Final Post *sniff*

Well, this is it. That moment when we all must depart and go our separate ways. I just want to say that this class has been completely awesome. I think everyone would agree to that as well. Thanks for a fun and educational Centreterm!

Ok, here's my last entry. This is one of the pieces I had in my portfolio presentation. I took this image, made a copy, and made the copy grayscale. Then I used the separateColor() filter on the original image. I then blended each of those colors into the grayscale image and saved the resulting picture. My next step was to get them all on the same canvas. So I created a canvas that would fit all the images if I were to set them side-by-side. Then, I simply placeInCanvas() those images in their proper place and, BLAM! What you "SEE" is what you get.

I really like this picture. Especially the green one because it reminds me of the Hulk.

Fear the Yoda...

Santa gets animated

Ok, I've  been working a lot with makeCanvas and placeInCanvas today because I will be using a lot of it in my final project. Here is what I did, I knew that each santa picture had dimensions of 400x400, and my idea was to place them all one after the other in a single canvas. So I created a canvas that had dimensions of 1600x400. This made since because my y values weren't going to change, only my x values. So the first picture I placed at (o,o), the second picture I placed at (400,0), the third at (800,0), and the last (1200,0). I used threeColor to create the wild looking Santas in this picture, by the way. The resulting photo came out just as expected...I think I'm getting the hang of this thing.

I would attempt making a mosaic with different pictures for each tile using this method, but I don't think I have that kind of time. That would be really cool though.

SOPA

So, I think most of us have heard about this SOPA thing by the fact that Wikipedia was blocked all of today. As stated in the second link, the true reason behind SOPA "...is the ability of intellectual property owners (read: movie studios and record labels) to effectively pull the plug on foreign sites against whom they have a copyright claim." What are your guys opinions on this? I think it might be something interesting to talk about in class tomorrow.

I don't agree with it. I believe it is the government's way of funneling us toward giving in to their power-hungry ways. Yes, we can survive without illigellay downloaded movies and music, but what's next? If the government can just start selecting the things that we view, wouldn't they sway them toward their political bias? This has too much room for abuse.

This has a similar ring to the discussion we had on the Carr article: The fact that digital text could so easily be manipulated presents a problem. That problem falls on the fact that there are always going to be people that will abuse the system and "change" things to support their bias. The same thing is happening here, the government is manipulating and filtering the websights we visit. The intent might seem legitimate on its surface, but the fact that those with the most power are trying to delete foreign sights that only "seem" illegal presents an incredible danger that cannot be tampered with if we are to keep our freedom that this nation was so proudly founded upon. (this is the part where the background fades behind me and is replaced with a flowing American flag)

Please comment! Let me know what you think

http://online.wsj.com/article/AP2ba2a4048b36493e895aff47184b8bd4.html"

http://gizmodo.com/5877000/what-is-sopa"

Some Progress on Final Project

 Here's some crazy stuff. I did succeed in getting the background to all these images removed and replaced with another. Yay! Tomorrow I will work on placing the pictures on the same background.
I am not sure I like the electric shock though...we'll see if I end up using it.
Also, I just realized that I will probably have to rotate Vader 180 degrees because his body will cut off most of the electricity.
So far so good though, my initial idea seems like it's possible.

Fun With Mosiacs

I took the Johnny Depp photo and mad it into my tiles. I realize that this is probably not the best mosaic, but I know how to fix it. My aspect ratios were not exactly matched up. If i fixed that, then I think my result would be a clearer picture.

Colour(less) bits

The author points out that bits do not actually have colour, they can only represent colour. This is the main concept that most humans struggle with because most human beings are not colour-blind like the computer science people are trained to be. This is why their is some hostility between computer science people and lawyers. Lawyers cannot comprehend that bits do not have colour at the fundamental level, and the computer people can. The author gave an example about a websight that shows when the sun rises and sets. The catch is that the websight has a disclaimer that says that the information is not suitable for court. I was completely baffled when I read this, why would that be? The author answers this by saying that in order to actually know when the sun rose or set, one would need an expert witness to prove it, because the bits mean nothing and can be infected to give faulty information. What you need are those bits, coloured with the colour that allows them to be usable in court. This is what the witness does - he provides the reliable source to those bits. This makes whole concept of where the bits came from is just as important as the bits themselves, if not more.

Also, this article made me question what my definition of random is as well. I previously believed that random meant anything that didn't have an expected result. However, since it is important to know where the bits came from (and in this example, the numbers), then when I say a random number, what makes it truly random? I now understand that what makes that number random is not the number itself, but the way the number was generated - the colour of the number.

I disagree with the author when he says that the distinction of colour should be considered when child pornography is the topic. I think that it is dangerous by its very existence - the danger is in the bits, not the colour. My reasons for thinking this have to do with my moral values, which might be a missing key element when most people consider a topic such as this.

Patent Problems For SIlvers

Robert Silver had an idea. He used his knowledge of computers and algorithms to transform that "idea" into a functional code. This code simply takes multiple images, reduces their dimensions, and combines them in a way that, when viewed from a distance, creates a larger, target image. This code was made so that it could take any slew of images and combine them to create any given target image. Now, observing Silver's "idea" in hindsight seems painstakingly obvious to us - of course you can create an image out of smaller pictures. After all, isn't that how a puzzle works? Each piece has an individual image on it that, when combined in the right order, creates a larger, target image. All Silvers did was create the code that puts the pieces in the correct order.

The question is, was Silvers' work non-obvious enough to merit a patent? At first, I would have said no because the idea of combining a bunch of pictures to create an even larger picture seems blatantly obvious - that's what we do with puzzles, but I find myself now believing that they are patent-worthy because the code for photomosaics are now the norm, but they were not when SIlvers was creating it. Just like the blinking of the text cursor, or the drop-down file menu, those are genius inventions that seem bluntly obvious to us now, but that is only because we have been submerged into using them for so long that it seems like that is the way things should work. The point is, what may seem obvious now may not have been obvious at the time of its inventing. Something isn't obvious until it is a common occurrence, and until Silvers' endeavor with photomosaics, they were not a common occurance and thus were non-obvious enough to merit a patent.

I continued thinking about this topic and asked myself, should a code even be allowed to have a patent? My original answer was no, a code (or a method) cannot be patented. I believed that a patent needs to be assigned to something tangible, but then I got to thinking, what distinguishes a Dell from a Macbook? Given, there are some physical differences in the exterior of the laptops, but why do some people favor Dells over MacBooks? (I cringe that someone could prefer a PC over a Mac, but that's beside the point). Those who are completely incompetent on the subject of computers might favor Dell because it comes in their favorite color, but the majority favors one over the other because of the way it functions, and those functions are nothing but codes. Ultimately, the only way Apple and Dell make money is through these codes, and I guarantee that both companies have their codes secured through multiple patents. If they weren't able to patent these codes, what would happen? There would be millions of people figuring out their codes and applying it in their own devices, resulting in Apple, Dell, and all computer companies going out of business. So in my mind, a patent on a code is a completely reasonable and acceptable idea. If Apple and Dell can get patents on the codes they use for their computers, then why couldn't Robert Silvers?
This is just me thinking out loud, feel free to comment.

On a random side-note, I googled "stupid patents" and found some crazy stuff on freepatentsonline.com. Believe it or not, many of them had to do with methods (i.e. method of exercising a cat with a laser-pointer, method of swinging on a swing, method and apparatus for making a drink hop along a bar counter...the list goes on). Just thought this was interesting.

Plan

I know my posts have been somewhat vague and sparatic (and that is due to this whole traveling thing) but I have been giving some thought to what I want to do in regards to my final project. As stated before, I want to use the background image of the two planets with the flow of electricity between them, along with Santa and Darth Vader. My ultimate goal is to have Santa and Vader in an epic battle of good vs evil. Santa will be at the bottom of the screen and Vader at the top. I picked these specific images of Vader and Santa because both of them have their hands extended; the reason being, I want Santa to look as if he's shooting the blue beam from his palm and Vader to be shooting the red beam from his palm. In addition to those three photos, I was thinking about putting in another. This would probably some sort of electrical shock/explosion that would be placed at the point that the two beams met. The reason I havent put a picture in this blog is because I am writing from my iPad, and I cannot upload pictures. (bummer, I know) so I apologize for the inconvenience. I will more than likey use the 'threeColors' filter and then blend the red and the green to create a purple explosion (obviously what happens when blue and red collide). On a further note, I will probably try to make the background pop a little more by adding some red and green to it. I want to make it clear that Santa is supposed to represent good and Vader is supposed to be evil. To accomplish this, I want to do some sort of color effect with Santa and Vader, but I'm not quite sure yet...I'll figure that out once I tinker with it a little. A downside to this is that I will more than likely have to take Vader and Santa into photoshop to remove the background of the images. I don't know if this can be done with the filters learned on Thursday. I will ask professor Oldham on Monday. Also, there is a possibility that I will place more good characters (i.e. Chuck Norris, Buzz light year, and Superman) behind Santa, and more evil characters (i.e. Zurg, Magneto, and Syndrome) behind Vader to better show that this is a battle of good and evil.

Journal Entry 4: not too much happening

Not too much happening in regards to my final project. Still been thinking about what filters I want to use. The stuff that was done yesterday looks pretty neat - wish I didn't have to miss it!

Journal Entry 3: searching for ideas

SO...I am trying to figure out how I am going to make my final project look as incredibly awesome as possible, and I think that the threeColor effect can accomplish that goal. I think I might apply the effect to both Santa and Darth Vader to better distinguish that Santa is the good guy and Vader is the bad guy. I will probably make Santa more blue and Vader more red because I think everyone connects red with evil and blue with good. It makes sense, Luke Skywalker's lightsaber was blue and Vader's was red. I am just keeping the trend.

Here's something fun I did with the threeColor effect. I added a gray to the code and used it instead of a blue or a red.

Journal Entry 2: tinkering with the tools

Today I have been playing around all the tools that we've learned thus far. I am really trying to get comfortable with all the tools so I know how to manipulate images myself instead of relying completely on the codes in the labs to do all the work for me. I personally like the color blending effect. I might try to incorporate that into my final project or into a side project somehow - we'll see.

I also thought that class was really interesting today. I felt that everyone got a whole lot out of discussing the article that Carr wrote. These are topics that most people don't even think about, and they need to be discussed.

Response to Carr

I found this article very intriguing. I believe that this very issue will become more prevalent in the next 3-5 years as society moves from an physically-dominated world into a digital world. Carr told his story of how easy it was for him to manipulate a digital text that he had written. I believe that he is completely correct when he says having digital text presents many dangers as well as some advantages. The danger is that anyone with the source file to these texts can manipulate them.  So teachers that don’t agree with certain things in a text book can change the actual text to fit their bias; Politicians can alter articles to change the way the public views them, and the list goes on. I have a personal experience that involved the digitization of text. I needed to buy my book for the summer reading assigned before we first arrived on Centre’s campus, so I was debating on the digital iBook version, or the physical book. I ended up going with the digital version. I quickly noticed there were some advantages to digital texts. First, the price – the digital version was far cheaper than any physical book I was able to find. Second, availability – the digital version was available at any time, any location, and on any computing device that I owned. Third, speed – my digital version downloaded in a matter of a couple of minutes. If I were to have gone with the physical version, I would either have had to wait days for it to arrive in the mail, or gone to a bookstore and spent my time looking for it there. I was, however, hesitant to purchase the iBook for the very reason that Carr is concerned with digital text. I was not sure if the digital book was the author’s true work. What society is going to have to figure out is if sacrificing security for speed, price, and availability is worth it. I personally haven’t decided. I like saving money and the speed of digital text, but there is something to be said for knowing that the book you are holding is the author’s true work. Some might argue that even printed texts could be corrupted by the printing company, or publisher, or by some other means along the way. So some might say that printed texts cannot be completely trusted as the author's true work either. My point is that it is far more trustworthy than a digital text that can be manipulated on the fly. There’s also something nostalgic about having the physical text in my hands that I like. One thing that might sway me more toward liking digital text is if there was some way to restrict the source file from being manipulated. That way, the first version submitted is the only version that would be seen – nothing could be changed about it.

Journal Entry 1: the plan

 Alright, here goes nothing! my plan is to use these three pictures in my final project. As abstract and random as these three pictures may seem, they will be used in a way that (hopefully) makes sense. Santa Claus and Darth Vader will be in an epic battle of good vs evil...in space of course. (I find myself laughing as I type this...) Santa will be placed on the bottom of the screen and it will look as if the blue electricity is shooting out of his hand. Darth Vader will be at the red planet, and his hand will look as if it shooting the red electricity. Clearly Darth Vader must have the red electricity because his lightsaber's red; Santa must have the blue electricity because he lives in the North Pole and, hey, it gets pretty cold out there. I hope it's clear that this is a battle of good vs evil. We have the most common "bad guy" in Darth Vader, and Saint Nicolas as the "good guy." If the picture turns out looking like Darth Vader is just angry because Santa Claus put him on the 'naughty list,' I will be just fine with that too. On a technical note, I will more than likely adjust the RGB values of the background to make the red even brighter and the blue even brighter - just to give the electricity a little 'pop.'