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More Steampunk Pictures

As I said, when we were at Steampunk unLimited earlier this year we took a lot of photos, and this time the same two pictures are being modified using two different tools from Painter Essentials. While the results of these two processes look similar when you look at the images they created, the parts of the original pictures which were enhanced were quite different. I suspect it is going to take me a while to learn what kind of image requires which tool to bring it to its best advantage, especially considering what its best advantage is will change depending on what I want to use it for. Computer wallpaper, animation background, and 3D model textures each have different ways of presenting the results, for example, with the first a static screen image, the second being shadowed and moved by the characters in the foreground, and the third changing continuously with both the camera viewpoint and the orientation of the scene lighting.

Abney Park Train
Abney Park Train
Quiet Train Illustration
Quiet Train Illustration

The Rufus Cuff Prototype

To me, the Rufus Cuff looks like someone took an Android based smart phone, mounted it on a wristband, and rotated the buttons to a different edge so they worked for that positioning. Definitely easier to get at and use than those smartphones that strap onto your upper arm and monitor your heart rate and play you music while you jog along, but functionally the same critter. But it seems to have gotten a few folks all excited, so perhaps I missed something. Take a look at the videos and let me know what you think.

Room Temperature Quantum Computing

The first very simple Quantum Computer Calculation has been made using room temperature silicon rather than ultra-cold superconductors. This was done by a team lead by Andrew Dzurak of the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, and it could mean true Quantum Computing is almost here. If that is the case, the world is about to go through another paradigm shift just as intense as the personal computer revolution itself. You can read about it at the New Scientist Basic Quantum Computation article.

Something to Do: Movies

Two movies in different genres but with a link between the protagonists this week; Pan is the latest reiteration of the Peter Pan classic story, giving it a Prequel spin, showing how it got to the beginning of the event sequence we all know and love. Steve Jobs tells the tale of another who refused to grow up and give up his dreams, but instead dragged the entire world with him into the future his imagination created. If I only have time to see one of them this weekend I am going to have to flip a coin, because I really feel the need to see both. Of course, I may just go off the deep end, and opt for Yakuza Apocalypse instead, and enjoy watching a Tokyo Vampire Crime Lord go bats all over the Cityscape.