Posts Tagged with ‘Technology’

And here's what we got:

A boy and his Kindle

Jan 14

So how was everyones Christmas? Good, I hope. Unless yours was anything like ours wherein the hot water and heating died on Christmas Day. We had to heat the place up with the stove tops. It was rustic.

Putting aside my moment of Little Tim, Theresa got me a present I’d have never thought to get myself. Hell, it was a gift I would have never guessed, as I’ve never exhibited that much outward desire for it. Now unless you’re not paying attention or you’re simple remedial, I am talking about the
Amazon Kindle.

Quickie: Tips to make Photoshop love you more

Mar 02

So recently on GraphicRiver, a forum thread came up that basically outlined the following: “PHOTOSHOP IS SO SLOW WHY GOD WHY?” In further investigation the author did admit he had some aging hardware, which really should be addressed.

For those of us – myself included – that cannot simply afford to drop good coin on a 9-dimensional quantum quad core extreme dx processor, 5 gigatonne atomic video card, and RAM the equivalent size and girth of China, we have to make do with what little things we can.

In this case I’ve come across a selection of little tweaks you can do to speed up Photoshop. Maybe not by a massive amount, but when you’re used to 10 seconds of lag, taking a couple seconds off that can make a huge difference. To your sanity, and to the survival of you and those near by.

And so I’ve opted to take them from that forum and post the tips here, complete with screenshots. I apologize in advance as these screens are done on my mac. The concepts should still be the same though.

Useful (mostly free) Mac Stuff

Jul 09

I’ve been using a MacBook for almost a year now – 10 months, but who’s counting – and I’ve come to appreciate the small section of Mac apps that are easy on my wallet. More so as I’m a poor student, any useful programs that I can use and not cost me money?

Perfect.

So without further delay, here is my giant list of (mostly) free mac apps.

Technology that Works: Dropbox

Jan 19

I’m a little late with this, but the joy of the Internet is that someone out there doesn’t know about what I’m talking about yet. I’ve been using Dropbox since the last day of their private beta. As soon as I had invites to give, they went public and my chance to look ahead of the curve went up in a tiny cloud of blue smoke.

Regardless, since using Dropbox I can only say that it does everything perfectly. If ever you could have a backup system for the lazy, the inexperienced, or the uninterested this would be it. I know that casts an odd light on Dropbox, but trust me when I say that it is probably the single most impressive piece of software/service that I have ever installed. I’ve commented on using Dropbox before, but now I’m going to get into it with more detail.

360 Degrees of Failure

Jan 06

I’ll preface this by saying that since getting my XBox 360, I’ve been enjoying it thoroughly. It works fairly well, It’s shiny, I can now play games from my bed, it treats me nicely. I know a lot of people will hate on me for getting a 360, what with the red ring of death issue, blah blah blah. I’ll say now that the Wii needs elbow room, the PS3 has absolutely nothing on it that I want to play (that’s a lie, Little Big Planet interests me greatly) and I don’t feel like having to repeatedly upgrade my computer just to play games that almost always come out for a console. I’m going for the hassle-free approach.

The irony in that statement will become apparent as you continue to read. It blows my mind how much effort and extra money all of this cost me.

Also it should be mentioned that the span of all of the following events took place over a week and a bit, because I was only at my home for about two days over the entire time-line.

An exercise in customer satisfaction

Sep 18

I joined a gym, and for a while I went there. I worked out at their facilities and found them clean, and brimming with machines and weights in which to sculpt my body. I used their exceptionally clean and well kept bathrooms and facilities. The staff was always courteous, the lighting great, the music well selected, and the food offered was healthy and scrumptious. They even had a clothing store where one could buy stuff 30% with the membership card, and a day car for those who dragged their children around.

All in all, a fantastic experience from a customer point of view. Everything scored 7/10 or higher (more often higher). So why am I angry with this chain? They dropped the ball in a key area: my leaving.

General Improvements

Sep 04

Holy hell, a personal post! You know what that means everyone: Corey doesn’t have anything specific to write about, but is guilt-ridden enough to write something in an attempt to rid himself of the self-loathing that he’s now feeling.

Thankfully, I’ve got enough random crap to talk about, that it will actually seem like I’ve somehow planned this post. I should at least be able to get back to my regular schedule for posting stuff now that I’m in school (somebody quote me on this when I’m studying my brains out and abandon the schedule once again.)

Side note: Do you say “skedual” or “scheduel”? I found that after watching far too much Doctor Who over the years that I’ve been converted to saying “scheduel” instead of skedual.” Ruined me, I tell you.

Deezer vs. Last.fm

Aug 11

I’ve found myself using online music sources when I’m not around my home computer or too lazy to plug in my iPod. I’ve found myself going between two different programs: Last.fm and Deezer.com.

Both have pros and cons, and I felt that it’d make a good article to compare my findings and contrast the two services. I’m not going to gives scores, because comparisons like this are subjective. I’ll let the readers come to their own conclusions.

My new MacBook is so… white

Jul 31

Seriously, it’s so white that it actually seems to give off light itself. It stands out so harshly against the rest of my room because it looks so clean and minimal. It’s like a work of art sitting on top of a rubble pile in Chernobyl. It’s so clean and pristine that I feel like I’m sullying it every time I lay my grubby fingers on it.

Some of you may be wondering why I’d now be a Mac owner. Those of you who know me know that I’ve never been a fan of Macs generally speaking. I find them overly simple, their mouse scares and distrubes me, they have some extra keys, and Mac users tend to be just so damned snooty. Have I sold out?

Designapalooza – Part Seven

Jun 05

This is the seventh and final part in an ongoing series of articles that depicts my process to becoming a graphic designer. I will reiterate that this is not a sure-fire guide on how to become one, but merely my process which I am sharing to the general public.

Though this is the last article of this particular series, trust me when I say there will still be many more.