REALLY GOOD CHIPS

Potato chips are definitely not on the "healthy eating" list, but in moderation they can be OK. Problem is, with a really good potato chip (as the ol' jingle goes) you can't eat just one ...so moderation is the challenge. It gets much harder when you find a really awesome tasting chip.

So one of the things I do here is share with family friends, associates, and students awesome 'college grub.' [see the pizza, hotdog, and ramen entries]     On a recent hardware junket (yes hardware) to Menard's, I cam across Herr's Ketchup Chips. Dipping potato chips in ketchup has long been a favorite of Mrs. Pham, and I have tried other brands of ketchup chip, so I was in.

I find these chips more flavorful than competitors version, and definitely have trouble with the one serving rule. They are also available at other retail and grocery stores.  One of my kids is a huge fan of the Baby Back Rib chips by Herr's; beyond just BBQ, they taste like BBQ RIBS in all their ribby goodness. Flavorful stuff!

UPDATE: 3/12...Herr's has added a bunch of new flavors...two of the family favorites: Sweet Onion and the Fire-Roasted Sweet Corn! My kids' review: "Holy cow! How do they get the chips to taste exactly like roasted sweet corn?!?

NOT WINDOWS, NOT MAC

There's a few friends out there that love GUI operating systems, but don't care for either Windows or Mac (third-partiers who like various stripes of Linux, Unix, or even more esoteric offshoots of both). For you, I present PINGUY...a development OS for the casual user. Check out the SITE for more info.

iPAD apps for TYPE STUDENTS

If you are a student in a class studying TYPOGRAPHY (in my district there is the all-in-one Design Concepts class) and you own an iPAD, you gotta get your hands on this app. VEry cool, and only 1.99 through the APP store.

MUST HAVE iPAD APP for TYPE STUDENTS

Regional Hotdogs!

If you've read the blog before, you know that I wear many hats: designer,  graphic design instructor, dad and husband, music lover, movie fanatic, D.I.Y.'er, and avid foodie. I try and share food items that students (who are often on a budget) can relate to.

I've oft posted about Pizza. Pizza is the food I most associate with my college years (in addition to Ramen), and have a post that deals with all the regional variations of Pizza (of which btw, Detroit style has come into popularity in my house).

This post is about another great college staple--Hot Dogs. Sonic restaurants have recently added a couple of regional Hot Dogs to their menu. Even local grocers have become aware of the  cache of the 'tube-steak,' now offerring Nitrate/Nitrite free, low fat Angus versions (like costly brand The Frohman and the more ubiquitous Oscar Meyer Premium Selects Angus).

The regional varietals can have an altogether different composition to the sausage (like the east-coast dog that has a snappy-casing), but what often makes the regional variety is the  topping and bun. Around these parts, we tend to be partial to the Coney (bean-less chili topped--wit' onions and cheese please) or the Chicago (poppy roll, chopped onion, irridecent relish, mustard, celery salt, tomato and pickle wedges, and a port pepper on top).

Behold the magnificence of: The Sonoran (from AZ), the Southern-style Slaw dog, or the Hawaiin Puka Dog. Mmmm...pass the mustard (but no catsup please).

REGIONAL HOTDOGS

iPAD apps for designers

A fellow blogger who posts professional design issues posted this great list of  iPad apps for Graphic Artists. In no particular order (I think some of the productivity, mockup, and productivity ones are most essential), here is the compiled list:

30 iPad Apps for DESIGNERS

SAVE WEBPAGES AS PDF FILES

Have you ever wished you could save a webpage as a document? As a student, this could be a great way to supplement your notes with web content, or create e-docs.
Or, perhaps you are someone putting up a webpage who would like to make the content accessible as PDF files?
The two sites below offer free conversion, and while they are not perfected, they do a pretty good job of making HTML content into PDF files. They are almost identical (based on the same program). Check 'em out...

html-pdf-online

PDF my URL

BOKEH Photography

BOKEH? Extreme manipulation of the depth of field (either mechanically, via post-production, or both), further pushed by the selective use of optical equipment.

The term bokeh is derived from a Japanese word which means “blur.” Bokeh is the aesthetic quality of the blur, or the effect of the out-of-focus regions of an image in order to make the main subject stand out in the photo.

From the FUNSPILL site (a great site for graphic designers), comes 72 amazing photos.

72 GREAT BOKEH

ONLINE (CLOUD) IMAGE EDITORS REDUX

As we've said a million times before, Photoshop is the undisputed champion amongst image editors. The sheer diversity of uses and plethora of tools (including prepress industry standard tools) just make it a fact.

There are, however, a huge pack of second tier programs that include open source, freeware, and "the cloud" as it's been coined. These are often more than sufficient for the needs of the casual user, and with legitimate copies of Photoshop costing up to 600 dollars, the price of FREE can't be beat!

Even Adobe realizes this, as one of the first items on the list is the (marketing genius)  referentially named "PHOTOSHOP.COM."

A few weeks back, I was working on a friend's computer and needed to do a fast edit on a photo before uploading. Alas, with no PHOTOSHOP on the computer I was sunk. Then I went to one of the image-editing sites and was able to make short work of it. I'm sure you'll find one that meets many of your needs nicely!

Free Image Editors

GREAT IDEAS are the SIMPLEST

Check out this slick idea for pizza boxes. Simple, yet great. This guy deserves a huge chunk of cash. Nuff said.

GENIUS BOX DESIGN!

SO YOU WANNA WORK IN ADVERTISIN'?

Advertising is a love-hate type of thing for most visual designers. It can be a fast-track to success for a young and talented designer, yielding a very upward mobile track for those who have the skill and ability to play things right.

Theres a wonderful blog entry from a recent arrival in the world of Advertising...and if its an area you are considering you should take a peek.

So You wanna work in advertising?