@cail

Groove

Yesterday night, I witnessed an amazing performance by Groove, a group that plays everyday items like instruments. The items included trash cans, giant tubes, kitchenware, and poker cards. I'm not much of a performer, nor do I know much about music, but I thoroughly enjoyed Groove's performance. From that classical-ish piece to the glow-in-the-dark act, I loved them all. And I noticed how mature and composed the performers were, even when the lid of a trash can flew off someone's arm. All in all, Groove's performance was fabulous, and I would love to see them a second time.

Mapping

Size Doesn't Matter

..But it sure is cool:
World's Largest Working Cell Phone

Burning and Physics

This Mac and Memorex DVD+R DL don't play well together. Physics and I don't play well together either.

Third Poster

Alright, so I've been working on my third poster for the Ginsberg competition for three hours now. I don't think I'm making much progress, but this Freshens smoothie added with Mega Booster sure is helping me stay awake.

Perhaps it'd be better to go back to bed?

Sustainable Botanical Garden

A really ingenious piece:
Inhabitat Link to Garden Article
I wish I could see it in real life. The structures are so huge that, if I were under it, I would be like a cell! ..Unless my math is off and I'm completely wrong.

Poster Critiques

Props to Matt for giving all those clever suggestions; I was even tempted to ask him if he had enough energy to critique my own poster. All in all, the critique was very inspiring.

I also realized today that I have a personal peeve with the use of Courier or similar typewriter-like fonts in a design situation that calls for sophistication. I don't think Courier gives off a business-formal-ish feel.
You can't see me, but I'm squirming.

Explorer

Great, this page looks like crap in IE.

Photographic Documentation Notes

Camera Settings
A. Color Mode/Settings/Space - default SRGB (web); use Adobe RGB 1998; can change in PS
B. ISO (image sensor's threshold sensitivity to light) - very low is best (greater resolution, less noise); 100-200 recommended
C. Image Quality (size, format, bit depth) - camera raw (general) is best; then .tiff, then .jpeg; higher luminence levels are best; if .jpeg, choose largest file size, least compression
D. White Balance - best setting may be "automatic;" or maybe tungsten
E. Auto/Manual Exposure (aperture preferred setting) - measuring amount of light reflected off of item; use instant light meter or neutral gray card; if not exposure, use +/-; have friend help
F. Manual Focus - when not able to focus due to solid colors

Lighting Techniques for 2D
A. Use tripod, shutter release cable or self-timer setting; shutter speed 1/4-1/15 of a second
B. Lighting should be even
C. Use gray card or white balance card for exposure/color balance

Lighting Techniques for 3D
A. Drape seamless background paper over table(s)
B. Use single soft light source/reflectors to fill shadows
C. Experiment with placement of light/camera angle
D. Take more than one view of artworks

Markup Validation

I would like to make this page W3C compliant, but it's going to be pain, seeing as how I currently have 173 errors. For now, though, I'm satisfied with just testing the page in Firefox and IE. And in order to do so, I need to find a good program that can emulate Windows applications on my Mac without having to install the Windows OS. I've thought about using CodeWeavers' Crossover, but I've heard some bad things about it.

Nooo!

I missed the lecture!! Curse it all!

Successful Photo Printing

I had never done a screen-print with a gradient (and this was my second/third time screen printing), but my photo print turned out really well! I'm glad. I also really appreciate Nancy for helping me prepare my screen prior to photo printing.

I'm also hoping to visit Michael's one day to buy some plain shirts so that I can screen print on them.
Monkey see, monkey do; Matt was printing on a t-shirt, and I didn't realize the print could be so clean and vibrant on fabric.

I want...

...a Cintiq.

Youtube

Can't say it's my most preferred site for streaming videos, but gosh darn it, Youtube flame wars are the best! Nothing makes my day more than reading the comments of a couple overexcited middle schoolers who think that the use of profanity makes them sound more mature, as if mixing up "their" with "they're" and tYpInG lIkE tHiS didn't already give them away. It's great.

Crayon Physics Deluxe

This is exactly the kind of thing we need in our physics curriculum.

Anyhow, Petri Purho (Kloonigames) thinks up some crazy, pardon my slang, games! His work ethic's admirable, too.