17/02/2010
12/02/2010
14/01/2010
The EyeWriter Initiative
Tony Quan a.k.a. Tempt One (graffiti writer, publisher, and activist) was diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) in 2003, and is now almost completely paralyzed, despite having full mental faculties. Enter the Not Impossible Foundation and their new Eyewriter project. They programmed custom, open-source freeware that can track eye movements, allowing Quan and others to write and even draw using only an eye, a computer, free software, and about $50 in parts (including a modified PlayStation Eye).
11/01/2010
The Third & The Seventh
A FULL-CG animated piece that tries to illustrate architecture art across a photographic point of view where main subjects are already-built spaces. Sometimes in an abstract way. Sometimes surreal.
The Third & The Seventh from Alex Roman on Vimeo.
SimpleViewer 2.0
SimpleViewer is a free, customizable Flash image viewing application. Lightweight and easy to use, it features smart preloading, a resizable interface, thumbnail menu and optional description text.

http://www.simpleviewer.net/simpleviewer/
http://www.airtightinteractive.com/
http://www.simpleviewer.net/simpleviewer/
http://www.airtightinteractive.com/
05/01/2010
04/01/2010
Flash AS2: AttachSound
Everything you ever wanted to know about sound objects.
http://www.kennybellew.com/tutorial/index.html
http://www.kennybellew.com/tutorial/index.html
21/12/2009
Rage Against The Branding Machine
So, a grass-roots Facebook campaign sees "Killing in the Name" beat X-Factor winner to the Christmas number one in the UK.
Earlier this year in June, Starbucks opens an experimental "stealth store" with little visible branding (15th Avenue Coffee and Tea - "inspired by Starbucks", but actually copied en masse from local stores in the area), sending the advertising agency in a spin. Has the worm finally turned?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8423340.stm
http://www.marketingmagazine.co.uk/news/923157/Unbranded-Starbucks-stores-attempt-new-brew/
Earlier this year in June, Starbucks opens an experimental "stealth store" with little visible branding (15th Avenue Coffee and Tea - "inspired by Starbucks", but actually copied en masse from local stores in the area), sending the advertising agency in a spin. Has the worm finally turned?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8423340.stm
http://www.marketingmagazine.co.uk/news/923157/Unbranded-Starbucks-stores-attempt-new-brew/
The Gettysburg Powerpoint Presentation
Nobody should be surprised that PowerPoint does not measure up to the great speeches of history, such as Lincoln's Gettysburg address. And it is certainly a shame when a potentially interesting presentation is dumbed down by another formulaic over-application of PowerPoint. But when PowerPoint leads not just to boredom but to bad decisions, it is a tragedy, not just a shame.

http://norvig.com/Gettysburg/
http://norvig.com/Gettysburg/
BBC HD quality definition draws criticism from viewers
The BBC has come under fire for the perceived poor picture quality of its high definition television service.
Danielle Nagler, the Head of BBC HD, has so far failed to placate critics with her responses to comments on the BBC web site. On the BBC programme Points of View she said “There’s no evidence that reducing the bitrate has an impact on picture quality or that there is an absolute relationship between bitrate and picture quality.”
From a blog post: "I appreciate that BBC HD offers us the widest range of programming currently in the UK. But even my wife can see a reduction in picture quality and she's got cataracts."
http://informitv.com/news/2009/12/11/bbchdquality/
Danielle Nagler, the Head of BBC HD, has so far failed to placate critics with her responses to comments on the BBC web site. On the BBC programme Points of View she said “There’s no evidence that reducing the bitrate has an impact on picture quality or that there is an absolute relationship between bitrate and picture quality.”
From a blog post: "I appreciate that BBC HD offers us the widest range of programming currently in the UK. But even my wife can see a reduction in picture quality and she's got cataracts."
http://informitv.com/news/2009/12/11/bbchdquality/
17/12/2009
11/12/2009
06/12/2009
The Daily WTF
The Daily WTF: Curious Perversions in Information Technology
Offers daily posts of user-submitted examples of bad code and software design.

http://thedailywtf.com/Articles/random.ashx
Offers daily posts of user-submitted examples of bad code and software design.
http://thedailywtf.com/Articles/random.ashx
ActionScript 2.0 Best Practices
- Use runtime filters sparingly. If you can turn it into a raster graphic with those filters, it will likely be a smoother animation. This will be a delicate balance between file size and performance.
- Use motion tweens instead of shape tweens whenever possible.
- Don't have transparent things on top of transparent things. When transparencies overlap, the processor usage multiplies.
- Keep your frames per second at or below 30. I've seen many applications trying to run at 60+ fps. I usually set my applications at around 24.
- Use easing only where you need it.
- Learn about cacheAsBitmap. This can speed things up or make them slower, it depends on the context. If you have an animation, keep cacheAsBitmap as false, the cached bitmap will have to be regenerated every time the animation changes, so this isn't worth it. However, on a vector graphic that doesn't change within itself, cacheAsBitmap might be a good choice.
http://www.adobe.com/devnet/flash/articles/as_bestpractices.html
- Use motion tweens instead of shape tweens whenever possible.
- Don't have transparent things on top of transparent things. When transparencies overlap, the processor usage multiplies.
- Keep your frames per second at or below 30. I've seen many applications trying to run at 60+ fps. I usually set my applications at around 24.
- Use easing only where you need it.
- Learn about cacheAsBitmap. This can speed things up or make them slower, it depends on the context. If you have an animation, keep cacheAsBitmap as false, the cached bitmap will have to be regenerated every time the animation changes, so this isn't worth it. However, on a vector graphic that doesn't change within itself, cacheAsBitmap might be a good choice.
http://www.adobe.com/devnet/flash/articles/as_bestpractices.html
03/12/2009
Little People - a tiny street art project

Little handpainted people, left in London to fend for themselves.
http://little-people.blogspot.com
http://slinkachu.com/
30/11/2009
"The Age of Stupid" Interface Design
Oscar nominated actor Pete Postlethwaite interacting with the futuristic interface designed specifically for the film by designer Taiyo Nagano.
http://www.jellyhunters.com/
After Effects Expressions
Property attributes and methods (expression reference) - a way to combine programming with motion graphics within After Effects. Opens up a whole new world.
http://help.adobe.com/en_US/AfterEffects/9.0/WS3878526689cb91655866c1103906c6dea-79f8a.html
http://help.adobe.com/en_US/AfterEffects/9.0/WS3878526689cb91655866c1103906c6dea-79f8a.html
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