Photoshop CS3 Beta One-on-One Preview

"On December 14, 2006, Adobe announced the first-ever public beta for an upcoming version of Photoshop, its flagship image-editing software. Best-selling author and Photoshop guru Deke McClelland has teamed up with lynda.com to create the first video training on this landmark release. Photoshop CS3 Beta One-on-One Preview offers a personal video tour through a series of real-world examples that illustrate each of the key features and enhancements in the Photoshop CS3 beta. Major and minor features alike are covered in meticulous detail.

We are proud to offer this training course for free, in honor of Adobe publishing a free beta version of a major software release for the first time in history."

Whether you want to see what's new without the trouble of installing the new BETA, or if you've installed it and want some guidance, this preview is excellent!

Adobe Releases Beta Version of Photoshop CS3 & CSS Advisor

"Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) will introduce a beta version of Adobe® Photoshop® CS3 software, the next release of the world standard in digital imaging, on Friday, December 15th. Adobe is delivering a widely available Photoshop CS3 beta to enable customers to more easily transition to the latest hardware platforms, particularly Apple's new Intel-based systems. The beta is available as a Universal Binary for the Macintosh platform, as well as for Microsoft® Windows® XP and Windows Vista computers. The final shipping release of Adobe Photoshop CS3 is planned for Spring 2007. The software can be downloaded at: http://labs.adobe.com , in the early hours Pacific Standard Time on December 15."

Check out this article, it suggests that you'll need a CS2/CS serial number to use the beta. Also, there's a note about a CSS forum for designers to reference, see www.adobe.com/go/cssadvisor.

UPDATE: Here's a cool sneak peak video:

The Best (FireFox) Browser Extensions for Web Development

This article summarizes things well IMHO. Glad, and not surprised, to see the Web Developer extension as number one on the list. Thanks to mondaybynoon.com for compiling this list! (via Vitamin)

Why Browser War 2.0 Will Heat Up in 2007

readwriteweb.com: "Our theory is that in 2006 a lot of the ground work for a major battle was laid out. Microsoft launched a significant upgrade to Internet Explorer for the first time in about 5 years (IE7), while the Firefox team spent time polishing up their open source browser. But it is the latest developments which make it clear that Firefox thinks it's showtime."

This is an interesting article, and I really got a kick out of the illustration. Between the business interests and the (still) inconsistent support for web standards in IE7, it should be another interesting year in the browser-sphere.

Running Heads

"How to deal with those little scraps of text on a page that tell us what document we're reading, and where we are in it.



Sometimes the humblest and most inconspicuous elements of design turn out to be essential. A case in point in printed publications is the running head and its frequent sidekick, the page number. They may be humble, almost unnoticed, but if they're done right they serve as signposts, telling you, the reader, where you are. The running head is part of the roadmap to any publication."

A lot of visual trends in "Web 2.0" seem to come from a print-educated aesthetic, without the baggage of precision that once kept designers from being able to let go of the concern about exactly how someting will look on any given browser. Blog entries share have a lot in common with their print publication grandfathers, and this article covers the ever-important "running head".

Skype Will Charge for Calls in 2007

"Beginning in 2007, SkypeOut calls will no longer be free. The company announced on Wednesday that they would start to charge a yearly fee to call from Skype to any mobile or land-line phone. Calls from PC to PC will remain free.

Unlimited yearly calling will cost $29.95. If you purchase the plan before January 31, 2007, it will only cost $14.95. Without an unlimited plan, users can pay 2.1 cents per minute to calls within the U.S. and Canada, which is the same as the rate for international calls."

It's not like we didn't know this was coming. I think the discount offer is a smart idea. I've been using Skype to augment my calling, not as a total replacement. Still for a $1.25/mo it will still be worth it.

Veer Releases "Top 10 Type Stories of 2006"

Veer has posted it's list of 'most memorable' faces of 2006. I'm not sure if it's purely linked to sales or their idea of an overall trend for the year, but it's a good marketing concept nonetheless.

CMS Matrix - Comparison shopping for content management tools

"(CMS Matrix) is provided as a community service to everyone interested in looking for a means to manage web site content. Here you can discuss, rate, and compare the various systems available on the market today."

This site offers a large list of CMS solutions to compare. Some of the data looks like it could be up to a year old. But I was impressed to see that they have everything from large systems to things like Wordpress and Contribute. (via Vitamin)

Microsoft releases Expression Web

news.com: "As a start, the company on Monday released Expression Web, a tool for designing user interfaces. It is offering the product as an upgrade to its Microsoft FrontPage Web authoring tool.

In addition, Microsoft posted a public beta download of Expression Blend, its Windows-specific design software. And in the third related announcement, it delivered an early version of Expression Design, a tool for creating logos, animations and other individual visual elements.



These three products will be in Expression Studio, set for shipping in the second quarter of 2007."

Also, see the Microsoft Expression site for more details. I'll be interested to see what Adobe has in store for Dreamweaver post acquisition. Hopefully this release from MS will provide some healthy competition.

RockStartup.com from PayPerPost novel gimmick

PayPerPost has launched a web reality show. Here's the description: "Rockstartup is a whirlwind journey that captures the promise, the perils, the pride, the pressure, the pain and pitfalls of launching a web 2.0 company."

The shows, or ‘episodes’, are presented in a video podcast format. You can even subscribe to them from the iTunes music store podcast directory. The production values are OK, the soundtrack a bit painful. Overall definitely has the official reality TV show ‘feel’. So, as a designer, I’m watching them put up the tradeshow booth and thinking where are the scenes of working with the person who did the logo, huh?

When all the episodes are finally posted, it would be interesting to hold a back to back screening of the movie ‘Startup.com’. Let’s hope the endings will be a bit different – if not for the sake of payperpost – at least the “web 2.0” sector.

Here's the interesting part: I joined payperpost so I could get 'paid for this post' - which is I'm sure the desired goal of it all. But please note, I've set my pay per post earnings for this blog item to be dontated to Habitat for Humanity. In this way payperpost reminds me also a bit of squidoo, which allows you to earn money for blog content and either keep the proceeds or dontate them.

World AIDS Day

"Around forty million people are living with HIV throughout the world - and that number increases in every region every day. In the UK alone, more than 60,000 people are living with HIV and more than 7,000 more are diagnosed every year. Ignorance and prejudice are fuelling the spread of a preventable disease.

World AIDS Day, 1 December is an opportunity for people worldwide to unite in the fight against HIV and AIDS."

http://www.worldaidsday.org