Aug 17, 2009 Comments
Radi8 Youth at Relay For Life 2009
The awesome Radi8 Youth team giving a helping hand at Hobart’s Relay for Life event in 2009.
Jun 14, 2009 Comments
Apple’s 2009 MacBook Pro: Battery Life to Die For
There’s no other way to say this. If you care about battery life and portability at all, buy the new MacBook Pro. Go to the Apple store and buy one. While I only tested the 15” model, I’m guessing the 13” model should leave a similar lasting impression.
Ever since I first looked at the power consumption specs of Nehalem I thought it didn’t make any sense to buy a new, expensive notebook before Arrandale’s launch in Q4 2009/Q1 2010. While performance will definitely increase considerably with Arrandale, Apple just threw a huge wrench in my recommendation. The new MacBook Pro is near perfect today. If you need a new laptop now, thanks to its incredible battery life, I have no qualms recommending the new MBP.
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Today I am more than comfortable saying that this is the best Apple notebook I’ve ever laid my hands on. The build quality is excellent, the base specs are solid and of course, the battery life. There’s no doubt that it could be better; toss in an SSD or drop the price even further, but as it stands the new MBP is an excellent choice if you’re looking for a Mac laptop.
Obviously, you can attain the same battery life with a cheaper notebook and one or two spare batteries. But there’s something to be said for increasing battery life by at least 50% without increasing the bulk or weight of the system.
I’m not sure there’s much else I can add other than Good Job, Apple.
via AnandTech: Apple’s 2009 MacBook Pro: Battery Life to Die For.
That’s a hell of an endorsement, especially coming from AnandTech.
Favourite quote comes from the fourth page (where the beef of the article is):
That’s a 51% improvement in battery life. It’s close enough to the max theoretical 46% improvement for me to think that the significant gains in wireless web browsing are due to improvements in idle power optimizations. It’s possible that all of the components in the new MacBook Pro have been optimized for lower voltages at idle.
The battery tests are repeatable however. I saw anywhere from a 50 – 100% improvement in battery life over the old MacBook Pro. Given the increase in battery capacity alone, you should see no less than a 46% increase in battery life. Exactly what is accounting for the expanded life above and beyond that, I’m not sure.
Either way, Apple’s 7 hour claim is well within reason. For light workloads, even on WiFi, you can easily expect 6.5 – 8 hours out of the new 15-inch MBP. As I write this article on that very system I’m told that I have nearly 8.5 hours left on my charge. If you do a lot of writing on your notebook, the new MBP is exactly what you’ll want; it will easily last you on a cross-country flight if you need to get work done.
Spectacular work, Apple. Thumbs up from this blogger 
Jan 7, 2009 Comments
35 Basic Tutorials to Get You Started with Photoshop
As a professional and 8 years experienced. I can tell you there is no better method to learning photoshop then raw experimentation.. Layer blending modes are a great way to see how to get awesome effects, try overlay, color burn and dodge alot, and scroll through the others to see what you get. Failure Failure Failure, it will get you comfortable and not afraid to try new things. Avoid filters as much as possible, they severely handicapped me for 2 years in my journey. Best advice I can give you, if you care to listen, is buy a tablet (1028p atleast 4×6), draw as much as you can, start hard, download brush packs and make your own, and most importantly DO NOT BE AFRAID.. you can do it… the more you force yourself to adapt the program around your needs, the quicker you’ll learn. If at 12 years old I could get it, I guarantee anyone else can too. I’m 20 now, and already in my third job of my career without a degree makin good money. I never had formal training, and you dont need it either. It helps but its not required. A DEGREE IS though, I’m working for mine, just make sure you dont wait for school to get started. You dont wana go in without any knowledge or experience you wont get good job placement.
Being able to draw will heavily distinguish you from the normal Graphics Designer, not only will your designs be crisper and more unique, but you’re not bounded by purchasing a stocks or a damn good camera to capture your own. Don’t get me wrong though, stocks are an integral part of GD, you just don’t want them to be the foundation of every design. BTW, drawing is an achieved talent, your not born with it, it takes a lot of practice but hell its worth every minute.
istockphoto.com (stocks only), pixel2life.com, good-tutorials.com, deviantart.com are great places to get training and resources for any new graphics designer, as you get better look for digital painting tutorials. Go to places like depthcore.com and try to pick out how they developed their pieces, technique studies in your spare time will improve your skill DRAMATICALLY.
Join graphics design communities, and get your art critiqued (word of warning, dont beg for lessons, we hate walking people through stuff). If I had any websites off hand I would post them here. Remember, Dont be AFRAID, fear of failure will handicap you more than anything else. Know you can do it.. know it and you will eventually be a great designer.
Sorry for the rant, but im assuming if you cared about this article then your looking for all the advice you can get. I wish all the new designers luck in their venture, and I hope to see some new inspiring work up on the net! Have fun!
via Digg – 35 Basic Tutorials to Get You Started with Photoshop.
I just wanted some Photoshop tutorials, not your whole life story… 
Jan 7, 2009 Comments
Australia ‘destroying life on Earth’
AUSTRALIA’S use of coal and carbon emissions policies are guaranteeing the “destruction of much of the life on the planet”, a leading NASA scientist has written in a letter to Barack Obama.
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In the letter he says: “Australia exports coal and sets atmospheric carbon dioxide goals so large as to guarantee destruction of much of the life on the planet.”
via Australia ‘destroying life on Earth’ | National Breaking News | News.com.au.
Eh? Come again?
C’mon – surely you cannot be serious.
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