Wishing all the best to you for 2006!
Wishing for lasting peace and harmony among us all.
Wishing for a better world in which our children and all following generations can live.
Saturday, December 31, 2005
Thursday, December 22, 2005
Minor Corrections
I just noticed three bad Blue Vinyl Fonts links on the resources page and corrected them. I also corrected some info and link to Paint Shop Pro -- it's now at Corel and now in version 10 instead of 9.
You'll now be able to go to the correct pages. My apologies for the inconvenience of sending you to the wrong places earlier.
You'll now be able to go to the correct pages. My apologies for the inconvenience of sending you to the wrong places earlier.
Holiday Wishes
Since I will be visiting family for an assortment of things including a niece's birthday and my brother flying in for the holidays, I want to wish all of you now a merry Christmas and happy Hanukkah, both falling on the 25th this year. And since I don't think I'll be near a computer on the 26th either, happy Kwanzaa and Boxing Day for those who celebrate or observe those holidays.
Me, I've been bad by not releasing any sets yet. Winter just started yesterday so I think I still have time to put out another wintry set. If not, then look forward to something for spring.
2006 will be more busy for me because I need to take an outside job to support my hobbies and other household expenses. Bye, bye jeans. Time to put on a business dress for those interviews!
Me, I've been bad by not releasing any sets yet. Winter just started yesterday so I think I still have time to put out another wintry set. If not, then look forward to something for spring.
2006 will be more busy for me because I need to take an outside job to support my hobbies and other household expenses. Bye, bye jeans. Time to put on a business dress for those interviews!
Visitor 7500!
Another milestone reached today before noon PST. Happened sooner than I thought it would but how nice it did.
Visitor number 7500 hails from Nicaragua and surfs using a computer with Windows XP and IE 6. This visitor was using Google to find butterfly wallpaper. Unfortunately, all I have is the Butterfly Nebula wallpaper, so this visitor didn't stay long.
Thank you, anyway, for stopping in.
Visitor number 7500 hails from Nicaragua and surfs using a computer with Windows XP and IE 6. This visitor was using Google to find butterfly wallpaper. Unfortunately, all I have is the Butterfly Nebula wallpaper, so this visitor didn't stay long.
Thank you, anyway, for stopping in.
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
Snowflake Font
Around this time a lot of people search for snowflake dingbat fonts and how to use them. While I don't offer fonts at this time, I can point you to places where you can find those fonts.
P22 is a commercial font foundry. They offer a lot of cool fonts to buy. If you subscribe to their newsletter (and what fontaholic wouldn't?), you sometimes get free, limited use fonts. Their snowflake font was one offered awhile ago to us subscribers, but you can still download it on this page. Consider buying one or more of their cool, reasonably-priced fonts as well.
Chank! is another commercial font foundry that offers free fonts from their on-site and guest designers. A free dingbat by Spunk called Spunkflakes is your key to snowflake font heaven. Available in Mac and Windows formats. Consider buying for cheap, Chankflakes or FriskyFlakes (really cheap!), both available as Mac or Windows versions. Snowflake dingbats are also available in an open type package of multiple fonts for only $49 on their site.
Aenigma Fonts offers a PC only free dingbat font called Faux Snow. Click on View to see one example or on CS to see the whole character set. Clicking the name opens the download window. Another possibility is the font, 90 Stars, which actually look like five-pointed snowflakes to me. Check out the character set first.
You can also find a servicable snowflake (one style only) in the Microsoft Wingdings using capital T. It's not the prettiest snowflake but it has the requisite six-sides. I created a background tile using this font that you are free to download to use on your computer's desktop or a web page. Go to my patterned tiles page at http://www.arride.com/ptiles5.html to view and download this graphic.
How to use:
After you download the font, open the file into your fonts folder in your computer's hard drive. In Windows navigate to your control panel then open the Fonts folder. Once inside, click on Install font then navigate to your downloaded font. Be sure you've unpacked the font from its zip file first or else you won't see it to install it.
Most PCs using Windows will have a built-in paint program called Paint (duh) and you can use that to create a snowflake from the selected font. However, it is not a sophisticated enough program to create one as a transparent background .gif usable on different colored web pages nor with layers on another graphic such as a photo.
For that I suggest looking at some of the graphics software listed on my resources page. I might add that Paint Shop Pro is perfect for this purpose.
If you want to use snowflakes in a text document such as a letter, you won't have to worry about any of the above. Just use the dingbat like you're using a different font by changing the font selection in your document. However, keep in mind that unless your recipient also has the same font in their computer, they will not see the snowflake in the document as is. In order for the recipient to see a snowflake, the snowflake has to be added to the document as an image. A printout of the document from YOUR computer will have the snowflake, of course. This caveat is true of web pages also.
Those are just a few of the places to find snowflake fonts and use them. You can find more by searching in your favorite search engine or directory using the words, "font dingbat snowflakes."
(edited 11/27/2007 to add disclaimer in paragraph 9, on 11/28/2007 to add another font in paragraph 4, and on 12/14/2007 to add the link to a snowflake graphic)
P22 is a commercial font foundry. They offer a lot of cool fonts to buy. If you subscribe to their newsletter (and what fontaholic wouldn't?), you sometimes get free, limited use fonts. Their snowflake font was one offered awhile ago to us subscribers, but you can still download it on this page. Consider buying one or more of their cool, reasonably-priced fonts as well.
Chank! is another commercial font foundry that offers free fonts from their on-site and guest designers. A free dingbat by Spunk called Spunkflakes is your key to snowflake font heaven. Available in Mac and Windows formats. Consider buying for cheap, Chankflakes or FriskyFlakes (really cheap!), both available as Mac or Windows versions. Snowflake dingbats are also available in an open type package of multiple fonts for only $49 on their site.
Aenigma Fonts offers a PC only free dingbat font called Faux Snow. Click on View to see one example or on CS to see the whole character set. Clicking the name opens the download window. Another possibility is the font, 90 Stars, which actually look like five-pointed snowflakes to me. Check out the character set first.
You can also find a servicable snowflake (one style only) in the Microsoft Wingdings using capital T. It's not the prettiest snowflake but it has the requisite six-sides. I created a background tile using this font that you are free to download to use on your computer's desktop or a web page. Go to my patterned tiles page at http://www.arride.com/ptiles5.html to view and download this graphic.
How to use:
After you download the font, open the file into your fonts folder in your computer's hard drive. In Windows navigate to your control panel then open the Fonts folder. Once inside, click on Install font then navigate to your downloaded font. Be sure you've unpacked the font from its zip file first or else you won't see it to install it.
Most PCs using Windows will have a built-in paint program called Paint (duh) and you can use that to create a snowflake from the selected font. However, it is not a sophisticated enough program to create one as a transparent background .gif usable on different colored web pages nor with layers on another graphic such as a photo.
For that I suggest looking at some of the graphics software listed on my resources page. I might add that Paint Shop Pro is perfect for this purpose.
If you want to use snowflakes in a text document such as a letter, you won't have to worry about any of the above. Just use the dingbat like you're using a different font by changing the font selection in your document. However, keep in mind that unless your recipient also has the same font in their computer, they will not see the snowflake in the document as is. In order for the recipient to see a snowflake, the snowflake has to be added to the document as an image. A printout of the document from YOUR computer will have the snowflake, of course. This caveat is true of web pages also.
Those are just a few of the places to find snowflake fonts and use them. You can find more by searching in your favorite search engine or directory using the words, "font dingbat snowflakes."
(edited 11/27/2007 to add disclaimer in paragraph 9, on 11/28/2007 to add another font in paragraph 4, and on 12/14/2007 to add the link to a snowflake graphic)
A Change in Resources Page
Matthew Petty finally closed down his font site, Disturbed Fonts. All of his fonts are now in the public domain. I offer a download of his "Trash" font for both PC and Mac but you can also find this font and a few others at DaFont. I've changed the resources page to reflect the new status.
I managed to download all of the fonts he offered before he closed his site. I'm not sure what to do with them now, but I may open a font archive in the future that includes his fonts. A new web site will take more effort on my part and my life is changing in ways unanticipated a year ago. So, time will tell.
I managed to download all of the fonts he offered before he closed his site. I'm not sure what to do with them now, but I may open a font archive in the future that includes his fonts. A new web site will take more effort on my part and my life is changing in ways unanticipated a year ago. So, time will tell.
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
Down, Down, Down...
My web host reported a network outage at the datacenter on Dec. 11th as did my three site uptime monitors. One of them also reported an outage on Dec. 12th. Both outages lasted about one hour. No reasons given by the host.
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
Hmmm, Downtime Ag'in
This is getting old, folks. Downtime late Tuesday evening until early Wednesday morning for about an hour. Got a question turned into my host to find out what's going on, but I doubt I'll hear anything pertinent. Maybe the server is going kaput or there's too many sites hosted on it. Wouldn't doubt either.
Still trying to decide what set or next graphic to release. Busy month for me inside and outside of Internet. Hang in there!
Still trying to decide what set or next graphic to release. Busy month for me inside and outside of Internet. Hang in there!
Monday, December 05, 2005
Downtime Early Saturday
In the wee hours of Saturday morning, Dec. 4, the site experienced downtime of about one hour. Reported by all three of my site monitoring tools.
Tuesday, November 29, 2005
Downtime Yesterday
For a couple of hours in the morning the server my site is hosted on was down. My host notified me by e-mail and I received notices from three monitoring services around the world. No worries.
I've worked on a new snowflake set but haven't released it yet. It's a little different from the ones I already offer. But I'm not too happy with it, so it needs to be re-worked. Look for it next month.
I don't know about you, but I'm already looking forward to spring. lol
Gloomy winter weather just isn't for me.
I've worked on a new snowflake set but haven't released it yet. It's a little different from the ones I already offer. But I'm not too happy with it, so it needs to be re-worked. Look for it next month.
I don't know about you, but I'm already looking forward to spring. lol
Gloomy winter weather just isn't for me.
Friday, November 18, 2005
Short Downtime
On Thursday the 17th, there was a short downtime of less than one hour. I know that my web host was doing maintenance on a server -- not the one my site is on -- but they may have been testing all servers. Not a big deal.
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
7000th Visitor!
In just over a month I've recorded my 7000th visitor to the site from 6500 last month.
He or she actually stopped by on the 11th, Veterans Day here in the U.S., in the afternoon. They did not stay long or else they had some software blocking Sitemeter's cookie from tracking their activity. They did view at least one page, the top edge backgrounds.
Like many of my visitors, this person uses a PC with Windows, XP in this case, and surfs with Internet Explorer 6.0 on this occasion.
That's all the details I'm giving out. Thank you, whoever you are, for visiting.
He or she actually stopped by on the 11th, Veterans Day here in the U.S., in the afternoon. They did not stay long or else they had some software blocking Sitemeter's cookie from tracking their activity. They did view at least one page, the top edge backgrounds.
Like many of my visitors, this person uses a PC with Windows, XP in this case, and surfs with Internet Explorer 6.0 on this occasion.
That's all the details I'm giving out. Thank you, whoever you are, for visiting.
Monday, November 07, 2005
Passwords Required Now
In recent months I've noticed evidence of some of my pages and graphics being loaded from the hard drives of people's computers. While I don't mind people copying the pages of the backgrounds and sets to duplicate the layouts, you really need to remove my stuff such as my Sitemeter coding. I don't know what else you're copying, so I can only assume you're direct-linking to my graphics as well.
For that reason, I've enabled password-protected directories for both the backgrounds and sets. You will now have to enter the username and password I've provided in order to view those pages and graphics.
This is a problem almost all of the graphics designers I know on the 'Net have encountered. It is very discouraging to provide graphics for free and to have people steal bandwidth by hotlinking to them. Many of us do not use free web hosting providers. Even if we did, bandwidth is severely limited and we get into trouble by them shutting down our sites temporarily, even permanently, if we exceed the bandwidth provided to us. If you use free hosts, you know what the situation is like. It isn't that different with paid shared hosting either.
In addition to password-protecting directories, I am blocking IP addresses of visitors suspected of hotlinking. Unfortunately, that means that anyone else using that shared IP address, if it is shared, will also be blocked from my site.
These actions are necessary to protect my interests as outlined in my Terms of Use, section 7. If you have any questions or comments regarding any of the above, please go to my Contact page and fill out the e-mailer form. Thank you for your cooperation and understanding.
For that reason, I've enabled password-protected directories for both the backgrounds and sets. You will now have to enter the username and password I've provided in order to view those pages and graphics.
This is a problem almost all of the graphics designers I know on the 'Net have encountered. It is very discouraging to provide graphics for free and to have people steal bandwidth by hotlinking to them. Many of us do not use free web hosting providers. Even if we did, bandwidth is severely limited and we get into trouble by them shutting down our sites temporarily, even permanently, if we exceed the bandwidth provided to us. If you use free hosts, you know what the situation is like. It isn't that different with paid shared hosting either.
In addition to password-protecting directories, I am blocking IP addresses of visitors suspected of hotlinking. Unfortunately, that means that anyone else using that shared IP address, if it is shared, will also be blocked from my site.
These actions are necessary to protect my interests as outlined in my Terms of Use, section 7. If you have any questions or comments regarding any of the above, please go to my Contact page and fill out the e-mailer form. Thank you for your cooperation and understanding.
Monday, October 24, 2005
New Side Border Background
Made more jack o' lantern backgrounds for you, this time with side border graphics.
Hope you enjoy these, ghouls and gals. :-)
Link to side border backgrounds page.
Hope you enjoy these, ghouls and gals. :-)
Link to side border backgrounds page.
Another Sunday Downtime
Looks like very early Sunday morning PDT there was just over an hour of downtime, one hour and seven minutes to be exact.
C'est la vie.
C'est la vie.
Visitor Number 6,500
The 6500th visitor to Arride Graphics comes from the San Francisco Bay Area and was using Google to find myspace graphics. Didn't stay long, though. This visitor actually stopped by on October 4th, so I'm really late in reporting this.
Speaking of myspace graphics or "my space graphics," as most of you are using, it's nice that you're looking through search engines to find graphics for your site at myspace.com. But remember that A LOT of graphics are copyrighted and unless it specifically states that the graphics you see on a web page is up for grabs, such as on a free graphics site or even a member graphics site, do not take any to use on your webpage. If you do and are caught, you can lose your myspace account and worse. I'm very sure their terms of service (TOS) or terms of use (TOU) policy states that any graphics or photos you put on your page is guaranteed by you to be your property or that you are legally allowed, in writing, to use them. Otherwise, use your own photos or scan some drawings you've done and use them. Of course, that means that someone can come by and grab your stuff from your page. :- /
Speaking of myspace graphics or "my space graphics," as most of you are using, it's nice that you're looking through search engines to find graphics for your site at myspace.com. But remember that A LOT of graphics are copyrighted and unless it specifically states that the graphics you see on a web page is up for grabs, such as on a free graphics site or even a member graphics site, do not take any to use on your webpage. If you do and are caught, you can lose your myspace account and worse. I'm very sure their terms of service (TOS) or terms of use (TOU) policy states that any graphics or photos you put on your page is guaranteed by you to be your property or that you are legally allowed, in writing, to use them. Otherwise, use your own photos or scan some drawings you've done and use them. Of course, that means that someone can come by and grab your stuff from your page. :- /
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
New Side Border Background!
Boy, can I feel the crispness of fall right now. I've had to turn on the heater in the house today. Good-bye summer...
Hello autumn! I whipped up a background with autumn leaves gracing the left side border on a white background. All of the details are on the page.
Autumn Leaves side border background.
Side border backgrounds page
Top border backgrounds page
Hello autumn! I whipped up a background with autumn leaves gracing the left side border on a white background. All of the details are on the page.
Autumn Leaves side border background.
Side border backgrounds page
Top border backgrounds page
Monday, October 10, 2005
Downtime
There was less than one hour of downtime to Arride Graphics on Sunday beginning around 1:20 p.m. PDT. But this is the second time in a week.
Monday, October 03, 2005
Site Downtime
On Sunday, October 2nd, there was approximately one hour of downtime with the site around quarter after 7 in the evening PDT.
Friday, September 30, 2005
New Top Border Background for Halloween!
Hey! Just uploaded a new top border background graphic for you.
This time, instead of the smiling skeletons from last year, you can decorate your pages with this sinister, grinning jack o' lantern created with picture tubes from Jasc/ Corel. The graphic is 3000 pixels long, so you have plenty of room to put content. Ideally, though, don't put so much stuff on one page because it's tedious to scroll down really long pages.
Anyway, have fun with this!
Here's the link: http://www.arride.com/downloads/backgrounds/jol.html
Other top border backgrounds
This time, instead of the smiling skeletons from last year, you can decorate your pages with this sinister, grinning jack o' lantern created with picture tubes from Jasc/ Corel. The graphic is 3000 pixels long, so you have plenty of room to put content. Ideally, though, don't put so much stuff on one page because it's tedious to scroll down really long pages.
Anyway, have fun with this!
Here's the link: http://www.arride.com/downloads/backgrounds/jol.html
Other top border backgrounds
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)