Seeing this Allstate Insurance Commercial on TV today it reminded me how much I like this technique and this would be a fun project to do someday on video.

If you check out Photoshop Nations on Geeks - You can see some of the Tilt Shift Attempts in photoshop.

If you want to learn more about Tilt Shift Photography Take a look here: Wikipedia - Tilt Shift Photography

Technorati Tags: Tiltshift, Tilt+Shift, Tilt, Shift, Photography, Techniques, Allstate, Insurance

fliqlo - is a quick and easy setup - and only has a few adjustments available the left right keys switch between 12 / 24 hour format and up down arrows increase or decrease the size of the clock.

I like this because I can see this from way across the room and even down the street if need be.

I like the clean simple look. Nothing fancy just a great looking flip clock.

Enjoy

Technorati Tags: screensaver, flipclock, pc, mac, freeware

But if you want a little (Well a lot better speaker system for your iphone - I would suggest checking out this page at amazon: Iphone Speaker Docks.

Info From UnPlugged.

Technorati Tags: iphone, blackberry, rim, speaker, dock, cheap, hack, speakerphone, enhancer

This is a Western Electric Company Print Copyright MCMXLVII (1947)

This video starts out with a little girl attempting to communicate with her crayons - Drawing the start of communicaton - it then goes on to shows the progression of the alphabet from the early Egyptian times to the modern alphabet.

The video then goes on to show the progression of the pen from early reed pen to the “Modern” fountain pen.

What I really liked was they show old style pens - eyedropper pen - different ways of taking ink with you, The full progression of fountain pens. Make sure to visit your local dealer to match the pen to your handwriting style. (Still good advice) Fine , Medium or broad tips.

I also liked that they showed how the pens are to be filled.

Here it is - The Twenty Six Old Characters. (Internet Archive)

Technorati Tags: History, Alphabet, 26, Letters, Alphabet, Communication, Western, Electric, Jam, Handy, Twitter, Fountain, Pen

They are showing how an Aroura Fountain Pen From Nib to Body and everything in between - It is only 5:00 Mins But it is very cool to see all that goes into the production of a high quality fountain pen. I found it fascinating how they put the iridium on the nib. Then I can’t believe how they cut the nib down the middle with that really fine diamond blade.

Well Enjoy and I am sure you will get a better appreciation to all the work that goes into making a fountain pen.

Technorati Tags: Fountain, Pen, You, Tube, How, it, is, Made, Nib

His preferred Medium is the plain white Styrofoam coffee cup found in many coffee houses. He only uses a fine sharpie marker to work on his creations.

Some people are saying that this is not art - I believe art is in the eye of the beholder - Take a look at Pittsburgh’s Andy Warhol - He used many different mediums and he is touted as a great artist. Or how about scrimshaw - Drawing on whale bones (Waste ByProduct of the Whalers) and filling in the creations with candle black or tobacco juice. Boey - is just using the type of medium today’s waste byproduct of the modern day world -  Styrofoam cups and  drawing with Sharpies.

I found out about this artist on Twitter the other day Linking to the Sharpie Blog.

His Photos of his Cup Creations Can be found on Flickr - Boy Obsolete - Cup Creations.

Below is how he creates one of his pieces of art - Click to see full view.

Technorati Tags: Coffee, Cup, Art, Sharpies, Sharpie, styrofoam,

Over 1,000,000 people were created from 200 extras.

9 - 12 Hour Days - 9 Different Nature costumes were Created:

• 150 - Grass/ Water People
• 22 - Trunks
• 20 - Stones
• 30 - Leaves
• 20 - Clouds
• 10 - Sun
• 8 - Flowers
• 8 - Buterflies
• 23 Autumn Leaves

Technorati Tags: Prius, TV, Commercial, People, Landscape, generated

Then played it on the gameboy and many over variations of it through out the years and on many different platforms.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

Below is the beloved music from Tetris

Technorati Tags: Tetris, Birthday, anniversary

Mystic Kitty Sitting Pretty

To the left is the Photo that Got Listed at Purina.com on their PetCharts

My Photo of My Cat (Mystic)  is one of  the Top 10 Photos of the day & Top 20 Photos of  the Week at Purina.com On Their Pet Charts Website.

( http://bit.ly/Mystic )

Woudl You Please Vote For “Mystic Kitty - Sitting Pretty”

And Please Forward  this Link/Post on to anyone you might like to share this with to vote for My Mystic. (Or  Even any of the Other Photos at Purina too)

Much Thanks…

Merlin  &  Mystic Too
*^v^*^v^*^v^*^v^*

Technorati Tags: Cat, Top, Ten, Photo, Phtography, Kitten, Contest, , Mystic, Merlin, Purina, , Canon, D500, T1i, Eos, Rebel

This relates back to a previous Post about Hacking your Brain - and One of the things that is mentioned there is to Follow your Passion and Susan did just that and it paid off for her. Take a look at it and use Susan as a inspiration to you to follow what you are passionate about. She has been singing for years and following her passion - Now use this to find what your passionate about and do something about it  today.

Check out this video of her singing -I Dreamed a Dream (Almost 30Million Views on You Tube)

and here is another one of her singing - Cry Me a River

Links:
Susan Wants to be as famous as Elaine Page - Here is her page on the internet - I would never had heard of her except because of Susan.

and here is a video of Elaine Page Singing the Same Song as Susan

And Here is one of Susan Boyle’s Fan Sites

Check it out - There are many other links to her videos and interviews that she has done over the past week.

Again Congrats Susan - Way to go!

Technorati Tags: susan, boyle, britan, got, talent, singer, amazing, passion, dream,

From what I read about this IAMAKEY at The Unofficial Apple Webblog - This can be one of my EDC (Everyday Carry) items. They reported that this key was used and abused for over 2 months - Hanging out in the writers pocket with his keys and coins. And it withstood the test with flying colors. From the Freezing Cold to Sudden Downpours it lasted and still works.

Well it doesn’t seem like much - But I use my flash drives alot - I carrying my personal info and tools I commonly use with me and I like having it at the ready when I need to use them.

This looks so much like a real key and since it is made of metal looks cool and sturdy too boot. One of the biggest advantages of this usb drive it that it is flat and works well with the actual keys on the keyring. I have a 32GB drive but it is bulky and there is only a tiny plastic loop to hold  it on the keyring with alot of risk that it will easily break thus making it not easy to keep with you and easily accessible at all times.

This would also work really well with my releasable keyring as I also have a usb port on my new radio and I can carry a gig or two of music with me on the keyring as well for quick access to the music I want to hear in the car instead of listening to the drone of the local Push Button Monkey. (I will not even call them a DJ as they don’t even get to pick their own music) (Sorry if you are an on air personality) - So Pick up a good, sturdy, and fast (with up to 30 MB/s read rates and 10 MB/s write speeds) today - You will not be sorry.

The 4GB Drive is only $25 at Amazon - & the 8GB Drive is only $33 (Prices Current as on 4/14/2009)

Technorati Tags: LaCie, IAMAKEY, ITSAKEY, PASSKEY, USB, Key, keyring, cool, tool, tech, geeky, geek,

Full Article can be found at: AP News on Google.

Technorati Tags: Lego, Jesus, Sweeden, Christus, Statue, Easter, 2009, He, Has, Risen, Onsta, Gryta, Church

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MT

I made a modified version of Note Paper from Cornell-Notes.com to include a time clock to help me track my time and what I need to do and what I have completed and what I have coming up. 

I posted it on Scribd.com for all to use.

To use the clock in the upper left  to shade in the time (Begining to end) and mark a Letter or symbol near it and Use the Letter / symbol to Highlite the notes from that time slice.  I also use this with the Cue Column to track my upcoming meetings and schedule for the day.

How many times have you wondered what you did and have not clue where your day went - Keeping this with me allows me to make notes and annotate what I complete and see why I had to push other things off of my plate for the day. In the notes area I am able to write the tips and note things that I didn’t know and this allows me to update documentation and let others know the little fixes I used. I keeps these daily and use the summaries to help me find info I need from past notes / days.

And I have scheduled time weekly  later in the day Friday (while the week is still fresh in my mind) and look over the past week and see what info was good - I sometimes will highlight portions or copy off data and store it in other notebooks for future reference material. But I also scan the more important pages and put it into my evernote  system as well as that come with me on my iphone and it is easily accessable via their web page.

I also want to note every day I  look over the previous day and get my new notepage prepared for the day. Writing down what I need to do - checking my online calendar and seeing what I have scheduled for myself.  This way I have that info at hand even if I am not at my desk. This is also when I summarize my previous days notes making the weekly summary on Friday’s even easier. This only take me about 10 to 20 mins each morning but it saves alot more time through out the day then what I put into it.

Technorati Tags: Cornell, Notes, Note, paper, Organization, Sytem, business, calendar, schedule, free, organizer

Recently I added the SRS Audio Sandbox on to my PC to add depth to all the sound and music I play on the computer - I will be writing a more detailed review in the future about this. But in the mean time - If you don’t have it and want your music to really pop - I fully recommend purchasing it for your PC.

This gets me to todays information - Virtual Sounds or Auditory Illusions - I recently came across this Page @ One Mans Blog - about getting a Virtual Haircut - This is amazing recording - They are recorded using what is called Holophonics - I recommend using headphones or the SRS Labs Audio Sandbox - Or even better the SRS Labs Audio Sandbox with Headphones with its headphone 360 mode  - All I can say is WOW - These are really cool and fun to listen to.  

This got me to thinking about some recording my dad used to have and play on the record player - They are the Phase 4 Stereo Recordings from London. I found out you can purchase some of  them at Amazonand I am currently listening to Mantovani by Mantovoni as I write this entry. Amazon list quite a few - and many are only available on LP - To listen and record these you will need a Record player - I recommend using the either of the following two units from Amazon - ( Audio Technica AT-LP2DUSB LP-to-Digital Recording System with USB ) or ( Ion TTUSB Turntable with USB Record ) I  use the Audio Technica one - I don’t own it but I get to borrow it from my brother. Plus don’t forget to check out your local library for some of these records - some are able to be loaned out for your listening pleasure.

Technorati Tags: auditory, illusions, auditory+illusions, Phase+4, Phase+IV, Holophonic, Sound, 3d, SRS, Stereo, Music, LP, Records, Record+Player, 45, 33

I found it time to round up the best of the best online tools that you can use to help you in your daily quest to be more organized. From some Great looking Planning Graph Paper to some Basic Handwriting Charts to help make your note easier to read and understand not only by you buy anyone you may have read them to even a very cool 3d Desk Calendar. Let me know what you think by using the comments section and if you have a tool that you think should have been mentioned let me know and I might make a new list and include it as well.

Graph Paper - Made for designers (Web, Print, Video and More) - This 8.5 x 11 inch graph paper is made for visual designers, interaction designers, and information architects. You’ll find styles for wireframing user interfaces, story boarding interaction, and plotting values on a two by two grid. Plus you’ll get a basic grid for drafting sitemaps or anything else that might come up.

Handwriting Printable Practice Paper - I have mentioned this before - This is nice to practice your handwriting on - Good to see what Good Handwriting looks like and practice it on - Make yourself more legible.

Printable Topographical Maps - These are nice to have have on hand when you are out of range of cell service and your iPhone stops working - You might need to get around without a GPS - Print off a few of the areas you are visiting - Can print overview and Street Views - Very Nice Resource.

Free 3d Desk Calendar - This allows you to print out a very cool Origami-ish Desk Calendar - You will be the talk of the cubes by having your very own free printable calendar cube / 12 Sided calendar (A dodecahedron).

Turn a PDF into a Booklet - This really is a nice utility that will take most PDF’s and convert it into a printable booklet format that you can take with you when you need the information.

DIY Paper Wallet - This is a really nice DIY wallet plan - This is quite easy to make and fold to have your very own Paper Based Wallet - OK so this is not printable - But I had to include it on this list as this really is interesting to make.

The Printable CEO - I have seen this link passed around on many different sites and for good reason - this little printable sheet can help you to keep moving into the direction that you need to be heading. This can help you get into the correct mindset to make your business move into the right direction.

The DIY Planner - I have mentioned this many time before on the site and it has made my list of Free Printable Tools to use - I use the 3×5 Card Version from time to time - Even with my iPhone I love taking notes on paper and planning out the day with what I did and what needs to be completed. I can prioritize and be the most efficient.

The Pocket Mod Mini Organizer - This rounds out my list of the best of the best Free Printable tools for the Analog minded Person - This is nice and small ease to take with you in your wallet - carry it where you can’t take your 3×5 Organizer or iPhone - A great list of things and info that is important to you at the moment and it only takes one sheet of paper.

and The Best Free Printable Tool - Or is it just last on my list - Hmm

The Cornell Notetaking Free Printable Page - I believe I even mentioned this before on Merlin’s Tower - it is the Cornell Notetaking Paper - This is based on the Cornell Style of Notetaking. This allows you to take note in an organized and better flowing fashion. I keep a few of these sheet in my planner and use them almost daily.

Well that rounds out the list of the Best Free Printable Tools to be found online. Keep an eye out and I will be adding more of these lists as time permits -

MT

Technorati Tags: Free, Printable, Tools, Calendar, Cornell, Notes, DIY, Wallet, List, of, Free, Tools