SGN Last week I shared how I’ve been enjoying John Krasinski’s (The Office, Jack Ryan) “Some Good News” weekly YouTube show – a bright ray of hope for these dreary days. I also said I’d post a reminder when the...
I know this isn’t quite the usual Rocket Yard post, but I felt a little change of pace might be nice. It’s hard to not get dragged down when an entire nation—and a good chunk of the globe—is shut down....
Rocket Yard has been doing a series of articles designed to help deal with the issues many of us are facing as we work from home during the COVID-19 shelter-in-place order. But just because you are stuck at home doesn't mean that you have to be stuck at your desk or kitchen table. You probably have a laptop, so try mixing things up a bit, and be mobile at home as you work from home! An occasional change of environment can help break the monotony, keep your spirits up a bit, and even force you to get a few steps in since you won't be hitting the gym any time soon. To help you get moving while you stay in place, we have put together several things to consider and a few resources to keep your laptop in tip-top shape.
Many consider April 22, 1970, to be the day that the modern environmental movement was born – it is the birthday of Earth Day. This year is the 50th anniversary, so we at Rocket Yard decided to expand our scope...
As with photo editing applications, there are several vector illustration apps on the market that offer an alternative to Adobe Illustrator, such as Corel Draw. For many creative professionals, switching away from a workhorse like Illustrator will require the new software to check several important boxes. This article can provide some insight into why Affinity Designer might be worth a look for many Illustrator users. Like Affinity Photo, Designer offers a professional feature set, is available for Mac, iPad, and PC, and offers a very affordable perpetual license.
Last week, The Rocket Yard showed you how to use Apple’s Numbers spreadsheet app for iOS and iPadOS to capture info with forms. This week, we’ll show you how to use the free Keynote app for Mac to create a fancy photo slideshow. Why Not Just Use the Photos App? You’re probably asking yourself, “Wait, why not just use the Photos app to create a slideshow?” There are some good reasons to use Keynote for your slideshows instead of Photos...
The latest addition to Serif's Affinity suite, Publisher, is designed to provide a professional layout environment similar to InDesign or Quark Xpress. Released in June 2019, in some respects, Publisher doesn't yet have the feature depth of its competitors. However, in others, it surpasses them. And in general, it is both capable and very easy to learn. While it won't fit every workflow, especially publishing teams that rely heavily on complementary apps like Adobe InCopy, Affinity Publisher is an appealing option for freelance designers, students, and recent graduates, and others not dependent upon an Adobe ecosystem.
Today is April 6, 2020 – the day that the NCAA Championship was scheduled to be played. But like virtually all sporting events in this country, March Madness has been canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Today is also the birthday of one of my favorite people in the world, someone I am honored to call a friend — singer-songwriter, recording artist, composer, teacher, and author, David Barrett. Now, you may not know David, but if you follow collegiate sports in any way, you are likely familiar with something he wrote — a little ditty called “One Shining Moment.” It’s the anthem of NCAA Basketball and the soundtrack to a highlight reel that every college basketball player dreams of appearing in.
After you work from home for a while, you build up a collection of apps and utilities that become a toolkit for your at-home workflow. Everyone's toolkit will be different, with some specialized tools for the type of work they do, but there will likely be some core products found in everyone's toolkit for working at home. In this Rocket Yard guide, we will take a look at apps and tricks to help you manage your work-from-home environment. This is by no means an exhaustive look at available apps and utilities, but it should provide an inkling of the type of workflow utilities and tricks you may need.
