dino fiocchi

Dell Mini - the Streak

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 08:16:00 -0600

More info on Dell’s tablet.

Half the size of the iPad, but has 5 megapixel camera with autofocus and flash, and a front facing camera for video chats. Comes in multiple colors.

Life before Photoshop As Photoshop reached it’s 20th birthday,...

Sat, 06 Mar 2010 09:46:00 -0600

Life before Photoshop

As Photoshop reached it’s 20th birthday, it reminded me of my old Scitex days.

For those of you that don’t know about Scitex it was a company that produced hardware and software for hi-end graphics for the print industry.

I think they actually started out in the textile market. Anyways, these were the first minicomputers that did what Photoshop does today. I don’t know why they were called minicomputers, they were huge workstations that had remote CPUs that had to be in temperature controlled rooms. We used these for Clone/airbrush, Masking, Color Correction, and Assembly. Air brushing on these Scitex machines was more of an art, compared to PhotoShop these days. In fact, on one of the first machines I worked on, called a CIPC or Pixette workstation, the airbrushing had to be done twice! Once on the CMY channels, then on the Black channel. Some processes were interactive, like color correction and airbrushing, while most were done using terminal commands. Trapping (LW, FR then type specs), Placing (CT, P filename) and Res & Dim to size CTs. Some of these systems ranged from $300K to $1.5M!

As years went by, the workstations improved, Response 300 (maybe because it cost over $300K) or Imagers as they were called, had large trackball (size of a baseball) and large wheel for zooming in. I still miss this method for moving around in a file. Then they introduced the Blaze (CT only) or PrisMax (that did both CT & LW). See photo from Graphic Art Monthly Article from 1990 (me pictured in the back).

http://dinofiocchi.com/post/429247954/photo-from-graphic-arts-monthly-magazine-sept

These workstations ranged in the $200K+, no wonder Photoshop eventually replaced these machines.

more Scitex info:

http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/Scitex-Corporation-Ltd-Company-History.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scitex_Corporation_Ltd.

Photo from Graphic Arts Monthly Magazine- Sept....

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 19:35:00 -0600

Photo from Graphic Arts Monthly Magazine- Sept. 1990

Here’s the link to some other old work photos:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/fiocchi/sets/72157623436689565/

How I use Twitter… I usually don’t tweet, anything of...

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 12:53:00 -0600

How I use Twitter…

I usually don’t tweet, anything of importance goes to Facebook.

I’m a twitter voyeur. I follow all of my interests. It’s the best way to get the latest news of what you like.

For instance, for breaking news I follow CNN, for sports updates I follow my local teams, etc.

These are quick posts, they are enough to know what is happening and if I’d like to know more, click on the tweet to find out the details.

Once you start using it, you will wonder how you ever did without it.

I use the free Twitterrific app on both my mac and iPhone. Link: http://twitterrific.com/

I know there are other twitter apps available, but for how I use twitter, Twitterrific is clean, free and easy to use.

This guy explains it better then I could:

http://www.cloudave.com/link/twitter-as-a-news-source-rss

If you would like to follow me on twitter: @dfiocchi

Or, if you would like to see who I follow: http://twitter.com/dfiocchi

Photoshop 20th...

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 08:34:06 -0600

Photoshop 20th Anniversary

http://mashable.com/2010/02/18/photoshop-turns-20/

Can’t believe it’s been 20 years already. Funny to see these older versions of PhotoShop.

Stay tuned for entry… “Life before PhotoShop”! yes, I’m that old :-)

Photoshop 20th Anniversary Startup memories

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 08:31:12 -0600

Photoshop 20th Anniversary

Startup memories

After the iPad...

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 17:02:05 -0600

After the iPad...

iPhone battery info

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 21:07:26 -0600

iPhone battery info:

I’ve been turning off Locations Services, it seems to help a lot with the battery life.

Another Tablet: Dell mini 5

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 19:53:10 -0600

Another Tablet: Dell mini 5:

2010 tablet saga continues.

My newspaper is shrinking...

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 08:45:02 -0600

My newspaper is shrinking...:

I’m probably in the minority reading a daily newspaper. During the day I get my news from tweets and the browser. Today the when I read the Chicago Tribune, it just felt different. 1” makes a difference. Eventually, I’ll cancel the daily delivery, because they recently increased the cost. Still like sitting back on Sunday morning reading the paper. Maybe when the iPad comes out, I’ll cancel my subscription?

Finally...SlingBox allowed on 3G for the iPhone

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 08:13:09 -0600

Finally...SlingBox allowed on 3G for the iPhone

Rumor: Apple Has Another Tablet In The Works. More Like A Mac Than An iPhone.

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 21:42:00 -0600

Rumor: Apple Has Another Tablet In The Works. More Like A Mac Than An iPhone.:

Here we go again…

Best (cheap) FM Transmitter for iPhone/iPod

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 16:25:00 -0600

Best (cheap) FM Transmitter for iPhone/iPod:

Too many people have asked me about this. So I decided to post the link. If you don’t have an AUX connection for you car, I recommend this device. I usually don’t recommend FM Transmitters, cause they typically suck. Except for these. The sound quality is better then any other that I have used. They are cheap, but work well. I have two of these. Can’t go wrong, for under $20, delivered.

The iPad isn't a third device, but a third revolution

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 15:34:00 -0600

The iPad isn't a third device, but a third revolution:

Interesting…

I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

From: Macworld

The iPad provides the ultimate browsing experience?

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 17:36:57 -0600

The iPad provides the ultimate browsing experience? :

Ouch…Adobe

When Hitler Found Out About the iPad first seen on CoM

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 13:27:02 -0600

When Hitler Found Out About the iPad

first seen on CoM

iPad… I couldn’t resist.

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 23:06:02 -0600

iPad… I couldn’t resist.

iPad!!! engadget had the best...

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 13:42:24 -0600

iPad!!!

engadget had the best coverage.

http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/27/live-from-the-apple-tablet-latest-creation-event/

Looks cool, price seems reasonable for Apple. Too bad no camera, I guess the next model will have that.

Knock Off MacBook Air Are you thinking what I’m...

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 12:53:00 -0600

Knock Off MacBook Air

Are you thinking what I’m thinking…

Hackintosh?

http://micgadget.com/1289/macbook-air-knockoff-with-glowing-apple-logo/

BumpTop for Mac 1.0! 3D Desktop, definitely different....

Wed, 20 Jan 2010 22:40:00 -0600

BumpTop for Mac 1.0!

3D Desktop, definitely different. Might have to DL and try.

http://bumptop.com/mac/index.php