www.davidsond.com/index.htmldesign & newsenColin DavidsonCopyright 2005 Colin Davidson2008-12-08T16:51:06-06:00 hourly 1 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00 Mon, 08 Dec 2008 17:45:57 -0600Colin DavidsonPersonal2008-12-08T16:51:06-06:00www.davidsond.com/page51/page0/files/82e2823cfd3a11040a40f6bd3c4372a9-43.html#unique-entry-id-43www.davidsond.com/page51/page0/files/82e2823cfd3a11040a40f6bd3c4372a9-43.html#unique-entry-id-43Here's something that honestly irks me: A while back, my city councilman (who's campaign materials I designed & created, and I voted for) made a political move on the council to push through a raise for the city police. Here's the catch - he knew full well the money for that raise wasn't in the budget for the city, but pushed it through the council anyway.

Why, you ask? My councilman knows that his base of voters would be in favor of such a raise - I mean, who doesn't think our public service officers aren't paid enough - and that his voters aren't exactly seeing eye to eye with the current Mayor.

Cue the Mayor: there isn't enough money in the budget - we'd love to give them a raise too, but the money simply isn't there. He then vetoes the proposal, keeping the city within budget, but now appearing to those uneducated on the matter as against giving fair pay to the public service officers.

So my councilman comes off looking like a hero, and has positioned himself for a mayoral bid in the future. This has been the plan all along - to further his own political career and play the political system to its fullest by manipulating public view on items so they put a favorable light on him.

I hate politics. All politics. I especially hate politics when it's really obvious to see it as a game being played by the people in it.]]>Colin DavidsonWork2008-11-03T08:47:19-06:00www.davidsond.com/page51/page0/files/7c3a02ae27d8c49b9c3fb956844868eb-42.html#unique-entry-id-42www.davidsond.com/page51/page0/files/7c3a02ae27d8c49b9c3fb956844868eb-42.html#unique-entry-id-42I spent a large portion of time last week going through past contacts and entering them into my address book program, sorting everyone out by field of occupation, etc. I then sent emails to each of my groups trying to drum up some business for Mr. Menu. That's over 700 contacts. Anything back?

No. Nope. Nothing. Nada.

Now I am looking down the barrel of a week of phone calls to folks whom have recently watched the bulk of their retirement plans be vacuumed out from under them, and ask them to throw a few hundred bucks at something that *might* or might not help their business. It should help - it's essentially distributing business cards to thousands of potential customers for only a few cents each.

I don't like the phone - not looking forward to this week. If you'd like to advertise in Mr. Menu (currently I have space in the Southfield Grill and Shane's menus) give me a shout - I can work a magic deal for you.]]>Colin DavidsonPersonal2006-07-31T13:15:31-05:00www.davidsond.com/page51/page0/files/3e45b5aec717821bc86cb82cd1cc3c10-41.html#unique-entry-id-41www.davidsond.com/page51/page0/files/3e45b5aec717821bc86cb82cd1cc3c10-41.html#unique-entry-id-41Dives were Thursday, July 27, 2006

USS Strength -  78' deep, vis of 45-50'
Directly off the starboard side of the boat for the giant stride was a large dolphin, looking at us curiously as we each jumped in. By the ship we saw lots of large silver angelfish with blue and yellow fintips. We had a decent number of jewfish and sea cucumbers around the wreck. I was amazed by the number of seashells and sand dollars on the floor - I never expected so many, especially since the PCB & Destin beaches have few shells at all on them. I brought back a number of sand dollars, and am particularly proud of a leopard crab shell that I found. My dive buddy was a single woman familiar with the wreck, so I had a leisurely follow-along dive through inner parts of the wreck and around the hull. It was fantastic.
 
I participated in a "flip fest" with the folks on the boat during our surface interval, with some of the guys doing triple flips before entering the water. One guy did a belly-flop after the triple, which brought a rather abrupt end to his flipping. :) And no, it wasn't me.
 
Bridge Span #1 - 73' deep, vis of 50'
About half way down was a roughly 5' barracuda who was swimming in a holding pattern around the span. There were lots of jewfish and angels swimming around, along with schools of baitfish. We found lots of cleaner shrimp and crabs on the bottom, along with a huge number of really large sand dollars. The structure itself was crusted with anemonies and cucumbers, and the metal had degraded down into a rainbow of colors of rust and decay. I was really glad I brought along some dive lights to see better - sunlight was great, but I wouldn't have seen the colors otherwise. One of the more weird things we saw was a toadfish (?) nested underneath the superstructure, which looked as though it was just waiting for someone to stick a finger in his mouth so he could chomp it off. At the end of the dive was my only "whoops" of the day - I didn't have a compass on the rental gear, which meant that me and my buddy went to the wrong end of the span to find the ascent rope, leaving me with a little less air than expected. After the safety stop, I returned to the boat with 400 psi - ok, but pushing it.
 
The folks on the boat couldn't have been friendlier, the boat itself was large, comfortable and mostly shaded, and the dive staff at PCDC were as helpful as I could have ever asked for.]]>Colin DavidsonPersonal2006-07-11T00:01:30-05:00www.davidsond.com/page51/page0/files/1f9b6d6939e3c121c170edcfe541a03f-40.html#unique-entry-id-40www.davidsond.com/page51/page0/files/1f9b6d6939e3c121c170edcfe541a03f-40.html#unique-entry-id-40So I've got a new hobby - SCUBA diving. I've just completed all the necessary steps, tests, skill sets, etc. for my level 2 dive certification through SSI. I've now got 14 logged dives, including 2 dives over 65 feet and one at 105 feet deep. It's cold down there, kids. But it doesn't stop there - I've also done one of 2 required night certification dives, and have my navigation, computer, advanced computer and deep water specialties done. That's lots of little tags on my C card. :)

We're heading to Florida on the 22nd of July for a little R&R with the whole famn damily where I'm ditching everyone for a day and hitting the deep blue sea. I honestly can't wait. ]]>Colin DavidsonHome2006-06-05T20:15:30-05:00www.davidsond.com/page51/page0/files/2e9fffcb6ad0a78fd1ee8bbe7524468b-39.html#unique-entry-id-39www.davidsond.com/page51/page0/files/2e9fffcb6ad0a78fd1ee8bbe7524468b-39.html#unique-entry-id-39
See the pictures here.

here's a general look at what it should look like once we're done:
]]>Colin DavidsonWishlist2006-06-05T20:03:27-05:00www.davidsond.com/page51/page0/files/495661ed69e1a2eea3faa1bde2712f67-38.html#unique-entry-id-38www.davidsond.com/page51/page0/files/495661ed69e1a2eea3faa1bde2712f67-38.html#unique-entry-id-382.0 Ghz Intel Core Duo w/ 512 RAM & SuperDrive
(White - I don't believe in paying more for black)
http://www.apple.com/macbook/
]]>Colin DavidsonWishlist2006-01-12T17:38:32-06:00www.davidsond.com/page51/page0/files/fd95fb9d76d4e391c351f1da1c3ea9ed-37.html#unique-entry-id-37www.davidsond.com/page51/page0/files/fd95fb9d76d4e391c351f1da1c3ea9ed-37.html#unique-entry-id-37http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/
$2,898.00
February
Specs:

Estimated Ship:

• 2GB 667 DDR2 - 2x1GB SO-DIMMs
• 100GB Serial ATA drive @ 7200 rpm
• ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 - 256MB GDDR3
• SuperDrive (DVD±RW/CD-RW)
• AirPort Extreme Card & Bluetooth
• Backlit Keyboard/Mac OS - U.S. English
• AppleCare Protection Plan for MacBook Pro/PowerBook (w/or w/o Display) - Auto-enroll
• 15.4-inch TFT Display
]]>Colin DavidsonWishlist2006-01-08T20:45:01-06:00www.davidsond.com/page51/page0/files/de164d132d92d24442ea11507f1002f8-34.html#unique-entry-id-34www.davidsond.com/page51/page0/files/de164d132d92d24442ea11507f1002f8-34.html#unique-entry-id-34" rel="external">http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00005UP2L/qid=1136774717/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-4071172-5955002?n=507846&s=kitchen&v=glance

$249.99
Would like either black or white
]]>Colin DavidsonWishlist2006-01-08T20:42:22-06:00www.davidsond.com/page51/page0/files/54db21232409020b0bdf97ee7c2620db-33.html#unique-entry-id-33www.davidsond.com/page51/page0/files/54db21232409020b0bdf97ee7c2620db-33.html#unique-entry-id-33" rel="external">http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore?family=iTMSCardsCertificates

$15 - up to however much you wanna spend
they don't go bad, and I really like not thinking about spending money when I'm buying music/audiobooks.

]]>Colin DavidsonWishlist2006-01-08T20:23:21-06:00www.davidsond.com/page51/page0/files/fbb9bc37d5f7798e9fe49960f716800b-31.html#unique-entry-id-31www.davidsond.com/page51/page0/files/fbb9bc37d5f7798e9fe49960f716800b-31.html#unique-entry-id-31http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=381611&is=REG&addedTroughType=categoryNavigation
$479
for use with my Nikon D70 SLR
]]>Colin DavidsonWishlist2006-01-08T20:16:51-06:00www.davidsond.com/page51/page0/files/3493aafa0561ccf8f973fafa9a47d851-30.html#unique-entry-id-30www.davidsond.com/page51/page0/files/3493aafa0561ccf8f973fafa9a47d851-30.html#unique-entry-id-30
http://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/
$1299
Can get cheaper from the Education discount ($699)


Includes:
Final Cut Pro 5
Soundtrack Pro
Motion 2
DVD Studio Pro 4]]>Colin DavidsonWishlist2006-01-08T17:12:59-06:00www.davidsond.com/page51/page0/files/9d2c3dbd047886397b4a29e985804b53-28.html#unique-entry-id-28www.davidsond.com/page51/page0/files/9d2c3dbd047886397b4a29e985804b53-28.html#unique-entry-id-28
The Apple Store (U.S.) - iPod
$399
would like the back engraved with the word "Mudbug" if you're wondering.
]]>Colin DavidsonWishlist2006-01-08T17:10:03-06:00www.davidsond.com/page51/page0/files/af5212dee00e0733059c42b1876e1072-27.html#unique-entry-id-27www.davidsond.com/page51/page0/files/af5212dee00e0733059c42b1876e1072-27.html#unique-entry-id-27http://www.redlightrunner.com/anadthinpos.html
$199.95 - 24"x36" black and white
would really like it either framed or with the heavy poster hangers.
]]>Colin DavidsonWishlist2006-01-08T16:59:15-06:00www.davidsond.com/page51/page0/files/92a5b258553be83156beb8d6290a73ea-26.html#unique-entry-id-26www.davidsond.com/page51/page0/files/92a5b258553be83156beb8d6290a73ea-26.html#unique-entry-id-26http://www.redlightrunner.com/a1491.html
$39.95

Black hat features the Apple logo embroidered in grey.]]>Colin DavidsonWishlist2006-01-08T16:54:32-06:00www.davidsond.com/page51/page0/files/5f108df9da409a33d799179ae952b337-25.html#unique-entry-id-25www.davidsond.com/page51/page0/files/5f108df9da409a33d799179ae952b337-25.html#unique-entry-id-25
This may work, it may not. We'll see. I'll probably make a single blog entry for each item I'd like, which hopefully will include a picture of what I'm talking about if I can find one. Keep in mind that URLs can change over time, so things listed in January may not have working links by December.]]>Colin DavidsonSMUG2006-01-08T16:47:11-06:00www.davidsond.com/page51/page0/files/0dfb0d450328ae4253f85bb05f704905-24.html#unique-entry-id-24www.davidsond.com/page51/page0/files/0dfb0d450328ae4253f85bb05f704905-24.html#unique-entry-id-24Colin DavidsonHome2005-11-23T15:36:50-06:00www.davidsond.com/page51/page0/files/ff495a603052a7b773bff7d2132f697b-23.html#unique-entry-id-23www.davidsond.com/page51/page0/files/ff495a603052a7b773bff7d2132f697b-23.html#unique-entry-id-23Colin DavidsonPS SIG2005-11-23T10:11:50-06:00www.davidsond.com/page51/page0/files/6ae6980e581fc4b4010c3f5a548c808c-22.html#unique-entry-id-22www.davidsond.com/page51/page0/files/6ae6980e581fc4b4010c3f5a548c808c-22.html#unique-entry-id-22
Anyway, shortly after 6:00 I left the library, leaving all my equipment in the safe and capable hands of the Conradis (thanks!). I hotfooted it back to my house (roughly 15 minutes away), picked up all the CABLES for my external hard drives, and left the house. After I drove around 1/2 a mile down the street from home, I realized that I not only needed the CABLES but I needed the HARD DRIVES THEMSELVES as well. :\

So - long story short(er), I made it back to the library around 6:40 p.m. to a relatively full room of people. Other than starting to choke half way through (thanks for the cough drop Colleen) I think it went pretty well. I must say, I'm not the encyclopedia of knowledge on how to do everything in photoshop, so if your question wasn't answered the way you wanted, felt you didn't get quite enough out of the information we gave out, put a note in the forums and see if someone that knows more about it than me can help you out. The whole point of this is learning from each other - so if you can share what you know, we'll all be better at what we're trying to do.]]>Colin DavidsonPersonal2005-11-23T10:05:53-06:00www.davidsond.com/page51/page0/files/3fdd2fad2c291716e749ac37a753b095-21.html#unique-entry-id-21www.davidsond.com/page51/page0/files/3fdd2fad2c291716e749ac37a753b095-21.html#unique-entry-id-21
Regardless of the hassle of being periodically offline, remember what we had to do before the internet? FedEx charges, film output charges, driving disks across town, etc. I'll take the occasional irritation if it means I don't have to make 4 trips to Sistematik a day to meet deadlines.]]>Colin DavidsonPersonal2005-11-20T00:09:16-06:00www.davidsond.com/page51/page0/files/d21ee07f21839545653be6996af296f9-20.html#unique-entry-id-20www.davidsond.com/page51/page0/files/d21ee07f21839545653be6996af296f9-20.html#unique-entry-id-20iShreveport.com, so I've set up a simple phpBB forum for all kinds of local information. Currently the plan is for it to host the forums for SMUG and the SB Photoshop SIG, as well as any other content that needs a place to live. Got a site and want some forums for discussion? Give me a shout and I'll help you through the (relatively easy) setup. Want to have your forums as part of iShreveport.com? Lemme know - I'm game for most anything.]]>Colin DavidsonWork2005-11-20T00:03:53-06:00www.davidsond.com/page51/page0/files/d51bd54596cfb35617f9f46d75ecd336-19.html#unique-entry-id-19www.davidsond.com/page51/page0/files/d51bd54596cfb35617f9f46d75ecd336-19.html#unique-entry-id-19
Thanks to everyone who has signed me on for their graphic work in recent weeks. My self-employment has been one of the best decisions I've made in a really long time. I'm thoroughly enjoying the freedom to make my own design decisions, scheduling decisions, and set my own work hours. I'm often times much more creative in the wee hours of the morning than I am during the bulk of the "traditional work day," so this newfound life suits me well.

Wish me luck!]]>Colin DavidsonPersonal2005-10-11T14:43:00-05:00www.davidsond.com/page51/page0/files/43679fe0013eaaaeaffceea756de0e33-18.html#unique-entry-id-18www.davidsond.com/page51/page0/files/43679fe0013eaaaeaffceea756de0e33-18.html#unique-entry-id-18
for now.]]>Colin DavidsonPersonal2005-09-28T09:46:00-05:00www.davidsond.com/page51/page0/files/219869d32e432177bfa4e801b0bd6221-15.html#unique-entry-id-15www.davidsond.com/page51/page0/files/219869d32e432177bfa4e801b0bd6221-15.html#unique-entry-id-15
If anyone has recommendations for service that will offer me a comparable 4Mbps down and 384kbps upstream for no more than $45/month and it's available in Shreveport, I'm all ears.]]>Colin DavidsonPersonal2005-09-24T11:25:00-05:00www.davidsond.com/page51/page0/files/3dab59a75d7d99cc71b0944c5b205588-14.html#unique-entry-id-14www.davidsond.com/page51/page0/files/3dab59a75d7d99cc71b0944c5b205588-14.html#unique-entry-id-14Colin DavidsonPersonal2005-09-24T11:23:00-05:00www.davidsond.com/page51/page0/files/6b9574d6436b42498323acff98963da7-13.html#unique-entry-id-13www.davidsond.com/page51/page0/files/6b9574d6436b42498323acff98963da7-13.html#unique-entry-id-13
I hate Louisiana.]]>Colin DavidsonPersonal2005-09-15T22:36:00-05:00www.davidsond.com/page51/page0/files/8507cb9a1dadcb09a30cb8d49398faf7-10.html#unique-entry-id-10www.davidsond.com/page51/page0/files/8507cb9a1dadcb09a30cb8d49398faf7-10.html#unique-entry-id-10
$40/month for 74kbps download speed isn't acceptable. And that's only when we're connected at all.

Get FIOS if you can. I will when it's here.]]>Colin DavidsonPersonal2005-09-12T15:02:00-05:00www.davidsond.com/page51/page0/files/7b4ab5b4264258d3805f0b43bfef752c-9.html#unique-entry-id-9www.davidsond.com/page51/page0/files/7b4ab5b4264258d3805f0b43bfef752c-9.html#unique-entry-id-9Colin DavidsonPersonal2005-09-11T23:52:00-05:00www.davidsond.com/page51/page0/files/dfeef3cbab269495b7fd9d68970486b8-6.html#unique-entry-id-6www.davidsond.com/page51/page0/files/dfeef3cbab269495b7fd9d68970486b8-6.html#unique-entry-id-6
So I did that.

After driving clear across town into the middle of nowhere, I was given the "opportunity" to stand in line to replace the modem. Finally, I was given a new box, new power chord, and sent on my merry way.

Once hooked up at the ranch, I decide to run a speed test on the new box, since it seemed to be running slower than my old one. I was, no lie, getting around 4 mbps down and 348 kbps up on the old box. The new box gives me... wait for it... 348 kbps down and 300 kbps up. Lucky me.

I called tech support at TW (RoadRunner) who let me navigate their complex maze of pre-recorded mumbo-jumbo to finally talk with someone who suggested power-cycling the modem. Yeah - didn't think of that one. :\ So I humored her. Of course, it did no good. Then they did their little packet-shove thing they do when unplugged again, to no avail.

While typing this in (offline), I'm running another test, just for active numbers right now. Currently (this is time-stamped) I'm registering 158 kbps DOWN!?! and 166 kbps UP. I could put the data on floppies and walk it across town faster than I'm getting through my cable modem right now.

Anyone with clues? This actively sucks.
change me

]]>Colin DavidsonHome2005-09-09T11:02:00-05:00www.davidsond.com/page51/page0/files/3a7954b9f69f2a89a7bfe7451f80669e-3.html#unique-entry-id-3www.davidsond.com/page51/page0/files/3a7954b9f69f2a89a7bfe7451f80669e-3.html#unique-entry-id-3
Photos of All Saints church are available online now.]]>Colin DavidsonHome2005-09-08T20:50:00-05:00www.davidsond.com/page51/page0/files/18870fa92dec05e09ac9469d2df6d208-2.html#unique-entry-id-2www.davidsond.com/page51/page0/files/18870fa92dec05e09ac9469d2df6d208-2.html#unique-entry-id-2Colin DavidsonHome2005-08-28T21:21:00-05:00www.davidsond.com/page51/page0/files/fdf38499158f3cc9b950d65d53ed8e01-0.html#unique-entry-id-0www.davidsond.com/page51/page0/files/fdf38499158f3cc9b950d65d53ed8e01-0.html#unique-entry-id-0
While writing this we're waiting for hurricane Katrina to slam into New Orleans and hoping the damage is as minimally invasive as possible.]]>