proves, we expect a certain heritage to be present in our airline branding.

As this infographic shows, national identity, speed and history, coupled with the tail fin of a plane all combine to keep us flying.

Produced by JustTheFlight.co.uk

Who did you last fly with? Do you recognize their branding in any of the trends shown here? Let us know in the comments.

Thirsty Rough Font Family – only $9!

Cutting a path through the clouds, heading to some far-flung destination; or working through the night to connect national and international business; the way we perceive airlines has barely changed in the past 50 years.

And that perception — one of glamour, efficiency, and professionalism — is almost entirely due to clever advertising and careful branding. The actual experience of travelling by air is, in reality, one of queues, delays, lost baggage, high-cost and ever decreasing leg room. But we forget all that when we see the proud colors of our nations’ flags emblazoned across the tail of an aircraft. As the reaction to American Airlines’ rebranding proves, we expect a certain heritage to be present in our airline branding.

As this infographic shows, national identity, speed and history, coupled with the tail fin of a plane all combine to keep us flying.

Produced by JustTheFlight.co.uk

Who did you last fly with? Do you recognize their branding in any of the trends shown here? Let us know in the comments.

Thirsty Rough Font Family – only $9!