Blog
Think outside Photoshop - new image editing concept
{12 März}
Russian translation and discussion: Habrahabr.ru
I love Adobe Photoshop. I really do! I have been using it daily for about 10 years. One cannot over-estimate its influence on the world of image editing - which, in many ways, defines how the world around us looks! I'm sure that right now, in your room, there is at least one thing partly designed in Photoshop. All the images in this article were prepared in Photoshop!
In its market, Photoshop is King. You can also call it "standard" (which is mostly good) or "monopoly" (which is mostly bad). But the fact remains - if you work with image editing, you must think in Photoshop's terms and follow its workflows.
Photoshop is not the most complex piece of software (because, let's be fair, digial imaging is not the most complex thing of all). However, it is quite complex, for several reasons. First, it can really do many things. But also, because it is very old, almost as old as I am! This long history of development means Photoshop did not have a chance to re-think any of its core ideas and start some things from scratch. You know, compatibility; and besides, why fix something that works!
Images by about.com
However, recently an idea came to me that's been bugging me, asking to be written and published. So I am writing it here without any specific goal or wish - just because I'd love to share and see what you think. Nothing can be better than an interesting discussion! (Hint - comments are welcome!)
vPass 3 - smart web-based generator of secure passwords
{28 Februar}
I upgraded my password generator to version 3. I suspect I am the only one using it :-) but if you're curious why it's good:
- You really should have different passwords for web sites.
- Remembering unique password for each web site is impossible.
- Password managers are usually restricted to one platform.
vPass takes your master password (f.e. my_password) and, optionally, current domain (f.e. http://accounts.google.com converts into google) and generates 12-letter mix of letters, numbers and symbols (f.e. 0EQu$MwEm?Qt).
Your master password never leaves your device. vPass is 100% client-side, pure Javascript, no data is sent to server. It's just a webpage, so it works on Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, Android, iOS, Windows Phone, webOS, and any future OS too.
More info: https://www.vpass.info
Kirby - file-based CMS for simple web sites
{28 Februar}
This post is for those who are deciding how to manage their web site(s). Vladstudio is not the only website I am busy with. Until recently, the only options I considered for management was either writing everything from scratch, or using some form of database-driven CMS (WordPress is the most famous).
I was never happy with WordPress - I generally consider it one of the most over-estimated web apps. You can build something large and complex with theme(s) and plugins, but it's ugly from the inside, and supporting it is a nightmare (at least for me). So I was almost always doing all hard coding work myself.
Recently, I stumbled upon a CMS with the fresh concept - Kirby. It's file-based, meaning there is no database, and all your site is simply folders, subfolders and text files!
It looks like an excellent solution when you have skills to develop web template, but other people (who manage content - add news, photos, etc) are not skilled with HTML. Despite being very simple, Kirby is also flexible - add some little tweaks to your template, and you can show photos on website by simply putting the images into a folder!
You can put the website into Dropbox and share it (or just Content folder) with other content managers.
Made with Kirby shows what kinds of websites it's best for.
I even developed couple of little plugins for it: comments and smart submit.
Inspiring others...
{18 Januar}
Vladstudio website visitor writes...
"Hi Vlad! Congratulations for your unique-style art. It seems that one of your creations, inspired the local theater of Elassona, a small beautiful town in Greece where i was been for some days in December. They printed a giant version of the word-inversed wallpaper decorating a wall in addition with some traditional-dressed dolls symbolizing various cultures across the world."
Interview for Charlotte Fromentin
{9 Dezember 2012}
Charlotte Fromentin sent me some questions for an interview. Unfortunately for her, she caught me in dark mood ;-) With her permission, the interview is below. French version and original article is here: http://alife.fr/Blog/vladstudio/
1- I know you don’t like to talk about you, but can you tell me something about you?
Sure, why not! I am currently 31 year old, I am tall, thin, wear glasses, have a wife and a daughter, drink lots of coffee with milk. I tend to work using every free minute I have. I live in cold cold Siberia. We had -35C tonight! I do not enjoy cold though, nobody does.
If Companion for Mac is not working after you upgrade to OS X Mountain Lion...
{10 Oktober 2012}
A little hint sent by a visitor - if Companion for Mac is not working after you upgrade to OS X Mountain Lion, delete the app AND its preferences ( ~/Library/Preferences/com.vladstudio.VSCompanion.plist ), then download it again and install. Thanks!
Introducing vPass - password generator for everyone
{4 Oktober 2012}
vPass is a tiny web app I made quite long ago, but forgot to announce it :-)
vPass is a tiny web app I created to solve my own problem - keeping my passwords secure and easy to manage at the same time. Passwords are the only way to identify yourself in the Internet. Nothing better has been invented yet. However, passwords are still painful to work with:
- People hate passwords, and for a reason;
- Good passwords are hard to guess - therefore hard to remember;
- You really should have different password for any service you use.
Numerous password-managing apps are here to help. Most of them are tied to one OS. None of them appealed to me personally. The best approach I could find is to have single ("master") password and generate account-specific passwords from it (using account name for encryption).
Try vPass (also available as bookmarklet, extension for Chrome, Safari, Opera).
Read more about vPass - highly recommended! It's not immediately clear how it works, but once you get it, you'll probably like the idea as much as I did. Thanks!
P.S. If you can help me make Firefox extension, I'll be most thankful!
Introducing Vladstudio Companion for Windows 8!
{3 Oktober 2012}
Thanks to the same Grig as in my previous post :-) I am happy to announce the Vladstudio Companion for upcoming Windows 8!
If you already have Windows 8 Beta, get Companion here: apps.microsoft.com
abcNotes for Windows Phone 7 with Vladstudio wallpapers
{3 Oktober 2012}
My friend Grig from Alsedi Group has released abcNotes (which uses my wallpapers for background) for Windows Phone 7. Give it a try: www.windowsphone.com
If you're using Windows Phone 7 - how does it feel generally as a phone OS? I'm curious about any mobile interfaces, but did not yet use WP.
Vladstudio new site (codename Kauri)
{3 Oktober 2012}
If you have been to my website before, you will notice I changed a lot of its design. I hope the new features (as well as removal of some clutter) will make your stay more comfortable. If you stumble upon a bug, or have a suggestions, please let me know in the comments. Thanks!
P.S. I code-named this design Kauri - a mighty tree from my beloved New Zealand :-)