I moved the blog to WordPress (ptoone.com)

This blog is now no longer updated as over the past four months I have completely adopted wordpress for all my blogs. To continue reading this blog, click the link below

http://ptoone.com

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Create Your Own Desktop Wallpaper Background in Illustrator

1. Create a gradient background box
Create a rectangular box to fit the size of your canvas and fill it with blue gradient.



2. Create multiple screen gradient paths
Create another path to go in the corner with a nice curve on one side, you can match the colours or change them slightly and make them slightly more transparent than your background rectangle. You can repeat this step to create as many paths as you please.


3. Create wavy abstract lines
Now the fun part, draw two wavy/curvy lines with the pencil tool (N). Make then both white.


4. Blend the stroke lines
Go to Object > Blend > Blend Options, enter Specified Steps = 20. Then select your two stroke white lines you made with the pencil and go to Object > Blend > Make or press Ctrl+Alt+B. This will blend 2 white strokes and add random lines giving the two much greater depth and visual amusement.
You can also blend two lines that are different colours to achieve a gradient blend for added depth. Go crazy and blend two very different lines to see what effects you get.
You can repeat these steps to create as many blended lines as you desire and when finished you will have your very professional desktop background.

Click here to read this article on Associated Content

Paypal troubleshooting: Add to cart button



© Photographer: Ptoone | Agency: Dreamstime.com





Paypal offers web masters a fast, secure and free service to add a full e-commerce shopping cart to your site. Sometimes when you implement a paypal add to cart button on your online store the link takes you directly to the home page of paypal and not to your online shopping cart where it should be.

For a solution you do not need to change the button, just slightly change the source code. This is a common problem with Dreamweaver CS3 and involves taking away the number next to the "cmd values" and the "hosted_botton_id." Once you have located the words "cmd" and "hosted_button_id" in your code editor, look to see if there is a numeric number directly after each word. It could be a 2, 3 or 5. If you see a number next to both words - simply delete and refresh/save the html.

By doing this you will not be editing the paypal code which is not recommended by paypal, you are simply deleted two numeric characters that shouldn't be there. For some reason Dreamweaver seems to add the digits when the html code is pasted in to the site.

Read this article on Associated Content.





How to fix a broken rocking chair

Before you part ways with your broken but beloved rocking chair, read this and learn how easy it can be to repair the chair yourself and enjoy many more years of rocking.

Glue and clamp

To repair a broken rocker, lay the rocking chair face down and gently clean the break by scraping the old away. Spread an thin layer of carpenters glue inside the break, then press the sections together by hand and wipe away any excess with a clean damp cloth. To make a splint, place waxed paper and a thin, flat piece of wood along each side of the break. Secure the break with adequate pressure with a pair of C clamps for 4 hours. When the time is right, remove the clamps and splint and you can now reinforce to the break.

Drilling a dowel hole

To determine the depth of the dowel hole, measure along the side of the rocker; the dowel will be inserted two thirds of the way into the rocker. Mark the hole position an awl. Fit a power drill with a bit the same size as the dowel and wrap masking tape around the bit to indicate depth of the hole. Brace the chair against a wall and drill a hole at the mark, stopping when the tape touches the rocker.

Inserting the dowel

Cut a dowel one inch longer than the depth of the hole and bevel one end slightly with coarse sandpaper. Draw the dowel through the jaws of pliers to score its side; this will allow excess glue and air to escape as the dowel is forced into the hole. Spread a thin layer of white or yellow glue on the dowel and in the hole. Set the beveled end of the dowel in the hole and tap it in with a rubber mallet. Wipe away excess glue with a clean, damp cloth. Let the glue set for 24 hours. With a coping saw, cut the dowel flush with surface of the rocker. Use medium then fine grit sandpaper to sand the dowel smooth.

Click here to read full article.

VOTE NOW! ptoone floral threadless.com tee design

Please quickly score my design! My tee-shirt design is being scored by an open vote on threadless.com. The higher my design scores the higher the payout so please also be kind and give it a high score! In 6 days from now we will know how the design squares up to the rest. Remember to check back to this blog for the latest as I break the news next week.

Click here to vote and score my design.

Once there you can click on a number to score the design.

No registration required.

Meet James Olive

Description:
Meet James Olive, he loves to be in the kitchen where he creates his crazy dishes. He's so crazy.
Click here to download.

Google to launch operating system

In a sudden announcement earlier this week google said that later this year it will releasing it's own operating system. It will be the first open source operating system, competing with Apple's Mac OS X, Microsoft's Windows and Linux.

The linux based platform called "Google Chrome OS" is designed to be lightweight and fast with preference given for web apps. Simplicity and security are also key aspects of the new OS.

Will Chrome be designed to push google applications like Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Docs, Sketch up etc? Or will Google make more of an effort in pumping up the compatibility of the system.

Many Windows were upset last a couple of years ago when vista was released. When customer purchased and upgraded to Windows Vista they realized that software, hardware, printers and other devices they had grown to rely on, were no longer compatible with the new version.

Although most fixes have been improved in Windows 7 released earlier this year. Compatibility remains and key issue for consumers, and Google must ensure the system works with as much existing apps, hardware and software to ensure success and a larger piece of the pie, which is currently dominated over 90% by Microsoft.

As Microsoft continues to disappoint users, Google's fresh insight and ideas could reshape the industry by offering simple solutions to companies. According to Google 1.75 million firms already use Google applications.

Free image of the month "Tropical Sunset"

TROPICAL SUNSET
© Ptoone | Dreamstime.com

Description:
A sunset beech view of Israel taken from Jordan.

ID: 8642952
Resolution: 3264x2176 pixels (7.1 MP)
Print size: 10.9" x 7.3"@300 dpi

Visit http://port.ptoone.com to download for free or click here.

House of Cards Greeting Cards go on sale at Pride

A picture of the beautifully decorated 'house of cards' stand at this year's Toronto Pride Parade. For more info and to check out the designs, please view the house of cards website by clicking here or pasting http://www.thehouseofcards.ca in your browser box.  A big thanks to everyone that took part!

How to install a Favicon on your website

A favicon is the little icon that appears on the left of the domain on your browser window. All well known websites have one and here are four quick and easy steps to ensure you can have one too. You can see ptoone.com uses a black and white "pto one" icon. 

1. Make an image that is 16 pixels by 16 pixels exactly.

2. Save it as or rename it favicon.ico.

3. Upload it to your server in the same directory as your main index page.

4. Edit the code of your index page, somewhere between the and tags, insert the line , and remember to put your own domain name in.

Done! you may have to refresh or clear your cache and then your little icon will appera next to your domain. It will also be saved whenever someone bookmarks your site.

I assume the name 'favicon' come from putting 'favorite' and icon together. Some other names for the favicon include; website icon, shortcut icon, url icon, or bookmark icon.

The Man In The Panama Hat

This young man in a Panama hat and silk suit, likes the way he looks, but knows better that to think it matters. Fully scalable vector illustration. Click here to view or buy image rights.

ptoone announces greeting card line

ptoone is thrilled to introduce a new line of greetings cards called "House of cards," which aims to fill the void in the marketplace for greeting cards, saying it how it really is with a bittersweet edge. Each with an exclusive, expressive visual from the flourishing archives of the ptoone image portfolio. 

Based in Toronto, Canada the House of Cards are getting set to initiate the launch at the 2009 Toronto Gay Pride Festival. Come and check us out and get the first glimpse of our new designs, cards, stickers and all round good time. Otherwise the website (thehouseofcards.ca) will be going online later this month. 

Links

House of Cards website

Pride Festival 

Map to Festival 

Date: June 27th and 28th, All day, FREE

ptoone books get picked up by Amazon.com

Good news for me and the millions of book buyers that use Amazon.com. As requested by Amazon ptoone books will soon be appearing in the vast international marketplace of the amazon domain. To see the current book list to be included click here.

As revenue from paid content continues to rise, more ptoone content will be available free of charge. These items will not be appearing on Amazon. 

Off Topic: My Week Of Glory

My Week Of Glory 

To any confirmed smoker, the thought of stopping the dependency of nicotine scares them to half to death. "Will I ever be the same again?" It is as if the poor smoker fears quitting like losing a limb. I was the same as I would regularly confess my love for the precious weed.

For the last few years I have been telling myself "I need to quit," and being told the same thing by friends and family. The only question in my mind was choosing the right time. A time that I envisioned zero stress in my life and plenty of fun activities to keep the nicotine monster out of my brain.

That time didn't seem to come. My time came randomly when looking at the books on a friends bookshelf and picking up a book called, "The EASYWAY to stop smoking" by Allen Carr. A fascinating read for any smoker, x-smoker or even non-smoker.

While reading the book I soon realized this was my time to quit and the best part about reading the book is that you are encouraged by the author to chain smoke while reading. So I picked up a couple packs and went with my book to just about the last place you are allowed to actually smoke in a urban public environment, the park.

While reading I began to encounter greater confidence in myself that this was it. I was going to last far longer than any previous attempt to stop. I credit the certainty that I could quit my heavy smoking of 11 years cold turkey to the knowledge and understanding I accumulated from Allen's book and information found online.

I could not wait to finish the book and while reading the final page, I consciously smoked my last cigarette, taking deep puff's to ensure I got my fair share of all of the cigarettes precious ingredients like; ammonia, formaldehyde, arsenic, butane, hydrogen cyanide, lead, mercury, vinyl chloride, methane, carbon monoxide and of course nicotine. I felt excited to begin my journey becoming a non-smoker, allowing my body to begin the amazing healing process from knowingly poisoning myself for eleven years.

The first day was the hardest. As you would expect when going from smoking 30 a day to 0 overnight. As I had done my research and read the great book by Allen Carr, I was prepared and knew exactly what to expect. I was surprised when I found the whole thing a lot easier than I expected. The craving's seemed more mild than all previous attempts and I barely suffered any physical withdrawal symptoms.

When day two eventually arrived (day one felt like a month), things dramatically improved. My breathing improved, energy levels increased, my happiness and well-being doubled, I felt fantastic and continue to get higher than any high I could get from smoking.

After 72 hours the worst is over and I continue to look forward to every day as a non-smoker, richer, healthier, faster, fitter, happier, more free, better smelling, better tasting almost as though I was born into a new body. The feeling of this new found freedom from the weed excites like I am a child again.

I can now only pity my ex-fellow smoking pals and urge them to take the same leap. You have nothing to fear and so much to gain. I hope reading this blog plants the seed. I have included several links to sites that I found of paramount importance in my journey.

Leading web site for advice on quitting.

Allen Carr has helped millions butt out for good.

Watch 64 free video quit smoking lessons.

A message from Bryan

Some facts.

Quit smoking article.

© Photographer: Ptoone | Agency: Dreamstime.com

Free vector of the month "Wild Boy"

Free download with royalty free license courtesy of ptoone and Dreamstime. 

Resolution: 8333x8333 pixels (69.4 MP)

Print size: 27.8" x 27.8"@300 dp

Click here to download.

The Importance of Keywords

Electronic Props And The Wooden Laptop Computer

When using modern day electronics in a photo it is always important to remember not to include a brand or logo. They can be hidden, covered, cropped or photo-shoped, so they will no longer be recognized as a specific brand.

I however went down a different path and made use of my wood finishing skills, to build a custom unbranded modern day consumer electronic prop. This laptop does not work like it should, but then again it is made from solid wood. Bevelled rounded corners and edges, inspired by a computer company named after a fruit. The details were to be essential to ensure the wooden shell looks like plastic.

When using wood in photography or film, it is best to shoot wood that is flat matte with as little glossy shine as possible. The sheen will otherwise cause a reflection. To avoid mirror like gloss, I used a custom mix of less than ten percent sheen flat matte lacquer. I tinted the lacquer and built up the finish, finally applying some clear coats for added depth and lustre. I rubbed and smoothed the finish with wet and dry auto finishing paper in between coats to remove any unwanted blemishes.

With a veneered walnut trackpad and twenty six solid walnut round buttons from a cabinet maker friend it was then ready to be hinged together by a custom sized piano hinge. Two little clear rubber stoppers were aligned in each corner of the screen to prevent wood touching.

After many days (and some nights) of work, I finally had a laptop appropriate for commercial purposes. And some thing to take with me on the go and write a blog like this.

© Photographer: Ptoone | Agency: Dreamstime.com

Free iPhone/iPod Touch Icon Set Download

FREE IPHONE ICON SET  A set of 15 different icons designed specifically for iphone and ipod touch. Sized at exatcly 57 pixels by 57 pixels. They are saved in PNG file format without glossy glare and rounded box as that is applied automatically by apple. free download by ptoone.

http://www.ptoone.com/iphone_icons.html

Where to host your website

Web Hosting Pad

Many people have been asking where to host their website. Look no further:

Best value and most reliable web hosting on the internet. No need to buy a new domain as you receive a domain name for free for life when you sign up. Unlimited email accounts and bandwidth. Very easy to update your site with little html knowledge. Use this link to sign up and receive special discounts and promotional coupons: http://www.webhostingpad.com/743.html

Over 500 approved images as ptoone goes exclusive on Dreamstime

© Photographer: Ptoone | Agency: Dreamstime.com

© Photographer: Ptoone | Agency: Dreamstime.com

With over 500 approved images and new images every week. The vector illustration versions of ptoone art is available exclusively on Dreamstime.com