In this wonderful gallery I’ve put together 24 examples of web studio portfolios. These layouts showcase some very attractive features which you may take into consideration for your own design. Modal views, responsive grids, jQuery galleries, and a whole bunch of other futuristic concepts make an appearance. And building on the framework of open source means you have dozens of pre-built code projects at your disposal!

Two Arms Inc.

Social Forces

Create Digital Media

Duotone

Pepperminted

Cast Iron Design Company

The Neighbourhood

R/GA

Andy Mangold

Kisko Labs

Tep Chann Nimmith TEK

Barabra

Studio Breakfast

Ninja Lab Studios

Hicksdesign

Don’t Worry Design Co.

Two Point Design

Doug Harris Design

Bearded

Frexy

Worry Free Labs

BAKER Branding and Design

SoftFacade

here design.

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We would love to hear your thoughts on these portfolio websites in the comments below.

In Linux, the most primitive way of using git is via the command line. Once you have installed git (with the command “sudo apt-get install git“), you can use the few commands “git add *“, “git commit“, “git pull“, “git push” to manage your repository. However, the most primitive way doesn’t mean it is the best way. Below are several graphical git client that you can use to make your git usage an easier and better one.

1. Git-cola

Git-cola is developed in Python and comes with the usual pull, push, commit functions. It also comes with a diff-viewer and file staging mode.

In Ubuntu, git-cola is found in the repository and can be installed via Ubuntu Software Center, or via the command:

sudo apt-get install git-cola

2. Gitg

gitg is a simple application. You can commit changes and view the repositories in graphical display. There is also the diff viewer and a file browser, that’s all. Some people love this as a git viewer because of the colorful graphs and great organization, making it easier to see the changes.

In Ubuntu, gitg can be installed with the command:

sudo apt-get install gitg

3. SmartGit

SmartGit is a cross-platform java-based full featured git client. It comes with almost everything you need to manage your git repository. You can pull, push, commit, track changes, clone, stage, branch and access remote repo. It also comes with support for GitHub, Beanstalk, Codebase and Unfuddle. Too bad, it doesn’t work with BitBucket, the hosting provider that I am using.

If you are using Ubuntu Oneiric and have installed the OpenJDK instead of the Sun/Oracle Java runtime, you will find that SmartGit won’t run at all. Here’s thPlanning a wedding and have a Windows Phone 7? Try out these apps to get some inspirations.e fix.

1. Download SmartGit.

2. Extract the tar file to your home folder.

3. Open a file manager and navigate to the bin folder inside the smartgit directory. Open the “smartgit.sh” file with a text editor.

Change the line

#SMARTGIT_JAVA_HOME=/usr/lib/java

to

SMARTGIT_JAVA_HOME=/usr/lib/jvm/java-1.6.0-openjdk/jre

At the last line of code, change the line:

$_JAVA_EXEC $_VM_PROPERTIES -Xmx${MAXIMUM_HEAP_SIZE} -Dsmartgit.vm-xmx=${MAXIMUM_HEAP_SIZE} -jar "$SMARTGIT_HOME/lib/smartgit.jar" "$@"

to

$_JAVA_EXEC $_VM_PROPERTIES -Xmx${MAXIMUM_HEAP_SIZE} -Dsmartgit.checkIncompatibleJava=false -Dsmartgit.vm-xmx=${MAXIMUM_HEAP_SIZE} -jar "$SMARTGIT_HOME/lib/smartgit.jar" "$@"

Save the file and close it.

4. Lastly, click the “smartgit.sh” file and select Run when prompted.

Smartgit is free for non-commercial use.

4. Giggle

Giggle is more of a git viewer. You can view the files and changes that you have previously committed, but you are not able to commit changes or pull/push from/to the git server.

In Ubuntu, you can install Giggle with the command:

sudo apt-get install giggle

5. Git Gui

Git Gui is lightweight and simple, yet one of the Planning a wedding and have a Windows Phone 7? Try out these apps to get some inspirations.most feature complete git client among the list. When you first run it, it will prompt you to either create a new repository, open an existing repo or clone a remote repo. Once opened, you will be able to view the master and branch changes and history, and the database statistics. You can also stage, merge, commit, push changes to the remote server. It might not have a long feature list as SmartGit, but it is definitely more user-friendly and easier to navigate.

Git Gui is available in the Ubuntu repository, so you can install via the command:

sudo apt-get install git-gui

To run it, press “Alt + F2″ and type “git gui” (without the quote).

6. qGit

qgit is yet another git viewer based on the qt framework. If you are on using Gnome, you will find that the interface and icons are very similar to those in KDE (since KDE is based on qt framework as well).

qGit comes with a diff viewer and a revision log viewer, and you can easily switch between both. There is also an Action Builder where you can add and save custom Actions that you use repeatedly. For example, you can create Actions to pull, push, commit the changes rather than doing it on the terminal or other git client.

I am sure there are plenty of other graphical git clients around. What other git client do you use?

But what makes some people more creative and successful than others? Is creativity something genetic and does that mean those who aren’t blessed with this gene are doomed to never be creative or successful?

Well the simple answer is that creativity is something which we are ALL born with but some people lose it more than others as they grow older. If you observe young children playing you’ll know what I mean when I say we all start with a propensity for some kind of creativity which is usually fueled by curiosity.

Many people lack a creative spark because they stopped doing the simple things which leads to creative ideas in the first place.

Most people, as they grow older start to develop bad habits or a limited mindset maybe because they are in a job they don’t like or a difficult financial situation. As time goes by, the curiosity they had when they were children diminishes and with that so does creativity.

Instead of using their curiosity and creativity to investigate ways to improve their lives these people give up trying but they also wish things could be different.

A lot of people also believe that to achieve true financial or other success you need to invest a lot of money in the first place or have to go to a top university so that you get the right job in the right company.

The reality is, that at this point in time in the evolutionary scale of technology, everything you need to make you successful is readily available at your finger tips from the Internet in the comfort of your own home. We can even go so far as to say that the Internet is the new “UniversityofSuccess”.

A little over a decade ago you could be excused for believing that you needed to attend some sort of college or university to learn the necessary skills to help you succeed, but now that’s not true anymore.

For a fraction of the cost of a regular university or college course, now you can teach yourself a new skill or get full guidance and coaching online without having to leave your home.

All that is needed on your part initially is some curiosity and action to get you started.

The list of 6 pointers below which I’ve compiled from various successful people will help ignite your creativity and re-charge your motivation:

1. Try something new for 30 days
   This is a great suggestion which I recently heard in a presentation from Matt Cutts who is a search optimization engineer at google. Trying something new for a month is a fantastic way to re-build your creativity and whet your curiosity. This can also help you discover the thing that you love doing in case you weren’t sure what it was to begin with.
   In terms of the Internet there are countless of free and premium courses and products available in which you can learn or discover a new skill which you can use to enhance your creativity.
2. Do what you love
   People who make a living from doing what they love instantly have a head-start on those who hate or are indifferent to their jobs. Apart from the fact that you feel good doing what you love, you also have no negative baggage which comes from the stress and resentment of doing something you don’t like.
   If you don’t know what you love doing, then maybe applying point 1 above might help you.
3. Keep your goals to yourself – at least in the beginning
   Sometimes when you decide to muster up the courage to try something new it’s a good idea to keep your goals a secret initially. This may sound counter-intuitive because most people think that by making their intentions known they can increase their visibility and hence their chances of success because somebody out there might offer some help. Well that’s true to an extent but in a lot of cases the people you might be sharing your goals with might not have the same enthusiasm and mindset as you, and quite often they will try to talk you out of your “crazy ideas” and tell you that it’s just too hard.
   Therefore, unless you’re certain that you are talking to people with a similar attitude as yours, hold on to your goals and plans until you’ve put them into practice.
4. Be curious
   When you start digging deeper into something out of curiosity, you usually find that not only do you enhance your knowledge about that thing, but sometimes you might come up with creative ideas which you would never have thought of if you hadn’t indulged your curiosity.
   So next time you are reading or watching a tutorial about how to do something for your blog, why not delve deeper and experiment with what you’ve learnt and see what happens.
5. Improve
   Improving yourself both in terms of knowledge and in general can only serve to benefit you and those around you. Most of us are increasingly becoming aware of the huge economic changes sweeping the world’s societies in terms of employment and what it means to be financially secure. Having a regular job for 20, 30 or 50 years until you retire is a thing of the past. The new reality is that people who can re-skill quickly and who regularly add to their existing skills will be better off in today’s economic climate.
6. Focus
   The ability to focus determines the outcome of the task you are trying to accomplish. Therefore whenever you set yourself a task, see it through to completion by doing regular highly focused little chunks at a time. Doing small manageable chunks can make the highest mountain seems like a mole hill.

Creativity and success are not just something necessarily reserved for a special few and now with information and knowledge so readily accessible from the Internet, cultivating your creativity has never been so easy. Therefore applying some of the ingredients above to your life will go a long way in maximizing your chances of reaching your goals.

1. Business Card Land

Business Card Lard is a simple and easy to use website that allows users to create free online business cards and download a PDF of the design, in high quality, to be printed later on – or just use for online purposes.

The designs found on the website are simple and plain, not too fancy. These cards are good for anyone who has a small – very small business.

Using the service is easy. Just pick the business card design you want from the design page, choose the size, enter the information you want to display on the card, choose the color and background and finally, make the PDF of your card.

Business Card Land

2. Business Card Star

Business Card Star is a website similar to Business Card Land (above). However, the designs found on the website are a little more creative and more than just your average simple, plain ones.

To make a business card, click the “Create Card” button and register for an account. Once the account is made, choose the design that you like. You will then be required to enter the required business information after which you can choose the color, the background, the image and even the text.

Once done move onto the next step to make the “back” of the card after which you can save the design and create a PDF for it.

Business Card Star

3. BizCard Creator

BizCard Creator is one of the simplest ways to create a business card online. Not only is it quick, but it is also free and has many card designs to choose from.

Just click the “Biz Card Creator” button, enter the required information for your card and move on to design the card according to your needs and requirements.

Once the card has been made, you can get it printed or saved on to your computer for later use if you want.

BizCard Creator

4. Degraeve

If you want to create a much more professional looking card, and not one of your simple, plain cards that lack any aesthetic design, you have to try Degraeve.

Degraeve is a website that allows people to create business cards for free and in seconds. Not only that, but the designs are simple and look very professional.

Just enter in the details of your card, choose the size and design it a little more to end up with a PDF that you can use to print your cards later on. It depends on where you get them printed from of course.

Degraeve

5. FreePDF Cards

This is another business card creating website, which resembles and works on the basis like Degraeve (mentioned above). If you want a professional, simple looking card, do try it.

Upload your business card information, the logo of your company (if you have one – make one if you don’t) and then move to design your card and finally download the PDF format file of your design which ensures that your card design is held in its finest quality and perfect size.

FreePDF Cards

6. Zazzle

Zazzle is a website that not only allows users to create their very own custom designed business cards, but also gives them the feature to get the cards printed and shipped to their doorsteps – all from Zazzle.

Another great feature on Zazzle is the fact that you can use your very own complete design to make the card – not bound by any default template, design or anything. The orders are shipped in 24 hours with a full color printing.

Zazzle

Conclusion

There you have it folks, these are just some of the websites that allow business cards to be created. These websites are best suited for small – medium businesses. In addition, if you have a creative designing agency or so, it would be much wiser to hire a professional artist/company to do the business cards, for as I said, “they represent your brand and make a brand identity”.

Design Considerations

Designing a browser theme can be very challenging. This is mostly because a browser comes with a list of design constraints that are as unique as the application’s use. In addition to the normal stuff like fonts, logos, file types/sizes, legal availability of images, and color selection… you have to worry about a very limited canvas, tricky dimensions, and a number of other unique items. Not to worry though, this task is far from impossible. Hopefully this little guide will help you along the way.

Note: For the purpose of this post, we’ll be concentrating on advice for Firefox browser themes only, as they offer the most “design real-estate” of the three top browsers. This will help maximize your branding efforts. Additionally, when your design is optimized for Firefox, it will be easy to subtract elements and simplify for other browsers with less options.

1. Take Into Account the Various Versions of Firefox

For example: Firefox 4 shows part of the graphics in the title bar while Firefox 3.6 and below do not.

2. Keep Your Dimensions in Mind??

Vertically, you have about 200 pixels of height available to your design – of which only the top 85 will be visible. This is because you have utility bars, add-ons, search boxes, and bookmarks getting in the way. This means that designs depending on the viewer to see the whole image may not work. At the very least, you’ll have to pay close attention to how all of these obstacles will affect how the viewer sees your design. Or, as we’ll get into in further detail below, the best design choice might be to use multiple images (anchored to either side with a solid color in between) or repeating patterns/colors associated with your brand that will allow you a work-around for this problem of “function-clutter” and limited design real-estate.

3. Large File Sizes May Equal Slow Performance??

One method you might choose as a way of overcoming the challenges mentioned above is to take a large image and simply place it across the whole background. This will work. However, this solution has one major pitfall. Large images/files may lead to a slow performing browser theme which in the course of use may become more annoying than enjoyable for the user.?

4. Focus on Logo Placement and Color

??Probably the easiest and maybe the most graceful design solution is to focus on keeping the logo prominent in the upper left hand corner (this can easily be linked to your brand’s site for quick access by users) while filling the rest of the space with repeating patters or smaller images anchored to the middle or one of the sides. These smaller files will make for a faster performing browser theme while ridding you of the need to worry about feature clutter or window resizing as the colors or patterns don’t need to be viewed in their entirety for the design to work.?

5. Choose Your File Types Like You Would For Any Other Web Design

When designing a browser, you’ll want to use the same file types that you would for any other web project. Such as .gif or .png formats. Or if transparency isn’t an issue, you can use the .jpg format as well.

6. Animation

Animation can be fun way to add a little life to your browser theme, such as a moving highlight on a shiny logo. However, it’s easy to over-due this and annoy your user with overly flashy animations. So keep this to a minimum.

Note: Firefox allows for both animated Gifs and Pngs.

7. Keep It Simple

An important consideration is that the user will most likely be staring at your design for hours every day. Therefore it’s important to keep your design simple and to avoid colors or elements that will fatigue their eyes.

Here are five of the finest places where you may be able to find freebies for Photoshop. Have a look.

1. Deviantart

DeviantART is one of the biggest places for photoshop resources. You can find pretty much anything on deviantART, from brushes, textures, to even PSD files and stock images to use in your work if you require one.

You can even find premium stuff on the website; however, most of the stuff is free and just requires you to credit the artist when you publish your work. A must check for Photoshop junkies!

Deviantart

2. Premium Pixels

Premium Pixels is another website for Photoshop Freebies created by Oman Clark, a photoshop designer. He shares most of his stuff online, on this website. Oman regularly updates the website regularly.

The easy to navigate interface makes it easy for anyone to find the items they are looking for. You can find freebies ranging from brushes, textures, icons and templates.

To download anything, just find the object you love – open it and click on the “Download” button to download it. Be sure to give them credit, or even tweet/facebook share the page to show them some appreciation.

Premium Pixels

3. Design Kindle

You can find some of the highest quality Photoshop freebies over at Design Kindle. The freebies range from – graphics, vectors, icons, textures, styles and patterns. There are even Website template PSD files found on the website if you need one.

To keep in touch with the website, you can sign-up for their RSS feeds or like them on Facebook or Twitter to keep in touch.

Design Kindle

4. 365 PSD

As the name of the website suggests, 365 PSD is a website that gives out one PSD every day during a year. The freebies are still in their 240-th range so you better go and have a look to see if you like something.

If you do, you had better download it, as we do not have any idea if they reset their freebies the next year.

You can search the website either through a direct search, or by checking tags and checking if there are any tags that correspond with your respective work (web design, vectors, etc).

365 PSD

5. Bittbox

Bittbox is a Photoshop resource website founded by Jay Hilger that provides a dose of regular and high-quality photoshop freebies to the readers.

You can textures and brushes on the website – but these resources are some of the finest on the Internet. Do not think that they are low-quality grade freebies. As they are only some of the highest-quality ones.

The website even gives out occasional free stuff deals to make things more interesting. Do give it a check!

Bittbox

Conclusion

There you have it folks, these are some of the finest places on the Internet to look for Photoshop freebies – true, there may be many more. However, these are some of the ones where you can find simply anything you want and are updated on regular basis.