Magic

Content-Aware Fill is making the rounds. Here is yet another example video: Show/Hide


Mwahaha


And stunningly, it turns out that the basic technology (texture synthesis) has been around FOR A DECADE. That's right, nerds in the know were running magic in GIMP ten years before Adobe posted their sneak peak at CS5. The upcoming Photoshop with this magic isn't yet available, but the GIMP version is right now (resynthesizer and heal selection), so I thought I'd run it through its paces. I couldn't find the original hi-res photos anywhere (0 results on TinEye), so I had to make-due with screencaps from the original video.

(rollover for originals)



In the first picture, everything except the sky was an easy Heal Selection. The sky didn't turn out right, and I ended up using clone-stamp to cover up the weirdness, and then Heal Selection over that.




For the desert, again I had to clone-stamp part of the scrub-brush over the road first, and then Heal Selection over that.




Finally, for the panorama (which was actually the first image I tried), I didn't use anything except Heal Selection, BUT I had to do the picture in steps (first one corner, then the next, etc).

So what did I find? Well, although the Resynthesizer tool 'works', it's not nearly as easy to use as what is shown in the CS5 preview video. And some of the results were a little wonky. But it's fairly quick and easy, and the output will usually pass a quick glance (but not intense scrutiny).

What you'd need to do this yourself:
GIMP itself
Updated Resynthesizer (compiled for windows, sorry)
The patched Heal Selection script
Other References:
Another guy Resynthesizing the photos
Another guy testing it out last October
Other handy GIMP tips/tools:
Tweaking GIMP to replace Photoshop (sorta)
The Liquid Rescale plugin
The do-everything G'MIC plugin, although its predecessor GREYCstoration has better examples
The FX Foundry is a good collection of scripts
(Gimp Guru used to have good tutorials, but then they switched to WordPress and lost all the graphics)

Remember Remember

The fifth of November,
Gunpowder, treason and plot.
I see no reason why gunpowder, treason
Should ever be forgot...
Show/Hide

Honda U3-X

I briefly mentioned this on my Enicycle post (or, in the comments, actually), but a new video has surfaced so of course I had to share it. Show/Hide


RAMPANT are the comparisons between this device and those chairs from WALL-E. I don't get it. This is MUCH too small to support such weight...

Important Things

I recently finally got around to watching Important Things with Demetri Martin. So far I've seen 1.5 episodes, and I have this to say: Demetri Martin is a Genius.

This show is great. Part stand-up, part sketch, part philosophy, each episode tackles one important thing.

And to show you how great it is, here are some clips.

The first episode was about Timing.

Timing - Anger Scene Management Show/Hide

Unfortunately, you get just a tiny taste in this mini-clip. You can see where it's going though. Actually, it goes even further than you'd think. :-/ Guess you'll have to catch it on re-run!

...or you could watch this low-quality YouTube video.


Timing - Time Gigolo Show/Hide

Argh! AGAIN you only get a small snippet of the full scene. Notice how the time changes after you start playing the video? What's that about?

(sorry, couldn't find a YouTube version of this one)


The second episode was about Power.

Power - Parking Fight Show/Hide

Finally a full scene!

Great Balls of Fire

And I'm not talking about STIs (this time).

It was dusk when the first fireball burst from the Mekong. A glowing pink orb hovered over the chocolaty waters for a split second then accelerated noiselessly skyward, winking out some 100 meters above.

So begins the Time article Behind the Secret of the Naga's Fire.

I am of course talking about Naga Fireballs, a not-fully-explained phenomena that happens every year around October. In fact, here's a video from ONE YEAR AGO TODAY! Show/Hide


So what causes the mysterious lights? ^_^ I wouldn't dream of spoiling it for you.

18 Seconds

(Slightly NSFW [but hot] content that makes up a tiny portion of the video warning) Show/Hide
18 Seconds
There are a lot of things I like about this video. I like the mood, the small details, the snsfw bit... But the ending is extremely predictable.

Still, overall worth a watch.

Edit: Greetings from 2016. Old link is dead. Was this the video?

The Ascent of Man

The inspiration for Carl Sagans 1980 series, Cosmos, Jacob Bronowskis 1973 series, The Ascent of Man, alludes to and seeks to somewhat challenge the notion of some of Charles Darwins conclusions in The Decent of Man. Over the course of thirteen episodes, Bronowski travelled around the world in order to trace the development of human society through its understanding of science.

Jacob Bronowski was one of a small group of men and women in any age who find all of human knowledge-the arts and sciences, philosophy and psychology-interesting and accessible. He was not confined to a single discipline, but ranged over the entire panorama of human learning. His book and television series, The Ascent of Man, are a superb teaching tool and a remarkable memorial; they are, in a way, an account of how human beings and human brains grew up together. Carl Sagan, The Dragons of Eden

If you haven't seen this incredible series yet, I highly recommend it. It has been mentioned on Screenwipe several times, and then on Ze Frank's Blog.

Here's a preview: Show/Hide


There's a full playlist at YouTube. Good stuff!

DJ Paige Railstone

Alright, I totally lied about there not being a post today. So sue me.

Before I get to today's actual topic, take a brief listen to this: Show/Hide



Not bad, right? That's DJ Railstone (Paige Railstone). Haven't heard of her? I'm not surprised, almost nobody has, but you can find out a little more on omnictionary.

So now that you're possibly a bit more caught up on Railstone lore, you can watch this and appreciate it: Show/Hide

BTW, the Vlogbrothers are quite interesting. It was a completely random find.

But, I miss Ze.

Alright, TOMORROW there will be no post.

Busey on Business

Wow. Watch this and tell me if it blows your mind. Show/Hide


Business wisdom from Gary Busey, and there's a lot more where that came from.

The videos are to promote Grasshopper, which used to be called GotVMail. What is Grasshopper?

Well, it's a lot like GoogleVoice, except it costs $50 a month instead of being free. That's almost all you need to know, but I will point out one more thing: the site gears itself towards entreprenuers, right? Well, how good are the Grasshopper entreprenuers if they can't change the links from the videos‽ The name changed in MAY.

If this is their level of quality and attention to detail for their OWN business, I don't think I want their help.

Just sayin'.

The Busey videos are entertaining though.

Pursuit of Happyness

I found this EXCELLENT tumblr recently that is all about Happy stuff. ^_^ I *HIGHLY APPROVE*

There are far too many awesome things there to link to them all, but I'll share some highlights.

Here's a cute stop-motion video: Show/Hide



The rest are links to pictures.

Falling Rocks

Yes We Can

I Love You

What I want to be

Happy Pills

Happy Existence Day

And suddenly...

▽^_^▽

Ｕ◕ฺܫฺ◕ฺＵ

Life is too short

And finally, here's one that isn't necessarily about being happy, but it did make me smile. ^_^ Here.

Enicycle

This guy built his own 1-axis-balancing (forward/backward) electric unicycle.
Show/Hide


(larger)

THIS is a cool toy, and I want one.

His website is here and has more videos.

Another guy has built a similar one and has all the specs available. The total cost for materials is about $1500. However, that one doesn't have foot-turning like the Enicycle (you turn it like you would a unicycle, eg, arm-flailing).

There's got to be a way to make one of these that is 2-axis-balancing...

Feed Me A Stray Cat

Do you like David Burne? I've been a big Talking Heads fan ever since the release of their 1983 album Speaking in Tongues. Before that, I really didn't understand any of their work. Too artsy, too intellectual.

I think This Must Be The Place was the group's undisputed masterpiece. It deepens and enriches the meaning of the preceding four albums.

Show/Hide


(via)

This Reminds Me

So, I saw this new exercise ... thingy. It reminds me of something, I just can't think of what.

Go to the site and watch the video. Does it remind YOU of anything?

It's brilliant marketing (like the Tiddy Bear); I'm showing it to you, you might show it to others, and boom goes the dynamite.

My Wena

I like Bowling For Soup, and have since their cover of 1985. And so, a little Soup for you (possibly NSFW): Show/Hide

MARU!

SPEAKING of Capucha, it's thanks to her that I saw the recent Maru video.

Maru has always been a cute cat, but MAN, this is a new level: Show/Hide

Lose Control

I saw this Shake video on Capucha's blog. Show/Hide

Bikini Machine - Shake

Seems alright. Wait, wait, what's THIS?



AAHH! AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Stop Smoking Now!

Quick! Before you kill us all! Show/Hide


(via)

Horny? Make a run for the border!

Also found on the Idiocracy Index (same as Thursday's video), a little tale about a spicy group of people. Show/Hide


(via)

Cankiri Demolition

....gone WRONG! Show/Hide


(via)

Back to the Future 1 and 2 Compared

In the years between Back to the Future and Back to the Future II, Michael J. Fox visibly aged and the actress playing his girlfriend was replaced by Elizabeth Shue. Thus, to show the closing scene from the first film as the opening of the second, it was necessary to completely reshoot it. Dig?

Anyway, as you can see above, someone has made a side-by-side comparison of the sequence so you can now needlessly critique how well Robert Zemeckis and crew recreated the scene. The audio is layered together as well, and for some reason hearing a duet of Docs saying, in unison, "Roads? Where we're going, we don't need... roads," is utterly hypnotizing: Show/Hide

(via)