![]() ![]() ![]() I will continue to refer to them in future lessons, so they won’t be too far.Puffy AmiYumi are a Japanese pop group who have achieved the status of a minor industry in their homeland, where their records have sold over fourteen million units, they've successfully marketed a dizzying variety of merchandise (from the traditional T-shirts and souvenir books to dolls, bow ties, and underwear) and starred in not one but two successful television shows. With that being said, I hope you all had a wonderful experience learning with Puffy. Puffy’s music is meant to be enjoyable, not a textbook on how to live our lives. Even though I endorse the latter interpretation, I believe the reader (and Puffy’s fans) should not overlook the themes of love, peace, happiness, and harmony with the world. I personally think Puffy is aiming for the latter perspective. It’s pointless to try and search for one’s self if one lacks the experience and context to view their self in relation to the world they live in. ![]() Experience all life has to offer and enjoy the limit of your freedom. Basically, forget about meditating and finding one’s true nature and just live life. The other perspective I am referring to is more counter-intuitive but more appropriate for Puffy’s general audience. The elucidation of the Ten Bulls explains the path to enlightenment and freedom in this perspective. Searching for one’s true self is pointless as one needs to transcend their conception of self. One perspective is the Zen / Chan view of Anatta, or selflessness. The singer states to stop searching for one’s self as it is pointless. The last topic I want to discuss is the singer’s last line of advice to the “you” that remains. This reinforces and emphasizes the point I made in previous posts about the value of musical artists who leave lasting impressions on their listeners through their music. While connected with the world, the singer will disappear however, the work and writing they leave behind will remain (especially if it was able to leave an impact on others). It is further important to know that the singer is not detached from the world, but is actively living and experiencing it. With this new found freedom, the singer is able to engage in activities that enrich the world, such as calligraphy and poetry. It is important to note that the singer is confident that they had attained this fruit, likely through observing and understanding their dreams. This is likely why they are saying “good-bye” and “farewell” to their loved ones as they will be journeying further on the path of enlightenment. It appears that singer has attained the fruit of a “ non-returner” in regards to the four stages of enlightenment of a Arhat. The singer loves the world, as well as their friends and family, but they strive for the cessation of their suffering. There is clear evidence that Samsara is taking a toll on the singer and they can no longer tolerate cyclic existence. In specific, they are striving to be liberated from Samsara and reach Nirvana. To return back to the analysis, it appears that the singer in the song is striving for freedom. It’s important to note that if the singer was able to express intense sadness through their tears, they are also like able to be very jovial, which can be expressed through their smile and laughter. After the summer, the singer recovers and again smiles and laughs and enjoys the fall twilight. It’s important to note that the imagery of sobbing is meant to express intense emotions as one does not sob unless they are very distressed. ![]() This can be a reference to the Japanese rainy season, which occurs between the beginning of June to mid July. The next line talks about the transition to summer, and the singer weeping. Waking up in the spring entails that the singer was sleeping over the winter and the warm sun and rain created the necessary conditions for their awakening - sort of like a flower that blossoms in the spring. From the very first line, the spiritual nature of the song is created as the singer has awoken (likely spiritually) and creates a backdrop for the rest of the song. In the beginning of the song, spring came and the singer awoke. The song starts with the classic Japanese theme of nature. ![]()
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![]() There are 565 patterns to choose from including blendables, breakups, Christmas, cityscapes and towns, clouds, fences and openings, fire and water, flags, flowers, foliage, holidays and symbols, moons, natural elements, religion, signage, sky and stars, spirals, spotlights and pinspots, stones and brick, structures and sets, themes, trees, vignettes and windows. GAM PATTERN LIBRARY | Normally used in front of lights during photography, these same exact patterns can now be applied digitally to the entire image or inside a selection. Realistic lighting and shadow is introduced using the entire pattern/ gobo library created by Light can be added to a scene where none existed before just as if you were adding light at the time of shooting. Its patented, fractal based interpolation algorithms work like nothing else and the results speak for themselves. It's renowned across the photographic and printing industries for its ability to increase image size well over 1000% without the loss of sharpness or detail that you would normally expect. Genuine Fractals Print Pro 5 is the industry standard for image resizing. The Industry Standard for Image Enlargement Genuine Fractals 5 can also help you create tradeshow and billboard graphics from average sized images, and is also commonly used by service bureaus as well as law enforcement and architects for resizing small files. Graphic designers can end the everyday problem of receiving low resolution images from clients for high resolution print work. Furthermore, Genuine Fractals Print Pro 5 is not just for Photographers, but anyone who needs to resize images. This latest version incorporates improved scaling technology, faster performance, an updated user interface, greater ease of use and much more. Genuine Fractals Print Pro 5 is a revolutionary step forward for image enlargements. The new randomize button helps you quickly explore similar textures. You can now separately control light leaks, borders, and dust & scratches. Tools that get out of the way provide more space for your photo.Įxposure 5 has even more texture overlays that add creative details for vintage or Lo-Fi looks. The new Lightroom-style collapsible panels allow you to see only the controls you care about. The darker theme helps you focus on your image and matches other tools in a professional workflow. Your most recently applied effects are automatically remembered too.Įxposure's updated user interface lets you work with fewer distractions. In Exposure 5 you can tag your favorites so you can get back to them later. Find specific looks with fast searching by name or description. You can quickly filter by categories like Black & White or Color. Later, you can apply it to a photo (or batches of photos) with a single click.Ĭhoosing your look is the focus of Exposure, so the preset browser now uses thumbnails for a more visual experience. Save your new look as a preset with a name, category, and even include notes. If you discover a preset that sparks an idea, it's easy to mold it to fit your needs. The anthropology of learning from film photographers was as important as the chemistry and math.Įxposure's presets are beautiful and diverse, but they are just starting points for your own unique style. For discontinued films we relied on photo archives and the professionals who created them. To discover all the subtle details, our research included test shoots with films that were still available. Some Exposure looks are so subtle that people won't consciously realize you altered your photo. The results feel real, even when the effect is not intense. For instance, realistic grain clumps together and is stronger in the midtones. ![]() In a single Exposure preset, many small effects work together to achieve a coherent look. You'll find nostalgic favorites like Kodachrome and Polaroid, plus obscure ones like Panatomic-X. These techniques give you new ways to think about your art, express yourself, and stand out from people using typical digital tools.Įxposure's presets give you hundreds of starting points for developing complex styles. We explored the entire history of analog photography to bring back diverse tools, from discontinued films to dark room tricks, covering both color and black & white. ![]() Exposure works everywhere you do, now with Aperture support and as a stand-alone application that provides easy batch processing. ![]() There is a much wider range of textures and new controls to subtly combine them. The redesigned user interface in Exposure 5 reduces distraction and provides new ways to quickly find your style. Exposure helps you visually explore carefully designed looks, reducing the need to fiddle with techy controls. ![]() ![]() ![]() All rights reserved.Īll other copyrights or trade marks are the property of their respective owners and are being used under license. ©Key art driver images 2017, licensed by Formula One World Championship Limited. Licensed by Formula One World Championship Limited. The F1 FORMULA 1 logo, F1 logo, F1 FIA FORMULA 1 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP logo, FORMULA 1, FORMULA ONE, F1, FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, GRAND PRIX and related marks are trade marks of Formula One Licensing BV, a Formula 1 company. 'Codemasters”®, “EGO”® and the Codemasters logo are registered trade marks owned by Codemasters. ![]() © 2017 The Codemasters Software Company Limited ('Codemasters'). Software Usage Terms apply, See eu./legal for full usage rights.į1 2017 Game - an official product of the FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP. exclusively licensed to Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe. ![]() Library programs ©Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc. See Health Warnings for important health information before using this product. Sign in to PlayStation Network is not required to use this on your primary PS4, but is required for use on other PS4 systems. The 2017 Porsche 911 Turbo S manages to wring 205 mph from a twin-turbo 3.8-liter flat-six with 580 horsepower and 553 lb-ft of torque, mated to an incredibly precise seven-speed automatic. One-time licence fee to download to multiple PS4 systems. See Terms of Service for more important information. If you do not wish to accept these terms, do not download this product. Network Players 2-20 - Full game requires PlayStation®Plus membership to access online multiplayerĭownload of this product is subject to the PlayStation Network Terms of Service and our Software Usage Terms plus any specific additional conditions applying to this product. With an even deeper ten year Career, more varied gameplay in the new ‘Championships’ mode, and a host of other new features, both online and offline, F1 2017 is the most complete and thrilling F1 videogame ever. Win the 2017 World Championship, break every record in the fastest ever F1™ cars, and race some of the most iconic F1 cars of the last 30 years. ![]() ![]() ![]() ( Like iTunes, Apple Music is another Apple-owned entry on the list of Spotify competitors. And there are no subscriptions involved on iTunes, you just pay for what you want to listen to or watch. However, iTunes does allow you to purchase and download individual songs or albums - as well as some movies and television shows - which you can organize into playlists on iTunes, move to other devices, or manage pretty much any way that you want. However, it doesn’t allow you to customize those stations like Pandora does. ( Like Pandora, iTunes lets you listen to Internet radio stations free of charge. However, Tidal cannot be used for free, and its subscription options can get as expensive as $20 per month. In addition, you can watch over 75,000 music videos in high-quality video on demand as well. Tidal itself allows you to listen to songs on demand and in high audio quality from a library of over 25 million songs. ![]() They wanted to make a music-streaming service that avoided the licensing issues that Pandora and Spotify ran into by having artists license their music to a service that they owned themselves, resulting in more money going directly to musicians (instead of record labels and other middleman distributors) and thus more incentive being created for artists to put their music on Tidal. ( One of the newest Pandora competitors, Tidal was created by a group of musicians led by rapper Shawn Carter, better known as “Jay-Z”. In addition, Google Play Music also offers a free service where you can store your music files - up to 50,000 in total! - so that you can get at them from pretty much anywhere you want! You can also purchase and download songs straight onto your computer from Google Play Music, something that neither Pandora nor the two alternatives to it that we’ve listed so far allow you to do. For $10 per month - about the same cost as Spotify Premium or Deezer’s subscription service - you can listen to songs on-demand, as well as create custom radio stations (like you can on Pandora). Google Play Music is one of the most unique sites like Pandora on this list. Deezer also has a subscription service that eliminates commercials between songs and allows for offline listening it costs about the same as Spotify Premium. ![]() On the plus side, Deezer allows you to listen to specific songs on demand and create custom playlists, two things that Pandora does not allow. They’re not as precisely tailored to your tastes as those on Pandora, though they only adhere to what music is in your collection, and what you have listened to recently. ( A popular Pandora alternative from France, Deezer also has “radio stations” functions called “Flow” and “Hear This” that allow you to listen to custom mixes of songs. Oh, and we have a Spotify course, if you’d like to learn about the features of Spotify that we discussed here. Spotify’s subscription service, Spotify Premium, gives similar benefits to Pandora One, but costs almost twice as much. To make up for it, Spotify allows you to search directly for songs, and put together playlists of tunes that you already like. However, you’re only allowed to have 20 of these stations. It has a similar feature to Pandora in that you can start a “station” based on a song, artist, or genre, and then get Spotify to play similar songs that you can approve or disapprove in order to get better results. ![]() ( Spotify is a very popular alternative to Pandora. You can read more about how this works at. Just a heads-up that some of the services we’re reviewing here have affiliate partnerships with us, so we may earn a commission if you visit one of them and buy something. ![]() ![]() You can if you want, but it will be hard, and the problem with hard for beginners is that it can lead to frustration and giving up before you’ve played your first song, and we don’t want that. You don’t want to start learning on strings which you probably don’t have the strength to press down on. With this analogy in mind, the same goes as with learning bar chords. You’d be better off starting with a really light weight to learn the proper technique and gradually adding the weight on as you build up strength. In either case, your technique will most likely be bad because you are struggling to lift the weight. Some people may be able to do with no problem while others may not even get the weight off the the ground. And there are few variations you can experiment with. Even if you do this little by little every day, you’ll notice huge improvements. This exercise builds muscle memory for each chord shape and its position on the neck. For instance, if you move every note in an F Major Barre Chord up 2 frets from the 1st the 3rd fret, that same shape now lets you play. Having difficulty at first in creating a barre F is normal (discouraging maybe, but normal). When fretting a chord, try taking your fingers off and then back on the guitar neck again with the right shape. The diagrams below show the fingering for a half-barre F major chord. It’s like asking a person who has never lifted weights before to suddenly start lifting 40kg over their head. F Chord 4th Variation: Mid Fingerboard This a good mid fingerboard option. Keep in mind that any chord shape you learn that does not contain any open strings (barre chords) can be moved and used as the same type of chord except under a different root (The note a chord is named after). Lets start the lesson with something relatively easier. Learning to play bar chords will always be a challenge at the start for beginners because they require you to apply quite alot of pressure on the strings, and this can be hard if you are learning on a heavy gauge copper string acoustic guitar. ![]() Learn to Press Bar Chords With Minimal Pain and Suffering ![]() ![]() ![]() USB 3.2 Gen 2 downstream with Battery Charging 1.2.USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 downstream (power up to 15W).USB-C upstream/DisplayPort 1.4 Alt Mode with Power Delivery (power up to 90W, HDCP 2.2).31.5-inch display with IPS Black technology.Highlights for this Dell UltraSharp include 98% DCI-P3 color, 90W charging via USB-C for MacBooks, and a convenient integrated hub with USB-C, USB-A, Ethernet, DP 1.4, and HDMI. Dell UltraSharp 32 4K USB-C Hub Monitor (U3223QE) You can pick up the Dell UltraSharp 32 6K Monitor direct from the company. Connect two computer sources with picture-by-picture and picture-in-picture support.Pop-out front-facing ports include two USB-C and one USB-A.The UltraSharp 32 6K features IPS Black tech, 99% DCI-P3, a Thunderbolt 4 hub, 140W passthrough charging, a built-in 4K webcam, noise-canceling mics, and more. That’s around 50% less than the Pro Display XDR (depending on configuration). While it doesn’t match Apple’s Pro Display XDR feature for feature – and has a clunkier design – the 32-inch UltraSharp 6K has an impressive feature set with a list price of $3,199. You can usually find the BenQ PD3220U at Amazon and BH Photo. Brightness: 250 typical, 300 nits HDR peak.The 32-inch BenQ PD3220U features Thunderbolt 3, 4K resolution, 95% DCI-P3 color, 85W power delivery for MacBooks, a variety of professional modes, hotkey puck, solid metal stand, and lots of I/O. ![]() This is a nice alternative to the LG options above. The LG 34WK95U-W is usually in stock at Amazon and B&H Photo. Just make sure you understand that this is really a 4.5K display, and it doesn’t offer any resolution advantages over a true 5K display like the one found in the 5K iMac or iMac Pro. Moving up a couple of inches, LG’s 34-inch widescreen Thunderbolt 3/USB-C display offers a 5120 x 2160 resolution (in-between 4K and 5K). Jeff reviewed this display and found it to be a compelling option for creative pros.īut if you’re a creative professional who knows what you’re getting yourself into, this display is a significant real estate upgrade from 4K. The LG 32UL950-W can be found on Amazon as well as other retailers like B&H Photo.
![]() ![]() Each image can then be rotated and resized to match the output format of the chosen tile. You start with a single image selection, followed by a background color and pattern selection for the mosaic images. Mosaic Creator divides the various image processing stages into separate windows. Read on to learn more about this exciting application. If you're looking for a free software application with a lot of creative potential, look no further than Mosaic Creator. This application was originally developed as a desktop publishing program, but it can also be used for creating both digital and conventional images. It is simple to use: just drag and drop designs from the desktop into Mosaic Designer, or use the standard drag-and-drop feature in the desktop toolbar to arrange a number of designs in one go. In fact, these image repetitions create a super-exciting memory effect in the end, which really draws the viewer's gaze into the mosaic image.Mosaic Creator is a fast and simple application which allows you to design both wall and floor mosaics from your desktop computer. Use repeated images in a targeted manner: Particularly in cases where you want your mosaic to have a clearly defined theme, you may not always have 100 to 1,000 photos from one particular photo shoot or area to play around with.įortunately, this is not a problem at all: if you find yourself with too few individual images, the algorithm will optimally arrange the images you do have. On average, our customers use about 150 small photos for their photo mosaic.ĥ. If you consciously use more images, you will achieve a particularly even and elegant look. Use as many photos as possible: Although you can create beautiful mosaics even with 30 shots and a main image, it is definitely worth using more than 100 different photos as a basis. So if you are open to a special effect, you should choose a good mix of landscape and portrait-format images!Ĥ. This enhances the puzzle effect of the mosaic, which often looks very original. As a result, the images are no longer precisely tile-shaped, but rather are arranged in a special grid. Our mosaic maker detects these discrepancies. This can look particularly interesting in the final result. Play around with different formats: It often happens that the small photos are in different formats. Nevertheless, it is also worthwhile to look at object photos, animal motifs or landscapes.ģ. This is a nice idea - especially if you want to give away your photo mosaic as a present. It doesn't always have to be a portrait: Most of the mosaics ordered from us are full-frame portraits. This results in a homogeneous impression and your main motif comes out better.Ģ. Don't be afraid of colour: When creating the mosaic, the small, individual photos are matched to the colours of the main photo. While the main photo should have a minimum resolution of 2 MB, 0.5 MB is sufficient for the small photos. ![]() ![]() Since the small pictures on the finished mosaic are only 1 inch in size, small motifs are rather less suitable. It is important for the selection of the small pictures that the main motif is clearly recognisable. To get started creating the mosaic image, you also need at least 30 small photos.īut it's even better if you use 100 or even 1,000 photos for your mosaic. Large, clear motifs are best suited in this regard. Therefore, you should always choose it first. The main image determines the motif and thus also to a large extent the effect of the mosaic. Mosaic images always consist of one large main photo and many smaller photos. Create a photo mosaic: What you need to know But also as a retrospective wedding gift or as a loving Christmas greeting, the mosaic image is the perfect choice. If you want to gift your mosaic as a birthday present, for example, you can gather many small pictures of the birthday boy or girl and combine them into a large portrait. These make the mosaic visible and thus capitalise on the abilities of photography to capture emotional memories. It's not just about the feeling of community – it's ultimately about those little moments that make up our lives. The mosaic image is also the perfect gift idea, not least because of its beautiful symbolic statement: "The whole is more than the sum of its individual parts". Gift that feeling of “us” with the mosaic image This makes the mosaic photo so special: although it still looks like a normal image from a distance, the many small photos become visible on closer inspection. Just like then, in the photo mosaic many small photos are put together to form one whole image. Already in antiquity, the mosaic with its small stones and tiles adorned villas and palaces. ![]() ![]() In a story made famous by Charles Duhigg, a father went to his local Target to complain when he found they were sending his teenage daughter coupons for baby products in the mail, only to later find out that Target had not been trying to encourage her to become pregnant as he assumed, but that Target had in fact correctly predicted that his daughter was already pregnant. Given the rise of Big Data, artificial intelligence, and facial recognition algorithms, it is becoming easier and easier to conduct surveillance and harder and harder to avoid it. Shortly after a draft of the Supreme Court decision was leaked, Zeynep Tufecki warned in a New York Times op-ed that “surveillance made possible by minimally-regulated digital technologies could help law enforcement or even vigilantes track down women who might seek abortions and medical providers who perform them in places where it would become criminalized.” In other words, the argument that the Supreme Court decision did not make abortion impossible even in states where abortion has become illegal-since pregnant women can either get abortion pills in the mail, or travel to states where abortion is still legal-ignores the degree to which digital technologies make it possible to not only track the activities of pregnant women, but to determine which women are pregnant, and even how far along they are in their pregnancies. Yet while the arguments concerning whether abortion should be policed may not have changed much in the last 75 years, there have been major changes in how abortion can be policed. ![]() Thanks to the Supreme Court, though it has been almost 75 years since de Beauvoir wrote these words in her classic work The Second Sex, it might feel as though nothing has changed, that her argument that “this fervor on the part of some men to reject everything that might liberate women shows how alive antifeminism is” is as true today as when she wrote it in 1949. But this quote was actually written by Simone de Beauvoir, who died in 1986. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that ruled there is a constitutional right to an abortion. This quote may seem like it was from a tweet posted last week after the U.S. “Forced motherhood results in bringing miserable children into the world, children whose parents cannot feed them, who become victims of public assistance or ‘martyr children.’ It must be pointed out that the same society so determined to defend the rights of the fetus shows no interest in children after they are born instead of trying to reform this scandalous institution called public assistance, society prosecutes abortionists…” Given that the state is both incapable and unwilling to protect online privacy – it is down to tech companies to act, limit their data collection, and protect the freedom of women, argues Nolen Gertz. ![]() In the case of women, that can mean determining whether they’re pregnant or have had an abortion. Even though online data is anonymized, by combining a number of different data points, it’s possible for those with access to them to determine who the data belongs to. But banning abortion in the age of online surveillance is something entirely new. Abortions have always taken place, even when they have been illegal. ![]() ![]() Elements can be dragged or dropped for view and presented in any format that is suitable to the user.
![]() ![]() While causal links cannot be established in these experiments, the results indicate that the diurnal variation of some aspects of football performance is affected by factor(s) other than body temperature alone. Body temperature peaked at a similar time, but positive mood states seemed to peak slightly earlier. Results indicate football players perform at an optimum between 16:00 and 20:00 h when not only football-specific skills but also measures of physical performance are at their peak. Diurnal variation was also found for football-specific tests, including dribbling time (p<0.001, peak at 20:00 h) and chip test performance (p<0.01), being more accurate at 16:00 h (mean error=0.75 m) than at 08:00 h (mean error=1.01 m). Peaks occurred between 16:00 and 20:00 h and the daytime changes paralleled the temperature rhythm. Diurnal variation was found for performance tests, including sit-and-reach flexibility (p<0.01) and spinal hyper-extension (p<0.05). Significant (repeated measures analysis of variance, ANOVA) diurnal variations were found for body temperature (p0.05). For older children and adults, oral readings are usually accurate as long as the mouth is closed while the thermometer is in place. Time-of-day changes in intra-aural temperature (used as a marker of the body clock), grip strength, reaction times, flexibility (markers of aspects of performance), juggling and dribbling tasks, and wall-volley test (football-specific skills) were compared. Temperatures taken from the armpit are usually the least accurate. 31,32 A higher than normal temperature reading can be a result of pyrexia (i.e., fever) caused by infection, tissue breakdown (e.g., MI), or neurological (e.g., brain tumor). Measurements were made on different days at 08:00, 12:00, 16:00, and 20:00 h in a counterbalanced manner. A normal body temperature reading is 35.837.3☌ (96.4☏ to 99.14☏). In the first study, eight diurnally active male association football players (19.1+/-1.9 yrs of age mean+/-SD) with 10.8+/-2.1 yrs playing experience participated. The purpose of the present research, consisting of two separate studies, was to determine whether game-related skills varied with time of day in phase with global markers of both performance and the body clock. Association football involves a variety of fitness components as well as psychomotor and game-related cognitive skills. Football (soccer) training and matches are scheduled at different times throughout the day. ![]() |