I still get a lot of people coming to this site searching the phrase, "I'm no Jon Stewart." Is that a phrase that gets googled a lot?
(In case you missed it, these three posts were my lame attempt at getting my Daily Show fix during the writers strike)
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
This is why your colors are gross
A friend of mine just got himself a fancy-pants new camera (and when I say fancy-pants, I really mean fancy-tuxedo-pants), and mentioned that Blogger had sucked the life out of his photos. That's always the joke right? You buy a nice camera, but then what goes on the net looks like it came from your Senior party disposable camera. I've been there too.
So, here's why it's important to make sure that photos you post to the web are assigned to the sRGB color space rather than the Adobe RGB color space that a fancy-tuxedo-pants camera might be set in (hint: because if you don't make the switch, all your colors will look washed out and gross). The reason why is more or less this: computers aren't the warm and feeling individuals that we are and instead of red-orange being red-orange it's a series of numbers (think 20,40,80 or 1,2,3). Now, you don't want numbers where there should be colors, so you must use some kind of table to decode them. Perhaps in the sRGB table 1,2,3 represents orange and in the Adobe RGB table it represents red-orange. The problem is that many browsers out there assume that all images are using the sRGB table, coloring your beautiful Adobe RGB tagged flower orange instead of it's original red-orange. Check out the examples below:
This first one was left in Adobe RGB. It's kind of washed out.
This photo was converted to sRGB. Notice the difference? It helps if you open these photos in separate tabs and switch between the two.
It turns out that some browsers (Firefox, Safari) can determine what color space is associated with the file, and assign the correct colors (in other words, they are "color managed"). If I were to give you the original JPEGs of these two shots, and you opened them in one of these browsers, they would look the same (Chrome, Opera and IE don't color manage and the photos would look different, like they do above). So, if you happen to be reading this post using Safari or Firefox and notice the difference you might be getting a little confused. Well, there's one more little point to discuss, and that is what Picasa does to your photos.
Since users of these two color managed browsers do notice the difference between the two photos above, I'm guessing that when you upload photos to Picasa (they host your Blogger photos, right?) it assumes that the photo has been tagged with the sRGB color space. So, regardless of your browser's ability to manage color spaces, Picasa has stepped in and outsmarted it by looking up the colors using the sRGB table and making your red-oranges orange. Boo. It would be nice if it left the photo as is and let the browser sort it out, but for whatever reason it doesn't. So, long story short, if you're going to post things to Blogger, make sure the photo is using sRGB before you upload it.
A little side not here - if you happen to own a Leica M8, the default color space should be sRGB, unless a previous owner has changed it. So if you happen to be taking photos in sRGB, and nothing else (like Photoshop) has reassigned the color space, I don't know what to tell you.
Oh, one more thing, if you shrink your photos down for the web, you might want to fiddle around with the Unsharp Mask, since you might have lost some of the sharpness. YMMV.
So, here's why it's important to make sure that photos you post to the web are assigned to the sRGB color space rather than the Adobe RGB color space that a fancy-tuxedo-pants camera might be set in (hint: because if you don't make the switch, all your colors will look washed out and gross). The reason why is more or less this: computers aren't the warm and feeling individuals that we are and instead of red-orange being red-orange it's a series of numbers (think 20,40,80 or 1,2,3). Now, you don't want numbers where there should be colors, so you must use some kind of table to decode them. Perhaps in the sRGB table 1,2,3 represents orange and in the Adobe RGB table it represents red-orange. The problem is that many browsers out there assume that all images are using the sRGB table, coloring your beautiful Adobe RGB tagged flower orange instead of it's original red-orange. Check out the examples below:
This first one was left in Adobe RGB. It's kind of washed out.
This photo was converted to sRGB. Notice the difference? It helps if you open these photos in separate tabs and switch between the two.It turns out that some browsers (Firefox, Safari) can determine what color space is associated with the file, and assign the correct colors (in other words, they are "color managed"). If I were to give you the original JPEGs of these two shots, and you opened them in one of these browsers, they would look the same (Chrome, Opera and IE don't color manage and the photos would look different, like they do above). So, if you happen to be reading this post using Safari or Firefox and notice the difference you might be getting a little confused. Well, there's one more little point to discuss, and that is what Picasa does to your photos.
Since users of these two color managed browsers do notice the difference between the two photos above, I'm guessing that when you upload photos to Picasa (they host your Blogger photos, right?) it assumes that the photo has been tagged with the sRGB color space. So, regardless of your browser's ability to manage color spaces, Picasa has stepped in and outsmarted it by looking up the colors using the sRGB table and making your red-oranges orange. Boo. It would be nice if it left the photo as is and let the browser sort it out, but for whatever reason it doesn't. So, long story short, if you're going to post things to Blogger, make sure the photo is using sRGB before you upload it.
A little side not here - if you happen to own a Leica M8, the default color space should be sRGB, unless a previous owner has changed it. So if you happen to be taking photos in sRGB, and nothing else (like Photoshop) has reassigned the color space, I don't know what to tell you.
Oh, one more thing, if you shrink your photos down for the web, you might want to fiddle around with the Unsharp Mask, since you might have lost some of the sharpness. YMMV.
Monday, July 27, 2009
(500) Days of Clarification
I really liked this movie, though I'm not sure that came through in my last post. There were just a lot of moments where I felt the guy's pain. And as Briggie pointed out, there is this one part that is so amazingly awesome that I'm hoping it happens to me some day.
Also, this was the 2nd movie in a week that contained Ingmar Bergman references that I knew, despite never having seen an Ingmar Bergman film (the other being Love and Death). Perhaps I should correct this.
Also, this was the 2nd movie in a week that contained Ingmar Bergman references that I knew, despite never having seen an Ingmar Bergman film (the other being Love and Death). Perhaps I should correct this.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
(500) Days of Possible Spoiler Alerts
First you make me want to fall in love. Then you cut my heart out with a Smiths CD and put the only kind of bandage on it that you could. At least you were honest about it though.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Justifiable Treason
Even though I was born and bred American League, I totally would have rooted for the NL. It's only softball, right?
Sunday, July 12, 2009
I got out of town
Sorry folks. No awesome stories from the 4th of July like last year. Instead, here's a bunch of pictures and at least one story from a recent weekend spent in Rhode Island. Even before the we got to RI, I knew this trip was going to be great, if for nothing else than the following bumper sticker:
I've been informed another member of Red Sox nation that this bumper sticker is indeed based on fact. It didn't take long for us to get settled in and start hitting around huge rubber balls with makeshift boat oars.
See, the reason why the boat oar was constructed was because we happened to be near the ocean. See?
It happened to be really misty the afternoon we got there, which resulted in at least one pair of souls deciding to disappear into it.
Back at the cottages, I encountered one of life's greatest treasures, the chip drawer. Needless to say, there was more than enough food for the weekend.
OK, a little bit more about that oar. Justin, in his infinite wisdom, decided that the best thing to encourage unity and engender friendship was for him to make a valiant attempt at rowing out to sea in a very small inflatable raft. But don't worry, safety was on his mind and he decided to wear water wings, just in case things got rough...
... which they did.
After a bit of a regroup and a quick inspection of all materials and persons, Justin was at it again.
This time things went a little smoother, and though he wasn't able to reach that boat in the distance like he'd planned, he did manage to ride out a wave.
John was amused.
However, Jenn and her brother were not and decided that kite flying was a better use of their time.
Turns out it's a pretty serious beach, right?
And serious beaches call for serious sandcastles.
Back at the cottages, Kristian chatted it up with Alisa
and then Ashley,
but only because someone fell asleep.
And then everyone fell asleep.
And then I fell asleep and had this really strange dream (you can tell it's a dream because it's all fuzzy).
The food, however, was very real.
Lots of games were played.
Jenna mugging for the camera while playing a game #1.
Alisa and Maria discussing something very important, most likely from the Us Weekly that was floating around.
Kristian explaining how to kill a wild Scandinavian bear.
Gabe explaining why older brothers are better than younger sisters.
Prom 2009 #1...
... and #2.
Jenna mugging for the camera while playing a game #2.
As the weekend was winding to a close, all the dudes decided to gather around the grill for one last moment of bonding. Oh, and Courtney too.
And two certain girls, who may or may not have been Alisa Joy Baker and Jennifer Noel Wheeler said farewell to RI with a game of Twister.
I've been informed another member of Red Sox nation that this bumper sticker is indeed based on fact. It didn't take long for us to get settled in and start hitting around huge rubber balls with makeshift boat oars.
See, the reason why the boat oar was constructed was because we happened to be near the ocean. See?
It happened to be really misty the afternoon we got there, which resulted in at least one pair of souls deciding to disappear into it.
Back at the cottages, I encountered one of life's greatest treasures, the chip drawer. Needless to say, there was more than enough food for the weekend.
OK, a little bit more about that oar. Justin, in his infinite wisdom, decided that the best thing to encourage unity and engender friendship was for him to make a valiant attempt at rowing out to sea in a very small inflatable raft. But don't worry, safety was on his mind and he decided to wear water wings, just in case things got rough...
... which they did.
After a bit of a regroup and a quick inspection of all materials and persons, Justin was at it again.
This time things went a little smoother, and though he wasn't able to reach that boat in the distance like he'd planned, he did manage to ride out a wave.
John was amused.
However, Jenn and her brother were not and decided that kite flying was a better use of their time.
Turns out it's a pretty serious beach, right?
And serious beaches call for serious sandcastles.
Back at the cottages, Kristian chatted it up with Alisa
and then Ashley,
but only because someone fell asleep.
And then everyone fell asleep.
And then I fell asleep and had this really strange dream (you can tell it's a dream because it's all fuzzy).
The food, however, was very real.
Lots of games were played.
Jenna mugging for the camera while playing a game #1.
Alisa and Maria discussing something very important, most likely from the Us Weekly that was floating around.
Kristian explaining how to kill a wild Scandinavian bear.
Gabe explaining why older brothers are better than younger sisters.
Prom 2009 #1...
... and #2.
Jenna mugging for the camera while playing a game #2.
As the weekend was winding to a close, all the dudes decided to gather around the grill for one last moment of bonding. Oh, and Courtney too.
And two certain girls, who may or may not have been Alisa Joy Baker and Jennifer Noel Wheeler said farewell to RI with a game of Twister.
Thursday, July 09, 2009
I've got the bug...
...and I really, really want to travel.
Last night I booked my usual August trip back to Seattle and something stirred inside of me. Last year at this time I was busily making arrangements to go on a few trips (maybe you heard about that) and I guess I've just got fond memories of those times. Anyway, after looking at how many frequent flyer miles I've got, I came to the conclusion that I can fly, roundtrip, to the following locations:
Last night I booked my usual August trip back to Seattle and something stirred inside of me. Last year at this time I was busily making arrangements to go on a few trips (maybe you heard about that) and I guess I've just got fond memories of those times. Anyway, after looking at how many frequent flyer miles I've got, I came to the conclusion that I can fly, roundtrip, to the following locations:
- Canada
- Mexico
- The Caribbean
- Hawaii
- Central America
- South America
- Europe
- Japan
- Asia Zone 1 (whatever that entails)
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