Ever Wonder How You Can Play Video Games and Get Paid

Posted on Sunday June 15, 2014 by Jacob Campbell.

I’m not much really much of a gamer. I own a Playstation 3, but it hasn’t been plugged into my TV for probably almost a year. I did enjoy playing Grand Theft Auto IV and Assassin’s Creed. I recently listened to In Social Works podcast with Michael Langlois: Gamer-Affirmative Practice: Today’s Play Therapy.

Mike Langlois has a blog called Gamer Therapist. While I’m not super interested in video games specifically, I have for a long time been interested in the interaction between mental health treatment and technology. The reason I originally bought a mac is wanting to learn how to create some iPad apps related to mental health treatment. While I still haven’t learned Objective C (well, now it would be better to pursue SWIFT), my practice has been greatly been improved by technology.

I’m not sure if I’m going to bring my playstation into the office anytime soon and start implementing it my practice. It is an interesting avenue to pursue and look into.

Fishies and Eggs

Posted on Saturday June 7, 2014 by Jacob Campbell.

It’s been a while since I’ve posted any family stuff on here, so I figured I needed to put together some recent throwbacks. The last couple of weeks I’ve had my head down and working on my business. I’ve been doing more side graphic, logo, website, and other design services. I made a website for my mom’s dōTERRA business (Judy Dirks, A Guide to Living Well). It’s super beautiful and uses a parallax design on the header images and turned out pretty amazing. I made it in Squarespace, and am pretty proud of my work.

The logo I put together for my new business, The Design Clinic .

I’ve also put together a website and new logo for my business. I spent a couple of months trying to come up with a name that I felt really worked and wanted. The Design Clinic was the name that I ultimately came up with.

While, I know that Easter is quite a while ago, but I put together a short little video of Mateo doing his Easter Egg Hunt. He is super cute, you can view it on YouTube (Fishies & Eggs – Easter 2014).

I also put uploaded a new album of photos from Mateo’s visit at his Grandpas farm in Benton City. His first time riding a horse, there were some pretty cute photos. You can find it on the Facebook Album, Grandpa Lives on a Farm.

Quick Happy Birthday Graphic

Posted on Saturday May 3, 2014 by Jacob Campbell.

SOA style Happy Birthday Graphic for Minnie

Not going to be a long post, just a quick graphic I put together for Minnie’s Birthday. She really likes Sons of Anarchy, so I figured that theme would be fun (even if it is a day late). I found the picture on Northwest Harley Blog and used the magic healing brush to erase the writing. I used the Carnevalee Freak Font to try to match the Son’s of Anarchy Font with applied shadow and stroke. The SOA Logo was taken from one of lots on the internet with the background deleted and a circular shape with opacity placed behind it to help it stand out (and some other blending options). If you’re interested, you can download the photoshop file.

Jump in The Stream, Favorite Podcasts

Posted on Sunday April 27, 2014 by Jacob Campbell.

A photo of me when I was going to Columbia Basin College doing a back flip into the Columbia River in Richland.

I’ve heard about people who live outside of New York and other metropolitan areas having to commute for two hours each way. According to US Census Bureau 2011 Report the average commute time in the United states is 25.5 minutes. That number is fairly skewed because it incorporates persons who work at home (with no commute) and persons who don’t work at home. They found that amend workers who do not work at home, 8.1 percent had a commute of 60 minutes or longer and that a majority of those tend to drive alone. WNYC has a pretty cool interactive map that you can look at average commute times.

Last year, when I was commuting from Prosser to Tri-Cities for work, about a 45 minute trip there and the same coming back. I found that having such a lengthy trip to get back and forth to work to be extremely burdensome. I would get back home, and just be so tired, not wanting to do anything. It did have some benefits as well. It gave me time to decompress about my day. It also started a new habit for me, listening to Podcasts.

I grew up listening to talk radio and books on tape with my mom for years. I really love NPR and have talked about National Public Radio on my blog a number of times. When I started doing my commute, I ended up starting to listen to podcasts, and I really fell in love. There are so many topics and possible options. The following are what I’ve been listening to.

Cover art for Mac Power Users

Mac Power Users – Podcast in iTunes

This is by far my favorite podcast, and I’ve written about them a number of times. If you are a mac / apple product users, I would highly recommend it no matter what your expertise level is. I have learned so much, and I have improved my productivity with their content so much I absolutely love it. I’ve even been talked about on one of their episodes, in Podcast Famous. They are a large part of the reason I decided to go to Macworld / iWorld 2014 this year, and I even met them there. All of the other podcasts on the 5by5 Network that I listen to, are because I first heard their guests on MPU.

Cover art for Back to Work

Back to Work – Podcast in iTunes

While, I don’t think that I’ve posted anything on my website regarding Back to Work or Merlin Mann, I look forward to this show so much every week. While I’m not really a comic book fan (and sometimes I just don’t pay attention when they talk about them), I absolutely love their show. This is one of the few podcasts that Minnie is willing to listen too, and she actually thinks some of it is funny. They talk about productivity, communication, work, barriers, constraints, tools, and more. I have learned a ton. The fact that my workflow has changed, and that I’ve somewhat incorporated David Allen’s Getting Things Done (don’t worry, I will do a book review sometime soon regarding his book) is due to Merlin Mann and Back to Work. While they do sometimes talk about technology, they don’t always so even if your not a tech nerd, I’d highly recommend this show.

Cover art for Freakonomics

Freakonomics – Podcast in iTunes

This is another show that I’ve talked about several times on my site. While I haven’t read any of the books yet, I am hoping to. Every week they come out with interesting topics, things that just peak my interest and make me want to learn more. The way that they describe it, is that they talk about the hidden side of everything. This is one of those shows that I listen to, and I come away and feel like I’m just smarter. It’s great, and even Minnie really likes it.

Cover art for Smart People Podcast

Smart People Podcast – Podcast in iTunes

The Smart People Podcast has a lot of really great guests that come onto their show. They have professors, doctors, business leaders. Unlike many of the other Podcasts that I listen to, they tend to keep their shows close to a half hour, so you can almost always fit it in in one listening. Even the guests and topics that I don’t think I would care very much about end up being really interesting. Much of the show is about finding your passions and being a creator of stuff. It’s pretty interesting and great guests.

Cover art for CultCast

Cultcast – Podcast on iTunes

I have several technology and more apple centric podcasts that I listen to. This one is fun. I even got to meet them and go to a private party when I was in San Francisco. It tends to be mostly news and rumors regarding apple products. I wouldn’t recommend it for everybody, but it makes me laugh and has some interesting topics.

Cover art for Systematic

Systematic – Podcast on iTunes

Systematic is hosted by Brett Terpstra who is pretty amazing. I use so many of the great things that he has created and put together. The software he has written and scripts that I’ve been able to download makes everything on my mac so much better. His podcast is another interview style show. He talks to all kind of people do all kinds of jobs (although a lot of them tend to in the computer sciences). It’s always interesting to hear about how people do their work, what they are excited about, and what their lives look like. There does tend to be a lot of discussion regarding technology, especially apple products / apps, but it’s really good stuff.

Cover art for Social Work Podcast

Social Work Podcast – Podcast on iTunes

This is the most recent addition to my podcast listening habit. It’s pretty good information. I’ve been going through his back catalogue. He doesn’t post on a schedule, but it seems to be about monthly, but not set schedule. I decided that because I had so many technology focused podcasts, I needed to find something that could keep me up to date regarding my day job too. I looked at a couple, and this was the best one I found. If you your a social worker, or in a counseling related field, it’s pretty good with some really high profile guests and a wide range of topics.

Review of Buttrick’s Practical Typography

Posted on Sunday April 6, 2014 by Jacob Campbell.

Graphic of the dictionary definition of typography.

While I am not hyper typographically aware, I do still care quite a bit about it. In my design, I do feel that that I practice ok typography. There are a great number of articles and stuff written by typography devotees that I will not spend very much time ranting about my likes and dislikes.

Be­cause you are a pro­fes­sion­al writer, you are already a ty­pog­ra­ph­er. You may be a re­luc­tant ty­pog­ra­ph­er. You may be an un­skilled ty­pog­ra­ph­er. But every time you put words on a print­ed page, you’ve made ty­pog­ra­phy hap­pen. So you are a typographer.

– Why typography matters, Buttrick’s Practical Typography

I recently finished reading Butterik’s Practical Typography. It’s an online book, something that I’ve never seen before. It’s an interesting way to publish a book. Due to the topic, I think that it is probably one of the best possible ways to publish. When I am wondering how to do something typographically, I’m very likely to google it, not to pick up some hardcover book and flip through it. I book marked it and read it on my iPad, which I think was much more comfortable to do then on a computer screen.

I didn’t realize previously how inclusive typography really is. According to Wikipedia, Typography includes “the arrangement of type involves the selection of typefaces, point size, line length, leading (line spacing), adjusting the spaces between groups of letters (tracking) and adjusting the space between pairs of letters (kerning).”

The cover to our pamphlet that i am working with my co-workers to put together.

Buttrick goes through all of the different components of typography, along with font selection (which is what I used to think typography was). I found myself realizing how bad some of my typography for my day job really is. I’ve started adjusting my form letters that I write to my clients. I also went through and adjusted my personal letterhead (yes, I have my own letterhead, because I’m a little bit crazy).

One major project that a couple of co-workers and myself have undertaken is trying to reduce the number of forms our clients have to fill out during their initial mental health evaluation. Because we are a community counseling agency, the amount of forms they have to complete is pretty outrageous. We are attempting to go through and have a simple pamphlet. i obviously said that I would love to actually format and put together the pamphlet wanting to be able to implement some of the skills I had learned.

If you every have to write reports, letters, anything that you give to anybody else, I’d highly recommend reading Buttrick’s book!

Read the Book!

Back and it Went by like a Flash

Posted on Monday March 31, 2014 by Jacob Campbell.

The view of banner with the dates for next years Macworld / iWorld event.

I’m back at home now. The rest of my trip was fun, and went by very quickly. My last day in San Francisco was a little obscured by rain. I went back for one more trip to the expo hall and made my way around all of the smaller iOS and OSX Developers. I signed up to try to win a ScanSnap Scanner (they are really amazing, and I’m planning on buying one at some point). If I had money, I would have also bought a File Transporter because there was a great discount and I’ve been wanting one for a long time. There was a ton of other stuff that was very interesting, and I could see myself using and purchasing in the future. I got to sign up for the public beta for BusyMac new contact management software which will be released soon.

I walked around the Financial District for a while and went to the Apple Store (I’ve actually never been to a real apple store. It was cool, but I was much more blown away by the Macworld Event. I went to bed early that night, because I had to get up at 3:45 AM to be able to catch my 7 am flight. I arrived at Sea Tac Airport and started making my way back to the Tri-Cities to see my Family. You can see the following video’s that I uploaded to YouTube of Mateo playing with the Slow Motion controls on my iPhone 5s. It makes me laugh :). I hope you enjoy it.

Make sure to check out my album, Macworld / iWorld 2014. on Facebook, as I’ve uploaded the rest of my photos from the trip.

The First Look, Conference Beginnings and Sights

Posted on Saturday March 29, 2014 by Jacob Campbell.

The view of the Expo Hall at Macworld / iWorld coming down from the elevator at Monscone Center in San Francisco .

It’s been a whirl wind of a trip so far. I arrived in San Francisco at about 12:50 at the airport, but it was a real mission getting to my hotel, as I didn’t get there until about 3 something in the afternoon. I ended up taking the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit), which was a great ride. I found myself really disconcerted with the app I had downloaded to try to navigate my trip. I ended up using the Embark iBART. I didn’t realize that it was not going to give my any of the other transit directions. It told me to to get off at station at 22nd and Mission and walk two miles and something. I read it, and figured it wouldn’t’ be too bad. While it’s not that far, walking with my Indiana jones style bag and towing my Swiss Gear carry on bag behind. Not only was it an hour and a half walk, but it started me off walking down Mission in one of the poorer areas of San Francisco lining the road with the homeless or vagrants.

22nd and Mission San Francisco CA

Tweet with My Bag in It…

@MacSparky Listened to your gear episode. David, figured I'd. Show off my own Indiana Style bag... $5 at Goodwill. pic.twitter.com/Nec4bP9B2C

— Jacob Campbell (@campjacob) July 16, 2013

I checked in at my hotel, Aida Plaza Hotel. It is clean, but very antiquated hotel very much near the financial district. It was the cheapest hotel that I could find with short notice last week. The room I paid for has shared bathrooms and showers. The room is pretty small, but is perfect what I need it for. After getting myself settled in and getting my bearings (and resting my legs a little bit) I made my way to Monscone Center where the conference and expo hall is being hosted. I was able to get over there and get my first glimpse of the exposition hall. More than the trade type show floor, there is a conference with various trainings regarding how to use various software and other creative activities. There is also an IT conference and training all combined into this event. I was only able to purchase the lowest cost ticket (just the expo hall) for financial reasons. This being said, there has been more than enough to keep me busy wandering around the conference.

The first day, I just walked around and really tried to take in the whole scene. I didn’t really stop at many booths or connect with anybody too much. As the hall closed for the first day, I walked to Mel’s Drive-in for Dinner. Back to the Motel and then to The Box SF for a party and live recording of the Cultcast Podcast. They are a pretty great podcast, and always make me laugh. It’s much more news / rumors related then the other shows that I listen to. They had an open bar, which made me feel a bit like a VIP. I got to meet a number of people, but especially a IT consultant from Seattle.

The Rock Stars! David Sparks is the one being hugged in the middle and Katie Floyd is on the far right. It was cool to get to meet them.

The next morning, I made my way back to the Expo Hall. I spent the majority of the day doing a bit of deeper dive into all of the booths, asking questions, and looking at all the cool stuff being sold (I really wish I had some money to buy stuff, there are some great deals). I’ve been able to meet some of the developers for applications that I love on my Mac. I also got to meet Katie Floyd and David Sparks of the Mac Power Users, my absolute favorite podcast. It felt a bit like meeting some rock stars, at least in the geek circles.

Afterwards I made my way down to China Town. I walked down a ways, and ended up having a Mai Tia at a bar, that the bartender told me is the oldest bar in China Town and having a good conversation with a guy from Brazil and another guy who works as an activist for an environmental organization.

All in all, it’s been a lot of fun. Today, I’m going to go back to the Expo Hall for a little while. I’m hoping to do a bit more of the tourist thing. I haven’t decided yet, but I’m thinking the Worf. Make sure to check out my album, Macworld / iWorld 2014. on Facebook.

Bitten Years Ago, I’ve Got the Bug

Posted on Thursday March 27, 2014 by Jacob Campbell.

Yes, I have the Travel Bug. A graphic I quickly put together in Adobe Illustrator depicting the words “Travel Bug” and some other graphics taken from All Free Downloads The Bee

I’m getting more and more excite for my Trip to San Francisco for Macworld / iWorld – See my post It’s Final, Tickets Bought. I’m currently sitting in the SeaTac Airport, waiting for my flight to leave in about an hour. I’m sure I will have more to share in the next couple of days (so expect to see some for frequent posts from me this week if I can get around to it.).

Last night I got to visit my aunt and cousin. It is so good to be able to get to spend time with family. In doing calculations, it seemed as if it wouldn’t be much more expensive to stay somewhere and do the sleep and fly thing and not have to pay for parking. I had previously called Knights Inn Sea Tac Airport and was told the price would be around $58. I calculated the cost for parking, it looked like it would be around $40, so the sleep, fly, park option seemed a great deal. It ended up costing closer to $88. I really dislike when things are somewhat deceptive.

Anyways, it all works out. While you wait for more posts, you can read all of my former travel journals, or my Jaunt Down South 2010, or European Excursion 2008.