I was delighted to discover that my Snowglobe filter for Filter Forge earned a High Usage Rank today. It is good to know people are finding my filters useful.
Filter Forge is a a Photoshop plugin and stand-alone program which allows people to use filters created by the Filter Forge community to enhance their images. Many of the filters also create textures which can then be used in work such as 3D texturing. The top of the range versions allow users to create their own filters and effects. Another very good program of a similar vein is Genetica. They are both worth checking out.
Posted in Filter Forge, Freebies by Jan on February 23, 2010 at 6:22 am | No Comments »
Since using Ubuntu I have come across some great reading material in PDF format. Some of this material has helped me to get started with installing Linux and using the software and some has just been entertaining while at the same time being informative.
Here is a list of 6 of the best resources I have found:
1. Ubuntu Pocket Guide and Reference
This is a whole free PDF book dedicated to the new Ubuntu user. It begins by giving advice about installing and configuring Ubuntu. Then there is great information about the desktop, the filesystem, the command line, software management and securing the system. This is a must read for the new Ubuntu User.
2. Linux Starter Pack
This is a complete guide to using Linux from UK’s Linux Format magazine. It begins with helping you to install Ubuntu (although you will have to download the latest version of Ubuntu yourself), gives an overview of the desktop and filesystem and then has guides to the software which comes pre-installed with Ubuntu. Another must read for the Linux newbie.
3. Full Circle Magazine
Full Circle Magazine is a monthly free, independent magazine in PDF format dedicated to the Ubuntu family of Linux operating system. It includes How To articles on such things as programming in Python, C and guides to using software such as Gimp, Inkscape, Scribus etc. as well as lots of other interesting articles. This magazine is definitely one to download each month as it is full of entertaining and informative articles and very well presented.
4. Tux Magazine
Sadly this magazine has ceased publication but all 20 PDF magazines are still available for download. It includes guides to using Gimp, Open Office and many other tips and reviews for new users of Linux. Although these issues are old, the information is still worth reading.
5. Ubuntu User
This is a new quarterly magazine dedicated to new users of Ubuntu. I came across Issue 2 last month and it was a great find. I was brand new to Ubuntu at the time and this magazine helped me to get to know my way around the operating system and all the programs included as standard. I was pleased to see several PDF documents of articles from Issue 1 in the archive on their website and I am looking forward to Issue 3 in November. It will be interesting to see where this magazine goes and whether it will advance with its readers increasing knowledge of Ubuntu.
6. Ubuntu UK Podcast
This isn’t really a read but more of a listen! Great for those times when your eyes are tired from all that reading or for listening to while travelling. This podcast is both fun and informative.
Have I missed out your favourite? If so, please let me know.
Tags: Linux, ubuntu
Posted in Linux by Jan on October 19, 2009 at 10:42 pm | No Comments »
Since I began using Ubuntu I have encountered some strange reactions, especially from people who have never tried Linux before or have had very limited experience of very early versions of Linux. These reactions have ranged from people hearing good things about Linux and curious about how I am getting on with it and perhaps toying with the idea of trying it out for themselves to those people who find it incredulous that I could ever think of using anything but Windows. Afterall Windows is the most popular operating system so surely it must be the best, seems to be their illogical reasoning!
Linux also seems to instill feelings of fear in some Windows users. They do not even want to try Linux on one of my computers. It’s almost as if they think that touching a computer with Linux installed will contaminate them in some way or perhaps it is just the fear of the unknown that is getting the better of them. However, after fighting with the removal of a trojan on a Windows XP netbook last night, I have first hand experience of the advantage of a Linux environment! For any Windows users wondering how to start to clean their system after becoming infected the Geeks to Go, Malware and Spyware Cleaning Guide is a great help.
It has been a few weeks now since I first installed Ubuntu and the experience has been totally pleasurable. However, I am still dual booting and cannot see a time at the moment when Linux will be my sole operating system. The main problem is with a lack of industry standard programs such as Photoshop, Illustrator and Dreamweaver being able to run under a native Linux operating system. Gimp and Inkscape seem to be very good substitutes and for hobbyist users they are ideal. However, I am not so sure about them taking the place of Photoshop and Illustrator in commercial situations. There are also no equivalents to Poser, Vue or Modo so I think I will be dual booting for some time yet. However, for someone who mainly does web browsing, email and photo touch-ups, Ubuntu is a great introduction to the world of Linux. On the other hand, I am very happy to have Linux as a web development testing environment and have found Bluefish to be a good substitute for Dreamweaver.
I was very interested to come across three blogs where the authors changed their operating systems for a limited period of time. At AyeTea, A Room Without Windows a group of experienced windows users tried out Linux for 30 days and at Kiloblog the opposite happened. Interestingly, at What the Tech the author changed from Windows when he bought himself a new MacBook Pro. I’ve been thinking of changing to a Mac for years but the expense has always been a deterrent because, as well as buying a new machine with a new OS, it would also be necessary to buy all my software again in the Mac versions. This is one of the great things about Linux. It costs nothing to try out except a little time in setting it up and becoming familiar with it.
Tags: Linux, mac, trojan, ubuntu, virus, windows
Posted in Linux by Jan on October 17, 2009 at 6:42 pm | No Comments »
Yep, I have become a new user of Ubuntu Linux!
How did this strange phenomenon happen?
Well, one of the hard drives in my laptop became faulty and in the process Windows Vista self-destructed. In an effort to rescue some of the data on the hard drive I ran Ubuntu from a Live CD. I was too new to the Linux environment to be able to mount the internal drives on my laptop and as the laptop was still under warranty I decided not to mess around with it too much until it had been repaired.
However, I was still without a working operating system and it was going to take the guys a few days to pick up the machine to repair it so I decided to install Ubuntu on an external hard drive so I would at least be able to access my email and my websites.
The installation process went flawlessly and my laptop connected to the internet immediately. It was rather strange at first but similar enough to Windows to pose no real problems. Firefox and an email client were already installed so less than thirty minutes later I was connected to the internet and retrieving my emails.
When the guys came to collect my laptop for repair I was rather sad to lose Ubuntu so I dug out my old desktop PC and installed Ubuntu onto it, selecting the option to dual boot with Windows XP and Ubuntu. Once again, the installation process was flawless except this time it did not recognise my USB wireless adapter. Ubuntu is the most popular Linux distro so online support is very easy to find and with the help of the Ubuntu forums I managed to find instructions to set up my wireless adapter.
Being of an inquisitive nature I also had to try out Fedora and Mandriva. However, I am very impressed with Ubuntu and, due to its popularity and hence vast wealth on knowledge on the internet, I decided to stick with it.
At the moment I am in the process of setting up a PHP/MySQL testing environment and finding equivalent Linux substitutes for my Windows programs. The main Windows programs I miss are Photoshop and Dreamweaver. Ubuntu comes with Gimp (a Photoshop substitute) pre-installed but I’ve been using Photoshop for so long that Gimp seems a bit awkward at the moment. I’ve looked at various programs to replace Dreamweaver. Bluefish and Netbeans seem to be the closest I have found but it is too soon to say whether either of them will replace Dreamweaver. I have heard that both Photoshop and Dreamweaver will run under Wine but I have not tried this yet. At the moment I am still exploring the native programs and playing with the desktop and other special effects!
If you are also wondering about installing Ubuntu, I would advise you to go ahead and give it a try. I am trying to convince P that he should replace Vista on his 1GB laptop with Ubuntu but, while he is interested, he is still a little hestitant to take the plunge. Maybe one day!
Tags: Linux, ubuntu, vista, windows, xp
Posted in Linux by Jan on October 7, 2009 at 3:38 pm | 1 Comment »
Six PHP Session Tutorials to help when using sessions:
- PHP session tutorial – a clear basic introduction from PHP F1
- Managing Users with PHP Sessions and MySQL - building a logging in system from Sitepoint
- Basic PHP Session – from about.com
- Using Sessions in PHP – building a membership system
- Session Control and Cookies
- Sessions and cookies: Adding state to a stateless protocol – at PHP Freaks
Tags: PHP, sessions
Posted in PHP by Jan on September 10, 2009 at 3:22 pm | No Comments »
Here are 12 great free sans serif fonts.
As far as I know all of these fonts can be used for commercial projects. Click on the name of the font to go to the download page.
1. Colaborate
2. Caviar Dreams
3. Aller
4. Vegur
5. Bitstream Vera Sans
6. Aurulent Sans
7. Cicle
8. Sansation
9. Existence Light
10. Liberation Sans
11. Delicious
12. Print Clearly
What is your favourite sans serif font?
Tags: Fonts, free, sans serif, top
Posted in Fonts by Jan on July 6, 2009 at 9:00 am | No Comments »
Someone asked me how to take a screenshot of the iPhone desktop. It is very easy to do although a bit of a hidden feature of the iPhone.
Open up the application or web page you wish to take a snapshot of.
Press and hold down the Home Button at the bottom center of the iPhone. Then press the On/Off Button at the top of the iPhone while still holding the Home Button. The screen will flash and you will hear the camera shutter.
The image will now be with your photos in the Camera Roll section.
Tags: IPhone, screenshot
Posted in IPhone by Jan on June 17, 2009 at 10:09 pm | 5 Comments »
Most people are more familiar with Microsoft Office Word than they are with Wordpress. Therefore the option to post directly from Word to Wordpress is a bonus for many. However, it can be a bit tricky to set up the options so that Word can communicate with Wordpress on your server. I hope to make things easier in this guide.
First, you will need to write your blog post. Do this by clicking on the big button in the top left of the Word window and choosing New.
Select Blog Post and click the Create button.
Enter your post title, compose your post and save it.
Now you need to set up your Wordpress account details. Click on the Manage Accounts icon.
Click on New and select Wordpress from the Blog drop down box. Click on the Next button.
In the Blog Post URL type in the URL of your blog. Add /xmlrpc.php to the end of your URL. For example, http://www.myblog.com/xmlrpc.php
In the User Name and Password boxes, type the name and password you use to sign in to your blog. Check the Remember Password box if you would like your password to be remembered on the computer you are using.
Now you need to set up your Picture Options so click on the Picture Options button. I am assuming you wish to use your own website to store your images so select My Own Server from the Picture Provider dropdown list.
In the Upload URL box, type in the ftp address of the directory you are going to upload the images to. You may have to create this directory if it does not already exist. The URL should look something like – ftp://myblog.com/public_html/images/uploads.
In the Source URL, type the URL of the web address of your image. For example, http://myblog.com/images/uploads. Click the OK button.
You are now ready to publish your post so click on the Publish button. You will then be asked to add your FTP details. Once you have entered your FTP details your account is set up and Microsoft Word should be able to connect to your server. If it cannot, make sure you have entered all the account details correctly.
Happy blogging!
Tags: microsoft office, publishing, word, Wordpress
Posted in Wordpress by Jan on June 12, 2009 at 12:19 pm | 8 Comments »
12 seamless patterns I created with my Patterned Carpet filter. They are 600 x 600 and in PNG format. They would be suitable for carpet patterns but could be used for any texturing work.
They can be used in commercial or personal texturing projects but do not redistribute these seamless tiles as a merchant resource. Thank you.
Download
Download
Tags: seamless, textures
Posted in Freebies by Jan on June 11, 2009 at 7:37 pm | 2 Comments »
Need a seamless pattern quickly for a project? Check out these pattern generators which allow you to create your own patterns:
1. Colourlovers – choose a pattern and five colours to be included in the pattern and a seamless pattern is created.
2. Tartan Maker – Choose band size, three colours, orientation and yarn size. This is fun to use and creates great looking tartan.
3. Stripe Generator – decide on stripe size, spacing, stripe colours, background style, shadow, background colour and stripe orientation.
4. Stripemania – Similar options to Stripe Generator but for some reason I find it more difficult to set the colours in this one. Maybe it is a Firefox browser issue. It also has the option to set gradient stripes which may be a useful feature.
5. BgPatterns – Set the foreground and background colours, the canvas texture, image, image scale and rotation. This is a useful generator but I would like to see more patterns than there are at the moment.
The patterns created by these generators have many uses. They would also make great elements in scrapbooking projects. Check the terms of use of each one before use.
Tags: free, textures
Posted in Scrapbooking, Web Design by Jan on June 4, 2009 at 9:13 pm | No Comments »
