Art

  • Photology – A New Way To Find What You’re Looking For

    Overwhelmed by too many photos?  Too busy to sort and tag them?  Try this.

    Photology helps you navigate the flood of digital photos on your computer by finding photos using simple and intuitive filters like faces, sky, color, location, and time of day … automatically.

    081226 Photology Picture Finder

    Can't find the photo of you in that pink silk jacket from the 4th of July party on the beach a few years ago? No problem, even with seemingly endless folders of random photos.  You know the expression, "finding a needle in a haystack," right? Thanks to Photology, haystacks of photos will get a lot smaller, making it much easier to find the "needle" you're looking for – even if that needle is an a pink jacket.

    How do you do it?  Well, like this.

    First stop questioning why you own a pink silk jacket.  Then start remembering what you can.  It was a few years ago (probably 2006).  The photo was of faces.  It was outside.  You were wearing pink.  And It was sunset. 

    Photology Search Made Easay

    You can also combine, mix, and match any or all of these tidbits from your memory to find your photo.  It is fast, fun, and very easy to use.

    Try it yourself with this online demo.  After the demo launches, try the filter options on the left.

    I paid this software – and it was worth it.  Now it is free; an even better value proposition.  I'm still going to use Photoshop Elements for the heavier lifting … Still, Photology has its place in the toolbox.

    So click here to download the software.

  • Photology – A New Way To Find What You’re Looking For

    Overwhelmed by too many photos?  Too busy to sort and tag them?  Try this.

    Photology helps you navigate the flood of digital photos on your computer by finding photos using simple and intuitive filters like faces, sky, color, location, and time of day … automatically.

    081226 Photology Picture Finder

    Can't find the photo of you in that pink silk jacket from the 4th of July party on the beach a few years ago? No problem, even with seemingly endless folders of random photos.  You know the expression, "finding a needle in a haystack," right? Thanks to Photology, haystacks of photos will get a lot smaller, making it much easier to find the "needle" you're looking for – even if that needle is an a pink jacket.

    How do you do it?  Well, like this.

    First stop questioning why you own a pink silk jacket.  Then start remembering what you can.  It was a few years ago (probably 2006).  The photo was of faces.  It was outside.  You were wearing pink.  And It was sunset. 

    Photology Search Made Easay

    You can also combine, mix, and match any or all of these tidbits from your memory to find your photo.  It is fast, fun, and very easy to use.

    Try it yourself with this online demo.  After the demo launches, try the filter options on the left.

    I paid this software – and it was worth it.  Now it is free; an even better value proposition.  I'm still going to use Photoshop Elements for the heavier lifting … Still, Photology has its place in the toolbox.

    So click here to download the software.

  • Happy Holiday Season Wishes

    I put together a short photo album and holiday card.  I hope you'll click this to watch.

    Click to play 2008 Getson Photo Album
    Create your own photobook - Powered by Smilebox
    Make a Smilebox photobook

    Best wishes for a happy holiday season and a terrific 2009.

  • Happy Holiday Season Wishes

    I put together a short photo album and holiday card.  I hope you'll click this to watch.

    Click to play 2008 Getson Photo Album
    Create your own photobook - Powered by Smilebox
    Make a Smilebox photobook

    Best wishes for a happy holiday season and a terrific 2009.

  • “Stand By Me” Music Video from the Playing for Change: Peace Through Music Project

    I saw this and thought it was worth sharing.  It is a video of different musicians, around the globe, combining their talents to create a worthwhile version of of the classic "Stand By Me". 

    Here is the direct link to the video.

    "Playing for Change: Peace Through Music" isn't really a documentary as much as a global concert film, recorded on the streets of New Orleans, Barcelona, South Africa, Tibet and elsewhere.  The filmmakers (Mark Johnson and Jonathan Walls) traveled across the globe, finding musicians to record versions of "Stand By Me" and Bob Marley's "One World" by themselves, and without any of the individual musicians ever having met each other. The finished project combines these performances to create an a "music video" of these artists playing together on these
    inspirational songs, as well as playing their own music.

    The purpose of the project is to help impoverished people in the areas visited, and to show how music brings people together regardless of their cultural differences.  Find out more at Playing For Change.

  • “Stand By Me” Music Video from the Playing for Change: Peace Through Music Project

    I saw this and thought it was worth sharing.  It is a video of different musicians, around the globe, combining their talents to create a worthwhile version of of the classic "Stand By Me". 

    Here is the direct link to the video.

    "Playing for Change: Peace Through Music" isn't really a documentary as much as a global concert film, recorded on the streets of New Orleans, Barcelona, South Africa, Tibet and elsewhere.  The filmmakers (Mark Johnson and Jonathan Walls) traveled across the globe, finding musicians to record versions of "Stand By Me" and Bob Marley's "One World" by themselves, and without any of the individual musicians ever having met each other. The finished project combines these performances to create an a "music video" of these artists playing together on these
    inspirational songs, as well as playing their own music.

    The purpose of the project is to help impoverished people in the areas visited, and to show how music brings people together regardless of their cultural differences.  Find out more at Playing For Change.

  • Another Type of Image Toy – Deep Zoom

    The new Deep Zoom technology in Microsoft's Silverlight is pretty cool.  The smooth in-place zooming and panning that Deep Zoom allows is a true advancement and raises the bar on image viewing. High resolution images need to be prepared for use with Deep Zoom to control the zooming experience.

    Here is an example.

    Also, here are three links worth exploring about Deep Zoom:

    • This is a Deep Zoom site of Hard Rock Café Memorabilia (Hard Rock)
    • This is a Barack Obama supporter site using Deep Zoom (Obama)
    • And finally, here is a demo of a web site designed for Deep Zoom (Vertigo)

    If you want a little more background on this, here is a post about why this technology is new and different.

  • Another Type of Image Toy – Deep Zoom

    The new Deep Zoom technology in Microsoft's Silverlight is pretty cool.  The smooth in-place zooming and panning that Deep Zoom allows is a true advancement and raises the bar on image viewing. High resolution images need to be prepared for use with Deep Zoom to control the zooming experience.

    Here is an example.

    Also, here are three links worth exploring about Deep Zoom:

    • This is a Deep Zoom site of Hard Rock Café Memorabilia (Hard Rock)
    • This is a Barack Obama supporter site using Deep Zoom (Obama)
    • And finally, here is a demo of a web site designed for Deep Zoom (Vertigo)

    If you want a little more background on this, here is a post about why this technology is new and different.

  • New Imaging Tools Will Change How You Access Information

    Photosynth is a new technology from Microsoft
    It is software that could transform the way we look at digital images.
    Using still photos (and more), Photosynth builds a breathtaking new
    form of composite image, and lets us navigate them.  This service turns multiple photos of a scene or site — say, an art gallery or a building — into a 3-D scene you can virtually "walk" through on the Web.

    080829 Photosynth of Venice Canals 600p

    Ten-years ago I saw something like this; it was the interface to a game called Myst.  It was ground-breaking at the time.

    In the early phase of adoption for Photosynth, I expect to see things like the 3-D rendering of the Canals in Venice.  It is an easily accessible way to explore the concept.  Soon, however, this could evolve into a new way to hyper-link a wide range of data, meta-data, and business information.

    To get a better idea of what this can do, watch this video from the Ted Conference introducing Photosynth.

    Think about how much the web has already changed how you do research?  Also, because it is so easy to do now, think how much more research you do.  For example, I'm amazed at how often I search Google or Wikipedia. Similarly, I use sites like Digg, Technorati, Regator, and various blogs to find relevant information – even if I didn't know I was looking for it.

    Photosynth is different, and in some ways a step beyond, those research tools.  It is graphics-centric instead of text-centric.  And I can imagine a new type of front-end (a new framework) for accessing information stored virtually anywhere.  Consequently, I expect to see a lot more of this, and things like it.

    Click here to explore some interesting Synths.  You can make your own, too.  For example, here is a link to a Photosynth of, my son, Ben's dorm room at Duke.  It took him about a half-hour to make it.

    Note: you can use arrows on the screen to navigate a Photosynth image; and the "Space Bar" is helpful, too, because it jumps to the next cluster of 3-D images.

  • New Imaging Tools Will Change How You Access Information

    Photosynth is a new technology from Microsoft
    It is software that could transform the way we look at digital images.
    Using still photos (and more), Photosynth builds a breathtaking new
    form of composite image, and lets us navigate them.  This service turns multiple photos of a scene or site — say, an art gallery or a building — into a 3-D scene you can virtually "walk" through on the Web.

    080829 Photosynth of Venice Canals 600p

    Ten-years ago I saw something like this; it was the interface to a game called Myst.  It was ground-breaking at the time.

    In the early phase of adoption for Photosynth, I expect to see things like the 3-D rendering of the Canals in Venice.  It is an easily accessible way to explore the concept.  Soon, however, this could evolve into a new way to hyper-link a wide range of data, meta-data, and business information.

    To get a better idea of what this can do, watch this video from the Ted Conference introducing Photosynth.

    Think about how much the web has already changed how you do research?  Also, because it is so easy to do now, think how much more research you do.  For example, I'm amazed at how often I search Google or Wikipedia. Similarly, I use sites like Digg, Technorati, Regator, and various blogs to find relevant information – even if I didn't know I was looking for it.

    Photosynth is different, and in some ways a step beyond, those research tools.  It is graphics-centric instead of text-centric.  And I can imagine a new type of front-end (a new framework) for accessing information stored virtually anywhere.  Consequently, I expect to see a lot more of this, and things like it.

    Click here to explore some interesting Synths.  You can make your own, too.  For example, here is a link to a Photosynth of, my son, Ben's dorm room at Duke.  It took him about a half-hour to make it.

    Note: you can use arrows on the screen to navigate a Photosynth image; and the "Space Bar" is helpful, too, because it jumps to the next cluster of 3-D images.