Taking a poke at technology

Here's an assortment of cartoons looking at different types of technology from genetic engineering to social media.  As usual I'm taking a swipe at the U.S. Congress whenever I can.

From The Week here's Nate Beeler's "Old-Fashioned Demands:"

From USA Today there's Chan Lowe's cartoon about Google Glass:

This one is also from USA Today; it's by Clay Jones:

And a third one from USA Today (the last) is by Ed Stein:

At Cagle Post I found this one, titled "Engineering," by David Fitzsimmons:

That's it for today, Folks.

-- Marge

DIY: YouTube channel art

The other day I took a look at what's needed to add channel art to my YouTube One Channel page.  It wasn't long before I was confused (it sometimes doesn't take much).  When you sort it out it's not too bad, though.  You need:

• an image that's formatted to show well across displays in wide variety of sizes-- from TV to mobile phone.
• a Google Drive account because YouTube One wants to get its image from online storage (15 Gig of free storage is available).

Apparently the process for adding an image to your channel isn't functioning yet; here's the error message I get when trying to access the image uploaded --

There was an error!
Details:
The feature you requested is currently unavailable. Please try again later.

Be that as it may, setting up the image is fairly complicated, so a head start would be good.  Be sure to read the guidelines and get the template first.

What follows is a simple how-to on working with a template and conforming to requirements for image dimensions.  Note that I'm working in GIMP -- an application that is fairly new to me -- because it's open source (Windows download page).  While open source is free to use, it's only fair that you contribute to the project in some way.  Because I'm a new user of GIMP, I don't know all of the features and how to make them work. So here goes.

When you open newly-installed GIMP, three panels appear.  The middle pane is the one with the menus.  It's best to start a new image with the dimensions and resolution of the final product.  For YouTube One set the dimensions to width 2560 px, height 1440 px.  That's pretty big, so set the resolution at 72 pixels per inch (under advanced).  I prefer a resolution of 96 or 150 ppi, because the final product is sharper, but this will be a large file because of the image dimensions, so best to stick to 72 ppi, which is the default for most web images.  To save yourself some work later, set the background color to black, GIMP's default foreground color (remember this image may be shown on a TV). Set the view to 33% or 50% to see the whole image.

Always remember, Ctrl+z is your very best friend.

Download the template from the Channel Art guidelines, then open it with GIMP (File/Open).  Using the Toolbox/"Rectangle Select Tool" (left panel, top), select just the colored portion of the template, then cut it (Ctrl+z).  Close the guidelines image without saving, then paste the cut image into your new one.  It will automatically be centered and appear in the Layers list (right panel, top) as a "Floating Selection."  Right click on it and select "To New Layer."  This will be your reference for the placement of the image you want to show in your YouTube channel.  Currently this work looks like this:

Now you need some content.  One of my favorite resources is Hubble images, where I selected the view of M106 wallpaper, 2048 X 1536 (1.2 Mb).  This one was selected because it has a compelling center image and not a lot of 'noise' (small details that distract the viewer's eye).  Note that the dimensions of this image differ from the one I'm working on, in other words it won't fit.

Open this new image with GIMP, select it all (Select/"All"), cut it and paste it into the work.  In the Layers list right click on "Floating Selection" and set it "To New Layer."  Being sure you have "Pasted Layer #1" selected, choose the Toolbox/"Move Tool" (five buttons down) and position the new image so that the portion you want in the center is in the center.

Because the image doesn't fit correctly, it's necessary to crop and blend it.  Being sure that you have the correct layer selected, use the Toolbox/"Rectangle Select Tool" to select the size you want, then use Layer/"Crop to Selection." Remove the selection by choosing Select/"None."  Now we have this:

Now to blend the content with the background.  Hide the template by clicking on the eye next to "Pasted Layer" in the Layers list.  Re-select the content layer (Pasted Layer #1) and drag it down to just above the background.  With Layer#1 still selected, right-click and choose "Merge Down."  Using Toolbox/"Rectangle Select Tool," select an area within the layer.  (I like to use View/"Show Guides" and drag the guides from the ruler for reference.) What we have now is shown below.

Invert the selection with Select/"Invert." By clicking Filters/Blur/"Gaussian Blur" you will get a dialog for setting the blur parameters.  I tried setting it to 75px and that worked well.  Turn the guides off by deselecting View/"Show Guides" and remove the mask with Select/"None."  This is the final image.

There's still text to be added and the work needs to be exported.  Because this post is so long, these topics will be addressed in the post on Monday.  If you have questions or want to advise on better ways to use GIMP, please be sure to leave a comment.

-- Marge

A Soldier's Creed

When reciting the Soldier's Creed, Soldiers stand at attention.

U.S. Soldier's Creed

I am an American Soldier.

I am a Warrior and a member of a team.

I serve the people of the United States, and live the Army Values.

I will always place the mission first.

I will never accept defeat.

I will never quit.

I will never leave a fallen comrade.

I am disciplined, physically and mentally tough, trained and proficient in my warrior tasks and drills.

I always maintain my arms, my equipment and myself.

I am an expert and I am a professional.

I stand ready to deploy, engage, and destroy, the enemies of the United States of America in close combat.

I am a guardian of freedom and the American way of life.

I am an American Soldier.

Soldiers commonly shout hooah at the conclusion of the Soldier's Creed, but it is not included in the creed itself.

The image at the top of this post is associated with a story by Marcus Eriksen, titled "My Angel in the Desert: One Soldier's Story of War."  Take time to read it when you can.

-- Marge

The funny side of cyber war -- or maybe not so funny

Cyber war has been more and more in the news lately -- but what is it?  The quote below is from the Wikipedia article linked here and gives a short definition:

Cyber warfare refers to politically motivated hacking to conduct sabotage and espionage. It is a form of information warfare sometimes seen as analogous to conventional warfare, and in 2013 was, for the first time, considered a larger threat than Al Qaeda or terrorism, by many U.S. intelligence officials.

All the news about this topic sounds so bad, let's see what humor can be found in the dire.

From U.S. News and World Report is this cartoon by Scott Stantis:

Also from U.S News is a cartoon by Chan Lowe:

This tweet, intercepted by Dan Wasserman, was published by U.S.News:

According to Tom Purcell everything is usable in warfare (cartoon found at Cagle).

And then there's the final conundrum of all warfare from Drew Sheneman, published by The Week:

Batten down the hatches, Folks.

-- Marge

DIY pop art

Since pop art often doesn't look that artful, seems to me it's the perfect beginner's do-it-yourself art project.  For an idea of what pop art looks like, check out this Smashing article by Vitaly Friedman, "Pop Art Is Alive: Classics and Modern Artworks."

The sample used below is digital, and done in Corel PHOTO-PAINT (Corel's caps).  You can do the same kind of work in Gimp, a free alternative.  Key to producing work with image-handling apps is learning to use masks and layers.  And, unless you photographed or drew the elements you use in a work yourself, it's best to select only public domain images. 

My sample of pop art could also be called a collage because it's a composite of several images.  Disclaimer: I don't claim that this is good art, just an example of a genre.  The theme is coffee and there is a suggestion that we would rather judge than appreciate what comes to us through the hard work of others.

My first element is the background -- a photo I took of an old coffee filter.

To this I added an image purchased at Dreamstime that is royalty free.  If I were going to offer my work for sale, I would have to buy an extended license.  It was necessary to use masks to prepare the image for use in the larger work.  I also changed the color tone, but passed on using special effects.

Now the work looks like this --

At Wikimedia Commons I found images of a laborer's hands, coffee beans, and a Russian ad for coffee that are in the public domain.  After editing the images using masks, adjusting colors, and making a variety of color and size versions of the coffee beans, this is my final product:

On second thought, it appears something more is needed.  Here's the final final:

As I said earlier, I don't claim that this is good art.  But it will do for today.

-- Marge

Traveling the electron transport chain

Because of new developments, photosynthesis has been in the news lately.  Science News reports "Artificial Forest for Solar Water-Splitting: First Fully Integrated Artificial Photosynthesis Nanosystem."  Quoting from the article --

While "artificial leaf" is the popular term for such a system, the key to this success was an "artificial forest."

"Similar to the chloroplasts in green plants that carry out photosynthesis, our artificial photosynthetic system is composed of two semiconductor light absorbers, an interfacial layer for charge transport, and spatially separated co-catalysts," says Peidong Yang, a chemist with Berkeley Lab's Materials Sciences Division, who led this research. "To facilitate solar water- splitting in our system, we synthesized tree-like nanowire heterostructures, consisting of silicon trunks and titanium oxide branches. Visually, arrays of these nanostructures very much resemble an artificial forest."

MIT News reports in "Secret of efficient photosynthesis is decoded" that "Purple bacteria are among Earth’s oldest organisms, and among its most efficient in turning sunlight into usable chemical energy."

Shown below is simple diagram of photosynthesis found Equinox Overseas Investments.

For current news on photosynthesis, try e! Science News' list, continually "updated by artificial intelligence."  At the top of the list (warning: link is flaky) is an article from Science Centric: "Unique close-up of the dynamics of photosynthesis."

Below is a more detailed explanation of the photosynthetic process (be prepared for alphabet soup and scientific jargon), posted to YouTube by ndsuvirtualcell.

For current research on artificial photosynthesis, keep an eye on JCAP (Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis), a research program dedicated to the development of an artificial solar-fuel generation technology.  Nanowires promise to transform solar panel technology, according to this article at R&D Magazine.  Note that "an array of nanowires may attain 33% efficiency."

Considering that "The Sun produces enough energy in one hour to power all human activity on Earth for a full year" (JCAP), artificial photosynthesis promises to be a rewarding venture.

-- Marge

Cartoons: rabid Republicans

Recently I heard that President Obama may be impeached over the Benghazi "coverup."  I also heard that Congress passed a piece of legislation overnight to free up flights for home (CNN report).  Quoting Federal News Radio --

 The bill passed late Thursday without even a roll call vote, and House officials indicated it likely would be brought up for quick approval there.

Under the legislation, the Federal Aviation Administration would gain authority to transfer up to $253 million from accounts that are flush into other programs, to "prevent reduced operations and staffing" through the Sept. 30 end of the fiscal year.

In addition to restoring full staffing by controllers, Senate officials said the available funds should be ample enough to prevent the closure of small airport towers around the country. The FAA has said it will shut the facilities as it makes its share of $85 billion in across-the-board spending cuts - known as the sequester - that took effect last month at numerous government agencies.

The Senate acted as the FAA said there had been at least 863 flights delayed on Wednesday "attributable to staffing reductions resulting from the furlough."

There's information on "Why the GOP Might Impeach Obama..." in this Bloomberg article; note that they've called for his impeachment 14 times now (Salon).   An opinion piece by Brad Bannon notes that Republicans Are Losing the American Culture War. 

Although contributing to the partisanship and vitriol rampant in Washington is not something I prefer to do, I definitely think some cartoons are in order.  All of the cartoons in today's post were found at U. S. News, the cartoon section.

-- Marge

DIY: print a plastic pistol

Since everyone is talking about this gun, a true do-it-yourself project, here's my two-cents.  As Forbes says "3D-Printed Gun Fires a New 'Shot Heard 'Round The World'."  Defense Distributed did it, as shown in this video:

The Verge notes that "Lawmakers rush to ban 3D-printed guns, but enforcement options are murky."  This article from TheGuardian gives some background on Cody Wilson, head of Defense Distributed (DD).

Photos of the gun, called the Liberator, and replicas can be found in this Forbes article, "DIY Firearms Makers Are Already Replicating And Remixing The 3D-Printed Gun."  Blueprints for the pistol were published to the internet, but DD took them down in response to a "request" by the Feds (U.S. Department of Defense Trade Controls), according to this article by Policymic.  Before they were removed, the blueprints were "...Downloaded 100,000 Times In Two Days ..."

While the gun can fire only one shot, how accurate is it?  Can you hit what you aim at or does the bullet come to rest somewhere not intended?  Can it explode in your hand(s)? An article in Scientific American discusses some of the factors involved in printing the gun and using a plastic one.

Possibly the do-it-yourself project you choose can be fatal.

-- Marge

Lights, camera...animate

Having just started on producing an animated series (after I learn the software and do the artwork), I've been looking at examples for insight into the process works.  There are some truly great samples on YouTube.  I'm particularly interested in combining 2D and 3D.

iAnimate.net offers workshops (pretty spendy, but it looks like most things related to animation are) that produce some amazing output.   Here's their Members Showcase - Winter 2013 -- it's long but worth the time.

Here's another, shorter one from iAnimate -- Games - Fall 2012 Showreel.  (Note the excellent physics.)

In this next clip the concept of adding 2D drawings to a 3D animation is discussed, using the film short "Paperman" as an example.  Intriguing.  To quote from Snouty Pig's post:

"Paperman" director John Kahrs has described the process: "It's not like a texture map. It's just like painting on the surface of the CG. It acutally moves on a 2D layer that's driven by the CG."

My last sample is a presentation posted by DigInfo News, showing a new interactive technology using 2D to 3D animation:

If you're interested in doing animation, take a look at SplineBomb, which offers animation news, tutorials and works in progress.

If you want to try 2D and/or 3D animation without spending a small fortune for it, try Unity3d, a game creation software that can be downloaded free.  To sell your output you'll need to buy a license.  This Wikipedia article about independent video game development, which seems dated because it doesn't include iOS, Android, and other newer platforms, gives an idea of how licenses work.

It's beginning to look like adding 2D to 3D is twice the work.  Hmmm.

-- Marge

Too true and too close to home to be funny

When I saw this cartoon at The Week, I mentally processed it, said to myself "Yep, too true." and moved on.  But it's haunting me.  Needless, to say it's true of more than the military.  So here's the cartoon by Jack Ohman.

That's it for today, Folks.

-- Marge

DIY money laundering

Many of us don't need to launder money, mostly because we don't have that much money and and don't need to cover up its source.  However, it seems to me you might be interested in how easy it is and how it's done.

To do it yourself, sign up for an account with a virtual world that has its own virtual currency, such as Second Life, then download and install the Bitcoin client.  Then start converting real life dollars to Linden dollars, then Linden dollars to Bitcoins.  If you think this is silly, take a look at this article from New World Notes.  Here's a current Bitcoin chart tracking Second Life transactions. The Economist explains how Bitcoin works.

And you thought virtual worlds are silly.

This Alex comic strip (Charles Peattie and Russell Taylor) from The Telegraph (U.K.) might explain money laundering a little more (click on the image to see it larger).

 

Word on the street says the U.S. will be applying money-laundering laws to Bitcoin and other 'virtual currencies.  The Wall Street Journal concurs.

What's a shady entrepreneur to do?  You could ignore the new rules, since you're probably doing something illegal anyway.  Or you could be too-big-to-fail, like HSBC.  This cartoon by Adam Zyglis sums it up nicely:

This whole too-big-to-fail thing is just plain wrong.

-- Marge

Art that offends -- on purpose

Secretly I admire artists who invest themselves in purposefully offending their audience.  On the other hand, I'm offended.  The Wikipedia article on art (a very good read by the way) has this to say about "motivated functions of [visual] art:"

Motivated purposes of art refer to intentional, conscious actions on the part of the artists or creator. These may be to bring about political change, to comment on an aspect of society, to convey a specific emotion or mood, to address personal psychology, to illustrate another discipline, to (with commercial arts) to sell a product, or simply as a form of communication.

While looking for good examples of the politically-motivated type, I found an excellent article/list (50 Stunning Political Artworks) by Vitaly Friedman of Smashing Magazine.  Please note, however, that the article I'm referring to is posted at Noupe, a site with the by-line "The Curious side of the Web."

Here are my picks from Vitaly's list.

From DesktopNexus, 1984 - Not an Instruction Manual:

San Francisco street art, a photo posted in kwilms' photostream on Flickr:

Graffiti painted on a wall somewhere and posted by someone:

A  photo of graffiti posted in Joshua Rappeneker's photostream:

Street art by Banksy, first found on Filip Spagnoli's blog:

And that's it for today, Folks.

-- Marge

An oily Friday in cartoons

It's been a month now and I still can't believe that Exxon not only fathered yet another oil spill, but they also suppressed reporting on it.  In fact, according to Grist.org, Exxon took or has taken over the town of Mayflower, Arkansas, as reported in the article, "Arkansas town in lockdown after oil spill nightmare."  If you've never heard of the magazine Grist, neither had I -- here's a list of the funders.

Living in Alaska and having seen how the oil companies operate first-hand (did you know that the U.S. still subsidizes them?), the news about Mayflower really chaps my hide. So I'm applying some cartoon vitriol as lubrication.

On second thought, not.  It seems all of the current oil spill cartoons that I saw earlier are gone.  Googling "oil spill editorial cartoons," I see only ones about the BP Gulf of Mexico spill.  Spooky.

Pulling some cartoons from the U.S. News' 2010 archive and making a few changes (my apologies to the artists for altering their works), I offer you the following:

Adapted from a Jack Ohman cartoon,

Adapted from a Gary Markstein cartoon,

One by Michael Ramirez and in its original form,

The next two are from other sites and specifically address the Mayflower spill.  The first is from  Matt Wuerker at Politico:

And this last one is by Jimmy Margulies; it was found at Cagle:

-- Marge

DIY to celebrate life

I thought about a tongue-in-check do-it-yourself post for Mother's Day, but it kept going dark on me.  The Huffington Post article, "Mother's Day vs. Stepmother's Day: Who Owns It?," explains some of the darkness.  Realities of mothers who, in one way or another, for one reason or another, chose not to be motherly add to the mix.  So, moving on...

Life is indeed a you-it-yourself project.  And sometimes we need to be reminded of how joyful life can be.  Here are a few ideas for reminding ourselves.

Hang something in or near a window where the light can catch it.  It could be a crystal, or a stained glass panel, a glass fishing float, or beads on a string.  Something to catch your eye when you walk by.  Etsy's blown_glass category has literally thousands of ideas.  Be sure that what you choose has an eyelet for hanging.

Make a mobile and hang it where the air currents in the room will make it shift and catch your eye.  For inspiration, try "50 Fabulous Mobiles To Make, Buy Or Hang In The Sky" at the site Apartment Therapy.  For instructions, try "How to Create a Calder'esque Mobile" by morgenlandfahrer at the instructables site.  Here's an Alexander Calder mobile:

Hang a wind-chime inside your house or apartment.  The lighter the material you use, the more easily it will be moved by air currents.  I've used brass rings in a variety of sizes and something to catch the air like paper.  A good collection of ideas for making them is at Squidoo.  If you really want to delve into the mechanics of windchime sounds, try Chuck's Chimes.

Another way to celebrate life is to put a mirror where you catch a glimpse of yourself from time to time.  If you're always frowning, it's time to lighten up and do something fun.

The Droste Effect shown in an image by Tiago Sozo Marcon, Flickr

--Marge