Posts Tagged ‘dogs’

Download The New Google Image Search

Friday, September 10th, 2010

Just kidding. That’s an inside joke here at Zoom. You really don’t have to download anything to see the Google Image Search makeover. It is already in effect on the Google.

Here is what the old Image Search looked like:

old search

Here’s what’s new in the 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.

new search

  • 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.”

hover pane

  • 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.


Zoom Creates Cache

Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010

Our geocache is now live. On the first day, six people found it and logged their find on geocaching.com. The first-to-find gift, a prize for the first person who finds the cache, was a TorkScrew, compliments of BellaSvago.com. Also included in the cache at the time of launch was one of our trackable Zoom Creates Coin geocoins, Pink Noise stickers, Google laptop sticker, pink dice, Zoom coasters, a TorkScrew coaster, and a C3P0 Pez dispenser.

Before you are given the cache coordinates, you first must solve a slide puzzle featuring Hoss and Pepper – the same image of the dogs as on our geocoins. The next challenge is to find the camouflaged cache.

The puzzle and cache has been very well received. So get out your GPS receiver and come find it! To get started, go here: Zoom Creates Cache.


Snuggies Plus

Thursday, April 22nd, 2010

The last time we went to the pet store, something on the clearance table caught my wife’s eye. It was a bright pink Snuggie made specifically for dogs. And it was five bucks. And so we bought it. Poor Pepper. She was a good sport, though. But all she did was sleep in it. From the photos on the box, it looked like she would be playing backgammon with Hoss or using the remote control with this paws-free blanket-like invention. Maybe I put it on wrong.

While doing a quick bit of research for this post, I ran across a few other Snuggie-like products. Behold the Peekaru and the Lippi Selk’Bag.


Super Slow Motion Dogs

Friday, March 5th, 2010

I thought my dog, Hoss, moved in slow motion until I saw this video titled “The Catch”. It is a commercial for Pedigree dog food by TBWA Toronto, shot at 1000 frames per second that has gone viral. The video was inspired by the French community of digital artists, Pleix, who made a video called Birds in 2006. Birds also features dogs in super slow motion but includes laser lights and 80′s-style synthesizer music. Both are sights to behold.




A New Way to Search Images: Google Swirl

Tuesday, November 17th, 2009

12643~Dog-Labrador-PostersHow did I find the photo of the Labrador puppy to the left? I tried out the new Google Lab project called Google Swirl.

What are Google Labs? Believe it or not, they are are not pet dogs of Google employees. Google Labs is a website demonstrating new Google projects “that aren’t quite ready for prime time”. It serves as a testing ground for new services being developed. Gmail and Google Calendar were once Google Lab projects.

Google Swirl is another Google Lab project for searching images. It builds on new computer vision research to cluster similar images into representative groups in a fun, exploratory interface. For example, if you search on Image Swirl for labrador, you’ll see 12 image thumbnails including labs on white backgrounds, yellow labs, lab puppies, etc.

Picture 20 (more…)


Object Layer Options in InDesign

Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009

A few weeks ago, I was shown an InDesign feature (by a designer that shall remain nameless) that I never knew existed. It’s called Object Layer Options, and it lets you control which layers are visible when you place a layered Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign or Acrobat (pdf) document into InDesign. I don’t know how I ever got along without it, as I’ve used it on numerous occasions in just the past few weeks.

Say, for example, I have a Photoshop document containing multiple layers that I want to place into InDesign. To show its different layers, I no longer need to use Photoshop to turn off all the layers except the one I want visible and save a separate file for each layer. Now, I can just place this ONE file multiple times and choose which layer(s) I want showing in each instance.

You can either do this after you have placed the file or as you are placing the file. If you have already placed the file, select the  picture box containing the file and click Object > Object Layer Options…
(Right clicking on the picture box also brings up the Object Layer Options…)

Picture 3

Click for larger image

Then choose which layer you want to show by clicking on or off the eyeball icon.

Picture 3

Click for larger image

Picture 4

Click for larger image

You can also choose which layer you want showing when you initially place the image.
In the Place dialogue box in the bottom left corner, check Show Import Options.

Picture 5

When you select your file and click Open, another dialogue box will open in which you can choose which layer you would like showing.

Picture 6

Click for larger image

Hope this saves you some time in the future!


Animal Abuse?

Tuesday, October 13th, 2009

In the UK, dog owners who dress up their pets could face prosecution. Let’s remember that here in the States this Halloween and see a little less of the following, this year. Thank you.

abuse


Dog Blogs

Tuesday, October 6th, 2009

dog-blog1Just out of curiosity, today I did a search for “dog blog” to see if there were other dog-related blogs out there. Well, it looks like there are only about a million other blogs about dogs, some written from the dog’s point of view and some from the owner’s. I found this one called Mod-Dog, about modern stuff for modern pets, and a very informative dog blog called Welcome Dog Lovers. Here is one by Jon in San Francisco—he takes photos of dogs tied to things and then comments on them. Go see for yourself: the list goes on and on and on …


Never Do This…

Wednesday, September 30th, 2009

3MyfW

…or any of these. Please!

Your dog will thank you.


What Makes Your Dog Go Crazy?

Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009

Dogs are very simple creatures. They know what they like and don’t like. There are certain things that just make them go crazy; barking or running around and panting, rapidly pacing or hiding, or any combination of some or all of these. The triggers that really make Hoss and Pepper go nuts are:

mr-hooverThe vacuum cleaner. (In my house known as Mr. Hoover, thank you very much Family Guy Season 4 Episode 15.)

Saying the word “squirrel”, “bird”, “kitty”, “park” or, in my dogs’ case, “work”.

Being on the beach.

The mailman.

Laser-pointers.

The doorbell—even on TV.

A fly in the house or studio.

The dog next door.