carpeDMI.com

freebie photoshop brushes

admin — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 17:37:31 +0000

Watch parts by http://photoshoptutorials.ws – very cool!

more funny tweets

admin — Mon, 10 May 2010 02:46:09 +0000

@sween Gravity. What a Downer.

@stalefries Error 4:04am (Sleep Not Found)

@madisonmckenzie Reality Is for People Who Can’t Handle Science Fiction.

@Studiolit I Wish Procrastination Was a Marketable Skill

@andyliang I get my piranhas from the Amazon. Amazon.com, that is.

@merokoyui A programmer is an organism that turns coffee into a software.

@mnhanson I want to work for a technical support line so I can crush the hopes and dreams of a generation.

online ads/websites

admin — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 03:47:34 +0000

Websites:

Cottington Group – client site: political consultants
Wisty Events – client site: event planning
ThisweekLive.com – primary work website: Thisweek Newspapers
ThisweekLive.com The Show – secondary work website: for cable show
ThisweekLive NING site – secondary work site: for community building
Dakota County Tribune Business Weekly – other primary work website: Dakota County Tribune Business Weekly newspaper
REV Real – Girls Dakota REV Soccer Club – daughter’s soccer team site
St. Joseph School (Rosemount) Girls and Boys Soccer 2009 – kid’s school soccer teams site
The Dan Conry Show – radio show site (ended April 2009) – radio show

Flash ads:

Animated GIFs:

JPG/GIF ads (skyscrapers – 160×600):

JPG/GIF ads (leaderboards – 728×90):

free themes aren’t so free

admin — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 14:23:52 +0000

Wow, it has been awhile since I’ve last posted. The quick story is that I’ve been busy between redesigning our work website, kept running with my kids’ activities, and maintaining about eight other websites as well. I still have many photos (i.e. thousands) to go through and post as well.

I’d like to share something that I’ve learned these past few months. First of all, if you are using a free WordPress theme you’ll want to make sure you got it from a legitimate site. In doing research for a new design for work, I came across a “free” theme called ‘Coffee Break.’ As it turns out, it was posted on a site that I then found out didn’t have the authority to post it. ‘Coffee Break‘ is a cool theme from Woo Themes and much to my chagrin is not free.

Woo Themes has a reasonable pricing scheme, has quality products and good service. These other sites take these great themes and rework parts of them to rebrand them as their own. What users may not realize is that bad stuff can happen as a result of using these rebranded themes. Other scripts and potentially malicious code can be introduced without your knowledge. While this didn’t happen to us, here are a few things to look for.

One piece of code that is usually a dead giveaway is the footer.php code. If it isn’t recognizable PHP code but instead resembles a long string of numbers and letters, compiled code, then it probably isn’t a legitimate theme.

Also, randomly check some of the file paths for images. If they point to a remote server, it probably isn’t a legit theme.

Lastly, do a check of the scripts that are included with the theme. If there are some scripts that aren’t identifiable, do some research. Check the web for the filename, open the code to see if there are any indications as to what it does, see where in the theme it is called. Don’t run the theme blindly or you may open yourself up to more problems than the cost of a legitimate theme would cost.

Oh, in case you are wondering what happened to the copy of ‘Coffee Break‘ I had downloaded. Well, I deleted the theme…reluctantly, but it was deleted. I also notified Woo Themes about the site that was offering their theme for free. While I hate snitching, I hate having to sort out other potential problems, legal and otherwise. Really, tweaking themes can be challenging enough and it doesn’t make sense to undermine your reputation, your site, your security just to save a few bucks.

Besides, legitimate sites have more resources available to you should you have questions or issues with a theme. They know their themes and want you to be happy with their products.

Merry Christmas!

turtles in their natural habitat

admin — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 03:35:25 +0000

Unretouched photos of turtles in their natural habitat – in the lake at the family cabin. I love the ones where the turtles are reflected in the water.

Update: It was fun “hunting” the turtles but my daughter and I were in a canoe so it was a bit challenging with all of the debris in the water. Don’t let those turtles fool you — they are darned fast when they want to be! However, one of them kept modeling for us no matter how close we got to it. We had hoped to see the otters as well but no such luck this trip.

[[Show as slideshow]]

bird photos

admin — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 22:01:50 +0000

These are some unretouched photos I took of a hummingbird and woodpecker at the family cabin.

Updated: I “stalked” the hummingbirds for quite awhile but, each time I put my camera away they would show up again. There were two that continuously taunted me. Patience pays off though and I got several shots of one of the hummingbirds and bonus pics of the woodpecker.

[[Show as slideshow]]

9 sites for creative inspiration

admin — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 04:14:20 +0000

secret showcase: cool graphic design to grab you

mu illustration: abstract design with gorgeous color

sektrONE: slick graffiti art (on deviantART)

bboypion: "messy" vector art with definitive style (on deviantART)

paul the illustrator: nifty typographical design and illustrations

prosthetics1: dark design that sucks you in (on deviantART)

jlluesma: variety of illustrative techniques (on deviantART)

chix0r: incredible photo-manipulations (on deviantART)

mydeadpony: crazy good mixed media

wordpress unauthenticated administrator password reset – 2.8.3

admin — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 18:03:52 +0000

There is a security flaw in WordPress 2.8.3 which allows the admin password to be reset via a browser GET request. This will temporarily lock out admins from their site. It is a flaw in the password reset function of wp-login.php. It can only reset the admin account and cannot be used to break into the system. In other words, an inconvenience, not a threat.

To temporarily fix this until it is patched by the WP developers change line 190 in wp-login.php from:

if ( empty( $key ) )

to:

if ( empty( $key ) || is_array( $key ) )

A good write-up of the situation can be found here at H-Online.com. If you find yourself already locked out of your system, there is a script available from codex.wordpress.org: Using the Emergency Password Reset Script

Let’s stay safe out there…

funny tweets

admin — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 18:27:29 +0000

OK, I love sarcastic humor and because I love Twitter, twitter.threadless.com is a new favorite hangout of mine. The following tweets just struck me as funny and several are already on t-shirts. Consider this one big RT :

@sween You say I’m coloring outside the lines. I say I’m making new lines.
@MyFrappaccino When God gives you melons, you know you’re dyslexic.
@Martiandrivein Twitter: Where it’s @
@hannaheartbrake If guns kill people, then spoons make people fat.
@leahclifford Can’t wait for the day I wake and all the trending topics on Twitter are zombie related. Because I’ll know what it means. And I’ll be ready.
@Khanvict23 If you give a person a fish you feed them for a day, teach a person to use Twitter and they won’t bother you for weeks.
@SdotFOSTER I’ve never seen anyone’s death certificate suggest the cause of death was breaking a chain letter…
@miconian There are people I want to unfollow who aren’t even on Twitter.
@moorsee Dance like nobody’s watching. Tweet like nobody’s following.
@secretsquirrel Life would be easier if you could mark people as spam.
@jdtatum No one has twittered in 6 minutes. I can only assume that all of my friends are dead.
@cleversimon I’m with @stupid.
@Tony_D Sadly, my day requires pants.
@nintechno I wish I could CTRL+ALT+DEL people.
@GaryJBusey I just saved a bunch of money on my car insurance by fleeing the scene of an accident.
@Khanvict23 Wondering if its cool in China to get English words tattooed on their arms.
@nodabear89 It’s not @you…it’s @me
@IamMPB I’d damn you to hell, but I work there and don’t want to see you 5 days a week.
@Skittle_Brains I always misread “Marital Status” as “Martial Status” on forms. Which confuses me even more when there isn’t a “Ninja” check box.
@Nottabadword I’m consistent, just not all the time.

avocado/tomato sandwich

admin — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 17:35:33 +0000

I’m craving one of my favorite summer sandwiches: avocado/tomato in a pita. It’s really easy…

½ of a ripe avocado sliced or mashed (slice the avocado in half, remove the pit and scoop out the yummy goodness)
½ of a Roma tomato sliced (I sometimes will slice up grape tomatoes for a little extra sweetness)
1 pocket pita
1 tsp. Italian dressing

Slice the pita in half and place the avocado and tomato inside of it. Drizzle the Italian dressing over the avocado and tomato. Eat! Enjoy! Go back for seconds

Don’t ask me how many calories but, if you like avocado and you like tomatoes, you’ll love this and you won’t care.

Updated: I forgot to mention that if you don’t want to go the entirely vegetarian route, it is also great with either sliced turkey or bacon or both!