The iPad

Thanks for the responses on the last post guys. I have more following on from what you offered, but I couldn't let the Apple iPad announcement go unmarked.

A huge iPhone. Only without a camera or GPS.

For half the price, you can get a fully functioning laptop around the same size as this thing, with at least double the storage capacity. This iPad is, to go all internet about it, epic fail.

Astro Andy for a Monday

A little iPod Andy doodle for a Monday. He's not hurtling to his doom. Not oblivious to some hideous fate that awaits him. Not this time.

He's found a friend.

No catch. A little friend. That's nice, isn't it? Astro Andy deserves it after all this time. And it's Monday, so I thought we could do with a bit of good news.

Mr.Trombley postes in the comments of my last post that he's back blogging. He has interesting things to say so, if you've got a few minutes, check out his blog.

While I'm mentioning sites, have you checked out the Daily Grail for some interesting articles on things you probably don't know about but certainly should? No? Well check it out here.

Also, check out some zombies. If you like that sort of thing. I do. I like zombies. Why? I'm not quite sure. Any theories?

Anyone impressed with Apple's announcements last week? The iPod Nano seemed to get all the good new features while the rest sort of got nothing. And to do it on the same day as the big Beatles release and not to get them on to iTunes? Well, I guess people are better off getting them on CD but still, it just doesn't look good. And Apple know by now - image is everything. Still, I'd love a fancy MacBook.

I left my heart in Tokyo down by the river, don't you know? I didn't really. It's a song that's on right now. Oh yes... it's one of those days...

...one of those days.

Tools

I have just been trying out another drawing app on my iPod Touch. I have been using Brushes a lot and I find I'm only just getting the hang of it. I think if I were a painter, I'd get much more out of these because I'd have the know-how and experience to apply. As it is, I'm not a painter so I'm sort of just stumbling along.

But I was beginning to get somewhere with Brushes.

Now there's a new one - Layers.

Layers offers, obviously, layers. So what I do on one layer doesn't blend in with everything else. So, with this doodle, I could do a definite line over it all. I could do that in Brushes, but it would be a little messy and would require more advance planning. So Layers gives me more control to treat it like a drawing rather than a painting.

I'm more used to that.

But already I'm wondering if that extra tool becomes a crutch. The more tools I have, the less I have to work at it and I think somehow that shows in the results. I see that with animators. It's why I have rejected programmes like Toonboom. The more tools an animator gets, the greater the distance between them and the final result. The less actual control they have.

I wonder if I should buy some paints and try the real thing. Rid myself of the undo button...

It's a meme!

The image doesn't relate to the post. It's just a little iPod pic I did and thought I may as well post it.

I was tagged by the most excellent Brian Sibley for this alphabet meme. Here goes!

A – Age: This should be O as in old. Mid-thirties.

B – Bed Size: I have no idea. Could be bigger? I'm so out of touch with bed sizes. I am unknown in bed size circles.

C – Chore you hate: I think simply coming under the heading of 'chore' means it's something I hate.

D – Dog’s name: I haven't got a dog right now but, if I had, I'd call him Jeremy Beagle. He'd be a beagle obviously.

E – Essential start your day item: Coffee. Must have coffee.

F – Favorite colour: Hmmm... not sure. Orange? I like orange. It's bright.

G – Gold or Silver: Silver. To me, they're just metals. An inch away from rock. I don't really get the attraction. Or the value. But silver just looks a little better than gold in my opinion.

H – Height: 5′10″

I – Instruments you play(ed): I'm going to say synthesiser but I'm really stretching it here. I don't so much play it as I very slowly select notes one after another. I'm rubbish at it but I have a little MicroKorg and love it. I used to have a Stylophone. Retro excellence. Of course, when I had it, it wasn't retro. It was totally now.

J – Job title: Animator. Animation director. Writer. Something. I don't know. Creative something or other.

K – Kid(s): Yep. Sleep? Not a bit.

L – Living arrangements: A tiny little house. It's like a miniature. I think it's made by Fisher Price. I need somewhere bigger to live. And money to pay for it.

M – Mom’s name: Mum

N – Nicknames: Nicknames sort of require friends to give them to you. If I were to assign my own nickname, it would be 'Ripper'. Or 'Stud'. 'Studley Moore'. Something along those lines.

O – Overnight hospital stay other than birth: Nose job. Not cosmetic - a deviated septum. I always was considered a bit of a deviant so it was nice to find out what bit it was. But what they didn't tell me (or I didn't listen) was that the op is not permanent. Basically it all collapses back after a while. Which it did. I can't be bothered going through it again because it was rather unpleasant. Blood seeped constantly down into my stomach where it went all congealed and black and then I vomited it all over the walls like a Nightmare on Elm Street movie. Nice, eh?

P – Pet Peeve: Lateness. I hate people being late. It bugs the living crap out of me. I hate waiting. I see waiting as my short life trickling away and for someone to make me wait should be a criminal offense. It is theft of life.

Q – Quote from a movie: "Well hello, Mr.Fancypants!"

R – Right or left handed: Right.

S – Sports: No thanks.

T – Time you wake up: 6.40am.

U- Underwear: Boxers.

V – Vegetable you dislike: Pretty much everything except baked beans and sweetcorn.

W – Ways you run late: I don't run late. But I sometimes have to wait for people who do. Should be criminal, I tell you.

X – X-rays you’ve had: A lot. I can't really remember. I used to get panic attacks that were associated with depression long before I was diagnosed. I thought I was dying and had just about every test in the book run, including many x-rays.

Y – Yummy food you make: Beans on toast. It's about the only food I can make but that's okay. I love it!

Z – Zoo favorite: Ring-tailed lemurs. And tigers. Rarrrgh!

So there you go. A lot of answers to a whole alphabet of questions. So I guess I better tag someone else then so these guys are next: Andy, Susan and Justin (of his excellent Juz, Jax & El blog which I have only just discovered).

And anyone else who would like to have a go.

It's waiting to be found

Something's going to happen. Something wonderful.

Or at least I hope so.

Another iPod pic for the weekend. Well, almost the weekend. It's Friday and, now that I've done this little pic, no sense in hoarding it all for myself until tomorrow. I love the Brushes App. I have found there is a viewer that can export from it at high resolutions but it only works on a Mac so far. Damn my PC. Damn it all to hell.

Having said that, every time I do a picture I like, I see others. Others like these. And they make me appreciate just how rubbish I really am. But, still, it's fun.

Astro Andy finds an obelisk, just like 2001. And, to a lesser extent, 2010. I never really knew what the hell was going on at the end of 2001. It never really mattered. It's like Close Encounters Of The Third Kind for me. What actually happens after encoutering that obelisk, or going off in that spaceship, isn't what's important.

What's important is simply that there is something more than this.

Something more than our little lives.

Sometimes I wish I was born hundreds of years ago, when there was much of the world undiscovered. Or hundreds of years into the future, when hopefully we'll be getting off our asses and exploring space. To live in a time of real exploration would be wonderful.

I guess people are still finding new fish. That's cool. You know, if you're into fish. Speaking of which, I'd love to see a Whale Shark.

I'm babbling now. It has been a very busy week but, in parts, actually quite a rewarding week. I'm so, so tired though. I need a 16 hour sleep. I may get that some day. When I retire and the kids are all grown up.

That will be a good day.

Finger painting for the weekend

A little iPod finger painting pic for the weekend.



Some years ago, I decided I wanted to do a road trip. I'd get a large bike, go somewhere like Arizona and just ride wherever the wind took me. Total freedom.


I'd drink in biker bars, sleep in dirty motels and generally slum it.

I am not a man equipped for slumming it, believe me. But something just called to me. This was something I had to do. And I had to do it right then. No waiting. It had to be then.


Of course, that meant getting a license to ride a motorbike.

I got on a motorbike for the first time on a Monday. That Thursday, I failed my test.

That was the end of my road trip.

Now, years later, with a wife and children, having responsibilities that would make it less than convenient to die in a knife fight somewhere near the Mexican border, it's just another item on a long list of things I never did.


But maybe someday.

Maybe, years from now, when (if) I'm actually capable of growing enough facial hair to put together some sort of half-decent biker's beard, maybe I'll take that road trip.

Just ride off into the sunset.

Weekend iPod Pic Extravaganza!

That image was just one of a whole bunch of doodles I did this week with the Brushes App on my iPod Touch. I haven't yet spent a massive amount of time on one but, in a way, I think that's what I'm enjoying about it. It's sort of having a little sketchpad with me, but one with built-in crayons.

I did a few Astro Andys too and, as it's the weekend and I like to post my Andy at the weekend (yes, I know it's a rare occurrance), here are some of them.

This following one is rather dull. Sort of old and faded.

Here's another.

But this last Andy one, well, it's simple but it's the one where I felt I was beginning to get the hang of this finger painting malarky. Just a little.


So they're the Andy pics. At least, the ones I'm willing to post.

But I'll leave you with one very quick doodle I did while watching a movie. Points will be awarded for correctly guessing the movie.

Have a good weekend all!

Sun and iPods

I managed to get sunburn in about the same time it took me to draw this pic on my iPod Touch. Which wasn't long.

I may make the iPod my medium of choice. There are very few artistic methods you can employ as easily doing twosies. Certainly I have found that interpretive dance on the toilet is a bad idea.

Some of you may have heard that the latest cover for the New Yorker was done on an iPhone. Wasn't resolution an issue for print or is there a way of drastically improving resolution of the Brushes App? An interesting move in terms of iPhone art though. As you can see from my little doodle, I haven't quite got the hang of finger painting.

Though it does sort of bring my artistic life full circle.

Hot days here. Hot nights too. And I was thinking, wow, it's warm for this time of year. But, as it happens, this time of year is the summer. How did we get to the summer so quickly? How did that happen? Turn your back for a minute and, next thing you know, it's the bloody summer.

I watched that Britain's Got Talent final. Most of them were actually really good. Stavros Flatley were robbed.

Apple's dark secret

Anyone update their iTunes to 7.7 or perhaps an iPod Touch to 2.0? I did.

Had I tied dynamite to my iPod, lit the fuse and took several steps back, looking away from the blast, I would be more likely to have a functioning iPod at this time. It certainly would have been more fun.

iTunes 7.7 breaks Windows Vista. Or Windows Vista breaks iTunes 7.7. I don't really care which breaks which. I couldn't give a shit. But they're broken. Some Apple Media Support Device is buried in there with one goal - to destroy your life and break your spirit. Don't trust its lies. It cannot be changed, moved, uninstalled or installed over. No, even going in and trying to delete the files manually, it says I need permission to delete them.


Permission. To delete shit off my computer. Really?! Permission?! Whose bloody permission to I need? Because I called my mother and she says it's fine by her so let me get rid of these goddam files off my computer. She's cool with it. No problem. Who else do I need to check with? My doctor? A respected member of the community?

So that knocked one computer out of my iPodding equation. But, hey, all is not lost. I use the 'Manually manage music and videos' option that allows me to bring my iPod between my two home computers and my computer at work. And my work machine is XP so no problem, eh?

Well not quite. You see, now, after the 2.0 update (which completely wipes your iPod by the way and does so with a smile on its face) seems to render that 'manually manage' button completely worthless. Oh, sure, you can still check that box if it makes you feel better but it means jack shit now. If I try using your iPod Touch on another compuuter, it will wipe it. Each and every time.

What a complete and utter piece of crap.

The dynamite would have been much more fun. Apple, Mr. iTunes and that small child on his Etch-A-Sketch can all go and shite. I hate you all. Not just mild dislike. Full-on hate. Like, I would spit in your soup and laugh while you ate it. Or drank it. Do you eat or drink soup? Because it's really food but it's liquid. I don't know. Doesn't really matter - I'd spit in it and watch you ingest it, you pack of gobshites.

Things they don't tell you in the manual

Thing is, they don't even give you a manual with iPods any more. They've quietly been removing everything from the box each time they bring one out. In two more revisions time, it will just be a box. The one after that, nothing.

But if they did give you a manual, it should have this warning on it. Big smears. Not pretty.

I wonder if the iPod Touch has the same materials issues as the iPhone. I wasn't all that happy with that as you can see by clicking the iPhone tab below so I guess that might make me a hypocrite having an iPod Touch. Or maybe I'm just complex. Yeah, I'll go with that.

The Touch is great for watching old Yogi Bear cartoons and Harvey Birdman Attorney At Law.

Seems that lawsuit is coming quicker than I thought

As well as the usual cancer-causing and sterilising waves from mobile phones, Apple's iPhone has the added bonus of containing hazardous compounds. Phthalates in the headphone cord are known to interfere with sexual development. Brominated compounds make up 10% of the iPhone. They create dioxin when burned, which causes cancer (there is no known 'safe dose' of dioxin) as well as severe reproductive and developmental problems.

In short, it's a dangerous bastard and when you feckers throw it away, you're going to be contributing to the downfall of the human race. An over-reaction? Not in the slightest. You only have to look at rising cancer rates across all age groups (especially the young) and rising fertility problems.

That's all aside from the usual mobile phone emission problems.

The Greenpeace report can be found here and you should Google all of the materials they found. Lawsuits are already beginning. And rightly so. You should know about this. You should care. Every single one of you.