Super Ginormous

Blog

  • Upgrading to CS3

    adobecs3.pngCurrently I’m using Adobe Creative Suite 2 Premium. On a limited basis, I’ve been testing out the Photoshop CS3 Beta and figured I should give CS3 a test drive before upgrading the rest of the guys in my department.

    I was given the go-ahead to upgrade to CS3 if I wanted to a couple of weeks ago, but I’ve struggled with what version to get. I was torn between getting the Design Premium and Web Premium versions… Honestly, I’ve been toying with the idea of not upgrading at all considering a few of the reviews I’ve read. This morning I ordered Adobe Creative Suite 3 Web Premium (that’s a mouthful!). The source of contention in deciding which version came down to one thing: InDesign CS3.

    We do a little bit of print design at PowerServe, but most of it can be done in Photoshop and/or Illustrator without the need for InDesign. As a matter of fact, in the time I have had InDesign I have only used it for one project. (Hardly enough justification to get an upgraded version of the app.) With CS3 Web Premium I’ll gain access to Contribute CS3, Flash CS3, Fireworks CS3… which I definitely think fit in more with the kind of work I do now.

    I’m looking forward to using it, and if all works out I’ll be picking up copies of it for my three coworkers in the near future.

  • Feed

    I just finished up “Feed” by M.T. Anderson tonight. Man… what a good book! I picked it up based on the recommendation of a complete stranger, and I was not disappointed at all.

    Imagine a future where everyone’s plugged in… People have microchips implanted in their heads that connects them to the Feed. The Feed constantly delivers news, information, music, and so on based on how you feel, what you want, and more.

    I can’t help but think about how we’re inundated with so much information on a daily basis, and how much of it I choose to voluntarily consume… The book really struck a nerve with me, and really challenged me to unplug myself from the feed. I would definitely check the book out. I highly recommend it.

  • Wireless

    Well, this morning I ended up picking up a DI-624M from CompUSA, brought it home, installed it and didn’t have any problems. Then I tried to setup WEP, which shouldn’t have been a problem. But one thing led to another and the router ended up not working at all. Trying to reset the router to factory defaults didn’t work at all.

    A quick trip back to CompUSA resulted in me getting a cheaper D-Link router: the D-Link WBR-1310. It’s an 802.11g/b router with less range than my previous router, but I don’t bring my laptop outside much anyway. I was able to get my laptop, my wife’s laptop, the Wii, and the 360 all connected to the new router within about 10 minutes. I didn’t bother with WEP this time, but I may enable it at some point if I see that neighbors are leeching connectivity from me.

    What a way to kill a Saturday.

  • Optimization

    In an effort to conserve GPUs on my new web host, I’ve been taking the advice of OpenSwitch’s Ben Gray and trying to optimize this site as much as possible. I’ve temporarily killed the Flickr photos I had displayed on the sidebar, and made a few other tweaks to cut down on the number of queries on page load… I usually get less traffic on the site during the weekend so now’s a perfect time to do some testing and optimization of the site.

  • Disconnected

    Ugh. My wireless router kicked the bucket this morning after serving me well over three years. Time to buy a new one. It’s not a huge deal seeing as my laptop is only a few feet from our DSL modem most of the time, but if my wife wants to get online with her laptop, or if I want to get my game on with the XBOX360 or Wii — it’s a no-go. Honestly, I’m a bit surprised it has lasted as long as it has.

    Most people I know haven’t had good luck with D-Link routers, but most of them tend to be using Comcast as their ISP. I currently use AT&T FastAccess DSL (Xtreme) service at home, and the D-Link wireless routers, in my experience, have been wonderfully easy to use. (I’ve even set them up at family members’ houses that use DSL – in some cases replacing Linksys routers – and had tremendous success.)

    I’m looking at a couple of models to replace the dead D-Link DI-624 Wireless Router.

    My first choice is the D-Link DI-634M Wireless 108G MIMO Router which supports 802.11g/b. It’s gotten pretty good reviews at CompUSA and Amazon. It’s a little more expensive than I want to spend, but it would be the most comparable router I could get compared to what I currently have. Another option would be to simply replace the router I have with another DI-624. I’m not sure if they make the one I have anymore, but I do know there is a DI-624M available at CompUSA, so we’ll see…

  • Buying Photoshop CS3?

    Just got a friendly tip/reminder via email from the National Association of Photoshop Professionals that I thought I would pass along:

    If you happen to be working on an older version of Photoshop (Photoshop 6, 5, 4… you get the idea) then you can save some money upgrading to CS3 if you move quickly. You see, previously Adobe let anyone with a registered version of Photoshop (even Photoshop 2.0, etc.) upgrade to the latest version by simply paying the regular upgrade price. But, with the release of Photoshop CS3 , you’ll only be able to upgrade at the standard upgrade price if you have Photoshop 7, CS, or CS2. So, if you are still using Photoshop 6.0 or earlier, you should upgrade to Photoshop CS2 in the next few weeks (a cost of around $169), then you can buy the upgrade to CS3 when it comes out at the regular upgrade price. This workaround will literally save some of you hundreds of dollars over having to the buy a full version once CS3 and CS3 Extended ship.

  • Witchhunt

    Did Don Imus deserve to get fired? We all stay stupid things from time to time, and Imus has made more than his fair share. I won’t excuse him for the comments he made… but did it really deserve this much attention?  He apologized for his remarks. End of story, right? Would Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton apologize if they made racially charged statements towards someone of another skin color? They haven’t yet.

    I never listened to Imus, but I can’t help but feel a little sorry for him. He’s lost everything over this. This feels like a witchhunt to me.

  • Browse the Archives

    I added an Archives page to the site last night. You can now easily view posts on cdharrison.com by Month or by Category/Subject. A few of the earlier posts you’ll find in the archives appeared as part of a column I had in the Augusta State University student newspaper, The Bell Ringer.

  • Bring Baseball Downtown

    If approved, Augusta could be getting a new baseball stadium. Why am I even mentioning this here? The new stadium would only be a hop, skip and a jump from the downtown Augusta offices of PowerServe.

    I love the idea of bringing the Augusta GreenJackets downtown. I’d be more likely to attend a game The big question now is: how much is it going to cost?

    Ballpark figures

    Mayor Deke Copenhaver and the Ripken Baseball family are convinced that if they build a riverfront baseball stadium downtown, nothing but good things will come for the city of Augusta. On Tuesday, Mr. Copenhaver and Bill Ripken announced that a Downtown Stadium Exploratory Committee will study the feasibility of a ballpark on the Savannah River between 11th and 13th streets.

    $20 million – The stadium’s estimated cost, which likely would be paid for through a public-private partnership. Augusta commissioners would have to call for a referendum to issue bonds, and “ultimately, the people will decide,” likely through a referendum, Mr. Copenhaver said.

    “We’re happy to let the people decide, because we think this is a project that will be supported by everyone,” Mr. Copenhaver said.

    6,000 – Number of people the proposed park would seat. Currently, the Class A GreenJackets play in 12-year-old Lake Olmstead Stadium. It is the third-smallest park in the 16-team South Atlantic League, with a capacity of 4,322.

    The current stadium could see increased use by area colleges and use from interested charities such as the Salvation Army’s Kroc Center and the Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation.

    4,000 – Available parking spaces within a 12-minute walk from the site on Reynolds Street, according to Mr. Copenhaver.

    17 – Exploratory committee members. The panel will visit Durham and Greensboro, N.C., and Greenville, S.C.

    The study could be finished by August.

    $20 million seems like a lot of money, but it could help with the revitalization of the downtown area. I question the mayor’s assessment of parking. If we didn’t lease parking spots from a local property owner, we’d have a hard time finding places to park near our offices. Regardless, I hope it goes through…

  • RSS Fair Use?

    If you publish an RSS feed, does it give others the right to repurpose your content as they see fit?

    I have been noticing frequent trackbacks from a couple of sites when I’ve tagged articles with a keyword of “adsense”. On the surface, this isn’t a big deal. When I checked the sites out, however, I realized they were nothing more than Content Scraping Spam Blogs. I sent a note asking for one particular site to stop scraping my content and the guy had the audacity to send this to me:

    “Dude, I am not scraping your content, I’m linking to your site with a small quote. Most people are happy to have free links to their site. If you don’t want anyone else to link to your site then why are you syndicating it with a feed?  See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_syndication

    Take down your feed or at least put a notice that no one else can use it.”

    What are your thoughts on this? If I have a publicly available feed, does it give others the right to re-syndicate that content without the author’s permission?