24 Jan 2007
This is bad news for anyone crafting email campaigns, but honestly, if I read one more comment where people plaintively insist that email is only ever meant to be sent as regular text, I just might scream. Go back to breaking textile machines and accepting union-defined minimum wages, seriously. I find it so hard to believe that any of these people are able to hold down serious jobs as sysadmins when they are so completely oblivious to the requirements/desires of the people they’re employed to provide these services to.
Yes, rich (HTML/RTF/whatever this new crap Outlook 2007 is pulling is) email can be horribly messy. Yes, it is a requirement. Yes, if you think text-only is the way to go, you need to pull your head out of the sand. Welcome to the twenty-first century.
The closest I’ve come to someone who thought like that was a chap who was adamantly against the idea of content management systems. I jest not, but in my mind that’s less serious an offense than suggesting that all content on the web should consist solely of text and links, “because that’s the way it was designed”. That is, in essence, what these sysadmins (and some other open-source bigots — we should all use Mutt and Pine — who probably haven’t much experience with the creation or delivery of such things) are arguing.
24 Jan 2007
I downloaded Adobe Soundbooth Beta earlier this week. It’s been a while since I’ve even tried using audio software, but I’m making a video and had my heart set on one particular track (The Flashbulb’s Passage D… you’ve probably heard a remix of it in Dove’s Evolution campaign) with a few tweaks to make it actually work well. The visual aspect of this particular 30-second spot is pretty mediocre/low effort, so I figured that, at very least, a decent soundtrack would make it memorable (it only needs to be remembered for a week, too! We’re running it this Sunday as a reminder that TACKLES is starting up again next week).
This is probably really average stuff these days, but I’ve never driven Protools and haven’t touched audio editing things with a barge pole for so many years now that, frankly, it doesn’t matter whether it’s objectively innovative or not. Seems brilliant to me.
My biggest problem is that there doesn’t seem to be any way to add to an existing selection? That, and because I’ve been spending a bit of time in graphicsland this week (so I’m a newborn Adobe junkie, oh well!), it seems like the Remove a Sound task (and effects in general) would be a perfect candidate for application of whatever the audio equivalent of a mask layer is in terms of user interface. Non-destructive, easy to turn on/off, easy to build up in multiple passes (because it’s really still quite linear in the way you have to work).
Then again, it’s entirely probable I’ve just completely missed some way of working that makes it all very sensible… but possibly not. Whatever, I’m quite content to keep playing for a while longer… only I’d like to get this particular job done (audio & video) before today is over!
23 Jan 2007
Sorry to sound like an absolute fanboy, but I’ve been hanging out for this for about two weeks (which is a long time for me when it comes to open source software that typically has vague release dates–although that isn’t WordPress any more).
Sounds like… magic to my ears. Also looks as though there may be a bit of work involved when it comes to taking advantage of all the new goodies on old websites, but that’s probably to be expected. Although it’s a one-way upgrade (database structure changes), at very least it doesn’t appear to have removed any functionality. Which is beautiful.
I’m also going to enjoy rolling this out on a multi-user site that’s using WP as a backend without telling anyone, just to see if they notice the little UI enhancements it’s throwing out all over the place. (Well, assuming the upgrade goes well… otherwise I’ll send a red-faced email letting them know about it!)
I’ll probably roll it out here before the end of the week. No new theme coming, so it’s probably only really exciting for me… but that’s okay. ;-)
22 Jan 2007
People threw me a surprise party for my birthday.
It took be a full ten seconds after I walked into the room to catch on.
Gem lied to me a lot over the course of several phone calls and conversations, Szanto was complicit in sending faux group text messages (a nice touch), Claudia conspired to offer a venue, and Luke was strategically late. Others probably deserve crediting but will forgive my memory — perhaps it took me too long to realise and it will come to me in another week or two!
Was rather good times.
I had to be told to blog this. I’m not being rude, I just don’t have any photos of the night to stick up, and, really, it feels a bit flat without them. There was an underwater camera but it ran away to Melbourne before I could steal things from it.
So, maybe photos to come. Marcelo was taking Myspace photos underwater. Addict. Betraying the “I hate myspace” cause to which you once held fast! On the plus side, he doesn’t have the photos yet, either :P
22 Jan 2007
I am getting very frustrated at the absolutely disproportionate representation of females over males in low-cost stock photography libraries. Especially in the non-American ones, which, really, is the sensible way to go on account of so much American stock being so ridiculously stereotypical and generally clinical. That’s why so many designers hate Corbis — it’s nothing to do with the cost, just the crappy content. Admittedly you don’t always need people-stock, but even so… when you do…
If you’re a girl and know any professional photographers, get your face out of the picture or at the very least, grab a guy and pretend to start talking to him. Okay?
(Yes, tongue in cheek.)