Saturday, December 30, 2006

2007 Pinguins!

1001 Dalmatians are so 1984!
2007 is the year of the penguin (pronounced like pin-goe-in, it'll all come clear next summer ;)).

Here's Cody and Geek surfin into a new year! Happy 2007 to y'all.

Thursday, December 28, 2006

Shop Pink!


Paul Smith store on Melrose Ave
Originally uploaded by _esse.
at the Paul Smith Store on Melrose Avenue...

Tuesday, December 26, 2006

lemon law california

Ever heard about lemon law? Or about a 'lemon' as in 'be carefull not to buy a lemon'! A lemon is a product that repeatedly fail to meet certain standards of quality and performance. It is most commonly used in conjunction with cars, but it applies to all goods.

So.... there are lemon laws now, to protect people from buying bad goods.
Hence there are also lemon law layers and attorneys, used car and computer lemon laws. They are different per state, so there is California lemon law next to Florida Lemnon law and Ney York Lemon law.

In the end it all comes down to be able to buy stuff without looking sour.

Saturday, December 23, 2006

HD vs standard DVD comparison

Someone decided to check out what all the HD fuss was about and compared classic DVD againt HD. Here is the test:

Fellowship of the Ring - HD vs DD

www.cornbread.org/FOTRCompare/index.html

Being amazed at how fantastic the HD transfer of Fellowship of the Ring looked, I decided to compare it to the transfer on the DVD. Now, the DVD transfer is among the best you can find on DVD, so this really is comparing the respective creams of the crops.

I used WinDVD 6 to capture files from the DVD, and Elecard Mpeg2 player to capture from the HD stream. Both were captured directly to BMP files and converted to JPG at very high quality so there should be almost no artifacting introduced (sorry, the BMP files were too large to use).

I used Photoshop to bicubically resample the DVD source images from 852x480 to match the 1920x1080 of the HD images. This page features the HD image sampled down to the DVD's resolution of 852x480. Surprisingly, even at DVD-resolution the HD source features more detail.

Mouseover any of the images here to see the HD downsample. You can see the full-size comparisons by clicking on the images on this page. The difference is pretty amazing.

I tried to capture identical frames on both sources, but I missed by a frame or two on some of these.

Monday, December 18, 2006

Penguins

A golden animation oldie.

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

The right angle.

Pictures getting an extra dimension when taken from a surprising angle.















Pros stoked by roles in 'Surf's Up'














Slater, along with professional surfers Rob Machado and Sal Masekela, voice major roles in the animated movie "Surf's Up," which is set to open in theaters in June. Sony Pictures made the announcement at a press conference Tuesday at Turtle Bay Resort, in conjunction with the Pipeline Masters Surf Contest.

"The waves are so good in the movie, you want to get into the screen and surf it," said Masekela. "The depth perception is incredible. The ocean is a character in the film and doesn't play second fiddle."

Read more on: http://starbulletin.com/2006/12/07/features/story06.html

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

How to not get your ass kicked by the Police

An oldie but a goodie. Chris explains what to do--and what NOT to do--when the Fuzz pulls you over. Funny video.

Monday, December 11, 2006

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

Diet Coke and Mentos



Jolly good fun with Diet Coke and Mentos!

Tuesday, December 05, 2006

Cool Firefox ad.

Takes on Internet Explorer, Netscape and Safari.

Monday, December 04, 2006

Roadtrip day 2 pictures online : San Diego Zoo


., originally uploaded by _esse.

Pictures of the second day of this summer's roadtrip are online. San Diego Zoo was the destination of the day.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/esse/sets/72157594275907872/

Sunday, December 03, 2006

Elmo takes America.

The hottest toy aroud, people go crazy over this, shops run trough their stocks in not time, prices on eBay are extreme.

I'd rather get the dog.

Saturday, December 02, 2006

The importance of choosing the right domain name (url)

Everyone knows that if you are going to operate a business in today's world you need a domain name. It is advisable to look at the domain name selected as other see it and not just as you think it looks. Failure to do this may result in situations such as the following (legitimate) companies who deal in everyday humdrum products and
services but clearly didn't give their domain names enough consideration:

1. A site called 'Who Represents' where you can find the name of the agent that represents a celebrity. Their domain name... wait for it... is
www.whorepresents.com

2. Experts Exchange, a knowledge base where programmers can exchange advice and views at
www.expertsexchange.com

3. Looking for a pen? Look no further than Pen Island at
www.penisland.net

4. Need a therapist? Try Therapist Finder at
www.therapistfinder.com

5. Then of course, there's the Italian Power Generator company...
www.powergenitalia.com

6. And now, we have the Mole Station Native Nursery, based in New South Wales (that's in Australia):
www.molestationnursery.com

7. If you're looking for computer software, there's always
www.ipanywhere.com

8. Welcome to the First Cumming Methodist Church. Their website is
www.cummingfirst.com

9. Then, of course, there's these brainless art designers, and their whacky website:
www.speedofart.com

10. Want to holiday in Lake Tahoe? Try their brochure website at
www.gotahoe.com