Category: image

Da Vinci Code, the movie: Afterthoughts

http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/thedavincicode/

(…) a secret that threatens to overturn 2000 years of accepted dogma

I wonder if “The Da Vinci Code”, the movie, will ever have a life outside of “The Da Vinci Code”, the book, just as much as I wondered before if “The Da Vinci Code”, the book, would ever have had a life outside of its title. In my opinion, both the book´s title and its cover design were the true reasons for its success, more than the plot, which albeit interesting was nothing new sub sole (for instance, check Peter Berling´s “The Children of the Grail“). In this way I would say that I Continue reading Da Vinci Code, the movie: Afterthoughts

Game design as software engineering

A video game is not that different from any other software development; it perhaps depends more on hardware, but even so it is very similar. When you describe a program you need the client’s opinion and plenty of information to determine how the issue was being taken prior to the new development. In the end it is obvious that albeit there won´t be much relation between the analysis and the final development, that relation will still be more or less recognizeable.

But, what about video games? To start with, Continue reading Game design as software engineering

King’s Pupil

The first thing you should know, I’m not a Stephen King fan, but I feel interested by the fact that many of his novels have been taken to the Big screen, though not always with great success. I’ll overlook the sometimes terrible or unimportant adaptations, and the overrated ones (sorry, but I don’t enjoy “Carrie” very much).
For a great movie tour around King’s novels, Continue reading King’s Pupil

Blade Runner Origami Unicorn

http://bladerunnerunicorn.com/Unicorn_Diagrams.html

Thanks to the instructions in this site, you can emulate Gaff and leave the same origami unicorn he left Deckard in front of your suspected replicant friends´door. This origami unicorn has an intermediate level of difficulty, but the instructions come both in origami signs and pictures for every step, which makes it a recommended model not only for the film fans but also for anyone who wants to understand origami signs better, since you can easily see how the drawings correspond to the real foldings. Good luck and happy sheepy dreams!

The art of breeding pictures

http://mzlabs.com/gart/g4.html

Genetic Art is a way to describe processes where genetic selection procedures are applied to computer-generated media, the selection criteria being based on aesthetical choices. In other words, think of yourself as a Mendel-wannabe of the digital era, one that works with images instead of peas. Ready to experiment? Continue reading The art of breeding pictures

A fish-ful of pounds (and other singular creatures)

Hi everyone! We can consider this article as a continuation of those “Five remedies for sadness” released several weeks ago. Today we are going to concentrate on a film which, in 1988, revitalized the comedy genre: “A fish called Wanda”.

There is something that distinguishes this film from many others: surely, the charisma of the four main actors and their brilliant and hilarious performances. But, let’s start with the beginning.

Mythic John Cleese (along with Graham Chapman, the two most outstanding members from Monty Python) dumped his acid sense of humour in a story about burglars, and he decided to offer it to a filmmaker (Charles Crichton, who hadn’t shot a movie since the late 60’s). Cleese succeeded in putting pressure on the producers, and (along with Crichton) wrote the final screenplay. They opted to dispense with the dark surreal humour from Monty Python’s stage, and they also impregnated the absurd situations with more dramatic likeliness. And the bet was complete, because they Continue reading A fish-ful of pounds (and other singular creatures)

HoBot

http://www.craftsmanshipmuseum.com/Ho.htm

http://www.zoho.nl/zoho2.html

the “ultimate puppet” that could duplicate the grace and range of human movement

Mark Ho has recently been spotted in many sites across the Web after his work on the ArtForm No.1, a metal fully poseable robot sculpture. The reasons for this interest? Well, according to a post in digg, Mark is selling a limited series of these sculptures, priced at more than 36000 dollars each. That will raise some eyebrows, but honestly, I think that the price is fair (and it would be even if the series weren’t limited). From a craftsperson’s point of view the statue is a masterpiece, comprised of 920 pieces that Continue reading HoBot

NetLogo 3.1

http://ccl.northwestern.edu/netlogo/

NetLogo is a programmable modeling environment for simulating natural and social phenomena. It is particularly well suited for modeling complex systems developing over time. Modelers can give instructions to hundreds or thousands of independent “agents” all operating concurrently. This makes it possible to explore the connection between the micro-level behavior of individuals and the macro-level patterns that emerge from the interaction of many individuals.

3.1 features a new suite of link primitives, configurable world topologies, randomized agent ordering, and a new tie primitive.

NetLogo is one of those cool, easy-to-understand program languages, like Processing, that I keep in my linkshelf with the hope to learn one day and become a really cool artist.

Based on the famous (at least when I was a kid) LOGO language, NetLogo really IS an impressive programming environment for at least three reasons: it is easy to learn so students can use it; it is written in java, which means that the programs can be executed from within the web browser, like the examples here; and it has a very wide scope of applications, from biology to art. All in all, this is a highly interesting and worthwhile environment that I’ll keep on wanting to try for a long time. 😉

Origami Menger Sponges

1. Begin with a cube.
2. Shrink the cube to 1 / 3 of its original size and make 20 copies of it.
3. Place the copies so they will form a new cube of the same size as the original one but lacking the centerparts, (next image).
4. Repeat the process from step 2 for each of the remaining smaller cubes.
After an infinite number of iterations, a Menger sponge will remain.

from Wikipedia

The Menger Sponge is a fractal particularly appealing to modular origamists, for two reasons: it can be made out of Sonobe modules (the very first “brick” that every origamist learns), and given its fractal nature, it can be expanded forever and ever. What follows is a list of origami websites on this fascinating structure: Continue reading Origami Menger Sponges

Free icons collection

http://www.famfamfam.com/lab/icons/

icons for your new website or web application, at the best price there is (free!)

Finding free quality icons for your site can be not only tedious but many times frustrating. I spent quite a lot of time searching for “mail” and “print” icons for the articles, and after some time I ended up making them myself, with functional but modest results. Fortunately, I came across Mark James´site some days ago and it really made my day! Mark currently offers three different sets of icons in .gif and .png formats, all of them are free to use and you can modify them to your liking (there´s one more about to be released). Mark only asks for a link back in case you decide to use them, which seems more than fair to me since his icons are professional, varied and really cute. In the end I am using the “print” and “mail” ones, plus the little green flags and the “user” icon on the “readers online” counter. Thanks Mark! 🙂

ps. Alternatively, you may like to try this icon collection.