Illustration Friday - Cats

I always preferred cats to dogs, I think you have to work harder for their respect! Although cats have many moods and tempraments here are a few that I hope I've captured.

I think an old Illo. Friday piece I did for the 'Mischief' topic may also count for this one! The link is here: http://only-a-phase.blogspot.com/2005/05/illustration-friday-mischief.html

ClosetJunkie finally launched!

Hurrah, it's only taken many months but my t-shirt store www.ClosetJunkie.co.uk is now up online & ready to take orders (hint hint!)

I've tried to make the design quite retro & simple & hope to eflect that in some of my custom designs that will be added in the coming months.

technorati tags:closet, junkie, tshirts, tees

Must Have Utilities

An unnerving sound has developed deep inside my PC's hard drive which has spurred me to think of what I might do if disaster did indeed strike & my (only) drive went platter up.

If you're like me & half-heartedly attempt to keep backups, you will have the same pile of blank, poorly labelled CDs with a random mix of programs, pictures and documents on them. Whether half of these still work I don't even know!
I fully plan to purchase a DVD writer & get organised on the backup-front, particularly with my expanding collection of digital images & website projects.

Then I started thinking of all the little programs & utilities I've downloaded or acquired over time & realised how important these were also. So here (partly for my own reference) is a list of my utilities that I'd want to get back on my PC soon after disaster hit..

• AVG Free - Top priority - the free anti virus software from AVG.
• Ad-Aware - Tool for detecting & removing any nasty bits of spyware that get onto your PC.
• Adobe Acrobat Reader - You can't view tons of documents on the internet without it.
• Beyond Compare - A directory compare and synchronise tool - I use this to sync my music with my iRiver MP3 player.
• DVD Decrypter/SmartRipper - For creating DVD backups of course.
• EasyCleaner - Very handy utility that allows you to clear temporary files, clean the registry etc.
• Macromedia Flash - After a while one webpage is going to force you to get it anyway to view their fancy content!
• Microsoft Anti-Spyware - One of few Microsoft application to make my list - their spyware removal & blocking tool.
• Mozilla Firefox - A reccommended browser from Mozilla.
• Real Alternative - Allows you to play Real Media (.ram files etc.) without installing the massive & slow Real Player.
• RegClean - An old Microsoft utility to clean out unneccessary keys from the registry
• SpyBot Search & Destroy - Another tool to rid your PC of nasties, similar to Ad-Aware but I tend to run them both cos I'm paranoid.
• Trillian - Instant Messaging utility that supports all the varieties inlcuding MSN Messenger, Yahoo IM, AIM & ICQ.
• Winamp 2 - Nice streamline music player. I found they got a bit clunky after version 2 (but I still prefer them to Windows Media Player).
• WinRAR - Utility for compressing/uncompressing files & folders. Like Winzip but supports many more formats.

That's it for now - but I may update the list should I find any more really useful applications!

technorati tags: pc, utilities, tools

Joggers Delight

So it's 2006 & my New Year's resolution of doing some exercise is still going after one session of going running! I plan to go again tonight, even though it's mighty cold & I still don't have the right footwear!

The first time running I had planned a few routes around our streets, mainly quiet ones to avoid the chance of having to pass anyone, or worse - meet other joggers. A square route seemed promising that would take me round the full block, though on the first side of the square I decided perhaps a shorter route might be more suitable after all ! Eventually I hope to make it to the park nearby our house, & then in the future get to the park & still be able to run around it.

When the enthusiasm starts to wane I plan to buy a new pair of trainers which should force me to continue!

Some new illustration related links for the new year, inspired by some Christmas presents...
terrainfirma.com
lastlemon.com