andrew dodson

Wordpress has released the next version of their popular blogging and content management software.  The 2.9 release, named “Carmen,” continues their series of releases named after jazz artists.

So, what’s new in 2.9?

The biggest feature improvement is the ability to edit images after they are uploaded – cropping, rotating and resizing are all available options.  This is a huge feature for Wordpress users that may not have image editing software on their computers.

Another popular improvement is the ability to embed media into posts or pages by simply copying and pasting the link to the media (video, photo gallery, etc.) into the post or page, using the oEmbed standard.

Wordpress has also introduced a trash feature, enabling a second level of deletion of posts, pages and media.  Now, in the event you accidentally get rid of a post, it goes to the trash,  instead of being permanently deleted.  Users can then empty their trash later, when they’re sure they want to delete its contents.

These three features are on top of many other improvements and bug fixes.  To read more about the 2.9 release, please read this post on the Wordpress blog.

Ahh, hello blog.  I have missed you.

Looks like it’s been over a month since my last post.  I’ve been on a quest to live a slower (more slow?) life.  For the last five years, I’ve operated BADmedia as a freelance business on top of having a full time job.  While I enjoy recording and design work, the ultimate purpose of BADmedia has always been to have a supplement to my full time income.  While the extra money is nice, it is more often outweighed by the extra time and effort needed to do the work.  In turn, I don’t have time to enjoy life – reading books, getting some exercise, relaxing, having fun, playing drums, blogging.

Getting the job with Crossings has confirmed that I am “getting out” of the freelance business.  I say that with quotes because I will continue to do freelance work – but only for a select few clients.  Basically, I’m not going to take on any more freelance work from this point.  The current clients I have don’t require a lot of my time, so I will continue to fulfill my obligation to them.  The daily drive to Louisville consumes more of my time, which only adds to the confirmation that I don’t need to be doing freelance work.

I’ve spent the past few months finishing up a few of the leftover projects from my brief stint of operating BADmedia full time.  It’s been a busy month, but last night was a great night – I was able to come home and not have any responsibilities.  Just because it’s part of my nature, I still did “work,” but it was stuff I wanted to work on.  That’s how I want it to be – I want to only work on things that I care about.  Work on fewer things, but do better work because I truly care about the finished product.  Not working on things just to get a check when the work is done.

So, even though I’ve said this before, I look forward to blogging more frequently.  Life should be slower now.

My new employer, 524Concepts recently launched two church websites.  You can see screenshots of the sites below that are linked to their sites.  I had a small hand in the Williamstown site, but a bigger role in the Crestwood site.  We are currently developing two sites in support of the Crossings camp ministry.  They should both launch within the next month.  Also in the pipeline are sites for at least three other churches, and a non-profit or two.  All of this, along with the possibility of a few bigger organizations in the near future.  Exciting times at 524!

Over the last two months, God has proven His faithfulness to me.  After leaving CLS to pursue BADmedia full time, I was surprised by the number of calls and emails I started receiving – people seeking me to create websites or help them with graphic design needs.  After a few weeks, there was no doubt in my mind that BADmedia could be a full time job.

Along the way, I received a random email from Crossings Ministries.  They were in need of web design help for their side business – 524concepts.  At first, I was hoping they were looking for freelance help, as I was really enjoying working from home (or coffee shops, Panera, and other random places) with BADmedia.  After a few meetings and conversations, it turned into a full time job offer.  As I pulled into their parking lot one day for an interview, a strange calm came over me.  It was as if God was telling me at that moment, “this is where I want you right now.”  A few days later, I accepted their offer to be a web specialist for 524concepts.

The job starts on March 24th and I am fairly excited.  I’ve known the staff I’ll be working with for a couple of years, and they are really great people.  They all love their jobs, and it’s very apparent.  Crossings is a great organization that I’ve always respected.  It will be a tremendous blessing to work for a Christian organization that helps change the lives of kids, teens and adults in significant ways.

Along the way, I will keep reminding myself of one of my favorite verses:

Colossians 3:23 Listen

23 Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men,

There is snow on the ground right now, and that is a very good thing.  We didn’t end up getting as much as expected in Frankfort, which is a bummer.  I was pretty anxious for the possibility of eight or nine inches of snow.  Oh well.

Snow days seem to be a good day for everyone to catch up with life.  I was just on Facebook and noticed a lot of my friends uploading pictures, videos, changing their profile pictures, and updating their status to the likes of “I didn’t go to work today, so I’m cleaning the house.”  I figured I’d use part of my snow day to post on the ol’ blog.

As of a couple of weeks ago, I am now a full-time freelancer.  After four and a half years, I decided to leave CLS.  I enjoyed my time at CLS, but really felt like it was time to pursue either BADmedia full-time, or see what other web and graphic jobs are out there in the world.  So far, I’ve applied for a few full-time jobs, but haven’t landed anything yet.  If I am offered a job, it will be a tough decision to choose between the security of a full-time job, or the freedom of freelancing.  I have really enjoyed freelancing for the past few weeks, and it’s been amazing to see God’s faithfulness in this time.  Despite leaving a good full-time job, I’ve been able to get by for the month of January, with jobs continuing to line up for February.  God is good.

In a way, every day has become a “snow day” for me.  I am able to set my own hours and do the work when I want.  I can work from coffee shops, restaurants, parks, bookstores, libraries – anywhere with free Wi-Fi.  It also means I no longer have the option of saying, “I’ve been too busy to blog.”  Hopefully that means I’ll be able to post more often, which I will enjoy.  Enjoy your snow day!

It’s been a little quiet ’round the blog since my Palin posts.  Not much noteworthy happening in my world, I guess.  It will likely stay quiet around here for another few days.  CLS is in full swing, as fall is probably our busiest time of the year.  It is likely that I will be working some overtime for the next couple of days to get ahead.  Why?

I will be taking off on Friday to begin recording the next Josh Martin Band album!  As of now, my plan is to spend Thursday night setting up at Cedarmore.  The rest of the band will come in on Friday and we’ll be rolling by Friday afternoon.

As I did for the Not So Easily Pleased recording sessions, I will be live-blogging the recording sessions.  I also hope to provide YouTube clips, pictures and more.  I’m looking forward to it!

How ’bout the new look of the blog? Wordpress.org has revamped their theme directory and I found this one yesterday. I really like the simplicity of it.

So, what have I been up to? I’ve kept up with learning Flash and that’s coming along fairly well. I’m thinking about implementing some Flash on the Josh Martin Band website, but I’m not sure. I’d like to put what I’ve learned into practice in one way or another.

I’ve mainly spent time redesigning a few sites as of late. I continue to get people calling or emailing with interest in having a website done, so that’s been encouraging for BADmedia. I’m hoping to nail down a few more sites by the end of this week.

The Josh Martin Band stepped back on stage this past weekend at the Frankfort Christian Academy. It was good to play again. We’re going to start rehearsing again soon for some upcoming gigs. Josh has written some new material, so we will work on that as well.

I’m often asked what type of software I use to create my websites, logos and the like.  Everyone knows I’m a Mac guy, and they assume I use the Adobe Creative Suite.  Not so fast!  Assumptions can sometimes be wrong.

Yes, I’m a Mac guy.  Love ‘em.  Used a PC for years before finally using a Mac at work.  Hands down, Macs are far better machines.  Trust me.  PC users are scared to switch because they’re afraid a Mac can’t do what a PC does.  Wrong.  Not only can it do everything a PC does, it can do it better and you won’t be pulling your hair out all the time.

Anyway… on to the real topic.  What software do I use?  My general rule of thumb is easy – find something that does what I want for free.  The glory of humanity is this – there are people willing to donate their time and effort and ability to create a nice software package for free.  This is called Open Source.  When I simply can’t find a good open-source (free) program, I find one for cheap.  I try to keep my overhead as low as possible.

General Graphic Art

For my general designs, this is where I don’t skimp.  I use Adobe Illustrator a lot.  I’m currently looking into open source programs (Inkscape), or cheap programs (Vector Designer) for my vector art needs.  Until I decide if those programs are viable, I’ll use Illustrator.

Photo Editing / Raster Graphics

Photoshop?  No.  I use Gimp.  It’s a wonderful, free program.  For all of you out there using pirated versions of Photoshop because you can’t afford to buy it yourself – please try Gimp.  There IS a learning curve, but it can do everything Photoshop can do.  I’m very impressed with it.  Not to mention, it’s more streamlined that PS and runs much faster on my computers.

Web Editing – HTML

These days, I don’t do a whole heck of a lot with HTML.  When I absolutely have to code something with HTML, I use Nvu (there is also a version called Kompozer).  It gets the job done and is free.

Web Editing – PHP, XML, General Coding

I’ve fallen in love with Smultron.  A free, powerful text editor that plays nicely with PHP, XML, CSS, and HTML files.  A nice, multi-purpose program.

Web Editing – CSS

There is a free solution here that some people might enjoy.  Simple CSS.  I’ve tried it and it does get the job done.  But, it has some quirks that I don’t like.  So, I use CSSEdit.  It’s not a free program, but is in the “affordable” bracket.  It’s a pretty slick program.

Wordpress

These days, I design all of my sites around Wordpress.  I love the ability to maintain my sites from any computer with an internet connection.  There is a learning curve to designing custom themes, but once you figure it out, it’s a breeze.

Word Processing

Sometimes, clients send me Word documents with their content.  Mac does have a version of Microsoft Office, but it’s not cheap.  So, I use NeoOffice to read Word & Excel files and more.  A truly wonderful, free word processing program.  They are constantly updating it and improving its features.

So, there you have it.  If you’re looking to save some money, but still be productive, I strongly suggest looking into open source options.  Small businesses, schools, churches, governments, civic groups and non-profits could benefit greatly from saving money and using these types of programs.  You should at least look into them and give them a chance.

I found this on Justin Taylor’s blog and it really hits home with me. Sort of shapes how I should view my work as a graphic artist.

1. Christian artists should view their talent as a gift from God and see its use ultimately as worship to God.
2. A Christian artist should have a sober assessment of his gift and neither
   over-estimate the opportunities it should given him or undervalue the
   contribution he can make with it.
3. The most authentic Christian art results from our joy in Christ overflowing
   into Christian art, not our strategies to do art that is Christian.
4. Creating art is an expression of faith and obedience, not of compulsion or identity.
5. The Christian artist should see his art as a way to love God, his people, and the world.
6. The Christian Artist sees the sovereign hand of God in both his opportunities and his obstacles.
7. The Christian artist is committed to truth in the way he lives and what he creates.
8. While the Christian artist is under no burden to make all of his art
   explicitly Christian, it would be an unbiblical use of his gift to
   intentionally create a body of work without reference to Christ.
9. The Christian artist rejects the worldly concept of artist as an outsider
   and embraces his place among God’s people in the local church as
   essential to his life and gifting.
10. The Christian artist should not ignore his personal responsibility to evaluate the theological soundness of his work.
11. Because the Christian artist trusts God, he will battle selfish ambition,
    competition, and any pretense of entitlement in regard to his art.
12. The Christian artist will see the evaluation of others as an essential help
    in both growing in their art and assessing its fruitfulness.
13. The Christian artist will resist elitism and care about the accessibility
    of his art to the average Christian in the congregation
14. The Christian artist must never confuse the joy of creativity with the joy of knowing and pleasing God.

More and more, we’re being bombarded with the idea of “going green.”  Eco-friendly products are becoming more and more available.  The process of making products is becoming more and more eco-friendly, as well.  With all of the fuss about going green, I wonder where God comes into play?

First, I must admit, I’m not an environmentalist.  But, I’m also not an anti-environmentalist.  I sit on the fence.  I don’t litter, and to my knowledge, my vehicle is the only not-so-environmentally-friendly product I use.  I don’t recycle, personally, but we do recycle cans at CLS (for a person we know – not an employee – that uses them to help pay her bills).  I’m supportive of our city’s recycling program (which I don’t participate in, only because I don’t own a home).  My guess is, if I researched my lifestyle in relation to environmentalism, I’m not doing all that I could to help the environment.

The story of Genesis tells of how God created the earth.  We also see in Scripture that God reveals himself through creation.  Scripture also tells of God’s sovereignty over the earth.

Part of me hears all of this fuss over going green and thinks it’s a futile human attempt to prolong the life of the earth.  Since God is sovereign, it’s up to Him, not us.  Another part of me thinks that since God did create the earth, we need to be good stewards of it, just like we are to be good stewards of our money.  All good things come from Him.  Another part of me is excited about the growing use of organic products to create things we use every day.  It’s like we’ve finally realized that what God created is sufficient for our every day needs.

Where do you sit?  Is Earth Day like Christmas for you?  Or, do you not care?