thedude.com

Hovercards are Cool

thedude — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 23:42:29 +0000

I know I’ve metioned Gravatars before and told you how cool they are. Having your own Globally Recognized Avatar is very cool. It puts a face to the commenter on numerous blogs and other social media sites. Avatars can be associated with e-mail addresses, so you can have a nice G-rated professional-looking shot for comments on your company wiki and a different image to adorn comments you leave on thedude.com.

Now the folks at gravatar.com have made Gravatars even cooler. When used with a plugin that enables Hovercards, you can get to know more about the commenter by simply hovering over their avatar. If your gravatar.com profile includes links, and a few images, they appear here. Check out this entry’s comment section to see it in action!

By the way, in case you never noticed, hovering over any of the images on this site often reveals a little extra detail about the shot. :)

James Was Here

thedude — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 04:01:50 +0000

OK – I’ve been feeling kinda bad. My pal Jim visited for a week, and, despite great conversation, great weather and meals at places like Haven, Sea Salt and of course Chop Bar, I took a grand total of one photograph. With a cheap-ass point-and-click. I guess it could have been worse – I could have used a cell phone. There’s no excuse for this.

I was stumped at what to do, and Jim solved the dilemma by posting a really amazing shot of a few of the more than 50 orchids he has blossoming in his kitchen right now. In Madison Wisconsin. In January. I find this amazing. There is absolutely zero chance of me ever being capable of creating anything even remotely like this. I’m in awe.

It was great to hang with you, Dude. Always enlightening in so many ways.

Fifteen Minutes of FLAME!

thedude — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 19:34:32 +0000

OK, here it is, more than twenty years after the devastating Oakland Hills Fire, and we’re still talking about it. Well, at least I’m still talking about it. This time I’m sharing my experience with the crew from yet another reality show — Deadliest Planet. Watch out! Here comes another urban fire video!

It’s not hard to recall the events of that day, but just before the interview, we visited the fire zone to shoot some B-roll, and this had the unexpected effect of heightening my memories of the experience and probably made for a much better interview. We’ll have to see how the editors piece my sound bites together. I just hope it’s not totally embarrassing.

Stay tuned to thedude.com for show times and dates!

Gualala 2012

thedude — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 03:16:18 +0000

We took Kelly’s parents along this time. We couldn’t have hoped for better weather in mid-January. No Internet for almost four days. What a wonderful trip! Loved it!

Impossible Photo Shoot

thedude — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 14:10:05 +0000

Occasionally marketing asks for things that are (nearly) impossible to shoot. Like when they asked me to photograph a stack of sixty three 96-well microtiter plates on a white background.

I don’t have a studio at work, but luckily, I do have one inside my computer. Thank you Cinema4D!

This Little Chip Will Change the World

thedude — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 18:14:18 +0000

View the announcement here. Pretty exciting stuff!

My Office Wallpaper

thedude — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 03:49:28 +0000

Sized to fit my 30-incher.

Kelly says it’s too shiny. I say it’s not shiny enough!

Exploring Hyperrealism

thedude — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 18:06:28 +0000

I am positively thrilled to be able to do this sort of thing at work.

Buglady Logo

thedude — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 01:45:23 +0000

The original 2D artwork was created by Andrew. I merely “pulled up a Z” and rendered it in Cinema4D.

Favorite Holiday E-Card

thedude — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 17:05:58 +0000

Sung by Clyde McPhatter and the Drifters (1954). Bill Pinkney sings the bass lead, Clyde McPhatter sings the falsetto. Cartoon by Joshua Held (2002)