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.
How 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.
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…)
Click for larger image
Then choose which layer you want to show by clicking on or off the eyeball icon.
Click for larger image
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.
When you select your file and click Open, another dialogue box will open in which you can choose which layer you would like showing.
Click for larger image
Hope this saves you some time in the future!
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.
Just 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 …
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:
The 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.
Here is a cool technique for turning a photo into a posterized vector file using Photoshop CS3 and Illustrator CS3. (Dont worry, it’s relatively easy.)
Last Wednesday, in addition to Hoss and Pepper in the studio, Fancy came in for the day as well. Fancy is a German Shepard puppy with HUGE ears who has visited Zoom once or twice before – just never when other dogs were here. I thought it would be pure chaos with Fancy and Pepper, but it was just the opposite. Fancy seemed unsure of these larger dogs and hunkered down under Corrina’s desk or by her water bowl. Pepper was curious about her but mostly sat on her pillow enjoying the heck out of a bone. Hoss was totally disinterested in her and did his best impression of a carpet for most of the day.
If I won the lottery, I would buy an orange Porsche 914 and then probably move into a house that was featured in Dwell Magazine. I would then proceed to fill the house with kick-ass modern furniture for humans, and of course, the hounds.
Here are a few dog-related items I think would work perfectly:
The Bent dog bed with walnut veneer and ultrasuede cover. Only $349
The Le Corbusier inspired dog bed with fully-welded steel frame and genuine leather. Only $569
Eddie’s Room with walnut finish and chrome base. Only $675
Holden Double Feeder in walnut finish with removable stainless steel bowls. Only $142
Wall-mounted, laser-cut steel Dog Dish. Only$130
A walnut and ceramic water bowl. Only $130
For now, though, I think the dogs and I will be fine with the $7 Michael Graves Design™ Rubber Jack Toy we got from Target. I don’t think they will know the difference.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|||
Categories |
Contact |
Interact |
Archive |
Zoom Creates Blogs is proudly powered by WordPress, Entries (RSS) and Comments (RSS).
|
 |
||
