[iOS] Where’s My Water – Free!
Another Facebook thing :). Like the app store on Facebook to get a free code to redeem for the game!
Link:
http://www.facebook.com/AppStore
Link:
http://www.facebook.com/AppStore
Updates from November, 2011 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts
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Jan Ole Peek
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Jan Ole Peek
13 Places Take Beautiful Motion Blur Shots
While many of us spend a lot of time getting rid of ‘blurry’ shots – one of the best ways to add interest to play around with capturing motion blur. Here are 13 places that you might like to start experimenting with capturing motion blur in your photos.
1. Trains
Image by Extra Medium
The shot of a passenger waiting on a subway platform for a train with moving train behind is always a fun one to experiment with because it contrasts the speed of a train with the stationary passenger (often being buffeted by wind of the train).
These shots are all about making sure your camera is completely still (tripods are key if you can) and anticipating the moment. It’s also about framing your shot so that your subject is well positioned.
2. The Coast
Image by Timbo Don
Coastal areas can be a landscape photographers dream and are great places to capture motion blur. One place to start is by the waters edge where waves rolling in over stationary rocks, piers or sand can create a mystical foggy effect when shot with a longer shutter speed.
Image by Matthew Stewart
Don’t forget that wherever there are people – there is movement! So don’t just focus upon the water.
Image by camil tulcan
3. Spinning Children
Image by shoothead
My kids would be spun around like this all day every day so if you have kids around you’re likely to have willing subjects for this one – just be careful with smaller children as I do have a friend whose child dislocated their shoulder doing this – no photo is worth that!
To get the shot you’re going to probably need a couple of people – one to hold onto the child and the other to hold the camera around that person’s waist (or over their shoulders) in front of the child.
4. Playground Shots
Image by Soundman 1024
A variation of the spinning child shot above is to head to your local playground where there is usually a variety of equipment which is great for motion blur shots. Swings, merry go rounds, slides or pretty much any equipment that gets those on them moving are fun to experiment with.
You can either position a camera on or off the moving equipment to get different types of effects.
5. Bikes
Image by fabbriciuse
Bikes present all kinds of opportunities whether they be street shots (above), competitions below or actually getting ON the bike with your camera!
Image by Mariano Kamp
If you’re going to experiment with taking photos of bikes one technique to try is slow sync flash which will give the effect of movement while also capturing a split second in time.
Image by Pörrö
6. Cars
Image by Rob Overcash Photography
As with Bikes – moving cars are an obvious place to look when you’re wanting to capture motion blur. They also present many opportunities whether it be photographing the car from the inside (above), attaching a camera to the outside of your car or actually photographing cars moving by you from outside.
Image by Ricky Flores
Image by m4r00n3d
7. The Fairground
Image by joiseyshowaa
Fairgrounds present all kinds of exciting opportunities. Many rides have both elements of movement and stationary components which can create a wonderful effect. They also often have another exciting element – light – which makes twilight photography perfect.
Don’t discount daytime action at the fair though – there are still plenty of opportunities – particularly those to perfect your panning technique.
Image by Express Monorail
8. Dance
Image by bichxa
Whether it be in a performance, on the dance floor at a party or in a studio – dance is about movement and therefore presents us with opportunity to capture some nice motion blur.
9. Birds
Image by Danny Perez Photography
Bird photography is very popular in our forum area and among some of the best examples that I’ve seen are those that manage to incorporate a sense of movement into their shots. The key in many places is to choose a shutter speed that is slow enough to get wing movement but fast enough to keep the rest of the moving bird sharp.
Image by Midlander1231
10. Star Trails
Image by Andrew Stawarz
Stars are perhaps one of the last things one would think about when presented with the challenge of capturing motion blur – but they can also be some of the most spectacular images.
11. Escalators
Image by Gerrit Wenz
I have a number of friends who just LOVE photographing escalators and who have spent many hours capturing the smooth movement that they create. Many of their shots have the camera on the escalator and include a subject to give a point of interest – they’re often taken at night so as to capture colorful ambient light in the tunnels around their favorite escalators.
Also consider shots of those passing by on escalators with the camera position off the escalator.
Image by sinkkd
12. The Umbrella Shot
Image by Digimist
This is an oldie but a goodie. To add a little interest to a portrait have your subject hold an open umbrella over their shoulder and behind their head and then have them slowly twirl it.
13. The Street
Image by Digital Pimp
If I’m ever at a loss for subjects to photograph I just head to the most busy street corner I can find in what ever city I’m near. The hustle and bustle of the street is a never ending supply of movement to capture.
Image by gaspi *yg
Image by quas
Image by Steve Webel
Want to learn more about motion blur? Check out our previous post – How to Capture Motion Blur in Photography.
Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.
13 Places Take Beautiful Motion Blur Shots
-
Jan Ole Peek
13 Places Take Beautiful Motion Blur Shots
While many of us spend a lot of time getting rid of ‘blurry’ shots – one of the best ways to add interest to play around with capturing motion blur. Here are 13 places that you might like to start experimenting with capturing motion blur in your photos.
1. Trains
Image by Extra Medium
The shot of a passenger waiting on a subway platform for a train with moving train behind is always a fun one to experiment with because it contrasts the speed of a train with the stationary passenger (often being buffeted by wind of the train).
These shots are all about making sure your camera is completely still (tripods are key if you can) and anticipating the moment. It’s also about framing your shot so that your subject is well positioned.
2. The Coast
Image by Timbo Don
Coastal areas can be a landscape photographers dream and are great places to capture motion blur. One place to start is by the waters edge where waves rolling in over stationary rocks, piers or sand can create a mystical foggy effect when shot with a longer shutter speed.
Image by Matthew Stewart
Don’t forget that wherever there are people – there is movement! So don’t just focus upon the water.
Image by camil tulcan
3. Spinning Children
Image by shoothead
My kids would be spun around like this all day every day so if you have kids around you’re likely to have willing subjects for this one – just be careful with smaller children as I do have a friend whose child dislocated their shoulder doing this – no photo is worth that!
To get the shot you’re going to probably need a couple of people – one to hold onto the child and the other to hold the camera around that person’s waist (or over their shoulders) in front of the child.
4. Playground Shots
Image by Soundman 1024
A variation of the spinning child shot above is to head to your local playground where there is usually a variety of equipment which is great for motion blur shots. Swings, merry go rounds, slides or pretty much any equipment that gets those on them moving are fun to experiment with.
You can either position a camera on or off the moving equipment to get different types of effects.
5. Bikes
Image by fabbriciuse
Bikes present all kinds of opportunities whether they be street shots (above), competitions below or actually getting ON the bike with your camera!
Image by Mariano Kamp
If you’re going to experiment with taking photos of bikes one technique to try is slow sync flash which will give the effect of movement while also capturing a split second in time.
Image by Pörrö
6. Cars
Image by Rob Overcash Photography
As with Bikes – moving cars are an obvious place to look when you’re wanting to capture motion blur. They also present many opportunities whether it be photographing the car from the inside (above), attaching a camera to the outside of your car or actually photographing cars moving by you from outside.
Image by Ricky Flores
Image by m4r00n3d
7. The Fairground
Image by joiseyshowaa
Fairgrounds present all kinds of exciting opportunities. Many rides have both elements of movement and stationary components which can create a wonderful effect. They also often have another exciting element – light – which makes twilight photography perfect.
Don’t discount daytime action at the fair though – there are still plenty of opportunities – particularly those to perfect your panning technique.
Image by Express Monorail
8. Dance
Image by bichxa
Whether it be in a performance, on the dance floor at a party or in a studio – dance is about movement and therefore presents us with opportunity to capture some nice motion blur.
9. Birds
Image by Danny Perez Photography
Bird photography is very popular in our forum area and among some of the best examples that I’ve seen are those that manage to incorporate a sense of movement into their shots. The key in many places is to choose a shutter speed that is slow enough to get wing movement but fast enough to keep the rest of the moving bird sharp.
Image by Midlander1231
10. Star Trails
Image by Andrew Stawarz
Stars are perhaps one of the last things one would think about when presented with the challenge of capturing motion blur – but they can also be some of the most spectacular images.
11. Escalators
Image by Gerrit Wenz
I have a number of friends who just LOVE photographing escalators and who have spent many hours capturing the smooth movement that they create. Many of their shots have the camera on the escalator and include a subject to give a point of interest – they’re often taken at night so as to capture colorful ambient light in the tunnels around their favorite escalators.
Also consider shots of those passing by on escalators with the camera position off the escalator.
Image by sinkkd
12. The Umbrella Shot
Image by Digimist
This is an oldie but a goodie. To add a little interest to a portrait have your subject hold an open umbrella over their shoulder and behind their head and then have them slowly twirl it.
13. The Street
Image by Digital Pimp
If I’m ever at a loss for subjects to photograph I just head to the most busy street corner I can find in what ever city I’m near. The hustle and bustle of the street is a never ending supply of movement to capture.
Image by gaspi *yg
Image by quas
Image by Steve Webel
Want to learn more about motion blur? Check out our previous post – How to Capture Motion Blur in Photography.
Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.
13 Places Take Beautiful Motion Blur Shots
-
Jan Ole Peek
Telus Releases HTC Desire For $79.99
On Friday, Telus officially released the anticipated Android-powered HTC Desire.
The device has launched at $79.99 on a 3-year voice and data agreement and will ship with Android OS 2.1. However, the Desire will be upgradable to Android OS 2.2 as per an HTC representative report in July 2010.
Aside from OS 2.1, the HTC Desire features a 3.7-inch touchscreen display, 1GHz Snapdragon processor, integrated WiFi, a 5-megapixel camera, and 8GB microSD card included in the box.
For those that don’t like the 3-year agreement, the device is also available at the following price points:
- 2-year agreement: $349.99
- 1-year agreement: $399.99
- No agreement: $449.99
Check it out at Telus!
[Telus]
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Jan Ole Peek
Telus Releases HTC Desire For $79.99
On Friday, Telus officially released the anticipated Android-powered HTC Desire.
The device has launched at $79.99 on a 3-year voice and data agreement and will ship with Android OS 2.1. However, the Desire will be upgradable to Android OS 2.2 as per an HTC representative report in July 2010.
Aside from OS 2.1, the HTC Desire features a 3.7-inch touchscreen display, 1GHz Snapdragon processor, integrated WiFi, a 5-megapixel camera, and 8GB microSD card included in the box.
For those that don’t like the 3-year agreement, the device is also available at the following price points:
- 2-year agreement: $349.99
- 1-year agreement: $399.99
- No agreement: $449.99
Check it out at Telus!
[Telus]
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Jan Ole Peek
Facebook: As Unpopular as Airlines, Cable Companies & the IRS
A report released this morning by the American Consumer Satisfaction Index and ForeSee Results states it as plainly as can be stated: "Despite being the most popular website in America, consumers don't like Facebook". The world's largest social networking site, which boasts more than 500 million users worldwide, now occupies the dismal depths where airlines, cable companies, IRS e-filers, pineapple on pizza and those who TYPE IN ALL CAPS reside.According to the survey, Facebook landed "in the bottom 5% of all measured private sector companies", scoring a 64 on the ACSI's 100-point scale, leading the lowest entry in the social media category - MySpace - by just one point.
Sponsor
Larry Freed, CEO of ForeSee Results, says in the release that the reasons for users dissatisfaction with Facebook are varied, but lie along some expected lines of tension.
"Facebook is a phenomenal success, so we were not expecting to see it score so poorly with consumers," said Freed. "At the same time, our research shows that privacy concerns, frequent changes to the website, and commercialization and advertising adversely affect the consumer experience. Compare that to Wikipedia, which is a non-profit that has had the same user interface for years, and it's clear that while innovation is critical, sometimes consumers prefer evolution to revolution."
The Internet Social Media category - new to the index this year - had only five entries, with MySpace and Facebook bringing up the tail end. Wikipedia and YouTube led the pack, with scores of 77 and 73 respectively. We have to say, it's odd that the "Internet Social Media" category - a categorization that could contain hundreds of sites - has this few entries, but even in the other categories released this month, none scored as low as Facebook and MySpace.
The site has run into continual trouble over the past year, from backlash after repeatedly changing its privacy settings to simply redesigning the user interface, and it looks like the numbers reflect this. But will these numbers reflect whether or not consumers actually use the site?
As usual, we expect consumer dissatisfaction to mean little, if anything, until a better alternative comes along.
Discuss -
Jan Ole Peek
Facebook: As Unpopular as Airlines, Cable Companies & the IRS
A report released this morning by the American Consumer Satisfaction Index and ForeSee Results states it as plainly as can be stated: "Despite being the most popular website in America, consumers don't like Facebook". The world's largest social networking site, which boasts more than 500 million users worldwide, now occupies the dismal depths where airlines, cable companies, IRS e-filers, pineapple on pizza and those who TYPE IN ALL CAPS reside.According to the survey, Facebook landed "in the bottom 5% of all measured private sector companies", scoring a 64 on the ACSI's 100-point scale, leading the lowest entry in the social media category - MySpace - by just one point.
Sponsor
Larry Freed, CEO of ForeSee Results, says in the release that the reasons for users dissatisfaction with Facebook are varied, but lie along some expected lines of tension.
"Facebook is a phenomenal success, so we were not expecting to see it score so poorly with consumers," said Freed. "At the same time, our research shows that privacy concerns, frequent changes to the website, and commercialization and advertising adversely affect the consumer experience. Compare that to Wikipedia, which is a non-profit that has had the same user interface for years, and it's clear that while innovation is critical, sometimes consumers prefer evolution to revolution."
The Internet Social Media category - new to the index this year - had only five entries, with MySpace and Facebook bringing up the tail end. Wikipedia and YouTube led the pack, with scores of 77 and 73 respectively. We have to say, it's odd that the "Internet Social Media" category - a categorization that could contain hundreds of sites - has this few entries, but even in the other categories released this month, none scored as low as Facebook and MySpace.
The site has run into continual trouble over the past year, from backlash after repeatedly changing its privacy settings to simply redesigning the user interface, and it looks like the numbers reflect this. But will these numbers reflect whether or not consumers actually use the site?
As usual, we expect consumer dissatisfaction to mean little, if anything, until a better alternative comes along.
Discuss -
Jan Ole Peek
Ooh! Ahh! Google Images presents a nicer way to surf the visual web
When you think about “information,” what probably comes to mind are streams of words and numbers. Google’s pretty good at organizing these types of information, but consider all the things you can’t express with words: what does it look like in the middle of a sandstorm? What are some great examples of Art Nouveau architecture? Should I consider wedding cupcakes instead of a traditional cake?
This is why we built Google Images in 2001. We realized that for many searches, the best answer wasn’t text—it was an image or a set of images. The service has grown quite a bit since then. In 2001, we indexed around 250 million images. By 2005, we had indexed over 1 billion. And today, we have an index of over 10 billion images.
It’s not just about quantity, though. Over the past decade we’ve been baking deep computer science into Google Images to make it even faster and easier for you to find precisely the right images. We not only find images for pretty much anything you type in; we can also instantly pull out images of clip art, line drawings, faces and even colors.
There’s even more sophisticated computer vision technology powering our “Similar images” tool. For example, did you know there are nine subspecies of leopards, each with a distinct pattern of spots? Google Images can recognize the difference, returning just leopards of a particular subspecies. It can tell you the name of the subspecies in a particular image—even if that image isn’t labeled—because other similar leopard images on the web are labeled with that subspecies’s name.
And our “Similar colors” refinement doesn’t just return images based on the overall color of an image. If it did, lots of images would simply be classified as “white.” If you’re looking for [tulips] and you refine results to “white,” you really want images in which the tulips themselves are white—not the surrounding image. It takes some heavy-duty algorithmic wizardry and processing power for a search engine to understand what the items of interest are in all the images out there.
Those are just a few of the technologies we’ve built to make Google Images more useful. Meanwhile, the quantity and variety of images on the web has ballooned since 2001, and images have become one of the most popular types of content people search for. So over the next few days we’re rolling out an update to Google Images to match the scope and beauty of this fast-growing visual web, and to bring to the surface some of the powerful technology behind Images.
Here’s what’s new in this refreshed design of Google Images:- Dense tiled layout designed to make it easy to look at lots of images at once. We want to get the app out of the way so you can find what you’re really looking for.
- Instant scrolling between pages, without letting you get lost in the images. You can now get up to 1,000 images, all in one scrolling page. And we’ll show small, unobtrusive page numbers so you don’t lose track of where you are.
- Larger thumbnail previews on the results page, designed for modern browsers and high-res screens.
- A hover pane that appears when you mouse over a given thumbnail image, giving you a larger preview, more info about the image and other image-specific features such as “Similar images.”
- Once you click on an image, you’re taken to a new landing page that displays a large image in context, with the website it’s hosted on visible right behind it. Click anywhere outside the image, and you’re right in the original page where you can learn more about the source and context.
- Optimized keyboard navigation for faster scrolling through many pages, taking advantage of standard web keyboard shortcuts such as Page Up / Page Down. It’s all about getting you to the info you need quickly, so you can get on with actually building that treehouse or buying those flowers.
And for our advertisers, we’re launching a new ad format called Image Search Ads. These ads appear only on Google Images, and they let you include a thumbnail image alongside your lines of text. Check out our Help Center for more info on how try them out; we hope they’re a useful way to reach folks who are specifically looking for images.
These upgrades are rolling out in most of our local interfaces worldwide over the next few days. We hope they not only make it easier to search for images, but also contribute to a better aesthetic experience. We see images as a major source of inspiration, a way of connecting the world—and their growth is showing no signs of slowing down. We’ll work to make sure Google Images continues to evolve to keep up.
Posted by Nate Smith, Product Manager, Google Images -
Jan Ole Peek
Ooh! Ahh! Google Images presents a nicer way to surf the visual web
When you think about “information,” what probably comes to mind are streams of words and numbers. Google’s pretty good at organizing these types of information, but consider all the things you can’t express with words: what does it look like in the middle of a sandstorm? What are some great examples of Art Nouveau architecture? Should I consider wedding cupcakes instead of a traditional cake?
This is why we built Google Images in 2001. We realized that for many searches, the best answer wasn’t text—it was an image or a set of images. The service has grown quite a bit since then. In 2001, we indexed around 250 million images. By 2005, we had indexed over 1 billion. And today, we have an index of over 10 billion images.
It’s not just about quantity, though. Over the past decade we’ve been baking deep computer science into Google Images to make it even faster and easier for you to find precisely the right images. We not only find images for pretty much anything you type in; we can also instantly pull out images of clip art, line drawings, faces and even colors.
There’s even more sophisticated computer vision technology powering our “Similar images” tool. For example, did you know there are nine subspecies of leopards, each with a distinct pattern of spots? Google Images can recognize the difference, returning just leopards of a particular subspecies. It can tell you the name of the subspecies in a particular image—even if that image isn’t labeled—because other similar leopard images on the web are labeled with that subspecies’s name.
And our “Similar colors” refinement doesn’t just return images based on the overall color of an image. If it did, lots of images would simply be classified as “white.” If you’re looking for [tulips] and you refine results to “white,” you really want images in which the tulips themselves are white—not the surrounding image. It takes some heavy-duty algorithmic wizardry and processing power for a search engine to understand what the items of interest are in all the images out there.
Those are just a few of the technologies we’ve built to make Google Images more useful. Meanwhile, the quantity and variety of images on the web has ballooned since 2001, and images have become one of the most popular types of content people search for. So over the next few days we’re rolling out an update to Google Images to match the scope and beauty of this fast-growing visual web, and to bring to the surface some of the powerful technology behind Images.
Here’s what’s new in this refreshed design of Google Images:- Dense tiled layout designed to make it easy to look at lots of images at once. We want to get the app out of the way so you can find what you’re really looking for.
- Instant scrolling between pages, without letting you get lost in the images. You can now get up to 1,000 images, all in one scrolling page. And we’ll show small, unobtrusive page numbers so you don’t lose track of where you are.
- Larger thumbnail previews on the results page, designed for modern browsers and high-res screens.
- A hover pane that appears when you mouse over a given thumbnail image, giving you a larger preview, more info about the image and other image-specific features such as “Similar images.”
- Once you click on an image, you’re taken to a new landing page that displays a large image in context, with the website it’s hosted on visible right behind it. Click anywhere outside the image, and you’re right in the original page where you can learn more about the source and context.
- Optimized keyboard navigation for faster scrolling through many pages, taking advantage of standard web keyboard shortcuts such as Page Up / Page Down. It’s all about getting you to the info you need quickly, so you can get on with actually building that treehouse or buying those flowers.
And for our advertisers, we’re launching a new ad format called Image Search Ads. These ads appear only on Google Images, and they let you include a thumbnail image alongside your lines of text. Check out our Help Center for more info on how try them out; we hope they’re a useful way to reach folks who are specifically looking for images.
These upgrades are rolling out in most of our local interfaces worldwide over the next few days. We hope they not only make it easier to search for images, but also contribute to a better aesthetic experience. We see images as a major source of inspiration, a way of connecting the world—and their growth is showing no signs of slowing down. We’ll work to make sure Google Images continues to evolve to keep up.
Posted by Nate Smith, Product Manager, Google Images -
Jan Ole Peek
Google Chart Tools / Image Charts (aka Chart API) – Google Code
The Google Chart API lets you dynamically generate charts with a URL string. You can embed these charts on your web page, or download the image for local or offline use.
