Wacom Tablet Driver fails to load in OSX on startup…

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I have a 6×8 Intuos 2 Wacom tablet, a real hand-saver. I use it on my right hand and a Kensington Orbit (the smaller version) trackball on my left, for easy tasks like scrolling and big mouse moves. This has saved me so far from the fate of many of my graphic designer/computer programmer friends who are virtually crippled now by hand problems, like carpal tunnel syndrome.

However, I have had a problem since getting the tablet: it would intermittently fail to load the driver on startup. I’m using Jaguar, and a dual screen setup – and the tablet is plugged into the back of one of the screens.

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Flash Newbie Discovery

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Flash experts can skip this, for sure.

OK – this is so I don’t forget again!

The key to getting things to work in Flash is simply: Everything MUST be named!

Every instance, scene beginning, significant frame, movie clip, etc. must have a name, and hopefully one that makes sense to you a week after creating the project.

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Create Database-Driven Sites the Easy Way with GoLive 6

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PHP/MySQL for the rest of us!
(originally published Spring, 2002)

Intro:
Designers now have a new tool to help them create php/mySQL-based
dynamic sites using without a steep learning curve. It is now
almost as easy to create a simple database-driven site as an html-based
one. Adobe’s GoLive 6 has improved their dynamic link module and
completely integrated it into the application. It now includes
php/mySQL support and plenty of help and templates for creating
your first database-driven website.

  • Why make a dynamic
    site?
  • Getting
    started.
  • How to talk
    to MySQL without a Ph.D.
  • Setting
    up the site in GoLive.
  • Adding Dynamic
    Content to your page.
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    Importing Quizzes directly into Questionmark Perception using list styles

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    Since we have no Questionmark Perception manuals at my office, most of my knowledge of Questionmark comes from trying out things in the application itself or digging around in the questionably organized Questionmark support site. (Any altruistic Info-Architects need a project?)

    While so engaged one day, looking for an answer to something else, I found out I could have been importing multiple choice quizzes using Microsoft Word documents! Fortunately I haven’t done too many so far. Here are the directions:

    The document must be formatted as a list.

    Each question is a level 1 line, each choice is a level 2 (indent once). There should be no excess copy in the document, just


    1. Question
    a. choice 1
    b. choice 2
    c. choice 3
    d. choice 4

    2. Question
    a. choice 1
    b. choice 2
    c. choice 3
    d. choice 4

    etc.

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    Exporting graphics from MS Office

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    I couldn’t believe how difficult it is to get graphics back out of Microsoft Office documents. Someone came to me today for help with recovering graphics from a Powerpoint file. They had inserted the graphics and since lost the original scans, so all that remained were the ppts.

    First thing anyone thinks of in Windows is right-click to save the image, which she did. Nothing. (She’s probably still on Windows NT/ Word 97). So she copied all the graphics out of the powerpoint, then couldn’t figure out what do do with the clipped images, so pasted them into Word! And sent me the resulting Word documents. I figured, no problem, just copy each graphic and paste into Photoshop, then save. Nooooooo! You lose a lot of quality that way. You can see nice subtle grayscale antialiasing in the word version, but the photoshop version looks like a bad xerox.

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    Photoshop Battles – Art with attitude

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    In the increasingly popular “BattleBay” format, multiple opponents create a smooth vertical or horizontal transition from the previous image to their own new one, usually incorporating the web version of graffiti tags (their web name or their site URL) and any appropriate symbolism. It helps to have a very cool name, and a logo so you can be inserted in people’s “respect” areas. All the efforts are combined in a single long horizontal or vertical scrolling page.

    Artists with confidence in their Photoshop Chops are battling it out all over the web. Photoshop Battles (sometimes called Photoshop Tennis) allow you to smackdown your opponent with nothing more than a Wacom Pen and overwhelming ego. One person creates a file in Photoshop and sends it off to their opponent, who then adds a layer and “improves” the image, usually covering it up almost entirely with their own contribution.

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