The Notebook of Samantha Curry

Textmate, Alfred and Evernote.

2011-10-04T00:01:19+00:00

I didn't have to travel far on the yellow brick road of productivity to find quite a few apps that have helped me work faster and smarter. Don't worry you won't need any ruby slippers or a wizard for this quick read.

Textmate vs. Dreamweaver

For the longest time I had been an avid user of Dreamweaver (code view of course) and then a few months ago I met Textmate, the good witch.

I kept seeing all of these great bundles available and several version control system bundles. The bundles and the concept of tab trigger were the biggest reasons that I decided to give Textmate a try. I instantly fell in love with creating my own snippets and using a tab trigger to use them. Talk about a productivity boost when you no longer have to type out all of the long css3 properties.

/* CSS3 Gradient */
.gradient {
  background: #1e5799;
  background: -moz-linear-gradient(left, #1e5799 0%, #2989d8 50%, #207cca 51%, #7db9e8 100%);
  background: -webkit-gradient(linear, left top, right top, color-stop(0%,#1e5799), color-stop(50%,#2989d8), color-stop(51%,#207cca), color-stop(100%,#7db9e8));
  background: -webkit-linear-gradient(left, #1e5799 0%,#2989d8 50%,#207cca 51%,#7db9e8 100%);
  background: -o-linear-gradient(left, #1e5799 0%,#2989d8 50%,#207cca 51%,#7db9e8 100%);
  background: -ms-linear-gradient(left, #1e5799 0%,#2989d8 50%,#207cca 51%,#7db9e8 100%);
  filter: progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.gradient( startColorstr='#1e5799', endColorstr='#7db9e8',GradientType=1 );
  background: linear-gradient(left, #1e5799 0%,#2989d8 50%,#207cca 51%,#7db9e8 100%);
}

Some Differences I Noticed

It doesn't auto complete the tags like in Dreamweaver. No big deal really, I just need to retrain myself.
I miss that when I am adding a CSS value I no longer have a pop up with all of the possible values for a selector.
I love how fast Textmate is! Now I dread it when I accidently open Dreamweaver.

Alfred, Lets Call Him Toto

On my adventure, I decided to check out Alfred. Another little mac app that I've been hearing about. I have to say that it’s nice having my own personal butler. He's kinda like Toto, smart and always there when you need him.

I had been using the mac spotlight for a while and found it a little lacking. I use Alfred for launching apps but also for searching the ExpressionEngine and MojoMotor documentation quickly. I have also been using the calculator more than my 3rd grade math teacher would like. It beats counting on my fingers… I only have 10. It is 10 right?

Custom Searches I Use

In custom searches use the following in the Search URL field add one of the following. Alfred can walk you through how to create your own.

ExpressionEngine Documentation
http://www.google.com/search?q={query}&as_sitesearch=expressionengine.com%2Fuser_guide%2F&x=0&y=0

MojoMotor Documentation
http://www.google.com/search?q={query}&as_sitesearch=mojomotor.com%2Fuser_guide%2F&x=0&y=0

WoW Head for fellow WoW players
http://www.wowhead.com/search?q={query}

And Rift DB for Rift players
http://www.riftdb.com/search.aspx?search_text={query}

With an issue in Google Checkout not accepting my payment, I haven't tried repurchasing a power pack upgrade. Now, I’m debating whether or not a power pack upgrade would be worth it for how I currently work. Although I do think that telling Al to play a certain song would be nice, oh Al bark for me will you?

Evernote, Scarecrow with a Big Brain

Another big win in productivity is Evernote. I love being able to access notes on my Mac, iPad and PC. Using notebooks, tags, web clipping, its hard to lose notes that I create. With the newest iPad updates the lack of a basic editor is no longer a complaint. I wouldn't say I'm a power user but I'm working up to it!

Stan Lemon has a great Evernote Alfred script that I think would be great to use if I upgrade to a power pack.

A Website with Purpose

2011-09-30T20:57:27+00:00

I needed to address some new goals and quite a few missed ones. I couldn't accomplish this with a simple re-alignment... I needed a complete overhaul that had a plan and displayed my work professionally.

I needed to address some new goals and quite a few missed ones. I couldn't accomplish this with a simple re-alignment… I needed a complete overhaul that had a plan and displayed my work professionally.

Needless to say, the changes had been slow going. I fell into the common rut of being your own client, never being pleased with the outcome. Always making those extra tweaks because of a new ‘bright’ idea.

My husband can attest to the fact that I started working on my portfolio changes over 2 years ago. Each time I was un-happy with the outcome.

Why the Concepts Failed

What I found lacking in all of the concepts was a purpose. They didn’t address the ‘Why?’ They were simply pretty and reflected the mood I was in while creating them. Somehow as my own client I had become too focused on the design and lost sight of what is truly important to a website.

Every website has a why to address. Sometimes it has several. Everything on my website needed to be geared for my audience and designed to confirm why I am the right hire. I needed to build the trust that I was a professional and I needed to address common client concerns.

Using the below questions to keep me in line, I focused on my content and was able to give my website a clear purpose.

What do I do?
Why do I do what I do?
What motivated me to become a web designer and developer?
What makes me different?
How can I help?
Am I sending the right message?

Changes in the Right Direction

A New Name

I needed to change my portfolio name from Simple Reborn. It was an obscure way to say that I create simple and usable sites that are not boring. Long winded, right? Basically I need a name that reflected who I am now and one that will grow with me. It needed to be something memorable, simple, professional, and yet still laid back. Drum roll please, the new name is Sacurry. Notice the play on my name?

I felt that with this change it would be easier to remember and say. I also chose to use my name because I want to build my client’s trust. I’m a person and just like everyone else, I care about what I put my name on. My name is more than a who I am. It is my reputation as a professional. With this change I am hoping that it will be another way to show my clients that I care and that I will do everything I can to help meet thier goals.

A New Design

A few of the concepts I created were flashy and focused on the latest trend. I refocused on one of my design princples… keep it simple. I chose to use a design that didn't draw away from work.

A Focused About Page

I have the skills to do more than just web design and development, but I really felt that I needed to focus on the services I was passionate about. With focused services I was able explain why I love doing what I do and why.

I don't like tooting my own horn and felt that this was a great place to let my clients speak on my behalf. Having a client's recommendation is a better way to build trust.

Made It Easily Manageable

ExpressionEngine is by far my favorite CMS (Content Management System). Having purchased a freelance license with the Fusion Ads 2010 Holiday Bundle, it made the license a bit more afforadable for my small business. I have always felt that an ExpressionEngine purchase is always a smart investment. I could go in length about the reasons, but I will save that for a rainy day.

With all of these changes I am proud of the final outcome and hope to see some good results. There are still alot of tweaks to the design and code that I would like to see. But as they say “All things in good time”.

Photoshop Layer Thumbnails Tip

2011-02-21T20:54:06+00:00

I was recently over at Vectips looking through some of the tutorials and I came across a tip for enlarging the thumbnails of your layers in Illustrator.

Since I mainly work in Photoshop, I decided to see if this would work there as well. Lo and behold it does! Sadly there aren’t as many options.

Now I don’t have to keep wiping off nose prints on my screen.

Now a member of Forrst

2011-01-05T20:56:22+00:00

All over twitter all you hear about is being invited to dribbble or to forrst. Now, I am one more proud member in the extremely awesome Forrst community.

There is a reason it’s popular and it’s not just a trend. In just the few days of being a member I have had contact with some extremely talented people. I had a question about a bug I found in one of my projects and within 20 minutes I had 3 comments with suggestions I had never even thought of.

I am a believer in the Forrst Community and proud to be a part of it.