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January 26, 2006

I Look 42% Like Bill Gates

You all know I'm a serious PhotoShop fanatic, so there will no doubt be some skepticism when I tell you that this is an unretouched image. I swear! These are the results I got when I ran a picture of myself through this fun face recognition software. (Free registration required.) Bill gates was one of the first matches. I changed the crop a bit and got a match with Linux creator and personal hero of mine, Linus Torvalds!

So tell me, what does it all mean?

Posted by thedude at 5:23 PM | Comments (3)

January 22, 2006

Happy Birthday, Dave!

Kelly and thedude were honored to be among the invitees to Dave's birthday party last night. Sonja prepared a delicious meal and a really wonderful cake with Scharffen Berger chocolate. YUM! Thedude shot countless pictures of his new pal Nathan. Much consumption ensued.

As the evening progressed, the images became more and more - shall we say - experimental.

Posted by thedude at 11:23 AM | Comments (1)

January 18, 2006

Hey - They Stole My Image!

My good friends Jack and Tres learned through a friend that their image was being used prominently on a web site for a Santa Barbara spa. The trouble is, neither they nor I ever gave the webmaster permission to use the image from Tres and Jack's wedding. The legal section of the site even proclaims that they own the image! "....All information contained within this website is protected by this copyright. This includes all photographs, copy, design, and all other aspects of the site."

Now, none of us is too concerned about it. If they had requested permission to use the image, we would have agreed - so long as they gave us a few free passes at the spa. That seems fair, don't you think?

Posted by thedude at 9:22 AM | Comments (3)

January 17, 2006

Fabulous Free Photo Album Tools

This weekend while searching for an easy-to-use photo blogging tool, I came across a couple of very cool tools. Both make it easy to build very slick photo album pages for the web with a few clicks.

The first is Porta. This totally cool Windows application allows you to build pages like this easily. It makes good use of the the excellent SimpleViewer plugin from Airtight Interactive - an awesome web site, by the way.

The second - also from Airtight Interactive - is PostCardViewer, which is used to create cool photo pages like this. Both of these tools are very easy to use, and I'll happily host your photo blog. You have no excuse!

Posted by thedude at 8:13 AM | Comments (2)

January 13, 2006

Sushi, Scharffen Berger and Soizic

What a day! I don't think we've had a day like this since the last time Jim and Wendy visited. We started with lunch at Tachibana - the best sushi bar in the east bay. From there, we toured the fragrant Scharffen Berger chocolate factory and sampled numerous luscious super-dark chocolates. Later that evening, we dined at our favorite restaurant - Soizic. A food extravaganza! Yum!

Posted by thedude at 11:01 PM | Comments (2)

January 8, 2006

James Arrives

I can count on at least one visit a year from my good friend James. Welcome, dude. If tonight's indicative of what's to come, this visit will be a good one!

Posted by thedude at 5:53 PM | Comments (0)

Kelly's Cool Christmas Ornaments

Kelly took the tree down yesterday. These little guys are a bit odd, but awfully cute. I'll miss them.

Posted by thedude at 8:38 AM | Comments (1)

January 7, 2006

Post New Year's Party with the A-Team

What kind of a party can this group of party pros pull together with one day's notice?

A most excellent one!

Thanks so much for coming, Tres, Jack, Dave, Leslie, Steve, Terra, Linda, Larry, Eric, John, Andrew, Christina, Ben, Vince, Scott, Justyna, Itzik, and Ellen.

Happy New Year with love from thedude and Kellster.

Posted by thedude at 10:51 AM | Comments (0)

January 6, 2006

New Years Eve Panoramas

Thanks, Grant for sending these gorgeous panos.

Posted by thedude at 8:22 AM | Comments (0)

January 5, 2006

More Fun from Jibjab

In case you're wondering, I have not forgotten my blogging duties. It's been a long time since I took some real down time, so Kelly and I decided to finish 2005 quietly. We did not attend any big parties or take any trips ('cept for Fresno.) I also took a little time to do some chores I've been wanting to do for a long time, like replace the funky old carpet on our loft platform.

I'll get back to some serious blogging soon. My Friends Jim Rowe and Bruce Briscoe are coming to town soon, and in February we'll be visiting the Philippines with our dear friends Grant and Sandy. Stay tuned!

Posted by thedude at 3:20 PM | Comments (0)