As Eden asked:

Have you managed to post something thought-provoking every day, or do you feel like you clogged up the Internet with less-than-satisfying content for the sake of endurance?

50/50: I wrote more of my own stuff this year (about half the time, and that is a big deal for me) but also filled in with link posts half the time.

What I learned: Writing every day is a good idea. Posting every day, not so much.

Bonus tip: When calibrating your monitor take off your glasses if you have lenses with anti-reflective coating as they make everything appear slightly green and you might set your display too magenta with them on.

Okay I must be the last person on the planet to figure these things out… just subscribe in iTunes and then remember to open iTunes and listen. Sheesh.

via: BPLUSD: 11 Stories about Canadian Design.

Ms. Ganley, the blogger in Vermont, has a slogan that encapsulates the trend: “Blog to reflect, Tweet to connect.” Blogging, she said, “is that slow place.”

Sometimes I long to be good at reflection and find exactly the right words… But, alas, I am more likely to find just the right code for an ellipsis (…).

1. Open Applications » Automator

2. Choose Custom in the splash screen that pops up

   

3. Type launch into the search box in Automator

4. Drag Launch Application into the working area on the right

5. Use the pull-down menu to select the application you want

   

6. Repeat for all the applications you want to launch together

7. File » Save As » Application

Now you can just type a few letters into Spotlight to get started every morning or place it in your dock if you’re a dock user.

Then this morning I see this which predates my sketch by several years:

Maybe I am onto something here? Articulating abstract concepts visually is the most difficult challenge of graphic design. Damien Newman has provided an elegant and wonderful example of how design and drawing can clarify communication and thinking in an instant.

via Design Sojourn | Strategic Industrial Design Blog » The Design Process Simplifed

While I was cleaning out Evernote I came across this method for converting photos to black and white and decided to try applying it using GIMP:

1. Convert to LAB colour: Colors » Components » Decompose… set Color model to LAB

2. Image mode will already be Grayscale

3. Highlight Lightness (L) Layer and switch to Channels tab. Ctrl-Click on thumbnail » Channel to Selection

4. Select » Invert

5. With the selection still active, convert the image to RGB color, using Image » Mode » RGB.

6. GIMP doesn’t have Adjustment Layers so what I did turn off the visibility of the A and B layers Ctrl-Click » Create New Layer from Visible

7. Edit » Fill with a rich, dark colour

8. Adjust the opacity, levels and/or curves as needed