I recently switched from docking Chrome’s dev tools on the bottom of the browser to the right side. I like it better because it gives me more vertical space for inspecting the DOM and debugging JS.

One nice side effect of docking on the right is that it makes developing responsive designs much easier. Instead of resizing the entire Chrome window, you can instead pull the divider between the viewport and the dev tools.

After we released retina.js, we were surprised and proud to see a huge influx of traffic. It was being shared all over the place. One pattern I noticed was most sites that were writing about it had copy-and-pasted the intro text straight from the site.

retina.js is an open source script that makes it easy to serve

high-resolution images to devices with retina displays

This is a good thing. We can describe it better than anyone else, after all. But seeing the same block of copy all over the web made me wonder if I could have written it better. Could I have articulated its purpose more clearly? Could I have been more concise? Could it have been shorter, less words, less syllables?

I wrote the copy a bit hastily in a rush to get the site up. I certainly didn’t expect such a positive response, so I wonder if I would have written it differently if I had.

Days before the iPad 3 shipped, Bruce, Taylor and I were talking about how incredible the new retina display was going to be. In a moment of terror it occurred to all of us how it — one device — was going to forever change web design as we know it.

Everything we built would now be half the resolution it should be. Every photo, every icon, every logo; doomed to a sad state of blurriness on retina displays. We needed a way to serve high-res images to high-res displays. So we built it.

Retina.js is a zero-config script that makes it easy to serve high-resolution versions of your website’s images to devices with retina displays. It checks all of the images on your page to see if there is a high-res version on your server. If it finds one then it swaps it in. You don’t need to change any of your markup, you simply need to include one script on your page and it just works.

Go check it out.

It’s open source, of course, so we’d love your help in making it better. Fork us on GitHub.

I just returned from a whirlwind TEDxSummit event in Doha, Qatar where Andrew and I had a chance to meet over 700 amazing TEDx organizers from over 90 countries. Truthfully, what I’ve learned is still sinking in but the impact is certain and this year’s event will be fantastic. On May 15th we’re going to hold an open call for new TEDxBoulder team members to assist with the planning and logistics of our September event. We’re raising the bar once again and we’ll need help in producing a killer event. 

The May 15th open call will be held at Shine in Boulder from 11am to about 1pm. We welcome anyone from the Boulder community with a passion to see this succeed. Let us get to know you over a few appetizers and drinks. If all goes well you’ll hear back from us later that day.

Currently, our team needs people to fill the following roles. 

• Slide Designers
• Speaker Coaches
• Stage Management / Direction
• Art Installation (outside the venue)
• Food Vendor Coordination
• Volunteer Coordination
• Partnership Assistance
• Media Manager
• Content Creation (blog)
• Videography

If you want to join the TEDxBoulder planning group show up at 11am and find Andrew or George at Shine on May 15th.