Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Photography Tutorial

Digital photography in a nutshell.
(This is an on going project, and may change from time to time)
To get start, one needs to identify the purpose of photography. What to take, how and when. The budget, the desired dimensions and weight of the gears.
The important factors of great photographs are: composition, framing, leading lines, angles. For composition, headroom (head room, or lead room, looking room especially for portrait) is a similar concept.
First of all, the rule of thirds, the basic of composition, and dated back to 1797 by John Thomas Smith. Wikipedia gives a very good explanation as follows.
The rule of thirds is a compositional rule of thumb in visual arts such as painting, photography and design. The rule states that an image should be imagined as divided into nine equal parts by two equally-spaced horizontal lines and two equally-spaced vertical lines, and that important compositional elements should be placed along these lines or their intersections. Proponents of the technique claim that aligning a subject with these points creates more tension, energy and interest in the composition than simply centering the subject would.
There are many great collections of tips on composition.
10 Top Photography Composition on PHOTOGRAPHYMAD is a good start. It contains examples of pictures with all kinds of compositions.
5 Elements of Composition in Photography, by Darren Rowse, gives good descriptions and examples of Pattern, Symmetry, Texture, Depth of Field and Lines.
Second Picture provides tips on composition from many different point of views. The main tops themselves sound attractive to photography lovers: Unusual View Angle, Things to Avoid in a Photograph, Frames in Photos, Give Space to Subjects of the Photo, Meaning of Depth of Field, Photograph Close, Simple Composition, Rule of Thirds.
Kodak has a more systematic page on all the topics of composition. Examples of simplicity, balance, merger (background, border, near) are especially very inspiring.
naturephotographers presents tips on composition in landscape photographs.

Next, the elements of an Image
The essential attributes of an image is said to be: shape, tone, form, pattern, and texture.
To capture/express the shape of an subject, camera angle, good contrast (against the background) and right exposure (with histogram concentrating on the left hand side). Lighting is not extremely important in this case.
The mid-tones (with great details) are the most important for providing a subject with three-dimensional form.
Pattern is the repetition of a shape, form or texture. Long telephoto lens setting and distant view point can help to enhance patterns.

Here are some tips on sharing your master pieces, or whatever you like, by online services.
<a href="http://www.toptenreviews.com">toptenreviews</a> gives a excellent review of online photo services. Although most of them are commercial services, some of them allow free usages for limited storage space. For example, picasaweb and flickr.

For more information, please refer to the following collection of links.
  • photographytips.com, as its domain name suggests, is where one can find many useful techniques and tricks to improve ones photography.
  • 50 Incredible Photography Techniques and Tutorials is a collection of many links, on many interesting topics of photography. The main key words themselves will make any photography lover's mouth water: High Speed Photography, Tilt-Shift Photography, Black and White Photography, Motion Blur Photography, Infrared Photography, Night Photography, Smoke Art Photography, Macro Photography, HDR (High Dynamic Range), RAW Processing, Panoramic Photography.
  • 10 Top Photography Composition Rules is a nice summary of the basic composition rules with some simple examples.
  • PHOTOGRAPHY TIPS for beginner and beyond is also a nice site, with user friendly user interfaces and eye catching examples. The photography tips are especially educating and practical, covering many daily situations.
  • Photography composition articles by photoinf.com is a nice collection of online (free!) articles on photography composition.

Monday, April 25, 2011

Portable Adobe Photoshop CS3

Have not checked the status of copyright, but there seems to be a portable version of Adobe Photoshop CS3. It can be downloaded from many sites (e.g. on Rapidshire, Hotfile. But obviously due to copy right issues, they have been deleted) are some examples. The file size is about 60MB, and takes a while to startup. But the basic functions all seem to be there.

Thursday, April 21, 2011

osteoarthritis

 変形性股関節症(osteoarthritis of the hip)は変形性関節症(arthritis deformans)の一つで、「先天性股関節脱臼」、「先天性臼蓋形成不全」と老化によるものがあります。治療は保存(運動)治療法と手術治療法とあります。症状は、主に腰、お尻、太ももに痛みが表われてきます。放っておくと軟骨が破壊、周辺の筋肉が疲労、破損してきます。さらに変形性股関節症から椎間板ヘルニアを起こす危険もあると言われます。
 治療法の一つとしては、ヒアルロン酸ナトリウム(Sodium hyaluronate)を関節内に注入する方法があります。副作用としては、化膿性関節炎の発症が考えられるそうです。注射をした際に、関節内に細菌が入ることが原因です。ヒアルロン酸を注入後に、強い腫れや痛みを感じないか注意が必要です。また人によってアレルギー反応が起こり、じんましんや、顔、喉、唇などが腫れることもあるそうです。しかし、美容効果だけではなかったのは、このヒアルロン酸ナトリウムの強さです。
 注射を受ける時には、関節に炎症がないか、血栓があるか、循環に問題ないか、鳥や羽毛あるいは卵製品にアレルギーがあるかどうかをチェックする必要があります。
 また、注意事項としては、注射後の48時間以内に、ジョギングや間接にインパクトを与えるような運動、あるいは連続1時間以上たつことなどを避けることです。

The 10 Most Prescribed Drugs


アメリカで購入されている薬のトップテンは以下の通りです。括弧内は年間売上で、単位は米ドルです。

  • リピトール:高脂血症薬($7.2billion)
  • ネキシウム:プロトンポンプ阻害剤($6.3billion)
  • プラビックス(塩酸クロピドグレル):血液が固まるのを防ぐ
  • アドベアー:喘息治療薬



According to webmd.com, the 10 most-prescribed drugs in the U.S. are:
Hydrocodone (combined with acetaminophen) -- 131.2 million
Generic Zocor (simvastatin), a cholesterol-lowering statin drug -- 94.1 million
Lisinopril (brand names include Prinivil and Zestril), a blood pressure drug -- 87.4 million
Generic Synthroid (levothyroxine sodium), synthetic thyroid hormone -- 70.5 million
Generic Norvasc (amlodipine besylate), an angina/blood pressure drug -- 57.2 million
Generic Prilosec (omeprazole), an antacid drug -- 53.4 million (does not include over-the-counter sales)
Azithromycin (brand names include Z-Pak and Zithromax), an antibiotic -- 52.6 million
Amoxicillin (various brand names), an antibiotic -- 52.3 million
Generic Glucophage (metformin), a diabetes drug -- 48.3 million
Hydrochlorothiazide (various brand names), a water pill used to lower blood pressure -- 47.8 million
In comparison, the 10 best selling drugs are:
Lipitor, a cholesterol-lowering statin drug -- $7.2 billion
Nexium, an antacid drug -- $6.3 billion
Plavix, a blood thinner -- $6.1 billion
Advair Diskus, an asthma inhaler -- $4.7 billion
Abilify, an antipsychotic drug -- $4.6 billion
Seroquel, an antipsychotic drug -- $4.4 billion
Singulair, an oral asthma drug -- $4.1 billion
Crestor, a cholesterol-lowering statin drug -- $3.8 billion
Actos, a diabetes drug -- $3.5 billion
Epogen, an injectable anemia drug -- $3.3 billion

Rietveld

Rietveld is an open source source-code review system by Google. It is originally the Mondrian written by the Author of Pyton Guido Van Rossum. Rietveld runs on Googple App Engine.
The following resources are need to run Rietveld.
  1. Python 2.5
  2. Google App Engine for Python
  3. Django
  4. rietveld

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Nuclear and Solar Energy

GIZMODO published an article by Alexis Madrigal, entitled "Why America Doesn’t Have A Respectable Solar Industry".
By 2005 thirty-five million Chinese families were using solar hot water heaters, with solar commanding a 12 percent market share in the country. In 2007 China had nearly 70 percent of the world's 2.2 billion square feet of installed collector capacity. Chinese solar heater production outpaced Americans' by 160 times.
In comparison, energy is still a pure business in America. As a result, more profitable sources, including nuclear ones, other than solar still dominate the market. The fact above is never mentioned, obviously due to political reasons.

Bir Tawil

It is said to be the only other land not claimed by any countries, even Sudan and Egypt, which are the neighborhoods of this piece of land. The view from Google Map shows that it is of something like a "dead" color, not attractive in any sense. (location: 21°57′56″N 33°48′05″E)

view larger map

By the way, Bir Tawil is also what is called "8 More Strange Places on Planet Earth" by a matadornetwork post. They are: 1. The Southern Pole of Inaccessibility, 2. Derweze – the Door to Hell, 3. The Principality of Sealand, 4. Bouvet Island, 5. Bir Tawil, 6. The Zilov Gap, 7. Mount Thor, 8. Mir Mine.
Among them, the 3rd one, The Principality of Sealand is the most interesting one, being a country in itself, or having been operated as its own country, with its own domain (http://www.sealandgov.org/).

Last Supper was a day earlier?

The crucifixion, also known as the last supper, of Jesus Christ was on Wednesday, one day before the widely celebrated Maundy Thursday. This is claimed by a new research, by Professor Colin Humphreys, a scientist at the University of Cambridge.
Never realized that Cambridge has such a serious research or researcher conducting researches on this last supper.
Humphreys uses a combination of biblical, historical and astronomical research to try to pinpoint the precise nature and timing of Jesus's final meal with his disciples before his death.
Sounds like a chicken and egg situation from the very beginning. It looks more like a fantasy story than a scientific research. With due respect to all religions, can any religion be actually studied by "a combination of biblical, historical and astronomical research"? Does any religion like to be studied scientifically? Does any religion even belief in any science? If not, how can it be studied scientifically at all?

About "Coal is More Dangersous Than Nuclear"

Wall Street Journal published an article by HOLMAN W. JENKINS, JR., entitled "Coal Is More Dangerous Than Nuclear". Below is an interesting statement.
For 60 years, the hunt has been on for handfuls of “excess” cancers in populations subjected to unnatural doses of radiation. The findings have been more politically vexing than scientifically satisfying.
There should be substantial data, research results to support his statement. He continues with the fact of more plutonium and other metal mission from coal based power plant than a nuclear one.
This is no doubt a more convincing article than the desperate yet proofless outcry of Chris Busby about 200 thousand people dying from cancer around Fukushima area. Talking about this Chris Busby, found this site talking about his "ineptitude and conduct".
No matter whose theory is more acceptable, there are more hard figures on other dangers than this nuclear wastes, or any natural disasters including earth quake. Each year, at least thousands of people are dying from traffic accident, instantly on the site, and even more days later. About the same number of people are simply ending their lives each year, due to all sorts of (most human) factors. There are also a significant amount of people dying from over intake of alcohol, drugs. There are also many people dying from all kinds of crimes, killed by knives, guns or all sorts of deadly methods. Finally but lastly, there have been always wars of all sorts, started by all kind of excuses, in which, many people, especially civilians are being kill in the unit of thousands.
Nuclear is hot simply because it sounds more intimidating, more fascinating, and therefore more cashing rewarding to the media, which is constantly bored with lack of "breaking news".