Geoff Blake's Blog, page 5
February 7, 2011
New DVD Sneak Peek: Ten Ton CSS Fundamentals!
Check out this super-sweet sneak peek from Ten Ton CSS Fundamentals, due for release this week! In the full version of this lesson, you'll learn how to create what's called a sticky footer — that is, a footer that spans across the entire bottom of the browser window, outside of the main page container. There's a few div elements involved to pull off the effect, as well as a handful of CSS rules too. Check it out…
In this example, I make my sticky footer just 50 pixels in height, but remember, you can set the height of your footer to any height you'd like — more realistically somewhere in the neighbourhood of 150 to 200 pixels if you'd like to hold additional content, like a Twitter stream, latest comments (in the case of a blog), social media info, and so on. I discuss exactly what CSS rules need their height adjusted in the full lesson. Catch the full version of this lesson in Chapter 4 of Ten Ton CSS Fundamentals!
Related posts:Ten Ton WordPress Sneak Peek!
Ten Ton XHTML Fundamentals DVD Now Available!
Ten Ton XHTML Fundamentals DVD Sample Two!
February 2, 2011
Careers in Vector Illustration and Design
I stumbled across a really awesome post over on VectorTuts+, where Sharon Milne interviews three top professionals who are making their careers as vector illustrators. It's really interesting learning how these pros got their start, what sorts of tools they use, and the work that they're most proud of. My personal fav is the highly detailed work of Cristiano Siqueira (aka CrisVector). Take a sec and check it out!
Related posts:Album Artwork Design Project & Tablet Illustration Design Tutorials Released!
January 27, 2011
Guess What I'm Up To…And Win A Free Subscription!
So I'm hard at work on the next training title for Ten Ton. As many Ten Ton users know, often I'll use animated sequences to explain tricky concepts — remember this one from Ten Ton Dreamweaver? Anyway, I'm sketching out a few different methods and ideas that I may use to help explain just such a concept in an animated sequence for the latest title. Any guesses what concept I might be trying to explain? I'll give you a few hints: It's related to web design, and it can often be one of those trickier concepts for new designers to grasp. But once mastered, you can use it to your advantage to pull off really efficient designs with minimal code.
Any ideas?
I'll give the first person with the right answer a free week-long subscription to Ten Ton Online! Think you might know what it is? Get throwin' down your guess in the comments below!
Related posts:Ten Ton Launches Monthly Subscription Service!
January 21, 2011
Most College Students Learn Next to Nothing, New Study Says
I was struck by an article I stumbled across over on Yahoo Finance called Brain Drain: Most College Students Learn Next to Nothing, New Study Says. The article states, "…rising tuition costs have many wondering if college students are getting the bang for their parents' buck. A new study suggests, "not hardly," if the goal of earning a four-year college degree is to actually learn something."
This issue hits home for me on a personal level. Back when I graduated from high school, I chose not to go to college or university. The heavy debt-load and skimpy job prospects of college grads had me thinking I'd have a go in the real world, and if need be, apply for college later on. Fast forward 15 years and here I am.
Ironically, I did go to college about 5 years ago…but as a prof. I was offered a professorship at one of the prominent colleges in Toronto. To describe what I experienced, I'd use words like bureaucratic, appalling, wasteful, and a joke. Incredibly talented, motivated, and skilled kids who were hungry to learn, and profs and faculty who were much more focused on tenure, research, and the "business" side of education — profit. The curriculum I had to teach was a joke — it was at least five years outdated; and I told the kids so. I'd say, "Look, I have to teach you this stuff, but lets get through it quickly and then we'll spend the rest of the class on much more current material." I made up at least 60% of the curriculum off-the-cuff, all based on current technologies and skills, because I couldn't in good conscience send these kids into the real world without a hope in hell of being able to swim. Had the college found out what I was doing, I probably would have been suspended.
Although I voluntarily gave up my professorship once I'd fulfilled my commitments, I get email from college students all the time, who tell me that they're not learning what they want, that their profs aren't teaching what's current, and that they feel they're wasting their time and money — all the things I had experienced firsthand. One Ten Ton customer emailed in, telling me that after enrolling in a graphic design course, her prof told her that learning HTML was unnecessary in today's world. I get the feeling that college professors are living in a bubble, completely out of touch with the industry they're supposed to be preparing kids for. This issue bothers me so much, I made it Ten Ton's mission to fight a crusade against bad education (you can read about Ten Ton's crusade by clicking on the orange robot on the right).
The Yahoo article continues, "The report…found that after two years of college, 45% of students learned little to nothing. After four years, 36% of students learned almost nothing."
A few years ago I taught a private two-day Dreamweaver class, and afterwards, a young student came up to me and said, "I learned more from you in two days than I did in my two year college program. Thank you!" What?! My question for profs is, what are you teaching? What are you spending all that time on? The hard nosed entrepreneur in me, who's so focused on productivity and getting stuff done efficiently is just baffled at the waste…waste of time, waste of money, waste of resources. Then there's the whole issue of ethics…
I think the real problem is that colleges are focused on making money (they're a business with a bottom line), and the profs are focused on tenure or research or their egos, and nobody's focused on what matters most…the students!
I agree wholeheartedly with one of the comments posted on the article which reads, "Real educators are kept out of high school classrooms. They are also driven away by Praxis testing, licensing fees, standardized testing and local politics. The students only learn how to score high on standardized tests so they can pass. No one teaches them how to think or synthesize knowledge. No one is allowed to teach them how the world really works since it would offend their sensibilities or hurt their self-esteem. Due to all these limitations they go to college like a lamb going to the slaughter. The professors are only interested in their personal ego, salary status and tenure."
I'll say again what I said in the Ten Ton Crusade: There are some great teachers out there. If you have an awesome teacher or professor, tell them they're great — and that Ten Ton salutes them. The world needs more great teachers. If you're in college, demand more from your professors. If you're enrolled with a training company, demand quality, depth, and an instructor who can teach. Don't be afraid to call bullshit on them. And if you're a teacher yourself, make damn sure you're giving your best.
The source of the report cited in the Yahoo article comes from a book by Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa called Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses.
Are you not getting the education you want? Are profs and trainers more focused on themselves than students? Let's discuss in the comments below!
Related posts:The Ten Ton Crusade!
January 17, 2011
New Release: Ten Ton Photoshop CS5 Beginner's Workshop!
Join expert software trainer Justin Seeley as he takes you through the newest version of Adobe's flagship image editor. Ten Ton Photoshop CS5 Beginner's Workshop is a fantastic place to start for those just getting into image editing and graphics, and although it's dubbed a "beginner's workshop," even more experienced users are sure to pick up new skills and techniques.
And this isn't just another tips 'n tricks course. Justin will take you step-by-step through real-world scenarios and show you how to utilize some of the hottest industry techniques in your everyday workflow. This course is simply the fastest way to get up to speed with Photoshop CS5, so be sure to check it out!
Ten Ton Photoshop CS5 Beginner's Workshop is available on Ten Ton Online today, and will be available to order on DVD soon!
Related posts:New Release: Ten Ton CSS Floating Layouts!
Photoshop Creative Magazine Reviews Ten Ton Photoshop!
Image Slicing with Photoshop and Dreamweaver, Part Two!
October 4, 2010
New Release: Ten Ton CSS Floating Layouts!
Brand new and hot off the presses, it's Ten Ton CSS Floating Layouts! Ever struggled trying to figure out how to build a floating layout using only elements and CSS? Ten Ton CSS Floating Layouts takes the mystery and headache away, and shows you how to build amazing CSS-based floating layouts from the ground up. With Geoff Blake's trademark non-jargonny approach, you'll have fun and learn a heap as you discover the world of floating layouts. You'll learn about floats and clears, then delve into creating three different types of layouts: flexible layouts, fixed layouts, and combination flexible/fixed layouts…all from scratch, all with floats, all by hand!
Ten Ton CSS Floating Layouts is available on Ten Ton Online today, and will be available to order on DVD soon!
Related posts:Advanced CSS Layouts in Dreamweaver, Part Three!
Advanced CCS Layouts in Dreamweaver, Part Two!
Advanced CSS Layouts in Dreamweaver, Part One!
September 28, 2010
September 25, 2010
How To Say "No" To Friends And Family
If you've been designing and building websites for a while now, you've no doubt been approached by a friend or family member, asking you to build something for them. Often, you get cornered at a family get-together or social event, where the friend or family member goes on at length about their amazing new idea for a product/service/business. Of course, they need it done right away…oh and they can't pay you that much (if anything), but boy they'd really appreciate your help. You keep nodding ...
September 20, 2010
Album Artwork Design Project & Tablet Illustration Design Tutorials Released!
Two new super-hot titles are available on Ten Ton Online, Album Artwork Design Project: The Making Of Andrew Jackson and Tablet Illustration Design Techniques! Both tutorials are presented by Go Media's Jeff Finley, where he delves into creating killer artwork and design layouts using Photoshop, Illustrator, and his trusty Wacom tablet. You'll learn how to create rich typography, creative portrait illustration, and vintage tricks and hacks. Other topics are sketching, concept development...
September 13, 2010
Ten Ton ActionScript 3 & Ten Ton CS4 Workflow Released!
Check out these two new releases from Ten Ton: Ten Ton ActionScript 3 For Flash CS5 and Ten Ton Creative Suite 4 Workflow! Hosted by Matthew Pizzi, Ten Ton ActionScript 3 For Flash CS5 provides the knowledge and hands-on practice needed to create dynamically generated event-driven animation and interactive games with Flash (download the course outline here).
As for Ten Ton Creative Suite 4 Workflow, by the time you've finished watching, you'll be very proficient and confident working with the ...
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