The Mojave Experiment
I finally got around to checking out The Mojave Experiment. The experiment used people who have NEVER used Windows Vista before. They don't mention on the site how long these people were allowed to use the operating system or whether or not they were allowed to use it by themselves.
That being said, I find it hard to believe that these people got an honest view of Vista. I think it takes real use to really judge an operating system. I didn't just wake up on day and say, "Oh! I think I'll go out and spend over 2k on a Mac". I actually spent time using Mac OS X on a daily basis. It wasn't perfect but it came close.
On the site there is a link that says "Consider the facts" which lists that:
89%* of existing Windows Vista users expressed satisfaction with it.
* Includes very (43%) and somewhat (46%) satisfied.
I'm guessing this means that the survey people filled out only had very satisfied, somewhat satisfied and not satisfied as options. A good survey would have "satisfied" as an option. By not having it it forces people are would normally just be satisfied to say very satisfied. Its the same thing that's wrong with rating movies on Netflix. They make it so you can either like the movie or dislike the movie and never be neutral towards it.
My point is this, they made a crappy attempt to make it look like a high number of people are satisfied with Vista and would want to use it. On the plus side, the new ad with Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates is really cute.
posted Monday September 22, 2008 | add comment [2]
Without Power
At the moment I don’t have electricity due to the hurricane Ike. Luckily I have water. Some people are still without both water and electricity. I sympathize with them. I think that it will be back by this week or at least I hope so. Its really when you lose power that you realize just how many things you have that requires electricity.
On the up side, I was finally able to finish Artemus Fowl. Many people told me that I would love this more than Harry Potter but I so didn’t. Perhaps, like Harry Potter, the books just get better with each adventure. I think that I will finish reading the series and then compare. But when I think about Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and compare it to Artemus Fowl, I’d still say that Book 1 of Harry Potter is better than book 1 of Artemus Fowl.
posted Tuesday September 16, 2008 | add comment
Skill Set Extension
I’ve been trying to teach myself how to use some 3D apps. I’ve tried Blender, Modo, Maya, Daz and ZBrush. After many months of trying, I’ve been most successful with Blender. It’s a free professional 3d app and I have learned to love it.
This is a quick render of a basic belt buckle that I decided to make on a whim. It didn’t take long to create (about 15 minutes) but it utilized some of the new things I recently learned.
If you had asked me a week and a half ago how to make a smooth curved shape I would have told you some crazy sounding stuff that involved lots and lots of smoothing. If you ask me now, I’ll tell you to read up on the warp tool.
I know that it will take me a while to get good at creating 3d objects, especially when I get to things like lighting and camera positioning, but it’ll be worth it in the end. I think it will help me create some of the ideas that I picture.
I’ve reached that point once again where I have all these great ideas but my skills are not up to my standards to create the level of detail that I’d like for certain things. I’m more than ready to rise to the occasion though.
posted Friday August 8, 2008 | add comment [6]
DMCAs, Parties and Designs
Edit: Sweet! I don’t have to file any DMCAs. She took them down. Photoshop here I come.
This week will be a very long one, I already know it. I’ll devoting most of my time to filling out forms and filing DMCAs against Camille Cassan for her blatant theft of my site and essentially taking her down. Yes, I’m still extremely angry and bitter about the situation. I’ve already sent her 3 messages and I’ve yet to get a response which just makes me even more angry. At least the last person who stole from me had the decency to apologize and remove my work from their site.
I have like 8 designs, with about 6-10 color scheme versions per design, to finish by August 9th and naturally I haven’t even started. I am not looking forward to the hours I’ll need to spend in Photoshop.
But by the 16th I’ll be at a nice party filled with all the right people who know even more of the right people and the good Lord knows I need to meet them.
posted Sunday July 27, 2008 | add comment [2]
Copy & Paste Thievery
/* Begin Sarcasm */
Ladies and gentlemen let me introduce Camille Cassan of un jour un design she loved my site and design so much that she stole it!
I love the change from pink to green (even though we all know that pink rocks so much harder than green). The way she used my exact XHTML and CSS shows just how proficient she is in the art of CMD+C (that's CTRL+C for all you Windows folks out there). It's so good that I think she may have fulled mastered the complexity of CMD+A (Windows people that's CTRL+A for you).
Let's take a moment to fully review this girl's talent.
(Click the image to enlarge)
Ah yes, it is a wonderful feeling seeing a redesign that literally took a year to fully complete and a design that went through about 5 complete do overs and only God knows how many revisions, stolen just like that. Nothing warms my heart more.
/* End Sarcasm */
You know, there would be a whole lot less web theft (when it comes to copyright) if there were some soft of web police who's sole purpose was busting thieves. Then you can just send them proof it was stolen and they send that person $5,000 fine. Not only would it cut back on theft but it would be profitable. Of course all countries would have to come to some sort of agreement for fining people. I don't know. I didn't fully think that one through...but something to that effect.
I also made a post about it on You thought we wouldn't notice and I'll be sending her a message via facebook, because her site doesn't work (HA-HA you can't steal PHP), to point out that she's actually violating my copyrights.
So far both my designs for this site has been stolen. Awesome! I'm 2 for 2.
posted Saturday July 26, 2008 | add comment [3]