Short Film: Fork
10 comments (closed), posted on june 30, 2004, tags: filmmaking
It's been a very long time since I've done anything filmmaking related, and it felt damned good to get back in the swing of things. Shawn and I have started making short films.
Shawn wrote and directed this one, the story inspired by a Weekly DV theme.
Consider this the beginning.
Little Changes
1 comment (closed), posted on june 30, 2004, tags: site
Update: You may need to empty your cache or at least refresh a few times to see these changes, especially in Safari.
I've made a few little changes to the Sunken theme (default) in the past few days, which you may or may not have noticed.
I added a link to 5 more recent entries at the bottom of the index page (so you can keep reading if you wish, without having to first go to the archives), and I've tweaked the way comments appear. I also lightened up the edges of the style buttons, so they don't stick out so much.
The most important change is something I've been meaning to since I launched this new design and I finally got around to making it happen today:
You can now view a description of the masthead photo. When you hover over the masthead, you'll see a small icon* appear in the upper right-hand corner. Simply mouse over that icon to see a description appear.
This has been requested by lots of people and was an original plan, so I'm glad to see it in place now. Hope it makes the photos even more enjoyable!
The site is in a constant state of tweaking, so I'll be sure to keep you abreast of any other significant tweaks.
* Thanks to Mathew Hoy for creating the original icon for me, which I tweaked to the version you see now. He's good with the pixels.
More Gmail Accounts!
15 comments (closed), posted on june 27, 2004, tags: web
This giveaway is now over.
I'm giving away 42 more Gmail accounts. You have until 6PM EST on Friday, July 2 to enter.
If you would like to have a chance to win one of five Gmail accounts, all you have to do is donate $5 or more to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Simply visit the donation page and give at least $5 US. Then, when you receive your confirmation email, forward it to garrett at maniacalrage dot net. You can remove your address from the email before forwarding it to me.
On Tuesday night, I'll select—at random—42 people who donated and they'll get a Gmail account. Yes, it's true—you might not win after donating the five dollars. But at least you'll have helped to support a good cause. I made my donation, now it's time for you to make yours. Good luck!
Current Donation Total: $767.00 US
Even if you don't want a Gmail account, you can still donate!
Updates (newest to oldest):
- This giveaway is now over. Thanks to all who participated. You can view the results.
- Whoops, I made a mistake and accidentally counted 4 accounts twice. 42 available.
- Andrew Hume donated 2 more accounts. 42 available.
- SM donated 2 more accounts. 40 available.
- Richard Cornish donated 2 more accounts. 38 available.
- Mathew Hoy donated 2 more accounts. 36 available.
- One person has donated $250 US! Fantastic!
- Colin Devroe donated 3 more accounts. 34 available.
- I'll also be donating any money I make from Google AdSense until the contest ends.
- Erik has donated 4 more accounts. 31 available now.
- [Shawn](http://morrisonfilm.com "MorrisonFilm") put another 4 accounts into the pot, so we're up to 27!
- I've also extended the deadline until Friday, July 2 at 6PM EST.
- Jay from Brainstir has also donated 4 accounts. Thanks Jay!
- Didier Hilhorst of SuperfluousBanter has donated another 4 accounts. Thanks Didier!
- I've upped the total accounts to give out to 15. Five came from Katia's account, and Greg Storey of Airbag fame has donated 5 more. Thanks Greg!
- Many thanks to Geremy for supplying 3 of the 5 invitations for this contest.
Gmail Winners
5 comments (closed), posted on june 22, 2004, tags: web
I was surprised by how many people emailed me but couldn't think of a joke. I was also surprised by how many people sent me the same jokes. All in all, it was fun.
I'm giving the best joke award to Jenna Pfister, for the following joke which is simple but caught me off guard and made me snicker:
Q: Why does Snoop Dogg carry an umbrella?
A: Fo' drizzle.
The two random invitations went to Richard Chamberlain and Will Croft. I chose them randomly by putting all the names into a PHP array and used array_rand() to pull out 2 people.
Congrats to the three of you, and enjoy your Gmail accounts. I'll do this again if I get more invitations.
Giving Away Gmail
7 comments (closed), posted on june 21, 2004, tags: web
Final Update: Giveaway is officially closed, see the winners.
If you want an account, please send an email to garrett at maniacalrage dot net with the subject "Gmail Account Please." Your email should include your first and last name and your website URL (if you have one, that is—it's not a requirement). Please also include your favourite joke.
I'm going to give one account to the person with the best joke, and two accounts to random selections.
More on Finding a New Camera
17 comments (closed), posted on june 17, 2004, tags: photos
Lots of feedback to my request for help finding a new digital camera. After many days of doing research and reading your feedback, I've decided to wait on buying a new camera. The reason is simple—nothing I've found in the $500 US range is good enough to warrant buying a new camera right now. Frankly, I think I've already decided which camera I want: The Canon Digital Rebel. So why wait?
It's still $850 US and I can't justify that right now. So I'll wait a little bit, a few months, and see if the price drops some. If not, I'll weigh my options then. Once again, thanks for all the help everyone.
Help Me Find a New Camera
21 comments (closed), posted on june 15, 2004, tags: photos
I need some help. I've been thinking for a long time now about upgrading my digital camera, but I need some advice from any of you who can provide it.
I currently have a Canon Powershot S30, and it's a great little camera. The problem is, I'm starting to take more and more pictures and the 3.2 megapixels aren't what they used to be, especially now that 5 megapixel cameras are about the same price as my 3.2 was a few years ago.
When I bought the S30, I was looking for a digital camera that would take great automatic photos and allow me to use manual modes (shutter speed, aperture, focus) as well as be able to fit in my pocket so I could take it with me everywhere. I got the former but not the latter. The S30 is just slightly too big and heavy for a pocket, so I end up bringing it around with me in a bag. Since I'm used to this, the camera being small is no longer a requirement for me. The next camera I buy can be any size, since I'll most likely always have a bag with me anyway.
The S30 takes great pictures, but only in certain conditions. Anything further than a hundred feet away starts to lose its sharpness pretty quickly (as you'll see with my London/Dublin photos soon), and the resolution of the images could be bigger. I would also like a bigger aperture range, since the S30 is limited to 2.8 to 4.9. It only has an optical zoom of 3x, which adds to the distance problem described above.
I'm looking for a 5 megapixel camera for around $500 US. I don't really want to spend more than that. If I did, I would just go all out and buy a digital SLR. But I don't think my taking pictures equates to more than an enjoyable hobby, and for that I cannot justify more than about $500. I've been reading a lot of reviews recently, and I think I've narrowed it down to three cameras. Surprisingly, the one I'm looking at most is a Sony. I never thought that would happen, but here we are. I'm considering the following:
- Sony DSC-F717
- Pros: Manual focus ring on the barrel, great image quality, low noise, night framing options. Can attach 58mm lenses and filters without adapter!
- Cons: Sony product, memory sticks. Size and shape (not necessarily all bad, though).
- Canon Powershot G5
- Pros: Canon product, good image quality, can attach filters / lenses (with optional bayonet adapter, 58mm).
- Cons: Chromatic aberrations, noise, partially obstructed viewfinder.
- Nikon Coolpix 5700
- Pros: Great image quality, quick response mode, low noise, great macro quality.
- Cons: Complicated controls, slow start-up, poor auto-focus. Called fucking 'Coolpix'.
The Sony's body is definitely large and bulky, but I actually sort of like the swivel idea, and I'm really interested in the lens ring. Being able to focus or zoom with a ring is far better, so that gives the Sony an edge. Combine that with the photo quality and the fact that memory sticks are now much larger and cheaper and it might be a good pick. It's a bit more expensive than the others, but it seems to be winning me over.
There is one thing about the Nikon that I like, and that's what I've seen of its macro image quality (this photo in particular). I haven't been able to find any real macro images from the Sony, and the samples I've found from the Canon are about the same quality as my S30 takes (not so great). I really like macro photography, so this is really the only thing keeping the Nikon in the running.
Do any of you have any of these cameras? Or another 5MP camera? Opinions, thoughts, suggestions?
Update (06/17/2004 10:42 AM): I've made a decision, and that's to not make a decision right now. See More on Finding a New Camera for details.
Testing Gmail's Advertisements
no comments (closed), posted on june 14, 2004, tags: software
As Mathew mentioned on his site, today he and I were playing around with Gmail, seeing how accurate the AdSense ads were and how easily you could change them by writing specific things in your messages. What follows is a transcript of a few messages with notes about how the advertisements faired.
» Continue reading Testing Gmail's Advertisements
Two Weeks' Notice, Or: New Design
14 comments (closed), posted on june 11, 2004, tags: site
Sorry about disappearing without warning you. I sort of knew it was going to happen, and I had plenty of opportunities to tell you I was coming back, but I didn't. Fear not—it's not because I don't love you. It's because I've been working on a bunch of different stuff. One thing I've been working on for a very long time now, on and off, is the new design of this website you now see (at least you should).
After 23* different failed redesign attempts, I ended up with something I like that is, sadly, quite similar to the previous design. Since this is the first time I've redesigned since I finished the new back-end, this is the first time I've been able to allow for you to choose between two different designs. I use XSL to transform all my XML content, so creating a new layout was as easy as creating a new XSL sheet. You can now switch between the new design (called "Sunken"), old design (called "Exclaim") and a third design called "Plain" (which is, well, plain). Find the style controls on your right.
The masthead image for "Sunken" will randomly change with each view. There are about 32 images there so far, with plenty more to be added in short order. There are a few you might have seen already, but a majority of them are new. The new design also uses transparent PNGs to place the shadow above the background, and this works in all modern browsers as well as IE for Windows (thanks to the crappy, stupid filter functionality). The design looks best in Safari (doesn't everything?) since it has native support for the text-shadow CSS3 property. In all other browsers, I've faked shadows using some CSS tricks. If you're using Firefox on a Mac, you'll need to download the newest release candidate (0.9 RC) to see these faked shadows. There was a bug with the opacity handling in 0.8, and it was patched in 0.9. I hope you like the new design.
I recently bit the bullet and finally bought an XBOX, so I've been playing a lot of games lately. I whipped up a fun little side-project related the gaming, and I'll release that tomorrow. There are other things I want to do with this idea in other directions, and maybe when I get around to it I'll do so. Anyway, more tomorrow.
In other news, I've been working on a non-computer-related project lately that has me really excited and involves both writing and getting behind a camera again. Eventually this project will involve the web, and when it does you'll be the first to hear about it.
Now I'm off to tweak this new design a little bit. Feedback is appreciated.
* Not kidding. 23 different PSDs.