Design Pepper

In a recent article, chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov reflected on an experiment designed to create the most competitive chess games ever played. In 2005, the online chess-playing site Playchess.com hosted what it called a "freestyle" chess tournament in which anyone …

If you've visited the Design Pepper website in the past couple of weeks, you probably noticed that it's sporting a new look. It's also been updated under the hood. Here are a few of the highlights. (If you're using a feedreader, you might want to click through to …

The Ultimate List of Freelancing Resources is back with 25 more great links to help you launch or improve your freelance career. Coffee Break: Your Best Piece of Advice This article from FreelanceSwitch is a simple question: What's your best piece of freelancing advice? …

The problem for a lot of web workers is that we need focus, but we work with computers that allow us to program a steady stream of distractions into our day. The following steps assume that you've already turned off email and Twitter notifications (and any other incoming …

This is the first in a series on a type of website mistakes that I call "unprofessionalisms." But they aren't just any mistakes. To qualify as an unprofessionalism, it must: Be relatively common. Detract from the professionalism of a website. Be something …

It's been a little while since the first installment of the Ultimate List of Freelancing Resources, but I haven't forgotten it. This time we go from 26 to 50 in the list. How To Turn a Blank CD Into a Profitable Contract This post at Create Business Growth talks about …

As most of you know, in addition to freelancing, I also work part-time in an office environment. And on my desk sits a shiny new Intel-based Mac, complete with dual monitors, Adobe CS3 and every other application I could possibly want. Yet I rarely use it, preferring to carry my …

It seems like everywhere I turn these days, people are talking about freelancing, running their own businesses, and escaping the rat race. Though I enjoy being a bit contrarian regarding trends, in this case I'm totally on board. So here's my contribution to the trend, my …

As you've probably noticed, I haven't been updating the blog very much recently. Between a part-time job, working like crazy on freelance projects, moving to a new apartment, and preparing for a wedding at the beginning of August, something had to give. In this case, it was …

It seems like every day I see another batch of articles about the power of engagement, and the benefits of being permanently connected to the latest social networks, lifestreaming feeds, or Web 3.0 applications. There's no denying that they can be wonderful tools, but just …

It's been a little while since I posted a linklist, so I've got some pretty nice links for you to check out. 8 fonts you probably don't use in css, but should – Web Design Marketing Podcast & Blog Feel like you're being too constrained by limiting …

Over the past couple of days I've been trying to make a list of all the software that I need to reinstall or transfer to my shiny new Dell* laptop. In the course of this list-making, I realized that though I have a lot of software that I use occasionally, there are a handful that …

Recently, I was given the opportunity to work on a fairly long-term project that would have guaranteed a significant chunk of income for a few months. The catch? It would eat up an equally significant chunk of the time that I use for freelancing and pursuing personal projects (like …

David Culpepper of PureBlogging recently asked whether passion is really as important in choosing a blog topic as everyone seems to think. Passion is almost always trumpeted as being the most important factor in choosing a topic. I disagree with this assumption. I don't know …

I'm pretty happy with the progress I made on my goals this month. Though my subscriber count didn't grow as quickly as I would have liked, I've got some interesting developments going on. April Goals 1. Add 50 more subscribers The number of people subscribed to my …