Mega-What and Pixel-Who?
In the last few years we have seen the digital camera movement rise to unprecedented heights. I'm talking about my parents adopting a technology that isn't at least twenty years old. To be fair, they did get an HDTV before me...though that's not the point.
With everyone buying digital cameras and getting all hyped up about being able to print their own pictures there are quite a few misconceptions and a lot of questions that the basic consumer needs answered.
I used to teach computer classes at CompUSA and every so often I would instruct some first time digital camera owners on how to use their fancy new gadgets. The question that came up the most often was "what is a megapixel and why do I care?" That question is still a valid one today and I just came across a great article and diagram that I will share with you now.
Simply put, the number of mega pixels your camera determines the quality of the photos it is capable of. Notice I said "capable." Just because you have the worlds greatest camera doesn't make you the worlds best photographer... So how many megapixels do I need? The chart below illustrates the size of photo you can print with a minimum number of megapixels. For example: if your camera has 6 megapixels you can print a 6'x10' photograph that looks film quality. Anything over 6'x10' and you will start to notice loss in quality.
For most people the magic number is 8'x10' since most consumer printers will not print anything larger than a standard piece of paper. To print out a film quality 8x10 you need somewhere between a 6 and 8 megapixel camera.
(inches are on the sides and the megapixels are the big numbers in the colored boxes.)
Here is the link to the original article.
Feed Me!
Every morning I have my routine. I get up (or I'm forced up by my wife), I shower, I buy some carmel and mocha cappucino from Kum and Go (mmmmm), I drive to work, and I read my rss news feeds. (I also get dressed and brush my teeth in case you had a really weird picture of me walking into work...)
But it's the last item on my list that is important. I get so many ideas and random bits of knowledge from this time it makes it invaluable to me. So I thought I would share the links to my absolute favs. Maybe you've heard of them, maybe you haven't but here we go. Note that the links are to the rss feeds not the actual sites themselves. If you're not sure what rss is check out this article. I use the Sage Reader - a free extension for the Firefox browser.
By the way, we did have more than 10 people show up at our garage sale and we were able to get rid of some stuff - though nobody wanted my cute Taco Bell dog that says "Heeeere lizzard lizzard lizzard." Strange...
Sports
- ESPN
- Bill Simmons - quite possibly the funniest sports writer ever...
Technology
- Make Magazine - This is a colection of DIY projects that range from insanely cool to insanely inane.
- Lifehacker - one of the best sites for useful everyday info
Random
- Woot - They sell one thing a day, normally for a crazy price.
Stuff for Ministry
- Church Beauty - a collection of the best church web site designs
- Church Marketing Sucks - great tips and articles on the failure of the church in communicating relevantly today.
Web and Graphic Design
- Netdiver - where I go for inspiration
- Cameron Moll's Authentic Boredom - an "A List" designer with great insights and articles
- Netcocktail - A collection of cool color palletes and the sites they appear on
Leave a comment and let me know what your favorite RSS Feeds are.
Internet Explorer 7 - Eye Candy at Best
The wait is finally over...kinda.
Microsoft has released the beta version of IE 7 which has promised to be more standards complient (something I am just learning to do myself) and have improved features. I downloaded it a couple days ago and I am pretty impressed - though there is not a lot that is new that the other browsers don't have, the text rendered by the browser is stunning. It is so easy on the eyes to read, going back to Firefox feels like someone is stabbing my eyeballs. But functionality over beauty will ultimately rule so unless IE 7 can garner the ammount of 3rd party extensions Firefox has it will continue to loose ground.
Firefox 2.0 is set to be released this summer and if it can match the same clearness of text IE 7 has, Microsoft is doomed to be slain by ghost of its former nemesis.
If you want a treat for the eyes test out the new beta version.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/IE/ie7/default.mspx
Modeling in Titletown 2
We are to our first break and it has been a whirlwind so far. I am not the only novice...you always think you will be but it is rarely the case. My frappiccino was gone in the first 5 min - good thing I had a diet pepsi with me. Some heavy stuff - so far hope my brain keeps up, but good stuff. Time for another frappaccino...more to come.
Modeling in Titletown
For those of you that don't know I am doing some training on 3ds Studio Max and finally found my way to the frozen tundra. I am in class now waiting for it to begin. This will be entry number one in detailing my experiences here. My intial impressions are a little overwhelming. I am very impressed with the setup. Each workstation has a 21 inch monitor and what looks like a custom built system. It is very cozy in the classroom. It would be a little better if we had more room to write, but we'll see how that works out. They do have cold frappuccino for us though which is very cool. I will most likely be the most inexperienced person in the class, so I hope I don't get left behind - it will be interesting to see how the class is managed being that there are most likely a wide range of experiences. Just in the initial conversation before the class starts however I am very interested to dive in and learn this stuff. More later...
What's in Pandora's Box?
Like the sands through the hourglass, so are the posts of my blog...
Not much to report from the homeland in the heartland. Work is awesome. I am working on developing a completely new web site for our company. The new site will be radically more sophisticated and useful, and it will look better too.
I think a light turned on in Mia's head a couple weeks ago as she has begun to use full sentances. Her cognisence has grown noticably by leaps and bounds. Way cool. There are no new pictures or videos right now, but after next week I should be able to get some up and running.
This week I have planning our major Jr. High activity of the year. This years Youth Feast and Fun Fest should trump the other years (if we can pull it off). No spoilers yet till its over-sorry guys. In my next post I will report on how it went and what we actually did.
I will be traveling to Portland on Monday to participate in some software training for some clients. If there are any readers in Portland maybe we could get together for some coffee. Should be fun, though being away from home is never all its cracked up to be.
And now for this weeks really cool thing. The website www.pandora.com will read your mind and introduce you to new music. The way it works is by entering the neame of a band or a song you really like. It will then search its database for similar music and spit out a playlist you can listen to. It didn't find the two artists I searched for but found the third and its pretty cool! Give it a try.
Just want to give a few shout outs...to Abi, hang in there-college rules!...to Tim and Patty, congrats on the baby-parenthood rules!...to everyone else-Rejoice! God is good!
New Personal Portfolio
In my search for a full time job I have seen the need to create a personal portfolio. A resume just doesn't cut it these days. Awhile ago I had the good fortune to acquire the domain joshbyers.com. My name isn't as common as Bob Smith or something but I still thought it was pretty cool to be able to have my own name. So I snapped it up. I didn't know really what to do with it until now.
I have created a personal portfolio highlighting my work done in print and web media. Hopefully this will give potential employers a good view of what I have done and what I am capable of. And it's pretty cool too. Check it out at www.joshbyers.com
Sorry for those of you with dial-up, the site is graphic intense and 56k challenged...
Let me know what you think. I will look forward to your comments.
All Your Wildest Dreams Will Come True
I am on a blogging rampage today!!! This is for you Napolean Dynomite fans out there. I was directed to a site which has a collection of ads done by Nappy and Pedro for the Utah State Fair. They are flippin' sweet!
Video and Audio
This is for you Brady...
Guess the Google
Now introducing the best time waster of the day!!! Like I need any more... I came across this site from anothe site which is how things like this happen. I get into a surfing zone and before I know it I have surfed farther than man has known to surf and inevitably I come across a wacky site that is really cool. That is the case here.
The site in question poses an interesting question. Where did these images come from? The challenge is to look at 20 images from Google and figure out which keyword was used to get them. It's pretty addicting but please don't blame me for your lack of work. I'm just the messenger. Have Fun!
...and just in case that didn't waste enough of your time here is another site that will have you in a trance in about 30 seconds...just move your mouse and click.
Really Wacky but Stragely Cool