tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30860002617969700042024-02-20T21:50:31.568-05:00And Why SeeYou soon will.OMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14907975025236819701noreply@blogger.comBlogger48125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3086000261796970004.post-53090756943076126252012-08-06T12:08:00.003-04:002012-08-06T12:08:48.447-04:00Chrono Phantasma<div style="text-align: center;">
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I don't know what Chrono Phantasma even means, but I'm excited.OMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14907975025236819701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3086000261796970004.post-5798049171397924302012-06-19T15:50:00.000-04:002012-06-19T15:52:12.385-04:00Flight Movie<div style="text-align: center;">
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Pfft. I landed a plane upside down in a Buttonville simulator back in '99.<br />OMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14907975025236819701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3086000261796970004.post-69755484630404428242012-06-18T19:44:00.000-04:002012-06-18T19:57:30.147-04:00Baroque Eyes - Moo Piyasombatkul<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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What do you get when you mix modern styling with classic garniture? An interior design degree! That or these glasses by Moo Piyasombatkul - lovingly known as Moo Pie by probably no one.OMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14907975025236819701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3086000261796970004.post-36089666260396169562011-11-06T15:57:00.001-05:002011-11-06T21:06:46.517-05:00Chess With FriendsI downloaded the Chess With Friends app, but since none of my friends play chess, it's more like Chess With Randos. Nevertheless, it has been a goldmine of hilarious games. Here is one where I trolled with the Evans Gambit<br />
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<div><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://chessflash.com/releases/latest/ChessFlash.swf" width="100%" height="375"><param name="movie" value="http://chessflash.com/releases/latest/ChessFlash.swf" /><param name="flashvars" value='orientation=H&tabmode=false&dark=551111&mtbackground=ffffff&dark=0000CE&pgndata=[Event "Chess with Friends"] [Site "?"] [Date "2011.11.05"] [White "Ornab"] [Black "ChessAssassin"] [Result "1-0"] [PlyCount "61"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bxb4 5. c3 Ba5 6. d4 exd4 7. Nxd4 Ne5 8. Bb3 Nf6 9. O-O Nxe4 10. Re1 Qh4 11. g3 Qf6 12. Rxe4 O-O 13. f4 Nc6 14. Be3 d6 15. Qh5 Bd7 16. Bc2 h6 17. Nxc6 Bxc6 18. Qxa5 Bxe4 19. Bxe4 c6 20. Bd4 Qe6 21. Nd2 f5 22. Bc2 Qe2 23. Qc7 Rf7 24. Qxd6 Qxd2 25. Bb3 Re8 26. Qg6 Re1%2B 27. Rxe1 Qxe1%2B 28. Kg2 Qe2%2B 29. Kh3 Qg4%2B 30. Qxg4 fxg4%2B 31. Kxg4 1-0'/></object></div>OMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14907975025236819701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3086000261796970004.post-85675213597811335222011-10-27T00:00:00.000-04:002011-10-27T00:00:13.486-04:00New Book Idea<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-w9RdG2o3cyg/TqjXP6YnvtI/AAAAAAAAAM0/Ct36WgOui5A/s1600/Untitled-1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-w9RdG2o3cyg/TqjXP6YnvtI/AAAAAAAAAM0/Ct36WgOui5A/s640/Untitled-1.png" width="425" /></a></div>OMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14907975025236819701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3086000261796970004.post-61652452044799330412011-08-06T15:56:00.000-04:002011-08-06T15:56:57.101-04:00Haute Pooch-ure?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BYdiyUGHnt0/Tj2b8ozkwMI/AAAAAAAAALY/j3H-jQgEx6E/s1600/Untitled-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="619" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BYdiyUGHnt0/Tj2b8ozkwMI/AAAAAAAAALY/j3H-jQgEx6E/s640/Untitled-1.jpg" width="640" /></a> </div><br />
Okay that barely made sense but Lanvin and Givenchy are featuring dogs this fall, although the Lanvin dog looks much more cuddly.OMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14907975025236819701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3086000261796970004.post-27458457121231875792011-07-24T09:59:00.000-04:002011-07-24T09:59:25.547-04:00Cinemagraph<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Y4IwywdRlbk/Tisfd5gxDkI/AAAAAAAAAKA/VKZzG75gdPc/s1600/candle.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Y4IwywdRlbk/Tisfd5gxDkI/AAAAAAAAAKA/VKZzG75gdPc/s1600/candle.gif" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">My attempt at a <a href="http://machoarts.com/jaw-dropping-cinemagraphs">cinemagraph</a>. This was my first time working with a GIF (seriously though, what non-forum troll purpose do they have?) so I kind of messed it up. I shot this at 30 fps, whereas GIFs should be much lower - around 5-10. The resulting file size was so huge I had to lower the quality considerably to get it to play.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">At any (frame) rate, it is a very cool technique that I'm going to try more in the future.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div>OMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14907975025236819701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3086000261796970004.post-91695270773670821252011-07-04T07:51:00.002-04:002011-07-04T07:51:45.844-04:00Bathing Suit Irony<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-teDFJ6O_aqk/ThGpPYmvKOI/AAAAAAAAAGo/W0yE84bFYqM/s1600/38097_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-teDFJ6O_aqk/ThGpPYmvKOI/AAAAAAAAAGo/W0yE84bFYqM/s640/38097_1.jpg" width="426" /></a></div>OMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14907975025236819701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3086000261796970004.post-53500306645674503842011-06-05T21:01:00.001-04:002011-06-05T21:11:25.152-04:00Seashells<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nJnNBqslAis/TewmkOsS81I/AAAAAAAAAGQ/S_kEA4ZM748/s1600/20110602-IMG_2064.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="312" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nJnNBqslAis/TewmkOsS81I/AAAAAAAAAGQ/S_kEA4ZM748/s640/20110602-IMG_2064.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Blah blah blah pretentious black and white photo. Whatever.</div>OMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14907975025236819701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3086000261796970004.post-45754345401907397312011-05-30T12:57:00.003-04:002012-06-20T09:04:20.182-04:00Limitless<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i> The Social Network</i> and <i>Limitless</i> have taught me quite a few things about intelligent people: they like wearing collared shirts, they talk too quickly, and they are irresistible to women when they are successful and hopeless losers when they are not. Also they like talking about algorithms.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The premise of the movie is thoughtfully outlined in the movie poster. The main character - whose name I have immediately forgotten - takes a CLEAR PILL which allows him to UNLOCK [HIS] POTENTIAL. How it does that is sort of a mystery. Someone mutters something about using 100% of one's brain but they really don't get specific. Sometimes it lets him remember things, sometimes it lets him learn new things, sometimes it lets him cure cancer (no seriously). </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">But what will he do with his new-found intelligence? Will he discover that people he once knew have grown to resent him for his abilities (c.f. Charly in <i>Flowers for Algernon</i>)? Or will his vast brainpower cause him to become disinterested with the trials and tribulations of mere mortals (c.f. Dr. Manhattan from <i>Watchmen</i>)?</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Well actually neither. He just cleans his apartment - intelligent people also suffer from mania; has sex with women - who are apparently extremely turned on if you can speak their native language; talks verbosely and incessantly at parties - which people seem to like; and becomes a stock trader - which I'm pretty sure you need some sort of certification for. They also shoot all the POV scenes when he's smart with a fisheye lens for reasons that I cannot understand. But I only use 20% of my brain, so what do I know?</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Do I even need to outline the plot? You've heard this one before. Career loser acquires MacGuffin that makes him more successful and sexually attractive. Ill-willed individuals want to acquire MacGuffin for their own purposes. Man must defend himself from said individuals, but also decide whether the MacGuffin itself is the greatest threat. So it's basically <i>The Mask: Pharmaceutical Edition. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">There are a couple of scenes which I should probably mention. The opening sequence where the camera quantum leaps around New York is pretty cool. There's also this fight scene where the main character becomes smarter after drinking the blood of someone who was on the drug, which makes as much sense as someone getting drunk from licking the floor after a bar fight. But my favourite was the final scene. In a truly genre-deconstructing twist ending, the main character, now burnt out from drug use, is shown slumped over in a vegetative state of mental retardation. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Oh wait, that was just me.</span></div>OMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14907975025236819701noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3086000261796970004.post-4457963983114848102011-05-29T17:38:00.003-04:002011-05-29T23:38:46.023-04:00Pre-Prey Info<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">HERE IS WHERE </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">AN IMAGE WOULD GO </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">IF I HAD A CAMERA </span> </div><br />
The <i>Certain Prey </i>shooting begins tomorrow! Having TV shows and movies filmed at the Thompson is obviously a bit of an inconvenience - what with the road blockages, bright lights, and teamsters yelling swears at all hours of the day - but it's all worth it if it contributes to Toronto's cultural capital, right? <br />
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Although it may be a bit premature to judge, <i>Certain Prey</i> seems far from an artistic gem. The movie is based on the book of the same, and involves a contract killer who gets into the business because she did not feel any remorse after brutally murdering the man who raped her. No, <a href="http://www.johnsandford.org/prey10t.html">I'm not making this up</a>. Literally moments after bludgeoning her rapist to death with a baseball bat, she is approached by an individual who says, "Hey, you handled that pretty well. Want to make a career out of it?" I guess <i>Monster</i> was a bit of a downer. I'm glad a movie is finally coming out and showing the positive side of sexual assault victims who peruse a career in serial killing.<br />
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Actually I don't even feel like I need to talk about how bad this movie sounds. Here is the synopsis that they posted in our elevators:<br />
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<blockquote>Clara Rinker is a southerner, trim pleasant, attractive - and the best hit woman in the business. It's when she's hired for a job in Minnesota that things become complicated for her. A defense attorney wants a rival eliminated, and that's fine. But then a witness survives, the attorney starts acting weird, this big cop Davenport gets on her case, and loose ends begin popping up faster than a sweater unraveling. Clara hates loose ends, and knows of only one way to deal with them: You start cutting them off, one after another, until they're all gone.</blockquote><br />
The last part doesn't even make sense! Is the rate of loose ends popping up similar to the speed at which a sweater unravels? Or are the loose popping up similar to those of an unraveling sweater? And don't you tie up loose ends, not cut them off? Tying up loose ends connotes addressing outstanding problems. What does cutting them off mean? Ignoring them?OMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14907975025236819701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3086000261796970004.post-21361223691672078862011-05-18T13:22:00.003-04:002012-06-19T13:22:39.203-04:00... And Heavy-D Up in the Limousine<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The store in the background is called "Salt & Pepper" and all the cars are either black or white? Madness.OMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14907975025236819701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3086000261796970004.post-5143506927894918982011-05-15T22:03:00.000-04:002011-05-15T22:03:27.524-04:00Mario unboxing?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oTDUoS4F_Uw/TdCFxvnfRuI/AAAAAAAAAFs/8kaMJHFnck0/s1600/20110515-IMG_0360.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oTDUoS4F_Uw/TdCFxvnfRuI/AAAAAAAAAFs/8kaMJHFnck0/s640/20110515-IMG_0360.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>OMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14907975025236819701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3086000261796970004.post-29210764760347192512011-04-18T12:20:00.002-04:002011-04-18T12:20:57.036-04:00Raf Simons Wide Leg Trousers<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fYe8h-mG80I/TaxkijFJBwI/AAAAAAAAAFk/0UlB3U3noU0/s1600/uglypants.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="473" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fYe8h-mG80I/TaxkijFJBwI/AAAAAAAAAFk/0UlB3U3noU0/s640/uglypants.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
Quickly: which shot is of the front and which shot is of the back? Exactly.<p>OMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14907975025236819701noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3086000261796970004.post-46695226464714601002011-04-11T23:53:00.002-04:002011-04-12T00:21:50.633-04:00CSI: Toronto<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kUh23E5GOzc/TaPI9n4KZ7I/AAAAAAAAAEk/mSnDfM4LID0/s1600/IMG_0201.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kUh23E5GOzc/TaPI9n4KZ7I/AAAAAAAAAEk/mSnDfM4LID0/s640/IMG_0201.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
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So a guy came into the subway with absurdly large shoes. So large in fact that I had to take a picture. Unfortunately the iPhone’s extremely wide angle lens skews the perspective of the picture considerably – although still large in the picture, the shoes were much larger in real life. Without the picture, there is no way for me to convey how hilariously massive this individual’s shoes were… or is there?<br />
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Well actually there is but it involves a bit of math. If you don’t like math here is the answer: 15 inches. The guy’s shoes were 15 inches long. Isn’t that wild? If you want to know how I got that read on.<br />
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So basically, an image passes through a lens at the same angle of view in which it comes in at. If that made no sense look at this diagram:<br />
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This creates a pair of similar triangles. That means that the ratio between the size of the virtual shoe projected onto the sensor and the distance between the sensor and focus point is proportional to the size of the actual shoe and the distance between the shoe and the focus point. Expressed mathematically:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-viqzCxYKWXo/TaPJx0y8H-I/AAAAAAAAAFc/pbCZFw6M4F8/s1600/calcs_03.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-viqzCxYKWXo/TaPJx0y8H-I/AAAAAAAAAFc/pbCZFw6M4F8/s1600/calcs_03.png" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Solving for the real shoe size:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NYNCWVT2wsI/TaPJufI3dmI/AAAAAAAAAFE/8C5oNnI78II/s1600/formula_05.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NYNCWVT2wsI/TaPJufI3dmI/AAAAAAAAAFE/8C5oNnI78II/s1600/formula_05.png" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Of course the shoe was not shot head on but instead has an X and Y component, so:<br />
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where:<br />
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and the same for <i>s<sub>ry</sub></i>. That leaves two variables to be solved: the size of the shoe on the image sensor, and the distance between the camera and the shoe.<br />
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Finding the size of the “virtual shoe” is pretty straightforward.<br />
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Meaning that the projected shoe measured 0.969mm wide. The same was done to solve for <i>s<sub>vy</sub></i>.<br />
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Finding the focus distance (f2) was a bit trickier. I was sitting on the left-most side of a three-seater, and shot with my phone in my right hand. The shoes seem to be in line with the right side of the three-seater, meaning that the X distance would the width of the three-seater minus the distance between the seat and my right hand. The shoes seem to be around the midpoint of the car, so the Y distance would be half of the car width minus the distance between the side of the train and my phone. If that made no sense look at this diagram:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-COscihjP-X0/TaPL2MJV0AI/AAAAAAAAAFg/qA4Fq3BOV58/s1600/diagram.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="347" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-COscihjP-X0/TaPL2MJV0AI/AAAAAAAAAFg/qA4Fq3BOV58/s640/diagram.png" width="640" /></a></div><br />
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Also my phone was around 2.5’ from the ground. Solving for a vector in three-space:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cH5swOOTxiY/TaPJvAT0oXI/AAAAAAAAAFQ/O2dJj_gdegU/s1600/formula_11.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="60" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cH5swOOTxiY/TaPJvAT0oXI/AAAAAAAAAFQ/O2dJj_gdegU/s200/formula_11.png" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
which gave a focus distance of around 1475mm. I had everything I needed to solve for size of the real shoe:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jzgZHjpdFnI/TaPJvW6w06I/AAAAAAAAAFY/Xi0-kPEIrBI/s1600/formula_15.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="80" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jzgZHjpdFnI/TaPJvW6w06I/AAAAAAAAAFY/Xi0-kPEIrBI/s200/formula_15.png" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
which gave a total length of 379.65mm which is around 15 inches. So yes, his feet were huge.OMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14907975025236819701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3086000261796970004.post-55784469541042327922011-04-06T09:50:00.001-04:002011-04-06T09:54:34.821-04:00Adobe Technology Sneaks 2011: Warp Stabilizer for AE<div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><object height="256" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://images.tv.adobe.com/swf/player.swf"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><param name="FlashVars" value="fileID=9506&context=709&embeded=true&environment=production"></param><embed src="http://images.tv.adobe.com/swf/player.swf" flashvars="fileID=9506&context=709&embeded=true&environment=production" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="256"></embed></object></div><br />
Pretty awesome. Unmentioned seems to be some sort of Content-Aware technology for the edges in place of motion tiling/repeating edge pixels. That's huge! Not just for stabilization but for camera shake, camera moves, and I'm sure some other things too.OMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14907975025236819701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3086000261796970004.post-2312281736865122242011-03-13T14:01:00.001-04:002011-03-13T14:01:34.535-04:00Mykita x Romain Kremer<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-mS2EX4f5Pw4/TX0D-B7HpRI/AAAAAAAAAEc/KveCYXMmbVE/s1600/Untitled-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-mS2EX4f5Pw4/TX0D-B7HpRI/AAAAAAAAAEc/KveCYXMmbVE/s1600/Untitled-1.jpg" /></a></div>Finally an accessory that meets the needs of those with shiny foreheads. However, I'm not sure how much UVA/UVB protection is provided by holes in plastic.OMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14907975025236819701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3086000261796970004.post-6788345806360829862011-01-04T16:41:00.002-05:002011-01-04T16:50:36.090-05:00Creepy? Hilarious? Awesome.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OioM2u6DHvc/TSOTmurlbhI/AAAAAAAAAEQ/ml2HIbaWzgs/s1600/02259M052003_1_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OioM2u6DHvc/TSOTmurlbhI/AAAAAAAAAEQ/ml2HIbaWzgs/s640/02259M052003_1_1.jpg" width="426" /></a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;">At least it looks warm..</span></div>OMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14907975025236819701noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3086000261796970004.post-65129969205065610892010-11-05T15:13:00.004-04:002010-11-05T15:17:49.069-04:00Gulliver's Travels<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe class="youtube-player" frameborder="0" height="410" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/5rKgly8grRg?rel=0&hd=1" title="YouTube video player" type="text/html" width="685"></iframe></div><br />
From the studio that brought you <i>Night at the Museum</i> comes.. pretty much the same movie. Starring Jack Black as Jack Black playing Jack Black.OMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14907975025236819701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3086000261796970004.post-43085786632942108162010-10-24T16:37:00.001-04:002010-10-24T16:37:31.471-04:00Devil, And Why Brown People Always Die First<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/7c/Devil_film_poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/7c/Devil_film_poster.jpg" /></a></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"> <span style="font-size: xx-small;">One of the few movies with "devil" in the title that's actually about the Devil.</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing">I chose to watch <i>Devil </i>over <i>Buried</i>. The decision seemed rational at the time. <i>Buried</i> is a one-word-title movie about some person stuck in a claustrophobic setting and features a Canadian guy. <i>Devil </i>is a one-word-title movie about some persons stuck in a claustrophobic setting, is written by a brown guy, and has a main character that looks like a brown guy. Dividing both sides by their common elements, I was left to decide whether 2(brown guys) + some other people > 1(Canadian guy). The answer was certainly yes. Unfortunately the first brown guy died, and the second was M. Night Shymalan. </div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"></div><a name='more'></a>Rather than giving away the twist ten minutes into the movie like in <i>The Happening</i>, M. Night outdoes himself by giving it away before the movie even begins. Not that <i>Devil </i>will admit it; it kept trying to insinuate these alternative explanations which were completely unconvincing. “Maybe the killer is the guy with the violent past! Or the shady guy who is unaccounted for!” suggested <i>Devil</i>. No <i>Devil</i>. I may have been dumb enough to watch you, but I’m not that dumb. Your movie poster has a demonic light coming from an elevator. The bumbling, overly-religious ethnic stereotype that everyone discounts but later realises is right said it was the Devil. The movie is called <i>Devil</i>. I’m pretty sure who the killer is.<br />
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</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing">And the Devil’s plan didn’t even make sense. It is revealed at the end of the movie that the Devil has come to punish those who have not repented for their sins. Um, excuse me Mr. Prince of Darkness? Shouldn’t you have waited for them to live out their natural lives? Isn’t it kind of hard for them to repent when you went ahead and killed them <i>before they had a chance to repent</i>? And if you wanted to kill them, why did you have to pretend to be a human and kill them one at a time? You could’ve, I don’t know, dropped the elevator and killed them all at once. Or forgot about the elevator altogether and dropped a bag of sand on them when they were sleeping. Also, why did the opening credits have the camera zooming around the city? Is that supposed to signify that you can fly, or did you inhabit the body of a pigeon?</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing">So in summary, <i>Devil </i>was like an Agatha Christie mystery, except the identity of the killer is given away in the title. And all the characters are idiots. And Agatha Christie was replaced by an evangelical Christian. </div>OMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14907975025236819701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3086000261796970004.post-57655087617598503242010-10-12T00:59:00.013-04:002011-05-15T21:58:18.837-04:00The iPhone 4's Camera, And Why It's Underwhelming<div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></div><div class="separator" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OioM2u6DHvc/TLRfFFzpVoI/AAAAAAAAAEE/kRpOWHtrYQg/s1600/mariofixed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OioM2u6DHvc/TLRfFFzpVoI/AAAAAAAAAEE/kRpOWHtrYQg/s1600/mariofixed.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Megapixels in photography is sort of like GHz in computing. They're both commonly referred to units when discussing their respective devices. They're often the first and last thing novices use to gauge a device's worth. And they're both very misleading. Just like you can get a Pentium 4 up to 4 GHz and get week-long render times, you can use a 5 MP camera and still get crappy pictures. Case in point: the iPhone 4's camera. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OioM2u6DHvc/TLPbkWTDinI/AAAAAAAAAD0/LtEMJJOXerI/s1600/marioorig.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="475" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OioM2u6DHvc/TLPbkWTDinI/AAAAAAAAAD0/LtEMJJOXerI/s640/marioorig.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> <span style="font-size: xx-small;">Original picture in all of its hideousness</span></div><br />
Of course as a cell phone camera, some concessions must be made. The lack of depth of field is completely understandable - it's focal length is like what? Nothing? I can live with that. The drab, washed out colours are unfortunate, but I won't be shooting any magazine covers with it. The fact that the low-light performance is so bad that I at first thought I had my finger over the lens is irritating, but that's common with a lot of cameras. The thing that I will not stand for is the insane amount of noise the camera picks up.<br />
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<img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OioM2u6DHvc/TLPiH-9-ZKI/AAAAAAAAAD8/gBxBFmjp80I/s1600/marioclosefinal.jpg" /><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span id="main" style="font-size: xx-small; visibility: visible;"><span id="search" style="visibility: visible;">"That's one thing I hate! All the <i>noise</i>, <i>noise</i>, <i>noise</i>, <i>noise</i>" - The Grinch</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OioM2u6DHvc/TLPiH-9-ZKI/AAAAAAAAAD8/gBxBFmjp80I/s1600/marioclosefinal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>The pictures above are at 100% zoom - that is they are at a 1:1 pixel ratio. Look how noisy the original (the one on the left) is. Again, that is not pixelation. And this is under optimal lighting. So yes, the iPhone 4 has a 5 MP camera. It's just that you can't zoom in past 20% or your image will look like you forgot to take it out of your jeans before you put it in the laundry.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OioM2u6DHvc/TLRfORXZf2I/AAAAAAAAAEI/uro6jffBJ1Y/s1600/mariocomparefinal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OioM2u6DHvc/TLRfORXZf2I/AAAAAAAAAEI/uro6jffBJ1Y/s1600/mariocomparefinal.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Acceptable results are easily and quickly had through post-processing, but going home and editing my pictures before I upload them seems a bit incongruous with the concept of mobility. And no, please do not mention PS Express. PS Express is technically a photo-editing app in the same way flinging ball bearings at piano strings is technically music.<br />
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Admittedly, most of what I just wrote is moot - most people (including myself) will just be using the camera for its convenience. I just feel that Apple could've worked more on image quality rather than meaninglessly padding the pixel count. Not to say that wasn't good marketing. I've heard someone praise the iPhone 4's camera solely based on the fact that it "haz da fiv megah-pixelz". This post was partially to show that subscribers to that line of thinking are demonstrably wrong. But mostly it was just an excuse to post some pictures of Mario. <br />
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</tbody></table>OMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14907975025236819701noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3086000261796970004.post-65831173175940603872010-07-17T18:02:00.001-04:002012-06-18T19:55:49.495-04:00Steelcase Walking Desk<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-71eEqW1R52I/T9-_7WhnidI/AAAAAAAAAOg/Jagf0He2aUg/s1600/Steelcase-Walkstation.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="392" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-71eEqW1R52I/T9-_7WhnidI/AAAAAAAAAOg/Jagf0He2aUg/s640/Steelcase-Walkstation.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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I found this while looking for a desk.. Needless to say, if I went to an office that had these desks I would leave immediately.OMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14907975025236819701noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3086000261796970004.post-34509447043997367272010-07-09T13:27:00.000-04:002010-07-09T13:27:23.157-04:00Mykita x Bernhard Willhelm<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.mykita.com/img/article/34_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="278" src="http://www.mykita.com/img/article/34_1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
Mykita has yet to distribute to Canada. I sent an e-mail asking them if and when they plan on doing so - rather than answer my question, they signed me up to their newsletter. Normally I would be annoyed, but God do they make some nice sunglasses.<br />
<a href="http://www.mykita.com/img/article/34_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.mykita.com/img/article/34_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="278" src="http://www.mykita.com/img/article/34_2.jpg" width="640" /></a><a href="http://www.mykita.com/img/article/34_3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="278" src="http://www.mykita.com/img/article/34_3.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>OMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14907975025236819701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3086000261796970004.post-60809875755987347282010-05-18T20:13:00.002-04:002010-05-18T20:20:57.736-04:00Daylight for Windowless Rooms?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OioM2u6DHvc/S_MtxY06QQI/AAAAAAAAADY/UxPYkGDtWW4/s1600/LED-Daylight-Window-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="233" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OioM2u6DHvc/S_MtxY06QQI/AAAAAAAAADY/UxPYkGDtWW4/s400/LED-Daylight-Window-1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<blockquote><a href="http://danielrybakken.com/" target="_blank">Daniel Rybakken</a> is designing lighting fixtures in the shapes of parallelograms, which give the impression of sunlight coming in through a window and reflecting off a surface. This light trickery, although totally artificial, might be just the thing to bring outdoor cheer into a gloomy indoor space.<br />
<div id="TixyyLink" style="background-color: transparent; border: medium none; color: black; overflow: hidden; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;"><br />
<a href="http://inhabitat.com/2010/05/17/led-light-fixtures-create-the-illusion-of-daylighting/#ixzz0oKUy1ddY">Designer Creates Fake Daylighting With LED Lights | Inhabitat - Green Design Will Save the World</a></div></blockquote>I know someone who could use this.OMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14907975025236819701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3086000261796970004.post-50229830520617629232010-04-28T15:45:00.005-04:002010-04-28T17:10:13.290-04:00Mustang Worklog<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OioM2u6DHvc/S9iQEONrGRI/AAAAAAAAADI/fEgb9EKV_L8/s1600/001_1966Mustang.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="220" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OioM2u6DHvc/S9iQEONrGRI/AAAAAAAAADI/fEgb9EKV_L8/s400/001_1966Mustang.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">What I actually did (AHHH!)</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OioM2u6DHvc/S9iQIYkfoaI/AAAAAAAAADQ/qDmMA2NVEgI/s1600/001_1966MustangMax.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="220" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OioM2u6DHvc/S9iQIYkfoaI/AAAAAAAAADQ/qDmMA2NVEgI/s400/001_1966MustangMax.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">What the computer did for me (turbosmooth and materials)</span></div><br />
I had a really detailed write up on <i>Super Street Fighter IV</i>, but due to some... unpleasantness.. surrounding my internet connection I was unable to post it before the game's release. Of course I could do what I did with my Oscar predictions and retroactively correct them, but instead I decided to create a worklog for a 1966 Mustang I'm trying to model.OMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14907975025236819701noreply@blogger.com0