Mayor Bloomberg's congestion pricing plan seems to me to be largely a good idea--good for the environment, good for pedestrian safety, and all that.

Dennis Radeke at The Genesis Project blog has been putting together some excellent tutorials on After Effects basics. The blog is said to be "A blog for beginners in the creative space. Beginner to intermediate trips, tricks and tutorials on several Adobe products, especially After Effects, Premiere Pro and Photoshop.

Adobe is announcing the official release of their brand new Creative Suite 3 offerings this afternoon, and the announcement can be seen by anyone with an internet connection via the live webcast from New York City -- Today, Tuesday, March 27, 2007 at 3:30 PM eastern time -- just a reminder to tune in and see all the cool new features with live demos by Adobe gurus and all that good stuff.

Upon first digging into Adobe Photoshop CS3, a few features have really popped out at me as incredibly useful. I would like to offer a brief overview of some of these new ways of attacking your creative challenges using the latest version of Adobe's flagship app. PsCS3 will run you about $649 to buy it outright if you do not own any previous versions. If you own Photoshop 7, CS, or CS2, you are eligible for upgrade pricing - looks like $199 for the upgrade.

Adobe announces plans to make its unveiling of the long awaited Creative Studio 3 easy to catch - no matter where you live. If you aren't going to be at the live event in New York City, you can choose between a live webcast, or hitting one of the live presentations at one of five Apple retail stores.

What's a video production without a good tracking shot done on a Steadicam?! Well, for me, as someone who loves a moving camera when the story calls for it (err... which is often...), buying or renting a full-blown Steadicam rig (complete with hiring a master operator) has oft been cause for consternation - as owning a big rig for film or even a video rig can run in the many tens of thousands of dollars. The Steadicam Merlin is just the answer for handheld video, and it's well under a grand.

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I had an opportunity to talk with Orren Merton, guitarist and music technology book author, just after he returned home from the 2007 NAMM show in Anaheim, CA a few weeks ago. He had some very cool things to say about some new tools in the guitar realm, and also a few interesting observations about the trade show itself, which he has been attending for many years. Interviewed January 23, 2007

STAY TUNED: I am in the process of putting together an interview with Orren Merton, musician, author, consultant, and pro-audio guru - who is currently in Annaheim, CA, at the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) conference, and will provide a first hand look at what's going on on the floor at this year's show.

Don't have a lift ticket, movie pass, or even a trip planned to Park City? Me either. Not to fear though, as Zoom In Online will be providing a slew of Sundance Film Festival related coverage for those of us who didn't make the trip.