Online Magazine of Inspirations, Information, & Distractions for Digital Artists
Getting The Most of Wordpress' Media Library After a couple of years of faithfully using Dean's FCK Editor, we changed over to Tiny MCE Advanced Plugin- mostly because we wanted to take advantage of the new timthumb auto-thumbnailer coding of our new Arthemis Premium theme. (Though if I had read this post by Justin Tadlock, Boy Genius, I would have probably stuck with my Studiopress theme...) Tiny MCE Advanced Plugin This plugin adds 16 plugins to TinyMCE, WordPress’ wysiwyg … [Read more...]
I was looking at a 112mg error log last week and i discovered that almost all of the errors were related to long gone ping services. I was googling to find the lastest working ping list. It can be most frustrating trying to hunt down a list of current ping services. As of today, these are working. http://api.moreover.com/RPC2 http://blogsearch.google.com/ping/RPC2 http://ping.weblogalot.com/rpc.php http://ping.feedburner.com http://ping.syndic8.com/xmlrpc.php … [Read more...]
The new year introduced me to new vendors and reinforced my belief in 2 old ones: crossbrowsertesting.com, browsershots.org, polurnet.com, and arthemis premium wordpress theme. This is a story of great customer service. Arthemis Premium Wordpress Theme Some time last fall, i decided that i wanted to change the DigitalAppleJuice theme to Arthemis Premium wp theme by Colorlabs Project. I am still a huge fan of the Revolution- Studiopress themes- all my client themes are based on them … [Read more...]
As a designer, I often find myself having to manage content and graphics for my clients' new blog. I have to approach this with great care because, I admit it, my typing is abominable. Copy-Paste is my sword, my shield, my friend. I was recently mocking up a book cover for a client and i had to change the case of the title (as provided in an email) from Sentence Case to UPPERCASE. Easy enough when using MS Word but not so easy in Mail. Luckily I ran across a website called … [Read more...]
I've gotten a lot of e-mail lately asking why I haven't been updating my blog. Frankly it's because of two reasons: my business has kept me busier than a one-armed wall-paper hanger and my Macs have just worked. With my adjustment period from Windows to Mac firmly in the rear view mirror and a well rounded set of applications available for use, I haven't really had any issues to speak of. That is, until this last weekend when my MacBook Pro's battery decided to act … [Read more...]
If you are over shopping Black Friday's doorbusters and are now concentrating on buying your favorite technophile their gift of choice, Popular Science has published their PopSci Genius Guide to Tech Buying. (download from zinio) In case you don't feel like downloading the guide, topical excerpts are available on their website: Read Tech Buyer's Guide For Netbooks The PopSci Top Pick? HP Mini 311-1000NR 11.6-Inch Black Netbook Read Tech Buyer's Guide For … [Read more...]
Mustek Scan Express A3 1200 Pro USB Large Format Scanner is the most reasonably priced tabloid-size (11.7 x 16.5) scanner on that market at this time. It definitely outperforms expectations, especially at this pricepoint (i paid $167 at Amazon) though it should not be confused with the less-for-more Mustek ScanExpress A3 USB Flatbed Scanner The first scanner I ever bought way back in 1998 was also a tabloid sized scsi scanner by Epson for which I paid around $500- a hefty chunk of that … [Read more...]
I just found a Shareware program that had me reaching for my credit card within fifteen minutes of first downloading it to try out. From mooSoftware.com is TABLETDRAW® a simple drawing program that uses the pressure sensitivity of the various Wacom tablets to allow you to draw freely. It's a sketching and drawing program with the look of pencil, pen, or felt marker. It runs on Intel-based or PowerPC Macs and requires Mac OS X version 10.4 or later. Sorry, PC users, this one is Mac only. What … [Read more...]
LiteIcon by FreeMacSoftaware.net, is an easy-to-use app to change the system folders. Did I mention its free? I wouldn't normally go for pimping my desktop but I happen to be reading DesignSponge's Blog and found a desktop wallpaper I couldn't live without. The problem is that my desktop folders blend into the background now and, even after changing the label colors on the folders, its still all a little too much. Trying to find anything in any app using the Open> window would just make … [Read more...]
Keyword-targeted ads based on the content of a webpage can sometimes go wrong. It must be frightening for a New Media advertiser to realize that their product or brand is being advertised on a page that details allegations of its shortcomings. Gives new meaning to the term "negative advertising". JOE CHILDS and THOMAS C. TOBIN, staff writers of the St. Petersburg TImes, are writing a scathing expose of the "church" of Scientology. Based on extensive interviews with high … [Read more...]
The road from getting the color you see on the computer monitor to that you see on an inkjet print is a long and torturous path. What-you-see-is-what-you-get (WYSIWYG) is not what is going to happen with a printer right out of the box, your monitor, and bargin inkjet paper from the office supply store. Without taking time in this article to give you a background in additive color(projective color—ie: your monitor—color built with Red, Green, and Blue) and subtractive color(printed … [Read more...]
Developing for the iPhone is a bit of a shift for me; in more ways than one. I spent ten years climbing the career ladder towards bigger projects, bigger budget titles, bigger studios, etc. But when I found myself taking leave of the million dollar projects and high profile studios and joining up with a little 3 man startup iPhone app company, I had no idea the very next rungs on the ladder would be some of the most challenging and rewarding of my career. Now just before I … [Read more...]
