Sweet Miscellany

Taxonomy of the Boring Guy

normd — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 05:38:39 +0000

A humorless person? Not the way I see myself. But my bookmarking history would suggest that I have little interest in making sure I have a good laugh at hand – I have exactly three bookmarks tagged “humor” in my delicious.com account. Exactly the same number tagged “dataretention” which has to be the most humorless of all my tags. Well, I have one link that is tagged “diet.” Two “disasters.”

Of course it isn’t like tags are used singly, one of those disasters might be tagged humor as well.

pano “toon”

normd — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 18:04:50 +0000

pano "toon", originally uploaded by normnode.

Some folks eating lunch at SF Moma a while back. The original image was created using Pano on my iPhone 3G, then I processed it in toonPAINT.

Compared to the filters I have tried in apps like Photgene, or techniques I have used in Gimp, toonPAINT is much better at simplifying photographs of people into a “toon” avatar.

Test Clips of 1922.

normd — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 03:36:18 +0000

These vignettes are fascinating. Technically they are very well done – the lighting especially. Watching these models as they pose, then relax and be themselves, is – well – it’s like reading a Ray Bradbury story. Time travel – people who are now dead, captured using a technology that is essentially dead.

Do yourself the favor of muting the sound while watching; the music is overkill.

Skyscraper, Mission Street

normd — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 06:32:39 +0000

Bar sign on Mission Street, a long while ago...

Please Call Again

normd — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 06:29:52 +0000

Please Call Again, originally uploaded by suzi54241.

Suzi54241 is one of the superb artists sharing work on Flickr.

hunch summed me up in 3 pictures

normd — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 05:01:05 +0000

Congruent Triangles

normd — Sat, 22 May 2010 06:15:26 +0000

I had never heard of the Cornwells before finding this gem of a film on archive.org, but I am glad I know about their work now. The film shown below is from 1977, and does a good job of explaining congruent triangles. It is a bit slow at first, but the last 90 seconds really are beautiful. It is like Leger or Seurat had an opportunity to make a film for your high school geometry class.

Democracy

normd — Fri, 14 May 2010 06:43:55 +0000

I usually browse the films in the AV Geeks collection looking for the unintentionally artful – educational films about cafeteria manners or sensible food shopping can be be high-camp entertainment. Democracy has that 1945 look and feel, but the didactic content is still very relevant.

The companion film, Despotism, is also worth watching.

Barstow Train Station

normd — Tue, 11 May 2010 04:03:17 +0000

Barstow train station

The train station in Barstow California is rather lonely, like most train stations in the US. It is, however, the home of the Route 66 Museum, so if you find yourself in Barstow with a little bit of time to spare, make the drive through town, over to the station, and take a look at some artifacts of the Great American Highway.

San Mateo Eggs

normd — Thu, 06 May 2010 05:00:06 +0000

San Mateo Eggs, originally uploaded by normnode.

Local eggs, nice colors.

Please let the omelet be worthy.