greyduck.net

Looking For Quacks In The Pavement

Author: Karel Kerezman

  • Dialog Bubble Test Image

    I tried to tweet about this, but for some reason folks were getting a 404 error… even though the image link was 100% correct. So. I don’t know whether WordPress or Apache is at fault. I don’t have the luxury of time to spend tracking it down, either, especially when a simpler solution can present itself: I can blog about it! Duh!

    So. Here you go (click the image to embiggen):

    Meet Poe. He’s a pretentious little twit duck. Figures he’s named after Edgar Allen, but everyone else knows that his name’s just short for poe-zur…

    (Also, I won’t be using the Dragonbones font in the actual project. I just liked how it looked during testing so I kept it in the “final” image.)

  • Old Software

    I’m in a rut.

    No, not in my love life or anything like that. I just keep finding myself falling back on old software that may not be ideally suited to the task, but I’m familiar enough with that I’m willing to put up with the quirks for the sake of not having to relearn how to do everything.

    In this case, I’m looking at using my old copy of Fireworks 3, the (vaguely) object-oriented for-the-web image manipulation software from Macromedia. (Remember them?) It was released a decade ago, positioned in the market as a sort of competitor to Adobe’s ImageReady, itself a companion to the mighty Photoshop. The key reason I’m leaning toward Fireworks is that you can copy attributes from, say, a text box and paste just those attributes to another object in the same or another open image. This will allow me to create effects templates for the project.

    Part of me is thinking, though, “Fireworks 3? That’s so ten-years-ago! C’mon, there must be something newer!” Sure. I could use the current version of GIMP. That’s the only other option within my budget. It would, however, necessitate learning a whole new interface and figuring out how to do the things I want all over again. I don’t know if it’s worth the trouble. On the other hand… how long do I want to stay bound to an old software product?

    For now? I think I’m going to stay with the “don’t fix if it ain’t broke” philosophy. If I want to get the new project off the ground in a timely fashion, then I don’t want to switch from fixed to rotary wings shortly before takeoff.

    (Wow. That metaphor almost gave me airsickness. And I wanted to be a writer when I grew up? Huh.)

  • Ducks, Redux

    I still need to get my hands on a good light source for indoors (so if there any shutterbugs in the Rose City who have good tips on inexpensive lighting, let me know) but I wanted to show you what that earlier picture of my recently-cleaned ducks was supposed to look sort of like.

    From left to right in that photograph is the starting lineup for that silly little project I’ve been prepping for: Rei, Shimako, Roger, Sachiko, Li, Poe, Neil, Rusty and Score.

    The next bit of preparation will involve layout, image editing software & templates, and… fonts selections. Stay tuned, duck fans…

  • Duck Bathing And Color Correction

    In anticipation of taking more pics of my modest collection of not-actually-rubber ducks, I decided to clean up some of the critters that’ve been… ahem… collecting dust for a while now. Spruce them up, you see. Ready them for the limelight, or at least the flashbulb. So I gave seven of the nine “main” ducks a quick dip in warm, soapy water and a good rinsing, followed by gentle patting-down with a towel.

    Why only seven? Well, one of the stars of our show is Rusty, the cast iron duck. I don’t think he’s interested in watersports. Bad for his complexion, don’t you know. The other abstainer is our newest addition to the flock, a lovely Chinese-themed fellow that Kyla gave me this past weekend. He’s squeaky clean… thus far.

    I also learned something about Rubba Ducks. Turns out that because of their unusual composition, over time some of them start to get… a bit sticky. Treatment with dishsoap and considerable patience can keep the condition under control, but he’s never going to be the sort you cuddle and carry around for kicks. Then again, he’s the one with the lip ring. I doubt that he wants cuddles.

    Speaking of flashbulbs, I need to come up with a good indoor lighting system. Incandescent and CF bulbs aren’t going to cut it, as evidenced by the picture you see here of our starting lineup:

    My color-adjustment skills aren’t up to the task of showing you that the towel is actually a nice deep green color. Ugh. Apparently I have a long way to go before indoor photography is a viable option… and as Dad warned me, the built-in flash is probably the weakest feature on the otherwise-splendid Pentax *ist DL.

    One thing at a time. Progress is being made.

  • Who needs Sleep when you have IDEAS?

    There I was, dutifully going to bed at about 9:30pm so I could at least take a stab at getting a decent night’s sleep before tackling a Monday workday. Less than ten minutes after my head hit the pillow, however, my brain lit up with an idea. Building on that one, crazy (but actually plausible and manageable) idea, I came up with a handful of others.

    This happens from time to time, but last night I did something new: I got up and jotted some of those ideas down. Okay, actually I typed them into Evernote so I wouldn’t forget them as soon as I got up this morning. (You have no idea how many times that happens. Bah.)

    Then I registered a domain name.

    Then I setup a WordPress installation with a particular, specific pairing of theme and plugin.

    Then… finally… I went back to bed. (Let’s not say exactly when, shall we?)

    You won’t be able to see the fruits of my labors for a while yet. Considerable preparation work remains. But… I think this is one of the best ideas I’ve come up with in a long, long time.

    It should be… FUN.

  • As Close As I’ll Get To Celebrating The Holiday

    I wholeheartedly approve of, endorse, and covet the UltraDuck.

    (Hat tip to Wonderduck. Who else?)

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