CC App Icons

What’s New in Creative Cloud – Keep Track of Continuing Updates

Last Updated August 28, 2024

A primary benefit of Creative Cloud is the ongoing feature releases for desktop apps. It can be tough keeping up with every release so I’ve provided a list of popular CC apps with links to their “What’s New” feature timeline. Be sure to bookmark this page as I continually update it with new app releases, and changes to the permanent links on Adobe.com.

== Check Current Status of Creative Cloud ==

===== CURRENT APPLICATIONS =====
The following applications are sorted by general category. I realize Photoshop can be used for drawing, Dimension can be used for compositing, etc. As the Adobe app portfolio continues to grow on desktop and mobile readers have found one long list of apps hard to decipher.

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CC App Icons

Creative Cloud Learning Center Tutorials

Last Updated August 28, 2024

The Creative Cloud Learning Center provides tutorials for the growing portfolio of CC apps. Be sure to bookmark this page as I update it as new apps are released or links change on Adobe.com.

Creative Cloud Tutorials | Creative Cloud for Enterprise Learning Hub | Enterprise IT Resources for Creative Cloud

Check Current Status of Creative Cloud

==== CURRENT APPLICATIONS ====
The following applications are sorted by general category. I realize Photoshop can be used for drawing, Dimension can be used for compositing, etc. As the Adobe app portfolio continues to grow on desktop and mobile readers have found one long list of apps hard to decipher.

Read More

Flashback Malware Affects 600,000 Macs – Five Steps to Secure Your Mac

As reported this week, as many as 600,000 Apple computers were infected with malware dubbed “Flashback” with the majority of users being in the USA. This particular variant uses a Java exploit and is NOT the same malware that was first seen in September 2011 and was associated with Adobe’s Flash Player. IT DOES NOT REQUIRE ANY MANUAL ACCEPTANCE OR INSTALL FROM USERS. It is also designed to immediately retrieve username/password info on infected machines.

Mashable has provided two Apple Scripts you can download to check and see if your Mac is infected. CNET has instructions on how to manually remove the malware. Currently, anti-virus providers have not updated their software with an automatic removal solution. Also note, Apple released a security update on April 3rd, but it only applies if you are running OS X Lion. Snow Leopard users are STILL vulnerable to the Flashback malware. Apple’s update closes the vulnerability it does not clean infected computers.

While Mac users are not plagued with as many attacks as PC users, this should not prevent Mac users from being proactive in securing their computers. Here are some guidelines to help secure your Mac:

  1. Do not logon with an Admin account. The default user account installed account on a Mac has complete Admin rights. You should create a new user account with limited privileges and only use the Admin account when you need to perform tasks such as installing software.
  2. Disable Java. This is not the same thing as JavaScript. In Safari go to Safari>Preferences>Security and uncheck “Enable Java”. For the OS go to the Applications folder then Utilities then  Java Preferences. Uncheck everything in the General tab. (Java is not installed on OS X Lion by default)
  3. Check for updates. Set OS X to check for updates at least once a week.
  4. Turn on OS X’s firewall.
  5. Consider third party anti-virus tools. This is an often debated topic, but there are many free utilities that do little to slowdown Mac system performance.

Preventing malware & virus infections starts with smart computing habits. Be alert & aware as you surf the Internet, and before you open that image ask yourself, “Would my mom really send me a nude picture of Snooki?”

How Technology is Changing Our Communication Habits

I was a great pen pal. Younger readers may have no idea what I’m talking about, but prior to computer email—YES before even the Internet—I wrote handwritten letters. Sending letters via postal mail service was the cheapest way to stay in contact with friends around the country. Yes, there was also a time when long distance phone calls were too expensive for everyday use. And *gasp* you had to use a land line, attached to a wall, in your house to make the call. Oh the agony of having only one phone per household.

That’s the amazing thing about today’s technology. We have so many ways to stay in constant contact with the folks we know anywhere in the world. Letters have been replaced by email, which has given way to social media outlets like Facebook, Google+ & Twitter. Mobile technology allows us to connect on the go, and cell phones are accessible to almost anyone.

However, technology has changed more than just how we stay in contact; it’s changing our communication habits. Raise your hand if you’ve done any of the following:

  1. Watched a movie, read an ebook, sent texts, talked on the phone in public.
  2. Checked your favorite social media channel while at the movies.
  3. Actively sent texts during a work meeting.
  4. Actively sent texts to someone while talking to someone else.
  5. Sent a Facebook message, tweet, or text to tell someone you emailed them.
  6. Texted your spouse, your kids, your parents for something while at home.
  7. Texted them while you’re in the same room.
  8. Talked on the phone or sent texts while driving—STOP THAT!

Some of the items above could be seen as bad social etiquette, the last one item #8 is a serious topic for another blog post. I see the above behavior a lot, and probably have committed more than one offense myself. With this seeming need/desire to be in constant contact I often wonder,

Why in this technological age of connectivity do we seem more disconnected?

Now, I am making a very general observation. Certainly, technology has played an important part in revolutionizing the way we communicate. Look no farther than the impact Twitter had on uprisings in the Middle East in 2011. What I am specifically referring to is the change in face-to-face communication, and how we interact in live social settings as families & friends. I see more folks plugged in and tuned out to the world around them. I thought this Xmas card that circulated the Internet last year a great summary of modern day communication.

(citation needed)

The changes I see go far beyond having our noses buried in our digital devices. How many folks can relate to the following statements?

  1. You have over 100 friends on Facebook, but you’ve never talked to your neighbors.
  2. Your relationship status isn’t “real” until it’s posted on Facebook.
  3. You have proposed or broken up with a text message.
  4. You communicate in the office with instant messaging even though your cubes are side-by-side.
  5. Your life is on your phone, to lose it would be the end of the world.
  6. If it were you trapped on a remote island, not Tom Hanks, you’d freeze to death.

OK, so maybe item #6 is also a separate blog post. Prior to technology becoming part of the mainstream those behaviors might have been limited to tech-savvy geeks, but it’s becoming more the norm as each generation is born amongst advancing technologies.

I’m not ranting against change, nor am I unwilling to accept this cultural evolution. I’m merely making observations as a digital immigrant adapting in a world growing with digital natives.

How do you think technology is affecting our social interactions & communications?

Stop SOPA & PIPA – Don’t Let Congress Censor the Internet

Despite what you may have heard President Obama did not kill SOPA. SOPA & it’s sibling PIPA are still very much alive. Don’t know what I’m talking about? Put simply, it’s NOT about piracy, it’s about censoring content on the Internet. Despite what Hollywood, and other media moguls might tell you, their failing business practices shouldn’t be used as a sledgehammer on our greatest communications tool.

This isn’t doomsday pandering, or Y2K nonsense, this is the real deal. If YOU create content, then you want to stand against SOPA & PIPA. It’s not protecting content creators, it’s about padding bank accounts & corporate greed.

Google Petition Against SOPA

American Censorship Petition Against SOPA