Rainbow Roses: Are they Real or are they Photoshopped?
March 19, 2010
I know that the above image looks like a classic Photoshop-manipulated picture but according to Reuters these are actual roses created by Dutch grower Peter van de Werken by injecting natural dyes into their stems. For more photos and video go here.
21 Hi-Res Smoke Brushes for Photoshop
March 15, 2010
If only there was a site that specialized in offering high quality, high resolution brushes for Photoshop that were totally free. . .If only it was just a click away. . . that would be so cool. If there was such a great resource like that, I’d probably link to it right here.
Best Practices Workflow for PDFs from Ghent PDF Workgroup
March 9, 2010
If you use PDFs like I know you do, you need the information on this web site. From their home page:
The Ghent PDF Workgroup (GWG) is an international assembly of industry associations, vendors and experts; whose goal is to establish and share process specifications for best practices in graphic arts workflows. We are pleased to offer here, at no cost; specifications, setup files, test suites, white papers, and other educational information that support the efforts of the international graphic arts community.
What Makes Up Happy? — The Atlantic
March 3, 2010
Is there a formula—some mix of love, work, and psychological adaptation—for a good life? For 72 years, researchers at Harvard have been examining this question, following 268 men who entered college in the late 1930s through war, career, marriage and divorce, parenthood and grandparenthood, and old age. Here, for the first time, a journalist gains access to the archive of one of the most comprehensive longitudinal studies in history. Its contents, as much literature as science, offer profound insight into the human condition—and into the brilliant, complex mind of the study’s longtime director, George Vaillant.
I found this account of the Harvard study fascinating, though I believe there’s no universal answer to the question posed, as you may find suggested here. For example, the answer for me includes a liberal application of Labrador which may not work for you. Still, this piece is well worth reading.
Creating an Elegant Web Layout in Photoshop Tutorial from [Re]Encoded.com
February 27, 2010
That ain’t workin’
That’s the way you do it
You make your website
With the Photoshop
—with apologies to Dire Straits
There are a lot of sources for information on using your Photoshop skills to create an impressive website. Here’s one that I think combines a great design sense with a patient, intelligent, step-by-step approach.
But this is just a small sample of the great material you find on the [Re]Eencoded.com site. Sections on Search Engine Optimization, Aesthetics, Graphics, Inspiration and many more Tutorials are available. Go there to learn or to be inspired. Highly recommended site!
Sick, Nervous, Discouraged. Then, 18 Bottles Later: “I am Feeling Fine.”
February 21, 2010
This is a leading hack.
This is a leading hack.
Order us a case of what Mrs. Cora Love, 3722 S. Wigger Street, Marion, Ind is drinking. . .
OK, Now He’s Just Piling On! George Orwell on American coloured comic books, Part 3
February 21, 2010
“On the front page there is a picture of of what is either an ape-like lunatic, or an actual ape dressed up as a man, strangling a woman so realistically that her tongue is sticking four inches out of her mouth.”
Here is the splash page (left) that George Orwell is referring to from Hangman Comics #8, Fall 1943, pencils and inks by Bob Fujitani. Click on images for larger size. This issue includes “The Case of the Python’s Curse” also referred to by Orwell.
We’ve covered this repeat offender’s anti-comics rants before, here and here.
“A correspondent has sent me a copy of one the disgusting American ‘comics’ which I referred to a few weeks ago. The two main stories in it are about a beautiful creature called the Hangman, who has a green face, and, like so many characters in American strips, can fly. On the front page there is a picture of of what is either an ape-like lunatic, or an actual ape dressed up as a man, strangling a woman so realistically that her tongue is sticking four inches out of her mouth. Another item is a python looping itself around a man’s neck and then hanging him by suspending itself over a balustrade. Another is a man jumping out of a skyscraper window and hitting the pavement with a splash. There is much else of the same kind. . . Certainly I would keep these things out of children’s hands if possible. But I would not be in favour of actually prohibiting their sale. The precedent is too dangerous.”
Excerpt from As I Please 67, Tribune, 27 December 1946
George Orwell knocks American Comic Books Again, Nov. 22, 1946
February 20, 2010
“. . .and platinum blondes are raped, or very nearly, by steel robots and fifty-foot dinosaurs?”
George Orwell had already trashed American comic books, a year earlier, as filled with “Magic and Sadism”. Now he’s back to take another swing at the funny books. Ah, lay off, George, you big English bully! But much as he seems to despise them as sub-literate and borderline immoral, Orwell finds evidence in comic books for some of our better qualities too.
“English children are still Americanised by way of the films. but it would no longer be generally claimed that American books are the best ones for children. Who, without misgivings, would bring up a child on the coloured ‘comics’ in which sinister professors manufacture atomic bombs in underground laboratories while Superman whizzes through the clouds, the machine-gun bullets bouncing off his chest like peas, and platinum blondes are raped, or very nearly, by steel robots and fifty-foot dinosaurs? It is a far cry from Superman to the Bible and the woodpile.”
Comparing children’s literature like Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, Little Women and Black Beauty to the post-war comic book, Orwell explains,
“The society described in the one is subdued, bookish, and home-loving, while the other tells of a crazy world of bandits, gold mines, duels, drunkeness and gambling hells; but in both one can detect an underlying confidence in the future, a sense of freedom and opportunity.”
Excerpts from Orwell’s essay Riding Down From Bangor, Tribune, 22 November 1946
Wasabi-scented Smoke Alarm for the Deaf
February 20, 2010
Here’s a Japanese product that initially sounds weird but actually makes a lot of sense: a smoke alarm for the deaf with an alert that’s based on smell.
When this alarm senses smoke it emits allyl isothiocyanate, the chemical compound that powers horseradish, mustard, and wasabi.
Certainly sounds like a good way to get someone’s attention quickly, as anyone who has overindulged in H, M, or W will agree. But wait, there’s more! This scent alarm will even rouse people from sleep!
This new alarm was co-developed by Kobe-based fire extinguisher company Air Water Safety Service and Seems, a bioventure in Tokyo. For the complete story on CNET, go here.
Great Group of FREE high-quality WordPress themes
February 20, 2010
From the good folks at Smashing Downloads
13 Awesome Collections of Free WordPress Themes
And check out their selection of free web site templates
20 Useful resources to Download Free Website Templates