Welcome to cryan.com
Thanks for visiting! I've managed this site since April 9, 1998, and lately, I've shifted my focus towards blogging. My daily blog post typically goes live around 11 p.m. EST. While I remain enthusiastic about content creation, I'm also dedicating time to stay abreast of the evolving blogging scene. This ensures I can keep delivering engaging and relevant content to my audience.
Its a busy Wednesday at cryan.com. The following are some major highlights regarding what has been going on:
- November 18, 2024 - I am excited to announce that I am changing the Wednesday blog category to Snagit. I am implementing this change to encourage QA users to produce higher-quality screenshots.
- November 11, 2024 - Lots of cleanup around the blog. Focus on making it look better on the homepage and in mobile.
- October 28, 2024 - Working on Blog category changes for November. BBEdit is likely to return and perhaps Affinity Designer.
- October 3, 2024 - Classic Mac Blog posts are paused in October for New England blog posts. All month long, I'll feature interesting Halloween-themed blog posts about New England.
- September 13, 2024 - Comments are currently disabled. Someone inquired about when they might be re-enabled; hopefully, it will be soon
- September 4, 2024 - Putting Keyboard Maestro blog content on the back burner. September is the iPhone season, so I thought I bring back the iPhone blog post content.
- August 16, 2024 - Comments are currently disabled and will remain so until September as we work on implementing a better solution to reduce spam. Spambots continue to target the site, and we're taking steps to prevent junk posts. Thank you for your patience during this maintenance period.
- July 23, 2024 - Comments have been disabled. There's too much spam. Feel free to reach me with any comments about a blog post.
- July 10, 2024 - On vacation this week, Blog post will be delayed.
- June 3, 2024 - Going to start archiving areas of the site that don't get traffic to save some server disk space.
- May 10, 2024 - Hosting server got upgraded to the latest PHP and broke some sections of the site, working on a fix.
- April 9, 2024 - Today we are celebrating the 26th anniversary of cryan.com!
- March 13, 2024 - Did the homepage load quicker today? I just updated the homepage graphic to use the AVIF image format. The image size went from 305 KB to 63 KB a savings of 77% with no lost in quality! If this goes well, I'll update the blog images to use the new format.
- February 28, 2024 - Earlier this month I started a new blog series call "Stories Behind the Photo." This blog post series takes a deeper dive into some of my photos and the backstory of the photo. In April, I'll add the series in the regular lineup of weekly blogs.
- January 1, 2024 - I have updated the homepage graphic. While the previous one featured a festive Christmas theme, the current graphic better represents my personal desktop and my diverse interests, many of which are reflected in the content of this website. Wishing everyone a Happy 2024!
- December 19, 2023 - I did a lot of code refactoring on the Blog pages. The goal is to get the pages to load quicker.
- December 14, 2023 - Updated the Quotes page with better styling and fixed some formatting.
- December 1, 2023 - Updated the About page and the Feedback page. With new styles and text. I will continue to enhance the 'About' page by adding more content. Additionally, I am in the process of creating a dedicated page for blog authors to upload documents they wish to submit for publication on the blog.
- November 30, 2023 - Lots of cleanup on the 1991 Gulf War pages. This is still a pretty popular section of cryan.com.
- November 27, 2023 - Currently engaged in the redesign and enhancement of the 'About Us' page and the '404 Error' page.
- November 7, 2023 - We've refined our PDF Library to enhance your browsing experience. With expanded category descriptions, you'll find navigating through our extensive collection more intuitive. All categories have been optimized to ensure seamless access. While the repository features a wealth of historical content, enthusiasts and researchers alike may uncover intriguing gems from the past. Explore at your leisure and discover the value in retrospection.
- October 31, 2023 - Happy Halloween! Today is the last day of the Halloween inspired header graphic. What creative graphic will appear here tomorrow?? Come back tomorrow to find out!
- October 30, 2023 - The RCIA reference page is back up and running! If your involved in the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults in any Catholic Church, you may want to check out the downloaded reference files.
- October 3, 2023 - Comments are back in the Blogs! You can now comment on any blog entry.
- September 20, 2023 - My plan is to scale back on the amount of content I will post on the blog. I still want to provide useful and relevant information, but I don't want to overwhelm my readers. I plan to focus more on quality over quantity and post less content per day.
- August 22, 2023 - Added some random blog links to the right panel on all blog posts pages.
Recent Blog Posts
| Category | Blog Headline | Teaser |
|---|---|---|
| Snagit | Using the Fill Tool to Convert Colors to Transparent in Snagit 2024 | A quick guide to making your images look professional with transparent backgrounds. |
| QA | How QA Saved the Day: Navigating Risky Pre-Holiday Releases with Confidence | Case Study: Navigating the Political Landscape in QA to Delay a Risky Pre-Holiday Release |
| Media | Nostalgia Trip: USA Today and The Weather Channel Commercials from the 1980s | Relive the 1980s: Willard Scott's USA Today Commercial and Vintage Weather Channel Forecast |
| Business | Essential Insights: The Impact of Website Performance on User Experience | |
| Internet Tools | xTiles | Say goodbye to cluttered notes and hello to a sleek, drag-and-drop interface that brings clarity to your chaos. |
| Macintosh | Expand Your iMac 2019 USB-C Ports with a Simple Adapter Solution | Learn how a USB-C Female to USB-A Male adapter can solve the port limitations on your iMac 2019 |
| BBEdit | Mastering BBEdit's Text Menu: Essential Commands for Effortless Text Editing on Mac | Unlock the full potential of BBEdit's Text menu with this comprehensive guide to its powerful text manipulation commands. |
Recent Blog Posts
| Category | Blog Headline | Teaser |
|---|---|---|
| Snagit | Using the Fill Tool to Convert Colors to Transparent in Snagit 2024 | A quick guide to making your images look professional with transparent backgrounds. |
| QA | How QA Saved the Day: Navigating Risky Pre-Holiday Releases with Confidence | Case Study: Navigating the Political Landscape in QA to Delay a Risky Pre-Holiday Release |
| Media | Nostalgia Trip: USA Today and The Weather Channel Commercials from the 1980s | Relive the 1980s: Willard Scott's USA Today Commercial and Vintage Weather Channel Forecast |
| Business | Essential Insights: The Impact of Website Performance on User Experience | |
| Internet Tools | xTiles | Say goodbye to cluttered notes and hello to a sleek, drag-and-drop interface that brings clarity to your chaos. |
| Macintosh | Expand Your iMac 2019 USB-C Ports with a Simple Adapter Solution | Learn how a USB-C Female to USB-A Male adapter can solve the port limitations on your iMac 2019 |
| BBEdit | Mastering BBEdit's Text Menu: Essential Commands for Effortless Text Editing on Mac | Unlock the full potential of BBEdit's Text menu with this comprehensive guide to its powerful text manipulation commands. |
Blog Topics Plans
| Today, November 20 | Affinity | Affinity Designer and Photo Tips and Tricks |
| Tomorrow, November 21 | BBEdit | BBEdit Tips and Tricks - Mastering Your Text Editor |
| Friday, November 22 | Macintosh | Mac Adventures: Stories, Tips, and More |
| Saturday, November 23 | Internet Tools | Useful Internet Tools - Enhancing Your Online Experience |
| Sunday, November 24 | Misc | Random Musings: From Tech to Trends |
| Monday, November 25 | Media | Weekly Media Digest: New Videos Every Monday |
| Tuesday, November 26 | QA | QA Tuesday - Great Tips and Tricks |