It’s no secret I am sold to all Apple products. I’ve been using apple since I could use a mouse and it was my first computer ever. Being a graphic designer, I was able to see the evolution of Apple products thought out the years as well as their logo. Yesterday, the hype was all about “The New iPad” yup, they actually called the new iPad “The New iPad” but at the end of their presentation, there was a colored version of the apple logo (a new updated one from the classic rainbow version we all knew to love from 1976-1998) and I’m really hoping that this is their new logo.
I love how they incorporated all the colors in a watercolor meshed design and brings you back to the Apple roots! I think with all their innovative products, having a colored logo makes it all less “technically and snobby” and definitely makes it more accessible to everyone. Plus, you need to think about how children today play an important role in choosing brands (at an early age) and clearly a colorful apple will grasp any child’s attention then a “sleek grayish” one. I think it would be a smart move. Going color means they are open to diversity, to change, and seeing color is their strong suit when developing products it only makes sense.
What do you think? Should they opt for a colored logo? Do you like it?
When you have a blog, comments are like crack (no joke) but when spammers start flooding your inbox with comments that aren’t pertinent to the post it just pisses you off. For quite some time spammers used links and random jargon and Akismet would detect it and it wouldn’t even reach my inbox (would go straight to the spam section) so I would let comment automatically show up (I don’t love having to have either my comment or readers comments moderated) but then something changed so I had to make a few changes.
Don’t ask me how but dang those spammers are smart. They spam you alright and their comments make sense but have nothing to do with the post itself. Plus they put their author name as ‘Winter Tires’ or ‘Hardwood Flooring’ I mean really?! I had to take additional measures to make sure spammers don’t show their face on my blog so unfortunately I had to add a Captcha image at the bottom of the comment box.
Am I happy about it? Nope! Because that means I will be getting less comments now (seeing there are additional steps to acutally comment) but I figured it was worth not having an inbox flooding. So please… I hope you will still comment :]
The Nest, utterly beautiful, utterly ‘slick’. It’s about time that someone makes something pretty out of something we use daily (and sticks out of our walls like a sore thumb) My walls would be privilieged to sport one of these pretty and smart thermostat.
October is breast cancer awareness month so there’s no better way to get a friendly reminder like the video above. Check and out and tell me if this helps :]
One thing I wanted for my birthday this year (but might have to wait a little longer for) is a SLR camera. Being a designer and having taken 1 year of photography film classes (yup, I rocked the dark room) I can’t help but think my little Samsung cam isn’t doing my artistic/designer self good. I’m not ready to take the plunge just yet, and frankly I have to admit I’m afraid and CLUELESS on how it works. Seemed like my film camera was easier to understand.
Well, if you are like me and need to “practice” then the CameraSim site is perfect for that. What better way to practice then on this SLR simulator. Adjust lighting, ISO, aperture, shutter speed, and distance settings to see what happens to your photos. I think this might be a helpful tool.
Today was a great day. I finally received a box I’ve been waiting for. When I saw the UPS guy come up to my door… I knew it and I seriously got all giddy. (no joke) I unwrapped my iPad2 synced it with my iTunes and it’s was ready to go. It seriously took me a good hour to organize all my apps (the ones on my iPhone that I had to manually check if they were compatible with my new apple baby). I know there are some really good iPad apps and was wondering if you’d be willing to share so that I can go on and add them.
I’m an iPad virgin so I really have no clue what to expect. I’m excited and soon, I’ll be blogging via le iPad. I’ll be doing a little bit of reasearch and I’ll do a post about iPhone/iPad apps. (if it’s something people would like to read – of course) Looking forward to hearing your suggestions.
Like everything new on the web it takes time for people to do things right. When it comes to blogging we all know that there’s an etiquette to follow; credit sources, don’t steal content from other bloggers and claim as your own, mention to your readers when you are compensated for a review… and the list goes on. As you know, I’ve been pinning since July of last year and as much as I LOVE THE SITE…. people (some, not all) are going about it all wrong.
Just like blogging, you’d be surprised to know that there is a Pinterest etiquette. I’m not trying to claim that I do it all right, we are all human, but if we are aware of it, it only makes us better… right? I thought I would give you a 101 (and feel free to add to it) about Pinterest.
Like I mentioned, I don’t do it perfect… not even close and it’s harder to control when a pretty image pops up in your feed and you simply repin it (which is what I tend to do ALOT)
MAKE SURE TO AVOID DEAD LINKS
When I see something I love on pinterest the first thing I do is click on the image to go to the blog/site it comes from for additional details. Say for example; price, where I can get that specific item or how I should go about making it (tutorial) It happens too many times that I click on the image and it just links to the image. FAIL! I don’t know where the image is coming from nor do I know how to find it. This is the #1 mistake from pinners.
HOW TO FIX THIS PROBLEM:
If you installed the Pin It Bookmark (Safari, Firefox & Chrome) be sure you click on the actual post (for the specific URL) and then use the Pin It Bookmark. That way it will save the Post Unique URL rather than the website’s URL. This happens alot with Tumblr Posts. (links to say page 6, but by the time you click on the link the image is not on page 6 but maybe page 13) Hours of searching = no fun.
CREDIT SOURCES PROPERLY
As much as it’s easy to reblog something we’ve seen online, it’s as easy to pin something from a blog who’s reblogged content. Sure it’s easy to do, but it really sucks for the original source. I mean seeing their “post/image/art/design” on pinterest coming from another source but their own. This has happened to me (and I’m not an important person ) so please try and avoid this.
HOW TO FIX THE PROBLEM:
If you are on a blog and like something but see there’s a source for the image, click on that link until you find the original source and pin away. Yes this may be time consuming I know (finding the original source) but in the end it will eliminate sourcing issues. If you can’t go this route, then might I add you credit the “original” source in the description. (see image below)
YOU WOULD WANT TO KNOW IF YOU WERE PINNED As much as I love Pinterest, I find that it lacks one thing. Either a notification when someone pins you (maybe a la pingback) or a way to search a specific domain on pinterest to see who pinned art/design/photography from your site. I even went forward and sent the suggestion to the peeps over at the pin kingdom and they thanked me for the suggestion.
HOW TO FIX THE PROBLEM:
You can do one of three things. #1 – leave a comment on the post of the blogger saying you pinned their pic and leave the unique URL of that pin. #2 – you can mention (@) the author/source of the image (if you follow that specific person) or #3 – If you don’t follow that person, then tag either their name or their blog name (i.e. #blushink) That way searching to see who pinned you will be easier to find. (Ideally I would do 1 & 2/3) but as long as one is done… then yay!
Okay enough about the don’t of pinterest and on to the Dos. Do use it, Do follow people, Do like, Do mention and most of all HAVE FUN DO-ing it Last week I found a tip that is worth to be shared. Did you know that you can highlight type (say a source or description) and then press the pin it bookmark and it will copy/paste the text in the description box of the pin itself? Isn’t that great? You can go ahead and modify the text but it makes it so much easier/faster and you are sure not to make any spelling mistakes in names. If you are a visual person, check out the explanation on The Pinteresting Blog
Last but not least, did you know you can embed an image on pinterest directly on your blog and all the credits will be intact? All done for you so you know everything will work. It’s actually pretty great! You can find the embed button on the side of a pin next to the twitter, email and facebook button. You can even select the size of the image (but can’t go bigger than the original). This is what an embedded pin looks like :
I promise I am not the Pinterest police… I just want everyone to enjoy all aspects of the site. Am I missing anything? Do you have more Pinterest Etiquette or tips? Please do share!
If you have a business and would love to accept Credit Card payments on the fly, then the Square is for you. This sweet device is a MUST for any company who are a little tech savvy. I mean talk about leaving a good impression to clients.
“Square is a revolutionary service that enables anyone to accept credit cards anywhere. Square offers an easy to use, free credit card reader that plugs into a phone or iPad. It’s simple to sign up. There is no extra equipment, complicated contracts, monthly fees or merchant account required. “
The service is available in the US only (for now) but I think this is the next big thing! If you already accept credit card payments (not through paypal) do you know how much you pay in fees? Probably not. Well Square is one flat 2.75% fee. Sweet deal I think!
I’ll be doing a little bit of reasearch and I’ll do a post about iPhone/iPad apps. (if it’s something people would like to read – of course) Looking forward to hearing your suggestions.
