Today Steve Jobs had another one of his Keynote presentations to deliver the new shiny Apple thing. He showed off new iPods (Shuffle, Nano, and Touch) as well as a new iTunes and “Ping”—A Facebook-like social network for music lovers. All cool but none as cool as the new AppleTV.

What does it do?

It does a lot so I’ll just cut to what excites me about it: It wirelessly streams content from your computer to your TV. Now the caveat is that anything you stream has to be through iTunes. You don’t grab the new episode of Weeds that you downloaded through Pirate Bay directly but you can do it! If you’re on Mac OSX, here’s how it’s done:

1. Make sure you first have Perian downloaded and installed. What’s Perian? As the creators put it, “Perian is a free, open source QuickTime component that adds native support for many popular video formats.” Basically this means you can watch pretty much any video in QuickTime whereas before you had to download VLC to watch them.
2. Open the movie in QuickTime. As long as the movie isn’t something like a .wmv or .rm it should work with Perian installed.
3. Send the video to iTunes. Apple makes this easy. Just go to the menu “Share” > “iTunes…”
4. Wait. This takes a while. It doesn’t matter how fast your computer is it takes a long time to convert video.
5. You’re done. It’ll throw the movie in your iTunes app right after under “Movies”.

Apple TV wirelessly puts all your music, movies and tv shows, and pictures on your TV

AppleTV + Netflix = Good-Bye Cable!

The other big news is that you can stream movies and TV shows through Netflix through your AppleTV. If you’re Canadian like me, you might not know what Netflix is but you will because it’ll be available in Canada this fall. If you’re in the US, you can purchase Netflix’s service for $8.99 per month. With it you can stream as many movies or TV shows in their library as you want – And they have a very extensive library, even Shaolin Soccer! So if I can have any show or movie I want when I want for $9 a month, why would I get cable? Admittedly, it still leaves Sports fans in the cold, so there is that.

Overall though, I think Apple finally got the AppleTV right. If you didn’t know, AppleTV has existed since 2006 but has never been a huge hit. Add to this that it’s now only $99 and I think this version will change things.

Would you buy an AppleTV?

I Didn’t Know Any Better

I was young and foolish once. I decided I was going to be a graphic designer so I learned how to use Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop. I started picking up a couple small jobs here and there: brochures, graphics, and logos; But then I had people asking me if I could build a website or design a large annual report. Gulp! I couldn’t.

Now if they had asked me to cook a filet mignon or build a boat, of course I’d be feel well within my right to not know how to do that but because building websites or designing annual reports was something that some other graphic designers do, I thought that those were skills that I had to have in my repertoire.

Learning: An Unhealthy Obsession

Recently, I came across a list of the apps and web languages that I thought I would need to learn, or at least improve at, to become a good graphic designer. I had decided at different times that I was going to learn Flash or PHP & MySQL. I improved at InDesign and Dreamweaver skills. Then I decided that I wanted to know video editing software so after mastering iMovie I tried my hand at Final Cut. I decided I should also be a photographer, so I got to know Aperture. I even tried my hand at 3D modeling with Cinema 4D!

Ever hear the expression: "He knows a little bit about a lot of things?"

The Aftermath: I Sucked At Everything

Okay, so I don’t exactly regret this period in my life. I had a lot of fun learning about all these different applications and lot of it has stuck with me. I’ve found that, in the same way that people who can speak multiple languages pick up new ones easily, I can pick up a new application and learn it pretty easily. However, I never became a very good photographer, or video editor, web programer, or 3D modeler. Most troubling though, I didn’t become a good graphic designer either.

Today: A (Somewhat) Successful Recovery

Today I’m still learning. I don’t think I can ever stop and I don’t want too but now it’s more focused. I’m learning how to design websites with WordPress and I try not to stray to far away from that. If someone wants a site with a shopping cart – someone else does that. I don’t.

I also have had a lot of success doing logos. I learn new Illustrator techniques, I frequently visit LogoPond or BrandStack and study what other designers are doing, and I keep an eye out for how different companies use (or abuse) their brand.

Conclusion: Learning is Good But Commit To A Niche

Of course I don’t actually think that there’s anything wrong with learning new things. I think it’s great! But professionally, you can end up spinning your wheels if you don’t commit to a niche, and I mean a specific niche. My niche is identity (logos & necessary business materials) and WordPress sites. I’ll admit, I struggle with this. If someone offers me work outside of my niche, I’ll usually take them up on it but if you put 100% of your energies into mastering that specific niche you become an expert in that one field and rather than making a smaller hourly sum being a jack of all trades, you make a larger sum because of your level of expertise.

Are You Addicted To Learning?

Following Players

1990-2003: My Red Wings Fan Days

Since I was little I’ve always preferred to follow players rather than teams. When I was really young I started following Sergei Fedorov. He was fun to watch, wore a cool number (#91) and since this was the beginning of a really mass European invasion in the NHL, he was actually kind of mysterious. And so I also became a Detroit Red Wings fan up until he shipped off to Anaheim, then Columbus, then Washington, and now in the KHL.

Today, I really enjoy watching and following the career of Sidney Crosby, so as I’ve always done, I end up following his team and become fans of the other Pittsburgh Penguins from the top players, like Evgeni Malkin, to the bottom rung guys, like Max Talbot, to even players on Pittsburgh’s AHL affeliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Unlike Fedorov, I think Crosby stands a really good chance of being a Penguin his entire career. I judge this almost solely on the fact that the Penguins’ new arena, the Consol Energy Centre, has 18,087 seats in it.

So who is my favourite team?

When I’m asked this, without hesitation I say “The Pens” (Believe it or not, when your team wins the Cup, people don’t believe you) but the real answer is more complicated than that but for the sake of time I don’t feel like going into it with most people so let me lay down my answer here for you: I also cheer for the Canucks, Flames, and Oilers. This is in part due to a residual belief that I need to cheer for all Canadian-based franchises. In the late 90′s and early 2000′s (00′s?) after the Winnipeg Jets and Quebec Nordiques left for the US, I, and others, began to take the cheering for Canadian- or American-owned Canadian-based NHL franchises with Canadian-, American-, and European-born players over their American-based counter-parts. Since the new CBA, however, I am now set free to cheer against the Montréal Canadiens and Ottawa Senators and maybe because the Canucks, Oilers, and Flames are in the West and don’t play my Penguins very often that I still harbour that same “love them or they might leave” fear, I’m not sure.

The Leafs are my favourite team

I was Indoctrinated

“Ah ha!’ you say. I hadn’t mentioned the Leafs when talking about Eastern Conference-dwelling Canadian-based franchises whom I’m free to hate and that is because for a plethora of complex reasons, the Toronto Maple Leafs are my favourite NHL team and I concede that it has mostly, if not entirely to do with moving to Ontario. When I moved to Thunder Bay and found myself in “The Leafs Region” I began watching their games because, well, they’re on TV. I became bombarded with Leafs news, “Bates Battagalia is injured, who are the Leafs going to call up from the Marlies to replace him on the 4th line?” I became indoctrinated and I just accepted it because I wanted to be a part of something so big that it’s almost bigger than the activity (hockey) it partakes in. This must be how smart people feel when they decide to become Catholic (that’s for my friend, Tim. Don’t write me).

Actually, the Penguins are my favourite team

My World's Collide

My relationship for the Maple Leafs isn’t entirely as creepy as I had laid out. I do actually hold a healthy interest and preference for the Maple Leafs. I guess I could almost say the the Toronto Maple Leafs are my favourite team simply because I will cheer for them no matter who is on the team. But the telling way for me to know who my favourite team is is simple: In a playoff scenario where it comes down to Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins against the Toronto Maple Leafs, I’m cheering 100% for the Penguins and my guess is, because I know a few Toronto fans, I might even start disliking the Leafs.

Fortunately, I haven’t had to worry about that scenario.

So who is your favourite team? Why?

Thank you for visiting Ulrich Design. As the sign on the door says, the site is still under construction but feel free to take a look around. Try to ignore rough patches such as blog posts called “Example” and any Lorem Ipsum text. And please, please, don’t touch any exposed wiring!

I’ll let you in on what I’m wanting to do with my Blog. The plan is to run three blogs on here: Design, Technology, and Hockey.

Design

I’d like to share my experiences as a graphic designer, sole proprietor, marketer, learner, and overall freelance superstar. I’m still finding my way through the jungle but I’ve also cut a bit of a trail behind me. I hope sharing that will be useful to someone.

Technology

As someone who is just an overall “techie” I’m not just interested in technology and apps that have to do with graphic design (although that’s where I often apply them). Some common themes in my tech preferences are Apple, web dev apps, iPhone, Nintendo Wii, videogames, and really any piece of technology or app that has to do with photography, video, music or just plain fun.

Hockey

It may seem strange to have hockey content on a design site but I love hockey. I play hockey, I coach hockey (Elks 82′s-Midget A), I watch hockey (my favourite team is the Pittsburgh Penguins), and I love playing NHL 10 on my X-Box 360.

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As I’ve been loading up this design blog with a “Contacts” page and an “About” page (a portfolio/gallery is the next step), it begins to round out like any normal website except for the blog portion. So why blog? Can’t I just have a website with all my details and contact information? I’m already busy, why try and throw in coming up with written content?

You may or may not know that Design Blogs are pretty common. Some (definitely not most) use it as a source of income through advertising. While that would be pretty sweet, and if I find an avenue one day that would bring me that I’ll steer in that direction, but for now I have a few simple goals with this blog.

Learn WordPress

I’ve created one WordPress site for a client and it’s been a really great experience but as of now my WordPress knowledge is pretty basic and there’s so much more to learn, especially when it comes to the design customization of a WordPress site. WordPress, with its simple, fast, and easy content uploading and endless online support due to being an open source CMS, is really the way to go!

Marketing Ulrich Design

Obviously I want prospective clients to come along and learn more about me and my process and if they like what they read, that strengthens the chance that they’re also the right client for me too.

Communicating Skills: Writing and Speaking

I want to use this blog as a public avenue to practice my writing skills and I’ve always found that writing improves my speaking skills. When I actually have a moment to consider the best, most concise and least confusing, way to write something it increases the likelihood that it will cross over into when I’m speaking to people. I can tell you already that I’m feeling the strain in trying to articulate myself in the best way possible. Hopefully it isn’t showing.

Become a better designer

Last but not least (actually it’s first), is that maintaining a design blog is a great way to become a better designer. It forces you to challenge yourself to come up with fresh new content and fresh new content means having the skills and knowledge and I can only go so long before, if I haven’t been learning anything new, that I’ll be out of things to share!

Should be quite the journey. Thanks for reading.

I’m currently in the middle of changing my site over to a brand new WordPress site.

In the meantime, check out TravisUlrich.com for any information you’re needing about Ulrich Design.

Thank you!