Archive for category How to

HOW TO: disable multitouch rotation in Photoshop CS4 for Mac

Adobe's implementation of multitouch features in Photoshop CS4 for Mac is very annoying… although multitouch 'pinch' zoom is useful, the multitouch rotation, which is extremely sensitive, isn't.

When you try to zoom (or even if you're accidentally touching the trackpad with two fingers) Photoshop often rotates the canvas by a few degrees or more — and there seems to be no easy way to set it back to straight without painstakingly using the multitouch rotation tool again. In short: this "feature" really gets in the way of getting work done.

If you find this annoying, like I did, you can download a plugin that Adobe has made available that disables multitouch functions in Photoshop CS4.

You can download it here:

http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/detail.jsp?ftpID=4337

To install it, open the disk image that downloads, and drag the plugin to your Applications > Photoshop > Plugins folder, and restart Photoshop.

Unfortunately it disables ALL multitouch actions, so you lose the multitouch zoom as well, but in my opinion getting rid of the annoying multitouch rotate is a greater advantage than the loss of multitouch zoom.

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Applying for a Journalist US I-Visa: everything you need to know

Visa requirements for travelling to the US as a journalist are a constant source of discussion among Australian IT journos. I went straight to the source, The US Consulate Sydney, to get the myths debunked once and for all.

Aussie IT journos frequently toss up questions like:

  • [Big PR company] assures me I don't need a Visa to go to [big vendor lovefest] because Australia/US have a visa waiver scheme for visits of up to 90 days now… is it true?
  • I'm a journo but am visiting the US for a leisure visit, honest to god. Do I really need a journalist visa?
  • [Large video card manufacturer] has invited me to their conference in San Francisco, departing in less than a week. But the consulate has no visa appointments. Is there any way I can get my foot in the door?

Here are the facts…

Read the rest of this entry »

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Firefox: how to disable the backspace keyboard shortcut

Ack, don't you hate that? You're working on the best blog post you've ever done in your life, then you hit the backspace key to correct a typo, and because you accidentally clicked outside of the text editor before hitting backspace, Firefox thinks you are a retarded Internet Explorer user trying to go back, and sends you to the previous page.

Fortunately, in modern browsers you can usually click 'forward' again and your text will still be in the editing box, but it's not guaranteed. If you want to disable this horrendous overhang from the days when Microsoft decided to reinvent what the backspace key was for, the fix is fortunately very simple.

1. In the Firefox address bar, type about:config
2. In the search box that appears, type browser.backspace_action
3. On the right, double click "0" in the value column and change it to "2" in the dialogue box that comes up.

Voila — you can close that page and the setting is in effect. No more estupido accidental go-backs for you any more.

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