= Design + Software + The Rest
We haven’t given our blog much attention for the last 6 months. Other than the occasional meaningful post from Daryl (or a random 1980s sci-fi movie review by me), we haven’t published a ton.
Why?
Beause we’ve been really busy doing work for clients, adjusting to newborns, replacing totaled vehicles with scooters, purchasing an office, moving into said office, picking fallen trees up after monsoons, designing and developing (and testing and installing and marketing) a digital sign system, trying to balance work and scooters and newborns and fallen trees with sleep and friends and reading (and the occasional work-out).
This is not some sort of public commitment to become post-writing machines (because let’s face it, it’s not like our readers are clamoring for more Lego-themed video game reviews), but I’m hoping that when Daryl reads this it will light a fire under him to finish off some the terrific, half-finished posts he has sitting unpublished in our Wordpress (blog) admin, and that it will push me to keep up with him.
A sampling of titles from our unpublished blog posts just waiting for a little attention:
Whatever your perspective on the modern Olympics (and your feelings about host China) it is hard to deny the brilliance of today’s opening ceremonies.
Director Zhang Yimou created a stunning visual experience on a massive scale, with incredible attention to detail, using the latest in audiovisual technology while depending on precise choreography by human performers (more than 15,000).
These photos are from my two favorite sequences:
Take a look at this Boston Globe photo gallery for more: www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/08/2008_olympics_opening_ceremony.html
You might be able to find video of the Opening Ceremonies at the official NBC Olympics web site: www.nbcolympics.com/video (also a chance to see Microsoft’s Silverlight player in action)
I couldn’t agree with this more: Fire the Workaholics. It reminds me of this post by Daryl: Life, Liberty and the Pursuit.
Last night I watched the technologically groundbreaking 80’s movie “The Last Starfighter.” I hadn’t seen the film in almost 20 years (it was released in 1984) but was surprised that I didn’t remember that most of the visual effects were done with computer graphics. As a kid I really didn’t make that connection. At the time, computer graphics were not widely used for sets and major effects in movies – almost everything was done with miniatures – so as an 8 year old I wasn’t thinking “wow, I wonder how many polygons are in that asteroid model”; I was thinking “I wonder where can I get one of those sweet stand-up arcade games that is a really test of my spaceship fighter skills.”
By today’s standards, Starfighter’s effects look sophomoric; however, they were incredibly impressive for their time and masked some of the less-than-impressive aspects of the film (practical special effects, sets, acting, etc). I wonder how many years it will take us to be unimpressed with the computer graphics in modern groundbreaking films like “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.” (I have a few hard-to-please friends that are categorically unimpressed with modern computer graphics, and they might have a point – some of the best shots from Return of the King are practical miniature/digital hybrids)
I took this screenshot of the OSX Weather Widget at 8:45am Arizona time today.