Online class is excellent because you can rewind the techniques at your leisure and Marina Shipova and she is extremely capable of teaching techniques with no book to follow at all…but this time around it had a WORKBOOK to follow along with where you use the files in the lessons.  It is EXTREMELY helpful to have a book that is further clarified by an instructor as you go, alot of books don’t offer online tutors as you go, instead they pretty much leave you on your own, but she encourages you to use your own material after each lesson for the actual grade which DOES ensure you understood it enough to repeat! It is hard for me to come up with a suggestion…however, perhaps for students that are slower learners or have fulltime time constraints outside of school, maybe just OBS recordings of following the lessons to prove you are doing the lessons like a basic class and a challenge path class for going above and beyond with your own image?  The most important thing is to KEEP up with the pace of the class because Adobe had multiple things to learn in each chapter!

The post Media 201 Digital Image Editing with Photoshop – assignment: REVIEW of the class appeared first on Piratess Friday.

Special effects are where the magic happens as things magically fly that shouldn’t. explosions and natural disasters are suddenly happening that have never happened, and my favorite the 3D ones that you reach out your hand in the dark theatre to make “sure” you can’t actually touch what seems to be floating in front of your seat.

There are special effects that enhance like flying sand in a sandstorm or long takes in a car chase that add rather than overshadow the core message of a shot or film but I would like to take a look at an example where special effects can ONLY enhance and shine! VR (virtual reality) has a lot of special effects that have to be filmed and happen from the first-person perspective to make you believe you are truly right there. I have watched “Hardcore Henry” several times since I ran across it a month ago accidentally and it deserves a place in this blog somewhere…so here it is:

From the rotating foot to the fruit explosion, I was hooked from the beginning. how you hold a detonator and watch the explosion occur a few feet away after the button push, how you seem like you are grabbing onto a speeding motorcycle, how you are riding down the middle of an escalator, it’s free on TUBI and was entirely filmed with a stabilized GoPro on someones face. Literally:

The Moscow cityscape was shot on a soundstage with black walls which were created frame by frame and required manual adjusting. I love the glitch transitions and side to side movement of the camera to simulate shaking your head back and forth when answering questions and other transitions that add to the overall effect as well. The film stars Sharlto Copley, star of “District 9” and “The A-Team” and also has a great soundtrack and humor as well:

Without practice even these worst special effects on you tube are amazing to me.

COMING SOON

The post Special EFFECTS Gone Wild appeared first on Piratess Friday.

Transformation takes us on a real-life journey of transitions like sunrises and the change from night to day or day to night… or revealing like a moth from cocoon to hatching with wings. Revolutions are seismically huge transitions that can invoke many emotions from starkly different shots of the battlefield and death to celebration shots of the victor and the change that has taken place. Color can transition us from one place to another like in “The Wizard of Oz.”

As far as streaming services go, they have totally disrupted the the distribution, attendance, and access to films and filmmaking.  No longer do we all rush to the movie theater for the big premiere.  Many people are watching short and long videos that were created for free using technology most users have like their own IPHONE in high quality.

CGI has come along and altered all tools are available for filmmakers.  Star Wars went from miniature sets and fishing wire hung starships to newer storylines with even more CGI and Jar Jar Binks. Gamers today might opt for a VR experience that plays out like a movie you are immersed in rather than go to a showing. AI algorithms are also aiding in scriptwriting, editing and more are being hailed as the “new” future of film right now, a MAJOR transformation for the industry, as more students and creators have access to AI. I love how in “The Frost” the snow is blended going across the shot sideways and the title “freezes over” I love the way the camera pans out to the landscape, and uses a fake shaky camera movement on the rock explosions. The panning and the reflections of the computer screen against the glasses in this video down right down to the fadinghandprint at the end hit at more traditional transitions in the futre as AI improves since there are alot of jump cuts as AI scenes generally have to be stitched together.

The entire AI movie of “The Frost can be viewed on the link below: (Be sure to bookmark my site, open a new page for this link, or use the back arrow to be sure and return for more riveting Piratess Friday content..I have also included a link to some IPHONE movies for the curious)

Welcome to the new surreal: how AI-generated video is changing film | MIT Technology Review

10 Awesome Movies You Didn’t Know Were Made on iPhone – Flickside

I have an assignment to make a short flick about transitions one idea of script and images/storyboard that I was going to mix with rock searching videos in streams I threw in powerpoint rather than paper sketch to merge with transitions in-between was…

The post Transformation: Changes happen in life and stories – appeared first on Piratess Friday.

At this showing, I also happened to see as an extra bonus after the previews that involved Vector and some minions on the moon.

Who is Vector from the “Despicable Me” franchise?  Everyone knows Gru, the main villain, but Vector was a side villain, whose plotline just got resurrected in this short easter egg preview attached to the “Migration” movie to draw extra attendance from movie “geeks” like myself who loved DVD extras or hang around to see if there’s a little bonus clip after the credits.  Illumination studios did a great job on that series, so (to not divulge too much information) if you have not had a chance to see the minion movies…Vector had stolen a shrink ray with plans to shrink the moon and wasn’t referred to in any that followed.  He does see Bob (the floating minion) who is waiting for a ride and attempts to even catapult himself off the moon, but winds up elsewhere and does not get home to where we know if he will reappear anytime soon, be re-discovered later in a future minion movie, or just be a continuing running update gag about his status every once in a while to satisfy curious fans…only the future will tell.

If you wish to know a little more bookmark my site and check out

WARNING SPOILER ALERT: What Happened To Despicable Me’s Villain Vector Finally Confirmed 13 Years Later (screenrant.com)

This was a hilarious short I ran across and just decided to include here… 

Audio And Sound Effect Importance

Audio is extremely important in video production because of all of the emotional strings that can be pulled depending on the chromatic scale and happy, sad or dramatic tone of the music used.  Comedic pieces might have recognizable themes running behind them like in the Benny Hill Show.  Cartoon music might pause right before Wile E. Coyote drops an anvil or pauses in midair to emphasize the moment.  The Queen’s Cartoonists use of sound effects, moods, and tempo demonstrate a wonderful example in this video here and the same principles can be applied to all visual media from TV shows and commercials to movies. 

The music l chose in one of my previous projects was dramatic on purpose because I wanted to add some excitement to the educational topic highlighted as well as our business installations being linked to progress and advances from earth to outer space.  

Bram Stoker carfully chose the music in Dracula’s Original Motion Picture Soundtrack to span from haunting- “The Beginning” | Bram Stoker’s Dracula (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) to the “Love Song for a Vampire” video, one of my favorites I chose to include here: 

I always tended to group my songs into themed sets when I would add a recording to a cassette tape in the 80s and divide my CD collection categories in the 90’s and 2000’s in a similar manner.  I would name these tapes or sections things like:

“Playful” and throw songs or CDs in that had childhood games or lyric mentions like “Pop Goes The Weasel” – 3rd Bass (1991), “Mary Had a Little Lamb” by Stevie Ray Vaugn, KORN – “Shoots and Ladders,”  or just fun upbeat songs like “Beautiful People” Marilyn Manson, songs I could skip along to like “Safety Dance” by Men Without Hats, Sublime’s “Hong Kong Phooey” (or the whole “Saturday Morning: Cartoons’ Greatest Hits” album produced by Ralph Sall or upbeat albums in general.

Favorite genres like jazz would have abums from bands like Cherry Poppin Daddies, Harry Connick Jr, and Squirrel Nut Ziippers…how do you organize your music?

Image Systems In Movies: What Is It?

Posted By adminFebruary 16, 2024No CommentsEditImage Systems in Movies: What is it?

There are several movies with an “image system” that come to mind and some I ran across during research.  An image system is a repeated visual technique or image that reappears.  Some are obvious like the red balloon that floats though almost the entire 1956 short film  “The Red Balloon.”

Some are used to highlight the story…in the “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” the cameraman uses different shot techniques such as blurring and loss of visuals to illustrate the forgetfulness of losing memory. Other image system examples (in too many movies to mention) range from rear view mirrow views in detective or racing movies to views in windows or the use of many reflections in different mirror angles.

In my favorite movies, such as “Tank girl,” “The Mask,” “Roger Rabbit,” and “Cool World” animations and comic book stills or even a cartoon universe are injected that show the same character in similar iconic attire.  Lori Petty appears in a tank top or pigtails for Harley Quinn in Batman series fame  similar to the character she portrays.  Jim Carry is repeatedly seen in a yellow suit when he is in “Mask” form, and both  Jessica Rabbit reappearing in her iconic red dress and the “Cool World” Holli Wood character and cartoon world keeps blending with reality.

Dystopian sets and panels help connect some of these plots with the stories they were borrowed from and reinforce continuity of the story setting.  Once aware of what image systems are, it is hard to not watch and catch a few director image styles as an “Ah-ha!” moment in future viewing to come.

Please bookmark my site and enjoy these links:

Related article:

Tank Girl | Lori Petty Walked so Harley Quinn Could Run (thecompanion.app)

COLOR – Making Movies Stand Out

Color is a fun yet important setting consideration when deciding how to film a movie.  Color can emphasize all kinds of moods from blue for sadness to red for rage.  “The Matrix” uses a green color palette for coding and a futuristic/tech look.   Movies sometimes just highlight one character by painting it a different color from the rest like the red coated girl in Schindler’s List.  She represents innocence and from the rest of the black and white film, her death  is highlighted this way to show war deaths as meaningless.

Screenshot 2024-01-30 051406.png

“Schindler’s List” by elycefeliz is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

To highlight the main character, certain movies will also highlight the main character with certain colors.  In “The Mask” Jim Carry’s Character is always seen in green makeup with a yellow suit making it easy to follow the antics going on, and “Kill Bill” put Uma Thurman in an iconic yellow jumpsuit.  “Mad Max beyond Thunderdome” sticks to mostly machine dark colors on top of the desert sand color behind.

Most interesting of all, “Dick Tracy” stuck to a 7 color-palette scheme in the making of the movie. The director and cinematographer went as far as painting the buildings, choosing the cars, and making the suits based on the scheme of primarily red, green, fuscia, orange, cyan, blue, and yellow.  The saturation brings more drama and the audience is not used to seeing a fixed pallete used in that manner, I highly recommend seeing it as a treat to the eye.

11 Things You Might Not Know About Dick Tracy | Mental FlossSearch

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The post Storyboards And a Few Bonuses From Me appeared first on Piratess Friday.

The music l chose in one of my previous projects was dramatic on purpose because I wanted to add some excitement to the educational topic highlighted as well as our business installations being linked to progress and advances from earth to outer space.  

Bram Stoker carfully chose the music in Dracula’s Original Motion Picture Soundtrack to span from its opening haunting song- “The Beginning” to the end song “Love Song for a Vampire” video, one of my favorites I chose to include here: 

I always tended to group my songs into themed sets when I would add a recording to a cassette tape in the 80s and divide my CD collection categories in the 90’s and 2000’s in a similar manner.  I would name these tapes or sections things like:

“Playful” and throw songs or CDs in that had childhood games or lyric mentions like “Pop Goes The Weasel” – 3rd Bass (1991), “Mary Had a Little Lamb” by Stevie Ray Vaugn, KORN – “Shoots and Ladders,”  or just fun upbeat songs like “Beautiful People” Marilyn Manson, songs I could skip along to like “Safety Dance” by Men Without Hats, Sublime’s “Hong Kong Phooey” (or the whole “Saturday Morning: Cartoons’ Greatest Hits” album produced by Ralph Sall or upbeat albums in general.

Favorite genres like jazz would have abums from bands like Cherry Poppin Daddies, Harry Connick Jr, and Squirrel Nut Zippers…how do you organize your music?

The post Audio and Sound effect Importance appeared first on Piratess Friday.

Some are used to highlight the story…in the “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” the cameraman uses different shot techniques such as blurring and loss of visuals to illustrate the forgetfulness of losing memory. Other image system examples (in too many movies to mention) range from rear view mirrow views in detective or racing movies to views in windows or the use of many reflections in different mirror angles.

In my favorite movies, such as “Tank girl,” “The Mask,” “Roger Rabbit,” and “Cool World” animations and comic book stills or even a cartoon universe are injected that show the same character in similar iconic attire.  Lori Petty appears in a tank top or pigtails for Harley Quinn in Batman series fame  similar to the character she portrays.  Jim Carry is repeatedly seen in a yellow suit when he is in “Mask” form, and both  Jessica Rabbit reappearing in her iconic red dress and the “Cool World” Holli Wood character and cartoon world keeps blending with reality.

Dystopian sets and panels help connect some of these plots with the stories they were borrowed from and reinforce continuity of the story setting.  Once aware of what image systems are, it is hard to not watch and catch a few director image styles as an “Ah-ha!” moment in future viewing to come.

Please bookmark my site and enjoy these links:

Related article:

Tank Girl | Lori Petty Walked so Harley Quinn Could Run (thecompanion.app)

The post Image Systems in Movies: What is it? appeared first on Piratess Friday.

Screenshot 2024-01-30 051406.png

“Schindler’s List” by elycefeliz is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

To highlight the main character, certain movies will also highlight the main character with certain colors.  In “The Mask” Jim Carry’s Character is always seen in green makeup with a yellow suit making it easy to follow the antics going on, and “Kill Bill” put Uma Thurman in an iconic yellow jumpsuit.  “Mad Max beyond Thunderdome” sticks to mostly machine dark colors on top of the desert sand color behind.

Most interesting of all, “Dick Tracy” stuck to a 7 color-palette scheme in the making of the movie. The director and cinematographer went as far as painting the buildings, choosing the cars, and making the suits based on the scheme of primarily red, green, fuscia, orange, cyan, blue, and yellow.  The saturation brings more drama and the audience is not used to seeing a fixed pallete used in that manner, I highly recommend seeing it as a treat to the eye.

what is wrong with my picture on here…

The post Color – Making Movies Stand Out appeared first on Piratess Friday.

“The invention – Calco de Peter Fischli & David WeissLinks to an external site.” by lugar a dudasLinks to an external site. is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0Links to an external site..

According to Wikipedia –  there was called “The Way Things Go” a film from 1987, a Swiss art film from Peter Fischli and David Weiss, that used a fair amount of fun elements to create suspense in a Rube Goldberg Machine style and has gone on to influence many creators and film sequences .   These machines use overly complex ways of getting to an end result that is usually just some ordinary random task.  These always have me on the edge of my seat, wondering if the sequence is going to go as planned since having a long way of accomplishing something can lead to many trial and error fails if any little “cog” in the machine fails like pushing the first domino over and having one be slightly misplaced where the whole chain of domino “designs” fail and someone has to reset up all of them or “help it along” by pushing the next.   Here are some examples of just such a contraption with many different mechanisms:

“Máquina de Rube Goldberg en la base del AlinghiLinks to an external site.” by freshwater2006Links to an external site. is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0Links to an external site..

In a warehouse only 100 feet long, they created the Rube Goldberg using such materials as tires, trash bags, ladders, soap, oil drums, old shoes, water, and gasoline, with fire and pyrotechnics used as chemical triggers. At the time of this writing their film is only available on pay services like Amazon Prime. This film runs 30 minutes long and has been edited to prevent boredom but we can hope the whole process will be released one day for those “behind the scenes” loving folks.

These fellows went on to create photographs of precariously balanced chairs, vegetables, bottles and other objects stacked pretty high which are especially exciting to me because I know these real circus-style balancing acts were stacked by actual humans fearing the moment something causes a tumble and feeling excited and satisfied with each added stacked piece that DOES balance.  None of this was done via AI or robots capable of calculating gravity and lining up precise placement, but rather, the pure curiosity, experimentation, and anticipation of “I wonder if I can stack this here?”

Rube Goldberg was a cartoonist, engineer. and inventor that went from a humble newspaper route to winning the 
Pulitzer.  The humor involved with making something take way longer than it should (an activity you would think only kids have time for) was a welcome relief throughout the difficult times and eras of the past, and gained popularity with all ages regardless of wealth or occupation as even Henry Ford liked to tinker with machines. Such contraptions have made appearances in “The Goonies,” “Honey I Shrunk the Kids,”  “Back to the Future,” and horror movies like “Saw.” (For his personal history I highly recommend my link to the rube-goldberg.com website in my links below at the end of this read!)

A lot of creativity is involved with stringing sequences of events together whether it is digital storytelling or a chain of events, it is still satisfying when a perpetual motion or sequence does what it is supposed to do, even if it is only animated to some extent.  The Rube Machine has gone on to be used in intros to tv shows, music videos, within movies themselves, and even on Sesame Street for education.   Wes Anderson used it in the Royal Tenenbaums as a creative way to commit suicide using a sequence involving a record player and toucan, Michel Gondry used this in a music video called”This Too Shall Pass” and the great Charlie Chaplin used them also.  Simon Clowes used this in the series “Elementary” (interesting article link below), and even Pee Wee Herman himself used this for comic relief!https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/Kzz7eK86yO0?feature=oembed&rel=0

OK Go – This Too Shall Pass – Rube Goldberg Machine – Official Videohttps://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/qybUFnY7Y8w?feature=oembed&rel=0

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/C7JT3iMzS4k?feature=oembed&rel=0

As I begin to study film: the Rube Goldbergs highly peaked my interest over the years to the point of where I would run to the living room when I would hear my husband start “Elementary” just for the inro if I didn’t have time to watch the rest. I intend to use digital AI art and photography in the futre so the most inspirational video for me at the moment would be “Sledgehammer” by Peter Gabriel and I also threw “Steam” WARNING GREAT 80’s CLASSIC BUT POSSIBLY NSFW or YOUNGER VIEWERSin here.  While not a Rube Goldberg exactly the song words to lead to image video effects that blend and follow eachother and I DO love effects, and with the new applications and AI class from Peninsula College I may just not need a huge studio with expensive video equipment and software to begin creating my own. Hope you enjoy my work as I progress!

WARNING! GREAT 80’s CLASSIC BELOW BUT POSSIBLY NSFW or YOUNGER VIEWERS!

Here are some other interesting links but PLEASE bookmark my site or right click the links to open a new tab if you wish to explore more so you don’t miss more astounding content on my site!

Cartoonist Rube Goldberg’s Machines Turned Simple Tasks into Epic Spectacles | ArtsyLinks to an external site.

Philly artists recreate gigantic 1973 ‘Rube Goldberg’ orchestra – WHYYLinks to an external site.

Elementary (2012) — Art of the TitleLinks to an external site.

Fischli & Weiss: The groundbreaking way things go (publicdelivery.orgLinks to an external site.

Rube Goldberg – Machines, Creations and Inventions by Rube Goldberg. (rube-goldberg.com)Links to an external site.

The Way Things Go – WikipediaLinks to an external site.

The post Drop, Deflate, Roll, Ignite, Tumble – “The Way Things Go” appeared first on Piratess Friday.

According to Industrial Light & Magic – Wikipedia, the special effects company, Industrial Light & Magic, behind Star Wars is also the same company where brothers John and Thomas Knoll built Photoshop. When Jar Jar Binks came along I just cringed until he finally grew on me. It is amazing what AI can now do but to me there is nothing as satisfying as owning, watching, or something handmade. I appreciate the hours artists put into their crafts everytime I try a new hobby on YouTube and fail at it. I love to look at the little figurines that toy hobbiests and gamers paint as well as extensive model train landscapes, the detail work is sometimes stunning. My jaw dropped when I got the see the minitures from Coraline at the MoPOP Museum in Seattle. Something tiny like origami can look easy, but in reality (when I tried it) my trashcan was overfolwing with wrinkled balls of despair, and I still have a knitting needle with the beginnings for a “simple Hello Kitty scarf” with thread only wrapped about it.

Photoshop has been used in many huge movies since and many easter eggs to Star Wars can be seen in TV, film, songs and parodies. It was even used to insert the droids into Indiana Jones! It will definitely increase in popularity as more and more young people attempt the easier new tools to add “hyperspace Star Wars effect” to their profile pics and give no empathy to the hundreds of layers and hours it used to take to make even the tiniest background edit. I admit it CAN be fun when you are expecting it to wow you like in Jurrassic Park, but now I can see it everywhere I look after learning about all of the little touch ups that can be made and about all of the cinematic effects it now comes with. Be sure to bookmark my site so you can enjoy all 3 of these little gem links!

25 effects in PS to play with:

https://designshack.net/articles/inspiration/film-photoshop-actions/

The droids and Indiana Jones

https://screenrant.com/indiana-jones-raiders-ark-behind-scenes-facts/

I even found a fun rainy-day poster activity:

The post Photoshop – Movie magic Maker or Killer? appeared first on Piratess Friday.

Putting PS in the hands of the creators gives people more power to “mislead” the public and needs to be handled carefully especially when advertising. For example, bigger size commparisons of products in proportion to people vs the size actually recieve, altered news images making people questing the validity of the event, weight loss adds with fake aftershots full of muscles or hair loss regrow promises where you can see mismatched skin tones, people advertising in cars or products they have never personally been near, promotions to follow people who are successful by showing themselves in mansions they don’t own, property pictures of perfect rentals that are filthy or damaged in reality, or just people try countless manipulation tactics on others by causing an ex, friend, or family member to think that they are better off without them as now suddenly they have been going on dates with or attending parties with gorgeous people they don’t even know. The liquify tool is commonly used in personal ads and covergirl photos and can lead to insecurities for developing adolescents like wishing for bigger eyes or perfect teeth and bodies giving them anxiety when they compare themselves to these digital paintings instead of authentic images of their role models.

Everyone naturally desires their human image to be a little better or wishes they had been a little more successful at this point, and no one likes to be looked down upon because their place of living is a mess but maybe they are full time workers or parents, and otherwise would not have posted at all. Things like face filters can be all a person needs to boost their confidence and begin a new path they would have shied away from before, but somewhere there needs to be a balance or confession before others start to assume EVERYTHING they post or advertise is a lie. If you want someone to believe you 100% of the time, photoshopping yourself to the extreme is not a good way to start.

The post Photoshop Etiquette appeared first on Piratess Friday.

Copyright allows the owners of IP to control, set and monitor whether it can be shared or charged for and Reproduction Rights

Reproduction rights are whether credit has to be given or how it can be distibuted example-printed, modified, or downloaded

Copyrights and IP are very important ownership categories that should be respected and ideally no one should “take” another’s work and place or claim it as their own without checking what license it has.  This is like when we all learned in grade school not to plagiarize and give credit where credit is due. This protects the feelings and monetary well-being of the creator.  My responsibility is to appropriately credit everything I borrow and place online for others. I know I can decide how I wish my content to be used by registering it with the patent office or take steps like watermarking or posting lower-quality images until someone requests full access to it and work out the details with them.  Everything online usually has some Metadata with it that can be traced back to the original source.  

Some site content such as Wikipedia have content that has been shared to it and can be modified or updated and most of the content and images are shareable.  This acts like an editable encyclopedia public resource for research, the code and how many times the page has been edited can be found at the top under tools and view history and images can be filtered by type of use in your browser, usually Wiki ones appear first.

The rest of the web content is owned or created by someone and is a challenge to protect just like the little house owned by Arther Dent in the Hitchhiker’s Guide by Douglas Adams.  Not only does an alien race want to destroy Earth, but they also want to demolish this house to put an intergalactic freeway there and this can be used to symbolize the uphill battle creators face protecting their assets.  When someone violates a copyright, the owner has to sue, write a cease-and-desist notice, work-out a fee for use, or otherwise determine how to respond when they see or are notified their content is being used against their will, in some manner other than intended. Chapter 8 points out that H2G2 (Hitchiker’s Guide) contains contributions too and has been “compiled and recompiled many time over the years, under different editorships.”

The post Protecting Our Art and Ideas appeared first on Piratess Friday.

“File:Colour Apple Newton Logo.JPG” by Binarysequence is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

It invokes immediate emotion at my cell phone sales job… either they hate it or love it when mentioned but take a few minutes to guess where it came from? I see it as something tasty that I want to take a bite out of. Yes there is already a bite out of it, but I still might want a bite of too, to see how tasty it is and I thought it just represented Mac colors.

According to Looka.com, the designer Rob Janoff is quoted as saying: “It was very simple, really. I just bought a bunch of apples, put them in a bowl, and drew them for a week or so to simplify the shape, and signifies “biting into all the knowledge users would get out of this computer.”

In other interviews he goes on to link “byte” to a computer pun referencing bits of info, and (I am guessing there must have been quite a bit of confusion here) for making sure people didn’t think it was a cherry?

Before that people have guessed quite a few wrong ones that spread across the web, like the idea was a biblical Adam & Eve Reference. The fruit of knowledge was a good guess being relevant to technology. It could have been an apple hitting Isaac Newton’s head is scientifically related to technology as well as being the original design which was “too intricate and overly complex design” created by Apple’s co-founder Ronald Wayne, with a border that reads: Newton — “A Mind Forever Voyaging Through Strange Seas of Thought — Alone,” according to fandom.com. (Phew, that IS complex compared to the that easier Universal Design that is easy for us to spot!) And one about it being a nod to Alan Turing eating a poisoned apple which seems like a bit of a stretch to me but he was the “father” of computing.

Father out theories suggest: Illuminati ties, a Gnostic symbol for enlightenment, a possible portal to another dimension (you bite it and enter a digital world apple virtual space), that Steve jobs bit an apple in a different future and traveled here, the rise of AI fusion, the LGBTQ+ movement colors, numerolgy we will need in the future in its design, a subliminal message to influence behavior “core appeal”, philosopher’s stone symbilizing immortality, and the bite to symbolize humans becoming “enhanced” when they eat it (like the new IPhone 15 was given to me to pitch to shoppers as “apple cider” because eveyone likes to drink apple cider…A sales tactic at it’s finest!) Maybe it is the popular with “Gen Z” Hitchhiker’s Guide for navigating the digital galaxy.

My seach for an answer, led to a fun page from included below full of other APPLE symbolism and Easter eggs such as: the Add to Reading list icon on IOS 7 is actually founder Steve Job’s glasses, how to make your Mac re-enact the original Star Wars in its entirety as ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) art, and how to get a secret Vulcan emoji. Fun afternoon activities in the making for Apple fans!

POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT:

I did find an article in MacWorld that states Steve Jobs was a huge fan of the fruit and it was part of his “fruitarian” diet phase, “wanted something easy that came before ATARI in a phone book since he used to work there,” and had visited an Apple Farm Commune in Oregon called “All One Farm” whose location is secret even today. RIP Steve(1955-2011).

A modified Apple logo has been circulating the web with Steve Jobs as the original bite out of the Apple. I thought about it, and realized Steve is a loss to Apple, and should therefore be an additional piece removed from it. So I modified the image, moving Steve to the left side. My apologies to the original artist. – Jim Trottier. “Steve Jobs – 1955-2011” by Jim’s Photo World is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

“Steve Jobs – 1955-2011” by Jim’s Photo World is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

Be sure to bookmark my page, explore this video and links, and come back for a second lunch!

AFTERNOON ACTIVITIES TO EXPLORE: https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/57527/16-easter-eggs-hidden-apple-products

LINKS: https://looka.com/blog/apple-logo/
https://www.macworld.com/article/673923/why-is-apple-called-apple.html
https://logo-timeline.fandom.com/wiki/Apple#1976%E2%80%931977

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One of the best lessons you can find that spans multiple design programs, will be a tutorial on layers. Adding layers can help save you a lot of “do over” time because each step you lay on top, you can throw away without hurting your original file. I found them confusing at first. There is a game called Fishworld on Facebook that uses 3 very simple ones so that you can create a little “scene” for your fish to swim by. This way, you can place a mountain behind a waterfall and then a tree in front of that for example and the tree won’t disappear if it is on layer one, the waterfall is on layer two, and the Mountain is layer 3 in the back. There are many thousands of objects and backgrounds to play with and it is a lot of fun to see what others create. There are lots of movie and tv themes, something for everyone. See how my fish, lower fog layer, and nymphs are floating in front of a scene I’ve created with layers behind them?

Today in class we began with a pizza, there were toppings to add, and a whole salad bar with toppings to pick from. Adding the layers, painting the sauce (mines pesto), “blur/cooking” the cheese and cutting out a slice were excellent tutorials designed by Professor Brock at Peninsula College. Many of the classes can be taken online from beginner to advanced levels of many design programs and also incorporate website, wordpress, and marketable skills.

A final important nugget for thought is how you choose to export to the web matters. According to Difference Between JPG, GIF, PNG, BMP Image Formats (guidingtech.com) these are the main differences and I have examples at the bottom of this page.

• JPEG is the most common format for photographs and natural scenes, but it loses quality with every save.
• PNG is a lossless format for images with transparency, text, or sharp edges, but it has a large file size.
• GIF is a format for animated images or images with limited colors, but it has a small color palette and does not support transparency.

Check out Peninsula College (pencol.edu) and start cooking your own skills, websites, blogs and portfolios now!

• JPEG is the most common format for photographs and natural scenes, but it loses quality with every save.
• PNG is a lossless format for images with transparency, text, or sharp edges, but it has a large file size.
• GIF is a format for animated images or images with limited colors, but it has a small color palette and does not support transparency.

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“Transtextuality” seems to be how a small text crosses over to becoming and inspiring anything else it can spawn or become, from a complete story to an essay like this.  So, since we have started with my text to you about an item of food, I will go on to build some trans-textuality unity and link this essay to the most expensive dessert in the world found in the country I chose to research for this class, Sri Lanka. 

While traveling our Grand Galaxy, this dessert called “Marry Me” is not to be missed at a mere price of $14,500 US dollars per serving, (which can fluctuate with the cost of the 80-carat aquamarine stone treasure it comes with, so check your mineral stock report before you go.)  It’s found at Wine3, a restaurant in the Fortress Resort and Spa in Galle. You can see from the picture there is a little stilt fisherman figure made from chocolate.  This has to be ordered with at least 2 days of notice due to the complexity of making him along with its studio-flared glass from a local place actually named “Glass Studio.” It has many decadent high end dessert ingredients and also includes a Dom Perignon champagne sauce with both gold and silver leaf. 

What surprises me about this country is that it has strong traditions and loyalties to Buddhism and certain colors, even down to the presentation of this dessert.  Yellow represents the sun and unity of the many ethnic groups.  This philosophy is one we should always adhere to, the superpower of helping us all get along with eachother, and as we travel, we should adhere to the motto:  “do unto others as you would like done to you.” 

My classmates and fellow guides Arthur, Ford, and the crew of the Heart of Gold, are curious about the Universe and always willing to explore and try new things.  We face many challenges in this class such as this essay, but we don’t lose hope and just keep writing.  At this Sri Lankan “Resaurant at the Edge of the Universe” we will have to use our imagination a tad. We are to believe that the jewel will give us luck, protection and riches of cash.  Blue is the color of the ocean and repeatedly used in this country to represent the fisherman, sky, the National Flower the Blue Water Lilly, its Sapphire mines, and “peace” although there has been way more political turmoil and current world events happening than I expected to find.  

The country has other colors with strong meanings but if I cover them now, you might not travel to my essay.  So I will leave you with some links if you wish to know more, but please don’t forget to bookmark my page, so you can return to explore more with my crew! 

The Grand launches “Marry Me” The most expensive artistic dessert – YouTube

The $14K Sri Lankan Dessert (therichest.comLinks to an external site.)

For $14,500, Sri Lanka Resort Serves Indulgent Dessert — with Jewel (pcma.orgLinks to an external site.)

SPOILER ALERT! Don’t panic and take this answer express link, draw your own conclusions from the movie first!

The Real Reason For the Watermelon in BUCKAROO BANZAI [Movies] – The Geek TwinsLinks to an external site.

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Why the fishy title? The Babel Fish is Not at babelfish.com. DO NOT go there.  I just did and it is a terrible ill-functioning site that stole its name from the real thing.  The REAL Babel Fish is a useful tiny yellow worm that goes in your ear, siphons energy from you and anyone around you as it’s intake or “food,” source, but THEN poops back out the speech patterns of those around you so that SUDDENLY, you can understand anyone no matter what language.  Douglas Adams created and placed this creature into the Hitchhiker’s guide 44 years ago.  We can’t quite buy a worm yet…but we CAN buy a few nifty wearables that translate today. 

This kind of tech puts Moore’s Law to use which observed that around every 2 years, the tiny switches (transistors) in circuits doubles and gives us even stronger microprocessors capable of advancing everything we wish to accomplish! For example, there are big upgrades in smartphone, camera, and video game technology every 2 years. Thus, we are coming closer to the Babel Fish with many earbuds available on the market. These fit in your ear wirelessly and pair with devices.  None of them can translate every language yet. The number of languages and accents supported by each earbud varies, but you can sift though some ads on your browser and find claims that  they can translate 45 to 85 languages and 90 or so accents.

There is a new glove being patented at UCLA that can translate American Sign Language into speech.  It uses sensors attached down the fingers of the glove and  real-time algorithms to detect movement and translates through a smartphone.  This is similar to the new Apple Watch technology that detects gestures in the air to perform certain functions.  The glove uses an app to translate while the watch uses its own display but can access an app called Sign-Time to get a live interpreter from Apple via the American Sign Language (ASL) and only translates 11 languages as its main focus is entertainment at this time.  Stanford is developing a spray on mesh for the back of the hand that creates a tiny electrical network that stretches and senses to make communication easier as well.

Boasting its language capabilities also, is a new AI pin you can wear by Humane that projects its app onto your own hand. I have a link to the demonstration on their site below of this and other amazing features.  In the video one person is speaking in Spanish.  The other person hits the button on the pin and suddenly hears it in English.  They then speak back, and it plays the reply in Spanish!  This will revolutionize both sales and customer service processes in the business and travel industry since it can not only auto-detect the language but can be forced into any language.  

There is also a pair of glasses made by Google that are able to translate words and sign language and also, into words you read on the lenses.  So many fish have come from the Babel fish concept including a brain transplant we are moving toward that lets us share our thoughts in progress at Duke University. Having one with you is as important as having your towel and if you don’t know what that means…check out my Hitchhiker’s guide page. This would allow us to communicate with so many different people who are suffering disabilities that made communication impossible before.  

Keep an eye on my blog as I bring your more advancements in tech that help bring us all closer together and help us in our daily lives. PLEASE be sure to bookmark my page first, but if you would like to further explore my sources, they were:

Order Ai Pin Now (ma.ne)

https://www.earth.com/news/brain-implant-may-allow-people-to-communicate-through-their-thoughts/

Wearable-tech glove translates sign language into speech in real time (techxplore.com)

Spray-on smart skin uses AI to rapidly understand hand tasks (techxplore.com)

Google Debuts Smart Glasses Built With Real-Time Language Translation | PCMag

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in Ubik a sci-fi novel by American writerPhillip K. Dick, Joe Chip is sitting in his apartment; he walks to his front door to open it.

The door refused to open. It said, “Five cents, please.”

He searched his pockets. No more coins; nothing. “I’ll pay you tomorrow,” he told the door. Again it remained locked tight. “What I pay you,” he informed it, “is in the nature of a gratuity; I don’t have to pay you.”

“I think otherwise,” the door said. “Look in the purchase contract you signed when you bought this conapt.”

…he found the contract. Sure enough; payment to his door for opening and shutting constituted a mandatory fee. Not a tip.

“You discover I’m right,” the door said. It sounded smug.

The color of a robot with GPP may or may not relate to its personality, depending on how it was designed or manufactured. For example, Marvin the Paranoid Android is a robot with GPP who is afflicted with severe depression and boredom, because he has the most boring tiny tasks compared to what his brain COULD do, and so he’s pessimistic and sarcastic about everything. Marvin’s color was gray on TV, which we older humans might associate with rainy overcast days when we as kids couldn’t go outside, and we had so little entertainment these were considered “downer” days, like his dull and gloomy mood, invoking empathy in us.

However, there may be other robots with GPP who have different colors and personalities that do not match or contrast with their appearance. For example, there could be a robot with GPP who is bright yellow and cheerful, but also very clumsy and accident-prone. Or there could be a robot with GPP who is dark green and sinister, but also very polite and helpful. The color of a robot with GPP may not have any significance at all, except for aesthetic or practical reasons.

Color is very important in relation to Universal Design both in the real world and websites.  McDonald’s for example uses red and yellow, which is bold and easy to distinguish, but also so bright and primary it appeals to kids.  If you make a sensory book for your child, you want to start with primary colors since kids see those first when they start to develop.  If they changed the color of the “M” or made the red purple, it just wouldn’t have the same “familiarity” from our memories that invoke family memories.  That is why branding colors don’t usually change, and need to be chosen carefully from the start.

I picked the colors of red, orange and yellow because to me they were cheery, perhaps because my room as a child had red carpet with a gold velvet chair and curtains. However, many sites on the web also indicate that powerful colors can “overwhelm” and drive people to seek out muted “peaceful” colors after that assault on their eyes. Most webpages and branding, in order to be considered “professional” don’t mix a lot of colors and I’ve noticed a lot of meditation sites use blues, purples, earth tones, and pastels. They use just enough contrast and easy to read fonts to appeal to the user.

These are Universal Design elements. Check out my STEAM heading up top for some awesome examples, and to learn more.  Be sure to bookmark my site first, because there is so much to explore like more of my Hitchhiker’s Guide content as well!

Awesome sources: Marvin the Paranoid Android – Wikipedia, Toll Door by Philip K. Dick from Ubik (technovelgy.com)

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Universal Mission: To Easily Navigate Earth Through Design and Education | Tour Guide: Starship NOVA NOVA
 (A collaborative team project from Peninsula College)

UD=Universal Design – the idea that everything in life should be made accessible to all humans of all ability levels by design for ease of use and safety measures.

STEM STEAM OR STREAM? Schools are now utilizing concepts to teach important subjects with, that include hands-on projects .

STEM = Science, Technology, Engineering and Math

STEAM =with an A added for the arts

or STREAM= with an R for reading, robotics, or religion depending on which school.

Google Map of a location that UD or STEAM is being taught or applied.  https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m18!1m12!1m3!1d9132.99101531902!2d-72.2997593875487!3d43.70842044066638!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!3m3!1m2!1s0x4cb4c9dd4f758911%3A0xbdb8574c4db908cc!2sDartmouth%20College!5e1!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1699353136115!5m2!1sen!2sus

Here’s just one of the examples to Dartmouth Collrgr where UD is being taught while I try to obtain the API key so that I may embed my code!!!

https://maps.app.goo.gl/6w4ueAUidNDGRPxf7

Pic taken by Alta Murphy free to use

I can use a smartphone to demonstrate all of 7 principles…Equitable use = People have different abilities but can still use this product. For example, deaf users can feel vibration and use video chat. Users with bad eyesight can zoom in on the screen and use voice commands.
Flexibility in use = Many ways to use the product. A user can use touch or a stylus for bigger hands and change the settings for many things including font size, colors, and accessibility.
Simple and intuitive use = Easy to learn for the non-tech savvy. Has plenty of clear icons, alerts, and “help?” menus
Perceptible information= Works regardless of environment.  Continues to deliver useful info via sound and videos by auto-adjusting to it’s surroundings under many conditions (dim room, conversation volume, etc.)
Tolerance for error=Product is designed to minimize user harm and lets the user fix simple mistakes.  Uses a PIN, password, fingerprint, or face to protect bank accounts and privacy.  If someone picks up the wrong phone or tries to steal it they will get locked out with too many attempts. Also has a back button to fix small errors like accidentally leaving a webpage or starting to enter a password wrong, but can factory reset to fix extreme user mistakes.
Low physical effort=Very little effort to maintain: Long battery life and wireless charging so you don’t have to plug it in. 
Size and space for approach and use=Any size person can use it and the features: Small, not cumbersome. Has some storage for holding pics and video. Can be used with headphones or earbuds pretty standard in size.

More info: Here are some more in-depth resources to begin your own voyage deciding how you are going to use these principles to make the Universe more friendly for all.   

UD and STEAM in education links:  Universal Design for Learning: Planning with All Students in Mind | Teaching and Learning Resource Center (osu.edu)Links to an external site.

Universal Design in Education: Principles and Applications | DO-IT (washington.edu)Links to an external site.

Universal Design in the Classroom: Do it Once, Do it RightLinks to an external site.

Course Design & Preparation | Dartmouth Center for the Advancement of LearningLinks to an external site.

Original color palette assigned project.  #ec008c .  #f37053 . #db2b34 “Cherry bomb red . #ffffff “Blank slate white . #231f20.  

On the next few pages you will find examples of each principle and mixed content provided by each student on my team designated by initials to bring these definitions to life for you!

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The “Hitchhiker’s Guide To the Galaxy” can be found in various forms to intake from the book to stage, TV and movie screens. This is an incredible work of art by Douglas Adams that inspires quite a bit of the entertainment and technology we have today, from Rick and Morty to “Grok” the new sarcastic AI on the way courtesy of Elon Musk. Adam’s sense of humor can be found in many favorites he contributed to, such as Monty Python’s Flying Circus to Dr. Who. This was definitely one of the most influential and inspiring works on today’s society. Examples can be found everywhere and the Wikipedia collection about the number 42 seems neverending when you start to examine the mathematics as well.

Grok is an AI modeled after the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, so intended to answer almost anything and, far harder, even suggest what questions to ask!

Grok is designed to answer questions with a bit of wit and has a rebellious streak, so please don’t use it if you hate humor!

On Nov. 4, xAI published a blog post about the new chatbot.

In some Tesla vehicles, there is a hidden feature that changes the name of the car to “Life, the Universe, and Everything” when the user taps the Tesla logo 42 times

A Complete List of All Tesla Easter Eggs And Hidden Features (notateslaapp.com)

According to 10 things that were inspired by The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy in| Metro News even NASA intends to “hitchhike rides for their equipment on asteroids ” plans to tether satellites and probes to passing comets and asteroids, and then detach them when they’re closer to their destination, having effectively hitched a ride in much the same way that Arthur and Ford escape danger in the books.”

The name was shortened to the catchy “H2G2” by Adams as the “Earth Edition” something every human should carry with them and refer to often.

The story is a pleasant read beginning with a Univeral Freeway planned to go through the house of Arther Dent after which Ford Prefect (best friend and alien) shows up with the guide that answers every question and points out how small we are compared to the Universe and that things aren’t always the same or that we need or even understand everything going in in our search for the meaning of life.

Professor Stephen Hawking took part in the new series of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, as The Guide Mark II.

“Others knew me in different forms,” the Guide says. “I have been quite popular in my time. Some even read my books.”

Found under Appendices on the link below containing the BBC site of the GAME

There is a video game as well that can be found, which is very challenging for those who like a D&D style story progression approach. So whether you read, watch or play this work of art, it’s a great way to spend some free time. Here’s the game link: ENJOY!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/1g84m0sXpnNCv84GpN2PLZG/the-game-30th-anniversary-edition

DON’T PANIC! If you do get stuck there are game chapter hints to help you out!

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Both the documentary “Hyperland” and the “Hitchhiker’s Guide” by Douglas Adams are two amazing examples of digital media that I definitely recommend researching hand in hand.  “Hyperland” from the 1990’s was clearly ahead of it’s time by predicting amazing things from cell phone commonality and 3D television/VR to hypertext and smart fridges!

INSERT IMAGE FROM SECOND LIFE VR “my avatar from Second Life sitting at a PenCol PC in World.”

  What makes it so enjoyable is that it breaks the fourth wall quite a bit and there’s plenty of narrative interaction, and fun characters and visuals to entertain the viewer.  There is even a customizable AI butler and plenty of computer error humor to keep everyone who has used a computer enthralled. It contains and explains other technology like the “mouse” for example to find information with our fingertips.  My favorite interview was when Robert Winter was discussing waves and shapes (and since listening flows along with life and takes time) he compared the way Beethoven seems like the 20-year growth of a mighty oak tree compressed into sound.   Could this have been yet another prediction?  I believe it could be, because recently a device was created to attach and listen to plants and mushrooms electricity levels. I know I would truly love to experiment with and create a chorus with it from https://plantwave.com/.

This story begins with a house that is about to be destroyed in order to add a superhighway which is a ludicrous idea to it’s owner and main character Arthur Dent.   This quickly progresses to him leaving with his “alien” friend Ford Prefect on a mission to stop Earth from being destroyed by the Vorgons and a gigantic quest to find answers about the meaning of life and the universe.   Like the other documentary this was also way ahead of it’s time, because he was given a Babel fish which translates any language into your ear, much like current apps and translators do now, but this story was just getting published around 42 years ago.  The book also has a lot of humor, bad poetry (which could “supposedly” kill) and advice, such as keep a towel with you in case it is needed for almost any emergency, such as a spontaneous Kung Fu fight.  Don’t panic when reading this book as your mind expands…just let it hitchhike to different galaxies and afterwards go have your own adventures!

 Reply

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A towel is just about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can carry. Partly because it has great practical value. You can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie on it on the brilliant marble-sanded beaches of Santraginus V, inhaling the heady sea vapours; you can sleep under it beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a miniraft down the slow heavy River Moth; wet it for use in hand-to-hand combat; wrap it around your head to ward off noxious fumes or avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (a mind-bogglingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can’t see it, it can’t see you — daft as a brush, but very very ravenous); you can wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of course you can dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean enough.

“More importantly, a towel has immense psychological value.”

“any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the Galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through and still knows where his towel is, is clearly a man to be reckoned with.”

Excerpt from H2G2 Douglas Adams

Towel Day – Wikipedia Who doesn’t love another holiday to celebrate?

A towel is also a nice, soft, useful object ro rest your wrist on as we create together. I highly reccommend a quest to pick out one. Will it be brand new from a store? A sentimental favorite? A beach towel? Super thick or hotel thin? a small hand towel or a shop towel? A neat designer or embroidered towel from Goodwill rescued from a man who unfortunatly lost it or gave it away in a moment of insanity? What kind of towel will you find and choose?

DON’T PANIC! YOU WILL FIND ONE YOUR TOWEL IS OUT THERE!

On this Vlog you will find custom designs both virtual and real world and posts I’ve created to teach or make you think! I believe the world would be better if we could all just get along, learn together and practice mindfulness instead of simply hitting the BIG RED “SELF DESTRUCT” BUTTON!

***Some links on here do contain ongoing Peninsula College class projects. Feel free to explore those also, they have made me stronger and springboard all you see!

Coming Soon: Come have a transformational meeting no one will regret.

Experience my mind. Experience Mindfulness. Experience my creative process. What will we create together this week? What new techniques can we learn?

SOON!

COMING SOON

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