iTunes 10.4 Rule Sets
I use a very simple star rating system for tagging my music. I combine it with a more sophisticated smart playlist system using "Sets of Rules" to build more complex playlists.
Sometime around the iTunes 10.4 update Apple removed the sub set rule button from the playlist builder. I freaked out. Probably because I have seen Apple pull the plug on features that I really love. I started to freak out because I was afraid this was one of those features that they killed off.
Fortunately the feature is still there, it's just hidden. I decided to blog about it, simply because I could not find any mention of it myself when I searched for the answer.
In the older versions of iTunes, you added a rule set by clicking the ellipsis button after the plus and minus buttons. In iTunes 10.4 you have to hold the Option key down to change the plus button into the ellipsis button.
→ Respond NowTags: General · Software
Free Desktop Wallpaper PSD
Up for grabs is my favorite desktop wallpaper psd file. (Photoshop required) Since it's a Photoshop file, you can use it to make a desktop wallpaper at any size or any color you wish. I have set up the layers to be scaled, or effected in any way that you want. If you prefer not to fuss, just change the gradients to colors that you like and call it good.
Here is a breakdown of the layers. The bottom 6 layers are just gradients. I provided a few options for you to pick and choose from in case your not too good with colors.
Next is the Noise layer. I like to add a little bit of noise to my gradients to help reduce any banding that you might see otherwise. 4% is a good value for most applications. Tip: If you scalle the file up or down to fit your resolution. make sure to reset the noise layer's scale value back to 100% or the effect will be lost.
Layer 8 is the Bokeh effect. It adds a touch of texture to the wallpaper. turn it off if you don't like it, or scale it to fit your taste.
Layer 9 is the Vignette. The vignette is the slight darkening that appears in the corners.
The top most layer is a saturation & vibrance layer. Sometimes I like to make gradients really pop with super saturated colors, or tone them back for a vintage or pastel look. Its easy to play with the sliders to effect the colors.
Download it and give it a try. If people like this file, I may post up some other wall paper PSD files for download.
Here are a few of the gradients that come pre-made in the file ready to go.
Download the wallpaper template free
→ Respond NowTags: Freebies · Photoshop
IRC Accounts With Adium
When Adium 1.4 was released I got really excited because 1.4 brought with it built in support for IRC. I downloaded the current version immediately and tried to connect to some of my favorite channels only find my self stuck after entering my server information. I would get either a connection error or a chat window with a message of "
Received CTCP 'VERSION' (to YOUR_USERNAME) from Evdrone" I tried running a few commands at this point but was going no where fast.
Turns out the solution is pretty easy, but not very obvious. At least not to me anyway. Unfortunatly the Adium website gives no instruction on how connect, so I thought I would put together a quick guide for accessing IRC with Adium in case others out there are having the same problem.
- Add a New Account to Adium 1.4 or later
- Add your screen name or username
- hostname: irc.servername.com
- Click Ok
- A chat window will appear. (This is the part that confused me.) Don't bother trying to run commands here.
- Instead go to the File Menu, and choose "Join Group Chat"
- Enter #your_channel_name. Click join, now your in.
Screenshots
→ Respond NowTags: General · Software
Photoshop Grids For Tablets and Android Icons
Just thought I would share some photoshop actions that I created for making various Android/Blackberry user interface grids. There is one action for generating a new document at 1024x600 @169 ppi with a 16 pixel grid system perfect for tablet based devices.
Also included are actions for creating various Android icon grids for LDPI, MDPI, and HDPI screens. I also included a bonus x8 Jumbo template that scales down perfectly to the HDPI icon size.
Download The Photoshop Actions
→ Respond NowTags: Design · Freebies
My Impressions of the Samsung Galaxy Tab
I am working on a interface for an Adobe Air app that is intended to run on the Samsung Galaxy Tablet. So this weekend I set out to find a Galaxy Tab that I can play with to see how it works. I was especially interested in testing the interactions of some of the other Android applications. I have a few tricky things to address myself, I needed to see how others worked around them.
I found the Galaxy Tab at a local Verizon store, and after a quick introduction to it by the sales guy I was off and swiping. I spent all of 45-55 min playing with the device. Not enough to be an expert by any stretch of the imagination, but enough to formulate some opinions about it none the less.
Overall, I thought the device was well constructed. It felt good in my hands. I liked the high quality screen the most. It was bright and vivid. the built in icons all looked great. Of course it looked as though some of them were apple derivatives. My first impressions were really good and I thought wow this might actually be a cool device. But then I spent another 40+ minutes with it. That's when things went downhill.
What I don't like about the Galaxy Tab
My biggest complaints about the device was the fact that all the applications I demoed relied on the devices primary back button to navigate applications. Some apps even used it as a way of saying "done" bringing up a save or cancel dialogue prompt. This feels so wrong to me to have to leave the application window to click a button to go back a step or to say done. What were the developers thinking? To make matters worse, if you are using the tablet in the landscape mode the back and home buttons no longer communicate what they do. Take a look at this screenshot. The home button now looks like a backwards arrow, and the back button looks like an undo button or something else.
I'm sure you will get used to the oddly oriented icons after a while, but shouldn't these devices be intuitive and easy for anyone to understand? Samsung could have remedied this glaring issue buy rotating these icons when the tablet was turned to on it's side. I am actually more of the opinion that most users will use this device primarily in the portrait position so it may not matter much. In the end it's a horrible design and bad user experience.
That brings me to my second gripe. Holding the device in the landscape position was difficult. Mostly because it didn't feel right in landscape mode. This is probably fine for gaming or watching videos, but for most other tasks portrait felt much more comfortable to me. I found hat even though I was trying to test the device in landscape mode I kept turning it to portrait without even thinking about it. It was a subconscious move that I was doing based on how the device felt to me.
What about Adobe Flash?
Since the application that I am working on is going to be an Adobe Air App, I decided to test the flash capability. I tested several sites known to use flash. I tried youtube, CBS, and a few sites that I have worked on that use flash for some elements of flash. Sadly, the video on CBS did not want to play at first. Then after trying another, the video finaly did play but was not very smooth. Testing sites that used flash for some elements made the page a bit sluggish to scroll. Sadly, the animation playback was also not all that smooth either. Personally, I just don't think that flash is going work that great on this device in the long run. If you really want flash on your portable, you might want to hold off on the Galaxy Tab. Perhaps the Blackberry Playbook will be a better platform for Flash.
→ Respond NowTags: Opinions & Rants