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Alternatives To Adobe's Creative Suite?
jsepeta writes "I've been using Adobe products for years, and own several older versions of the products from their Creative Suite: Photoshop, Illustrator, Indesign, Acrobat Pro, and Dreamweaver. I'd like to teach some graphic design and web production skills to my coworkers in the marketing department, and realize that most of them can't afford $2500 to buy Adobe's premium suite and, frankly, shouldn't need to because there should be competitive products on the market. But I can't seem to locate software for graphic design and printing that outputs CMYK files that printing companies will accept. And I'm not familiar with any products that are better than FrontPage yet still easy to use for Web design. Any suggestions? Our company is notoriously frugal and would certainly entertain the idea of using open source products if we could implement them in a way that doesn't infringe upon our Microsoft-centric hegemony / daily work tasks in XP."
have not switched to Vista yet? =O
Rita awoke on a bright winter morning feeling very refreshed. She looked over to the calendar on the night stand and saw that it was December 24. 'Yes! Only one more day!' she thought happily. Rita was 17 years old and had acquired a job at the mall during her Christmas break. There, she was in charge on collecting the money from parents whose kids got to have their picture taken with Santa. It wasn't a bad job, but Rita was really looking forward to having some time off for a while. Rita climbed out of bed and headed towards the shower. The warm water spraying on her naked body felt very good, as the night before had been quite chilly. Afterwards, she dried herself off with a big, fluffy towel and then walked back into her room. She slipped on a pair of white, cotton panties and began brushing her hair. She then put on her red and white Christmas suit, along with the traditional (and snug fitting) Santa Claus hat. She checked herself one last time in the mirror, grabbed her coat, and headed out the door. Rita arrived in the parking lot around 9:50 A.M. She was grateful that she was able to park in the employee's lot, as there seemed to be very few spaces left in the customer's area. Rita drove around behind the mall and parked her car. She then headed inside through the back entrance. Was it ever crowded! Rita practically had to squeeze herself all the way through to the center of the building where, already, a line of about 20 families had accumulated. ' Just seven more hours,' Rita thought to herself. Rita stepped into the "workshop" and was greeted buy Gus, already dressed in his Santa costume. "Hello, Rita! Ready for another big day?" he cheerfully asked. "Yeah, but I'm even more ready for tomorrow!" replied Rita. Gus chuckled. "Me too!" Gus was a perpetually friendly and jolly guy, which, Rita could see, was why he had been chosen to play Santa. He opened the door, and the two stepped outside to begin their day at work. The busy day made time fly by quickly, and before Rita knew it, 5 1/2 hours had passed. 'Break time!' Rita hung up the sign reading: "Santa will be back in 15 minutes" and headed towards the rest rooms. After relieving herself, she stepped outside, only to find a small five year old girl with tears in her eyes. "What's wrong, honey? Are you lost?" Rita asked softly. "I can't find my mommee!" the young girl cried. Rita couldn't believe it. She had waited for this opportunity for so long, and the time couldn't have been more perfect! "Oh gosh, I'm sorry! What's your name?" " Cindy." "Do you want me to help you find your mommy?" Cindy hesitated, but then nodded her head. "Okay," Rita said extending her hand. She led Cindy from the rest rooms and into the back room. Having so many people around made her a bit nervous, but they seemed far too concerned with shopping to notice. Rita looked around to see if the coast was clear. Most of the night crew had gone home early for the holiday, but she still wanted to play things safe. Grabbing a rag from the floor, Rita quickly and aggressively gagged the small five year old. She then tied her arms and legs together with a piece of twine. The child tried desperately to get away, but Rita overpowered her with ease. The teenager forced Cindy's body into an empty cardboard box and hastily carried her out to her car. She then pushed the box into her back-seat and threw a few blankets, which she was very fortunate to have kept back there, on top. Cindy's heart was beating like crazy. She struggled and struggled to get loose, but the twine was too tight. Outside, she could hear Rita opening the trunk. It was silent for a few minutes until she heard a loud THUNK! followed by the trunk door slamming. Rita took one last look to see that everything was set, locked the doors, and headed back inside. Around 4:15, a security guard came by and asked Rita and Gus if they'd seen the little girl. The two both answered no and expressed their sympathy. Rita was feeling nervous, but at the same time excited and pleased with herself at what she'd been able to pull off. At 4:55, the