Details: Site design and logo for Wordcamp Atlanta. Design implemented by Brandon Sheats.

My apologies if the link isn’t active just yet. I was a little quick on the trigger to post this as the site is not live yet, but should be very soon. Since the cat’s already out of the bag, I’ll leave this up.

Make plans to attend – January 8-9, 2010. More details will be available soon.

Client: Downtown Augusta Alliance · Project: Custom Wordpress Design

First, a little backstory: I had planned to keep my old phone and number with Alltel/Verizon. I had made arrangements with my previous employer to transfer everything into my name. I was trying to avoid getting stuck in a contract. Everything was going smoothly until Verizon got involved. Because I had Alltel hardware, I couldn’t just switch things over to my own account. They insisted that I had to get a Verizon phone, which would have locked me into a 1-2 year contract. Since I was going to get locked into a contract, I decided I’d get the phone I wanted instead of settling elsewhere.

So I went with the iPhone 3G. It’s everything my first-gen 8Gb iPod touch was and more. I’m kinda disappointed in that I didn’t go for the 3GS, but I couldn’t pass up the $99 deal – especially since I was buying two iPhones at the time.

1. It’s a mature platform. Sure, it still has some quirks – many of which are due to AT&T’s “issues”, but it’s very solid in general.
2. I’m addicted to always on data. Paying the extra every month for an always-on connection was a no-brainer. My wife and I regularly use the GPS features built-in, and I’m as app-addicted as ever.
3. 8Gb *is* enough. After two years with the iPod touch I quickly learned that I didn’t need to have all of my multimedia with me all of the time. I only listen to a fraction of what’s on my computer, why dump all of it on a mobile device? Sure, more capacity would be nice, but with smart rationing, it’s easy to get a few GBs of music/videos loaded for hours of enjoyment.

Looking back, my resistance to the iPhone was more than a little ridiculous. I justified carrying multiple devices daily, while missing out on the convenience the iPhone now affords me.

Some things I learned while getting the iPhone:

• If you’re not in a hurry to get an iPhone and want to save a few bucks, order online or over the phone.
• Having said that: Ordering online or over the phone is absolutely worthless. Go to an AT&T Store (or better yet, an Apple Store). They’ll take care of you. Otherwise, it’ll take 2-3 weeks before you get the phone. And that’s after waiting several days to get an email asking you to accept the terms and conditions of the iPhone – before they’ll ship one to you.
• If you have an iPod touch and you’ve bought apps through iTunes, they can be installed on other devices you own. I was able to transfer my purchases to both my wife’s iPhone and my own without any issues.
• Your first bill is going to surprise you. You might see a pro-rated amount + what you expected to pay. You might get double-charged. This is where it’s absolutely important you visit a store and establish a connection with one of the store reps. They can and will help you. My first bill was just shy of $300 for two iPhones (700 shared minutes, 2 data plans, 2 – 200 text messages). After visiting my local rep, my bill was knocked down by half.

• Problem: Carrying around shopping cards is a pain in the ass. They take up room either in your wallet, purse or keychain. They’re easy to lose.
• Solution: Digital Shopping Cards. As long as you have a mobile device with you, you have the card(s) with you. These could be stored in a dedicated application, or simply saved as photos on the device. At checkout, you’d simply let the cashier scan the barcode on your screen.

To the right is a closer view of what I’ve mocked up what a digital shopping card for Food Lion might look like. It’s a simple idea, but one that (I think) could be very useful. When a store asks for a customer’s phone number or email address – that store could then send the digital card via MMS or email instead of giving out a physical card. This would save money since less physical cards would need to be produced. What’re your thoughts? Would you use something like this?

UPDATE: As Wes pointed out in the comments, there are several iPhone apps available that you might want to check out:

• MyCardStar
• Scanaroo
• WalletZero
• Reward Cards

I did attempt to use my self-created card while at Food Lion this morning. And guess what? Their scanner couldn’t pick up the barcode because the screen was too reflective. It’s also possible the barcode was too small. Are digital shopping cards/rewards cards the wave of the future? Probably not (yet), but it’s definitely worth looking into.

Public vs. Private Lists

• Public lists are social extenders. They’re shareable. They’re a way of tagging people. Any user can see them. Any user can be added to one. Any user can follow them. You don’t have to follow everyone that follows you. Lists is a way to keep on top of groups of people you’re interested but don’t have the personal capacity to keep up with everything they tweet about.
• Private lists, on the other hand are social organizers. I have a private list of Clients. I want to keep track of what they’re saying on Twitter, but other people don’t need to know they’re my clients.

I use both types of lists. I’ve made a majority of my lists public because my hope is that others would find value in them, but ultimately, most of them are just ways for me to tag and organize the 600+ people I’m following at the moment.

What’re the Downsides?

• Only one person can “own” a list. I’d love to see Twitter allow other users be able to contribute and/or manage a list.
• There’s no context to what a list is about other than how it’s named. Twitter needs to add a way for users to add a description to their lists. Some people might not understand what a list called “ee” is about.
• You can’t search for Lists to follow. Want to find lists of people who create with Wordpress? Good luck.
• There’s going to be a ton of overlap.
• There’s a high potential for abuse. Users can and will be added to lists they don’t want to be on. Fortunately, users can block the list creator from adding them to another, but there really needs to be an “Opt out of Lists” feature.
• “Lists are the new follower count.” Someone tweeted that the other day, and it bothered me, but I think he’s right. I think there’s a segment of people that will equate being on a lot of lists with popularity, reach, etc. Whether you’re on no lists or a 100 really shouldn’t matter. Twitter, and social media in general, isn’t a numbers game.

Google Chrome Frame is an early-stage open source plug-in that seamlessly brings Google Chrome’s open web technologies and speedy JavaScript engine to Internet Explorer. With Google Chrome Frame, you can:

• Start using open web technologies – like the HTML5 canvas tag – right away, even technologies that aren’t yet supported in Internet Explorer 6, 7, or 8.
• Take advantage of JavaScript performance improvements to make your apps faster and more responsive.

Last month, I announced I was partnering with UPrinting for a business card giveaway. The two lucky winners are  Brandon Sheats and Dave Bonds. A representative from UPrinting will be getting in touch with you two about how to redeem your prize.

UPrinting does a lot more than business cards and die cut business cards. Whether you need flyers, brochures, posters, banners, or even bookmarks, you can’t beat what UPrinting has to offer. Check out their full line of products.

Thanks to everyone who entered!

(Full disclosure: Uprinting is a paid advertiser on this site.)

Right now, the most pressing issue is getting comments cleaned up. After that, it’ll just be a matter of going in and adding details, simplifying where it makes sense, etc.

Me and my site have needed a kick in the ass for some time. The Site Sprint was just the excuse I needed to work on it. I can’t thank my friends Bryan Veloso and Greg Newman for encouraging this idea. I’ve also got to thank Anton Peck, Kyle Fox and so many others for being so inspirational with their own sprint attempts. Being able to chat with and collaborate with such amazing talent made this whole experience epic. We’ll definitely do this again, though the idea of trying to reboot a personal project within a month again seems a bit insane at this point.

• If you hadn’t heard about it, Wordcamp Birmingham is coming up. Sep 26-27 in Birmingham AL. More info: http://wordcampbirmingham.org/
• AWDG kicks off in around 40 mins. Greg Rewis – @garazi – is tonight’s speaker. His blog: http://blog.assortedgarbage… #photoshopbadass
• Here’s the intro to tonight’s topic: http://www.awdg.org/calenda…
• Since tonight’s topic is Photoshop – http://www.adobe.com/produc…
• #awdg Also check out @NAPP_News and http://bit.ly/2Ealq
• #awdg Up on screen @jc’s posted @danrubin’s http://makephotoshopfaster.com
• w00t. @garazi just arrived. @jc’s doing trivia. #awdg
• #awdg How to be a Photoshop Bad Ass. Greg Rewis – @garazi – Adobe CS4 Evangelist is getting ready to kick ass for us.
• Next meeting – Sept 16th. @mollydotcom is presenting! OMG! :D Details: http://bit.ly/piqqi
• It should be noted that next months #awdg is at the Art Institute of Atlanta NOT The Portfolio Center.

• #awdg – Greg specializes in Adobe’s web products.
• #awdg – Greg’s responsible for GoLive CyberStudio. (He was it’s product manager.) We won’t hold it against him ;)
• #awdg – Mentioning again. @garazi’s blog is http://assortedgarbage.com
• http://makephotoshopfaster.com on screen now. :)
• Photoshop is a noun AND a verb in Webster’s Dictionary. #awdg
• Greg took a poll of the crowd and there was a fairly good mix of users on CS4 and CS3 or older.
• Now chatting about Adobe Bridge CS4. Underappreciated. Very few users in the crowd.
• Bridge was introduced with CS2 and it sucked. Bridge is now one of the most powerful tools within CS4.
• Demoing Filters panel in Bridge.
• “Bridge can do everything and more than iPhoto does. (Don’t tell Steve Jobs!)”
• View > Show Items From Subfolders will let you drill down and “throw folders away”.
• Now demoing rating and applying color labels to photos.
• Check out Bridge Help and Support on Adobe.com – http://www.adobe.com/suppor…
• Now demoing Collections (grouping) within Bridge CS4.
• Now showing different views available within Bridge. Coolest is Output view. Output to Web Gallery or PDF. (Wow! I had no idea Bridge could do that.)
• Now showing Web Galleries via Bridge Output.
• Web Gallery will let you add FTP info and upload directly to your remote server. All sorts of controls are available which will allow you to customize output in Flash or HTML.
• Now showing custom views in Bridge.
• Now showing direct import of files from a camera into Bridge. File > Get photos from camera. In demo, he’s importing .CR2 files from his Canon PowerShot G9. Bridge lets you convert to DNG while importing files.
• DNG are an open-source formatted that was created by Adobe. http://www.adobe.com/produc…
• DNGs are approximately 20% smaller than standard Camera Raw files. Don’t worry about embedding Raw image in DNG. You’ll lose any sort of file size savings.
• Wikipedia entry on DNG – http://bit.ly/MMt8f
• Because the file he is demoing is a DNG he can adjust it within Bridge using Camera Raw (within Photoshop).
• Camera Raw is available within Photoshop and Bridge.
• Showing the amazing power of Auto within Camera Raw. Lesson learned: You’re typically not going to get the results you were hoping for if you rely on Auto.
• Image has a bad yellow cast due to lighting. @garazi’s showing how to adjust within Bridge.
• @garazi using White Color balance sample tool. White balance actually = light gray.
• “In 2 clicks I went from severe jaundice to a perfect picture.” – @garazi
• Images that were adjusted in Camera Raw will display a small icon in the upper right of the preview.
• Adjustments can be stored within an image or as a sidecar XMP files. (Metadata related to adjustments.)
• Raw is non-destructive. Play around with an image and do whatever you want. Retain the original.
• With Raw you can adjust settings independently. Demoing Exposure, Fill Light, Blacks to pull out detail in photos.
• Now showing how to use Graduated Filters within Bridge to change coloring of over-exposed image.
• Image @garazi is demoing is 1.18Gb image of Adobe’s headquarters. (Holy schnikeys.) He’s showing how zoom is very responsive and quick to re-render pixels on screen. It was rather impressive.
• Some of the features @garazi is showing require an OpenGL-enabled graphics card :)
• A lot of the performance enhancements rely on the GPU versus the CPU in previous versions.
• Now showing how you can rotate the canvas.
• The newest Wacom tablets can auto-rotate the canvas. New Macbooks can rotate with gestures.
• Now showing Adjustments panel within Photoshop CS4.
• Adjustments within the Adjustments panel results in 80% fewer mouse clicks.
• Now showing Black & White adjustments and how to tint using masks.
• OH: “My fingers are sticky from the coke.” lol
• Now showing Quick Select tool – originally introduced in CS3.
• Finger adjustment tool is awesome. All adjustments now have a “finger” adjustment feature. You can click and drag within an image to make various adjustments.
• “Drawing with the clone stamp tool is like drawing with your eyes closed.” With the improved clone stamp, you get a preview of what you’rabout to clone within your brush.
• Now demoing how you can correct depth of field with multiple images.
• Now showing Blend Selected Layers based on content. In Bridge – Tools > Photoshop > Photomerge.
• Now showing 3D postcard.
• In Photoshop: Layer > Smart Object > Stack Mode > Median – will allow you to combine multiple shots.
• Now showing content aware scaling. (I LOVE this feature in Photoshop CS4)
• “We’re not stretching pixels. We’re making new ones.”
• More on content aware scaling in Photoshop CS4: http://bit.ly/EiFwA
• Using quick selection tool. Select > Save selection. Deselect. Edit > Content Aware Scale. Notice PROTECT up top. That’s what will protect people, objects from getting stretched along with what’s in the background of the image.
• Photoshop Tip: Save for Web > use blur with JPGs to save even more on final file size. It’ll blur the edges of the image resulting in a slightly smaller file. Also remove metadata & copyright when saving files for web.
• Now showing Fireworks.
• Fireworks. Export as JPG. 80% quality. File > Export. Photoshop demo image: 80kb. Fireworks demo image: 44kb. o_O
• If exporting JPGs for the web, USE Fireworks. Filesizes will be 45% smaller. Fireworks has a better jpg compression algorithm.
• Now talking about PNG-8s in Fireworks. Did you know Fireworks also supports PNG-32? Photoshop doesn’t have that.
• With PNG-8s in Fireworks you can choose between index transparency (GIF-like) or Alpha Transparency. (!!!)
• For further reading: PNG8: The Clear Winner
• Okay. I love Photoshop and this topic was supposed be about making us a Photoshop Bad Ass… but I’m falling in love with Fireworks.
• IE6 screws up PNG-8s that use semi-transparent pixels. But that’s okay. With semi-transparent pixels it simply doesn’t display them at all. You still retain transparency.
• PNG-8 semi-pixel transparency’s been around since at least Fireworks 3.
• And that’s a wrap.

Looking to upgrade? Buy through Amazon and help me out! :)

• Buy Adobe Photoshop CS4 (Windows – XP/Vista) – Full Version / Upgrade
• Buy Adobe Photoshop CS4 (Mac) – Full Version / Upgrade

UPrinting does a lot more than business cards and die cut business cards. Whether you need flyers, brochures, posters, banners, or even bookmarks, you can’t beat what UPrinting has to offer. Check out their full line of products.

(Full disclosure: Uprinting is a paid advertiser on this site.)