Mike on TAP

Speaking of the Swine Flu…

I just got this and thought I’d pass it along:

As you may have heard, Michigan has been experiencing increased influenza activity over the past several days. The Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH) would like to provide the following situational update:

• Thirteen thousand cases of influenza-like illness were reported to Michigan’s public health community in the past week.

• Almost all of the laboratory-confirmed cases of influenza are due to the 2009 Novel H1N1 influenza strain.

• he federal report of weekly flu activity in Michigan has been upgraded from ‘Regional’ to ‘Widespread’ (the highest of the CDC levels) due to recent and abrupt increases in influenza activity in all regions of the state.

• The current influenza level of activity is extremely unusual for this time of year.

• No mutations in the virus have been detected. This means that the 2009 Novel H1N1 vaccine will be effective against the currently circulating virus.

• We encourage our employees to be vaccinated against both seasonal and Novel H1N1 influenza when the vaccines are available in your area.

• Both strains of influenza (seasonal and Novel H1N1) will be present in our community through spring 2010.

• The Novel H1N1 influenza vaccine is made in the same manner as the seasonal influenza vaccine and shares a very safe track record for safety with seasonal vaccines.

• Over 225 school dismissals due to absenteeism have been reported in October, 2009. Reports of influenza-like illness account for the majority of the absences. Parents are strongly encouraged to make childcare arrangements in advance should school closures impact your family.

The Novel H1N1 vaccine for general public distribution is expected to be available later this fall. Currently, public health is only offering Novel H1N1 influenza vaccine to persons at high risk of transmitting the flu virus or developing complications from influenza infection. MDCH recommends continuation of the employee Safe Work Practices that have been previously shared. Please visit www.michigan.gov/flu for additional information.

Webdesigner Depot has a post about systematizing the graphic design process. As a graphic designer your job is to help viewers understand your client’s message and to help sell product. Developing a system helps to get the job done faster and (cough, cough) keeps you more organized. I’ll just list the highlights here but you would do yourself a service to visit the post and read the details for your self.

1. Collect the Necessary Information
2. Write Out a Proposal, Firm Quote, Contract and Plan
3. Brainstorm, Research and Inspiration
4. Try Different Things
5. The Revision Phase

Source: Webdesigner Depot

The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) has a post about Steve Balmer (Chief Koolaid Mixer at Microsoft) peddling his latest copy of the Mac OS on the Today show. Sharp eyes noticed an NBC-produced graphic in the background with a Windows 7 logo appearing on the screen of what clearly is a Mac laptop.

You can watch the video here. That’s probably not the kind of quality control Microsoft would have liked.

Source: The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)

FreelanceFolder.com is one of my favorite blogs and a recent post caught my eye: We rarely like to admit our mistakes, but if we fail to admit them and learn from them then they’re likely to be repeated. In this article I want to admit some of my mistakes to you, and share my experience so that you can avoid making them.

Wow. How can you pass up information like this? Visit his site to read the details of each mistake, how to make them and to see what his #1 mistake was.

Mistake #4 — Acting Like Someone I Wasn’t
Mistake #3 — Wasting Time on Unproductive Work
Mistake #2 — Leaving Jobs Until the Last Minute

Source: FreelanceFolder.com

I just stumbled onto KomunitasWeb. Looks like a nifty site with lots of how-to’s and info. I was looking around and found that he’s put together a listing of PHP tutorials. I thought I’d pass it along to you. If you find the list helpful, you might want to drop him a note saying thanks.

When I type this, google for ‘php tutorial’ result 8,950,000 pages. Yes, there are tons of great tutorial about PHP. But when you’re a beginner, it will make you confuse what tutorials you should read. Either it’s too complicated or just waste your time.

So, here the shortcut. Take it and be a better PHP programmer by tomorrow. Hmm, maybe not that fast. But here they are.

Source: KomunitasWeb

I just learned something new about Photoshop.

There are tons of undocumented Photoshop shortcuts out there, lots of which can make our lives a lot easier if we only take advantage of them. I want to show you one that I use often. I would only assume that as designers, we would typically have our rulers turned on most of the time. (I’ve tested this as far back as CS1) To access your Photoshop preferences quickly, just double-click on a ruler! That’s it!

Source: Bit Box

LCC Grad Brandon Armstrong is opening a new shop and you’re invited to the grand opening!

City Limits Car Club and B Unique Custom Designz & Apparel are hosting a community food drive to support local food banks during these tough economic times.

Join us for the Grand Opening of B Unique Custom Designz & Apparel on Oct. 24 from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. while supporting our local community. For further information go to www.buniquedesignz.com.

Source: Lansing State Journal

I don’t know if this is true or not but it makes for a good story.

We discovered this sign with the name “Betty” and the initials “B.J.R.” standing next to a small group of flowers on a Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) clone (part number 5984A – termed the am386) of the Intel 386 chip. Our latest information is that the Betty sign was placed on this chip in honor of David Reebel’s mother, who passed away during the mask layout and before the chip was completed. David was a contract layout designer on the am386 project, and we dedicate this photomicrograph to the honor of his mother, Mrs. Betty Reebel.

Source: Molecular Expressions

I just got this via email and thought I’d pass it along:

Due to the potential for an H1N1 outbreak in our service area, Lansing Community College is surveying students, faculty and staff to determine if there is interest in receiving the H1N1 vaccine free of charge. The vaccination would be provided on our Main Campus only, but all students, faculty and staff at our other locations would be welcome to come to the Main Campus to receive the vaccination. Please take a moment to answer our two-question survey.

Take the Survey here.