By not being able to own perpetual licenses to legally operate software that we as customers have paid for, hinders our abilities to serve our client base.

Being a long time Adobe user, I’ve run into many issues where certain key programs/features or plug-ins hit their wall and become obsolete, or are killed off.

Examples:

• The change from Flash’s action script from 2.0 to 3.0 made many of my old templates and client files more time consuming to update because the scripts all need to be re-written. This is why even though I purchased CS 6, I still keep and run Flash CS 3 available to me. It saves me time, and my clients money to do simple updates that should take 15 minutes, rather than 2 to 3 hours or more to recode the file, if that’s even possible.

If I was unable to keep/buy out a license for my older version of Flash – certain clients of mine would need to pay more, wait longer for what should be easy, simple updates.

“It’s the cost of doing business argument” – Yes things change, improve (sometimes – not always) … and I do my best to keep my clients up to date and compatible. But there is also custom service, something Adobe is horrible at; and by their new doctrine trying to impose upon us to have to impose on our loyal clients.

I don’t want to be faced with having to tell my clients, “your usual $ 50 update is going to cost $ 500, because … well Adobe updating things, and we have to rebuild the files from the ground up.” Sure we’ll all pass the buck and the cost down, but why should we be forced to do so?

• Many of us also use add-ons and plug-ins by third party vendors – sometimes these companies belly-up, are slow to update, and such – which is why I keep legacy versions of Photoshop that can still operate those add-ons and tools. Without having a legacy version of the software to run, those tools will break, and at times make editing or repurposing master files or archives difficult, or impossible.• Let’s face it … every software vendor kills apps. Adobe has killed Go Live, Dimensions, Pagemaker, Fireworks, to name a few. If we don’t have copies of the programs to be able to run down the road; any and every archive file we have is more or less useless; we can’t open it, we can’t edit it, or re-export it. Adobe’s license states that they are not liable for any changes they make to the software in CC – which means that more or less – us or our own clients have to eat additional costs and endure longer turn around times under these situations, with no recourse.

• Renting or subscribing for access to media is one thing – but for tools it’s entirely different. If you don’t have the right tool available for the job, you can’t do the job. Adobe is making it impossible for us to hold on to the tools we pay for and use indefinitely with Creative Cloud.

Anyone who is complacent about this, or shrugs it off as “well that’s just the way it is” is in my opinion naive, on Adobe’s pay roll, or very short sighted as to medium/long term issues and repercussions of this sort of drastic change.

Sign the petition now:
https://www.change.org/petitions/adobe-systems-incorporated-eliminate-the-mandatory-creative-cloud-subscription-model

25 years ago, a band from LA by the name of Redd Kross made a huge impact on me with their album “Neurotica”.

The album cover was shot by John Scarpati, and caught my attention – and inspired me visually as being engaging and interesting. The songs and lyrics connected with me profoundly – I liked rock, I liked punk, I liked glam – but the way Jeff & Steve McDonald along with Robert Hecker and Roy McDonald performed it took me to all new places – and ones where I felt welcome and less like an outcast or weirdo.

Or at least if I felt like I was a weirdo, I knew I wasn’t alone.

25 years later, I am proud to say that I’ve had the opportunity to photograph and work with Redd Kross for 12 years; and that with the wonderful help from Scarpati, one of my photos of the band is the cover of their first album in 15 years – “Researching The Blues”.

After hearing the new collection, I felt the same profound connection and kinship I did to the band a quarter of a century ago – except we were strangers then, and now we’ve become good friends.

I wouldn’t be doing what I do for a living if it wasn’t for the encouragement and support of Redd Kross, Vicki Berndt, Scarpati, Dave Markey, Imperial Teen, Persephone’s Bees, Daniele Luppi, Dave Naz, and many others. I am forever grateful for your inspiration and the wonderful doors you’ve opened for me – and the journeys we’ve taken together.

I look forward to many more.

Today’s launch is a new site for a new client of mine, voice actor Stan Robak.

Using modern technology and HTML5, with the help of Hype – I was able to add some simple animation without having to use Flash, and the media players are iOS friendly too!

As the demand for greater accessibility from my clients continues, I’m doing my best to find new tools and gain new skill sets to accommodate their needs to reach iPads/iPods/iOS and other devices. There is also a growing demand for WordPress and other CMS options from clients to be able to update at least portions of their sites or content easily on their own. My goal is provide them with the most affordable, customizable, and solid solutions possible.

We’ve worked together for 11 years now and are going strong! Keep an eye out for their latest album “Feel The Sound” available from Merge Records  Jan 31, 2012!

Chris Manning is a multi-platinum engineer, mixer and producer. Over the last 22 years, Chris’ musical efforts have contributed to sales of over 32 million albums worldwide. He works out of the San Francisco Bay Area, and Italy. Salamander Sound is the name of Chris’ music production company.

Check out http://salamandersound.com for more information!

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Vote for your favorite here: http://dyingscene.com/news/cover-art-battle-october-4th-misfits-new-found-glory-bombpops-vote/

Their new album, “How To Sail A Sinking Ship” comes out October 4th from Misfits Records – and I also did the layout for the CD package and iTunes booklet.

Be sure to check out this up and coming band – on tour now with the Misfits.

NEL is one of my longest running clients, having launched the original site in 2002. A lot has happened with the internet since then and we’re working with them to bring their site up to speed once again.

A cleaner design, and the introduction of an HTML 5 audio player are among the steps taken; more to come as we go thru the music archives and get those updated, and bring in more modern technology to the site.

http://naturalenergylab.com