When I took a stroll around the presidio while in San Francisco last January, I stumbled upon the LucasFilm compound—the place where they make so many of the world’s great special effects.
Today I came across a humorous Conan O’brien clip in which Conan visits the studio, checks out some of the movie memorabilia and he even gets suited up in mo-cap gear. His tour was a lot more extensive than mine.
It was interesting to see him interacting in some of the places I had photos, like these ones of Darth Vader andBoba Fett. I also got one outside with a similar background of the San Francisco Palace of Fine Arts.
I just finished putting together a site for a small construction company in Drayton Valley, Alberta, Karleb Homes Ltd.
Using cascading style sheets (CSS) I was able to keep the “content” of the site separate from the design. I also used Douglas Bowman’s sliding door technique for the navigation tabs which allows greater accessibility for larger fonts and screen readers than say just using regular, old-fashioned rollover images.
The footer is actually a repeat of the top menu, placed at the bottom of the screen because that’s really where the user needs it most—ie. at the end of the page ready for when he or she is done reading. For the spacing of the fonts, I relied on Richard Rutter and Mark Boulton’s SxSW talk, Typography for the Web.
I took the photos inside Karleb Homes’ newest project. I used my sister’s brand new Canon 5D as well as two of her Alien Bees lighting kits. The yard in the photo used for the header hasn’t been landscaped yet, but will be replaced when the landscaping matches the quality of the house.
I’m very pleased with the outcome of the site and I look forward to the making the next one—I love creating nice, friendly, and accessible websites and I’m currently looking for more opportunities, so if you are in need, let me know.
I just rediscovered a great photography tip. It involves setting the flash to fire at either the beginning or end of a long exposure.
But only when I read this article was I reminded that the rear flash on a long exposure can be a great way to expose those fun low light party situations.
For Nikon DSLR users, like myself:
“Press and hold the flash pop-up button, then rotate the thumbwheel. Try having the camera in the “M”, “A” “S” and “P” modes to see the different flash sync options in different modes.”
Instructions for other cameras are given in their comments.
This is something I learned some time ago but somehow neglected to put into actual use. Now that I’ve been reminded of it, it will change the way I use my on-camera flash; it will tide me over until I get that off-camera flash that I’ve been dreaming about.
The Design Trust Council held their inaugural event last Wednesday in the Founders Room at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.
Malcolm Gladwell (The Tipping Point, Blink) was joined by fellow New Yorker magazine writer Adam Gopnik(Through the Children’s Gate, Paris to the Moon), in an entertaining and provocative conversation titled “Gothamitis.”
Gladwell and Gopnik, both keen observers of New York civic life, each relate different perspectives on “Gothamitis” what current development trends mean for the soul of New York City.
Listen to the entire conversation (116.5mb mp3), along with audience questions via Design Trust’s blog, I ♥ Public Space.
Email me if you’d like a copy of the mp3, I still have a copy on my old hard drive
The American version of Deal or No Deal is airing its 100th episode. When I first watched the show, sometime close to it’s premiere, I was quite bothered by the fact that the game doesn’t really have much strategy to it. You don’t have to know anything, you just pick random cases—something that anybody could do.
Nevertheless, despite the aggravating stalling and the fact that I judged most of the contestants to be greedy morons, I found myself compelled to watch, at least for the first few weeks—each episode hoping that tonight would be the night someone goes home a millionaire.
The greed aspect used to bother me because at a certain point the risk involved in continuing far outweighs the statistical chance of gaining more money. I suppose that’s what makes the show so compelling and I have to admit that within every negotiation, there is a time to get out and a time to stay in, and success hinges upon selecting that sweet spot between too early and too late. I tend to admire those with the sense to get out early more than the romantics who go for it, because I’m not a high roller. Betting tens of thousands of dollars, even when the odds are on your side, is astonishingly reckless. I suppose though, either way it turns out, the suspense is very good for ratings and allows us at home to play vicariously—wondering what it is we would do when put in that same situation.
The following is a YouTube clip from British version of Deal or No Deal that aired last January. The host, or presenter, is a man named Noel Edmonds. The differs from the American version in that there are no lovely models to open cases. Instead they bring in 22 contestants and each choses a case at random. Then one person is selected to play the game and, like the American and Canadian versions, choses cases to open to eliminate from play.
It’ll all become clear in the clip but the main thing you need to know is that the folks opening the cases in lieu of the models are contestants who weren’t selected to play this round. Also, of course, the top prize is in pounds—it’s £250,000.
As of this morning the British pound was worth a hair under two bucks in American money so 250,000 of them is the equivalent of just under half a million US. If that seems horribly lower than the usual top prize in Canada and the States (a million dollars in our respective currencies), remember that on the North American shows, the top prize is in one out of 26 cases, not 22, so the odds are a little different.
Also note that, unlike the States, the winnings in the UK and Canada are tax free.
“I find the whole business of religion profoundly interesting. But it does mystify me that otherwise intelligent people take it seriously.”
-Douglas Adams
Twenty years ago today, I was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. That’s right, the Mormons. At this time, I won’t go into any detail how that’s worked out for me.
I will point out though, that a couple of days ago, the American channel PBS aired a documentary titled “The Mormons” which offers at least a relatively fair look at the church, its inspiring history and many of its blemishes. If you’ve ever wondered what the Mormons are all about, this documentary is a good place to start.
I believe the author and producer, Helen Whitney, tries to come off as impartial, however, she did make the impression to one of her interviewees that she really didn’t want to hear any negative comments about the church, even if they are true. In an off camera pre-interview he asked her, “If you love the church so much, why don’t you join it?” She responded, “well maybe if I were younger.” It gives cause to wonder at her true impartiality.
Still the documentary will probably show you whatever you are looking to find, whether it’s support for the church or evidence that Joseph Smith was a con man who was so convincing that he even had himself fooled.
The Disneyland Resort Paris music site is offering used to offer free downloads of music from the park. The songs are available for two weeks and then rotated.
I’ll be interested if they offer any music from the attractions themselves or just area music. A while ago I started searching for some Pirates of the Caribbean music, but so far my search has been unsuccessful. Hopefully I’ll be able to find it here. (Yup, I got them)
Remember that you’ll have to unzip the files and enter the password they give you (www.dlrpmusic.com) but the downloads are free. You can also find more downloads in the bonus section.
Oh, and a word of warning, they have background music that plays automatically, ala webdesign 1996, but at least there is a stop button to turn it off.
(Leave me a comment if you’re looking for these files, I might still have a copy somewhere)
Coming around this corner I saw a ball crossing and I saw this kid running across the street for the ball. I saw my truck was coming so I dab my buddy off the bike push the kid out of the way and my leg burst as he rode by me.
In a vain attempt to keep up with youth culture, I checked out the Cute with Chris show.
I’ve heard it described as Canada’s answer to Ze Frank (Chris lives in L.A. but is from Canada). I have to say, he’s no Ze however I will admit his show is kind of “cute” in a silly sort of way. Your mileage may vary.
When I took a stroll around the presidio while in San Francisco last January, I stumbled upon the LucasFilm compound—the place where they make so many of the world’s great special effects.
In a vain attempt to keep up with youth culture, I checked out the