iconolith

NYT Nod to New Words

I should really start reading the NYT. There is a consistent two week lag between the time they publish an article and I discover it though my network. That seems a bit too much of a delay for me, so as one of my endeavors for the New Year I’ll make the NYT part of my daily reading. We’ll see how that goes.

Anyway, less than 24 hours after watching Erin McKean’s TED talk on redefining the dictionary (fantastic!), I stumbled across this article featuring words that have recently integrated into our language through popularization. Both entertaining and enlightening, the article has saved me from performing at least 5 Google searches I would have surely done had I encountered these words in the wild.

Terragen Lanscape Generator

While reading this morning I came across Terragen from a description of a Joan Fontcuberta project mentioned on BLDGBLOG. Terragen is landscape generation software that is available as a free download for non-commercial use, but that also has a number of features for registered users. While it is possible to create a landscape out of virtually nothing save the software itself, the full version seems pretty powerful from something with only a $99 license fee.

Features include:

• random fractal terrain
• high detail foreground texturing
• depth based occlusion culling
• terrain sculpting tools
• terrain modification tools
• combination of terrains
• terrain import/export
• hierarchical surface colour map
• water
• cloud layer
• multi-haze atmospheric model
• volumetric lighting
• realistic sunlight attenuation system
• anisotropic lighting of atmosphere
• ‘soft’ shadows
• plugin system
• scripting system

According to their web site Planet soft is currently focusing on developing Terragen 2 with even more features AND the ability to import 3D objects into scenes.

• Cutting-edge adaptive subdivision renderer.
• Modular, plugin-based architecture.
• Render entire planets, sweeping vistas, tiny rock gardens, or anything in between.
• Import 3D objects for rendering. Export high resolution objects.
• Render millions of boulders or trees using “instancing”.
• Add multiple heightfields to your scene. Use procedural terrains that can span an entire planet.
• Apply almost “infinite” fractal detail to terrain and other objects.
• Overhanging terrain using procedural displacements, image-based displacements, or imported geometry.
• Volumetric clouds or fast “2.5D” clouds.
• Production quality anti-aliasing and motion blur.
• Node graph editor for ultimate control over shaders and textures.

Terragen certainly isn’t new to the scenery game by any means. According to their site the core technology in TG2 was used to render planets for Star Trek: Nemesis in 2002 and was also relied upon for hundreds of CG terrain shots in Stealth in 2005. The gallery has some examples of scenery that people have created that are simply breathtaking.

My first Terragen image less than 15 minutes after installation.

Raving in Kaneva

OMG, the residents of Kaneva are raving lunatics - literally. I signed up for an account and revisited my profile to find 21 strangers had raved me. I think I missed something in that world and need to go back and explore further than the mall.

Comparisons Using the Universcale

The Universcale, a comparative visualization of the size of objects in our universe, strikes me initially as a combination of concepts similar to the old Eames Powers of 10 movie and the Starship Comparison chart. The interface uses flash to easily move through nano to light-year scale.

DWR Announces Champagne Winners

Design Within Reach has announced the winners of their Champagne Chair design contest. Entrants were asked to design a chair using the components of a champagne bottle. The winners are posted and there is a link to runners up there too.

Color, Macs and Online Images

Don MacAskill of SmugMug has posted a nice little explanation of how thoughtful Macs can be when viewing *some* images on the web. He also provides guidance if you prefer to not have your Mac control your mind.

Sleeeep

A company named Zyren has an interesting “clock” that they are marketing as the sleep system Night Cove that controls the ambient light in your environment. As a huge fan of sleep I can only imagine the endless hours of well managed, scientifically crafted sleep it could provide - just the thing for the wonky winter nights in Alaska. Despite my torrid love affair with sleep I remember the days when I was a morning person and I miss them. [via]

The Wisdom of Six

…on The Meaning of 8. The Sneeze is featuring a review of Cloud Cult’s new album The Meaning of 8 - by the resident 6-year old and music guru. Overall he gives an enthusiastic thumbs up and provides some pure insight. It is an absolute joy to read.

While your over at The Sneeze check out “Steve Don’t Eat It” where all your questions about the strange mystery food on the grocery shelves are answered - or where you are just grossed out.

image by daveforhan on Flickr

Super Happy Fun Time Friday

Things that have caught my eye today that I wish I had time to look at more, but will probably have to wait until I get home because of all the things that need to get finished before the weekend starts. LTMS (Laughing to Myself… after hearing the word weekend).

Imitating a Scanner Darkly: A tutorial on how to create this style of illustration from photos. Potential for creeping out your friends here.

FastStone Screen Capture: A little app that adds screen capture options to your context menu. I haven’t tried this yet so I’m not sure if it makes your system explode.

The Pixel to Em Calculator: If you don’t know what this means then you probably don’t need it.

GlasZone: Only because I like glass and love architectural glass.

Bus Tales: An interesting concept for a site. Now there is a place to tell everyone about the crazies you meet on the bus.

UNKL Brand Stuff: Cool fun things with lots of style.

When I get home my dog will be ecstatic, but that is because she has an IQ of 5.

Death and Meta

Cemetery 2.0 is a concept that links burial plots to online repositories of information about the deceased. Information is connected to the physical resting place so that visitors may access the surviving artifacts of that person. This project is a wonderful way to make use of technology to extend the memory of loved ones.

It would be interesting to take this one step further and add the ability for visitors to contribute their own collective memories of the deceased as artifacts. In this way those who were close to the person have the opportunity to contribute to memory or their loved one and explore facets of that person’s life from the perspective of others - by reading or listening to stories, or viewing images visitors leave behind. I guess this would essentially transform the grave site into a place for social interaction. Maybe, one day, the association of cemeteries as creepy desolate tracts of land will no longer hold true.

Birth and death are two of the most significant events in everyone’s life, which makes me wonder why we shove obituaries into the middle of the newspaper where they can be conveniently passed over. Each of those announcements should be front page news!