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Thoughts, ideas, discussions, and other “Cool Stuff”!

Adobe Announces Version CS5.5 – A Paid Upgrade

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Today Adobe Announces Version CS5.5. One year after opening sales on CS5, Adobe has announced a new paid version of their Adobe Creative Suite products. Version 5.5 includes upgrades to Acrobat (an upgrade which was announced earlier in the year, and for which many people have already paid separately), InDesign, Flash Catalyst, Flash Professional, Dreamweaver, Premiere, After Effects, Audition, Device Central and Media Encoder.

This paid upgrade offers many enhancements in it’s upgraded programs, and is focused on creation and delivery of media for the variety of devices (iPad, iPhone, etc) that are currently on the market.

As part of the Adobe Certified Community, Adobe has asked that I promote this upgrade, enthusiastically. And, for what it is, I do feel that it’s a very fine set of products, and for those of you who haven’t yet upgraded to CS5, this is an excellent upgrade. However, it is my opinion that those of us who have already forked out the cash for the CS5 upgrade, with no prior warning of Adobe changing their upgrade schedule or upgrade path, this is a hardship for private clients, small business clients, and corporate clients, and I can not give this the hearty endorsement Adobe requests. Please watch this space for additional editorial comments on this subject in the upcoming weeks and months.

For those of us who purchased Version CS5, there are no actual price breaks – this is being treated as a completely new version of the Creative Suite products, with pricing as listed for any new release, although a great many of the applications included are no further upgrade than the original CS5 versions (untouched versions include Photoshop, Illustrator, Fireworks, Contribute, Encore, and Bridge).

Adobe still offers regular purchase pricing, and upgrade pricing, but they’ve also instituted a “CS Subscriptions Pay As You Go” monthly subscription update plan. Prices for these plans range from $65/month to $195/month, depending on your CS package, and whether you commit on a per month, or annual basis.

For more information, please visit http://www.adobe.com/products/creativesuite.html

Local (San Fernando Valley) Volunteering Positions

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CreateNow is a non-profit organization partnering with The Phoenix House in order to create a 12-week program to help at-risk youth to develop the skills that they need in order to succeed after their treatment is complete.

Come in twice a week for four weeks to teach our kids how to design their artwork digitally, and help them along their path to recovery.

They currently have a need for Graphic Design Mentor, a Web Design Mentor, and possibly a Job Readiness (Business) Mentor during the months of April, May, and June respectively.

This is a great cause, and I heartily endorse your consideration of filling one of these positions.

Visit http://www.volunteermatch.org/search/opp816114.jsp for more information on the Graphic Design position (I’d fill it, but my schedule won’t allow it currently.

 

New, Unwanted, but Necessary Captcha

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See that image of letters at the bottom of the commenting space at the bottom of every post? That’s called a Captcha, which stands for “Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart”.

I know, they’re a pain in certain body parts, but they appear to be necessary. Despite my best efforts at trying to keep spam posts off my blog (All comments have had to go through me, before they’d show on the site), I’d started getting dozens of spam comments showing up daily – and I’m pretty sure the people reading my site aren’t interested in what they’re selling! 😉

So, apologies for the inconvenience, but this seems a necessary action to take, to ensure that those of you who want to post a legitimate comment, or ask a legitimate question gets heard.

I encourage you to use the comments area to post questions or requests, regarding computer training, specific programs, technical issues, and whatever else you want to say. Just, please be a person, and please don’t try to sell anybody any enhancements, any business deals, or any other bothersome stuff. I’m still watching…

 

Excellent Article on Mac OSX Password Security

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I get a lot of phone calls from Mac users who’ve forgotten their system password, or bought a computer for which they can’t reset the password. The security level for Mac password protection is good, but as with all computers, not unbreakable. There’s always a way…

This article explains some of the workarounds, and some of the best password security choices and strategies:

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-20047345-263.html

Making Selections with the Pen Tool in Photoshop

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From PhotoshopEssentials.com, a clear (if not lengthy) tutorial on using the insanely powerful pen tool.
http://www.photoshopessentials.com/basics/pen-tool-selections/

Don’t fear the Pen Tool!!!

If you find it too complicated, let me know, and I’ll make a little video tutorial or two to ease it up a bit.