I’m off to The Pixel Conference this week in Chicago. I’ll be teaching a couple of sessions in the conference track. So if you’re going to be there, be sure to say hello. If I see anything really cool I’ll be sure to blog it.
AirBase is just what I needed
It may seem like I’m a sales agent for Griffin Technologies these days, trust me I’m not. I don’t get a single dime from them. As a matter of fact, I don’t even know if they know about my blog and have never even met anyone who works for Griffin. However, they seem to be making a lot of little gadgets that I need these days. I must admit that when I first saw the AirBase a few months back, I thought it was goofy and unnecessary. I dismissed it and moved on. Then I learned about just how important “placement” of wireless access points is. Placement is everything when it comes to range and performance. I had an AirPort Express in my living room behind a book case connected to my stereo for streaming iTunes music. Reception to that base station was so so. Then I got the idea to put it on top of the book case (about 5′ from the floor). That made all the difference in the world. I got a white extension cord and just kind of wedged it in between two other gadgets and prayed that it wouldn’t fall over. Of course that didn’t work so I remembered the AirBase. I went to Griffin’s site and saw that they still sold it. I ordered one.
The AirBase is a sturdy plastic weighted stand for your AirPort Express Base Station. It provides a way to elevate your base station and put it on a flat surface. It comes with a long power cable to run back to your outlet. It worked out well. My only complaint with it, is that the connectors are very snug. Even plugging in the power cable was harder than it should have been, to the point that I thought I was breaking the socket. Otherwise it was $25 well spent.
Last chance to save $100 on Lightroom
After a very successful public beta (over 500,000 downloads), Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 1.0 was released in February 2007 with an introductory price of $199 (as a thank you to the community and to those who help test and build it). That’s $100 off the retail price of $299. That introductory deal is over after 4/30/07. So if you have a remote interest in Lightroom, you should probably go ahead and buy it now to save $100.
Also check out this recent review. Scott Kelby has also started his nationwide Lightroom Live Tour. Find out the details here.
Is Comcast Getting Faster?
As I was helping a friend yesterday diagnose his sudden slow down on his DSL line, I pointed him to the SpeakEasy test that I like to run to check internet connection speeds. However, when I checked my own speed I couldn’t help but notice the sudden bump in my upload speed. It normally averages around 768Kbps, but now it’s up over 1,400-1,500Kbps. I’m not complaining and I’ll take it. However, I’m just wondering will it continue to stay this fast? Upload speeds have always been slower than they should be on Cable Modem Services. It’s about time the cable companies started bumping up this speed. I upload a lot of content via FTP and other services. This could always be improved!
Once AT&T rolls out a fiberoptic service (like Verizon’s Fios service in NY/NJ), Comcast will be put on notice to either catch up or buh-bye.
Griffin Technologies Does It Again
Although I don’t really have a need for the new “Dock Adapter for iPod shuffle“, I still think it’s a cool product. This little adapter goes into a standard Apple iPod dock, say the one on top of the iPod Hi-Fi and let’s your 2nd Generation iPod shuffle be a full fledged citizen on your iPod speaker system. It not only allows you to enjoy your music, but it also allows the shuffle to be charged as well.
It’s $19.99 and is available online or at your local Apple store.
Adobe After Effects & Premiere Pro CS3 Now in Public Beta: CS3 Design and Web Suites are now shipping
Adobe is really getting into this whole Public Beta thing. Now you can download the NEW After Effects CS3 and Premiere Pro CS3 as a public beta. This is great especially for intel Mac users who want to check out the apps before they buy (the Windows version is there too). Also you can give your feedback to help make the app better. These apps are due to ship next quarter, but you don’t have to wait to start playing.
Just head over to labs.adobe.com and download them.
Also note that the Creative Suite Design and Web Suites are now shipping!
New Photoshop Lightroom Book
My buddy Scott Kelby has just released his New “The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Book for Digital Photographers.†This new title is 394 pages and covers Lightroom from A-Z. I’m a big Lightroom fan and while I know the program quite well, I can always learn something new. The way Scott walks you through Lightroom is by doing it the context of a photo shoot. He shows you everything from bring the shots in, adjusting them, adding metadata and output to print, web and slideshows. Scott teaches you Lightroom in a fun way as he does with most of his classes, books and videos. If you use Lightroom, you’ll want this book!
Well worth the cost of admission! $26.39 ($39.99 list) at Amazon.com.
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