The launch for the next version of the ever popular Adobe graphics suite, Adobe Creative Suite 5 (CS5), will be coming out on April 12th, 2010!

An Adobe CS5 launch event will be happening on April 12th via Adobe TV which you can register for free here and also preview some sneek peaks on some of the new enticing features right now.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=uy04KdO0wJY

Adobe Elements Promotion Code! Save BIG on both Full and Upgrade versions of Photoshop Elements 7, Premiere Elements 7, Photoshop Elements 6 for Mac, and the Photoshop Elements 7 & Premiere Elements 7 bundle.

Save $50! Adobe Photoshop Elements 7 only $89.99 with Plus Membership. The Coupon code is: pselements. Expires 8/10

Finally got round to finishing my HTPC room with a nice bargain entertainment unit from Dare Gallery.  Had a few issues with trying to get the HDMI cable into the HTPC - was a bit too short though finally managed to squeeze the damn thing in.

Here are some pics of the destruction in action:

Now to cut into the wall.... Again!

Cables everywhere.

Looks like fun dad

Making a mess

Thanks for our new cubby house dad!

Almost done - testing HTPC with a JJJ x264 rip of Lily Allen.

DVD Test - Yes its Bob the builder.

All Done!  The PC HDMI cable was a pain - Too short.

The common camcorder mod format is simply a MPEG-2 container and a JVC .mod is no exception.

In order to use these files in any popular video editor simply rename the .mod extension to .mpg

You may need to enable show or unhide extensions on both Mac and Windows platforms in order for this method to work.

.mod files will also work fine with no alteration in imovie.

Being in the Pre-Press industry for a while I have faced my fair share of Microsoft Publisher files and the format seems to be gaining popularity as everyone with a PC at home is a potential graphic designer.

For a busy design house or prepress studio, Publisher is also a damn pain to work with and manipulate - especially using an Adobe work flow.  The easiest lossless method I have found when working with Publisher files is to convert it to a pdf - Open and edit the pdf in Adobe Illustrator and then finally bring this Pdf into Indesign for general page manipulation.  You can cut and paste elements between Indesign and Illustrator to your hearts content.

It works but it isn't a great solution - and when you are dealing with a constant barrage of publisher files it can get annoying fast.

One solution is to use PUB2ID and this little plugin is a lifesaver! :

Features

• Preserves intellectual property investment
• Enables easy data migration
• Eliminates time re-creating content
• Reduces costs re-creating content
• Freedom to choose your authoring system
• Supports Adobe InDesign CS3 & CS4
• Converts MS Publisher 2002 - 2007
• Simple to install
• Quick & easy to use
• Swift return on investment

PUB2ID (Microsoft Publisher to Adobe InDesign) is a plug-in for Adobe InDesign. It provides a quick, easy and affordable method for you to migrate all your Microsoft Publisher content into new Adobe InDesign documents. The conversion is enabled with a single click using the InDesign File->Open menu. No more re-creating documents from scratch; PUB2ID gives you a big head-start.

PUB2ID translates the intricate details of the content within the Microsoft Publisher document and instantly re-creates it within InDesign. Items converted from Publisher include: page size, positioning, color models, fonts and styles, text attributes and tables, layers, word wrap, linked text boxes as well as automatic extraction of images embedded in the Publisher file.

This plugin is available for both Mac and Windows platforms.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CmBAYOLe-4

The creators of this plugin, Markzware are the brains behind the extremely popular (and working)  Q2ID: Quark to Indesign plugin.

An interesting post has been made on the WordPress blog which doesn't ask the question whether themes are GPL but instead reiterates the fact that: Themes are GPL, too This is also the complete opposite to Joomla's stance on the very same issue.

There have been some questions in the community about whether the GPL applies to themes like we’ve always assumed. To help clarify this point, I reached out to the Software Freedom Law Center, the world’s preeminent experts on the GPL, which spent time with WordPress’s code, community, and provided us with an official legal opinion.

The response from  James Vasile of the Software Freedom Law Center:

In conclusion, the WordPress themes supplied contain elements that are derivative of WordPress’s copyrighted code. These themes, being collections of distinct works (images, CSS files, PHP files), need not be GPL-licensed as a whole. Rather, the PHP files are subject to the requirements of the GPL while the images and CSS are not. Third-party developers of such themes may apply restrictive copyrights to these elements if they wish.

Finally, we note that it might be possible to design a valid WordPress theme that avoids the factors that subject it to WordPress’s copyright, but such a theme would have to forgo almost all the WordPress functionality that makes the software useful.

Sincerely,
James Vasile
Software Freedom Law Center

Personally, I think if you buy a theme for a GPL CMS, you are paying for someones artistic ability - and that should definately not be GPL'ed.  A theme requires GPL code in order to work with an Open Source CMS - thats just the way it is.  The official WordPress response seems to display the fact they do not want anyone making money from their product in the way they would like.  I am open to anyone who can explain why I should not think in this regard.

Brian Gardener, the creator of some spiffy wordpress themes with his studiopress collection has  intruiging perspectives on the topic:

PHP in WordPress themes must be GPL, artwork and CSS may be but are not required.

It seems that even before the posting of the response that Matt was given from the Software Freedom Law Center, other developers such as iThemes and WooThemes had already decided it was wise to move their licenses over to the GPL.

There you have it.

And as Matt puts it, WordPress has chosen to celebrate those who are developing GPL themes with a brand new Commercially Supported WordPress Theme page. Which, of course is a follow through to a promise that Matt made nearly a year ago.

This also clearly illustrates Matt’s view that people can (and will be endorsed if they do it with the GPL License) make money using WordPress.

Fair enough I suppose, though this does seem like a contradiction of the GPL licence as a whole - Remember the whole raging Joomla gpl extension debate?

Also check the Woothemes response.

First you need this really useful plugin from telegraphics.com.au It works fine with Photoshop CS3 for PC.

• Create a new Photoshop document 16x16 pixels or a multiple of this such as 32x32, 64x64.  We can optimise the image size later on.
• If you want a transparent favicon, make sure the background of the image is transparent.  If not, a quick way of removing the background is to select it using the magic wand and hitting delete.  or select the background with the magic wand - Click the Photoshop Select menu and select Similar. That should select all the background in one hit - hit the delete key to remove the background.
• Save this as your Photoshop favicon Master
• Now go to File -  Save for Web & Devices in the Photoshop menu
• Select GIF, click transparency on if required (diffusion transparency filter should be fine), set image size to 16x16 pixels and save.
• Reopen this gif file in Photoshop and finally save it as an icon file.