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Archive for June 6th, 2007

Well it seems that in order to take my blogging to the next level I need to have a blog client, or at least that what I read on the Internet . After looking around I came across Zoundry which seems to get pretty good reviews from users out there. Apparently this is supposed to make it easier to write blogs by giving a more complete editor, image handling, better formatting capabilities, spell checking and so forth. That all sounds pretty good…

I have been using Microsoft Word up to this point. It certainly has the editing features I look for. Its spell checking, auto correct, and grammar checking are pretty impressive and I rely on them for all the writing I do. As a writing tool, I think Word is going to be pretty hard to beat, however, I’m all for working with a client app that is specifically geared toward something. It appears Zoundry is supposed to help me with formatting and image control when posting. That seems pretty reasonable. And we all know that Word inserts so much extra HTML/XML code into a document that it’s ridiculous, so getting away from that might be a good thing.

One main thing I notice is that I can see all of my previous posts. I can scroll through the list and load any previous post into the editor. That alone could be very beneficial in editing or correcting any previous posts. Plus, if my previous posts are now stored locally on the machine, then I’ll be pretty happy to have this as a backup system.

So here’s to some new technology. We’ll see where this new client software takes me. It’s my first time working with it, so there’s probably all sorts of new things to learn.

I’ll keep you posted on how this latest experiment works out.

I was kind of amused when the first spam post showed up. I took it that my site had been around long enough for some person or “bot” to take notice and start trying to send something to it.

Now I seem to get as many junk blog comments as I do junk email. Now that’s pretty funny!

But I still have to wonder why some one or some company would try to market their product through saturation emailing. Does this technique really work with anyone? Does anyone actually click on the foreign links they get in email or in a blog? Please tell me you don’t!

The comments are still getting blocked, but if one manages to sneak through, please let me know. I’ll delete it as soon as I see it!

I’m off to get my Spam Deleting Finger warmed up!

The Internet is ablaze with talk of the upcoming update to Adobe Lightroom. It’s excellent to see Adobe working quickly to address issues and update features based on user feedback.

It looks that sharpening, noise reduction, merging libraries, categorize presets, and several other new features are on their way. It also looks like attempts are being made to update with Adobe Camera Raw 4.1.

It also sounds like Lightroom might become more modular as it progresses making it easier to update components rather than the whole product.

In my opinion, the 1.1 release should also mark a pretty big upsurge in sales. As with any “new” product, a lot of people hold back, waiting for the first update to come along before they jump on board. This way they don’t have to suffer through the bugs and quirks that inevitably come along with new software.

But Lightroom is generating a tremendous amount of excitement these days with photographers providing excellent feedback and Adobe working hard to make those changes. If the cycle repeats itself, we should see a 1.1 update very shortly (within a few weeks if not sooner), then a 1.5 release several months from now (well before Christmas). This will allow a short term update to fix bugs and correct features and really stabilize what they have, then a longer period where they can really get in an update the program, add new features and build a platform for their 2.0 release.

Plus, Adobe is working against the established Aperture on the Mac side (and Mac users are a very loyal bunch). They will need some killer features to draw them away. For Windows, they have fertile ground to build a user base for those who want the photography features of Photoshop, but aren’t ready to move away from a photo editor they are already comfortable with. Plus the price of Lightroom is easier to bear.

I may be getting way over anxious and totally ahead of myself (what’s new) but I would almost bet that by this time next year we will have the 2.0 release already out the door. Considering the normal dev time for a product is around 2-3 years getting a new version in a year would be pretty impressive! Photoshop CS2 hit the shelves in April 2005…

Just my prediction, I could always be wrong

You can find more details of the upcoming 1.1 release here:

http://www.scottkelby.com/blog/?s=lightroom+1.1
http://www.golightroom.com/2007/05/30/upcoming-adobe-lightroom-11/