Basically this is a bug-fix update. People have had problems with using this plugin with the default Wordpress theme, so I modified the plugin so it’s compatible. It’s not pretty, but it’s compatible — you can use the thing now.
So, grab the script or the zip. Enjoy!
Reportedly the best thing to use is Illustrator — and for those of you who have Illustrator, this should be a snap — but if you only have Photoshop… what do you do?
In the process of creating this header, I’d searched around for a long time, and only found one solution (well, the same solution among different tutorial sites, but I linked to the best one). It was to create a new image with a transparent background, make identically spaced (this isn’t said in the tutorial, but it won’t come out right if the spaces and widths of the stripes are not the same) stripes, and then run a Polar Coordinates filter on it. This works, but if you look at it up against a background, the edges are very rough and pixelated — it just looks really, really choppy. I don’t know about you, but I cannot stand that. I hate it with a passion. Yuck!
The fix, though, is extremely easy. Instead of making a 400×400 (or whatever size you want) pixel document, create a 2000×2000 one (yes, that’s right, 2000). Zoom out to about 25% or so, and work as if it were a 400×400 pixel document. Be careful as computers without sufficient memory may crash (oh yea, disclaimer dealy: I’m not responsible if it does). Now once you’ve evenly spaced your stripes, run the Polar Coordinates filter on them (as shown in the tutorial I linked to). After that, you have what you want, except it’s WAY too big… and if you zoom in all the way, it’s still pixelated on the edges, but you’ll notice at 25%, the edges are smooth as butter over warm bread. Now all you have to do is go into Edit – Image Size, and set the pixel dimensions of the size you want your spanned stripes to be. Now if you want to make it a gradient or add other effects, it’s a snap!
This afternoon, I checked my email, and got something from Chris Martz. It was a referral link to Blingo. I took a leap and signed up; I want to win something free! Will it work? Who knows?
What’s Blingo? Supposedly it’s a Google-powered search engine that is giving away free products for random people who use the search engine to search the Web. Similar to Apple’s race to 500 million downloads idea.
The site appears legitimate, so I decided to give it a shot. I took a leap. Will you?
Looks like other people have tried it and are saying that it works. Oh yea, and if you do decide to sign up, skim over some tips before you begin searching…
I’ve searched around, and found a few things that I really like. First I went to Best Buy and looked at a glass desk which was okayish, but I didn’t like it much. Why? It was a bit too small and those legs would be in the way big time (especially with all the wires I’m constantly moving around). The good news it was close — I really like the glass desks. So, I looked around some more, and couldn’t find anything.
Then I stopped over at Office Max (which coincidentally happens to be about 200 feet from Best Buy — what are the chances?). There, I found the same desk at nearly the same price (I think a little cheaper). Nearby, though, I noticed another glass desk. Oh yes, this one is much better — the legs are bowed and not in the way, and the setup (and size) is perfect for my laptop (which as another monitor). I plan on getting a Mac Mini soon (seriously, from Apple — more on that later), and I have another monitor/keyboard/mouse for it, so I’ll have two monitors, a laptop, a mac mini, and two wireless mice on my desk — with still more room for notes, school work, and so forth. I think this desk is just about perfect — at least pretty close, especially with a $200 price tag (sound expensive?).
I browsed around some more, seeing as Office Max’s prices were lower than that of Best Buy, and they had more furniture to choose from. I found a great deal on wooden desk, though it’s a bit small and I don’t like the colors (obviously the hatch would have to go, as well)… I’m not really convinced on this one, but it’s still a good buy.
Still thinking whether the Futura glass desk would be the best choice, I continued looking for a wooden desk that was basically the same. I figured since one wooden desk was so much less expensive than the glass desk, they all must be… Right? Well, not every desk is in the low-price ballgame, it seems. I found an exceptionally nice, large L-shaped wooden desk — it had everything. It was wide, long, everything the Future glass desk was (except it was wooden). Oh yea, one more thing: it’s in the area of $600-$650. Ouch. OfficeMax.com doesn’t seem to have it in stock (I can’t find it), but it was a nice desk. It’s basically a sort of cornered desk for $200 or so, and then you extend the corners with more small desks (each in the mid-100 dollar range). The big turn-off is the price…
So, here’s my question (after all that rambling). Do you think a glass desk is a good idea? I really like the way it looks, but I don’t know if it’s worth it. How long do they usually last? Do they come apart easily? Do they scratch easily? How do they compare to wooden desks? Would you get one? Why or why not?
Okay, I said there would be more on the Mac Mini issue “later,” and it’s later now, so here’s the whole kit ‘n’ kaboodle. About two weeks ago, an Apple store opened in the mall 10 minutes up the road from my house. Yes! You see, I had a Mac Mini for a short time, but thanks to CompUSA, I had to return it. To get what I wanted out of my Mac Mini, I learned that I had to order it from the Apple store directly. My choice was to order from the Apple Online store. Of course, I procrastinated awhile, and after a couple weeks, I thought, “Maybe, Apple will release a new line of Mac Minis with some upgrades and I can get a better deal.” I waited, and lo and behold, they did! (I’m waiting on the same thing before I get an iPod, by the way, even though they’ve upgraded the iPod a bunch of times already.) So now, I’m prepared to pay the $699 for a super Mac Mini. But wait! I don’t have to order it from the Apple Online Store anymore! That Apple store that opened in the mall recently can give me what I want, and I can ask any questions I have, etc. to a real person! Does it get better? I went over to the Apple store today for a bit and talked to a sales associate (I swear, they put them on some kind of “friendliness drug” — everyone in that store was grinning like they had just gotten laid). Ryan, the sales associate, was kind enough to point out quite a few things to me such as how the AppleCare Protection Plan worked, software that came with the Mac (and why), interoperability/switching with other operating systems (specifically Windows), what Mac was best for me (turns out my $699 idea was right — though he suggested upgrading to 1GB of RAM), and so forth. It’s interesting because the sales associates are honest — if there is something that they don’t like about the Apple computers, they’ll tell you, and you don’t even have to ask. (Maybe they’re deceitful and appear to be honest?) Oh yea, and if you’ve ever been in an Apple store, take a look at those black ball chairs — they’re so cool!
Unfortunately I wasn’t able to catch the Apple store when it first opened, so I didn’t get a free t-shirt. :( Do you think they’ll give me one if I spend a lot of money on a Mac Mini? Maybe? I’m going to ask. I asked the sales associate if I could get a free Apple computer, and he said, “Usually we answer every question ‘Yes’ first, but that one is going to have to be a ‘No.’” Darn, so close… Ah well, I’m doing ranting about Apple computers (but they’re so cool!), so you can scroll up and try to remember the point of this post (yeah, about choosing a desk — remember, what I was talking about like an hour ago?).
But they’ve redesigned and added all kinds of functionality — the site looks great now, and while pages don’t load a lot faster, it seems to be recording the music I’m currently listening to without flaw. I was often frustrated that it didn’t record what I listened to accurately. In fact, I was frustrated to the point where I began writing my own Java plugin for iTunes to upload data to my web site, and build my own personal version of Audioscrobbler. It’s easier to use the service, though, and I haven’t had time to do it. I’m going to put off writing that plugin for awhile, possibly forever, providing Audioscrobbler is consistantly online from this point forward. (Okay, I’ll may ‘em a break — a couple downtimes or skipped songs, no problem.)
I won’t go into detail about the new stuff — you should head over and see it all for yourself — but I will say that the site has gone from ugly/barely functional to beautiful/extremely functional. I’d like to say I was part of it, but alas I don’t live in England with the developers of the service… Ah well, excellent job to the guys who put this thing together!
So, everyone check it out (at least the tour) and be sure to comment on what you think about it. I realize it’s not the most cutting-edge, advanced, complex, powerful, flexible CMS out there, but I think it’s pretty darn good. It’s practical, and that’s what’s important as of now. The next version we release will have more features, be more extensible and flexible. We hope you enjoy this version of the GBCMS, though!