Half Way Through the AER HEAD Kickstarter! New Computer Tech Stuff!

Half way through the Kickstarter! So elated that people have come together to support myself and an artist and my dreams :) . Read my latest Kickstarter update here. Many thanks to all my current backers, and if you haven’t already joined the fun, please do so and select an AER HEAD reward like a digital or physical copy of the book :)

In other news, I added a new media section to my website! Since I’m reaching out to people and news entities about my Kickstarter, I wanted to add a tailored section of select media like articles, interviews, and podcasts that feature my Kickstarter. Check it out!

Business & Tech Stuff

You’ll see at the bottom of the media section a coaching call with Tyler James of the ComixLaunch podcast. It’s humbling for me to have this out on the internet because we discuss problems I’ve been having in the freelance world, but it’s always a learning journey.

One of the hurdles I faced recently was that I had to get a new computer during my Kickstarter - super stressful! But I am typing to you right now on the new computer and IT’S AWESOME. I’m also just glad that the screen doesn’t blink in and out and that programs start in 2 seconds. Keep in mind that I had to get the computer regardless of how the Kickstarter went, as it was literally dying. None of the Kickstarter money will go to the computer unless I make extra beyond my stretch goals.

I highly recommend doing THOROUGH research when buying a new computer if you’re mid-career. When you’re a student, you take what you can get, but as you grow professionally you realize that sometimes “off the shelf” computers won’t cut it. Brace yourself, I’m gonna get my TECH on:

Refurbished 2018 MacBook Pro on the left. Early 2011 MacBook Pro on right. Yes I’ve made that baby last 8.5 years by Frankensteining it. This model was one of the last of its kind where you could switch out the parts. Today’s Macs are built in one solid piece so if one part has problems internally, you pretty much have to get a new computer. For the 2011 one, I replaced nearly everything in it except the screen, keyboard, and fan. The logic board was the first to go - took it to Apple’s Genius Bar & they fixed it. Then the hard drive went - luckily I got it replaced without losing data. I upgraded my RAM 3 times on this Mac - once all by myself. The RAM is Random Access Memory (yes the Daft Punk album is based on actual tech stuff lol)

Over the years of having that computer I gradually learned about the tech stuff to save money. WHY was my computer slowing down and what was the cheapest way to fix it? I’ve learned through asking techie friends, YouTube, and Apple support on the phone & in-store. It’s difficult for me to understand everything about RAM, for example, but the only thing you need to know is that THE MORE RAM YOU HAVE, THE BETTER because it speeds up your computer. I knew that if I wanted my next computer to have a chance at lasting many years I HAD to get the highest RAM possible, which meant customizing, which you can do on the Apple website.

But customizing is more expensive. I decided to look into the refurbished section of the Apple site and found one that was modified to 32GB of RAM instead of the standard 16. I had to wait awhile for an affordable computer (their inventory fluctuates all the time. Once literally a mac disappeared before my eyes! BEFORE my EYES!!) but a suitable one popped up and I snatched it!

Another problem was that I couldn’t easily transfer all my files from the old Mac to the new one due to hard drive size. Years ago my external HDs kept failing so I saved all my data on the Mac’s internal HD & backed up remotely through CrashPlan (switched to Carbonite now). When I replaced the HD on the old computer, I souped it up to 500GB, but the new Macs come with only HALF that due to people saving files in various clouds. For all my previous computers, I just migrated the old computer to the new one, but trying to do that now would have caused many problems because you can’t transfer 500GB of data to a device with only 256GB of space.

In THIS case tough, I did NOT choose to buy the extra internal HD space because it was hella expensive!! You can always get more EXTERNAL HD space for way less. I got 2 1TB external HDs, each for like $60. I downloaded all the data from Carbonite to one of the HDs. I never used TimeMachine because it’s for the entire system & don’t want to go down that tangent. In my case, I think Time Machine would have made the transition more complex.

Anyway my newer Mac has the regular 256GB internal HD, and I’m storing all my data now on an external HD, which I’m backing up to a 2nd external HD and will reconnect it to Carbonite later to also back up my new files to their cloud.

Ok my eyes are bugging out from re-living all of this lol! My new computer journey was even more complex than this but I have to stop here or my brain will explode. This stuff is hard for me to understand but I CAN learn it if I try, but I do get burned out easily from it. Made lots of progress though and am super happy with the end result!

Computer Crash!!

There I was last Saturday night, working on some sketches for a client in Photoshop, when suddenly the screen went spaZoid, then black.  I remained calm.  But then I started to worry when my computer wouldn't restart!  I immediately made a Genius Bar appointment for the next day at the 24-hour Apple store (yes, we have one of those in NYC :)

Basically it was a problem with the laptop's logic board, and apparently was a defect of some early 2011 computers, because they fixed it for free!  Thank God, because it would have been like $600 otherwise, and this computer is 5 years old, so I'd probably only get another year out of it anyway. 

Luckily, I wasn't too worried about data loss because I back up via Crash Plan!!  It's basically cloud backup.  At first, when my external hard drive crashed a few years ago, the concept of backing up to some unknown location was scary to me, but it actually works out very well!  Before, with my external HD, I'd only backup at the end of the day (or every few days), but this way I backup continuously.  I had to redo some stuff on the one file I was working on at the time of the crash, but all other files I'd worked on that day were fine.  But seriously, if I didn't have the comfort of cloud backup, this situation could have been A TOTAL DISASTER.

But the Mac doctors had to take my computer away to do some operations for a few days.  I had separation anxiety, as I'm protective of my laptop to a ridiculous degree.  They said it could take 5 business days, but I insisted it had to be fixed by Thursday, as I have a weekly deadline (the No Tears: Life With FD comic!  Colored digitally in Photoshop).  Of course, there is never a good time for a crash to happen, but when an artist relies heavily on their computer to get work done for many clients, it's a tough situation!  I was very adamant about this, and the Mac doctors were very understanding.  I did have some physical drawings for a custom comic that needed to be done in the meantime though, so I was still productive.  Luckily, they fixed my Mac 2 days early!  The squeaky wheel gets the grease! 

And so far all files and programs are OK and running smoothly (knock on wood).  The Mac doctors didn't have to wipe my drive, so I didn't even need to spend the time re-uploading everything from Crash Plan and was able to jump right back into work!  Given everything that happened, with so many points at which things could take a turn for the worse, this situation turned out pretty damn good!  

Wacom Worries

This week, my Wacom Intuos Pro tablet stopped working.  For the past month or so, I noticed when I connected it to my computer, its lights flickered a bit and it had trouble with connectivity (it wouldn't recognize my pen on screen).  If I jiggled the USB port on the tablet side (pictured above), it usually was able to connect.  But the problem grew more and more until Tuesday when I was working on art at Carmine Street Comics, it died completely.  

I knew the problem was with the wobbly port on the tablet side (not my computer's USB port), and figured I may be able to do a work-around fix-it of connecting wirelessly.  The Intuos Pro Wacom has this feature.  However, upon watching a video on how to set up the wireless option, I learned you have to charge the battery with the cord VIA THE USB PORT.  It wasn't completely wireless!  I had to get the port fixed even if I wanted to go wireless.  Luckily it was still under warranty!  I'd gotten it last year around Christmas time.  

Immediately, I looked up the Wacom warranty info online, called Best Buy, and after awhile on the phone they located my receipt in their database.  They said to come in to the store and they could replace the tablet.  I had to go to 2 Best Buys and stand in multiple Customer Service lines multiple times, but luckily they were able to trade in my old Wacom with cord for a new one.

But I asked them how to avoid this same problem happening in the future?  I had that tablet for only 10 months before it konked out on me, and it cost about $300.  I also have seen that this port failure is a common problem from reviews online.  The Best Buy rep said something about contacting the Wacom company directly.  I think a better option would be for me to set up the wireless option so I use the cord less, thus prolonging the port life.  I use the tablet a lot, but not excessively, and for this problem to happen so soon concerns me.  Maybe the cord moved around more because I'm left-handed?  

I was able to set up the wireless option and the tablet has worked like a charm today.  Above shows the wireless connection - you still have to have this tiny square plugged in to the USB port on your computer in order for the tablet to connect without a cord.  This thing is so tiny that I'm worried it'll get lost somewhere.  I'm always plugging and unplugging various devices into my USB ports - printer, scanner, external hard drive, thumb drive, etc.  It's only a matter of time before this tiny thing gets lost.... I wish it had some loop on it like a key ring or something.  I'm sure others have lost it too.  I guess I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.  Maybe I can get another one online if I need to?  But the main thing now is thank God my Wacom works again and THANK GOD this problem did NOT happen in the middle of an intense coloring project, one of which I'm expecting soon.

Correction and Liability Shift

For the Brooklyn Book Festival this weekend, Papercutz will be in different locations on Saturday and Sunday, and that means other publishers will too.  In yesterday's post, the Metro Tech location is for SATURDAY ONLY, and Papercutz will be at booth #3.  Most Children's Day activities will be going on in the Metro Tech Commons.  Sunday, the main day of the Festival, Papercutz will move outdoors to Booth 308, near the court house, and here's the map.  It'll be beautiful weather this weekend, so hope to see you there!

If you're an indie artist or own a small business and accept credit payments, listen up:  you need to be ready for the "Liability Shift" in 2 weeks.  Basically, credit cards are moving towards having tiny chips inside them instead of the magnetic strip, which will apparently be more secure.  If you have a Square card reader, you have to buy a $49 new reader to accept credit payments.  If you don't, and you swipe a fraudulent card, YOU'LL be responsible for the lost charges, NOT the banks.  It looks like getting the new reader is the way to go because it will protect everyone more.  Granted, Square said they'll reimburse for the reader up to $49 in their fee credits after you use it for 3 months.  However, their fees are very small, and I don't use the reader that much.  I use it once a month for comic conventions, but actually most people pay in cash.  I'm glad to have the Square reader though, because it does help like 20% of the time.  But no way will I charge enough people to make up the $49 in small fees over 3 months, and will probably still end up paying around $45.  So even though I pre-ordered the new chip Square reader, I feel forced into it.

This brings to mind that the way technology is going, we artists have to keep buying more and more expensive tech tools just to keep up.  Adobe's new payment system has me and others locked into paying $50/month for the programs we need, and they have a monopoly because they're the industry standard.  My Mac is pushing 5 years old, and is running terribly show.  I fear the day it will konk out completely, because I can't afford a new one.  This has already happened to some of my artist friends, and it's like a catch 22 - they can't afford a new computer or the programs they need, so then they can't get new jobs in their field.  And because they can't get those jobs, they can't make more money to buy new upgrades.  This is something that seriously scares me and I don't know the solution to it.  

Thanks for listening to my little rant :P  But it's the weekend - everything is better on the weekend!