Awesome Screenshot

By Calvin C | Published: August 30, 2010

Awesome Screenshot is a Safari extension that allows you to take full-length webpage screenshots with just one click of a button. After taking a screenshot, you can add annotations and symbols to it, and then save the picture in PNG format or upload it to image sharing sites. It is a very convenient tool for web design research and archiving.

I have a couple of issues though:

  1. When AwesomeScreenshot is enabled, my Safari seems to have trouble loading some Javascript powered pages. A big inconvenient example is Google Reader, where the entire view pane is blank and some buttons on the page are not responding at all. Also I have trouble viewing live statistics in Woopra.com.
  2. When saving the file to desktop by dragging, the filename is always named “Unknown.png”. It would be helpful if you can automatically name it the source URL, domain name or page title.
Posted in Programming | Leave a comment

Japanese Public Information Symbols

By Calvin C | Published: August 23, 2010

Foundation for Personal Mobility and Ecological Transportation – Barrier Free Initiative contains a useful library of Japanese standard public information symbols. Here are some useful subpages:

Please refer to their terms of use (in Japanese) to learn about the licensing issues.

via @crema

Posted in Design, Visual Design | Tagged , | Leave a comment

myGengo Raised $583K USD From Angel Investors, Doing Human Tweet Translation

By Calvin C | Published: August 22, 2010

Earlier in June I blogged about mygengo.com and their online tweet translation service Twiyaku. I argued that the service was not ideal for Corporate Japan to depend on, since it is difficult to translate technical terms and maintain a consistent image of the corporate identity.

Apparently I underestimated the demand and how much people like the idea. According to Asiajin’s report, myGengo has raise 50 million yen (or $583,000 USD) from a group of angel investors. That shows the confidence that these investors have on the growing demand in human translation service for micro-blogging systems. Since the introduction of API (application programming interface) in April, which allows companies to programmatically integrate tweet translation into their software and operation workflow, the daily request has gone to 10,000 per day.

Source: 人力翻訳「myGengo」、国内外の投資家から5000万円の出資

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QR-code Coupon in Restaurant Guide

By Calvin C | Published: August 22, 2010

Want more info and get coupons for the restaurants in this building? Simply snap the QR-code (or manually enter the website address) and you’ll be brought to a webpage when all that. Use your cel-phone as a coupon book!

Posted in Experience | Tagged | Leave a comment

I Am Looking For A Job In Tokyo!

By Calvin C | Published: August 20, 2010

Resume of Calvin C. Chan

I am looking for a job as:

  • web designer
  • graphic designer and illustrator
  • interaction designer
  • user experience designer
  • volunteer in local UX/design events

If you know any related job opening, please kindly let me know! I can work on site as well as remotely over the internet. You can learn more about me at the About page, or see my resume for details about my formal background:
link to my resume

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment