Small changes to Says Brad blog

Made a few changes to saysbrad.com — will continue to update it as I can. Almost as soon as I have an OK day, I get sick again somehow.Sigh. This really has been one harsh year. It has taught me a lot, however, and I have had the opportunity to catch up on a lot of reading. Not so much writing and art, unfortunately.

I received a question about styluses in general and my thoughts on Wacom’s newly announced Wacom Intuos Creative Stylus (releases in October, along with Cintiq Companion drawing tablets); although I answered that specific email, I’ll briefly share my thoughts with everyone here. I’m really excited about the new stylus and I have high hopes for it! I hope I can try the new Wacom Intuos capacitive touch stylus soon! I’m still particularly fond of the oStylus DOT and Wacom Bamboo stylus (standard version) because both are 100% reliable in all practical conditions and work great on the iPad mini; something that many styluses, especially those with small tips, struggle with. Check out my iStuff page for links to these styluses and other incredible products!

I hope all of you are doing well, and thanks for visiting my website; it really does mean a lot to me, and I sincerely appreciate the support that I’ve received, especially this year. I will continue to try to update and create compelling content and worthwhile reviews for you to read and share.

Content & Thank You!

New content coming soon, I promise. I've been really sick — fever and infection for six days now, so I haven't been able to do much of anything except drink water, sleep, and a few less pleasant things... the fewer details, the better, yeah?

Talking to some friends about the blog has inspired me to streamline the content and focus on he fun stuff that I like to write about — and what's popular. That means: more app reviews, product reviews, tech insights, tips, suggestions, maybe some games, that sort of thing. My other writing will go elsewhere. Also, I'm going to try to reorganize the categories and tags to be more efficient and usable — I'm also going to make a few adjustments to the layout, so if you see something broken, please let me know!

Thanks for your support; I think I'm starting to feel a little better (2013 has been one rough year!), so this weekend I hope to update. Also, if you haven't already, you can follow me at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr — all @bradtastic — I post links and photos there throughout the day.

A BIG thank you to the people using my Amazon links to buy stuff — getting a few bucks per week helps me stay motivated to write, and the Amazon credit allows me to get a few new things to review each year! If you have an app or product you'd like me to review, please get in touch!

(Estylo guys! I hope you read this, I've been trying to reach you to talk about the Estylo stylus — I hope all is well!)

My birthday is less than three weeks away — I hope I'm healthy enough to have dinner with my family!

Posted with Blogsy

Added Features

Hey everyone! Still plinking away at getting this website and blog updated and the way I want it. I added a few things, including search, categories and a tag cloud.

I’ve also been playing around a little bit with Squarespace 6 and WordPress (bradtastica – my test site) but haven’t managed to find themes or get them looking the way I want. Also, I’m having an issue with MediaTemple and my self-hosted WordPress install. So I think I may just backup my content there and scrap the thing, start over from scratch. I also want to learn how to use Google’s web font thing, instead of Typekit. Not that I know how to use that, either.

Cleaning house, setting up

Yes, I design stuff and write. I've also been taking a lot of photos, iPhonotography or iPhonography, I guess. I've done so housekeeping, literally and figuratively.

With only so many hours awake each day and many of those dedicated to dealing with my disability, I found it necessary to eliminate certain distractions and time sinks. I still actively read and play video games, collect marketing material and good packaging design, but I'm much more selective when it comes to friends, projects, and people in general.

I don't go out as much. I don't like dealing with the drama, the late night phone calls, fair-weather friends and advice-seekers. It's not all bad, and there's value to almost everything, but I can't take chances and dump hours into those pursuits. I'm older now.

Quitting smoking and coming back from southern California clarified things for me. I love that sensation, as you leave LA and drop into the valley, when the smog lifts and your vision becomes razor sharp. Spend enough time down there, you forget what it's like to really see. Spend enough time up here, it's easy to forget that there's more.

I'm going to put together a portfolio I think. A small one, along with a simple site. Maybe even a business card. I'll make it easier for some people to reach me.

Not everyone will appreciate this change, I'm sure. Well, I've had to deal with years of Obama and excruciating physical pain. People think and say: tough.

And that's the way it is.

But I will post pretty pictures and possibly some sketch work — I've been doing more illustrations recently. The iPad 2 is so wonderful.

Soon, I'll be able to share 8MP photos with the iPhone 4S. I'll finally be back to Sprint, where the phone will actually work as a phone. Yes, EVDO is slower than HSDPA, but WiFi is everywhere, and I'll take that trade to eliminate constant dropped calls. AT&T just hasn't been working out.

If you have an interesting project that needs a designer or branding expert, feel free to let me know abou it. If you'd like to hang out, maybe try me again in a few years.

Year 2010 Redux, Hiatus

2010… is life any different for you? Better, I hope.

Hello everyone. To those of you who don’t follow my Twitter or Facebook (you really should… starting, say, now :-) ?), my departure from online contact probably seemed abrupt — I haven’t posted anything since Christmas. Things have just been busy. Website redesign is tricky with the technology — and disability — that I have.

I’m currently working on several website designs and redesigns — and those are some of the smaller projects. I’m still writing everyday, reading and learning… psychology and sociology, physics and mathematics have been of interest. I’m conceptual-designing; it’s fun, frustrating, and complicated.

My Superfluous Personal Blog (this blog) is going to be revamped, likely with an added column and new art. I just can’t make the time at the moment with more… pressing things to attend to. I need to take a desk apart, and I need to look at moving.

A Tablet PC and iRex Digital Reader 1000S would surely help speed things along. WACOM Active Digitizer screens… and fortunately, many of them are on sale, including Fujitsu Tablets and the older Motion computing LE1700 slate tablets. I’m also looking at digital paper e-book readers: such as the Kindle DX, QUE and B&N nook.

If you’re looking to help and get some credit, support and advertising (along with other services), send me a message. You could end up with lifetime advertising here and at other Bradtastic sites. Contact me for details. I’m also interested in the Alphasmart NEO — they recently lowered the price to $169! It’s a great supplemental tool for any writer.