Jan 2007

Richard Harrington Blog | Feb 2007 | Dec 2006

Cool OSX Widget for Aspect Ratio

Monday, January 22 ,2007 Filed in: Apple | Video

I found a great article over at the Editblog as a part of their Useful Tools for Editors series. It's a dashboard widget for OS X that lets you calculate frame sizes for graphics to match a wide range of tape and film formats. The widget is called called Aspect and it's totally free. Grab the widget from this file hosting site by clicking the Download link at the top.

Be sure to stop by and visit the Editblog for lots of news for video pros. The blog is frequently updated and a source of excellent information.

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The Lockergnome Makes Its Picks

Sunday, January 21 ,2007 Filed in: Resources

Chris Pirillo and Lockergnome have released their list of picks for 2007. There's a lot of good things here worth checking out. You can see the full list here (and its growing). Here are a few of the ones that I found most useful (and think you will as well).

Terms of Service Comparison for Video Hosting Sites

Online Spreadsheets for Collaboration

Blog2PDF & deskFlickr for Windows

Starter set of 10 Tweaks for Windows Vista

FontRenamer for Windows

Sharable Web-based Whiteboard

Hope you enjoy...

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Dinosaur... Oh, Dinosaur... (Evolve or Die)

Friday, January 19 ,2007 Filed in: Adobe | Business

I've always praised Adobe for their liberal upgrade policies (if the last release didn't impress you, you can skip a version and still upgrade). In fact, Adobe had one of the least strict policies of any manufacturer and didn't hold you hostage to constant upgrades.

Well, the policy is changing (a bit). Adobe is tightening up its policy on upgrades and applying limits to just how old a copy can be in order to be upgraded. According to the FAQ posted for Photoshop CS3:

Q. If I buy Photoshop CS2 today in order to get access to the Photoshop CS3 beta, will I get a free upgrade to Photoshop CS3?

A. No. The rich feature set and productivity enhancements of Photoshop CS2 already provide a strong upgrade value, and the opportunity to preview the upcoming CS3 release is an additional bonus. In addition, customers who are still using Photoshop version 6.0 or earlier will benefit from taking advantage of a more liberal upgrade policy for Photoshop CS2. Adobe will not offer upgrade pricing more than three versions back on Photoshop CS3. Go to www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/index. html for more information on Adobe Photoshop CS2.

This means a minimum of Photoshop 7 must be owned to buy the upgrade to Photoshop CS3. I agree that this is a reasonable change... but I raise it to you know for you people forced to sit on the fence. I know plenty of people (especially in corporate and education fields) who are constrained when it comes to upgrades....

The bottom line... if you are still using Photoshop 6 or earlier... upgrade now to Photoshop CS2.

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Photographer's Rights

Thursday, January 18 ,2007 Filed in: Resources | Photography

I have personally experienced harassment first hand when it comes to urban photography. In DC, one routinely gets threatened or chased off in the spirit of 'national security.' So it was with great joy that I came across this entry over at Stu Maschwitz blog. I also found another helpful post at John Nack's prolific blog on the same topic.

You can find a great PDF here that describes the rights of photographers (and videographers) within the U.S. Print this out and place it into your gear bag for the next time you get harassed.

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CES Handouts are Now Online

Monday, January 15 ,2007 Filed in: Conferences

Thanks for being patient (its been a whirlwind of CES, Macworld, and family time).
I finally have the majority of my CES Handouts online. You can access them here or in the Conference Handouts section.

01 Creating Dynamic Presentations with PowerPoint 2007
02 Planning your Digital Video Project
03 Using Rich Media to Attract Customers
04 Blogging and Podcasting PDF | Audio
05 Photos and Video on the Web | Video Notes

Enjoy!

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Thoughts on the iPhone

Sunday, January 14 ,2007 Filed in: Business | Apple

I was there... I oohed and aahed with the rest of them... then I asked questions. Is the phone really cool? Yup. Will I buy one? Yup. Is it perfect? Nope... and here's hoping that Apple will listen to some of the criticism.

First off... if you haven't looked at the online demo on Apple's website, be sure to check it out. It is both informative and an impressive use of the web for an interactive demo.

Cool... huh? I agree... but here's my list of gripes.

1. The battery is not user changeable. I travel a lot and carry three cell phone batteries with me. I've also run my iPod dead while on a plane. See the math? What also happens when the battery stops charging all the way? Currently Apple needs to service iPod batteries and it takes a few days.

2. They say it runs OSX and "desktop class" applications – but that doesn't really mean any application and no they won't let third-party software develop titles independently. Rather, it'll be more like iPod games, just a few titles and tight control.

3. It looks to have none of the following items – no iChat, no AIM, no Games, no GPS, no Java, and no Flash (yet most carriers and phones offer these).

To be fair... here's what's great about it:
1. You iPod accessories and chargers work with it.
2. Apple has confirmed that they can (and will) release updates for it like the iPod.
3. Apple i supporting third-party hardware development.
4. The map features is really cool.
5. It has an "airplane mode" so you can turn off wireless but leave the unit on.
6. You can see all your voice mails as a list and check them out of order.
7. Widescreen video playback.
8. A great looking web browser.
9. It's really thin!

David Pogue has lots of great info on his blog | post 1 | post 2

And hey... the release date isn't until June. So maybe they'll continue to tweak it a bit.

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Great New Laptop Cases

Saturday, January 13 ,2007 Filed in: Conferences

I'm always on the lookout for a new laptop case. While at MacWorld I came across a great bag for Macintosh laptops. Behold the glovez case from case-mate. On the inside its pretty standard, a well-constructed neoprene case. On the outside its very different. The case is wrapped in a perforated nylon exterior that makes it easy to grip and hard to drop. It also has two velcro closures to help keep it under wraps.

The cases are sized to fit all models of Mac laptops perfectly... in fact its a very snug fit and offers peace of mind that the laptop is well-protected. You can choose from four colors: Mocha, Silver, Red, and Black. The cases are very reasonably priced – $24.95 to $29.95 which seems plenty reasonable. I've been plenty happy with it and invite you to check them out.

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Free Online Class on Designing HD Graphics

Sunday, January 07 ,2007 Filed in: Apple | Training Products

Looking for some free training? The folks from DV Expo have put up one of my classes on Designing HD Graphics. The class is streaming video and it also has the slides synchronized and shots of the HD Graphics I design for the crowd. The class was taught at DV Expo West back in November, but you can take it for free. You'll need to register, but that only take 45 seconds and again... it's free. Be sure to set some time aside (this is a 2.5 hour class). Fortunately there are chapter points and you can digest it in pieces. Plus there are many other great classes there including legal issues facing creatives, Flash video, and video camera tips.

Enjoy!

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Classes at the Consumer Electronics Show

Monday, January 01 ,2007 Filed in: Conferences

Looking for some training in the latest digital media tools and trends? Then stop by the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. There are classes from January 8-10 with lots of great topics to catch up on. I've got classes on making great presentations using both PowerPoint and Keynote, as well as harnessing the power of online media with podcasting and rich media. Plus there’s that whole world's biggest trade show thing to attend. Hope to see some of you there.

Date Time Session Title
1/8/2007 9:00 AM Creating Dynamic Presentations with PowerPoint 2007
1/8/2007 2:30 PM Planning your Digital Video Project
1/9/2007 9:00 AM Creating Dynamic Presentations with Apple Keynote
1/9/2007 4:00 PM Using Rich Media to Attract Customers
1/10/2007 10:30 AM Blogging and Podcasting: What it Means to You (and Your Customers)
1/10/2007 2:30 PM Photos and Video on the Web: Putting your Digital Media Online
1/10/2007 4:00 PM Web Technology Demystified: Harnessing the Power of Flash Video, PDF

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