Since man could first draw on the walls, he’s never stopped marking his territory and telling tales of times gone by. Today, the markings on the wall constitute of, what some consider, art, others, an unsightly menace. Either way, graffiti is here to stay and will always be present as long as man can draw. This site, called Graffiti Archeology, catalogues graffiti from several locations in the US and allows for an interesting view of the changes that occur.
I ran across these set of pictures and they really made an impression on me. Not only because they are, in my humble opinion, aesthetically pleasing pictures, but because the subject content was pretty moving. Its not every day you get to see what some of the less fortunate live like. While I don’t feel it inspires pity, for me, it reminds me of the indomitable human spirit.
CMU (Carnegie Mellon University) has a lecture series called the last lecture, where professor are encouraged to give a lecture as though it were their last. A really interesting idea to say the least. Well for one professor, it really is his last. Randy Pausch was diagnosed with terminal cancer, and doctors said he only had a few months left to live. His last lecture was one of the most brilliant, insightful, and inspirational lectures I’ve ever seen. While it is lengthy, clocking in at about 1 hour 30 mins, its definitely worth the while.
I ran into this site, called Etsy, a while back and I’ve been perusing it as of late. Its probably best described as an Ebay for handcrafted items. Its a neat combination of social networking functionality and e-commerce site. There’s a lot of creativity and creative people out there. Their site is a good showcase of some of that creativity.
So, more and more we are inundated with images that are altered using digital imaging tools. At times, its hard to determine which images have been altered and which have not. Now thanks to a new technique, its going to be even tougher. The technique is so clever because is so relatively simple. Aptly named “seam carving“, this new method produces some very impressive results.
You can now get your hands on a Windows based application for doing this technique. I haven’t tried it out myself, but if you give it a whirl, let me know how it goes.
Fonting is incredibly important in many realms. As such, it is always good to know the most suitable font to use for logos, headings, text and the like. The people over at smashing magazine have put together a list of 80 fonts that they say are great for professional design. I think some of the fonts are very nice, others seem rather ho-hum. I am not a designer so take this post for what its worth; your mileage may vary.
I’m always looking for ways to improve my thought processes and abilities. Consequently, I’ve stumbled on this article which claims to be able to help you develop independent thought. While I haven’t gotten a chance to try the technique, I use a method similar to the one presented. I have a feeling their system is probably credible.
Apparently, a town called Inakadate likes to combine art with agriculture. From the entry called “Pimp my rice paddy“, we learn that the town creates pictures of famous Japanese woodblock prints (and other things) in their rice fields. Eat your heart out Xhibit.
Totally unlreated bit: Photoshop tutorial on how to make “Web 2.0″ logos.
I’m not sure if I posted this video before, but its an interesting watch. Its about a mysterious building like structure under the sea off the coast of an island near Japan. There are of course two sides to this whole story. Some claim its a man-made structure, which puts its creation date at the beginning of the Ice Age; well before civilized societies are supposedly existent. Others claim its the natural fracturing of rock formations from tidal forces. Only time and research will tell.
I’ve always enjoyed learning and I am not the only one. Here’s a great interview with one of the most brilliant men to walk the earth. I speak of Feynman. He talks about the joys of learning and Finding things out. He’s a pretty cool dude.
Embedded for your pleasure. This is 1 of 5 pieces, click through to get the rest of them.
