Wrap magazine For the latest issue of Wrap we were lucky enough to be able to work with the super talented illustrator Alex Walker who created this image, ‘Cosmic Sorbet’, in response to the issues theme of balance. Alex said he made this image with quite a free-form approach to try and capture a sense of visual balance and to make something ‘process-led and fun’. Alex’s artwork is available as a pull-out print/wrapping paper in Wrap issue 11- ‘Balance’, alongside a in-depth interview with him. How to make paper look old by aging it with tea | mevsthehouse.com The idea for this project came while I was searching for a picture for another post. I had written a post about Classical Music for Halloween, and wanted to find the perfect graphic to go with it. I had it pictured in my head (which is how most of my ridiculous projects start)… a stack of old sheet music from one of my recommendations. Well, I couldn’t find anything that came close. So I decided to make my own (and take a picture of it). What you will need: Strong tea or coffee, coldPaper to be agedCookie sheetOvenInstant coffee (optional) How to Age your Paper: You want to print or write anything on your paper BEFORE you age it.Preheat oven to 200°.Place the paper on a cookie sheet (I use an old one)Pour tea/coffee over the paper until the entire sheet is covered, make sure it soaks in on both side.If you want darker spots on the paper, sprinkle instant coffee on the paper and let it sit on the paper. Additional tips: What’s Next? ShareThis
CES 2013 by the Numbers: How Tech Trends Rise Through Social Media By Kevin Shively – January 14, 2013 Now that CES is over and the participants are (hopefully) all recovered from a week in Las Vegas, we decided to crunch the final numbers and answer some important questions. Who won? What did people care about? Is 2013 the year robots take over the world? CES has perennially been the place to watch for coming trends in the tech word, and which brands will be leading the way with new developments. We tracked #2013CES, #CES, #CES2013 and #CES13 on Twitter during the entire show. Social media has altered the scope of big conventions over the last few years. Take a look at what you were talking about, which brands can chalk CES up as a win, and which tech was abuzz at CES 2013. Samsung had the lions share of engagement from the 351,355 CES tweets. It’s not only the big guys making big waves though. The Razer gaming tablet led to a spike in “gaming” conversations using the CES hashtags, but the biggest tech trend from the show was far and away TVs.
What To Tell the Kids About Guns When I was about eight or nine, I found Clyde M. Narramore’s book How to Tell Your Children About Sex hidden in my dad’s closet. Presumably he had been preparing himself to “have the talk,” but I got to his crib sheet first. I poured over the chapters on “Family Dressing and Undressing,” “Learning from Nature,” and “Experimentation.” Curiously, in light of all the gun control protest today (and I’m a firm supporter) this booklet from 1957 was more egalitarian than most — ”when a boy or GIRL wants a gun.” “Come the day when the settlers on your block have routed the last redskin,” reads the first sentence of the booklet, “when your Backyard Cowboy and his trusty cap pistol have freed the neighborhood of the last rustler [or intruder], your boy — or girl — will want a gun, a real gun, one that shoots. Guns are part of American life and narrative. There are many choice tidbits of wisdom and lore (click on image to make larger).
How To Give Your Photos a Cool Retro Analog Effect Back in the days of analog photography imperfections were part of the job. Colour washes, light leaks, vignettes and blurs were all common problems that appeared during the processing of your film, particularly from cheap cameras such as the Holga, or simply down to human error. While these problems don’t affect digital cameras, we can recreate the cool effects in Photoshop to give our shots that cool lo-fi retro effect. View large scale photograph You don’t have to look far before finding quality examples of old style analog photography. Once you have your photograph of choice, fire up Adobe Photoshop. Add a Curves adjustment layer to begin altering the tones of the image. Change the drop down menu to the Red channel and begin manipulating the curves. Move onto the Green channel, this time increase the green midtones by creating a large flowing bend in the line. Fill a new layer with magenta, then change the blending mode to Soft Light. Download the source file
CES 2012 by numbers As the last rolls of the dice hit the craps tables over in Las Vegas and the casinos, bars and, let's face it, strip clubs see the final departures of men sporting Android t-shirts, it's time for a quick CES 2012 round-up. It's been a hell of a week with an absolute barrage of new tech being thrown at us from all angles. Now, all that remains to do is to sit back and soak up the stats and reflect on what has gone before us. "The 2012 CES was the most phenomenal show in our history, generating more energy and excitement across every major industry touching technology than ever before," said Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of CEA, owner and producer of the International CES. "The breadth and depth of the 2012 CES, which featured more innovative technology products than anywhere else on Earth, is a testament to the dynamic and innovative global consumer technology industry, which will reach $1 trillion globally this year." Indeed it is Gary, indeed it is.
Win the Business with this Elevator Pitch - Steve W. Martin by Steve W. Martin | 7:00 AM August 22, 2012 Pretend that you are in an elevator at one of your industry’s trade shows. You’re heading down to the lobby when the doors open on the thirtieth floor. You instantly recognize the executive who walks in and quickly glance at his name badge to confirm he is the CEO of the most important account you would like to start working with. So, how did you do? They use truisms: They believe their company’s own marketing pitch, which makes claims that are not considered entirely true by the listener. They describe themselves using buzzwords: They repeat industry buzzwords or, worse yet, use technical buzzwords that are known only within their company. They use fillers: They make too much small talk or ask frivolous questions that reduce their stature to the customer. They demean themselves or the listener: Their statements turn them into mere salespeople, not business problem solvers. Here’s an example of a poor elevator pitch. Hello, Norman.
Photoshop vintage effect Back in October I took this photo, in front of our house. A cool scene, bright colors and a double rainbow. After seeing this picture on my Flickr page, I received an e-mail from Marco who asked me about the post process of this image. Now here is my answer… Choose your image carefully First of all I need to mention that some pictures are better suitable than others. Add contrast and saturation Place the image in a separate layer. Adjust curves Add another adjustement layer. Select Green from the Channel dropdown menu and adjust the curve as shown in the image above. Now select Blue from the Channel dropdown menu and adjust the curve as shown in the image above. Add Vignette effect Select the layer with your photo and go to the Filter menu and select "Convert for Smart Filters". Now go to the Filter menu and select Distort > Lens Correction. Add some Colorisation Your photo should look pretty dramatic right now with a lot of contrast. The final touch Before and after Here is another example:
CES 2012: Who Were the Biggest Winners? [STATS] What topics, trends and websites dominated the conversation last week at CES 2012? Tablet devices and ultrabook laptops were the hottest technologies in Las Vegas. Microsoft rode an early high as Twitter's most-mentioned brand but tailed off later in the week. Motorola, meanwhile, started slow but finished strong. Mashable's CES recap comes via Simply Measured analytics. Here, we offer Simply Measured's comprehensive findings for the CES week that was, but you can also look back at our daily reports on what had people buzzing on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. How Did 2012's Overall Twitter Chatter Compare to 2011? The #CES-tagged Twitter conversation showed the same overall trend in 2012 as it did in 2011: a boatload of tweets at the beginning of the week, peaking during Monday's keynote address, then a gradual decline with each subsequent day. What Were the Most-Mentioned Brands Each Day? What Were the Top Tech Trends at CES 2012? Which Domains Did People Tweet Most?
Your Future Robotic Hand Will Be Able To Detect Everything From Abnormal Breast Lumps To Enlarged Lymph Nodes Bring together two engineers and a Harvard Medical School student, expose them for 10 weeks to lofty ideas about changing the world from people like X Prize Founder Peter Diamandis and futurist Ray Kurzweil, ask them to create a team project that could positively impact 1 billion people in 10 years, and what do you get? Med Sensation, a project spun out of Singularity University’s graduate studies program that aims to make your checkups at the doctor’s office more robotic. The Med Sensation glove, now in its second iteration, is outfitted with sensors that can detect vibrations, sound, and temperature--and it features an accelerometer and a buzzer system for items that require immediate attention. "If you apply too much pressure on the examined tissue, then the buzzer goes on," explains team member Elishai Ezra. The third version will come with micro-ultrasounds on the glove fingertips.
How To Make a Vintage / Retro Picture Tutorial I have had quite a few people asking about how I do my retro photos. This is a quick and very easy tutorial that should help those who want to learn the art of taking a photo, and making it an old fashion vintage picture. Well, I for one like the style, and I hope this helps those who wish to try it out. Preview here the final result.
10 Sci-Fi Technologies That Now Exist While we still don't have that sweet hoverboard from "Back to the Future," we really can't blame scientists for not trying. In the past couple of months, there have been so many awesome technological innovations that we're certain we'll soon be flying to work in an Iron Man suit . As you're reading this article, hundreds of scientists around the world are furiously working on ways to make you a Marvel superhero. Here are just some of the cool, and slightly terrifying, ways their inventions will soon change your life. 1. "Beam Me Up, Scotty" Teleportation is such an old desire of mankind that we can find mentions of it as far back as the New Testament. During 2009 scientists from the University of Maryland's Joint Quantum Institute successfully copied an atom to a remote location almost a meter away. However, the most important implication of this experiment is not teleporting molecules of beer inside your mouth. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. However, don't get your hopes too high. 9. 10.