Hey, peops. I have a fitting 4th of July post for you. A bunch of comic strips, just as the Founding Fathers intended.

A few weeks back, I mentioned how I recently located a treasure trove of my old daily comic strips for the local Boulder newspaper, the Colorado Daily. Called Cereal, the strip ran from 1983 to 1985 and included more than 400 comics in all.

Strange as it may sound, I'm reminded of Cereal by the recent and all-news-consuming death of Michael Jackson. (It's as if Ed, Farrah, Billy, Karl, and Prince never happened. Okay, Prince isn't dead but he's Prince, FFS! Shouldn't we be taking this time to thank our lucky stars Prince is still with us?!?) The years I wrote Cereal in obscurity were the same as those that MJ rocketed to superstardom with Thriller. So naturally, I devoted a handful of my strips to Thriller-era parodies. Read more » 

...on the Fourth of July. Yes, dekeOlutionaries, it's time for that yearly celebration of Independence Day here in the good ol' US of A. So I thought I'd wish you all peace, freedom, and love of history by playing this "Fireworks" episode of Schoolhouse Rock. For those of you who didn't a) grow up in the 1970's or b) grow up with the American Broadcasting Company piped into your living room, this little gem is part of a collection that played in between the regular cartoons on Saturday mornings. Schoolhouse Rock insidiously taught us all about history (as well as multiplication, grammar, and science) with catchy tunes and delightful animation, while we were busy eating pop tarts and trying to rot our brains. How many of us can still sing the preamble to the United States Constitution thanks to these crafty edutainers? "We the people, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility... (everybody, sing along now!)"

And should you wish to get out your camera out and shoot (pictures) of fireworks this year, here's a link to last year's roundup of advice for doing so, wherein I included another tidbit of pop culture from my youth. Once again wishing you all life, liberty and pursuit of happiness in whatever style you like. Read more » 

(And/or a rudimentary degree in Spelling.) Yes, my dekeOphiles, this week's discussion with the Photoshop Diva herself, Katrin Eismann, has convinced me that I should put everything on hold and go to New York to persue continuing arts education. Oh sure, it might have been the martinis, but when you hear Katrin describe the MPS in Digital Photography program that she chairs at the School of Visual Arts, you will want to abandon your current existence for the chance to immerse yourselves in this very enticing program.

Here's just some of what's in store: Read more » 

Followers of this site may recall a recent Martini Hour in which Colleen and I interview Karen Gauthier, product manager of a promising new application called GridIron Flow. Karen and I go way back to her days with Adobe, and as she's fond of reminding me, I talked her into joining GridIron. So it is with some pride I announce that Flow begins shipping today. (Coincidentally, Flow ships within a few days of the anniversary of dekeOnline, a project that Karen talked me into. So we're even, ha!)

Flow has been in development for the better part of the last two years, and it looks to me like time well spent. In fact, I regard Flow as essential software for any creative professional. For complete info, check out the Martini Hour episode (it's fairly entertaining, actually) or this ancient blog post.

The software is normally $299. But you can get Flow for just $199 at gridironflow.com/deke. That's $100 off, but only until July 3 at midnight Pacific. (If you start hearing fireworks here in the U.S., it's over.) After that, gridironflow.com/deke will get you $50 off. Either way, it's a great deal. Though, obviously, this week is better than next.

Read more » 

Hello, friends of dekeOnline. We're declaring that today is the official day that dekeOnline turns one. Yes, we can't believe it either. It's been such a wacky year of great tips, sassy videos, loungy podcasts, and tons and tons of great community participation from you wonderful dekeOmaniacs.

In order to celebrate, Deke and I have recorded a dekeOnline anniversary toast in deliciously rich 192kbps MP3 to thank all the people who got us this far. And if you're reading this, that includes you, baby! (And if you're wondering where the 320Kpbs version is, you are insane.) By the way, we recorded our toast in the dekeLounge after a Martini Hour (in case you can't tell). So it's 100% authentic and we are giddily repetitive. All because we love you. 

So cheers! Read more »