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Sep242007

Ace from Space pics

So I took this macfun pic of myself and did a little photoshop practicing. I realized that I really enjoy making odd, funny pics or hidden images versus pictures that can be used for “design” purposes. I will definitely begin to incorporate the design mentality for some future pics. There is some more Kanji up in these pics and NO I haven’t checked to see if they are correct yet hehee but I will… γŸγΆγ‚“

Higher Self: Don’t know it…. betta asss somebody.

look at it

Spirit: (nahmean)
the spirit within playaz and playettes

This one I titled Simplicity: I wanted just that. The simplest of images with a “design” worthy finish. Notice I really enjoy bright ass 90s colors hehe. The kanji (supposedly) says Destiny (large faded orange) and Simplicity in the top right corner. I liked Destiny because I feel like moving to music is just that for me.

Simplicity:

simple ass image I LOVE MUSIC

Uhhhh…. hmm… uhhh… mushroom trip? So this would be a photoshop overkill right here. I included it so when I look back I can see real improvements in my design abilities. This is definitely worthy of the title mushroom trip! and so it is….

Mushroom Trip: beats me experimental

Sep242007

HipHoppin and Photoshoppin

YoYo party people! I started really playing with Adobe’s Photoshop CS3. My goal is to become accustomed to any major changes in CS3 and find some creative ways to use different textures and load new brushes. Below is an original image I used for the few that follow. Its a pic from my sister’s recent visit to LA:

Above: My dad and sis from when we went hiking in Malibu with brotha Ty. I turned it into colorful mesh up:

So this is me, my pap, and my sis. Family is an interesting thing isn’t it!? These are definitely Ventura Family smiles. I made the backdrop a scratched concrete wall. Well with colorful crazy paint textures all over it. Family is like that. Crazy, insane and yet strong and vibrant. The kanji next to my sis stands for loyal and beauty. Next to my pap: creativity. Out of the selections I had these worked best (until I learn Kanji on my own). The kanji on my head stands for UNITTYYYYYYY.

The following two pics are animated gifs. I tested out this tutorial by mac-forums.com on creating animated gifs with Photoshop CS3. And… it worked.

Sep222007

Volume Limiter for I-Pod

mood: Extremely Excited! :mrgreen:

YES! Thoughts are things babiessss! First things first: Let me just say, I LOVE MY IPOD NANO. LOVE. It is one of my gateways to pure bliss. If you know me then you know I lose myself in music and this little device fits nice and snug around my arm. I can run, breakdance, gym it up, even tumble with this baby. It’s literally a dance all the time device, and I love me some dancing playazzz and playettes. Grateful for my nano right ….. NOW. hehe I actually have it on as I’m typing this. I feel its the perfect tool for the athlete in all of us. What’s better than a nano? A nano with a volume limiter setting!

I recently purchased these bad ass etymotic headphones … oh wait pardon me please, they are no referred to as “earphones” nowadays chuckle chuckle. Well, I mean it makes sense to me shoooo. Moving on….the model I purchased (from newegg) is the 6i Isolator. They are noise canceling, in ear, wonderful sounding, and LOUD AS SHIT. So, I suddenly developed a want for a max volume setting on my first generation ipod nano. With the standard apple headphones, I normally set my volume to almost max or about 80% to 90% max volume during a training session. With these new babies, my eardrums get pissed at around 55% volume!!! A volume limiter would allow me to quickly jack up the volume using the famous ipod wheel without physically destroying my eardrums. This means no more a) looking at the screen for volume and b)the “sensitive wheel touch.” Totally useful when:

1) Bike riding: I ride my bike LIKE EVERYWHERE all the time and I am totally good with riding with no hands, BUT looking at the nano screen, I would classify as a safety hazard.
2) Avoiding the volume ghost: Ever been on a nice run and your in the zone. Its quite a pest when you rub, tap or the sensitive nano wheel just barely gets touched by your shirt and it jacks the volume up on you. This really happens more frequently when I am breakdancing because the tendency for me to touch, use or band the arm with the nano on it is much much greater and i’ll be in the middle of a chair freeze when bam the volume ghost tries to blow out my eardrums.

Here’s a look at how to upgrade your nano:

The volume limiter is a just a software upgrade for the nano 1st and 2nd generation. Haven’t even looked at the new nano. Video + Nano hmmm… sorta defeats the purpose for me. But again again, I haven’t looked at it in person yet to be officially making any preference calls.

Find out which file system your nano is formatted for. Two ways to do this: 1) in your ipod go to settings > about and scroll to the bottom of the screen. If its mac formatted it will the screen ends with the serial number. Otherwise, it will say “Format: Windows.” 2) use itunes. The standard format is for Windows (FAT32 file system). I now have a mac so in order for me to update, I had to reformat / restore my nano to optimize it for my Mac (HFS+ file system). I of course could have used a (Windows) based computer to update it but I chose to just reformat and reorganize my music. Again, with the new itunes its quite easy to perform all of these tasks without touching the ipod. itunes shows which file system your ipod is formatted for. I clicked restore and itunes formatted my nano, and updated it, which installed the volume limiter in my settings.

The volume limiter is located in settings > volume limit. Use the ole wheel to set a volume level then press the center button and select Done! Your Golden. For more information visit apple.com where I got all my info. Check out the slide show below showing the goodness in picto format: