We’re suckers for infographics because they are a fun way to feature information. It’s like reading a comic book where the pictures tell the story. Many attribute the success of infographics to its use of colour and graphics, but sometimes it is the information it carries that closes the deal.

Today we are featuring 25 interesting infographics all to do with tech development, design and/or social media. From the technological transfer of mediums from print to digital news and ebooks, viruses and spam, music and clicks, it’s a celebration of the highly digital lives we live and the connection (in bits and bytes) we have with the rest of world. Click on the images for a clearer view.

Read Also: 55 Interesting Social Media Infographics

The Sharing Avalance. This is an infographic about the incredible rise of information being shared through social media and what happens in social media every 60 seconds. – by Voltier Digital & Plastick Media.

Ebooks Explosion. With the rise in use of ebooks through various devices like tablets and eReaders, will this infographic convince you which to get for yourself? There’s only one way to find out.

That’s Old News. How do you get your daily doses of what’s happening in the country and around the world? Are you getting it via your social networks or still on paper? Which do you prefer?

Social Media Stats that May Influence Your PR Strategy. Short and sweet. Did you know that more people own a smartphone than a toothbrush? – by Moore Consulting Group.

What is Pinterest?. Pinterest in a nutshell. For more Pinterest-related materials, click here.

Life of a Byte. What happens behind the scene when an email is sent? Read this infographic to find out.

Threat Morphosis. No list on computer technology would be complete without one about its greatest nemesis: the Virus. Note the clever use of colour to make you sit up and pay attention.

Mobile Learning Report Card. Can mobile devices replace laptops as a means of education, digitizing study matters, and connecting all aspects of studies to lead to a better result? Let’s find out, shall we?

Mobile OS Battle: Android vs iPhone. This is an infographic about the hot battle that is taking place between the two most used mobile operating systems in the world: Android vs iPhone OS – the smackdown!

From Idea to App: The Process of App Development. This infographic shows how an idea is gradually implemented using programming languages and gets converted into an app that we (laymen) use.

Get More Clicks on Twitter. The title is self-explanatory so get clicking and check out how to get more clicks on Twitter!

Twitter Vs Pinterest. In this showdown between Twitter and Pinterest profiles, we get to see how many who trends better on Twitter. #supremacy #showdown

iPhone Downloads: A Timeline Through History. This infographic is about the history of apps downloads in Apple’s iTunes store from when it was launched till now. 0 to 10 billion is pretty hard to beat.

Top Search Engine Ranking Factors. Want to know more about how to rank higher in Google’s search results? This infographic can definitely help.

State of Spam. First viruses, and now spam. Learn how spammers fool people into disclosing sensitive information and don’t be a victim.

Mobile Data Growth and What it Means for You. Everything about mobile and the data transfers that run the mobile phone industry.

Life Cycle of a Webpage in StumbleUpon. This infographic shows that StumbleUpon is a big source of social media traffic, and webpages added to StumbleUpon lasts longer than any other social media sites in the world.

You are Not Safe Online. This is an infographic about how user information are shared anonymously to different companies via the sites we use for our daily activities, and what it can lead to.

Mobile Email Marketing. Mobile marketing: will it take over from just email marketing? Get all the stats before you decide how you want to reach your customers.

A History of Graphic Design. A brief history fo the evolution of graphic design. I’ll let the infographic do all the storytelling.

The SEO Puzzle. This beats reading a book on SEO any day, don’t you agree? – by Created by Vayu media.

Facebook Recruiting. We live in the day and age when even social networks can be used for recruitment purposes. And why not? Our personalities and social presence are established on these social media sites anyways.

A Short History on Hacking. This is an infographic about the history of hacking from past to present, what kinds of hackings have been done all these years and who were the masterminds behind those hacks.

The Evolution of Programming. Even if you can’t relate to the content, you would be able to at least enjoy how each evolving programming language is described in this infographic.

Internet in 2020. This is an infographic about the internet and the ten ways in which it will change by the year 2020.

Related posts:

1. 55 Interesting Social Media Infographics
2. 13 Infographics To Understand The Blogosphere Better
3. Infographics for Web Designers: Information You Ought to Know
4. 50 Infographics About The Olympics

jQuery UI is simply awesome and due to the ease of use, it is popular and widely used in almost any website that need interactive features.

And, in this post, we’ll look at one of the features provided, the Datepicker widget.

We will try to learn how to customize the calendar theme, so that you will be able to create your own theme that will correspond to your overall design. However, you need a bit of understanding in JavaScript and familiarity with CSS before following this tutorial.

• Demo
• Download Source

If you’re ready, let’s get started.

The Assets

Let’s prepare some of the essential assets for the calendar.

First, the calendar design will refer to this PSD file from Premium Pixels. So we’d better download it first to help us take a sample of the colors we need. Then, download two patterns from Subtle Patterns that we will use as the background of our calendar. In this example, we decided to use the following patterns: black denim and dark leather.

We will also need a web development tool like Firebug to inspect element classes/ids generated by the jQuery UI.

Well, I think we’ve had enough preparation. Now let’s go to the first step.

Step 1: jQuery UI Datepicker

First, go to jQuery UI download page. In this page you’ll be presented with a few options, as follows; the UI Core, Widgets, Interactions and Effects.

We should deselect all the components, as we don’t need all of them.

Then, in the Widgets section select only the datepicker. The jQuery UI will select the essential dependencies automatically, and then download the file.

Link all the downloaded files — except the CSS — to your HTML blank document, as follows:

<script type="text/javascript" src="js/jquery-1.7.1.min.js"></script>  <script type="text/javascript" src="js/jquery-ui-1.8.18.custom.min.js"></script>

Step 2: Customizing the Datepicker

In this step, we will configure a datepicker with the following options.

<script type="text/javascript">  	$(function(){  		$('#datepicker').datepicker({  			inline: true,  			showOtherMonths: true,  			dayNamesMin: ['Sun', 'Mon', 'Tue', 'Wed', 'Thu', 'Fri', 'Sat'],  		});  	});  </script>

The above code will instruct the jQuery to display the calendar on an element with datepicker id. So, we need put the following div tag with — datepicker ID — in the body section to form the calendar:

<div id="datepicker"></div>

Now the calendar should have already been generated and appear like this, plain without any styles, but still has the functionality.

Step 3: The Styles

Now let’s begin styling the calendar. We will start off by normalizing all the elements – as usual – and creating a new stylesheet, in this example I name it datepicker.css. Then link them all to the HTML document.

<link href="css/normalize.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"/>  <link href="css/datepicker.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"/>

Then, we will first attach a background to the body so our HTML doesn’t look too plain.

body {  	background: url('../img/darkdenim3.png') repeat 0 0 #555;  }

Next, we will specify the datepicker’s width, position it to the center and add drop shadow to give the prominece effect to the calendar.

.ui-datepicker {  	width: 216px;  	height: auto;  	margin: 5px auto 0;  	font: 9pt Arial, sans-serif;  	-webkit-box-shadow: 0px 0px 10px 0px rgba(0, 0, 0, .5);  	-moz-box-shadow: 0px 0px 10px 0px rgba(0, 0, 0, .5);  	box-shadow: 0px 0px 10px 0px rgba(0, 0, 0, .5);  }

We will also remove the default underline decoration from every anchor tag.

.ui-datepicker a {  	text-decoration: none;  }

The calendar in jQuery UI is formed with a table. So, let’s add 100% width for the table, so it will have the same maximum width as the wrapper above; that is 216px

.ui-datepicker table {  	width: 100%;  }

Styling the Header Section

The datepicker has a header section containing Month & Year of the calendar. This section will have the dark leather texture we’ve downloaded before with slightly white font color and 1px white shadow at the top.

.ui-datepicker-header {  	background: url('../img/dark_leather.png') repeat 0 0 #000;  	color: #e0e0e0;  	font-weight: bold;  	-webkit-box-shadow: inset 0px 1px 1px 0px rgba(250, 250, 250, 2);  	-moz-box-shadow: inset 0px 1px 1px 0px rgba(250, 250, 250, .2);  	box-shadow: inset 0px 1px 1px 0px rgba(250, 250, 250, .2);  	text-shadow: 1px -1px 0px #000;  	filter: dropshadow(color=#000, offx=1, offy=-1);  	line-height: 30px;  	border-width: 1px 0 0 0;  	border-style: solid;  	border-color: #111;  }

Next, let’s center the Month position.

  .ui-datepicker-title {  	text-align: center;  }

Replace the Next and Prev text with the sprite arrow images sliced from the PSD.

.ui-datepicker-prev, .ui-datepicker-next {  	display: inline-block;  	width: 30px;  	height: 30px;  	text-align: center;  	cursor: pointer;  	background-image: url('../img/arrow.png');  	background-repeat: no-repeat;  	line-height: 600%;  	overflow: hidden;  }

Then, adjust the arrow position respectively.

.ui-datepicker-prev {  	float: left;  	background-position: center -30px;  }  .ui-datepicker-next {  	float: right;  	background-position: center 0px;  }

While the day names section is wrapped within a thead, based on our design reference, it will have a slightly white gradient. And, to simplify our task, we will use this tool to generate the gradient code:

.ui-datepicker thead {  	background-color: #f7f7f7;  	background-image: -moz-linear-gradient(top,  #f7f7f7 0%, #f1f1f1 100%);  	background-image: -webkit-gradient(linear, left top, left bottom, color-stop(0%,#f7f7f7), color-stop(100%,#f1f1f1));  	background-image: -webkit-linear-gradient(top,  #f7f7f7 0%,#f1f1f1 100%);  	background-image: -o-linear-gradient(top,  #f7f7f7 0%,#f1f1f1 100%);  	background-image: -ms-linear-gradient(top,  #f7f7f7 0%,#f1f1f1 100%);  	background-image: linear-gradient(top,  #f7f7f7 0%,#f1f1f1 100%);  	filter: progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.gradient( startColorstr='#f7f7f7', endColorstr='#f1f1f1',GradientType=0 );  	border-bottom: 1px solid #bbb;  }

The day names text will have the dark grey color of #666666 and they will also have a thin white text-shadow to give it the pressed effect.

.ui-datepicker th {  	text-transform: uppercase;  	font-size: 6pt;  	padding: 5px 0;  	color: #666666;  	text-shadow: 1px 0px 0px #fff;  	filter: dropshadow(color=#fff, offx=1, offy=0);  }

At this point, the calendar will appear like this:

Styling the Dates

The calendar dates are wrapped within td or table data. So, we will set the padding to 0 to remove the spaces between the td and give it a right border of 1px.

.ui-datepicker tbody td {  	padding: 0;  	border-right: 1px solid #bbb;  }

Except for the last td, which will not have right border. We set the right border to 0 for this.

.ui-datepicker tbody td:last-child {  	border-right: 0px;  }

The table row will be almost the same. It will have a 1px border bottom except for the last row.

.ui-datepicker tbody tr {  	border-bottom: 1px solid #bbb;  }  .ui-datepicker tbody tr:last-child {  	border-bottom: 0px;  }

Styling the Default, Hover and Active State

In this step we will define the date hover and active styles. We will first define the date default state by specifying the dimension; center the date text position, add gradient color and inner white shadow.

.ui-datepicker td span, .ui-datepicker td a {  	display: inline-block;  	font-weight: bold;  	text-align: center;  	width: 30px;  	height: 30px;  	line-height: 30px;  	color: #666666;  	text-shadow: 1px 1px 0px #fff;  	filter: dropshadow(color=#fff, offx=1, offy=1);  }  .ui-datepicker-calendar .ui-state-default {  	background: #ededed;  	background: -moz-linear-gradient(top,  #ededed 0%, #dedede 100%);  	background: -webkit-gradient(linear, left top, left bottom, color-stop(0%,#ededed), color-stop(100%,#dedede));  	background: -webkit-linear-gradient(top,  #ededed 0%,#dedede 100%);  	background: -o-linear-gradient(top,  #ededed 0%,#dedede 100%);  	background: -ms-linear-gradient(top,  #ededed 0%,#dedede 100%);  	background: linear-gradient(top,  #ededed 0%,#dedede 100%);  	filter: progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.gradient( startColorstr='#ededed', endColorstr='#dedede',GradientType=0 );  	-webkit-box-shadow: inset 1px 1px 0px 0px rgba(250, 250, 250, .5);  	-moz-box-shadow: inset 1px 1px 0px 0px rgba(250, 250, 250, .5);  	box-shadow: inset 1px 1px 0px 0px rgba(250, 250, 250, .5);  }  .ui-datepicker-unselectable .ui-state-default {  	background: #f4f4f4;  	color: #b4b3b3;  }

When you hover over the date, it will turn to slightly white.

  .ui-datepicker-calendar .ui-state-hover {  	background: #f7f7f7;  }

When the date is in an active state, it will have the following styles.

  .ui-datepicker-calendar .ui-state-active {  	background: #6eafbf;  	-webkit-box-shadow: inset 0px 0px 10px 0px rgba(0, 0, 0, .1);  	-moz-box-shadow: inset 0px 0px 10px 0px rgba(0, 0, 0, .1);  	box-shadow: inset 0px 0px 10px 0px rgba(0, 0, 0, .1);  	color: #e0e0e0;  	text-shadow: 0px 1px 0px #4d7a85;  	filter: dropshadow(color=#4d7a85, offx=0, offy=1);  	border: 1px solid #55838f;  	position: relative;  	margin: -1px;  }

Now, the calendar should look much better.

Fixing the Position

At this point, look at the date carefully. When you click on the date at the first or the last column, you will notice that the active state overflowing a pixel off the calendar edge.

So here, we will do a some small fixes.

First we will decrease the date width to 29px, and set the right margin of the last column and left margin of the first column to 0 to reverse the -1px margin we have set previously for the active state.

.ui-datepicker-calendar td:first-child .ui-state-active {  	width: 29px;  	margin-left: 0;  }  .ui-datepicker-calendar td:last-child .ui-state-active {  	width: 29px;  	margin-right: 0;  }  

The date at last row of the calendar will also have a similar treatment.

.ui-datepicker-calendar tr:last-child .ui-state-active {  	height: 29px;  	margin-bottom: 0;  }

Now, let’s see the result. Well, the calendar now looks beautiful and fits perfectly as our design reference. And, you can see the demo and download the source to examine the code from the links below the image.

• Demo
• Download Source

Bonus: Extend the Calendar

Well, today we have learned quite a lot on how to create a custom theme for jQuery UI Datepicker. But you shouldn’t to stop here, as there are still many things that can be extended from this datepicker. Depending on your jQuery and CSS proficiency you extend the calendar to be like this – text input with an overlay datepicker.

• Demo
• Download Source

Further Reading

For further reading on jQuery UI. You can read the complete documentation here:

• Getting Started with jQuery UI
• Theming jQUery UI
• jQuery UI: Theming API classes

Final Thoughts

Thank you for reading and following this tutorial, I hope you find it useful. And, If you have any feedback or would like to add things that might be missing from this tutorial, feel free to point it out in the comment section below. Thanks (again).

Related posts:

1. Creating a Volume Controller with jQuery UI Slider
2. Mobile App Design/Dev: Custom Themes with jQuery Mobile
3. How to Create an Image Slider using Photoshop & jQuery
4. Mobile App Design/Dev: Building Navigation with jQuery

Need to print a new batch of contact cards for your booming business? Like seeing a card bearing your company name and your purpose, and love gifting it to newfound clients? If you share the feeling, then you’ll definitely love this giveaway.

This week we are collaborating with Short Run Cards to give away custom printed plastic business cards to help you spruce up your business.

About Short Run Cards

Short Run Cards offers custom printed cards that you can use as business cards, gift cards, in loyalty or membership programs, or even VIP Access Passes! Personalize your own designs and put them on the cards or get it designed for you by their team. If you are in the U.S. or Canada, you can even request for a complimentary sample kit here.

Their cards also feature QR Codes, or Quick Response Codes that are making waves in the marketing of products and services online and off. The beauty of the QR Code is that it can be printed on paper or be available in digital form. Plus, you can even make your own QR Code.

How to Win

To win free business cards from Short Run Cards, tell us your most creative concept or use for QR codes. In return, you stand a chance to win:

1. One free set of 500qty Plastic QR Code Business Cards (with 5-7 day turnaround)
2. Two $75 gift cards that can be used towards any plastic card purchase

We’re looking for three winners. Contest ends on the 27th of August, 2012 so start planning. Best of luck!

Related posts:

1. Business Card Design: 7 Essentials to Consider
2. Case Study: Designing Business Card that Rocks!
3. [Freebie] “BiZ” Business Website PSD Templates
4. [Freebie] Professional Business Site PSD Template Set

Need to crop plenty of images? There are plenty of photo-editing tools available for free on the Web, your desktop and on your smartphone but what if you’re not on your computer or no Photoshop installed? It’s going to be a carpal-tunnel-inducing nightmare to go at it one at a time, especially when each image have different cropping requirements.

No worries. Listen up, here’s how you do it with Cropp.me, a free web app that will let you crop any image of any preferred sizes, automatically.

Auto Crop images with Cropp.me

To start cropping multiple images easily, go to the Cropp.me official site and click on the Upload Your Images button.

Clicking on the upload button will prompt a file explorer to pop up. Select the photo or the multiple photos you want to crop and click upload. On the web screen, select the cropping size. You can select multiple sizes, or include your own size too.

The cropping process may take a while, but once cropping is complete, the thumb will be displayed at the right screen. Hover your mouse over the thumbnails to see options to edit or preview. ‘Uncheck’ the box to avoid a download of any particular image if you don’t like the cropped image.

Clicking on the Edit button will give you options to resize the cropped image, and change the cropped area. When satisfied, click Confirm.

If you had uploaded more than one photo for auto cropping, use the navigation button to change the thumbnails set for editing purpose;

Now when you have reviewed all results, click on Download All Cropps button to proceed with download.

Your download will start immediately in a compressed folder.

Unzip the downloaded file, and open the folder to find your images all cropped according to your preferred sizes.

Conclusion

With Cropp.me, you can now forget the hassle of cropping images one by one from your computer. Built specifically to crop images Cropp.me ‘knows’ the best areas to crop, so users like you and me can use the services without worrying of getting terrible results.

Related posts:

1. Copy and Extract Text From Images with GT Text [Quicktip]
2. How to Use Images in Facebook Chat Box [Quicktip]
3. 15+ Tools to Enhance Your Online Shopping Experience
4. 17 Online Data Backup & Synchronization Tools