Web Design Resource List

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Web Design

A List Apart :: A website for web designers

UI Pattern factory

DesignCrux

Why use CSS-Based Design (beginners, read this first)
http://vandelaydesign.com/blog/css/why-use-css-based-design/#more-12

Learning HTML and CSS (super FREE tutorial)
http://www.boogiejack.com/html_tutorials.html

Great info on sprites and CSS

Tutorial on AJAX

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CSS LAYOUTS (no need to reinvent the wheel)

http://960.gs/
http://www.blueprintcss.org/

http://www.oswd.org/
http://blog.html.it/layoutgala/

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CSS HACKS (making your design work in IE 6)

Use this on all your pages: http://code.google.com/p/ie7-js/

<!--[if lt IE 7]>
<script src="http://ie7-js.googlecode.com/svn/version/2.0(beta3)/IE7.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<![endif]-->

Here is why: http://dean.edwards.name/IE7/

or
http://www.javascriptkit.com/dhtmltutors/csshacks.shtml
http://www.webcredible.co.uk/user-friendly-resources/css/css-tricks.shtml

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CSS RESOURCE LIST (everything you need in one list, these guys are the best)
http://vandelaydesign.com/blog/design/resources-simplify-design/

http://sixrevisions.com/tools/20_web_development_tools/

Great resource for front end web developers:

23 print-ready cheat sheets for HTML/HTML, CSS, and JavaScript:

http://sixrevisions.com/resources/cheat_sheets_web_developer/

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CSS Charts

http://sixrevisions.com/css/css_techniques_charting_data/

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Video

Download Helper :: This is the best free video download tool out there!!!!

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FLASH Resources

Easy FLASH/XML gallery’s

http://slideshowpro.net/

http://www.flashnifties.com/xml_gallery.php

http://flashkit.com

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Flash Templates

http://www.ohmyflash.com/

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Hosting Designed for Developers

http://www.crystaltech.com/

Great review of e-commerce solutions:

http://blog.webdistortion.com/2008/05/03/9-kick-ass-open-source-e-commerce-platforms-reviewed/

Great review of CMS options available:

http://blog.webdistortion.com/2008/05/17/13-free-cms-options-for-web-design-professionals/

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Orgs:

Web Girls

http://www.webgrrls.com

http://smartexperience.org/

The Interaction Design Association is a member-supported organization committed to serving the needs of the international interaction design community. http://www.ixda.org/

AIGA, the professional association for design, is the place design professionals turn to first to exchange ideas and information, participate in critical analysis and research and advance education and ethical practice. http://www.aiga.org/

UX Book Club NYC  http://uxbookclub.org/doku.php?id=new_york_city

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Inspiration:

Here is a link to a speech at the Web 2.0 expo by Gary Vaynerchuk, founder of the Wine Library. It was very inspirational.

http://tinyurl.com/4y5wfg

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CSS Common Mistakes

http://nettuts.com/articles/web-roundups/are-you-making-these-10-css-mistakes/
I just found a post with lots of resources and inspirations for designers

http://twurl.nl/0z8afs

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File Conversion

http://www.zamzar.com/

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FYI

SVG this has a great explanation of the difference between bitmap and vector graphics.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scalable_Vector_Graphics

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Stock Images

My favorite is stock image site is  istockphoto.com because it has the best collection of vector illustrations out there.

However if you need design elements, or to quickly make a prototype for the web go to www.scrapblog.com

I LOVE scrapblog! It’s not high rez enough for print, but for the web it is perfect. I’ve started doing prototypes in scrapblog because it’s so fast and easy. If you dont know about scrapblog, go there now.  They won an award from Adobe for best web application.  I can say enough about this wonderful site.

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Content Management Systems

Joomla

Drupal

New Template builder for CMS :: WordPress, Drupal, Joomla

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eCommerce

PayPal

Amazon

Newtek Cart

Follow the Money!!! Our Confusing Economy, Explained

If you listened to the NPR Fresh Air article I posted in January, it predicted this crash.

This article is about how deregulation in investment banking has damaged our economy.

IF YOU WANT TO KNOW THE TRUTH, FOLLOW THE MONEY!!!! Please listen to this article!!!!

Our Confusing Economy, Explained

[39 min 8 sec]

Fresh Air from WHYY, April 3, 2008 · Perplexed by the U.S. economy? You’re not alone. Law professor Michael Greenberger joins Fresh Air to explain the sub-prime mortgage crisis, credit defaults, the shaky future of other types of loans and what we can expect from the U.S. financial markets.

Greenberger is a professor at the University of Maryland School of Law and the director of the University’s Center for Health and Homeland Security.

Now watch this video from August of 2007! This guy was trying to get everyone to wake up. This is how upset you should be! So put down the anti-depressants, booze, cake, TV and DO SOMETHING!!!!!! VOTE AGAINST THE BAILOUT!!!!!! CALL YOUR REPS NOW!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOVXh4xM-Ww

at least look at this chart.

http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2008/09/28/weekinreview/20080928_MARSH_GRFK.html?scp=1&sq=federal%20rescues&st=cse

Now read this…

This explains the default swap deregulation problem.

http://jtaplin.wordpress.com/2008/09/16/why-aig-matters/

Wall street and Washington have been in bed together for too long! We have let these bozos take advantage of our ignorance and apathetic attitudes for too long!!!!

Now we are all suffering. This is bigger than the presidental election, because they are all on the same team!  They don’t care about you, your jobs, your family, your rights or this nation. All they care about is money. We have to get rid of them all and force them to represent our wishes.

And another article about Phil Gram!

http://discuss.epluribusmedia.net/node/1915

Sarah Palin Bags a Big One

This is the BEST political illustration I’ve seen in a while!!!!

Sarah Palin Bags a Big One
Posted by Zina Saunders at 12:01 pm on September 10th

Sarah in her natural habitat.

Here’s another Sarah Palin piece I’ve just done for the Women’s Work show here on Drawger.

Facts About New Jersey

Facts about NJ

If you’ve ever lived in Jersey or nearby …you’ll appreciate this!!!

New Jersey is a peninsula.

Highlands, New Jersey has the highest elevation along the entire eastern seaboard, from Maine to Florida.

New Jersey is the only state where all of its counties are classified as metropolitan areas.

New Jersey has more race horses than Kentucky.

New Jersey has more Cubans in Union City (1 sq mi.) than Havana, Cuba.

New Jersey has the densest system of highways and railroads in the US.

New Jersey has the highest cost of living.

New Jersey has the highest cost of auto insurance.

New Jersey has the highest property taxes in the nation.

New Jersey has the most diners in the world and is sometimes referred to as the “Diner Capital of the World.”

New Jersey is home to the original Mystery Pork Parts Club (no, not Spam): Taylor Ham or Pork Roll.

Home to the less mysterious but the best Italian hot dogs and Italian sausage w/peppers and onions.

North Jersey has the most shopping malls in one area in the world, with seven major shopping malls in a 25 square mile radius.

New Jersey is home to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.

The Passaic River was the site of the first submarine ride by inventor John P. Holland.

New Jersey has 50+ resort cities & towns; some of the nation’s most famous: Asbury Park, Wildwood, Atlantic City, Seaside Heights, Long Branch, Cape May.

New Jersey has the most stringent testing along our coastline for water quality control than any other seaboard state in the entire country.

New Jersey is a leading technology & industrial state and is the largest chemical producing state in the nation when you include pharmaceuticals.

Jersey tomatoes are known the world over as being the best you can buy.

New Jersey is the world leader in blueberry and cranberry production (and here you thought Massachusetts?)

Here’s to New Jersey – the toast of the country! In 1642, the first brewery in America opened in Hoboken.

New Jersey rocks! The famous Les Paul invented the first solid body electric guitar in Mahwah, in 1940.

New Jersey is a major seaport state with the largest seaport in the US, located in Elizabeth. Nearly 80 percent of what our nation imports comes through Elizabeth Seaport first.

New Jersey is home to one of the nation’s busiest airports (in Newark), Liberty International.

George Washington slept here. Several important Revolutionary War battles were fought on New Jersey soil, led by General George Washington.

The light bulb, phonograph (record player), and motion picture projector, were invented by Thomas Edison in his Menlo Park, NJ, laboratory.

We also boast the first town ever lit by incandescent bulbs.

The first seaplane was built in Keyport, NJ.

The first airmail (to Chicago) was started from Keyport, NJ.

The first phonograph records were made in Camden, NJ.

New Jersey was home to the Miss America Pageant held in Atlantic City.

The game Monopoly, played all over the world, named the streets on its playing board after the actual streets in Atlantic City.

And, Atlantic City has the longest boardwalk in the world, not to mention salt water taffy.

New Jersey has the largest petroleum containment area outside of the Middle East countries.

The first Indian reservation was in New Jersey, in the Watchung Mountains.

New Jersey has the tallest water-tower in the world. (Union, NJ!!!)

New Jersey had the first medical center, in Jersey City.

The Pulaski SkyWay, from Jersey City to Newark, was the first skyway highway.

NJ built the first tunnel under a river, the Hudson (Holland Tunnel).

The first baseball game was played in Hoboken, NJ, which is also the birthplace of Frank Sinatra.

The first intercollegiate football game was played in New Brunswick in 1889 (Rutgers College played Princeton).

The first drive-in movie theater was opened in Camden, NJ, (but they’re all gone now!).

New Jersey is home to both of “NEW YORK’S” pro football teams!

The first radio station and broadcast was in Paterson, NJ.

The first FM radio broadcast was made from Alpine, NJ, by Maj. Thomas Armstrong.

All New Jersey natives: Sal Martorano, Jack Nicholson, Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi, Jason Alexander, Queen Latifah, Susan Sarandon, Connie Francis, Shaq, Judy Blume, Aaron Burr, Joan Robertson, Ken Kross, Dionne Warwick, Sarah Vaughn, Budd Abbott, Lou Costello, Alan Ginsberg, Norman Mailer, Marilynn McCoo, Flip Wilson, Alexander Hamilton, Whitney Houston, Eddie Money, Linda McElroy, Eileen Donnelly, Grover Cleveland, Woodrow Wilson, Walt Whitman, Jerry Lewis, Tom Cruise, Joyce Kilmer, Bruce Willis, Caesar Romero, Lauryn Hill, Ice-T, Nick Adams, Nathan Lane, Sandra Dee, Danny DeVito, Richard Conti, Joe Pesci, Joe Piscopo, Joe DePasquale, Robert Blake, John Forsythe, Meryl Streep, Loretta Swit, Norman Lloyd, Paul Simon, Jerry Herman, Gorden McCrae, Kevin Spacey, John Travolta, Phyllis Newman, Anne Morrow Lindbergh, Eva Marie Saint, Elisabeth Shue, Zebulon Pike, James Fennimore Cooper, Admiral Wm.Halsey,Jr., Dave Thomas (Wendy’s), William Carlos Williams, Ray Liotta, Robert Wuhl, Bob Reyers, Paul Robeson, Ernie Kovacs, Joseph Macchia, Kelly Ripa, and, of course, Francis Albert Sinatra and “Uncle Floyd” Vivino.

Bob Meade adds: The Great Falls in Paterson, on the Passaic River, is the second highest waterfall on the East Coast of the US.

You know you’re from Jersey when . . .

You don’t think of fruit when people mention “The Oranges.”

You know that it’s called Great Adventure, not Six Flags.

A good, quick breakfast is a hard roll with butter.

You’ve known the way to Seaside Heights since you were seven.

You’ve eaten at a diner, when you were stoned or drunk, at 3 A.M.

You know that the state isn’t one big oil refinery.

At least three people in your family still love Bruce Springsteen, and you know the town Jon Bon Jovi is from.

You know what a “jug handle” is.

You know that WaWa is a convenience store.

You know that the state isn’t all farmland.

You know that there are no “beaches” in New Jersey–there’s the shore–and you don’t go “to the shore,” you go “down the shore.” And when you are there, you’re not “at the shore”; you are “down the shore.”

You know how to properly negotiate a circle.

You knew that the last sentence had to do with driving.

You know that this is the only “New” state that doesn’t require “New” to identify it (try . . . Mexico . . . York ..! . . Hampshire– doesn’t work, does it?).

You know that a “White Castle” is the name of BOTH a fast food chain AND a fast food sandwich.

You consider putting mayo on a corned beef sandwich a sacrilege.

You don’t think “What exit?” is very funny.

You know that people from the 609 area code are “a little different.” Yes they are!

The Jets-Giants game has started fights at your school or local bar.

You live within 20 minutes of at least three different malls.

You refer to all highways and interstates by their numbers.

Every year you have at least one kid in your class named Tony.

You know the location of every clip shown in the Sopranos opening credits.

You’ve gotten on the wrong highway trying to get out of the mall.

You know that people from North Jersey go to Seaside Heights, and people from Central Jersey go to Belmar, and people from South Jersey go to Wildwood. It can be no other way.

You weren’t raised in New Jersey–you were raised in either North Jersey, Central Jersey or South Jersey.

You don’t consider Newark or Camden to actually be part of the state.

You remember the stores Korvette’s, Two Guys, Rickel’s, Channel,

Bamberger’s and Orbach’s.

You also remember Palisades Amusement Park.

You’ve had a boardwalk cheese steak and vinegar fries.

You start planning for Memorial Day weekend in February.

And finally . . .

You’ve NEVER, NEVER NEVER, EVER pumped your own gas.

Brenda Kato’s Art Show at TenEleven Tavern 10-4-08

I’m having an art show at Ten-Eleven Tavern
Saturday, October 4th, 6PM, Lower East Side
171 Avenue C New York, NY 10009

Come see my scratch board illustrations and new batiks!

Click here to see my fine art.

Web Design Resources

Great resource for front end web developers:

23 print-ready cheat sheets for HTML/HTML, CSS, and JavaScript:

http://sixrevisions.com/resources/cheat_sheets_web_developer/

77 Resources to Simplify Your Life as a Web Designer

http://vandelaydesign.com/blog/design/resources-simplify-design/

Hosting Designed for Developers

http://www.crystaltech.com/

THE DUALITY OF HUMANITY New Works by Shepard Fairey

SEPTEMBER 13TH, 2008

THE DUALITY OF HUMANITY
New Works by Shepard Fairey

Opening Reception – September 13th, 7-10pm
Exhibition Dates – September 13th – October 4th

White Walls Gallery
835 Larkin Street
San Francisco, CA 94109
415.931.1500
www.whitewallssf.com

Over 100 pieces will go on display at White Walls in a timely new show titled “The Duality of Humanity.” The show marks an evolution for the artist, whose unique form of reverse propaganda emerged from the spirit of the punk movement. With this show, Shepard touches upon, but also goes beyond the ‘calls to action’ against mindless consumerism and war evidenced in previous shows like Nineteeneightyfouria, E Pluribus Venom and Imperfect Union. “The difference between this show and the previous ones is that now the optimism of a potential  Obama presidency is in the mix,” Shepard said. His recent work reflects his own personal shift towards a new optimism, a direct result of his involvement with, and inspiration by, the powerful political ideals of Barack Obama.

The title of the show, “The Duality of Humanity,” is inspired by the peace-sign wearing US soldier in Vietnam, ‘Joker,’ in Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket. Fairey sees a strong parallel between the Vietnam war and the Iraq war. Fairey says that this show addresses  the “human struggle between good and bad, hope and fear”. One of the show’s central pieces is a child with a gun in his hand and a flower in his hat. The theme of soldiers and weapons bearing peace signs, or peace signs comprised of military effects, runs through many pieces in the show. Environmental themes also appear in some pieces, illustrating the tenuous balance between our dangerously uncontrolled consumption of non-renewable resources, and our well intentioned eco-concerns. Suffering and hope are seamlessly merged in a visual mash-up that defies expectations and easy answers.

“The Duality of Humanity” includes larger mixed media pieces on canvas and paper that have been covered with carefully collaged ephemera, self-printed patterns and found clippings from printed media. The backgrounds provide a seductive painterly texture and visual subtext, often allowing apropos words and images to bleed through the iconic images printed and painted over them. The multiple layers create a sense of depth, but also bring in temporal elements through preserved newsclippings, historic images and vintage printing effects. It is the images in the foreground, however, that give the work its power. They are crisp and provocative, communicating in a way that is direct and clear.

For Info please visit www.whitewallssf.com

---

PARTY FOR CHANGE SAN FRANCISCO & AFTERPARTY FOR DUALITY OF HUMANITY EXHIBITION

Z-TRIP x SHEPARD FAIREY x DJ PLATURN

SEPT 13TH @ MILK BAR

Starts at 9pm  /  21+  /  $20 – Proceeds go to the OBAMA Campaign

THE MILK BAR
1840 HAIGHT STREET
SAN FRANCISCO
415.387.MILK (6455)
www.MILKSF.com

WWW.OBEYGIANT.COM

The Smile Project by Bren Bataclan

I was lucky enough to catch the artist in the act of spreading smiles in NYC by leaving his paintings all around the city. As I was coming down the escalator at the Port Authority I saw a man with a bag of small paintings. He leaned one against the wall and stood back and took a photo of it with his iphone. Since I have not learned not to talk to strangers, I asked him what he was doing. He told me about his “Smile Project” and said I could have the painting. So I gave him some of my artwork and told him that I too was an artist. He took a photo of me holding his painting and showed me his website on his iphone. Bren is super nice and cool.

Each painting is of a smiling cartoon character with a dome shaped head, one large round eye, one small round eye, two antennas and a big grin. The note attached to the painting says “this painting is yours if you promise to smile at random people more often”. Go to Bren Bataclan’s website www.bataclan.com to see his “Smile Project” across the world. He has been all over spreading cheer! SMILE NYC! 09-09-08

CANNON BALLS !!! DID YOU KNOW THIS ?

CANNON BALLS !!! DID YOU KNOW THIS ?  
It was necessary to keep a good supply of cannon balls near the cannon
on old war ships. But how to prevent them from rolling about the deck
was the problem. The best storage method devised was to stack them as
a square based pyramid, with one ball on top, resting on four, resting
on nine, which rested on sixteen.
Thus, a supply of 30 cannon balls could be stacked in a small area
right next to the cannon. There was only one problem -- how to prevent
the bottom layer from sliding/rolling from under the others.
The solution was a metal plate with 16 round indentations, called, for
reasons unknown, a Monkey. But if this plate were made of iron, the
iron balls would quickly rust to it. The solution to the rusting
problem was to make them of brass - hence, Brass Monkeys.
Few landlubbers realize that brass contracts much more and much faster
than iron when chilled.  Consequently, when the temperature dropped
too far, the brass indentations would shrink so much that the iron
cannon balls would come right off the monkey.
Thus,it was quite literally, cold enough to freeze the balls off a
brass monkey. And all this time, you thought that was just a vulgar
expression, didn't you? You must send this fabulous bit of historical
knowledge to at least a few uneducated friends....just as I did!

NY Photographer Detained in Beijing

This makes me sick! Communist China SUX!

NY Photographer Detained in Beijing

Documentary maker spends six days in captivity during Beijing Olympics

By Tim McDevitt
Epoch Times Staff Sep 3, 2008

Share: Facebook Digg del.icio.us StumbleUpon

Related articles: United States > Northeast

DETAINED: East Village resident Jeff Rae traveled to China to photograph protest activities held by Students for a Free Tibet. He was detained and interrogated for six days and released after the closing ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics. ((Courtesy Students for a Free Tibet))

NEW YORK—When Jeffrey Rae, a 28-year-old East Village resident and communications worker for local labor unions was approached by Students for a Free Tibet (SFT) to go to China during the Olympics to document a series of planned protests, he agreed. Little did he know that he was about to get a first-hand look at the intolerance of China’s security forces when dealing with public protests.

SFT had planned a series of protests during the Beijing Olympics and wanted to be sure that the protests would be documented, and make it out of China to the press.

Rae was educated as a photojournalist at Rochester Institute of Technology. He had previously traveled to Mexico with fellow documentarian Brian Conley after their mutual friend, also a documentary filmmaker, had allegedly been murdered by local police.

Rae agreed to go to China even though he had not been involved in previous Tibetan activities. “To be honest, I really didn’t know much about Tibet,” said Rae. But he agreed to go, he said, “Mainly because I’m very concerned with freedom of the press, and from what they told me, no one was going to cover them because it’s too dangerous.”

“I knew they were taking a risk doing what they were going to do, and it’s important that it be captured,” said Rae.

Going to China

With plane tickets purchased by SFT, Rae and Conley set off to China on Aug. 9. They were to be contacted by phone when they arrived in Beijing. Rae received a phone call once he was in China informing him that a protest was to be held at the Ethnic Minorities Park in Beijing on Aug. 13.

At the park, a group of about a half dozen pro-Tibet Westerners flew a “Free Tibet” banner from a building in the park and then locked their bicycles together at the park entrance. They chanted “Free Tibet” while holding a banner stating “Tibetans are Dying for Freedom” and wearing “Free Tibet” T-shirts. Rae was able to successfully photograph the event without disruption. He then uploaded the photos for SFT members to access.

PROTEST IN BEIJING: Students for a Free Tibet displayed a banner in the Ethnic Minorities Park in Beijing on Aug. 13. (Jeffrey Rae)

He and Conley spent a few days being tourists in Beijing. Then Rae received another call to meet at CCTV (the state-run Chinese television network) for another planned protest. He was to arrive at 5:45 a.m. on the appointed day but arrived about 15 minutes early and felt conspicuous as the lone Westerner out on the streets so early in the day.

Rae decided to circle the block. He said he was followed by a police car traveling at walking speed for “about a quarter of a mile” and, consequently, he missed the event. It was another pro-Tibet banner being displayed from CCTV headquarters.

On Aug. 18, Rae received instruction to meet at the “Pass by Bar,” a restaurant in the Dong Cheng District of Beijing. At the restaurant, said Rae, “a number of people came and left, some talked about what they were going to do.” All of the protesters were Westerners. At about 1 a.m., Rae was still at the restaurant with two others; Conley had returned to their hotel earlier in the evening.

“It was kind of eerie,” said Rae. “We were being hurried out of the restaurant and then when we got outside the streets were completely empty.”

“When we got to the corner of the main street, there were about 40 police officers waiting for us, and a bunch of people with video and still cameras … Later I was told by someone in the detention center that we were on CCTV,” said Rae. The police apprehended the three men—Rae, Tom Grant, and James Powderly—and demanded their passports and cell phones.

Apprehended and Interrogated

They were taken to a nearby hotel and interrogated separately in basement conference rooms. After a 20-minute interrogation, they were then transported to another hotel at about 2:00 a.m. They were then subjected to a 22-hour interrogation until the following night at about midnight.

Rae described his main interrogator as a male police officer in his 30s with bad teeth and a mean streak. He shouted into Rae’s face in Chinese; his questions were then translated into English for Rae.

“They wanted every detail of every day I had been in China” … They wanted to know who I had sent photos to,” and mostly they wanted the passwords to Rae’s cell phone and laptop, which he had locked with password protection.

“The fact that we were creating content pictures or video and then distributing that content—that to them was a far worse crime then anybody who had dropped a banner or held a sign.”

Rae refused to give the police the passwords, which made them very angry. One interrogator stood menacingly in front of Rae with a steel bar in his hand. He also hit him on the shoulder with an open hand. “I don’t want to exaggerate what happened,” said Rae, “but after having been awake so long, it’s difficult to get hit like that.”

At one point, Rae asked his interrogator what was going to happen to him. “We’re not sure if we want to slit your throat or shoot you,” was the answer he was given.

Detention Center

After the 22-hour interrogation, Rae was made to sign and fingerprint every page of a 45-page document that was all in Chinese. He and the others were then driven to the Chong Wen detention center about 30 minutes away. They were kept in separate cells and made to wear prison uniforms of red T-shirts and red shorts. The police told him he was not in a jail, that it was “just a detention center.”

Rae was mixed in with the general population of prisoners—about a dozen people in a cell with narrow wooden platforms as beds, all pushed up against a wall. When they slept, it was shoulder-to-shoulder. He was given a military blanket that reeked of urine and a dirty plastic bowl and spoon for meals. Potable water was made available to the prisoners for only 15 minutes a day. Rae scrounged an empty plastic soda bottle to store water in for the day.

One of his cellmates was a Chinese national who was sentenced to one year for scalping tickets to the Olympics.

Another was a young man named Yi, who Rae says was 22 years old. Yi is a Falun Gong practitioner and was arrested after Falun Gong literature was confiscated from his office.

“This is the most innocent thing ever. The majority of the time, he just sat there and meditated. The most peaceful person there,” described Rae. “This guy did absolutely nothing wrong except they found some literature in his office.”

“Yi spoke English very well. He was being given a two-year sentence at a labor camp. He teared up when he told me about it, and he was very scared. He knew that many people are tortured and die in that labor camp. The next day the guards came and took Yi away,” said Rae.

That was the last time he saw Yi. “He was going to be sent somewhere where he could be tortured and die,” said Rae.

Most days while in detention, Rae was taken to a small room after breakfast. The room had a steel chair that bolted to the floor and a steel bar that locked across his waist. The chair was behind bars, and outside the bars was a desk where a police officer sat across from him and interrogated him for most of the day. Rae was told that he had “hurt the feelings of all Chinese people” and was made to sign an apology for what he had done.

Rae’s detention lasted six days. When he asked to speak to someone from the American embassy, he was told, “Your embassy doesn’t want to see you—you are engaged in political activity, and they don’t want any part of that.”

Rae did not see anyone from the U.S. Embassy for four days. When he did, it was in an air-conditioned room “and in the nicest chair I had sat in China. It was super cushy and if that’s the only place you saw at the detention center, it would create the illusion that it was not such a bad place,” said Rae.

On Aug. 24 , after the closing ceremony of the Olympics, Rae and his colleagues were taken to the airport and made to buy $2,000 plane tickets home, even though they already had plane tickets. Rae refused to make the purchase of $4,000.00 for himself and Conley (Conley had no credit card), and the police physically forced Rae to sign the credit card charge or be taken back to the detention center.

Of his experience in China, Rae says, “As far as our treatment went, it was nothing compared to what some of the other people were facing. I met a Philippine man who spoke pretty good English. He was punched repeatedly in the face during his interrogation.”