Basically it's a programme which will take any number of photos you specify in a directory, and use them to make a mosaic of whatever photos you choose.
The end result is a picture that looks something like the photo made up of a bunch of your photos.
You can zoom in and see clearly which photos make up the mosaic, providing that you set the programme to create a large size mosaic picture.
The success of the mosaic... The quality or how much it looks like the original photo, seems to vary depending on various settings in the programme. Such as how many, and what kind of photos the programme is given to choose from to make up the mosaic and the photo chosen to be made into the mosaic. Etc.
close-up of the eye region in the mosaic of the photo of Chloe
I let the programme choose from over 3,000 photos in my collection - from 2002 to present.
Each of my mosaics is 1500 to 2000 tiles per mosaic. (That's 1500 to 2000 tiles of photos used to make up the mosaic.)
And I allowed 5%-10% alteration of the photos. (And the alteration would seem to be in brightness.)
It's somewhat amusing to look at which photos make up the picture.
close-up of the nostril region in the mosaic of the photo of Chloe
For example, a photo of my pal Michael R. was used for my nostril opening. And photos of my own gallbladder make up my one cheek and a significant portion of my forehead... as well as Malcolm the dog's cheek.
The programme can be crude. And I don't mean that in the technical sense.
One of the photos chosen and placed in one of the mosaics was rather awful.
I'm not going to mention that because it would be decidedly rude to point it out. I myself immediately felt like scolding the programme most harshly for it's very naughty misbehaviour - it really should be ashamed of itself.
If you find it, please do not 'give it away' be so crass as to mention it.
WARNING: The full size mosaic files are very large (7mb - 13mb).
There's a bit of an interesting story attached to this one.
The bathtub serving as object in this photo had not yet been used by the current proprietor of the house in which it is situated. So in a way, the bubble bath being run in it at the time of this photo, was more or less a maiden voyage.
The odd & beautiful background story about this tub makes this photo something of a delicate commentary on the importance of bathrooms.
A law that says men have to walk the streets with their hands clasped behind their backs
A man with his hands clasped behind his back, near the Lackawanna County Courthouse in Scranton Pennsylvania
Because I think it's cute & gentlemanlike.
Just kidding.
But I was reminded today about Alison's post about how all the older gentlemen in Belgrade stroll around with their hands behind their backs.
Today I saw a man, silver haired of course, in Scranton, with his hands clasped behind his back.
My photo's not as good as Alison's perhaps. Especially because in her photo, the old men are elderly (and therefore more cute), not to mention the photo was taken in a foreign city, which somehow adds to the romanticism.
I remember both of my grandfathers as having strolled around with their hands clasped behind their backs regularly. And it's very common in period films in Old English settings, such as Jane Austen's Emma and Pride & Prejudice. Though it's the young men looking gentlemanlike, not just the seniors.
asteriskhere: It seems like the law here...
It seems like the law here-- if you are a man of a certain age and you are taking a stroll through a park, you must clasp your hands behind your back.
The sign is not laminated, so because of its position above the sink and below the mirror, it's been repeatedly soaked by splashing water from the sink. And therefore might be harboring all sorts of filth from dirty hands that have washed in that sink.
It says to use soap and water. Important to note that it does not specify anti-bacterial soap. But I have a feeling that's what was in the dispenser - some kind of harsh smelling pink potion, whatever it was.
It says, "Rub your hands vigorously"
Isn't that what you do when you're in a hurry? Isn't slowly and methodically washing one's hands more effective?
Besides... WebMD with AOL Health - Cleanliness Rules Germaphobes' Lives
"It's true that hand washing is the single most important thing you can do to prevent catching an infectious disease, including colds, flu, hepatitis A, meningitis, and infectious diarrhea, according to the CDC. But that's not license to scrub hands raw."
This is the best one: "Turn off the water using a PAPER TOWEL instead of bare hands"
I completely understand the logic here. Touching the faucet handle that you touched before washing your hands, would seem to defeat the purpose of washing your hands, yes.
But that's where the slippery slope comes in... Wouldn't touching almost anything after washing your hands "defeat the purpose" of hand washing?
Why doesn't it also instruct the person to open the bathroom door to leave using one's elbow? And then why not instruct the person then to not touch anything else with one's hands? I mean, how far can you take this? Instruct the person to not touch anything, ever, unless it's been washed down in chlorine? Or at least the possible carcinogen triclosan?
It seems to me that this "method" of hand washing comes at cleanliness and disease prevention from the let's try to control other people standpoint, which seems to me, to be flawed.
Are not the old Wash Hands Before Eating and Wash Hands Before Touching Your Mouth or Your Eyes rules more efficient, reasonable, and effective in preventing the spread of disease, rather than trying to keep your hands, and everyone else's hands, completely pristine and germ free?
Because unless you have a cut on your hand, most common germs that might accumulate on one's hands are rather innocuous unless they actually get into your mouth, for example. And any germ that is dangerous simply being on your hand, is dangerous to be in the air, and not touching the faucet is not going to save you from an airborne transmitted contagious illness!
That said, I don't want my food, for example, to contain someone else's bodily fluid, even if it's not diseased. Even a trace amount strikes me as rather icky. So I'm not saying I'm comfortable with people never washing their hands, for instance.
I tend to wash my hands fairly regularly. Not because I'm necessarily a major germaphobe, but because I have a terribly entrenched habit of touching my face a lot. If I could just stop touching my face, I would only need to wash my hands before eating. As it stands, I am a bit of a germaphobe.
At least I realize this and can admit it, and keep relatively to reasonable hygeine, rather than obsessive hygeine.
I think we, as a society, need to get a grip because at this point it's turning out that the cure might be worse than the disease...
page of Woman's World magazine in which the angel story was printed
A shocking tale... but one with a happy ending...
This story was written by my mother, and is an account of an actual incident. It was published in the March 22nd 2005 issue of Woman's World magazine, (though they changed it a bit).
Here's my mother's original story:
Back in 1994, when my husband Ed and I owned a company in Knoxville, Tennessee, we were on our way out west on a business trip. It was approaching nightfall when we were near Memphis and we were discussing which exit we needed to take to get to our hotel for the night. I was driving.
All of a sudden, I could see the darkness of a storm up ahead. We were in the right lane of the highway. Within seconds we were right in the middle of it all, in a rented car with no lights or wipers turned on, and it was really dark with the rain pouring down. The brake lights on the car directly in front of us went on and the car stopped. I had to hit my brakes to avoid hitting that car. Ed kept telling me to turn off the road. I tried, but I could not turn the steering wheel. Ed reached over and tried but could not turn it either. Then, within a split second, two large trucks passed on either side of us. I could see the side mirrors fly off the car.
Somehow we then did turn off the road and the driver of the semi came over and told us there was a safe place to turn off a little down the road. The police came and the driver of the semi on the left said that we had hydroplaned into the left lane and he did his best to avoid hitting us. The driver on the right said that he saw us drifting to the left and the only way he could go to prevent hitting us was on the right. If I had turned off the road to the right, we would have been directly in the path of the semi passing us on the right.
Neither Ed nor I felt anything, not even a jolt, though the car was smashed on both sides and was considered totaled.
After speaking to the highway patrolman, who could not believe we were not hurt, we got another rental car, stayed the night in Memphis and were on our way the next morning.
The car in front went on and we never knew who that was or why they hit the brakes.
We are certain that there was an angel in that car with us, holding that steering wheel in place to prevent us from turning into the path of that huge truck.
-- Dolores Hodge
Me & my family: Chloe, Joanie, Ed, Dolores, & Marie
I have looked up the effects of hydroplaning & driving in torrential rains, and could find no explanation as to why they were unable to turn the wheel. Just that apparently it's bad to turn the wheel while hydroplaning. And it would've been a very bad thing if they had turned the wheel. Whatever the reason, I am certainly glad they weren't able to turn that wheel.
Thanks to Amy I found one of the most interesting, entertaining, witty, and well filmed & cut television series ever made.
It's called...
WONDERFALLS
I rented the series, but I'm contemplating purchasing it, because I already watched every episode twice, because I felt each time that I almost rushed through watching them the first time, because it was that engaging and addictive... And I think I might like to savour them all yet again.
It's available to rent on Netflix, where it's described this way:
In a small gift shop adjacent to the magnificent Niagara Falls toils Jaye Tyler (Caroline Dhavernas), a highly intelligent Ivy League grad whose parents have invested all their hopes and dreams in her. Much to their chagrin, all Jaye wants is to work as a clerk at the store, until unexplainable events -- such as lifeless objects speaking to her in secret -- remind her that she may actually be destined for an offbeat kind of greatness.
And it's available for purchase on Amazon.com, where it's described this way:
Although a recent graduate of Brown University, Jaye Tyler decides to ignore her degree, live in a trailer and work at a tourist gift shop in Niagara Falls called Wonderfalls-much to the despair of her well-to-do family. But Jaye's aimless life takes a startling turn after a lion figurine begins talking to her. Her family calls it an "episode," but Jaye knows better. Fearing for her sanity, Jaye nevertheless starts doing exactly what an increasing number of inanimate objects tell her to do and is amazed when her outrageous actions begin changing people's lives in unexpected ways.
I don't think these descriptions do it justice. But I'm not at all sure how to describe the show. And I think that's its greatest strength.
I know that it seemed like a metaphor in a lot of ways.
I related to the characters, especially Jaye Tyler, in a lot of ways.
It's a comedy, a romance, a drama, and at times a thriller.
It's cut like a hip film, so it definitely doesn't have a low-budget feel or anything like that. It's damn slickly done.
Yet it's quirky & off-beat enough that it got cancelled after only one season. (Which I consider a crying shame!!) But really, the one season of this series winds up standing on its own almost like a movie anyway.
The characters are well developed, and the actors play their parts very well.
Including characters like the little smushed face wax lion figurine, a shrink's monkey book end, and my personal favourite, The Cow Creamer.
I remember on 09/09/99, my friend Sherry & I went to Hops & Barley's in Luzerne PA, for some eats in the back room, and people out in the bar got a little wild at 9:09p.m.
Today I was home alone with Nikita drinking green tea with honey & painting wooden watermelon refrigerator magnets at 05:05p.m., so I have no clue if there was any such similar social phenomenon.
superficiality >>If the facade is what's important to you, all you wind up with is an illusion. Disillusionment is the gift of substance.
-- Chloe<<
(more)
The point to remember, then, is that written words have permanency, and thoughts carelessly put on paper can, when not destroyed by accident, exist for hundreds of years.
, where it's described this way:
