Archive for October, 2011

Still using an old version of Quark XPress?

Still using an old version of Quark XPress?

Quark XPress 9If you’re still using an old version of Quark XPress, and flat-out refuse to move to Adobe InDesign (why?), you’re in luck. You can upgrade to the latest version of Quark XPress 9, no matter what version you currently own, for only $299. A smoking deal, really. There are a few stipulations of course. You must be able to provide a valid serial number for a full version of XPress (non-profit and education versions are not accepted), and the offer ends on December 31, 2011.

Quark XPress 9 features new tools to help make publishing to the iPad and other tablets easy. At least, that’s what they claim. I haven’t used XPress since the late 90s, so I can’t comment on its feature set.

10/31/2011 Read More
Raven: Site-specific browsing on the Mac

Raven: Site-specific browsing on the Mac

Raven is a site-specific web browser that allows you to be more productive by creating a dedicated browsing instance for each one of your web apps, such as Google+, Facebook, Twitter, CNN, YouTube, and many more.

Raven

Raven offers site-specific browsing, putting the features of the
sites you interact with the most easy to access and use

Raven is not a standard web browser to replace Safari, Chrome or Firefox, though you easily could if you wished. Instead it focuses on improving the experience on the sites you interact with the most. For instance, clicking on the Twitter icon in the left sidebar slides open the controls for Tweets, DMs, @Replies and Search for easy access. The controls available depend on what each site offers.

Think of Raven as the Mac OS X Twitter app, only for a plethora of social and news sites. Raven offers bookmarking to Instapaper, a smart bar, history, and even a toolbar icon that loads the mobile version of the site right in the Raven browser window – so you can view the site just as you would on your iPhone.

Some of the sites that take advantage of Raven’s site-specific browsing are: Twitter, Facebook, Google+, YouTube, MySpace, Quora, Linkedin, Digg, TechCrunch, Daring Fireball, CNN, New York Times, AllThingsD, The Next Web, Dribble, Instapaper, Dropbox, Hulu Plus, Flickr, Vimeo, and more.

Raven isn’t for everyone, but it’s definitely a cool piece of technology worth checking out.

10/28/2011 Read More
Grab your copy of the iOS 5 GUI layered Photoshop template

Grab your copy of the iOS 5 GUI layered Photoshop template

iOS5 GUI template

Click the image to download this fully layered Photoshop file,
which contains everything you need for your iOS5 mockups

10/27/2011 Read More
Selecting cells with the keyboard in your InDesign table

Selecting cells with the keyboard in your InDesign table

Selecting InDesign Table Cells

Selecting individual InDesign Table cells, and the content in them, is easy with the keyboard

If you use Tables in your InDesign document, selecting individual cells with the mouse can make your fingers sore. Instead, use the Tab and/or Arrow keys to move between them. Maybe you already knew that. But did you know that you can click the cell you wish to work with and hit the ESC key to select the entire cell (perhaps to fill the cell with a color) and hit ESC a second time to select the content inside the cell (to change the font, for example).

10/26/2011 Read More
Google updates Chrome Store, and it looks very familiar

Google updates Chrome Store, and it looks very familiar

Google Chrome Store

As you surf through the Chrome Store, things will start looking very familiar...

Google recently updated their Chrome Store, where you can download extensions and apps for the Chrome web browser and Chrome OS. It looks really nice, and for good reason. They basically copied the look and feel of Apple’s Mac App Store. Ugh…

10/25/2011 Read More
Adobe Reader for iPhone and iPad

Adobe Reader for iPhone and iPad

Adobe Reader for iOSJust like Adobe Reader on the desktop, now you can use your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch to quickly view and interact with the widest range of PDF file types – including PDF Portfolios, password-protected PDF documents and even Adobe LiveCycle rights-managed PDF files with Adobe Reader for iOS.

Using Adobe Reader for iOS, you can open and view PDF files from email, on the Web or from any application that supports the “Open In” function. Through its highly intuitive user interface, Adobe Reader provides you with an efficient PDF viewing experience regardless of the iOS device you happen to be using.

But that’s not all. You can also interact with PDF files in a number of ways including searching for specific text in the PDF or using bookmarks and page thumbnails to quickly navigate to different sections in the PDF file. And should you need a hard copy, you can also print the PDF wirelessly using iOS AirPrint.

I’ve been using Adobe Reader on my iPhone 4 for the last week or so, and found it to work extremely well. Previously I was using a 3rd party app, but it wasn’t nearly as fluid or easy to use as Adobe’s own solution.

10/25/2011 Read More
Rant: Stop worrying about your privacy – you aren’t that important

Rant: Stop worrying about your privacy – you aren’t that important

Social Network privacy

Stop complaining about your privacy on social networks and just think about what you post before you post it. What you share is up to YOU!

The last few months, tech sites on the web have been filled with stories of privacy invasions by Facebook, Google, Apple, Microsoft and Santa Claus. I’ve grown so tired of hearing about it because for the most part, it’s A) your own fault for not understanding how to configure the site preferences. And B) you shouldn’t worry about it, because you simply aren’t that important.

Let’s take Facebook for example

With the recently-released Ticker on the newsfeed page and the yet-to-be-released Timeline update to your Profile page, people are barking at the moon that their status updates are now out there for the world to see; thus invading their privacy. Well uh, I hate to tell you this but, THEY ALWAYS WERE. And isn’t that the whole point of a SOCIAL network?

10/24/2011 Read More
Free font: Franchise Bold

Free font: Franchise Bold

free font: Franchise Bold

Franchise Bold makes for an elegant headline font - click image for the download page

10/22/2011 Read More
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