Here’s something new… According to John Nack – official Adobe blogger – maliciously coded GIF files can cause crashes in Photoshop (I’m thinking other possible security risks as well).
There is a fix, however – so visit John Nack’s Blog to find the appropriate resolution to the problem:
http://blogs.adobe.com/jnack/2011/08/plug-in-security-fix-for-photoshop-cs5.html
A New Designer’s Salary survey indicates little to no salary growth in recent years, and a difficult time for graduating design students seeking regular employment. But then again, I’ve been saying all along that business is moving more and more towards contract and freelance workers (they have much less overhead). Disadvantage: less job stability (in an economy where stability is shaky at best anyway), no benefits, constant work search – Advantage: higher pay rates when you work, variety of jobs, you’re your own boss.
The article is referenced in a CreativeCow.com article:
http://www.creativepro.com/article/design-salary-survey-reflects-steady-volume-narrow-margins
An editor for CreativePro.com has written a great article about the much-debated lo-fi trend in today’s digital photography. I’ve always contested that, unless you’re shooting documentary photos, a lot of the artistry of good photography is to get an image that looks good, not necessarily that looks “real”. This article expands on that…
http://www.macworld.com/article/161514/2011/08/whywelovelofi.html
For web designers – this program offers the ability to create animated web content using HTML5, CSS3 and Javascript. Nice thing is, it’s a visual editor – no need to learn the coding (unless you like to tweak it). Free preview of the software available (but you need to log in with your Adobe ID)
Website Painter for Mac – I haven’t tried this yet, but it looks like a good product for people who want a quick website without having to learn too much technical stuff. I’ve read some pretty good reviews on it, and it’s seriously discounted for the next couple of days! (They make a Windows version too, but it doesn’t look like it’s discounted at this time)
Lions are beautiful animals – smart, strong, powerful. However, I’m not feeling that great about upgrading to the new Mac OSX 10.7 Lion. From what I read, it seems that some features on which I depend are going to be either completely deprecated, or won’t function at all in the way I want them.
However, I am NOT an early adopter – I don’t install version 1 of ANYTHING, especially an operating system. It’s my hope that by the time I do install it (probably around the .2 update), Apple will have addressed my needs for Address Book, and iCal, and will have maybe found a way to sell Rosetta as an addition to Lion – or at least for Parallels to devise a way for me to use my Snow Leopard installation in emulation, and have resolved some issues I already see as being against my personal interests to upgrade.
However, many of my clients ARE early adopters, and I get the phone calls to help bring them back, when they’re sorry for what they did. That’s great – thanks – I love the work! But, as I’ve mentioned to ALL my clients and students in the past, it’s IMPERATIVE to have a reliable “Cloned Backup” of their original startup disk.
This article addresses how one may go about resurrecting your Snow Leopard installation, if they don’t like Lion. It emphasizes the “Cloned Backup” idea quite strongly. A good read:
http://gigaom.com/apple/how-to-downgrade-from-lion-to-snow-leopard/
Okay, I’ve actually been a fan of the Mac Mini, for a great many of my clients. It’s small, you can attach any monitor, it had good processor speed, and could handle a decent amount of RAM – and it was cheap for a Mac.
They’ve announced the new Mini – with NO OPTICAL DRIVE! Sounds like they may be touting it for an Apple TV replacement with more features? Bad idea, Apple… 🙁
Here’s a quick review:
http://dealmac.com/features/Dear-Steve-Jobs-The-Mac-mini-Is-Crap/482596.html
One of the big complaints about InDesign CS5.5 – with all it’s hoo-ha about being so great for developing materials for the broadening range of devices – was that Adobe’d stopped shipping it with all the Templates they used to include!
Pre-created Templates are great for deconstructing and developing personal, creative designs without starting from scratch.
Today, InDesignSecrets.com has posted links to bunches of the original templates (they’ve used CS4’s versions) for free download. SO nice not to have to hand-make the CD label template again!
http://indesignsecrets.com/adobes-free-indesign-templates-now-available-at-indesignsecrets.php
Here’s a really good checklist for preparing yourself and your Mac to upgrade to Mac OSX 10.7 Lion, which went on sale today. Courtesy of Gigaom.com
http://gigaom.com/apple/mac-os-x-10-7-lion-install-checklist/
For iPhone – iSupr8 – This looks great. Just saw it listed – can’t wait to try it!