Thursday: March 11, 2010
- Miniature cities, towns and things through the minuscule eye of Photoshop.
Remember that episode of The Simpsons where Lisa inadvertently grew a tiny city as a science project? This is kind of like that. Yes, it seems that I can relate any post to some kind of Simpsons episode. Now bring me some shoes.
Tuesday: March 9, 2010
- A handy tutorial on how to use the almighty power of curves in Photoshop.
Never used the curves pane in your beloved copy of Photoshop? Still playing with those brightness and contrast settings? Do you even know what a curve is? Read through this thorough writeup and you'll be a better photo manipulator as a result.
- Photoblog: Sunshine Yellow
Another quick macro shot snapped up while doodling with the kids using an obvious assorted array of crayons. Taste the rainbow.
Location:Eastchester, New York
- Eleven of the world's craziest roads for you to gawk at.
Enjoy this collection of wild and in most cases ridiculously dangerous modes of travel. Maybe it's because I usually have video games on the brain but after seeing these pictures I really want to go play some Mario Kart.
- When statues come to life via the non-stationary of Photoshop.
This particular Worth1000 contest reminds me of that Simpsons (Treehouse of Horror) episode where all of the advertising figures came to life. 'He came to life! Good for him.'
Monday: March 8, 2010
- Miss some of the Oscars last night? Here is a complete list of all the nominations and winners.
It was quite nice to see that Cablevision and ABC were able to set aside there differences just twenty minutes after the broadcast started. Especially after Cablevision promised a free day of On Demand programming (which didn't work) and ABC's sponsors threatened to have them mauled by tigers.
Friday: March 5, 2010
- Man finishes LEGO Star Wars space ship from scratch after just two years.
This model was completed using approximately 30,000 pieces of LEGO and remarkably without the direct use of a licensed LEGO instruction manual. That's right - this Droid Control Ship was assembled using only schematics from a book of Star Wars space ships. That's some impressive architectural dedication right there.
- Movie title mix-ups through the mixed up eye of Photoshop.
Another fine Photoshop Phriday event from the fine folks/goons over at SomethingAwful. Said mix-ups range from hilarious to the just plain wrong. You have been warned.
- Turns out that Microsoft has a secret phone waiting for use with Verizon's network.
The phone is dubbed as 'Project Pink' (but may just end up being called 'Pink') and runs the brand new Windows Phone 7 mobile operating system. Verizon is most likely the exclusive carrier.
- Funeral for Internet Explorer 6 held yesterday over in Colorado.
Internet Explorer Six, known to friends and family as 'IE6,' is survived by son Internet Explorer Seven, and grand-daughter Internet Explorer Eight. To better accommodate the overwhelming response, we're changing the venue.
- YouTube now has captioning for millions of videos thanks to new technology.
So how did they do it? Each video now uses speech recognition technology to pick up potential spoken words from the audio track. It not may be a perfect solution but it's a great start. The technology only works on videos that contain English audio at present time.
Thursday: March 4, 2010
- Animal cyborgs created through the cybergenic eye of Photoshop.
Whoever created the attached thumbnail should call up Cartoon Network and see if they need a new logo for one of their shows that involves stop-animation and action figures. Ten points and a cookie to anyone who can guess which show I am obviously referring to here.
Monday: March 1, 2010
- Daily Grind: Motivated
Name: Vin (aka springy)
Occupation: Webmaster / Procrastinator / Dad
How Vin feels today: Motivated @ 8:55:44 AM
What Vin really wants today: To welcome everyone back into the world of daily grind posting after taking an entire month and a half off. What can I say, it's been a crazy past 45-50 days or so.Music Stuck in Head: New York City Traffic
Recently I've taken a break from listening to music on my morning commute into the city. These days I'm all about playing Scramble (free app) on the good old iPhone. Passes the time quite nicely.Stuff to do today:
- Attempt to post new photo to photoblog at some point today
- Continue achievement hunting through Ghostbusters: The Video Game for Xbox 360
- Some of these achievements are just ridiculous
- Mini review of game: mildly enjoyable, lots of wasted potential, flat voice acting (looking at you Bill Murray)
- Find time to watch Termination: Salvation
- Mini review of movie: wasn't all that bad, quite predictable but not overly terrible
- An invisible world through the visible eye of Photoshop.
As if ninjas and samurais weren't enough trouble already now you have to worry about invisible ninjas and samurais. For some reason the attached thumbnail shot makes me want to catch up on my 'Ask a Ninja' viewings.
Thursday: February 25, 2010
- Six fantastical theme park rides that have unfortunately been lost to history.
If you absolutely must ride this, it's still open at Universal Studios Japan in Osaka. Doc Brown will likely be screaming at you in Japanese, but it's the pilgrimage that counts.
- Eight of the best unexpected and hilarious cameos from comedy movies.
Of all the cameos on this list the Vonnegut one has to be my favorite. I have trouble reading (correction - starting) any of his novels without first flashing to this scene. '...and another thing, Vonnegut! I'm gonna stop payment on that check! Hey Kurt, can you read lips?'
- A gallery of carnivorous plant-life for your carnivorous plant-loving pleasure.
I am loving some of these National Geographic slideshows (even more so with their new recent web redesign), especially when it's on odd subjects I rarely think about - case in point, carnivorous plant-life. Beware and behold these fearsome plants!
- Xerox sues Google over some potentially patent-infringing search methods.
The patents themselves are very explicit, and appear to deal with the very specific application of methods and even software, some of it bearing Xerox trademarks. Theoretically, such methods could be used in the dissemination of live repositories of information.
Wednesday: February 24, 2010
- Ghostbusters fan converts Wiimote into mock proton pack. Egon would be so proud.
I haven't actually tried the Wii version of the Ghostbusters video game but I just recently finished playing through it on the Xbox 360. Overall, I give the game a C+/B- as it was enjoyable but had the potential to be so much more. Maybe this modification was missing link from the equation (but probably not).
- Literalisms through the obligatory literal eye of Photoshop.
A very creative theme with some awesome results that I somehow managed to overlook this week. Enjoy your literal eye candy, try not to fill up before dinner.
- Always wanted to know what your face reveals about your overall health?
According to Chinese medicine and this article, your face is a window to your health. Turns out that your face can provide subtle and not-so-subtle clues about all kinds of particular ailments.
Monday: February 22, 2010
- Olympic events with some added thrills through the sporting eye of Photoshop.
Is everyone enjoying all the coverage of the Winter Olympic games? Looking for some variety in the competition? Try Space Boxing: no ropes, no rules, no gravity.
Friday: February 19, 2010
- Ten year search deal between Microsoft and Yahoo finalized and approved by regulators.
Microsoft is hoping to give Google some viable competition with this new deal. Also, Yahoo's search will soon be powered by Microsoft perhaps spawning an even sillier name for a search engine like Bahoo or YaBing. One last point, both names are actually sounds (try it, YAHOO... BING!).
Wednesday: February 17, 2010
- Microsoft decides to go with AT&T for their upcoming Windows 7 phone.
Interesting move considering how much AT&T is bashed for their poor and spotty coverage as it relates to all things iPhone. Although, I have to admit I've never had a real issue with AT&T in terms of service here in the NYC suburbs. Maybe I have a magical account.
Tuesday: February 16, 2010
- Microsoft pulls the curtain back on their brand new Zune-like Phone.
That's quite an interesting user interface that Microsoft has come up with for this device and I wonder how useful it will actually be in day-to-day use. Also, I appreciate their underlying message/tactic of designing the gadget to be the complete opposite of the iPhone.
Friday: February 12, 2010
- A Star Trek invasion as seen through the bold eye of Photoshop.
Five pages of nerdy and hilarious fun for the closet (or out of the closet) Star Trek fan in each of us. For those looking for additional laughs, this video review of Star Trek: Generations serves as a great distraction.
- Hubble manages to capture an overly blue view of Saturn.
Aurorae result from charged solar wind particles trapped in a planet's magnetic field striking atoms in the upper atmosphere. Just like Northern Lights on Earth, Saturn sees similar polar light shows as a result.
Wednesday: February 10, 2010
- Apple pulls the curtain back on new version of Aperture.
So yesterday's big update was the unveiling of the new version of Aperture rather than new MacBook Pros. New version of said includes Faces, Places and Brushes. Faces and Places will be quite familiar to iPhoto '09 users. Joy.
- Twenty-one unbelievable photos of Mars for your Martian viewing pleasure.
Behold the wondrous splendor of Martian landscapes in all their strange atmospheric glory. After viewing these photographs I have a strange desire to go watch Total Recall. Two weeks!
- Microsoft decides to finally fix a security hole that plagued them for seventeen years.
Much as been made of the fact that the hole is 17 years old, but Ormandy said he informed Microsoft about it in June 2009. 'You can criticize them for taking a long time to fix a bug,' but not if they didn't know about it, said Pedram Amini, who runs the Zero Day Initiative.
