I have been getting more and more into the world of Graphics. In doing so I find that I have a lot of defects in doing art work with a mouse.  So I started doing some research on using a pen tablet to help where the mouse does not.  So I came upon the Original VisTablet. VisTablet is the New Standard in graphics tablets. With a 12.1" widescreen tracing surface, 29 customizable macro fields and an incredibly slim design, this highly affordable tablet is optimized for Windows Vista's advanced tablet capabilities and compatible with Apple's OSX and Windows Vista/XP/2000. With 1,024 levels of sensitivity in its pen, this tablet is ready to become part of your creative process.

Pen tablets have been around for some time. Not until recently have they become affordable to the general public. They were primarily used by professionals in the Graphic art and Photo industries. VisTablet allows you to explore the internet, draw, paint, write, highlight and do professional or home photo editing. VisTablet also opens up advanced pen features available in all the new Microsoft Office applications. Through electro- magnetic induction, information is exchanged between the pen and the tablet while your movements are translated to your computer screen. With no stand-alone power supply required, the VisTablet is a great choice for portable computers as well as desktop PC’s. VisTablet will open up the world of design to you in ways that were previously either to expensive or to limiting. VisTablet is the new standard in graphics tablets.

Here is the TCL Playlist-02 mixed by Damion. I decided for this Playlist that I would mix this set instead of just playing track by track to give it that continuous feel. Go ahead and take a listen to this mix. It has a nice flow that will bring you up and down throughout this mix. Leave a comment and let me know what you think.


Cover Art By Damion

Logitech QuickCam Communicate MP Webcam, 1.3 Megapixel, Built-in Microphone, P/N: 960-000240

I will soon be a proud owner of a Logitechs Quick Cam. I haven't used a web cam in many moons. I recently decided to purchase a new one because of the increase request of friends and family members. I also purchased it to do my assignment for school. I can now do video responses instead of writing a paper and who doesn't want to do that. I should be getting it sometime this weekend.

The Logitech Quick Cam has a 1.3-megapixel sensor lets you enjoy software-enhanced photos up to 4 megapixels. RightLight technology automatically improves image clarity, even in dim light. RightSound technology ensures clear conversations without background noise. Compatible with all major instant messaging programs.

I came across Dutch photographer GoWithTheFlowEnzo’s work from Tycho's Blog. I found his work to be simple with a touch of effects overlapped to give his work the feeling of serenity. His work reminds me of days of past when things were simplistic and yet imaginative. Robin I'm assuming is his name per his profile on deviantart.com will keep on his inspiration and inspire others. The kid has talent and I'm sure it will continue to grow in the future.

Shun Kawakami has a unique form of art. Shun is a designer, currently based in Tokyo and the founder and Chief of artless Inc.I have enjoyed his style of art with the use of number. He then uses the feel of Japanese plants to bring the number to life. Shun has been in many exhibitions throughout the world in showing his work. If you want to check out more of his work you can check out his site.


Shun Kawakami Website

Over the past couple of months on my researching of different fonts and websites. I have noticed a large increase in Grungy style websites and graphics. So I thought I would give you some Fonts that can help with your designs. While most of the fonts on this list can’t really be used for website copy and articles, they can certainly be used for logos and headings or other types of graphics.

Dirty English

Docteur Atomic

A Bite



Defused



Got Heroin



Cocaine Sans


Ginga

The ultimate homage to Dick Tracy this year as two of its preeminent electronics manufacturers duke it out for supremacy in the oh-so-pricey world of watch phones. Due to land in France any day now, the Samsung S9110 is said to be the slimmest watch phone ever released, featuring a 1.76-inch touch screen and such niceties as Bluetooth, voice recognition, MP3 player capabilities, a speakerphone, and e-mail functionality. Sporting similar specs but a slightly thicker profile, and a higher MSRP, LG's GD910 will also pack 3G video call capabilities and 2GB of internal memory (versus just 40MB in the S9110) when it arrives in France at just about the same time.


LG GD910 Watch Ph Video

I have decided to make a playlist for all to enjoy. It was a little difficult to find a Playlist player that actually let me load the tracks from my computer instead of a search site. I used MixPod.com if you were interested in knowing which player I used. I would eventually like to create one myself through Flash. Well hope you like the Playlist and the artwork I made. Also don't forget to leave me a comment. Let me know what you think.

I was taking a look back at the technologies of computers the other day with a friend. It was astonishing how computer technologies have changed so rapidly. So I thought, wouldn't it be interesting to take a look at what website looked like in the later part of the 90's and what techniques were used.

1. Animated .GIF files.Yes, we really thought these made our sites look cool! I love these thing!
   
   Combine this with Times New Roman font and it’s 1995, all over again!
2. Cheesy clipart icons. Graphics programs have come a long way (can you say CS4?). Free and almost-free stock image sites are abundant. There is NO excuse for using crap like this today:
   
3. Layout tables with borders. We all know (or should know) that CSS is almighty and that you really shouldn’t be designing layouts using tables. There are always exceptions, but that’s for a different article. You want your readers to flash back quickly? Give your layout table a border. At least if you are using tables to create your site, the lack of a border doesn’t make it obvious.
4. Overbearing, non-seamless, repeating background tiles. Okay, admittedly, web design in the early 90s had major limitations and you were considered a progressive designer if you had a repeating background. Photoshop was still in its infancy, so seamless tiles were hard to come by. These days, there is nothing wrong with a repeating pattern but the rules have changed. Make them fade into the background, not stand out. And make them seamless and appropriate to your content. When it doubt, leave it out!
5. Blue and Purple links. If you can install a theme/template, use any HTML editor, or do a Google search for CSS, you can change the color of your hyperlinks.
6. Times New Roman and Comic Sans. Using either of these fonts for you body content tells the world you’re watching reruns of Beverly Hills, 90210.
7. Centered text. For everything.

   There were so few tricks of the trade in the 90s,
   web designers did anything they could
   to make their stuff stand out.
   Centering body text was one of those ‘tools’.
   Back then, I guess a lot of designers didn’t care that there text was not very readable.

8. Blinking text. Fun, isn’t it? For those of you who started coding after 1998, you can acheive this by simply using the blink tag. (update: for some reason the blink tag won’t work with this Today.com theme. Bummer. You don’t know what you’re missing.)
9. Psychedelic buttons. You know the ones. pretty, funky, rainbow gradients with beveled edges, that showed off your mad Photoshop skills. Buttons like this one:
   
10. Flash splash pages. Back in the 90s, all the cool kids toyed with Flash. Anyone who could make a logo rotate in an non-animated-gif way, and included a moving link to enter the page, well they are now the ones making kick-ass GUI interfaces. But back then, they made really annoying, no-use-whatsover splash pages.

Web Pages of the 90's

Google.com in 1998


Yahoo.com in 1999



Apple.com in 1999


Sony.com in 1997



Reference: How Popular Website Designs Looked Like In Late 90’s, Web design history, a look at the 90s