DIY: presenting your best face

Getting a good mobile selfie can be a challenge. (Your shower curtain in the background likely says something about your social life or absence thereof.) As you probably know, there are apps for processing your mugshot, beautifying it, and changing the background. Here's a survey of them.

Two list articles that give some good information are at Bustle and dotComplicated. There are so many more apps available. If you're paying for the app, try to pick one that has a review rating greater than 4, less than that is too buggy.

If beauty, or retouching, is your main concern, then an app like Facetune is what you want. Here's an example of what it does.

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Facetune Example, First Coast News

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Photo Editor Pro (Android, free) offers many options including frames, filters, stickers, and one-tap auto enhance.

Photobucket has a mobile app available for both Apple and Android. With it you can animate via a GIF maker; add filters, text, stickers, and more; and auto backup to their site.

What caught my attention though are the special effects you can achieve with your mobile phone with some apps like Slow Shutter Cam, Image Blender, and Tiny Planet Photos. Unfortunately these are only available for Apple devices. According to AppCrawler, there are some some photo apps available for Android that will accomplish slow shutter effects. Below are samples of Slow Shutter and Image Blender. There's a group on Flickr that illustrates the many amazing effects you can get with an image blender app.

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screenshot, Slow Shutter Cam, iTunes

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Michelle Robinson, Image Blender Group, Flickr

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An article at Mashable also lists some apps for mobile photo editing; a gallery is included.

-- Marge

So what's the weather like today

Got nothin' in the way of a topic today, so I'm looking at the weather around the U.S. and touching on the weather in the UK.

Freezing rain, snow, and sleet hit New York; and a storm with more snow is predicted. A headline from Syracuse says "So much snow that some schools in Central New York won't start on time."

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Syracuse University students from the Alpha Phi Sorority skate at the Clinton Square
ice rink Sunday afternoon. (Michael Greenlar | mgreenlar@syracuse.com

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Meanwhile a warning of fire danger was posted for Tulsa, Oklahoma on the 6th. The danger is due to dry conditions and high winds.

In both the Northwest and most of Alaska snow levels have been low this year. In Alaska sled makers and mushers are preparing for warm-weather competitions (Iditarod and other dogsled races). A map of the current state of Alaska's snowfall can be found at the National Weather Service site.

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A musher and dog team cross the ice between the Rohn and Nikolai checkpoints in Alaska during the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Tuesday, March 5, 2013. The Anchorage Daily News / Bill Roth, Sacramento Bee

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In Los Angeles a dog was rescued from the swollen Los Angeles river. After several years of drought, a 'River of Rain' is falling on California.

The UK is enduring what they call the 'winter misery'. Here's an article about heavy snows on the 5th. Other articles talk about low temperatures and torrential rains, all in the space of February 2015.

Miami, Florida, is balmy, for now.

-- Marge

Cartoons: red dots are the new black

With measles outbreaks in California, Ohio, and South Dakota social disapproval of anti-vaxxers is loud and wide. Where our attention is directed, cartoonists can but follow.

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Walt Handelsman, The Week

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Drew Sheneman, The Week

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Tom Toles, The Week

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Steve Sack, The Week

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Not to worry, smallpox--the ancient scourge of mankind--will most likely be used in bio-warfare.

-- Marge

DIY: easy winter trips to warmer places

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After the chilly, snowy surprises of this winter, a desire to be someplace warmer is understandable. You can go to sunny, calming places with a few clicks of your mouse and relax. No airport security, no sardines-in-a-tin-can plane seating, and no serious dents to your wallet.

To remind you what you may be slipping away from here's a video by the Weather Channel's Brainstorm Team about wind chill.

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Places I'm suggesting that you visit are in the metaverse, namely Second Life and Landmark (the game).

Second Life is virtual world like no other. There you can build, script (hopefully your build and not to grief other players), form social bonds, dance, outfit and shape your avatar--the list is virtually endless. There's an emphasis on creativity. You can play for free, but membership has its perks. Getting started can be a steep learning curve, but that's true of many MMORPGs as well. Sign up at the Second Life website.

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Landmark is currently in closed beta, so if you want to get in you'll have to acquire a beta key. Walmart and GameStop may still be offering them--I'm not sure. You can also gain access through Steam (a Settler pack is $19.99). If you belong to a guild, it may be offering give-away keys; a friend who plays may have extras. Landmark interests me in several ways, but mostly I continue to want to see how the voxel-based world develops and what the developers come up with next. BTW, the developers interact directly with the players, a refreshing difference from many MMORPGs I've seen. The blog Procedural World discusses voxel development in detail.

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You can also find these last two videos in my YouTube channel playlists under the title De-stressing in virtual worlds.

-- Marge

Hubble is winking out

NASA/ESA/Hubble Heritage, star-forming region NGC3603, SpaceTelescope

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Hubble, aka the HST, has given us hundreds, maybe thousands of images of space, like the one above. But it's reaching the end of its lifetime. Scientists say it could  survive through 2020. Many of us watched with great interest as it was being built. A synopsis of Hubble's story is available at the Hubble site. Its optics are amazing. For a detailed description of the telescope's construction, check out Science Clarified's article. Unfortunately, Hubble's mirror in the newly deployed device "was the wrong shape and could not focus properly (Science Clarified)". If you're interested in such here's a link to NASA's Optical Systems Failure Report (a large PDF).

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Grinding the Hubble mirror, Science Clarified

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Hot in the news right now is a possible replacement for Hubble, one that doesn't require grinding mirrors or transporting a payload of 24,500 pounds. It's called the Aragoscope, and its technology is revolutionary (when is space technology not?). It's being developed at the University of Colorado-Boulder and scientists there say that it could "provide images up to 1,000 times sharper than the Hubble Space Telescope." This is an illustration of the concept.

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WebsterCash, Aragoscope illustration, Centauri Dreams

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The idea originates with Webster Cash and he describes it thus in an article at Centauri Dreams:

Unlike a starshade, the Aragoscope would be circular in shape, an opaque disk whose diffracted light is directed toward a pinhole camera at its center, then to a telescope that provides extremely high resolution views of stellar objects.  

Cash has also developed the starshade concept, but is now calling the Aragoscopy phase 2 of his efforts to develop a new kind of telescope. Paul Gilster at Centauri Dreams comments:

It’s intriguing that the Aragoscope, in some ways, turns Cash’s earlier starshade concepts on their head, aiming for high resolution rather than high contrast. “I spent a lot of time understanding the physics of destroying diffractive waves very efficiently,” he told the magazine. “In the process, it’s not hard to see that you can use those detractive waves to create images.”

Deploying the Aragoscope would be much simpler to launch than the HST, as described by CBS:

The opaque space disk would be made of a strong, dark, plastic-like material (think Hefty bag) that could be launched in a compressed fashion like a parachute, and then unfurled in orbit. The space shield would be tethered to the telescope at distances from tens to hundreds of miles depending on the size of the disk, said Harness [doctoral student Anthony Harness of the Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences].

More information is available at Gizmag and Popular Mechanics.

-- Marge

Cartoons: it doesn't take long

Today's collection of cartoons talks about insidious threats that have or had a potential for proliferation.

Measles.

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Pat Bagley, The Week

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Drug-toting drones.

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Milt Priggee, The Week

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The wealth of the 1%.

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Steve Sack, The Week

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Red-light cameras. (These may be going away due to popular demand.)

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Scott Stantis, The Week

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-- Marge

DIY: Valentine's Day impressions

A friend of mine uses scrapbooking tools and materials to produce Christmas and birthday cards that are real keepers.  So why not one or two for Valentine's Day? 

Scrapbooking was originally only practiced for preserving family history and memorable moments, but has expanded since about 2001 into an industry that supports making cards, invitations, and artwork-- including steampunk and digital. A nice piece of digital scrapbooking was found at ArtFire.

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"Tiny Moments #4," Chili Designz

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There are many websites offering supplies, such as paper, cardstock, stamps, inks, and pretty little doodads, to add to your design. Some are Papersource (mostly offers kits), Amazon (search on 'scrapbooking'), and Michaels. 

You can find a number of design ideas and kits for Valentine's Day at Scrapbook. Here's a sample.

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Sanna Lippert, "Live in the Moment," Scrapbook

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PaperSource has a selection of kits, crafts, stamps, stickers, and card ideas. There is a selection of steampunk stamps available at Pinkflamingo61 on ArtFire.

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 Steampunk wood mounted rubber stamp, pinkflamingo61

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Now, who to send one to?

-- Marge

Art: some 2D animation for inspiration

Asuka Langley Soryu, sampaikini

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There are so many ways to approach animation (a discipline/art form I'm trying to learn), that I find myself turning to works that I like for inspiration. In animation there's not only the artwork, but also storyline, voice, music, camera angles, and--maybe most important--motion and timing.

This one's my odds-on favorite. I love the sketchy, yet fluid style, transitions, now-you-see-it-now-you-don't effects and the song is lovely, too.

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This one has a similar story, but very different style. Again I'm attracted to the wispy effects.

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The backgrounds are really, really good in this film. And the story is fun--it reminds me of questing in an MMORPG.

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This last film is a collection of scenes from a Japanese animated television series called "Neon Genesis Evangelion." In most of the animé/manga films I've seen the artwork is outstanding. If you'd like to get an idea of how dedicated its fans can be, here's a page listing the author's top ten favorite characters. The page will also give you an idea of the wide range in artistic styles. Keep in mind that some animé can be pretty riské by America's prudish standards.

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To play these videos in sequence the playlist is available on YouTube.

-- Marge

Cartoons: well, don't that beat all.

My regard for America and thinking that it's the best country in the world has taken a pretty serious beating in the last five, ten years. And things just seem to get worse.

The aptly-named Patriots cheat at football.

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Rick McKee, The Week

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The Republicans spent millions of dollars to take control Congress and they can't find a presidential candidate who has national appeal.

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Bill Schorr, The Week

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The rich just keep getting richer, and have the Supreme Court's sanction (see Citizen's United) to buy anything American they want.

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Chan Lowe, The Week

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And the British in the form of BP (British Petroleum) are still treating us like the Colonies.

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Walt Handelsman, The Week

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Sorry for the dark, sort of snarky, viewpoint--today's just a don't-that-beat-all day. Maybe it's time to stop watching the news again.

-- Marge

DIY: what do you want your avatar to say

And where can you find one?

While psychologists are trying to figure out what your avatar says about you, I say what do you want your avatar (aka icon) to say. Do you want an image that approximates what you look like? Or one that makes a statement about your interests, philosophy, or general view of the world. Perhaps one with shock value will do nicely. You could decide on an animated one, although they can be quite annoying to some.

Before continuing further, let me say that I'm not talking about the kind of avatar that you drive in a virtual world or MMORPG. What I am talking about today is the icon or small picture that identifies you on a social site or forum.

Here are some examples of avatars seen on social media and found through Google's Image search ("avatars").

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left to right: four icons from findicons, oldtimersguild (Mr.Nubba),
biodegradablegeek, and NinaPaley 

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An article at Mashable--Avatars Everywhere--lists 27 sources for avatars. The list includes virtual worlds like Second Life and IMVU, which seem to me like a lot more work than necessary. Digibody's Caricature Maker is one I tried. See below.

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avatar made at Digibody's Caricature Maker

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There are a number of sites where you can create an avatar online using an uploaded photo. Picasion is one. It's pretty simple: you upload a photo, crop it, then save it to your computer. What I like being able to instantly see what the cropped photo will contain and select the size of the finished product. This site also offers you the opportunity to animate your photos.

Sizes of avatars differ from site to site--some want none larger that 100px, some want none smaller that 200px. What to do? One of my favorite apps for browsing images and doing some simple editing is FastStone Image Viewer. It's free for personal and educational use, and costs $34.95 for a lifetime, commercial license. This application will resize, change the resolution, and convert an image to a different file format.

A note to the wise: while I was looking at a variety of avatar generators, some wanted me to download an application. Not a good idea unless you know the site.

-- Marge

Martin Luther King: visions of the man

It being Martin Luther King Day, a tribute to the man is in order. Many people have idolized him with their artwork, relatively few really knew him. In the images below I'm attempting to capture moments in his life rendered by artists he or his memory touched.

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cxard, Martin Luther King Jr., DeviantART

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Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial, National Park Service

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Here is King when he gave his "I have a dream" speech in August, 1963. To me he looks lonely--a solitary man standing exposed above the crowd.

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Martin Luther King, Jr., I have a dream speech, MSNBC

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Shepard Fairey, Martin Luther King 2004, ObeyGiant

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The Graphic Design & Publishing Center site features a collection of Martin Luther King Jr. artwork you may enjoy.

-- Marge

Cartoons: the race is on

Here are today's cartoons, freshly picked for humor and ironic twist.

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David Fitzsimmons, The Week

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Bob Gorrell, The Week

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Tom Toles, The Week

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Jack Ohman, The Week

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-- Marge

Cartoons: One last word about Charlie Hebdo

Ok, two last words.

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Steve Sack, The Week

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Cameron Cardow, The Week

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-- Marge

Cartoons and cartoonists up in arms...

...and armed with pens.

Following this second attack at the Charlie Hebdo offices, many editorial cartoonists have paid respects to the magazine and freedom of speech, freedom of expression. You can see some of their cartoons on the topic at The Week. In the cartoon below David Fitzsimmons also gives a nod to Ann Telnaes.

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David Fitzsimmons, The Week

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Ann Telnaes is a well-respected cartoonist. Her response to the Hebdo attack is this.

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Ann Telnaes

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In the first attack on Hebdo in November, 2011, the offices were fire-bombed. This was their response to that attack. The text translates to 'Love: stronger than hate'.

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November 8, 2011, issue, Charlie Hebdo

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An article in The Globe and Mail asks What is Charlie Hebdo and why was it a target? and quotes former editor Stéphane Charbonnier:

No one is forced to read us. Charlie Hebdo is sold in stores, we do not post our content on our website. To read us is a voluntary act. We are not imposing it on anyone...

-- Marge

DIY: dodging the TL;DR response

CSG, Writing:the Revision Process (half-tone), SecondaryWriting

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In case you don't know, as I didn't, what 'TL;DR' means, it's 'too long; didn't read'.

There may be an information explosion going on, but much of the information just flows by one's comprehension because it's just not readable.  It's a good idea to approach the topic being presented with clarity and tighten up the language.

The idea is to be terse, but not abrupt. You don't want this said about your latest post to your favorite here's-what-I-have-to-say forum:

"omg you postwench. i can only say one thing in response - tl;dr"

"tl;dr...why dont you give up on your unabridged edition of War and Peace or at least stop posting it here?"

--DisgruntledJoe, Urban Dictionary

Revision is one of the keys to clarity. First step is to get the general idea down, then review it for meaning, then review it again for meaning, all the while condensing the wording when you can. By now the piece's purpose should be clearer and the message more focused. Review it for grammar, then review it for spelling, and, finally, review it once again for clarity and tightness. When the piece begins to look worn from polishing, it's ready to release it to the world. Or toss it--your call.

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Ernest Hemingway, copyblogger

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Writer Ernest Hemingway is known for being terse. Here are his top 4 rules for writing and a fifth thrown in by Brian Clark, author of  "Ernest Hemingway’s Top 5 Tips for Writing Well."

1. Use short sentences.

2. Use short first paragraphs.

3. Use vigorous English.

4. Be positive, not negative.

Most important writing tip: 

“I write one page of masterpiece to ninety-one pages of shit,” Hemingway confided to F. Scott Fitzgerald in 1934. “I try to put the shit in the wastebasket.”

There's an app, available on Google Play, called Hemingway that analyzes text and "makes your writing bold and clear" (Hemingway Takes the Hemingway Test). However, as it's noted in the test, you can lose clarity, and meaning, by being too terse.

As in all things, the middle way is best.

-- Marge

The czar's new clothes

TomToles, The Week

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This insightful cartoon relating Putin's current standing in world news to Hans Christian Anderson's tale, "The Emporer's New Clothes," suggested to me an opportunity to delve into a number of topics related to Putin and his ambitions, the ambitions of the Russian People, and how children's tales, aka fairy tales, can give us insight into real-world matters.

First, the children's tale. A comment on Maria Tatar's writings in Wikipedia notes:

...that "The Emperor's New Clothes" is one of Andersen's best known tales and one that has acquired an iconic status globally as it migrates across various cultures reshaping itself with each retelling in the manner of oral folktales. Scholars have noted that the phrase 'Emperor's new clothes' has become a standard metaphor for anything that smacks of pretentiousness, pomposity, social hypocrisy, collective denial, or hollow ostentatiousness. Historically, the tale established Andersen's reputation as a children's author whose stories actually imparted lessons of value for his juvenile audience, and "romanticized" children by "investing them with the courage to challenge authority and to speak truth to power." With each successive description of the swindlers' wonderful cloth, it becomes more substantial, more palpable, and a thing of imaginative beauty for the reader even though it has no material existence. Its beauty however is obscured at the end of the tale with the obligatory moral message for children. Tatar is left wondering if the real value of the tale is the creation of the wonderful fabric in the reader's imagination or the tale's closing message of speaking truth no matter how humiliating to the recipient.

Condensing Russian history to the major transfers of power within its borders, the Russian people went from being serfs under the czars, to fodder under Stalin, to being spied-on and imprisoned under the Communist regime, then to suddenly being free but nearly destitute when the Berlin Wall fell. Note: this is my simplistic view of Russian History; here's a more detailed timeline.

Skip to the present. Stepping in after Yeltsin's failed attempts at democracy, Putin has progressively edged toward the policies of the totalitarian Soviet Union but offers the Russian people as sense of the pride once felt for Mother Russia and momentary prosperity. Joshua Kucera, a freelance reporter specializing in the former Soviet Union, writes in his article "Decoding Vladimir Putin's Plan:"

Putin for years has advocated for a “multipolar” world order in which the current dominance of the U.S. is replaced by a more equitable balance of power. And many of Russia’s dramatic moves over the past year – the annexation of Crimea and support for rebels in eastern Ukraine, an enthusiastic embrace of China and increasingly anti-Western rhetoric from Putin – could be interpreted as moving toward a multipolar world.

However, with the Russian economy imploding the question for the Russian people becomes world power or survival. And world power becomes the Czar's new clothes.

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The Emperor’s New Clothes, illustration by Cyril Bouda (1956), Smeddum

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-- Marge

Cartoons: the baby in the room

It's a new year with new opportunities to address old problems. What will we do?

I don't think talking about it on Facebook will help, but I could be wrong.

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David Fitzsimmons, The Week

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Putin's bluster is wearing thin with the collapse of the ruble and the new year isn't opening well for him.

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John Deering, The Week

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Meanwhile, just about everyone is blaming Obama.

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Bill Day, The Week

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Lower prices at the gas pump doesn't necessarily mean lower prices at the ticket counter.

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Chan Lowe, The Week

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One plastic bottle or little green army man overboard doesn't matter, does it?

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Jack Ohman, The Week

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-- Marge