I am always amazed by the work that Ulrike Rausch releases and am using a couple of her handwritten fonts at beyond tellerrand (like LiebeGerda and LiebeDoris for example).

Now Ulrike published a new digital font called “LiebeHeide”, which simulates the writing with a ballpoint pen. It comes, as usually most of Ulrike’s fonts, with a lot of ligatures and alternate letters, which makes it even more realistic and it is pure joy to play with. I just made this litte note above and I am sure that i will see this font used in a lot of different products, websites and other occasions.

It is just 🤯 to me, what you are able to do with digital fonts these days and for just $19 it is worth even buying to simply have a play with LiebeHeide. I can’t even imagine the time to develop something like this, but using it, puts a big smile on my face, if that is anything worth, Ulrike ;)

Rising a pint for Scott Whitehead.

Rest in peace Scott (1981–2020).

I attended a lot of online events since March. Some are really nice, some are simply not my cup of tea. The format itself, online, is something I don’t get warm with, but I do want to meet with people, to exchange and maybe get some motivation to get through this time, before we are able to meet again face to face.

For a while I am speaking about it, but tomorrow is the day, when we open doors for Stay Curious the virtual beyond tellerrand Café. A place to meet, exchange and get inspired.

What to Expect?

My idea is, to create a space, where we meet, listen to a few inspiring and interesting talks and have conversations and a coffee or a drink afterwards. For the first edition, I invited Vic Lee and Rob Draper to join me. They will give a 20–30 minute presentation each and afterwards we have time to chat with them, ask questions and so forth. I’d love to have those, who like to ask questions, to join by video (if they like), but I am not sure yet about the final format. I guess it has to evolve over time.

Vito – the Platform

We all meet on Vito, a new platform created by the people behind Tito, the ticketing system I use for beyond tellerrand. It is, as said, new and they are working on it, but I like the way they think about it and it fits the idea of beyond tellerrand. After you registered and are able to join the hub for a show, you’ll be asked a few things: You can decide to enter your name and be fully visible or – well, like in a real café – stay in the back and not have anyone know you are present. It is up to you, if you actively want to participate or to simply lean back and enjoy the talks and conversations.

Again, it is a try to establish something new and hopefully regular, where we can meet and hang out in a cozy and safe space.

I hope you like the idea and are joining us at tomorrow’s or at one the shows in the future. I’d be happy to welcome you.

2012 Vitaly and I started SmashingConf with the very first event in Freiburg. It was meant to be an event for the web community to meet and see each other and the aim was not to only deliver and present high-quality talks, but to make it something memorable and exciting, that people leave highly inspired, with new knowledge and practical takeaways and hopefully with ew friends also. During the last 8 years the event grew to one of the most known in-person events in the web industry. One reason is the great team of lovely people behind it, living what they produce and giving their best to make this a welcoming and friendly event.

Now, as you know, we are living in times, where in-person events are not taking place as it would come with the high risk of spreading Covid-19. Many people together in a – kind of – small space for two or more days. Not the ideal setting at the moment (and also the reason why I don’t run any beyond tellerrand at the moment either).

Since the lockdown I attended many online events (many!). On one hand to see which software solutions and platforms people use to run their events. On the other hand to see, if they are able to transport a good vibe, how I’d like them and what differences in all the various ways of running such an event are. I found out, that online events are just not my cup of tea. I recognised, that after a few weeks, I more and more was doing other things than focusing on the event, presentation or what was going on at the screen. Then I lost track of what the person was talking about and so on. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t dislike online events, but I somehow could not get warm with most of them. There are a few formats I do like, like Mike’s and Erika’s Quarantine Book Club or Vito’s Admission online series, just to mention a few. Somehow they managed to catch me n the one or two hours I am at the event. But a multi-day event?

Well, yesterday the SmashingConf team opened doors for the first day of SmashingConf Live, their first two-day online conference. I was surprised, that it worked to create an atmosphere, that I was able to feel at home. I read many people’s comment about the “nice atmosphere” and the “smashing vibe” that people cold feel as if they were attending an in-person SmashingConf. And this is great and makes me happy. Maybe one part is, that Vitaly uses my hardware over here to run his part of the conference and so I have someone with me, having an in-person experience somehow, but I think also, because the whole teams communication – in the sessions as well as off stage – helped creating this experience.

Today is day two of the event and I am excited to see if it works out as well as yesterday. But I am pretty sure it will. If you want to give it a try as well and want to join for day two: this way, please. See you there …

Isn’t ist spooky sometimes, that you search for a certain asset and in the next moment the next shopping site you visit suggests you to buy something like this? Well, nowadays is it less spooky, but annoying.

I like, that Mozilla makes this a default in their latest Firefox release to block tracking by default. Reason for this enhancement is, that, since the introduction of ETP, the ad industry found different ways to track users. Passing you through the tracker’s site before landing on your targeted website enables them to see where you came from and where you are going.

And this is what Firefox does now:

With ETP 2.0, Firefox users will now be protected against these methods as it checks to see if cookies and site data from those trackers need to be deleted every day. ETP 2.0 stops known trackers from having access to your information, even those with which you may have inadvertently visited. ETP 2.0 clears cookies and site data from tracking sites every 24 hours.

Read the whole post about the latest enhancements on Mozillas blog

This is just lovely: the door bell. DHL delivers a package. What did I order again and have forgotten about? Did I? No! It is a lovely little surprise by Rodney. A gin I don’t call a family member yet. Infused with wild berry.

Sounds interesting and I just tested it with Thomas Henry tonic, a hand full of wild berries – just right for the summer.

Thanks soo much, Rodney, for thinking of me and bringing a smile to my face with this!

My friend Vic Lee was drawing a diary during the lockdown. He decided to make a book out of it and it turned out just beautiful. Check his Instagram account and follow the links to the book to read the background story. It is worth it.

Well done Vic, it looks great and feels really good!

These are a few impressions from Preveli Beach, located about 35km south of Rethymno on the south side of Crete and about 10km east of Plakias, another well known beach. People refer to it as palm beach and I gonna write about it in more detail on my blog. A river ends in the sea right here, which is lovely to swim in and where river and sea meet, palms and reed are growing, creating a beautiful scenery.

Found in the backgarden of the house we live in on Crete.

A day at Evita Bay on Crete. Feels surreal after the crazy times. Well, I say after… we are still in the middle of it and for some reason the holiday we booked last year did happen. And we actually enjoy it – with all the safety precautions it needs.