More Free Design Software

Free download of Alchemy 007 graphic design software found at Alchemy.org – check it out! Here’s what the site syas about their software:

Alchemy is an open drawing project aimed at exploring how we can sketch, draw, and create on computers in new ways. Alchemy isn’t software for creating finished artwork, but rather a sketching environment that focuses on the absolute initial stage of the creation process. Experimental in nature, Alchemy lets you brainstorm visually to explore an expanded range of ideas and possibilities in a serendipitous way.

It’s unlike any other design software I’ve ever seen, and modifications are underway to incorporatea a music feature which will sketch the sound wave lengths…wow. For a sample of the designs I’ve created using Alchemy, visit my Flyingdiscs Zazzle site to see my “Sun Warriors” series.

Internet Cheer (Geeks With A Smile)

Howdy. Let me preface this entry by noting that the term “Geek” has now commonly become accepted as denoting positive attributes for an individual – that he or she is savy with computers and is a regular user of the internet and online communications…

That said, I now have the perfect CHEERFUL MERCHANDISE for the happy geeks of the world…

Put on a happy face and be nice on the net

Free Fractal Software!

If you have a strong desire to broaden your artistic endeavors, then here’s your chance…

Using a “3D strange attractors” rendering software (very easy to use), you can easily create some really impressive works of art! Available from a site called Chaoscope.org, this software download is free!

Visit the site, download the free fractal generating software, and you can then begin your journey into an experiementation of 3D designs – using Gas, Liquid, Light, Plasma or Solid modeling elements.

Have fun and if you are like, feel free to visit my galleries (Zazzle) for some fun viewing or to make a purchase. Thanks.

Disc Golf: The Sport of The Future

Have you ever seen people throwing frisbees into a chain-like basket and wondered, “What in the world is that?”. Chances are you have witnessed disc golfers participating in what many are calling ‘the sport of the future’.

Disc golf is a sport which combines frisbees (though more compact, called “discs”) and golf; anyone can play it, there are courses everwhere and (in case you were wondering) it is essentially free. A typical disc runs between $8-12, and a person really only needs 1-2 discs to start: a driver, and a putter. Also, generally speaking, courses are open to the public and free to play!

There are many disc golf sites where information about this great sport is available, especially through the P.D.G.A. (Professional Disc Golf Association). I can also recommend a disc golf community which is full of helpful information and fun and friendly people (and, of which I designed the logo for) at discgolfersR.us

If you would like information about specific types of discs, the two primary suppliers of discs for disc golf include these companies:

• Discraft
• Innova

Visit these sites for further disc-specific details. I would also recommend looking into your local area disc golf club. There you can find others interested in the game, information about upcoming local events and usually good deals on plastic for sale.

Support the sport! Thanks for visiting my site, and I’ll see you on the links.

Get the best browser…Firefox!

Make the change today…get Firefox 3 to browse the web.

With Mozilla’s Firefox 3 browser, several new features have been added:

• improved password manager,
• one-click bookmarking,
• improved performance,
• smart location bar,
• instant web site ID,
• full zoom,
• platform-native look and feel.

Performance: Firefox now uses less of your computer’s memory while it’s running and a redesigned page rendering and layout engine means you see Web pages faster! Improved text rendering is another benefit with an all new graphic engine for Firefox 3, as well as using a faster Javascript 1.8.

Instant Web Site ID: Click on a site favicon for an instant identity overview. Another click digs deeper: how many times have you visited? Are your passwords saved? Check up on suspicious sites, avoid Web forgeries and make sure a site is what it claims to be.

Anti-Malware: Firefox 3 protects you from viruses, worms, trojan horses and spyware. If you accidentally access an attack site, you’ll receive a full-sized browser message as a warning.

Anti-Virus Software: Firefox 3 integrates elegantly with your antivirus software. When you download a file, your computer’s antivirus program automatically checks it to protect you against viruses and other malware, which could otherwise attack your computer.

Anti -Phishing: Shop and do business safely on the Internet. Firefox gets a fresh update of web forgery sites 48 times in a day, so if you try to visit a fraudulent site that’s pretending to be a site you trust (like your bank), a browser message—big as life—will stop you.

Firefox is also unmatched in its capacity to offer users customization options. Visit their add-on page to learn more about extensions and themes which are available.

Recommended Extensions: here is a partial list of extensions for Firefox 3 which I give “5 Stars”!

Adblock Plus, Clear Cache button, Colorzilla, CSSViewer, Domain Details, DownThemAll, Faviconize Tab, FireFTP, Html Validator, MeasureIt, Page Validator, PwdHash, Screen Grab, Server Spy, Tabs Menu, Thunderbird Biff, Web Developer, WOT.

Convinced? Well, here’s a link to an informative list which you may find interesting…Top 10 Reasons to Use Firefox 3.

Free Software – Fractal Explorer

If you’ve never been artisically inclined and can’t draw much more than a stick figure, then you are unaware as to the true beauty which the artist within you (yes, you!) is capable of!

Enter fractal geometry. You don’t even need to be a mathmatical whiz-kid in order to develop some very impressive and imaginative fractal designs – all you really need is an eye for what it is you enjoy, and a free software download called Fractal Explorer (available HERE).

If you would like to see a sample of what fractal designs are – including some generated through Fractal Explorer – feel free to visit my gallery (then, click “Fractals”).

So, download this free software and begin fiddling around with it – you’ll surprise even yourself with the amazing designs you can create using Fractal Explorer.

Adobe Premiere Express

Here’s another free web application…cool!

“Adobe Premiere Express” is a free to use web service, integrated within the Photobucket (also free) image repository service. Once you have signed up for a free (or premium) account with Photobucket, Inc., you will need to create an album to house your uploaded images. Assuming these steps have been performed, you may now make a “movie”. Visit my site to see a sample movie in action.

Select the album of mages you plan to include within your presentation. Then, in the upper menu bar, select “create remix”. The process is very easy to use, so just follow the clearly stated instructions. In the left margin you will see all of the images within your album which you may select from to include – grab any image with your mouse and drag-and-drop it into an outlined position (the sequence) for it to be displayed. Repeat these steps until you have included all the images you intend to use, completing a chain of pictures.

Each image is, by default, assigned a 3-second display; to change this, simply click on an image (in the chain of images) to select it, and adjust its slider to represent a desired period of time. You must do this for each image individually, though the times you assign may vary in length.

Other options include adding text and/or image frames. Anyway, the last step is to apply transitions between the images to blend from one to another. Again, an appropriate area is represented for different types of transitions (loctaed in the left margin) to be dragged and dropped in between the images. If you are not sure what each transition type looks like, then you will have to experiment by creating a remix and clicking on the “Preview” button (seen at bottom).

When everything is the way you’d like it to be, click on “Publish”. After the remix has compiled, you may go back to the album and copy its HTML code to paste into your web page. And there you have it.

Add Music To Your Site

Whether you have a blog with WordPress, Blogger, MySpace or Facebook…whatever, any web site will do – a very easy way to add music is using playlist.com.

To see and hear an example, click here to visit one of my sites.

Just visit the site and sign up for a free account by entering a username, password and email address. Then, create a playlist by searching for free music to include. You can add up to 100 songs!

When you are satisified with your list of selections, say so by ending the list and proceeding to “post your playlist”. Here, you are asked what sort of music player you would like to display, what background color you prefer, etc., and several different options are offered depending on the type of site you’ll be playing it on.

When you make your selection, a block of code is generated for you to paste into your site. It’s that easy! You can also customize the code (width, height, etc.) to fit your needs. One minor drawback, as common with most players, is that the music stops when a user changes pages on your site – so, if you include only one song and provide enough site-introductory text for the visitor to read for a few minutes…no problem!

I hope that this article has been useful.

Terragen

Terragen is a graphic design software capable of photo-realistic results for professional landscape visualization, special effects, art and recreation. Of course, everyone will get a better idea and feel for just what it is if they first try it out. To such ends, the following information is made available:

Free Version: to obtain a 100% free version of Terragen v0.9.43, visit the following link and select which system (Windows, MacIntosh) you intend on using Terragen with- http://www.planetside.co.uk/terragen/download.shtml

Newer Version: this version, of course, is available only by means of purchase, and can be found at the following link – http://www.planetside.co.uk/terragen/tg2/index.shtml

To see a sample of the sort of images that are possible to make using Terragen, you may visit this link – click here.

I’ve used the free version for some time now and completely enjoy it. There are limitations, however, such a maximum allowable images sizes, upper end resolution limits, and the finality that, once the user has saved an image and quits the program the file is no longer editable. I suspect that each of these issues are resolved with the better, pay for use version.

Have fun with Terragen!