Shadows are such straightforward things: cast a light on an opaque object, and a shadow of it is thus born. Yet shadows can be manipulated to resemble entirely different shapes from its model, using clever and strategic manipulation of space and light. These amazing and cool artwork will make you look twice and ask yourself: how in the world did they do that?

(Image Source: Fred Eerdekens)

Admire the creative works of talented artists as they meticulously arrange their masterpieces. Here, we proudly present 40 Illusionary Shadow Arts – illusions of barbed wires and books, hanging acrylic pieces and jumbled up wooden mess. Prepare for some "what-the…" moments.

Typography Shadow Play. (Image Source: Typography Served)

Could Suggest Something. (Image Source: Fred Eerdekens)

Typography Shadow Play – HOW. (Image Source: Typography Served)

Men Ga Een Zachter Gang. (Image Source: Fred Eerdekens)

Tralalala. (Image Source: Fred Eerdekens)

Neo Deo. (Image Source: Fred Eerdekens)

A To Z. (Image Source: Kumi Yamashita)

City View. (Image Source: Kumi Yamashita)

Greenpeace: Keys. (Image Source: Ads of the World)

Greenpeace: Bulbs. (Image Source: Ads of the World)

Greenpeace: Junk mail. (Image Source: Ads of the World)

Taste the Lighter Side of Dark. (Image Source: Vitro)

Chair. (Image Source: Kumi Yamashita)

Akari. (Image Source: Kumi Yamashita)

Lovers. (Image Source: Kumi Yamashita)

Question Mark. (Image Source: Kumi Yamashita)

Shadow Dancing. (Image Source: Ed Jansen)

Point Gaurd. (Image Source: Larry Kagan)

Great Book. (Image Source: Larry Kagan)

The At Sign. (Image Source: Larry Kagan)

Poodle. (Image Source: Larry Kagan)

Horse Riding. (Image Source: Larry Kagan)

Ring. (Image Source: Chris Ten Eyck)

YOUNGMAN. (Image Source: Tim Noble & Sue Webster)

Relativity. (Image Source: Triantafyllos Vaitsis)

Freedom or Slavery?. (Image Source: Triantafyllos Vaitsis)

The Beginning of the End. (Image Source: Triantafyllos Vaitsis)

Sunset Over Manhattan. (Image Source: Tim Noble & Sue Webster)

Wasted Youth. (Image Source: Tim Noble & Sue Webster)

Dirty White Trash. (Image Source: Tim Noble & Sue Webster)

Dark Stuff. (Image Source: Tim Noble & Sue Webster)

Wild Mood Swings. (Image Source: Tim Noble & Sue Webster)

Plastik Portret. (Image Source: Rashad Alakbarov)

Fly to Baku. (Image Source: Rashad Alakbarov)

Looking At Two Cities from One Point of View. (Image Source: Rashad Alakbarov)

Woman. (Image Source: John Lewis)

Child. (Image Source: John Lewis)

Man. (Image Source: John Lewis)

Nova 96.9: Monkey. (Image Source: Ads of the World)

Fragments. (Image Source: Kumi Yamashita)

Related posts:

1. 36 Global Warming Awareness Posters [PICS]
2. 40 Cosplay Costumes That Will Blow You Away [PICS]
3. 43 Intricate Mind Map Illustrations
4. Retro Game Characters Invading Our Real Life [PICS]

One of my favorite new pieces in HTML5 is the ability to add Placeholder Text easily. The placeholder text is the grey text that you find in an input field that is used to give a hint to the users on what input is expected in that field. Once users start typing in the input field, this text will disappear.

In the old days, we commonly do this with JavaScript, as follows;

  <input type="text" value="Placeholder text"  onfocus="if(this.value=='Placeholder text')this.value='';"  onblur="if(this.value=='')this.value='Placeholder text';">  

There is nothing wrong with this practice, but it is easier on HTML5.

HTML5 introduced a new attribute with a logical name; placeholder. Here is an example:

  <input type="text" placeholder="Placeholder Text">  

If we view it on the browsers, the input should now have the grey text, as seen below;

A few things that should be noted: according to the specification, the placeholder attribute should not be used as an alternative to a label and it is also suggested that this attribute should only be applied to input types that require text, e.g. text, password, search, email, textarea and tel.

Adding placeholder to the input types: radio and checkbox will not make any difference.

Further Reading: Common Input Element Attribute

Placeholder & CSS

Furthermore, styling the placeholder text through CSS is also possible, but at the time of this writing is still limited to only Firefox and Webkit browsers.

The following example shows how we change the placeholder text to green both in Webkit and Firefox;

  input::-webkit-input-placeholder {  	color: green;  }  input:-moz-placeholder {  	color: green;  }  

Just to remember though, the ::-webkit-input-placeholder and :-moz-placeholder will only affect the text and cannot be written in parallel.

  input::-webkit-input-placeholder, input:-moz-placeholder {  	color: green;  }  

This piece of code won’t work.

Attribute Selector

CSS3 also came to support this attribute by introducing the [placeholder] attribute selector;

  input[placeholder] {  	border: 1px solid green;  }  

In the example above, we select every input that has the placeholder attribute and change the border to green.

Browser Compatibility

This new HTML5 feature unsurprisingly is not supported in old browsers and is currently only fully supported in: Firefox 4+, Chrome 4+, Safari 5+, Opera 11.6 and Internet Explorer 10 (which hasn’t been officially released yet).

Placeholder Polyfills

Nevertheless, if we need to display the placeholder in older browsers but still be able to use the placeholder attribute, we can use Polyfills. There are a lot of Placeholder Polyfills out there but in this example we are going to use the PlaceMe.js;

  <script src="jquery.js" type="text/javascript"></script>  <script src="placeme.js" type="text/javascript"></script>  

The PlaceMe.js, as you can see from the code snippet above, is dependent on jQuery. Now, if we view it in, for example, Internet Explorer 9 all the input should now display the placeholder text.

• View Demo
• Download Source

Final Thought

The HTML5 Placeholder attribute certainly makes adding placeholder text easier. Now it is up to us, web developers and designers, to choose which method to use: JavaScript or HTML5.

If you consider that using Polyfills and jQuery to support old browsers is redundant, then JavaScript is apparently more suited for the job. But if you can peacefully ignore the old browsers then using HTML5 Placeholder is probably a better way.

Related posts:

1. HTML5 Tutorial: Login Page with HTML5 Forms
2. A Look Into HTML5 Forms Input Types: Date, Color and Range
3. HTML5: How to Use <DETAILS> and <SUMMARY> Tags
4. CSS3 Attribute Selector: Targeting the File Type

You can do everything online these days, including having an online brainstorming sessions with colleagues or friends who you can’t meet up with in the flesh. But the problem with communicating online is how to keep track of what everyone’s saying.

If you want to take notes and catch up with the flow of the discussion, you’re going to need the right tool for it, or else it’s going to turn out like a badly managed meeting.

We’ve found a free service, Pinsi.de that works like an online pinboard or bulletin board.

Recommended Reading: Guide To Online Collaborations: Useful Tips, Tools & Apps

Using m

Go to Pinsi.de and register for an account. Even the sign-up form looks like a Post-It note!

From there you can create "Boards". This list of Boards can only be seen and accessed by you.

You can add notes to your Board by clicking the New Note button at the top menu bar. You can create multiple notes, move the notes around the board and arrange them on top of each other for better organisation.

Add an image to your note. You cannot upload images but you can provide a direct link to the image. There is also the option to notify other collaborators (if any) by email.

Add more information to your notes by typing into the box next to the word ‘Type’ on your existing note. Delete any information by clicking the X button next to the info you want to remove.

To delete a note, click on the X next to the words ‘By You’. As there is no back-up service, notes that are deleted will not be recoverable.

To make your Boards public, go to More… at the top menu bar and check the box next to ‘Make this Board Public’; add the members you want to include by typing in their email address.

You automatically become a moderator when inviting people to board, and you can view the list of members who have access to the Board. This also gives you the power to remove members by clicking on the X next to the name you want to remove.

Its use is similar to a bulletin board where everyone can add or remove information from a board in real-time and you can tell which collaborator has made changes to the board. Teams can use this as a to-do list or as a meeting agenda to keep everyone on the same page.

Conclusion

Pinsi.de is a fun and convenient way to gather all your ideas and notes in one central location for everyone to see. With the option to make your own board public, you do not have to invite everyone but rather just give them the link and they can view all your notes on your board.

Related posts:

1. 10 Ideas to Simplify Your Online Life
2. Guide to Online Collaborations: Useful Tips, Tools & Apps
3. Login / Registration Form: Ideas and Beautiful Examples
4. Online Meeting and Web Conferencing Tools – Best Of