if it is a little bit of each please give relative percentages of the population. you can average all prefectures, that is ok w/me.
AI
November 22, 2009
the internet is an infant. facebook is the infant groupmind, waiting for the technology to develop to the point where we become I when we are connected. AI now stands for augmented intelligence, as the connectivity of the internet blurs the lines between knowledge and instant access to information, which could be coming from a database or a person. the singularity was and always has been here. was ANYTHING EVER predictable, if you start at the “beginning?” Please post to our blog if chance happens.
Lightroom to Blurb Booksmart proof book using watermarks: a workflow for wedding photography
October 25, 2009
So you have your images in Adobe Lightroom and you want a quick proofbook with blurb Booksmart so the bride can find her images. The Lightroom print module has some easy options for creating a 2×2 grid with file number underneath but
- My original file names aren’t numbered simple serially
- adding file names decreases the space available for proof images, making them smaller
- the print quality of small file names is poor as we have to go through several tiff>jpg>Booksmart conversions.
I have a simple solution to create a proofboox using a 12″ x 12″ hardcover format offered by blurb that ends up with final image sizes being 95% of a traditional 4″ x6″ proof print. The secret is watermarking the images using Watermark Factory 2.0 ($50).
A note on color management: I use sRGB exclusively as converting from one to another inevitably ends up in color shifts unless you are a color management guru – and let’s admit it, you aren’t. True, ProPhoto or Adobe RGB colorspaces are wider but the color gamut of Blurb’s press is closer to Srgb than any other. If you just want it to work without hassle or surprises, stick to sRGB.
Export images from Lightroom
Once you have custom sorted the images to the desired order, select all images in LR by hitting CTRL-A in library module, then fo File>Export and export all images as 8bit TIFF files numbered serially (1,2,3…) with dimensions of 1200×1800 – which is a 4″x6″ print at 300ppi, close enough for what we are doing. Watermark factory will accept 16Bit TIFF files but it doesn’t render them properly with my version. I export to a separate folder on the Desktop named “project “x” files for watermark”
Q: Why are we resizing all the images to a specific number of pixels?
A: Because if the files have been cropped to different pixel sizes the watermarks will end up being different sizes when rendered to the final proof page.
my lightroom export setting to prep images for watermarking
Import images into Watermark Factory
Now open up Watermark Factory (alternatively Photo Mechanic $) and import the whole “files for watermark” folder. Setup a text watermark that uses the file name (minus the file name extension- some other programs do not have this option and who wants .jpg?) of each image. I use Arial, 48point, -20X and -15Y offset and an opacity of about 50-60%. I don’t mind if a few of the watermarks aren’t legible because they are in order so it is easy to figure out from the surrounding photos. Save this as a profile in case something happens and you need to re render a portion of the images as WMFactory doesn’t have a value for the opacity, just a slider and guessing a new value will end up with an inconsistent effect.
Export watermarked images from Watermark Factory
Make sure the image processing options are all unmarked and select JPG file output format (LR doesn’t import any of the other better options such as PNG, and WMFactory doesnt output TIFF) and make sure the JPG settings (the “…” button) it is at 100% image quality with no blurring and not progressive. Press the play button and export all the files to a new folder called “projectx watermarked files for LR”
Sample image with watermark:
Re-import watermarked images into Lightroom and export for Booksmart
Now open up Lightroom and create a new catalog, import the images with no auto processing. Sort them by file name. Now we are ready for the print module where we will be printing to a PDF file. As the printer determines the dimensions of the page you will have to go to printer preferences and create a new profile using the Blurb page dimensions. These are found NOT on the Blurb website (endless confusion will result as there is conflicting information. According to the Booksmart engineers, always use the dimensions Booksmart gives you) but by opening up booksmart, creating a blank book of the size you want and mousing over the internal pages in “edit” view. A brief pop-up will say the full bleed sizes which for a 12×12 book is 3563px wide x 3609px high. Note that it also pops up 11.88″ x 12.03″ @300dpi but a quick calculation reveals that those dimensions are a pixel off – close enough I guess because the page will be trimmed. So we create a new PDF page with 11.88w x 12.03h dimensions.
UPDATE: Lightroom version 2.x and up allow you to print directly to a JPG file, saving an intermediate step! Just go with the dimensions from blurb booksmart, 300ppi, quality 100 and you are ready to go!
In LR print module setup a 2×2 grid with all margins set to .375in (.125in bleed +.25in safe area). I am tempted to get closer to the safe area but if the trim off the top and bottom are not proportional one print edge will be closer to the edge of the paper than the other and it will look unprofessional. a .25in space from the trim line puts it far enough away so a small difference wont be noticeable. As a compromise, I use .30in margins.
Set the cell spacing to zero – this will cause the images to butt up against each other which is a compromise for maximum image size. To help mediate this issue as well as define the border of each image create a black or dark grey stroke of .5 point or more. Note that using the .2point minimum stroke weight WILL cause problems as it is so small when blurb resamples the line it will end up with an inconsistent dotted effect – not good. Even .5 point stroke doesn’t render in the booksmart lo resolution previews so I use .6 point stroke so avoid worry. Set the “print jobs” settings in LR to 300ppi resolution with no or low print sharpening, JPEG quality at 100 and color management to sRGB and intent as perceptual.
An example of the full bleed page output from lightroom, ready for importing into Booksmart:
Note this is a full bleed page and will be trimmed near (~.15in) to the edge of the top and bottom image
Old proofbooks style with filenames(see arrow) under each image. The text was >tiny< and along with a .2pt stroke didn't render very well (aliasing/compression/resizing issues?) in the final book.
Import full-bleed pages into Booksmart
Now you have a folder with serial numbering “projectx -1.jpg,…”, just import them into booksmart (or drag and drop), highlight them all and select “autoflow” while in edit mode. Viola! That is about it – design the covers and you are done! Note you will have to go in and delete the books default words “books title” and “author” from the cover as well as delete the index page, etc. Also the last page has a blurb logo you can pay extra to have removed.
Warning: Text on the spine with imagewrap is risky. I first got back a book with the spine text far, far off from center. A $150 error as I was at a deadline and had to give the bride something. The re-ordered book just had a white spine.
Blurb Coupon Code
Coupon code for 20% off and free shipping through 11/24/2009: BLURBTREAT – saved me $60 off my last order of two books. Yay!
Here is a discussion I found useful in figuring this workflow out:
Flickr: Discussing Creating a Proofbook in Lightroom in Adobe Lightroom
Next: Actual pictures of the finished Blurb book
Whale Bacon
June 29, 2009
In the US there are a bunch of silly laws dictating what you can and cannot put in your cake hole (or even posess for that matter). Take whales for instance: they are humanely “taken” for research and if the US law was applied worldwide all that luscious what meat would rot. Not so in Japan: if you know the right prefecture you can get all the whale meat you want – even whale meat sample packs with pictures of the whale you are eating on the side of the can!
Recently discovered was this bar that serves…whale bacon!
The savory flavor of that cured mammal flesh alone would be worth the cost of airfare. My GF is buying me a RT ticket for Xmas to do just that…if my wishes come true my body will be part whale this time next year.
Updates to follow….
meditation is reverse hypnosis
May 14, 2009
An interesting parallel to the above view is expressed by a hypnotist named Jack True. In the epilogue to Jon Rappoport’s 1998 book The Secret Behind Secret Societies, True makes the incredible statement that he’s “stopped doing hypnosis on most people” because most of his clients are already in a hypnotic trance when they walk into his office! “The modern idea that surrounds our society is that by being nice, by being very nice you will fit into the system around you and everyone else will be happy with you. The only thing is, everything around you is hypnotic. I mainly find myself doing reverse-hypnosis these days. I do things to wake people up.” (371).
from: http://www.paranoiamagazine.com/matrix.html
japanese peace sign photographs
May 14, 2009
girls in photos
in japan most of the time they are waving the “V” for victory, which is our WWII slogan. are they conscious of this? are they mocking themselves or ingnorant of this meaning?
if it is a little bit of each please give relative percentages of the population. you can average all prefectures, that is ok w/me.
if it is a little bit of each please give relative percentages of the population. you can average all prefectures, that is ok w/me.
I think it is for peace, not victory.
yes but are they aware of its dual meaning, that they are traitors to their own country, willing nukes to be dropped on their heads?????
what are you talking about? most of the people doing that weren’t alive at that time.
that doesnt make it not funny
Japan and the V sign in Photographs
During the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo, figure skater Janet Lynn stumbled into Japanese pop culture when she fell during a free-skate period—but continued to smile even as she sat on the ice. Though she placed only third in the actual competition, her cheerful diligence and indefatigability resonated with many Japanese viewers, making her an overnight celebrity in Japan. Afterwards, Lynn (a peace activist) was repeatedly seen flashing the V sign in the Japanese media. Though the V sign was known of in Japan prior to Lynn’s use of it there (from the post-WWII Allied occupation of Japan), she is credited by some Japanese for having popularized its use in amateur photographs.[23] According to the other theory (actually present in the Japanese version of this entry), the V sign was popularized by the actor and singer Jun Inoue, who showed it the Conica photo camera commercial in 1972.
During the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo, figure skater Janet Lynn stumbled into Japanese pop culture when she fell during a free-skate period—but continued to smile even as she sat on the ice. Though she placed only third in the actual competition, her cheerful diligence and indefatigability resonated with many Japanese viewers, making her an overnight celebrity in Japan. Afterwards, Lynn (a peace activist) was repeatedly seen flashing the V sign in the Japanese media. Though the V sign was known of in Japan prior to Lynn’s use of it there (from the post-WWII Allied occupation of Japan), she is credited by some Japanese for having popularized its use in amateur photographs.[23] According to the other theory (actually present in the Japanese version of this entry), the V sign was popularized by the actor and singer Jun Inoue, who showed it the Conica photo camera commercial in 1972.
Through the 1970s and 1980s in Japan, the V sign was often accompanied by a vocalization: “piisu!” This gairaigo exclamation, which stood for “peace”, has since fallen into disuse, though the V sign itself remains steadfastly popular. It is especially popular in photography, as it is a favorite pose of both teens and adults – in Japan and elsewhere in Asia.[citation needed]
Another possible explanation for the popularity (and perhaps emergence) of the sign in Japan is that people (usually children) are asked to answer the question Ichi tasu ichi wa? (meaning “One plus one equals?”) whose answer is ni (“two”). Being a Japanese equivalent of saying Cheese, the ee sound makes the photographed ones appear as smiling on the photos. Thus, besides saying “two”, they are also giving the answer using two fingers.
The V sign is also commonly used in anime and Japanese live-action shows.[citation needed] When characters show this sign, it is often accompanied by an exclamation of “Vui!” (pronounced /vɯi/ or /bɯi/), an approximation of the English pronunciation “vee” which differentiates it from “bii”, the Japanese name of the letter B (as many Japanese speakers hear the voiced labiodental fricative as being the same as the voiced bilabial plosive, see Engrish). A more common phrase is “kachi” which means victory (V for Victory) or luck. Several anime characters incorporate the V sign into their poses, including Ash Ketchum of Pokémon fame, both Sailor Moon and Sailor V, as well as video game characters such as Mario, Sonic the Hedgehog, Chun-Li, and Ling Xiaoyu from the Tekken series.[citation needed]
Due to Japanese cultural influences in the region[citation needed], the V sign in photographs has become popular with young people throughout East Asia and Southeast Asia.[citation needed]
In the Philippines, the popularity of the use of the “V” sign in photographs is mostly done as a mockery of its popularity and usage by their Asian neighbors (in particular, of characters in soap operas having their pictures taken). The “V” sign usually stands for “peace” in the Filipino context and is thus a cause for bewilderment and amusement when seen on Asian commercials, soap operas, and other media. When a person uses the “V” sign in the same manner as it is used in photographs by other Asian countries, it is mostly an attempt to be cute or funny in the photograph. When putting the “V” sign on top a person’s head, it usually is done to comically “demonize” that person rather than just give that person Bunny ears.
Source(s):
wikiiiiiiiipediiiiiaaaa
well now isnt that brilliant!? take the horror and claim it as your own. kina like gays calling themselves queer and blacks using the n word
yes bill, brains are binary
May 12, 2009
Darpa: Heat + Energy = Brains. Now Make Us Some. | Danger Room
fire or no fire, that is the question. They do pop in 3d but so does the CAD CAM brain machine. No need to program AI to be smart, it will learn all on its own.
I wonder if it will update its own BIOS?
lol
meditation is reverse hypnosis
May 9, 2009
An interesting parallel to the above view is expressed by a hypnotist named Jack True. In the epilogue to Jon Rappoport’s 1998 book The Secret Behind Secret Societies, True makes the incredible statement that he’s “stopped doing hypnosis on most people” because most of his clients are already in a hypnotic trance when they walk into his office! “The modern idea that surrounds our society is that by being nice, by being very nice you will fit into the system around you and everyone else will be happy with you. The only thing is, everything around you is hypnotic. I mainly find myself doing reverse-hypnosis these days. I do things to wake people up.” (371).
from: http://www.paranoiamagazine.com/matrix.html
List of three day weekends in the United States
March 30, 2009
A lit of popular three day weekends (not including bank holidays) in the united states includes:
Memorial day three day weekend – to mourn the losses of war
Fourth of July three day weekend – to celebrate our first war
Labor day three day weekend – Most people don’t know what labor day is. It started in the United states and spread worldwide as a celebration of workers and workers rights on May first. But for some reason (insert conspiracy here) in the US and the US only, it has been moved to mark the end of summer travel season.
Besides the obvious thanksgiving and christmas holiday season, those three three day weekends are the only time the average worker in the united states has more than two days off in a row. Plan well, these precious escapes from labor are few and far between.
Enjoy your three day weekends!
freedom, freedom, freedom, god almighty free at last!
March 26, 2009
Oh yes, this post is a reminder to ramble on about the inequities of force, how the police have a monopoly on the legitimate use of violence, how they are not an imartial observer, how “new” cops are trained to escalate situations rather than de-escalate, how smart people arent allowed to be cops and how “less than lethal” weapons are turning us into jello (for lack of a better word)
Spacetime May Have Fractal Properties on a Quantum Scale
i think you can get the idea by the title. let’s play: by increasing awareness to the scale of one wavelength of a brain wave a great energy is released because this short period acts like a crowbar to pry open access to these other dimensions not normally available to consciousness. It is the equivalent of sending semi trucks through the double slit experiment – it does the same thing as electrons if you scale everything proportionately.
I wonder what the world record is for deliberately tosing a baby? They must not have a very high teminal velocity and stopping that small of a mass isn’t difficult.
How about dropping them from a helicopter into a pile of marshmallows? Would that get me youtube video of the week or jailtime?
Baby Toss Ritual
Atheists
March 7, 2009
I hear the atheists. I hear them say that they are the baseline to which the theists must prove their theories about their gods, because the theists have a belief they want to spread, and because the atheists supposedly have no belief, therefore nothing to prove. But the atheists do have a belief. They claim to have no belief in god, but in practice it seems to be more of a strong belief that there is no god. There is a huge difference between these two ideas. I say to the atheists, you are not the baseline. We are. We are those who don’t know. We have no belief that there is a god, and we have no belief that there is no god. We have room for ideas, and tolerance for those who don’t. So don’t give up! Keep going! You will understand someday.
