SIXTY-SECONDS BLOG: Fred Showker blogs about the realms of publishing, graphics, computing, social networking, marketing, promotions, and media-- with an eye to entertaining, amazing information that will possibly make you think! Published since 1988 as syndicated articles for user group newsletters, these are vital tidbits for busy computer users that you can read in 60-seconds! Join me on DTG FACEBOOK FaceBook and follow along on DTG TWITTER Twitter RSS

DTG News for February 2013

* February: Love, Art, History
* 18th Annual Black History Month Art Celebrations
* Black History Month Poster
* 60 SECONDS - CREATIVE Tidbits : Valentine's Do It Yourself
* Adobe Illustrator Gradient Mesh distorts images
* Web Critique : Thumbs DOWN for Zubera classifieds
* The Art of Boudoir Photography: How to Create Stunning Photographs of Women
* 1,000 Poses for Creating Stunning Photographs of Women
* FunctionFox says Small Creative Companies are Poised for Growth in 2013
* 5 Tips for Turning Your Blog Into a Book
* Ricoh Americas: ‘Unstructured knowledge’ is the challenge of our time
* Marketing Update #2: Data is the New Creative
* Marketing Update #1: Winter tips for the wise
* Web Update for a new year . . .
* Publishing Update #2: death knell for the print industry?
* Publishing Update #1: 2013 Here we come
* Online Social Media #1 for January
* Online Social Media #2: Tips and tricks to improve Facebook
* Online Social Media #3: Reaching your reader
* DESIGNING WOMEN
* Reader Web Sites for Review
* &ELSE News & Views
* Free stuff ... books, software, more for you
* Editor's Last Words
and more ! February 1, 2013

CREATIVE Tidbits : Valentine's Do It Yourself

And now for something totally different . . . for this creative surf, I thought it would be fun just to snoop around and see what kind of creative projects others are doing. We found a few :
* Do-It-Yourself: Quick and Easy Valentine's Projects
* Cupid's Arrow Valentine Printable Cupcake Wrappers
* Do It Yourself Valentines Day Wreath - Posted
* Do It Yourself Pixalated Valentines Card
* Valentine's Day Cards You Make Yourself
* Do-it-yourself Valentine garland
* Happy valentines day
* Valentines shirts!
* Be my Valentine
... and more ! January 29, 2013

Web Critique : Thumbs DOWN for Zubera classifieds

I very seldom actually pan a web site. I'm always looking for the silver lining -- or at least something good about the site. But this one just defies anything good. 171 scripts executed in a single web page ??? 283 http calls on a single web page? You've got to see this... January 22, 2013

DTG News for January 2013

01 HAPPY NEW YEAR ... and a GIFT for you
02 2012 Facebook Timeline Award Winners
03 2012 DTG Product of the Year : FoxL Bluetooth Speaker
04 2012 Book of the Year: Saul Bass
05 2012 BEST: 100 Things Every Designer Needs to Know About People
06 Photoshop : Create a Polar Panorama Effect in 5 Minutes
07 Getty : The Year 2012 in Photos
08 The Print and the Process: Taking Compelling Photographs
09 60-Seconds : Who would block the Spam Cop ???
10 Business : Five Best Portfolio Practices
11 Business : National Job Growth Echoes That of Graphic Designers Over Next 10 Years
12 Marketing : Make Your Book Jump Off the Shelf!
13 2013 Online Social Media Update for a new year
14 The Scythe and the Rabbit
15 Be sure to get a web critique
16 &Else News, Views and Reviews :
17 Good-bye 2012 -- GOOD RIDDANCE January 3, 2013

New Year's GIFT : 2013 Wall Calendar Templates

For years I've been making my own wall calendars. Pertty crazy, eh, since you can buy them for a couple of dollars at the Dollar store. But I've designed these for a special use, and they really work! I'd like to send you this gift, just for the asking -- you can use yourself, and customize as promos for your clients. January 3, 2013

2012 Facebook Timeline Award Winners

When Facebook went to the Timeline layout, people began to discover some awesome opportunities to express themselves in visual art. We jumped on board and began selecting the best from our followers and readers. So, here we present the winners from 2012! Hopefully, you'll be inspired to do something stunning and you'll win too. January 1, 2013

Can you afford to have your Macbook Pro or AirBook stolen?

Laptops are being stolen more frequently than ever before -- 38,000 stolen this year according to Mckeay, the security company. There are theft-rings and crime cartels that thrive on moving car-loads of laptops from city to city. Many times you have no chance at saving the device -- but if there is a chance, you'll make the most of it with anti-theft software running. December 28, 2012

DTG Magazine Product of the Year : FoxL Bluetooth Speaker

FoxLv2 Platinum Bluetooth Audio Purists’ Ultimate Hifi Portable Speakers actually deliver on their advertising claims -- and then some! Yes, we got the promo from Karen Thomas -- and she's usually pretty much on the money -- but they were strong words, we'd heard before. I was detirmined to get a good set of portable speakers for use in the Roadtrek and on the road. But I really didn't decide to make the leap until I saw the Jordan Rudessvideo. December 24, 2012

nCircle predicts exploits, security threats and hacks will mutate in 2013

Lamar Bailey, Director of Security Research and Development with nCircle, has released his top five security threats to watch out for in 2013. The New Year -- and beyond -- he predicts, will be a time of highly adaptive security threats, with four main strands - cyber-criminals, cyber-terrorists, political hacktivists and rogue employees -- conspiring to create severe headaches for IT security professionals in all classes of public and private sector industries. December 22, 2012

Who would block the Spam Cop ???

I recently was surprised by what I thought was professional web company who are quite popular and offer quite a bit of information. They offer industry marketing reports, and when signing my email address to download the report they said "Spamcop Addresses are blocked" Hmmmmm, what do you think about that ??? December 21, 2012