podcast

And by Platinum, I mean One Million. Normally, I would say that I'm speechless. But apparently I'm not. Because here I am a-speechin'.

When I pitched dekePod to my sponsors, I set it as my goal to achieve 250,000 views in 2008. Today, I was just made aware that in a little more than six months since our June 24 debut (which coincides exactly with the launch of dekeOnline), we have amassed some 1,004,837 streaming views and downloads. To give you some perspective, it took me 20 years to sell 4 million books. dekePod hit 25% that number in 2% the time. Hell, back when cable was king, I hosted more than 90 episodes of "Digital Gurus" for Jones Computer Network, and we nailed 100 thousand eyeballs maybe. (That includes 50,000 left and 50,000 right.) Just goes to show you what you can accomplish when you eliminate The Man.

And in a down economy, no less. Which is weird because the damn thing is free. Read more » 

You know if a guy's got the Deke Seal of Approval, he knows a thing or two. Add to that a willingness to answer all the digital imaging questions that come his way and you have the intrepid Tim Grey. (Well, he apparently doesn't answer any of the idiotic questions, but I think Tim told me that in confidence.) Tim's collaborating with Deke on the upcoming Channels and Masks One-on-One book due later this year, but right now he has a new book coming out this week called Take Your Best Shot: Tim Grey Tackles Your Digital Darkroom Questions that he wrote all on his own. It's a highly readable, informative compilation of the questions Tim has been diligently, fearlessly answering from readers of his DDQ column for several years.

Read more » 

OK, so the story behind the "What Is Deke Saying?" contest is this:

A few months ago, when we were filming the now infamous video, Deke took a moment to gather his thoughts before launching into his 101 Photoshop Tips in 5 Minutes. Unable to just let a simple meditative moment alone, we brainstormed something clever for Deke to say, then to up the hilarity yet another notch, we used an online Pig Latin translator to increase the wittiness. (I kid you not, Pig Latin-translation, something any 10-year-old knows how to do, we required outside help.)

Fast forward a couple of months, the video is produced, and no one on our team can figure out what Deke actually said. I distinctly remember him trying to say, "King of Photoshop," but between the translation and Deke's delivery, it sounded more like "Ting of Photoshop." Ting of Photoshop? What the fu -- heck do you mean by Ting of Photoshop, Deke? Read more »