Month: August 2004

To Pif or not to Pif

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Pif file contains W32.Netsky.D@mm

Over the last few weeks I have received dozens of “.pif” files via email. They are usually named “document.pif”, or “document_word.pif”, or “requested_file.pif”, or some other variation. The body of the email usually says something like “Please read the attached file” or “here is the document you requested”. They have come from several reputable domains. The files do contain a virus that Norton identifies as “W32.Netsky.D@mm”. Fortunately I am immune because I am on a Mac, but I can become a carrier for certain viruses… that sounds so dirty. There must be a new wave of attacks going on. I don’t ever remember getting so many things like this in such a short period of time.

If you’re on a PC, you do NOT want to open these attachments.

Adobe Illustrator CS: Revolve

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Adobe Illustrator: Revolve

Illustrator CS has a great little effect callled “revolve”. Good thing for me, because I needed to mock-up some products for one of my clients. I used the effect to create these bottles (above). The real graphics are hi-rez, and look pretty convincing. I didn’t know about the feature until I saw an article in MacWorld (Sept. 2004) this weekend. That was good timing. Adobe has a tutorial on how to use it on their site.

The Apple Table

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Apple Table

So you bought a Mac, got that iPod thing going, you’re even telling all your friends to ditch that old PC and join the rebellion. Why not show everyone how hardcore you are and make an Apple table to put all of your many Macs on?

HP Billboard: ‘Change Happens’

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HP Billboard: San Francisco

Outside our window there is a billboard by HP. It was originally black, with colored arrows going from left-to-right (straight lines), with the slogan “Change Happens”. Over the last several months they have gradually covered it with fake vines. I was assuming that they would at some point uncover the billboard to reveal a new sign. They did that last night. The billboard is now bright blue, with arrows going every-wich-way, with a new slogan “Change takes you places”. The picture on the left (above) is when the sign was covered with vines, I don’t have any of the original. It was a very cool idea, but the end result is a little dissapointing considering the legnth of time that the entire process took.

Portland Trip

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Portland, Oregon - Columbia River Gorge

I took another break from blogging because we were up in Portland, Oregon… visiting a good friend of mine. We had a lot of fun. We went to the Bridgeport Brewery, Blue Moon, The Zen Garden, The Columbia Gorge, Powell Bookstore, and saw Garden State again. It was a really great trip, I wish we would have had more time.

[ Photos ]

Tragedy in our building

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I’ve just learned that we’ve had a very unfortunate tragedy here at my building. Not us personally, but one of our new neighbors. Her dog fell to his death from her ninth floor balcony. I feel so bad for this woman. I’ve only met her and her dog once, but they both seemed really nice. She was talking about her dog and my dog being new friends. They only moved in about a week ago, and now her excitement about moving into the building will be forever replaced with the memory of her dogs death.

The woman was out, and she apparently left her patio door open. The dog must have gotten scared by a loud car horn… or something, and decided to go over the railing. I totally feel for this woman. I’m relatively new to our building too. My dog , Emmitt, has never been in an environment like this, he’s always had a yard and a doggy-door, so I’ve actually left our patio door open for him when I knew we were going to be out for a while… just incase he had to go the bathroom, I would have rather him go on the patio than in the house. We live on the seventh floor, so what happened to our neighbor could have happened to us. I had never thought Emmitt would go over the railing, it’s quite tall, but I’m sure this woman had thought the same thing. We won’t be leaving our door open anymore.

Our hearts go out to our neighbor…

Will Ferrell: Porn Actor

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Will Ferrell Apple Switch Spoof

Remember those wonderful Apple ‘Switch’ ads that ran back in 2002? I was cleaning up my drive and I came across this one. It was created by Apple, but not for display on TV. I’m pretty sure this was used at a Mac World Keynote. It’s Stars Will Ferrell.

[ Watch Video ] – 2MB QuickTime

Weekly DV

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Weekly DV

The other day I came across a site called Weekly DV. Here is the description from the site…

“WeeklyDV.com site dedicated and devoted to art, process, tools and culture of DV filmmaking. Offering resources and tools as well as showcasing the best in fast, simple, yet elegantly beautiful DV shorts.

If you have a few hours to spare, access to a DV camera and a computer and an idea, you can participate. WeeklyDV.com is open to everyone who is willing to try an idea out in short form. Stop thinking, start creating.

Jason Zada started WeeklyDV.com as an experiment in creativity. Using technology only as conduit for expression and freedom, creativity can flow out of project quickly and easily.

So please join in. Become part of a capsule and participate in a theme. Thanks for listening.”

I’ve only looked at a few projects, but it seems pretty cool. I’ll probably participate in a project or two when I get the time.

Before Sunset

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Before Sunset Movie

5 Stars

Last night we saw “Before Sunset” at the Parkway Theater. Before Sunset is the sequel to Before Sunrise (1995). It was really good. Although it wasn’t actually filmed in real-time, the movie does represent one hour and twenty minutes of time during a single day, the same amount of time as the movie’s length. It is essentially one conversation. I very much like how the conversation progresses during the movie, and I especially like the ending… which I won’t give away here. I don’t think it is crucial to see Before Sunrise prior to seeing Before Sunset, but it does help.

Before Sunset was directed by Richard Linklater, and stars Ethan Hawke & Julie Delpy.

If you’re looking for action, don’t see Before Sunset. But if you’re looking for a good story, character development, and dialogue, then Before Sunset is a movie for you.