Due to the gazillion hours I spend at my computer, I had begun to develop a little tendonitis in the outer part of my right wrist. I'm certain many of you relate to this all too well. My work area is ergonomically pretty good. I have a actual office desk and chair, my dual monitors are on risers (I'm rather tall and I found myself scrunching down to read everything causing upper back pain), I have a padded mouse pad, and a wrist pad for my keyboard. But still, there was the wrist problem.

I did a little research and finally bit the bullet and purchased an ergonomic Microsoft keyboard (with cordless mouse). After the initial couple days of repeatedly whacking the wrong keys, I adapted and I find it to be a much more comfortable typing position (my wrist seems to be getting better as well which makes my volleyball partners much happier).

After our recent visit from hurricane Ophelia, the power spikes and outages required me to do some computer maintenance to get several programs running again. No problem. I know how to boot into single user mode (I have a dual G4). I can use the console to run the /sbin/fsck -fy command to run directory repairs and such. No, I hadn't done it in a while, but a quick glance at my MacAddict Cheat Sheet gave me the key commands.

Problem was, no matter how many times I started up holding down Cmd-S, I kept getting the Startup Manager -- allowing me to choose a startup volume. But once chosen, I couldn't continue the boot in single user mode. This made no sense. I called a couple friends who are Unix geeks (Tom Pletcher and Andrew Jeffery - thanks guys!) to get their take on it since my main programs were not usable till these repairs were made. We went through the whole scenario together and finally surmised that it might be related to the whole master/slave linking of my two internal drives. I went under the hood and disconnected the slave drive as well as some fun little things like resetting internal memory and such. But nothing worked.

Finally, at my wit's end, I had a brainstorm (isn't that always the time?). Since holding down the Option key is what is supposed to bring up the Startup Manager, could my Microsoft keyboard be confusing my system? (This had not occurred to me before since I am the keyboard command queen. I constantly use the Alt key on this keyboard -- to the left of the space bar -- for the equivalent keyboard shortcuts I would use the Command key on my Apple keyboard for. And that's the same key I had been using here.) After several hours working on the issue, I knew I was clutching at straws, but I was willing to try anything at that point.

I pulled my Apple keyboard out of the box, plugged it in, held down Cmd-S and booted directly into Single User mode. Ack! Hours of wasted time -- due to a foreign keyboard. (Why the same key that maps to the equivalent of Command when doing things like Cmd-Q or Cmd-V maps as Option on startup, I have no clue. These are just the facts as I found them.) If there is another mapping I need to use with the MS keyboard on start up, I don't know it (please leave me a note if you do). But I thought I would get this out into the public arena. Perhaps my frustration won't be wasted if it saves you a little troubleshooting time. Meanwhile -- keep your Apple keyboard close by.

I'm sure most everyone wants the new Studio 8. It rocks! But maybe you just recently broke down and purchased Studio MX 2004 (or any of the products contained therein) and you're just not ready to fork over more cash just yet. Well -- maybe you don't have to. If you purchased on or after July 8th, make sure to read Macromedia's page with the upgrade rules. You might be pleasantly surprised!

Also, don't forget that if you own Dreamweaver, Fireworks or Flash, you can upgrade and get the whole Studio 8 package for the normal studio upgrade price ($399USD). That's quite a generous deal. Not sure you want to upgrade? Take the 30-day test drive -- you may become addicted like I did and not be able to return to your previous versions.

(BTW, I make no money whether you upgrade or not. I just love the stuff. ;))

I bit the bullet about a week ago and purchased a new (like, released-this-August-2005-new) digital camera. I've been looking for something that I can use for multiple purposes:

• Vacation camera
• Back up camera for pro shooting
• Higher resolution
• Reasonable price

I own a Nikon D-70 for my professional work, and also owned a Fuji S602 Zoom compact camera. The 602 was my first purchase of a digital camera about 3 or four years ago and I was always impressed with it's quality, in spite of the fact it only used a 3 Mega pixel sensor.

After reading about the new Fujifilm S9000, I went to my local camera outlet and bought one. A very slick looking, light weight prosumer level digicam, sporting a 9 MB sensor and 10x optical zoom. For all the details, check out Fuji's site. I had visions of being very happy with it.

This past weekend, I took the camera with me on a trip to Niagara wine country (my in-house stock was getting very low). I made a whole bunch of touristy, post card type images. However, when looking thorugh the LCD screen after each shot, I coudln't help but think that the images were not very sharp. I chalked it up to the screen and planned to view them later in Photoshop.

Long story short, we had a really nice day in Niagara. The following day, I downloaded the photos to my hard drive and began opening them in Photoshop. My heart sunk further with every image I opened. They were all low in contrast, saturation and even seemed soft in focus.

Concerned about this new investment of mine, I hit the Internet, checking out more reviews of the camera and even logging into the forums at  www.dpreview.com

I found out through the forums that others were having the similar problems, while others still were perfectly happy and had some great photos to show. 

I also learned that there are some rabid defenders of almost anything. I got a few people telling me I was being too picky, that my concerns were - well - rubbish. And others who were saying the same kinds of things about the camera. As for me, I already own a D-SLR (Nikon D-70) and I wasn't expecting the same quality I would get from that type of higher end camera.

While I did glean some useful information from a couple informative users, I decided I had to do more testing. So I set up the camera on a tripod and did some basic copy work of the front cover of a magazine. I wanted to shoot something that I could gauge with my logical eye, rahter than emotional involvement. Locking the camera down on a tripod and shooting something that wasn't moving would tell me if the camera had image problems. I could inspect the sharpness of the text and so on.

Test results, in both jpeg and RAW, and at various contrast and sharpness settings, quickly told me there was a problem. Posting the images to the web for review by my forum peers reinforced this, to an extent.

I emailed Fuji and sent them the link to the samples. 

I contacted the camera retailer and spoke to my sales person about the image quality issues. I gave her the link to the sample images. About an hour later she called me back and agreed that the camera was not performing as it should and offered to exchange it for another model of the same camera or give me a full refund (I had 14 days in which to return the camera for my money back and I was at day 6). I decided to try again, hoping I truly did get a dud the first time around. Fortunately, I had hung on to all the packaging, right down to the plastic bags everything is wrapped in. You have to bring in everything for a full exchange. A day later and I was holding onto a new camera.

New camera in hand, I did the same tests again, using the same magazine and lighting conditions. The results were like night and day! The images were much sharper, with better color and contrast.

By this time, I had also received an email back from Fuji, asking me to email them a sample image for analysis. The defunct cam was back at the store, but I humored them anyway and sent a sample from the original testing.

The day after I did my "empirical" testing. I went out in the field for less objective - but equally important - evaluations.

This time, I was not disappointed. I experimented with both manual and auto focus, timed exposures, shallow depth of field, macro settings and the extreme focal lengths of the lens (28mm and 300mm). The detail was quite good in both the shadows and highlights. Images were sharp and photo quality. Color was rich without being over saturated.

The point to my rather long winded story is this: Don't "settle" for something if you think it should perform better than it is. Take the time, test the product and if you are still not happy, do something about it. Be happy and comfortable and confident with your new purchase.

I've seen a few confused posters on the various Dreamweaver forums since the release of Dreamweaver 8 that relate to templates. These templates were created in Dreamweaver MX or Dreamweaver MX 2004 and now they're not acting/updating the same. Jesse Rodgers, from University of Waterloo, and were trying to figure this out today. I had ran into a similar situation to the one he was dealing with with one of my personal sites.

The issue stems from the fact that DW MX and DW MX 2004 let us be sloppy. If we linked to our CSS in the template using this syntax - href="scripts/local.css" DW said, "Hmmm, I'm sure they don't really want to link to a folder and file within the Template directory, so I won't change the path of this link." And it worked perfectly for me. I took advantage of this by creating links to site assets this way when I wanted the item I was linking to, to actually be in the directory the child file was saved into.

A perfect example is my KS Pope site. This client wanted each directory to have a different color and picture. I put the CSS files for the basic structure of each page into the script directory in the root and all XHTML documents link to that. The template link was written - href="../scripts/structure.css" and when the file was saved, it showed up linked into the scripts directory in the root. However, each directory also had a scripts directory within it, where I placed the local CSS file that brought in the color and individual picture for each directory. I was very happy in my ignorance.

And then I needed to update the site with DW 8. Oh my. Suddenly, all my pretty colors are gone and on viewing the code for the child pages, I see - href="../Templates/scripts/print.css". Defintely not what I had in mind. On discussing this with people at Macromedia that understand the changes, Jesse and I found the following -- shared with you to save you hair-pulling and other mindless madness. :)

You can use template expressions or template parameters to keep DW from changing your link paths. This applies to includes, CSS, images and links (anchors). I'll paste the info in below. Hope this helps!

For INCLUDES

1. Without using template parameters:
   1. Simply change double quotes to single quotes for the include file path. This only works for ASP and .NET templates. For example: <!--#include file='include.inc' -->.
   2. Use template expression:
      PHP: <?php include("@@('include.inc')@@"); ?>
      CFM: <cfinclude template="@@('include.inc')@@">
      JSP: <%@include file="@@('include.inc')@@" %>
      ASP & .NET: <!--#include file="@@('include.inc')@@" -->
      (NOTE: include.inc is the real file path, not the template parameter, so it has to be quoted.)
      
2. Using template parameters:
   1. Create a template parameter in the head section of the template: <!--TemplateParam name="inc_url_param" type="text" value='file="include.inc"' -->
      (NOTE: the parameter is given the "text" type)
   2. Change the include in the template to: <!--#include @@(inc_url_param)@@ -->

For other dependent files -- CSS, IMAGE, and LINK (<A> anchor)

1. Without using template parameters, change the css link or image tag to:
   <link href="@@('styles.css')@@" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" />
   @import url("@@('styles.css')@@");
   <img src="@@('image.gif')@@" />
   <a href="@@('link.htm')@@">link text</a>
   (NOTE: styles.css, image.gif and link.htm are the real file paths, not the template paramters, so they should be quoted.)
2. Using template parameters:
   1. Create template parameters in the head section of the template:
      <!--TemplateParam name="img_url_param" type="text" value="image.gif" -->
      <!--TemplateParam name="css_url_param" type="text" value="styles.css" -->
      (NOTE: the parameter is given the "text" type)
   2. Change the css link and img tag in the template to:
      <link href="@@(css_url_param)@@" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" />
      @import url("@@(css_url_param)@@");
      <img src="@@(img_url_param)@@" />

Just got this info from Alan Musselman of Macromedia. He and Hiroshi Miyazawa have released an awesome looking extension, designed specifically for FW 8. It's called FW Album Creator and at first peek - WOW! It's a Flash slideshow generated with Fireworks 8.

From Alan's blog:

"Batch images (large and thumbs at the same time) and generate an XML file that gets loaded into a SWF file instantly (depending on how many images you batch). It's unbelievable with what you can do with Firework's API and Flash 8 to create some of the best extensions out there. "

You'll find the extension at this link: http://www.fireworksguru.com/ .

Alan and Hiroshi worked on their own time at nights and weekends to build this puppy. And that's not all . . .

It's FREE! 

Make sure to check it out and drop Alan a line at his blog, telling him how great this is.

Keep 'em coming, Alan! 

The first rehearsal of Howard Regional Youth Orchestra (HRYO) took place last night. My son spent three happy years in the Howard County GT Middle School orchestra, but has now entered 9th grade. The new orchestra is a huge change, and something of a jump into the deep end of the pool. Where the middle school orchestra had been strings only, HRYO is a full orchestra. Where much of the music the middle school orchestra played was simplified adaptation, HRYO plays the original scores of standard orchestra repertoire - and at concert speed!

My son and another viola playing friend were the new kids in the viola section last night. Both boys are good about practicing and had thoroughly prepared their music - or so they thought. In middle school orchestra, the kids first rehearsed pieces at a slower speed, cleaned them up, and gradually increased the tempo. At HRYO there was no such coddling. The group started out right at the suggested metronome markings. I could see my son and his friend valiantly attempting to keep up and giving each other eye-rolling glances throughout.

These directors aren't kidding around. Here's what's up for the fall concert:

• Holst's Jupiter from his famous work The Planets. This is a great one for high schoolers. Kids identify easily with the dissonance and unpredictability of 20th century music.
• Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet, oh my. Imagine Shakespeare's tragedy married to Tchaikovsky's height-of-romanticism music in the hands of kids. The constant key changes, top speed runs, and high drama make this a treacherous piece to pull off. I can't wait to see what the kids make of this masterpiece of incredible beauty.
• Beethoven's Fifth: (Sotto voce for this God of music.) So often Beethoven's music takes listeners through a deep psychological experience. He sets up the struggle, then travels through the depths of suffering, and finally emerges in a final movement of triumphant resurrection. The kids will never need to save Beethoven because he will save them...may they learn to revere him.

We are so excited by the great new CSS tools in Dreamweaver 8 that we just had to create a CSS layout template that takes advantage of them. CMX JumpStart Machu Picchu is a centered, fixed-width, two-column CSS layout that includes screen, print, and handheld style sheets. With the new drop down media type menu in the Attach External Style Sheet dialog box, it is easy to add the correct style sheet links to your documents. You'll also be able to see how the page looks with each style sheet right from Design view in Dreamweaver 8 by using the new Style Rendering Toolbar. Finally, the new Unified CSS panel and div visualization make it easier than ever to understand how a JumpStart was constucted.

Like all CMX JumpStarts, the pages are constructed using valid XHTML and CSS. Machu Picchu also follows the WAI and Section 508 accessibility guidelines to provide you with a solid foundation for your work and give your users the best experience possible.

The news has been so bad, and only seems to get worse. But even amidst the carnage of Man and Nature, life finds a way to keep going, somehow.

This little guy got tired of waiting for help and took things into its own paws.

The escape of one tiny kitty from the flood won't change the problems facing others, but it does show that nothing is ever a "total" disaster. As the old saying goes, "This too shall pass."

What amazes me is how such a small cat made such big waves! New life wants to live, and won't be denied. Like that cat, the ravaged land and its survivors will endure, and somehow pull thru. That's just how life is.

Many of you are probably way ahead of me in this social networking phenomenon. I stay extremely busy, so I've stayed on the periphery with no time to really look into it -- till now. Last week, my friend Molly Holzschlag, made a blog post and mentioned LinkedIn. With some of my recent duties completed, I decided to accept an invitation I recieved back in July from Laura Carlson (I told you I was slow). I thought a little networking for new and trusted subcontractors, or possibly some new CSS Chef jobs as a subcontractor, might be in order. I signed up and began inviting some friends and co-workers.

A woman who does some copywriting for my clients joined LinkedIn on my recommendation. In turn, she got a web developer from Atlanta, whom she also works with, to sign up as well. Right -- this is how it works -- I'm learning. I viewed her profile, including her network. I was startled to see an extremely familiar name -- Milt Webb -- a blast from the past in an unexpected place. It was a name I hadn't seen in over 15 years, and certainly not in the city where I last had contact with him. Sure -- there could be more than one -- but it's not a common name.

Back story -- Long ago, in a younger land far, far away from the web, I modeled (no, it's not mentioned in my bios :~)). For about five years I walked the catwalk and did photography work in Milan, Atlanta and Florida. In Florida, my favorite photographer's name was Milt Webb. We kept in touch for a few years after I moved on. But life took us in different directions and somehow, we lost track of one another.

I googled the Atlanta Milt Webb, went to his web site, and found that he does product photography along with his web work. Hmmmmmm...that's interesting. I decided to email. It was a simple email. I gave him my maiden name -- Stephanie Haupt -- and said that if he knew who I was, to please show me. (I hate to give out too much information to a stranger.) Back came an email with this photo attached. Oh my word! (Don't be frightened -- it was the 80's.) How ironic that we not only used to work together regularly, but once again we're working in the same field. I was about as excited as I've been in the past five years (that likely frightens those that know me well). My kids came from the living room to see what the ruckus was about.

We spent about three hours on phone call number one -- with more to come I'm sure (fifteen years takes a while). What a blast! My husband was rather disgusted that we talked shop as much as we did. But hey -- we're geeks -- what does he expect? One cool thing I found out is that he's gotten really into PHP. Since I'm an XHTML/CSS developer, there's always a chance we could work together again some day. He'll set the site up and make it work behind the scenes -- I'll style it and make it marketable on the front end. Sounds strangely familiar.

Obviously -- I'm pretty sold on this LinkedIn thing. ;~)