‘Design Thoughts’ : rjslade

Grr…

First I would like to thank those who have responded to the site so far and apologise to those who have tried to sign up and not been lucky. I have added a Login | Register link on the right hand menu as so far I have been unable to sort out the log-in link below. That was the start of my saga today.

Wordpress updated to version 2.3.2 yesterday and 2.3.3 today! In trying to update my initial site, that you may have visited last night, this new site ended up at a different address.

Hence today’s email! I also found out that the designer of the site template suggested that we use his newer version and that works in a different way as well. Then I discovered ‘plugins’ for Wordpress and tried to use them to make layout of this text easier. In doing that I messed up the new site and had to recreate it yet again.

I need to thank Darrell for suggesting alteration to my text on the About page. Words were never my strong point and I hope you will bear with my fractured grammar as I try to impart some thoughts. The one thing that does seem to work in the post page is the spell checker!

The first comment came from Neil – You may know him as the keeper of the site for MUGOO…

It said I needed to be logged in, so I pressed the “login” button. Then it got downright unfriendly and said:

Request Entity Too LargeThe requested resource/rjsladecom/wordpress/wp-login.phpdoes not allow request data with GET requests, or the amount of data provided in the request exceeds the capacity limit.Apache/1.3.37 Server at photoempt.com Port 80

Hey .. all I did was press a button!

My comment would have been about 3-D printers or reprap robots. See:http://reprap.org/bin/view/Main/WebHome

I have been viewing the vodcasts at Make Magazine for quick info:http://www.makezine.com/http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2007/11/make_a_reprap_robot_part.html

Bre Pettis referenced a “hacker space” in Vienna which I plan to visit this Feb. It is right beside the Rathaus (townhall).http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2007/11/vienna_hacking.htmlhttp://metalab.at/wiki/English

The second comment was from my friend Suzanne, a fantastic graphic designer who works in Washington DC for MIGA – part of the World Bank. While Canadian, being based in DC it is hard not to get involved in US politics. Had she been able to she would have posted this:

From the New York Times:LINK BY LINK Is Obama a Mac and Clinton a PC?By NOAM COHEN Published: February 4, 2008

The Mac may be the cooler computer, but aren’t there more PC users in the world?STYLES make fights — or so goes the boxing cliché. In 2008, they make presidential campaigns, too. This is especially true for the two remaining Democrats, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Reporters covering the candidates have already resorted to traditional analysis of style — fashion choices, manner of speaking, even the way they laugh. Yet, according to design experts, the candidates have left a clear blueprint of their personal style — perhaps even a window into their souls — through the Web sites they have created to raise money, recruit volunteers and generally meet-and-greet online… the rest of the article…

and the third comment came from Ruth

Hi Ross, What an interesting life you are leading (in retirement??). I have been enjoying your galleries of photos from Umbria, and the medieval wedding slideshow. Beautiful! You have started a new career…..do you speak Italian?Five years ago I visited Tuscany with two of my daughters, staying at a winery/olive oil farm near Florence. We had a wonderful time visiting the hilltop towns nearby, and walking their narrow streets . It was a most special experience! Bill and I always think of you as our Mac Mentor… you saw us looking at computers years ago, and directed us to the Macs… and then to the Mac Club. Since then you also helped in the decision to upgrade a scanner, an Epson 3170 Photo, which is still serving us well.I’ve been contemplating a Slideshow application called “Fotomagico” by Boinx, and wonder what you use to make your slideshows? With best regards,

The images referred to are on rjslade.com and PHOTOempt – links are provided on the right. The latter I am finalising a second overhaul in the last 3 months. From a previous 2500 images we have culled and chopped – now just 1500 or so. But a lot better! The web site and image sorting is all done using Apple Aperture, about which I will write something in the next few days…The rjslade.com site is done using Adobe GoLive (yes they still do market it!) and PhotoShop, two of my favourite tools. The web sites there are either the flash export using PhotoShop’s include web gallery or the freely available SimpleViewer plugin. Magic.

The Boinx product I have yet to look at – has anybody else out there – or seen a review? ( I found three: MacWorld, MacNN and the UK MacUser )

As far as my language skills – Italian is progressing – slowly. I understand most of it and can make myself understood. This country is wonderful and I sure do not miss the snow! For those who do not know, Umbria is between the airport and Tuscany – where most of the tourists go.

That is it for tonight. I will post this and send out an email with the revised address