Choosing a Font? How?

One of the hardest parts of doing any graphic design, especially for those of us that aren't well versed, is choosing fonts to apply to our work. Even if you can come up with a good font, how do you actually learn from your choice? How will you figure out a good one next time? Enter Smashing Magazine's article: “What Font Should I Use?”: Five Principles for Choosing and Using Typefaces. Dan Mayer steps through the basics, from the different overarching styles to finding ways of combining the different styles and maintaining a cohesive look. It's made a huge impact on how I do my designs, and will hopefully be a great asset to everyone.

Another Day, Another Upgrade

This past weekend my friend came to visit and immediately started raving about the new Mac software, OS X 10.8, or Mountain Lion. I am usually hesitant to the new "upgrades" that seem to come out every couple months, faster than I can keep up. After five minutes of nodding my head to claims i barely understood and him offering it to me for free since he'd already paid for it for his computer, I gave in.

The new software, also known as Mountain Lion a step up from Lion, provides all kinds of new opportunities. One major step is the advancement in the icloud system bringing all of your mac products together. The ipad and the iphone were already easily synchronized but now your computer is part of the mix. Along with all of the zoom in and out sorts of features by using your fingers on the mouse pad, Mountain Lion offers many others. Swiping three fingers brings you to the app center, pulling down with three fingers spreads out all of your windows, or all of your tabs in the opposite direction. You can also change your scroll button to match the way it is on the iphone. These plus plenty more that it offers are great when you're working on things because it makes it so much easier to switch back and forth and see everything you are using without having to minimize and search with your mouse. Resembling the iphone, the new software offers a calendar, note pad and app store. It also incorporates the "sharing" abilities of your phone so you if you're on a web page you can share it to your facebook, twitter, email it or message it.

One of the coolest things, I think, is the ability to text message on your computer. Of course, it is only imessage so you have to be texting an iphone but if you're someone like me who always forgets to charge their phone it can be very helpful. (Also pretty sneaky in classes you're not allowed to have your phone in.)

The Mountain Lion update costs $20.00 but is a great upgrade for your computer. I'm discovering new features every day and am very grateful that it wasn't hard to get used to at all. If you are a mac user I definitely recommend buying the software or finding a friend who will share it with you. Not only are there great advancements that make life easier but new change is always fun!

Getting A Closer Look

For those of you who are Mac users, you may find my story to be a helpful trick.

Between classes today I was hastily checking and responding to e-mails on my MacBook Pro. While doing so, I accidentally activated my Mac OS X’s Accessibility Feature. For those of you like me, completely unaware about this feature, it is a feature that allows Mac users to zoom in on various parts of their laptop screen.

Although it is a great feature for users who desire a close-up view of a graphic, wish to combat eye fatigue, or are sight-impaired, it initially set me in a panic. Not sure of what I had just done, I began trying to get my computer to return to normal through a series of trial and error processes. What I ultimately discovered was, if you hold down the control key and move two of your fingers simultaneously upward you will activate your computers zoom-in function. Portions of your screen will become no longer visible due to zooming-in. However, you can still view these areas by simply moving your curser to the edge of the screen where you would like to see further.

To restore your computer back to normal, hold down the control key and move two of your fingers simultaneously downward. Your computers zoom-out function will activate and you will once again be able to see your entire screen. One way to check if your screen is completely zoomed-out is by looking in the upper left and right corners of your menu bar. If you do not see the Apple and Spotlight icons, then you’re still partially zoomed-in.

Now that you are aware of the accessibility feature on your Mac computer, I hope that you take the time to try it out! After you understand how to access this feature, you may find that it is actually fun to tinker around with! Additionally, I have personally already found it to be an incredibly useful feature; you never know when you may need to get a closer look at something on your screen.

Career Services Video Contest

I must've missed the announcement for this, but wanted to make sure that you all knew. There's a yearly Career Services Video Contest (you'll have to scroll down for the actual link) and the deadline is Nov. 9.
First place -- $600 cash card Second prize -- $300 cash card Third prize -- $100 cash card
The Student Multimedia Design Center is mentioned here: Bonus: The Top 3 videos will be posted on YouTube and the Career Services website. Don’t have video equipment? No problem! You can borrow a variety of equipment kits from the service desk at the Student Multimedia Design Center located in Morris Library.
Please post other contests that you see. Just today I noticed that for the Homecoming Court nominees had to submit a video and were also told to come to the Student Multimedia Design Center for help. Yay! I love when others on campus promote this great service!

It's Cyber Security Month

October is National Cyber Security Awareness Month! IT on campus is participating with many resources and a meme contest for students and staff, see UDaily article. Every Friday in October they will post entries on their Facebook and Pinterest page to be voted on. The "Are You Smarter Than Your Smartphone" video is funny. See article for links. Question: Do you think most students take cyber security seriously enough? Do you know of any bad experiences with cyber security? Rich

The Internet Over A Decade

There's no denying that computers have increasingly become a larger part of our lives over the past decade. However, this info graphic really puts it in perspective. It details the evolution of the internet since 2002. The most shocking statistic is that ten years ago the average time spent on the internet was just 46 minutes per day. Today, it is 4 hours! Our increasing dependence on computers and new forms of technology is why the Student Multimedia Design Center exists. We help the UD community with adapting to changes made in technology and provide some of the newest, top of the line multimedia tools. It's hard to say what changes the internet and technology will go through within the next decade, but it is safe to assume that things will become faster, more efficient, and those that do not adapt to the changes will be left behind.

Windows 8 Release Preview

With Apple taking the spotlight in recent years when it comes to computer technology, we may have forgotten about computer software mogul, Microsoft.  Making the switch to use Apple computers a couple of years ago myself, I’m the first to admit I’ve lost touch with the interface and software updates Microsoft has made.  Microsoft recently announced Windows 8, a new version of its program with innovative and original changes.  Below I’ll list some of the easy and user-friendly features that Windows 8 has created.

-       With the new People Application you can link up every social media platform you are a member of.  Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkIn, etc. are all interconnected and posts can simultaneously reach all platforms straight from your computer desktop.

-       Additionally, all of your Facebook photos are organized into albums and easily accessible from the desktop.  

-       You can link up every email account you have an address with and view all messages in one screen.

-        Windows has developed their very own “iTunes Store” stocked with electronic applications falling into categories such as games, social, photos, music, news etc.

-       The “Charms Bar” conveniently displays all devices connected to the computer such as a USB key or SD card.  The Charms Bar also acts as a search engine for the computer, prompted by simply typing in a command.

-       The Skydrive is a file hosting service, which lets users upload files to the largest online storage device in existence.  The amount of memory available in Skydrive far surpasses Apple’s “iCloud”.

Once Windows 8 is released we’ll see how well it stacks up against Apple’s reigning computer products!