I’m making this assertion assuming that you are likely:
In which case, you should make it to the Mythology Exhibition this weekend.
Here’s the facebook event page and a flyer:
It will make your life immeasurably better in all possible regards. Do it.
The Hitler-finds-out meme is getting old, but it’s still a great mechanism for humorously communicating insight into topical issues when done well.
Case in point, here’s one about Apple’s amazing assertions that it can dictate not only what people make, but how they make it:
What next? An Apple user agreement that states that you must wear designer clothes while using your iPad?
In related news, I’d recommend not buying an iPad. Aside from issues of media and software freedom, there will surely be a flood of cheap Linux, Android, Chrome, and Windows 7 alternatives coming out later in the year (like this one). Just like netbooks: Don’t buy the first lot that come out; wait until they have nice screens, stable software, good battery life and are available at Coles for $399 (review here).
(via Reddit)
Update: Wow. There a lot of link spam in that last paragraph.
As Simon correctly noted on Facebook, the app that I used to draw this picture is called Harmony by the amazing Mr. Doob.
I’ve made a few more. I love the look Harmony’s nearest neighbour stuff gives, but I have yet to really master it (although I have just ventured into colour). Finely detailed areas (such as eyes) are particularly difficult.
As always, click on the images for full-size versions (images below are only small sections of the originals):
Black and white is nice and all, but now for some colour! (I previously made a few other colour images, but they didn’t turn out so well…):
I like the sketchiness that Harmony gives. There’s no undo, but the lines are so thin that it’s more an exercise in either: getting it right (or close enough) the first time, or slowly accentuating what you would like to present.
It kinda matches the style of pencil drawings that I have been doing recently (when I watch online videos, like this – pretty bad – interview with Paul Krassner):
I’ll keep playing around with Harmony, but I want to work in colour a little more… but with nice gradients. Maybe I’ll have a look at the source code. More likely, I’ll just export a grey-scale image and then colourise in GIMP.
Update: Adding one more. Different approach.
I found that a good way to work is to start sketching in a light grey and then sketch over areas with increasingly dark greys (until hitting black).
So I briefly went back to drawing random people on video chat. I thought that I was bored of it… but then I realised that I hadn’t made an animated .gif yet!
So here we go:
Writing “I WILL DRAW U” and then drawing over the top was probably a good idea, since the text was easier to read and people didn’t just skip by so quickly. It also adds some continuity to the animation.
I tried drawing faster than usual (10-15 seconds or so), so I didn’t use any shading or colour in these images… maybe I should have. I also caught the cursor in a lot of the screen captures. Hah!
The guy with the gun freaked me out initially. After pulling it (the gun) out for the drawing, he was all “so r u a girl?”… I guess that he’s probably just some guy portraying what he wants and looking for action online. No shortage of them.
Click for full-size image.
Minh and Jim visited us in Albany. We went all over the place, and ate heaps of food. Minh brought us some Asian food stuffs from Tran’s and took heaps of photos of the cats. It was good, good times.
Here are some photos that Jim took with his iPhone:
And here is a drawing of all the food that I ate:
If anyone else is keen to visit, June/July is the next time period in which we’ll be (relatively) free. It’s probably going to be a lot colder, but it should still be good for treks and eats. 😉
Update: Updated the drawing to include more food that I had forgotten.
We’ve just booked a hotel for our trip to Singapore this May.
Thanks for everyone’s recommendations. We’ve decided to go with a new boutique hotel in the historic Tiong Bahru Estate (near Chinatown and the CBD). It’s called Wangz Hotel. (Nice!)
It’s a little more expensive than we were originally hoping for, but it looks absolutely gorgeous outside and in:
There’s a fairly in-depth review over at Sparklette. They also have a quick review of the hotel restaurant, Nectar.
I’m really looking forward to it! 😀
Grooveshark is fantastic.
Basically, it’s a great web-based interface for searching for, organising, and playing music. Definitely try it out (and consider white-listing the site if you use Adblock plugins). For more information on the site’s history, check out the wikipedia article.
Since moving I’ve been transferring my old CD collection to my computer for easy playback. Now I’m wondering if I should even bother. Probably “yes”, since who knows when Grooveshark will pull a Last.fm or just get shut down… then again, there will probably be another service by then. So maybe “no”.
Freely available streaming music seems to be the future consumers want, and I reckon it’s going to happen (or rather, continue happening). If not on sites like Grooveshark, I can almost always find a song I want to listen to on YouTube or on the band’s myspace page.
So here’s to a future of less stuff (physical media), and more convenience, choice, and variety. Support your favourite bands by going to their gigs, buying their merch, and telling your friends. Do things rather than own things. Have fun.
I heard that various Internet people use random video chat sites in order to practice their drawing skills (amongst other things.)
Sounded like an alright idea. Let’s give it a go:
Went well enough; the guitar guy was cool. Let’s try some more:
And now (as is the way of almost all Internet memes) I’m bored of it.
I did enjoy the crazies while it lasted though: red ninja, lamb mask, the guy who wanted to do “that face”, guy with a sword, and even the person with cartoon faces drawn on pieces of paper. They really epitomise a characteristic part of the Internet. I’ve also come to appreciate that a lot of kids in the US have bad haircuts.
All-in-all, it was good practise in speed and simple layering. It’s hard to draw fast enough and you need to quickly capture shapes or colours. People need to start seeing something within a few seconds so that they don’t just disconnect and go onto the next person. Most of these were done in 15-45 seconds (using something a little less sophisticated than MS Paint).
Also fun: Asking people what they want you to draw and then drawing a portrait of them when they ask you to draw a dick. Priceless facial expressions ensue… usually followed by laughter and hand waving or fist pumping.
