Oh wow!  It took me 5 posts to change the theme yet again. My restless spirit seeks something simple. Though this is not finished by any means, it is WAY simpler than the previous theme. I just have to tweak as I go along.

And.. yes I named the theme Simple Simon. Thats why the title.

Here are just 3 basic “best practices” when working in Photoshop, even if you work by yourself. It is common sense but disregarded or blatantly ignored all the time.

1. Name your layers and groups. Probably mentioned a billion times but just as many times is not followed. We’ve all seen “Layer 1 copy 20″ too many times.
2. Collapse groups and effects. If you leave your groups and layer effects opened you will end up scrolling through a layers panel till your index finger falls off. Even worse you are scrolling through someone else’s file and they have multiple effects on every layer and about 10 layer groups. Collapse them all for better organisation.
3. Delete unnecessary layers. Accidental blank text layers, layers that are not in use any more. It helps for better organisation and work flow if someone else has to pick up the document.

That’s my three Photoshop rules for the week. Remember the basics!

I just might post 3 basic guides a week… but that is promising too much!

Just upgraded to Opera 10 Beta and it kicks some browser booty. The interface ise as sleek as ever – no need to install themes or skins or what not. The original interface is sleek. The expandable tabs with live preview is impressive.  The question is why isn’t Opera my default browser? One day I just might make the move from FireFox to Opera.

The interface is so slick that you wouldn’t want to ruin it by visiting a website. Just stare at the blank browser.

If you do not know what Opera is and was recently introduced to “FoxFire” by a tech savvy relative, you should download Opera. FireFox is second to it, at least in the features that really matter.

That was short! But at least I am using this blog!

The “Nothing to compare” commercial for Kia Spectra is brilliant. While AdAge predicts a rise in attack ads this summer, as a follow up to a slow build over the last year, the Spectra commercial does not come off like an attack Ad because of it’s brilliance. It is funny, it is smart and it is factual without being vindictive. Experts say that attack ads should really not directly state flaws – the main reason being to avoid law suits, but also to fight with dignity. The Kia Spectra commercial does it with dignity.

If you don’t remember the Toyota (Corolla?) commercial from a few months ago where there was a monologue of a guy saying that a lot of companies are comparing their cars to a Corolla – why not buy a Corolla?

The Spectra commercial, though a little late, comes out with a pretty funny presentation of directly stating that the Corolla does not have this, but the Spectra has it and so on. The closing line is “Really, there is nothing to compare”.

Pretty darned good!

Edit: It is the Toyota Camry.

So we awoke this morning to a new search engine – Bing. We awoke to find a “coming soon” button. Should have stayed in bed. This is not about the technicalities of the search engine but rather the name. It seemed at first to be… lame. But it then seems like just the right name to pull of something as big as competing with Google. It would be interesting to see how they present the concept.

The name Bing has a sense of urgency and a sense of “arrival” – the sound of found. At the same time a sense of impatience. Maybe it’s just the picture that is conjured up in my head – that little bell on the front desk of hotels. Bing! bing! Anyone here?

Either way it seems like Bing has a nice ring to it, lets watch how the brand emerges.

As for the technicalities, it seems promising. At least better that that last search engine that made a run. Can’t remember the name but it was started up by ex Google employees and top engineer or something. The concept of displaying your answer on the search page instead of a result seems like a good idea. The question is that will the millions give up Google, which has it’s hooks deep into them, and try switch to Bing, let alone try it for an entire day?

This blog has seen good and bad days, mostly bad. It has seen, at times, a new theme a month. In fact this blog has seen more themes than posts. It has seen many types of content – from silly to weird and posts that were serious but people thought were silly.

All of that has now changed. It has changed ownership. It belongs to my other personality. Okay so part of the silliness remains.

On to the meat. I really do hope that I can write some serious content, thought provoking and most times write just because when I write I process and I remember. That will help me a lot especially when I am going back to school, about which I am thrilled to no end.

The theme itself is something I put together one Saturday and, well, it isn’t completely put together but has the base grid and “theme” and will tweak it as I go along.

Till the next post…