Year: 2011
The 10 Best iPad Jailbreak Apps and Tweaks
Author BradPosted on Categories Miscellaneous While the iPad is useful for many things, it’s also limited by the built-in restrictions created by Apple. To overcome these restrictions an app called Cydia has been created, which provides a pseudo app store for unauthorized tweaks and apps. Cydia is not available in the regular app store, but can be downloaded for free from www.jailbreakme.com.
For those choosing to go this route, I have put together a list of the top ten apps for jailbroken iPads. This list is compiled from lists created by several other Web sites. From those lists, I chose the apps which appeared most often for this list of top ten jailbreak apps.
1. SBSettings (Free)
Using Activator (see #5), SBSettings creates a handy user interface for frequently-changed settings, such as turning on and off Bluetooth.
2. iFile ($4)
iFile is a file manager and viewer for your iPad’s file system. It allows you to have direct access to the files and folders in iOS and allows you to attach files to email.
3. Winterboard (Free)
Winterboard allows you to change and modify themes on your iPad, even allowing the customization of app icons.
4. RetinaPad ($2.99)
RetinaPad is a handy app when you have apps on your iPad which were only built for the iPhone. RetinaPad smoothes the graphics of the apps, so they aren’t pixelated when blown up to iPad size.
5. Activator (Free)
Activator is an app which allows you to create gesture shortcuts. With this app, you can assign gestures to different apps or actions and increase the usability of the touchpad interface.
6. Infinifolders ($0.99)
Infinifolders was designed to overcomes Apple’s 12-app limit inside folders. With Infinifolders, you can put as many apps as you want inside a single folder.
7. FullForce (Free)
This app does just what the name suggests. It forces applications to show in fullscreen iPad mode, even when they aren’t certified as compatible.
8. PDF Patcher 2 (Free)
To Jailbreak your iPad, Cydia exploits a vulnerability in the way iPads handle PDF files. This tweak fixes that vulnerability so hackers can’t take advantage of it.
9. LockInfo ($7.99)
LockInfo provides on-screen access to certain information, even when your iPad’s screen is locked.
10. CyDelete (Free)
CyDelete provides an easy way to uninstall apps installed using Cydia by placing a black X in the corner, just as if they were regular iPad apps.
The 10 Best iPad Apps
Author BradPosted on Categories Miscellaneous When I first bought my iPad, I spent some time researching, trying to discover what types of apps I wanted and which apps of those types were the best. Based on that research, I have put together this list of which apps are considered the ten best apps. In compiling this list, I used several lists compiled by various Web sites and picked the ten apps which appeared most frequently. Your choices may vary depending on your individual needs; I, in fact, only use six of these ten apps.
1. Instapaper ($4.99)
Instapaper is listed in the News category in the App Store, but it can be useful for almost any time of reading. This app allows you to save a Web page for later offline reading. Handy for when you find a long article or post, but just don’t have time to read it at the moment.
2. Netflix (Free)
While this app is free, to use the Netflix service you must have a Netflix streaming subscription. Otherwise this app is useless to you. It’s great for watching streaming videos, although the Netflix selection can sometimes by limited.
3. Flipboard (Free)
Flipboard is a news and social media aggregator. It takes feeds from Facebook, Twitter, Google Reader, Flickr, Instagram, and many news and entertainment sites and combines them into one interface, allowing you to get your news and check your friends’ statuses in one easy place.
4. Kindle (Free)
Kindle is Amazon.com‘s ereader. The Kindle app allows you quick and easy access to every Kindle book you have purchased through Amazon. Unfortunately, you can no longer purchase books directly through the Kindle app; instead you must visit Amazon.com and have them sent to your iPad.
5. Epicurious Recipes and Shopping List (Free)
Using the Epicurious.com Web site, this app allows you quick and easy access to your favorite recipes. The app also allows you to create shopping lists based on those recipes and e-mails both the lists and recipes to your friends.
6. Star Walk for iPad ($4.99)
Using your iPad’s camera, Star Walk is an app that provides a graphical overlay of the sky, showing you the constellations and locations of satellites in wherever direction your camera is pointing.
7. Dropbox (Free)
The Dropbox app requires a free account with Dropbox.com. It provides you with a place to store files for easy access and sharing, similar to an FTP site. Once downloaded to your iPad, the files can by opened in any app supporting that file’s type.
8. Adobe Photoshop Express (Free)
While not as powerful as a full blown version of Photoshop, this app allows you to perform quick, simple edits and share photos on Photoshop.com. It’s great when you need a photo editor on the go.
9. Twitter (Free)
The Twitter app gives you instant access to your Twitter account. From the app, you can perform all the basic functions of Twitter without having to use a computer.
10. Marvel Comics (Free)
If you’re into comics, especially Marvel comics, this is the app for you. The app includes several free comics, as well as an easy interface to purchase and download many more comics and graphic novels.
LearnKey Promotional Videos
Author BradPosted on Categories Miscellaneous, Motion Graphics For the last couple weeks, I have been building short videos at work to promote our training courses. Several of these videos are on YouTube and will eventually make it to the LearnKey blog. One of my video made it to the LearnKey blog a couple of weeks ago: the promo for LearnKey’s Premiere Pro CS5 course. Check it out at https://blog.learnkey.com/?p=3004.
Check out more of my LearnKey promotional videos on LearnKey’s YouTube channel, https://www.youtube.com/user/LearnKeyVideo, or my LearnKey Promotional Videos playlist, https://www.youtube.com/user/artisticimposter?feature=mhee#p/c/64DD74C69913AE88.
Windows to the Soul eBook
Author BradPosted on Categories Miscellaneous, Print, Publications, Writing A couple of days ago, I decided to make my book of poetry, Windows to the Soul, available as an eBook in .epub format. The eBook is now available from GoodReads. I’ve also updated the Kindle
Image Resolution
Author BradPosted on Categories Miscellaneous, Print I recently read an article on iStockphoto about image resolution. Many people get confused when it comes to amount of pixels versus pixels per inches (ppi, also known as dots per inch or dpi). As a graphic design professional, I have known many professional designers who didn’t understand the difference. iStockphoto’s article gives a very good overview of the difference and explains how to calculate the total inches (or centimeters) of an image based on the ppi and total pixels.
Photoshop users have it easy. The Image Size dialog box automatically calculates the inches for you based on the resolution you need. The most important thing to remember when changing an image’s resolution from 72 ppi to a printable resolution is to uncheck the Resample Image checkbox at the bottom of the dialog box. If the box is checked, you will pixelate your image and it will be unusable.
The most important thing to remember about image size is the resolution is not important – the total pixels are. The resolution can be changed, but the total pixels need to stay the same to avoid pixelation. A 3000×4000 pixel 72 ppi image can be changed to 300 ppi, but the 3000×4000 pixels must NOT be changed. There are techniques to get around this in a pinch, but changing the amount of pixels should be avoided unless absolutely necessary.
To figure out the measurement of the picture in inches, you will need to divide the number of pixels by the resolution. A 3000×4000 pixel image at 72 ppi will be roughly 41.6″x55.5″. When the image is changed to 300 ppi, it will be 10″x13.3″.
And remember…not all images need to be printed at 300 ppi. It really depends on the project and the printer.
New Mythology Blog
Author BradPosted on Categories Miscellaneous, Writing I know, I know, it’s been a while since I last posted here.
For the last month, I’m been concentrating on a new project. Since I was a small child, I’ve had an interest in mythology. Over the last couple of years, my interest has gradually been rekindled, and as a result I have started a new blog. My new blog, Myths of the World, is a quiet little place for me to share my thoughts about various myths, legends, and folklore from around the world. I will be writing articles about legendary creatures, comparative religion, mythology-related archaeology, cryptozoology, and just about anything else I feel is relevant.
The purpose of this blog is not to pass judgment on the truthfulness of any mythologies or belief systems, but to simply spread information. For the moment, I am posting one article every week, but eventually I would like to increase that number.
Wishing to keep Myths of the World separate from Artistic Imposter Design, I am hosting the new blog with Blogger. In the future I may purchase a domain, but Blogger is good enough for now. The URL for Myths of the World is https://mythsoftheworld.blogspot.com.
Poem Book on Sale Now!!!
Author BradPosted on Categories Motion Graphics, Print, Publications, Writing 
The paperback version of my book of poetry, Windows to the Soul, was listed on Amazon.com
The Kindle version
Self-Publishing My Book of Poems
Author BradPosted on Categories Print, Publications, Writing A week or so ago, I noticed a link at the bottom of Amazon.com that said “Self-publish with Us.” Intrigued, I clicked the link and discovered that Amazon has a service where a person can create Kindle books and print books using a couple of different services and self-publish them. I have been writing poetry for about fifteen years, and have been collecting the poems into a book which I have been planning to publish at some point. So I thought, Why not publish it this way? It seems quick, simple, and easy.
As a result, I have spent the last week sifting through my poetry, selecting the best poems to publish in an anthology, which I have titled Windows to the Soul. I am pleased to announce the selection and formatting process is finished! I just need to finish designing the cover, and within a couple of weeks I will have a book of poetry for sale. I will probably publish it as a Kindle book first, then as a physical book second, but I haven’t decided yet. Keep checking back for more updates!