Yesterday, Melody and I decided to join the Eureka, MT Chamber of Commerce. We've found ourselves becoming increasingly active in regional economic development. County chambers, regional economic development, tourism initiatives, small business workshops. It's our belief that what's good for all businesses in the region will also be good for our business.

Joining the Eureka Chamber is just another way to take a greater interest in the economic health of the region as well as reaching out to another group of businesses in the area. If you're reading this and happen to be a member of the Eureka Chamber, expect to see us at the various monthly meetings and events.

As promised, here is the link to the Troy Chamber Newsletter (1.9M), designed by Alchemy DTP. Read and enjoy.

Been a few weeks since I first posted re: the iPod Touch. You'd think that with all the use I've been getting out of the thing, I would've had something to say by now.


Specifically, I'd like to address the new apps that Apple made available for the Touch in January plus the 1.1.3 firmware update. Together, these two features made the Touch almost the ideal PDA. Apple's decision to release the new apps as a paid upgrade (but free for new buyers) has been a bit of the proverbial thorn in many sides, but ultimately $20 was well worth it to me.

The addition of Mail in particular meant I dropped any interest in jailbreaking the Touch. The coming-soon-iPhone-SDK should cinch that. With Mail I am able to stay on top of multiple email accounts wherever I can find a wifi hotspot. With wifi becoming increasingly ubiquitous, it's almost never a problem when I'm on the move. The Notes app has also been useful and I'm becoming faster at using the Touch keyboard on a daily basis.

The 1.1.3 firmware update also improved two-way syncing between iCal and Address Book on my Mac and on the Touch. As such, this slick little device is fast becoming an excellent PDA. Hopefully, the SDK will pave the way for the ability to transfer, store, and read file formats on the Touch.

The Troy, MT Chamber of Commerce has decided to put out a bi-monthly newsletter about local business events and news. It's been designed by none other than Alchemy DTP. The newsletter is available for download from the Troy Chamber website. I'll post a link as soon as I'm given one.

Recently stumbled across this site in the midst of some research on complementary colors.

Go ahead. Type in a hex code. The tool generates a series of other colors that will complement the one you input. Includes complementary color, triad colors, and a color wheel. For designers of all walks this kind of information is invaluable. It reminds us all that the perception of color and color coordination isn't a function of what looks pretty. There's a process and a science to the way that people process colors that can be exploited.

Does this tool eliminate the need for human judgment? Does it just turn us all into mindless automatons? Of course not. It's a tool that can add to, rather than subtract from, the design process.