To educate, inform, inspire

Ricoh Theta

July 27, 2016 - Learning , Technology , Travel - by Mark - No Comments

I recently returned from the Adobe Education Leader Summit (held in New York City this year). Several colleagues were taking a number of photos using their new cameras. After further investigation, I had to get one of these puppies myself. It is the Ricoh Theta model “S.” It takes 360 […]

Koken

July 20, 2016 - General , Technology , Web - by Mark - 1 Comment

I recently became aware of the Koken Content Management System (CMS). Essentially, it is a content management system for photographs (and essays if desired). Given that I take a lot of photographs, I thought this might be worth investigating. I also discovered it integrated with Adobe Lightroom. Like most CMS, […]

Visual Studio Code

July 13, 2016 - Apple , ICC , Technology , Web , Windows - by Mark - No Comments

In preparation for our fall, 2016, CMWEB 240 class on developing web pages using the .Net environment, I have been briefly reviewing Visual Studio Code (version 1.3). This is a different product from the traditional Visual Studio and has a significantly UX/UI experience than Visual Studio. You can download a […]

Working Connections 2016

June 8, 2016 - Learning , Technology - by Mark - No Comments

During the week of May 23, Working Connections was held in Springfield, Illinois. This represented the 14th year for this event (and my 13th year teaching a class at this event). I thought it might be helpful for others to learn more about Working Connections and why I think this […]

Adobe Spark

May 25, 2016 - Adobe , Technology , Web - by Mark - No Comments

Adobe recently announced Spark. This is more than a “re-branding” of the iOS only apps Voice, Slate, and Post. The links in the previous sentence take you to my initial reviews of those iOS apps. The significance of Spark is that these apps are also now available via the web. […]

Adobe XD and Material Design

May 11, 2016 - Mobile Apps , Technology , Web - by Mark - No Comments

Google announced Material Design in June, 2014. The main goals are discussed in the Material Design specification. Essentially, there are two goals (below copied directly from above link). “Create a visual language that synthesizes classic principles of good design with the innovation and possibility of technology and science.” “Develop a […]

LIX 3D Printing Pen

May 4, 2016 - Learning , Technology - by Mark - No Comments

On Monday, May 2, 2016, my LIX 3D printing pen arrived. At long last. I ordered this on August 24, 2015. I was notified it was ready to ship on March 25, 2016. It shipped on April 25, 2016. Overall cost was $154.95 (including $15 shipping). Now that I have […]

Critical Error – Start Menu Not Working

April 13, 2016 - Technology , Who knew? , Windows - by Mark - 5 Comments

For the past month (March 8 to April 6, 2016), my sole Windows 10 laptop has been experiencing a strange problem. Every time I clicked on the Windows logo “new start menu,” I received the following error message. Of course, you can’t close this message. Clicking “Sign out now” is […]

Chrome Browser Extensions

March 23, 2016 - Security , Technology , Web - by Mark - 2 Comments

Those who know me realize that I am always interested in web technologies and how they relate to business. I thought it might be helpful to identify some of the Chrome browser extensions I use on a regular basis (and my rationale for using them). Although I use a fair […]

Adobe Portfolio

March 9, 2016 - Adobe , Student Examples , Technology - by Mark - No Comments

Adobe recently released an interesting tool – Portfolio. If you have a Creative Cloud account and a Behance portfolio, you can easily use this tool to create a portfolio of your work. For those who are interested in quickly promoting examples of their work (with customization options), this is a […]

Productivity tips – AHK

March 2, 2016 - General , Technology - by Mark - No Comments

How often do we start our computer, open a handful of applications, visit various websites, and then begin our work. Same routine almost every day. This is where a tool which has been around for a long time comes in very handy. Instead of manually starting all these applications and […]

Productivity tips – Hygeia and Hazel

February 24, 2016 - General , Technology - by Mark - No Comments

This is the second in a series of productivity tip articles inspired by a recent conducted by Pariah Burke. Last week, I examined PhraseExpress [Win] and TextExpander [Mac] which allow you to insert snippets of text which are then expanded (saving me a bunch of typing). This is one of […]

Productivity tips

February 17, 2016 - General , Technology - by Mark - No Comments

I had the privilege of participating in a webinar conducted by Pariah Burke recently. He focused on a number of applications he uses to increase his productivity. This inspired me to develop a series of short articles on various tools one can use to be more productive. I plan to […]

Docker Containers

February 10, 2016 - Technology , Web , WOW - by Mark - 1 Comment

I recently posted an article on web developer trends for 2016 at WebProfessionals.org. One of the technologies I believe will grow in importance in 2016 is Docker containers. For aspiring web developers (particularly those in our CMWEB program), I thought it might be helpful to further explain the concept. I […]

Super Bowl 50 commercials

February 8, 2016 - General , Huh? , Mobile Apps , Technology , Web , Who knew? - by Mark - 1 Comment

Yes, I watched Super Bowl 50 last night. No, I didn’t pay that much attention to the football. I think one of the teams won. I confess I really like the commercials. Rather than just watch the commercials, I thought I would do a bit of analysis. As we all […]