Just because you can doesn't mean you should.

One of the greatest things to happen is the personal computer and the advent of desktop publishing. One of the worse things to happen is the personal computer and desktop publishing.

I will be the first to admit that my education was not in desktop publishing but I do have a graduate degree which requires you to learn how to learn. (That could be a whole 'nother blog). When I decided to work in desktop publishing my credentials included several years of editing newsletters and guidebooks. I have been using a computer since my son convinced me it was a necessity in the early 80s. In the early 90s I decided on a career change and found someone willing to take a chance. In return for that I attended seminars and read voraciously. It has been fun and a continuing learning experience.

Being a person who lists observing people as one of his hobbies, it has been great to see the change in people over the last 15 years in computer usage. It amazes me that we have college freshmen who don't know what it is like to grow up without a computer at home, and very probably have never used an encyclopedia except at school when their teacher made them. I went from typing papers because students didn't have a computer in their doom, or the computer lab was foreign whereas now I print projects in full color for a 101 class where the student has placed careful thought, photos and fully formatted text. Seeing that change has been fun.

But there is small pain in the growth process. We still have people who don't understand how many fonts there are in the world, much less how many version of Times (or TNR) that are out there, and how a font substitution can reformat an entire document. I really do wish I had a nickel for every time I heard: "but that's not how it looked on my computer."

It is a truism that with the onset of desktop publishing there was a blossoming of newsletters. We had company newsletters, insurance newsletters, family newsletters, I even remember getting a newsletter on newsletters, if there was a group of people there was a newsletter. It is a great communication device and helps get information to the group. Normally this was the responsibility of the secretary or the cousin that had a computer, and a lot of these newsletters were made in word or publisher. I will go into a rant about microsoft one of these days but not now. The focus today is fonts and photos.

There is a difference between fonts and typefaces, but in the digital age that line has been blurred. If you're talking to an old style printer you will hear the word typeface instead of font. For our purposes we'll use the term font to mean both. Fonts can make a newsletter readable. In fact fonts can make a newsletter graphically exciting and emphasize your salient points. But more than two fonts should be used only when you know what the result will be. Too many fonts can confuse a reader and put them off of your message. Instead of using a new font for each idea, use a single font family then apply a style (italics, bold) to emphasize your point. Remember if you remain consistent with your style the reader will learn how to quickly glance at your newsletter and get the important information without reading your entire newsletter. I know you have fretted over every word and you want the reader to look at and understand each word, but in today's time-crunched world yours isn't the only newsletter on their desk and if you have a point you want them to get it. If you don't have a point, why are you writing a newsletter?

Another area of problem is the use of "cute or unique" fonts. There are graphic designers whose whole focus is on creating new fonts and some are quite talented. You can find a font that you really love and it can be a great attention getter. But you use it in all caps and write a whole paragraph of a curly cue font which no one can read, or will want to. And while you can find some really cool fonts for free on the internet the possibility that your print provider has that specific font is almost nil. So either be sure to collect for output, or save as a pdf. And if you're on a windows box remember that microsoft and adobe don't really like each other and the defaults in microsoft will need to changed. You want to include the fonts and you want a print quality output.

My original intention was to type this as comment on desktop publishing with the emphasis on fonts and jpegs but I seemed to have more to say about fonts than I originally thought. I will continue as a series on dtp with the next installment on the use of jpegs. I will begin that installment as soon as possible. This blogging takes more time than you think.

ch

Raising Children

I mentioned in the last post about children and how they behave in public. I have witnessed young children that have wrecked havoc on a business, screaming, running and causing undo chaos. All the proprietor wants to do is get them out the door and restore calm to the business. Having raised two children that are responsible, contributory members of society, I think I am somewhat justified in offering my opinions.

First rule: We tried talking to our children - it doesn't work!

Children have a different view of the world, it is egocentric, their view doesn't include consequents and they haven't learned to reason. I don't mean not to talk to your child, you should take the time to explain the world to them; but trying to justify your actions and reason with a child is an exercise in futility. At some point in their life they will begin to reason and will begin to respect you, not only because you are their parent but also because you have gained the experience that age provides. Explaining how they should behave is lost on small children, which leads to the second rule.

Second rule: Punishment should fit the situation.

I have seen some parent go nuclear on a child and begin yelling and ordering them about for a minor infraction. I have seen a child that is definitely out of control with the mother first trying to ignore him and then trying to talk to him. Neither of them nor the spectators were enjoying the situation. It was time to go home! I do believe in corporal punishment but only when it is necessary. Time out is probably one of the best disciplines ever invented. Time to a child is eternity and sitting still behaving is just unbearable.


Third rule: Discipline must be immediate and absolute.

If you use the line "wait until I get you home" you have lost the advantage of teaching proper behavior. I see people constantly who are embarrassed by their children's behavior but try to get through the moment and choose to ignore their misbehaving children. Let me give you a hint, whatever you are doing is not near as important as raising that child. I believe that you if choose to have children, you want to add to the world and maybe leave it a better place. To that end if you don't work at it, then you've lost the purpose. Don't subject the people around you to an unwanted tantrum just because you think the child is tired or you're embarrassed. Modern society has stated you should not correct your children in public, okay we'll agree with that, so what do you do? Easy, leave the store, come back after the nap, take the child to the local soda shop and feed them, children rarely complain unless there is a reason, find out the reason in a quiet, "I"m in control" environment and solve the problem.

Final and most important rule: Love you child.

Take advantage of the fact that you have a young mind that you can meld and let them see the world as a wondrous thing. Enjoy their company, love playing with them, let your inner child come out, don't expect them to be adults but teach them to be responsible. In the words of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young: "Teach Your Children Well"

ch

Nice People

I have spent most of my adult life working in one city and living in another. Not a major commute, in fact most of the time now, you don't know when you leave Bryan and enter College Station. But I always chose where I wanted to buy a house and my job is just wherever it happens to be and the two didn't always agree.

The reason I bring this up is that the local government of both cities is very important to me, on different levels both professional and personal economics. I have voted in every major election since I turned 21 and pretty much in every local election. In fact in Odessa, I had a little extra time (during the oil bust) and worked as a election official. I believe it is your responsibility to vote and if you don't, then I don't want to hear your complaint about the way things are.

Anyway that's not what this post is about. College Station has a city council that is voted at-large, basically this means that all people in the city vote for each and every member of the council. Bryan has elections by member district. The city is divided into sections and a member of that district is elected by the people in that area.

Having worked for a quick printer I have met both the mayors of Bryan and College Station and each member of the College Station council. In Bryan I know our district member, visiting with her several times during the recent election. I feel that if I have issues I can approach them with any concerns. In Bryan, I also know our member at- large who I also met during the recent election. I met the mayor-pro tem and district 3 member Jason Bienski several years ago before he had aspiration of serving on the city council. He came into the shop where I work (Copy Corner) and needed some flyers. I remember him and his children he had with him. Working in the public we get a chance to see a lot of children which can sometimes be very painful. But Jason was very nice and his children were extremely well behaved.

When you meet a politician, even local, you never know if they have an agenda and are being nice because they want your vote or if they are naturally nice. But I have seen a quote, that I believe originated by Dave Barry "A person who is nice to you, but rude to the waiter is not a nice person." This is at the heart of what a nice person is, I work in a retail business and customers are always right, but they are not always nice. The ones that are nice always get a little extra and with a bigger smile. You can get what you want by demanding it, but you can get what you need when you're nice.

Never too old

After reading blogs for years, and thinking I should have said that I am going to jump into blogging. No idea what I'll talk about but hopefully not too many rants.
Those that know me, know that my son is the real wizard at this and hopefully he has taught me a few things about how and what to do.

I guess at some point I'll tell you more about myself, but right now I work as a manager of desktop publishing at a quickprinter in College Station, Texas (Home of Texas A&M Aggies). A lot of what I will post about will be the things I see people doing in this computer age that don't translate to print very well and probably a rant about jpegs, but that's for later.

I am in the process of helping plan my 40th high school reunion and that may be what prompted this - it just doesn't seem like 40 years !

I do have four grandkids and I'm sure I'll try to post about them periodically, but to be honest they're great kids and all I would be doing is bragging and that's not what I hoped for here.

Let me hear from you and maybe we'll start some communication.

ch