Art: Digital Canvas

The site Digital Canvas identifies itself as "a showcase of innovative VFX, editing, and motion graphics content." And that it is.  You could spend hours watching a variety of short and original videos.  Many, maybe most, of the videos posted were made as advertisements for TV and other media.  But they're still stunning.

On their about page, DC says:

Digital Canvas honors the creative, innovative, and moving work in visual effects and storytelling. Here you will find expertly crafted content across film, television, and advertising that demonstrates excellence in motion graphics, editing, animation, and of course, VFX. The best part—our content is curated by top-notch VFX professionals, artists and animators, like you.  They scour the web for work that entertains and inspires them in their day to day work—from established post houses to independent artists. 

Here are some examples.

***

Bilderish Studio:  "Become One"
Posted on YouTube by Bilderish Studio

***

Bot Dolly: "Box" (Projection-mapping on moving objects)
Posted on YouTube by The Creators Project

***

Dave Penn / Sixfingers: "Inside the Edit: The Editor" (Spanish subtitles)
posted on YouTube by Johann Torrejón Vásquez
Also available on Vimeo under Dave Penn / Sixfingers

***

OFFF St. Petersburg: "The Mill"
posted on YouTube by millchannel

***

-- Marge

Cartoons: mostly about ISIS

Today's selection of cartoons include some observations about ISIS (vs. ISIL), PTSD, and climate change.

To keep up with news on ISIS and related topics, you may want to pin NBC News' ISIS Terror page in your browser. On the other hand you may want to opt out of watching the news on the grounds that it's just another way for the fear mongers to sell stuff.

***

Walt Handelsman, The Week

***

Marshall Ramsey, The Week

***

Cameron Cardow, The Week

***

A fair amount has been said about the U.S.'s continuing involvement in the Middle East and Africa. There's a collection of articles at the Economist that dig a little deeper, beginning with "Caliphornia dreamin’"(look for links to the other articles at the bottom of the page). BTW, PTSD is Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. (Had to look it up myself--funny, but perpetual sounds more right.)

***

Milt Priggee, The Week

***

Citizens supporting global action against climate change demonstrated on the 21st; a report and slideshow are available at the New York Times website.

***

Bill Day, The Week

***

-- Marge

DIY: research

Science, Chemical Engineering News

***

With the internet at our beck and call, almost any question that comes to mind can be answered simply by opening a web browser and googling it.  But knowing which answer is true and which is someone's attempt to spread unsubstantiated claims and/or pet theories can be a challenge.

University libraries and educational systems seem to be particularly sensitive to the reliability of information.  Two good references on how to verify whether the information you've found is reliable are the McGraw Hill Higher Education and Georgia Mason University pages.

Often we use the web to diagnose a health problem. Medical News Today talks about "Dr Google And The Unwise Practice Of Self-Diagnosis." On the other hand researching medical diagnoses given by a doctor, especially one for a serious disease is probably a must. This article at Johns Hopkins in an eye-opener: "Diagnostic Errors More Common, Costly And Harmful Than Treatment Mistakes." A good rule of thumb would be to search on the disease name and, if the condition is serious, find a support group or forum.

What about finding out what to do about your newly replaced faucet cartridge that has reversed hot and cold? Again forums are a good resource. Google your question with simple terms.  If the links that come up don't address the issue, reword your query until you get something meaningful.  It may take several tries to get to an answer that appears useful. Usually you don't have to sign up for a forum to just read the threads. This method is useful for troubleshooting computer problems, too.

And then there is 'real' research. Most often the hard sciences require a laboratory or place to carry out experiments. A garage will often do; and the internet is very useful for finding out about equipment, what's been done, and where to buy supplies and equipment.

Science requires method to get repeatable results, but most of all it requires a firm understanding of current scientific theory that applies to your area of interest.  So back to the internet to gather and digest information on what you will be working on.

As for research techniques in geneal, WiseGEEK has some good information. There are two types of research, basic and applied. Another set of terms you may encounter are qualitative vs. quantitative. Generally, qualitative indicates a verbal analysis or report; quantitative a numerical analysis or report. Online I'm seeing these terms applied mostly to the sociological and psychological fields.

***

Aiden Yeh, Formal research process, Slideshare

***

For an overview of scientific frontiers being challenged today and where we earthlings may be headed, take a look at this video featuring physicist Michio Kaku, posted by Big Think.

***

***

-- Marge

Fall Equinox: four viewpoints

Autumn in New England, Let's Plan Our Holiday

***

The leaves have just started turning yellow and gold here in Anchorage and I don't think there's been a frost yet.  But in other parts of the world the colors of autumn are flagrant.

Tomorrow morning early (2:29am GMT) is the equinox, when days and nights are even, and which marks the official beginning of autumn.  Here are four viewspoints on autumn.

***

Autumn in North Wales, Daily Mail

***

Justin Grieser at the Washington Post announces "Autumn arrives: The fall equinox explained in six images." Deborah Byrd at EarthSky tells us everything we need to know about the September equinox. The Old Farmer's Almanac offers a sampling of information, folklore, and verse. And Space.com says that "Referring to the equinox as being a time of equal day and night is a convenient oversimplification."

***

Autumn in Perthshire Scotland, Dave's Pics

***

Each September I rediscover what I call the "pristine light" of autumn, a light that is clearer and somehow more penetrating than that of summer. 

-- Marge

Cartoons: a stew spiced with irony

Not finding much humor in the cartoons being offered today, so I'm going for irony.

What if Lindsay Graham's and John McCain's boots were the ones put on the ground in Iraq?

***

Ben Sargent, TheWeek

***

What would Teddy Roosevelt do today about the fat cats ruling Washington?

***

David Horsey, TheWeek

***

It's easy to see today's football players as the gladiators of our day, much as the Roman gladiators were the working class heroes of their time, according to Evan Andrews.

***

Scott Stantis, TheWeek

***

Is there an exit strategy for fighting ISIL?  Will we need one?

***

David Horsey, TheWeek

***

-- Marge

DIY: woodworking

Henrique Oliveira, Wood Installation, Inhabitat

***

At the risk of generating another 5 spam emails a day related to woodworking and woodworking plans, here goes.  Woodworking can be a very expensive hobby, as practiced by Frank (Look at all that equipment!) or it can be very low-key, which is the way I do it. Here's a video by Frank of building a lawn chair, well actually, his machinery building the chair:

***

***

Frank is indeed a fine cinematograher.

But back to the topic of woodworking.  For cutting wood I use a handsaw, a small top-handle saber saw (there seems to be a lot of confusion on the web between 'saber' and 'reciprocating' saw), and a variable-speed drill. To shape the wood I use chisels, a rasp, files, and sometimes a drill attachment that sands/grinds. Dremel tools are handy for fine detail and light finishing. A sander comes in handy for large flat areas. For putting things together I use a hammer, a tack hammer, the drill fitted with a screwdriver bit, and fasteners suitable for the material at hand. A pencil and measuring tools help. A drill bit set is a must, also a good selection of sandpaper grits. And wood glue is helpful. Then there's painting and staining.

I choose my projects carefully and usually use a good grade of plywood. What can you build with plywood? The blog Dishfunctional Designs has some interesting ideas. If you like working large and with recycled wood, take a look at Henrique Oliveira's wood installation. There is a selection of more functional designs, some of them requiring more advanced equipment, at Instructables on the Let's make plywood page, popular selection.

***

Plywood Bowl, Dishfunctional Design

***

There's more than can be said about this topic, so I'll probably revisit it in the future.

-- Marge

Science: space travel without fuel

Eric Allie, Cagle

***

At the current stage of development, dreams of space travel start in the range of 30 and 50 micro-Newtons in thrust (NASA reporting on the Cannae drive). Currently there are two candidates for space propulsion that don't require tons of fuel to launch and propel. Keep in mind interstellar travel (going outside our solar system) will require more time than a human is currently allotted in a lifetime. Take a look at Kate Mulcahy's "Top 10 Problems with Interstellar Travel" for more information.

***

Gravity Probe B, ListVerse

***

Still, developing propulsion without fuel is an important step.

The first candidate is the EmDrive, developed by Roger Shawyer, and introduced in 2010. This drive has been validated by NASA and built and tested by the Chinese.

***

EmDrive (photo by Elvis Popovic), DVICE

***

The other candidate is the Cannae Drive, reportedly a 'reactionless' engine. As reported by The Independent,

A NASA study has recently concluded that the "Cannae Drive," a disruptive new method of space propulsion, can produce small amounts of thrust without the use of propellant, in apparent discordance with Newton's third law. According to its inventor, the device can harness microwave radiation inside a resonator, turning electricity into a net thrust.

***

Cannae Drive, gizmag

***

Wired includes the Cannae and EmDrive engines in "10 questions about Nasa's 'impossible' space drive answered."

Travel within our solar system using one of these fuelless drives is being discussed, but to me the most interesting stuff lies beyond the heliosphere.

-- Marge

Cartoons: Ray Rice and others

What the NFL showed us.

***

Steve Benson, US News

***

What I see when I look at Ray Price, abuser.

***

Rick McKee, Cagle

***

What I see when walking down the street.

***

Randall Enos, The Week

***

What rural Republicans may see.

***

David Horsey,  US News

***

What the English saw in Braveheart.

***

Cameron Cardow, The Week

***

-- Marge

DIY: tools for mobile people

If you have a smartphone, there are some really cool apps available that will help you navigate your next project. Many are free, but sometimes the not-free ones work better--and sometimes not. For those who have a non-smartphone, this article at PCMAG--The Top 100 Free Apps For Your Phone (2009)--may be helpful.

If you've ever found yourself in the hardware store with no idea exactly what to choose when it comes to the length of screw or bolt or the thread pitch, Smart Ruler Pro ($1.50) will surely help you out.

***

Smart Ruler Pro, Google Play

***

There are many other measuring apps that are free. You can always install one to try it out, then uninstall and try another if it doesn't work for you. For apps that act as tools for building, search on 'clinometer' at Google Play (my favorite).  Clinometers are useful when you're actually working on the project; a good one will tell you what the angle is (relative to a reference) and tell you whether a plane is slanted or true (level).  

Remember to always take a sample screw or bolt to the hardware store, if you have one.  Or, be clear what you will be working with--wood screws are different from machine ones.

If you don't know what a thing is, but you can take a picture of it, try an app like MB Search for TinEye (free). TinEye is a reverse image search available on the web.

***

***

Is there an unknown woody plant invading your garden? Identify it with vTree, Virginia Tech's Tree ID. The app itself is free and--

A feature also allows you to send any tree related question to “Dr. Dendro”, a tree expert in the Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation at Virginia Tech. You can send a tree description or pictures of your plant and experts will help with identification.

***

***

Flowers can be identified with Flower Checker. The app itself is free and one identification is free. Because real people do the identifying, further requests cost 1.00 USD. If no one can identify the plant by its photo, there's no charge.

***

***

Garden Insects Guide (free) appears to be a good reference for your garden. From what I see in the list of apps (lifestyle category), identifying insects by image is tricky because of the differences in appearance between stages of development. No doubt some industrious developer is working right now on closing that gap in available apps.

***

***

-- Marge

Street art and the life cycle of a neighborhood

LMNOPI, Portrait of Nasir Kidbreak Malave (photo © Jaime Rojo),, Brooklyn Street Art

***

No, this is not an advertisement for street art in New York or the New York neighborhood of Bushwick.  It is a piece celebrating how art can change lives.

Life in Bushwick in the '80s was grim. The excerpt below describes a young man's experiences there:

After all the factory workers went home for the day, a rotating cast of prostitutes worked the block, withering under their addictions. As a boy, he thought the book “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn” had to be some kind of joke.

When you ask him today if he has any good memories of the neighborhood, where he lived just up the block, Mr. Ficalora comes up empty. (New York Times, Bushwick Gets a Fresh Coat, 2006)

***

Joseph Ficalora, the area's curator, NY Times

***

Today Bushwick is ranked the 17th best neighborhood in Brooklyn by StreetAdvisor; for some reviews by locals, take a look at the Bushwick page. (Note: be sure to check the date of the review.) For an opinion piece posted at the New York Times site, take a look at 5 NY Times Articles That Changed Bushwick.  Also published by the NY Times, is this slideshow of works to view in Bushwick. The Bushwick Collective has a Facebook page.

***

Dasic at work, Bushwick Collective, Facebook

***

Two websites--Brooklyn Street Art and StreetArtNYC--offer views of art in Bushwick and other neighborhoods in the city.

***

Dasic Fernandez and Okuda, Street Art NYC 

***

-- Marge

Cartoons: Taking another look

These cartoons speak for themselves, but I've included links to related news articles because they present some interesting, and perhaps useful, information.

First of all, I like Obama and think he's dealt in a measured, well-considered way with the tremendous challenges the presidency has given him.  That said, it's not helpful to change course midstream: Obama adjusts Iraq narrative, now blames Bush for troop withdrawal.

***

Adam Zyglis, The Week

***

While ISIS rejects modern living, it uses modern methods to spread its gruesome messages. Hmmm. Authorities are looking for a tech-savvy terrorist from Boston whom they suspect runs ISIS' social media campaign.

***

Mike Keefe, The Week

***

According to PCMag, Apple says "that the hack of celebrity photos did not include a breach of iCloud or Find My iPhone." Whatever the cause, there's still the same result.

***

Drew Sheneman, The Week

***

Apparently the Department of Homeland Security has "lost track of more than 6,000 foreign nationals who entered the United States on student visas."

***

Nate Beeler, The Week

***

--Marge

DIY: doodling

GenerallySpeaking, Creative Bloq

***

Recently I've been working on getting back to doing artwork by hand, rather than digitally. The first step is getting my hand re-trained by sketching.  Because of a tendency to go blank as the blank piece of paper in front of me, I've enlisted the aid of a book found on Amazon, Keys to Drawing with Imagination by Bert Dodson ($22.26).

In using the book, I was surprised me that Dodson referred to the work at hand as doodling. To me doodling is what you do when you're on the phone or in a meeting.  As an aside, here's an article--"Why you should doodle in meetings"--that has some interesting tidbits.

A study by Jackie Andrade, psychologist, revealed that doodling helps you retain information.  Quoting from the paper "What does doodling do?:"

Doodling is a way of passing the time when bored by a lecture or telephone call. Does it improve or hinder attention to the primary task? To answer this question, 40 participants monitored a monotonous mock telephone message for the names of people coming to a party. Half of the group was randomly assigned to a ‘doodling’ condition where they shaded printed shapes while listening to the telephone call. The doodling group performed better on the monitoring task and recalled 29% more information on a surprise memory test. Unlike many dual task situations, doodling while working can be beneficial. Future research could test whether doodling aids cognitive performance by reducing daydreaming. (Copyright # 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)

According to a number of writers, doodling is a creative process. Wikipedia's entry on doodle says,

A doodle is an unfocused or unconscious drawing made while a person's attention is otherwise occupied. Doodles are simple drawings that can have concrete representational meaning or may just be abstract shapes.

Seems to me, anytime you pull expression from below the surface (the unconscious), you are touching the wellspring of creativity. From "A Journey into Chaos: Creativity and the Unconscious," published at the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), there's this:

Describing their subjective experiences, creative people say the same things repeatedly:

“I can’t force inspiration. Ideas just come to me when I’m not seeking them-when I’m swimming or running or standing in the shower.” “It happens like magic.” “I can just see things that other people can’t, and I don’t know why.” “The muse just sits on my shoulder.” “If I concentrate on finding the answer it never comes, but if I let my mind just wander, the answer pops in.” (Andreasen, 2005.)

For some examples of artistic doodling, check out "48 great examples of doodle art."  Three of the pieces are posted here.

***

Fred Blunt, Creative Bloq

***

Faith Georgia, Creative Bloq

***

It seems that being more creative requires keeping paper and pencil handy.

-- Marge

Labor Day 2014

Wishing you a relaxing, hopefully work-free, day. Here are two cartoons for your viewing pleasure, one with a cogent observation by Maxine and one with a bit of nostalgia for American manufacturing.

***

J Wagner, 9pixs

***

R J Matson, The Week

***

-- Marge