Ten, maybe fifteen years ago, my Mom saw this framed Woodstock at a thrift store, and asked me if we should get it. I knew she liked Woodstock and bought it for her. It has been on a wall at home since then, and every time I see it, I’ve wanted to recreate it in Adobe Illustrator, it is really neat and represents my Mom pretty well. Also, to preserve it, and have the ability to recreate it if necessary. Every house should have Peanuts in it.
I finally got around to doing this, and while it would have been easier to take it out of the frame and scan it, I did the recreation from a simple iPhone photo.
Image Trace was used, but still had to create another layer for the larger yellow areas. Not the most intensive Illustrator project, but absolutely a worthwhile one.
Understanding that everybody has different computing needs, I’m still going strong with a 2018 Intel Mac mini with 16 GB RAM. I use Indesign, Illustrator and Photoshop as well as occasionally Dreamweaver. iMovie every week for editing videos from my GoPro 7 camera.
I’m also using two 30″ Apple Cinema Displays that are almost twenty years old, and require multiple adapters to work, but they are great monitors that originally cost $3000 and I bought them years ago for $300 apiece. I also have two 17″ Apple Cinema Displays from the same era on monitor support arms that I switch my main computer to when I’m working from home. So I’m basically surrounded by monitors on two of four sides!
I can’t afford a RAID setup, so I have six external hard drives, from 8TB to 10TB, and Time Machine running x2.
Add to that the ergonomic, tented, ortholinear, programmable split-keyboard “Moonlander” by ZSA, three Apple Magic Pads, one standard Apple Mouse, and that is my setup. And a Kensington SlimBlade Trackball.
When I find a job, I plan to migrate to one of these new little Mac Mini that have been doing very well in reviews, and I plan to shell out for the 32 GB RAM and buy an external conformal hub that has space for an SSD. Any recommendations on that would be great. The four Thunderbolt ports I have on my current Mini are vital for how things are set up right now with all of my external hubs, so I am going to have to factor that into whatever I get.
My previous 2014 Mac Mini was awful in that it only had un-upgradable 8MB RAM, and that kept causing problems and I couldn’t upgrade. I can upgrade what I have now, but what few issues I have aren’t urgent enough to warrant me opening it up. I used to always open up my Macs, I had a Power Computing 150 that had been totally Frankensteined with every upgrade possible, but these days I prefer everything just works, and it does. I’m kind of past the “satisfaction of doing things myself” when it comes to upgrading. I just want to get things done.
Any recommendations on drawing tablets would be welcome, I have no idea what would be good at an affordable price.
Additionally, in the “boneyard” so-to-speak, I have a G3 tower, a G4 tower, and a 2009 aluminum “cheese-grater” tower. Just can’t find it within myself to get rid of them, even though I did let the PowerComputing 150 go after nine years of daily use. That one was a beast. The 2009 Mac Pro Tower is more a piece of art, by value of that alone I’ll never get rid of it! The G3 Tower doesn’t start up anymore, and from videos I’ve viewed on that topic, it might be a bit of work getting it going again, especially if it is the power supply.
And I still have my original Quadra 605 from 1994. Never going to get rid of that box!
My new Russian Checker board came in today! It will be interesting who will be afraid to play when asked. It is a brutal game, not for the faint of heart!
Just picked up this Stratego game for a buck-fifty. This version is the same as the one I had when I was a kid. They change these games over time; for instance, the more powerful pieces should be 1-9, but in the newer versions they are reversed, 9-1. I also like the box art. I haven’t played in decades, so if anybody wants to beat me before I get my skills back, this is the time to do so!
About a year ago, I woke up to an email informing me that my three Moonlander Keyboards now had the option to be mounted on new tenting platforms… so I got them as soon as I could. Just out of the blue, this was announced (that is how announcing works!).
This morning, ZSA dropped the news that they have an entirely new keyboard! Which for me, is a little stressful as it was a lot of money to get the boards I have now… if they make something new and fantastic, and even more ergonomic, what do I do?
Fortunately for me, what they have come out with is for the notebook user on-the-go, but wow. Such a cool keyboard. I would get one just to give it a go! The mounting possibilities for it alone are very interesting.
I’m going to stick with my Moonlanders for now, as it is way too soon to start throwing money at another board. The Dygma Defy is tempting, but like I said, way too soon. That one is brand-new and I’d rather wait a while, let them work out the bugs. No plans for a new keyboard of any kind anytime soon!
randyrydberg.org 