Goose Droppings

I recently came across several sites that either describe how to create your own “iPod Ad Silhouette” (Jennifer Apple, SV Designs, MacMerc & Sitepoint) or others that have a service where they’ll even do it for you (ipodmyphoto & podapic, though it appears that you get what you pay for. ipodmyphoto costs more, but there is no comparison in the quality).

MacMerc’s entry, Attack of the iPod People, appeared to me to be the most detailed, so I used it as my guide. One additional step if you want this to really look authentic is to get the Myriad Apple font used in the ads. This first attempt, iWill (My 7 year-old William), was admittedly a rush job (My wife and daughter were watching “American Dreams” on TiVo, so I only had about 40 minutes to get it done!). The edges are not as clean as I would have liked (it’s the first time I used Photoshop’s Extract Filter), and even the photo was chosen without much thought (though it was posed explicitly for this purpose). However, despite these self-critique’s, I think it came out quite well. I’m going to try a few more (I do have 2 other kids that want one of their own!), and perhaps I’ll either blow them up to poster size for their rooms, or maybe I’ll frame a set together for the family room.

I’ld also like to give it a try in The Gimp, stay tuned…

- The Goose

Mike Davidson, an art director from Seattle, has a well written, comprehensive and informative article on “How to Snatch an Expiring Domain“. He offers details on how a domain expires, compares the services of three firms that automate the “snatching” (Snapnames.com, Enom.com, and Pool.com) and shares some lessons learned. For anyone that has been coveting a seemingly abandoned domain name, this is a must read.

Amex Gold (and Platinum, but not Green) has a program called “Best Value Guarantee“. Under this program, they will guarantee you the lowest price on most any item that you purchase using their card, up to $250 per item or $1000 per year. (more…)

I’ve added the ability for you, the reader, to select the theme for viewing goosedroppings. I’m curious to hear back which ones are preferred. The “original” is called “goose“. I’ll need to customize some of the graphics on the ones that allow it, to get back with the goose frame of mind.

I’ve done a manual upgrade from 1.2 to 1.5 (Strayhorn). It’s been out for a few weeks, and I wasn’t sure if/when my webhost provider would make it available. It appears to have gone well, though I’m not sure I’ve added back all my customized plugins. Stay tuned for possible style changes.

Now I do realize that not too many people are reading this blog (at least for now). However, I’ve always wanted to know what info on this site people find interesting (as opposed to simply getting enjoyment from reading my eloquent prose). i.e. What links to external sites are people interested in enough to follow? Obviously I find all the stuff I post noteworthy, but what about you? (more…)

AutoStitch is an amazing piece of software that automatically stitches together your photograph’s into great looking panorama’s easily. (more…)

Here’s a cool piece of software from Krazy Dad Jim Bumgardner (How does he have the time?!?!). MetaScope is pretty cool by itself, but Jim’s built in a fun Mind Reading Trick too.