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Changes Being Made

The last couple of years have been interesting. Covid has taught us all to live more frugal. In the creative software industry there have been many changes. Those changes have caused me to consider the costs and the time involved in being creative.

In October 2014 Serif software released Affinity Designer. The software has continued to get better, and they added Affinity Photo in 2015. In 2019 Serif added a full desktop publishing app called Affinity Publisher. Serif’s newest feature is Studio Link. It allows Affinity Publisher to work with Affinity Photo and Affinity Designer. This means that the Affinity suite is a very capable alternative to Adobe’s core apps. It’s also viable alternative for professionals seeking to break away from Creative Cloud.

This leads to the first big change. What I do is publications, web, and graphics design. The Affinity software suite is more than capable for my professional needs. That means that as of January 12, 2022 I will be canceling my Adobe CC subscription. I will also be moving my website from Adobe Portfolio to some other service. I will likely be changing web address as well. I will know more in January 2022.  I will be keeping a copy of Adobe Creative Suite 4 for those IDML files that Affinity Publisher cannot open.

The next change will be in time management. There are a lot of things I want to write about, but I don’t always have time. The rigidity of trying to schedule writing around work and artwork isn’t working. So I will be creating a new blog, somewhere other than Tumblr where new articles and artwork will live. That new blog will be part of my new website.

Over the next few months I will write a couple reviews on the new software I am using. I will also be posting guides to help people prep content for printers, and designers. 

Please check back for further updates.

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Happy Halloween

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Merry Christmas.

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Happy Valentines Day!!!

Title: Ready to dance?

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Merry Christmas.

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Merry Christmas

For me Christmas is about having fun with friends (which I usually do have fun with my friends) and being with my family (even when the water heater breaks down, and the Microwave catches fire … that literally happened by the way). I also enjoy eating a home-made dinner with my family which doesn’t happen often. Christmas is the one time I have a chance to do just that. So from me and mine to you and yours; Merry Christmas, and have a safe and Happy New Year.

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If My BLOGs are Purged

If my BLOGs get removed here is where you can find my work.

Website: http://www.neetdesigns.co

Deviant Art: https://www.deviantart.com/wer110

Behance: https://www.behance.net/wer110

Google+ (through August 2019 … not that much gets posted there anyway): https://plus.google.com/u/0/108673395921016019866

Twitter: https://twitter.com/wer110

Where I will go

For now I don’t think I will need to move my BLOGs, but if it comes down to having to move them, I will likely move Bill’s BLOG, Project-D and MacSwitch over to WordPress. My artwork is updated weekly on Deviant Art, Behance, and my private web site. I will also likely link Twitter to my BLOG, and my Behance artwork will also be posted to Twitter. If you want to get in touch with me, you can leave a message on Deviant Art or my web site.

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Ill Communication – Ill Social Networking?

Ill Communication was a series of articles I wrote for Project-D (likely this article will also end up there as well), the series of articles was about poor communications practices, and the problems with PR. In this post I have a question that I will get back to at the end of the article.

The results are in, and here they are. You are all lab animals, the Internet’s Social Networking sites are the labs, and the experiment is social engineering. And as your social practices and product preferences are being bought and sold as information to marketing companies and information brokers where said information is used to create marketing messages designed to sway you to buy something, vote for something, believe in something. Remember these three words “Hearts and Minds.” That’s what social networking has become. Engineering ways to sway people’s hearts and minds to do what corporations interest groups, news media, and politicians want you to do. So, back to that question. Understanding that Social Networking has changed the way that you communicate, and how companies market goods to you, do you really want to continue to use social networking sites like FaceBook and Twitter knowing that this is going on?

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Good Bye from Project-D

This is the last post from Project-D. I enjoyed talking about business and communication, but communication theory is complex, and I despise SEO (just look at what it did to our last election), and every communication problem I come across I must avoid because it runs right into the current political situation, and this is not a political BLOG. I want to draw and write about things that are fun to me (not that communications, business and design are not fun), but I also like gaming and computer technology, and I also like posting my artwork. In short, I will be working on other projects. This BLOG is not going to disappear, and maybe I will come back from time to time to post a blog, or the occasional article I come across to share. Thanks to those who have stuck with me over the last few years.

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A Timing Rant

I used to freelance over the Internet (I am kind of retired though), and I used to get calls at Midnight, or 5:00 AM because much like myself, some business owners work from the time they wake up till they go to bed. They sometimes forget to call during business or extended business hours calling early in the morning, or late into the night (like the time one of my clients called me over and over at 3:00 am because she was in Australia and didn’t even consider the time difference … and she hated talking to answering machines). I (to this day) try not to get too upset about the early morning or late-night calls. I guess that is just the bad timing pit-falls of being a freelancer.

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New, New, New

I need a new phone, but not a new-new phone. I understand the concept of newer is better, but the reality is that it just is not the case. Sure, we like our new super-fast LTE cellular data, and the 18:9 screens, the bezel-less designs (where do you hold it while you are watching a video), and let’s not forget the notch (love it or hate it). I need a phone. One with enough storage to hold some files, expandable storage, fast enough to run some apps, and enough memory so that the phone works smoothly. I just don’t want to pay $1000 or more for a cell phone that will last 2 to 3 years.

So I have set my sights set on a phone that is based on last years technology. It has bezels, the older 16:9 aspect ratio, last years flagship processor, and plenty of memory and storage. The benefit is that this phone has a good reliability rating, and most of the bugs have been corrected through firmware updates, meaning that the phone will be reliable for a couple years to come.

The newest tech usually seems to be overly pricey and problematic. It’s glitchy at best and broken at worst. Sometimes it’s just easier to buy a previous generation piece of technology that is a little more matured then the just released first generation. Buying previous gen hardware is also usually more reliable and stable meaning that you can implement a device with much less work and stress.

It just takes some research to decide whether an older previous generation product will do the job. We are all hung up on owning the newest, fastest, and most powerful. Instead of how fast it is or how cool it looks you should concentrate on what will do the job for the best price.

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Protecting Your Desktop Computer From Surges

Computers cost money. In many cases lots of money (the information on a computer is also nearly invaluable as well). That is why you need a UPS. An Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) is a surge suppressor with a large battery that keeps providing power to connected equipment giving you time to shut down your computer in the event of a power outage. In this brief article I will discuss how to choose a UPS for your desktop or laptop computer. Here is a list of computers, their uses, and the UPS you should purchase:

Laptop and Accessories - If you are trying to protect a laptop computer it already has a UPS in the form of your laptops battery, so you just have to protect the connected peripherals like on-line printers, scanners, and self-powered hard drives (not bus-powered hard drives like pocket hard drives) and networked hardware like modems, routers and NAS (Network Attached Storage) drives. For laptops and small desktop computers this you only need a small UPS that provides less than 300-Watts of power (less than 450 Volt Amps, VA for short), and provides between 10 to 20 Amps of surge protection which should be plenty to protect your laptop and accessories.

Midrange Desktop - If you are using a mid-range computer for writing, paperwork, and project management, the chances are good that the power supply in your system is rated at 450 Watts or less (lately laptops that are more energy efficient are usually tasked with this kind of work, if this is the case please read the previous bullet). Considering accessories, external drives, and such you will likely need a 600-Watt (1000 VA) UPS with an automated system shut down feature.

Design System - If you are an artist, designer, programmer, professional gamer, or animator your computers can be big and expensive, therefore drawing more power (650 Watts or more). protecting a more powerful desktop computer can be rather complex. For a computer like this your UPS should match your power supply and the accessories you want to protect, and it is usually a good idea to buy the largest UPS you can afford beyond your minimum requirements. But for a baseline you should look for a 750-Watt (1300VA) UPS with an automated system shut down feature.

Conclusion

UPS units can be expensive, but not nearly as expensive as a new computer, If you want to protect your technology investment an Uninterruptable Power Supply can be a near invaluable investment.

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A Few Days’ Time Can Feel Incredibly Short or Drudgingly Long

Tempus Fugit or time flies as we all know. When a project starts the perception of time is distorted. For instance, if a project is exciting it always seems like there is never enough time. If the project is doggedly boring it seems like old man time is riding on the back of a turtle stuck in a glue trap

Enjoying a job and running out of time due to wanting the project to be perfect

Sometimes when working on a project I will nerdly geek-out over what I am working on (time be darned), and under the idea of doing the job right, and showing off my skills I will take steps to go the extra mile. It’s projects like this where I pull together my creativity and do my best work. I always fear going over the project deadline though. In class it’s not really a money losing problem (I just lose 10 points out 100 per day, not that it ever happens … I am becoming a stickler for schedules), but In the real world I could lose money and clients so I really have to be careful with my time.

Dreading a boring project

Boring, monotonous, repetitive processing projects take forever. Usually projects where I must input a lot of data or fix coding problem on the pages of a web site can be mind numbingly slow, and the work just drags on. The perception comes from the monotony of a repetitive process. When I have projects like this I never seem to run out of time, in fact I often feel that the project can’t end fast enough.

Trying to balance production quality and time

Since I am all about high production quality within the projects allotted time I usually start with the requirements of the project. Ticking off the to do list one item at a time and working towards the projects conclusion. But if I am working on a project I really like I will do some extra work to create the best product I can. If time is tight I try my best to complete the project with the best quality possible.

Conclusion

It’s always a perspective problem. With fun projects that I can really sink my teeth into the time just flies by. With boring projects that seem to take forever with the clock slows down to a halt. Sometimes there is plenty of time to do a project, sometimes there is very little time to do a project. What is important is to keep an eye on the clock and keep the project on target for the client (or professor in my case as of late).

On that note I have written allot about scheduling and time management lately (mainly because of my heavy school workload), and I promise that this is the last one for a while.

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In Build Mode – A Rant

Well I am in work mode … I have 2 weeks left in my classes before the next session begins and I have 2 more classes. My sister calls it build mode (as in the line from Iron Man 2 “Jarvis we’re in build mode.”) because things get noisy when I get busy. My bedroom, office, and studio are 1 single 12’ X 15’ room. I live at home with my mother to help around the house, and to handle the day to day business like paying bills, helping cook meals … etc. Since everything is done in my room I have to move some furniture around based on the projects. When I am cleaning or repairing one of my computers, I fold up my easel or my drawing table, and put out a folding table to work on my Windows desktop computer or iMac, when I am painting (which doesn’t happen often) the drawing table gets swapped for my easel, the same does when I am drawing (which is the most common process).

Work habits adapt

Now I suppose that as my projects I could kick all of my sister’s stuff out of the bedroom next door (the second bedroom after you hit the top step) and move my office and studio there (there are three bedrooms on this floor, and she sleeps in the third one), but I would have to do that by the day while she is trying to sleep (she works evenings, and sleeps in in the morning). That would be much noisier, and it just seems like a better option to swap one piece of foldable furniture for another.

Schedules dictate the environment

Much to my sisters dismay I have projects to complete, and while my sister might be inconvenienced for the 15-minutes it takes for me to move a little bit of furniture around, she will just have to deal with the bit of noise, and briefly getting waken up at 11:00 am. My teachers and clients want what they want when they want it.

Conclusion

It’s all in the creative and production process … if a little noise needs to be created to get the job done, then so be it.

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One Big Bowl of the Pits … A Short Rant

My mother has a saying “Life is like a bowl of cherries but watch out for all the pits.” Usually I will add “What cherries, I just got the pits.” This week was just that … the pits. It was either cold and rainy, or hot and humid, I’m broke, and as with most years in June I have little work. If it wasn’t for the fact that I have terrible luck with vacations I would just lounge around like a champ, but when I have time off, I get hurt (no … seriously I messed up my knee on one vacation, hurt my back on another, and my last ended abruptly in a car accident).

Sunday was just the cherry-pit on top as I set up our new charcoal grill to grill some steak and realized that it was way too wet and damp to light with the natural wood coal with the materials at hand.

In freelancing sometimes you have slow periods, and you can get a bit depressed, Just keep your head up, keep track of expenses, relax a bit (a very little bit in my case), and use the time to improve your skills, and when things get to be a bit of a gloomy situation, go do something fun (just don’t try to grill in the middle of a rainy day).

Hopefully next week will be a better week, and maybe I will get a few cherries mixed in with that bowl of pits.

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You Will Need to Be Reeducated

You will need to be re-educated muuah-ha-ha (the evil toady laughed). You will be turned into a mindless servant of emperor Glax of the planet Plutox 5. Suddenly a glowing light engulfs the room and you are transported to a room with various instruments that seem alien in origin. A multi-armed alien being appears before you, attaching probes to your head and he turns to the console and clicks on a various sequence of switches to activate the machine. Suddenly your mind goes blank.

Wait, wait, wait … This is not the reeducation I am talking about. I am talking about re-learning your skills and adding to your education. Most of freelancing has to do with computer technology, and technology is ever evolving. Even artists need access to scanners, printers, and digitizer tablets, and the software used by these devices is updated constantly (Adobe CC seems to have some major updates each month).

You shouldn’t let your education lapse more than three to four years. Whether you take a class at a local college, pick up a class at the local community center, or read do self-study by reading books and using on-line tutorials.

Whichever way you choose your skills will improve, and you will become better at your trade, and more efficient in your work.

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In Honor of Veterans Day

In honor of Veterans Day there will be no article here on Project-D. I apologize about the lack of posts for the last couple of weeks. Things have been technically problematic over the last week … things have been sorted for the most part though, so it shouldn’t happen again (I hope anyway).

Americans in Strength

Americans in strength unite This union born in freedom’s light

United States, how sure we are We’ll pull together, near and far

The world can see of what we’re made Each state is of the highest grade

Determination, filled with pride Our people’s will won��t be denied

Our founding fathers set to stay The road we’ve traveled to this day

A quest for right cannot be wrong With help from God, we will stay strong

Support our troops ranks number one For the job they do is never done

When forced they put it on the line True patriots, when called they shine

Let’s raise Old Glory with a cheer And thank all soldiers, past and here

© 2002 Roger J. Robicheau