You barely even have to take the photo!
Abstract
What can you do with a million images? In this paper we present a new image completion algorithm powered by a huge database of photographs gathered from the Web. The algorithm patches up holes in images by finding similar image regions in the database that are not only seamless but also semantically valid.
Wow. That might be enough to make my meager photography skills respectable. More info here.
“Marriage is just the keystone to economics.”*
Lacking anything substantive to accomplish today, I opted to watch all the Kevin Smith “New Jersey” movies. I’m not sure why, but there was a line from Clerks that has stuck with me through the day.
“There are a million beautiful women, but not all of them bring you lasagna.”**
* from the strangely appealing Clerks II
**my apologies to Kevin Smith if that is not entirely correct.
Look at the pretty pictures….
One of these days (he he) I will get around to the about me page and write some more poetry, but in the meantime, I cam across this while browsing the Pharyngula archives.
And here’s what my site looked like before this post:
I strongly suggest you go to the site and plug in some URL of your own. As neat as the pictures are, the video of them being built is so much better.
Gang aft a’gley
I do apologize to the Robert Burns fans out there if I’ve mis-spelled the title of the post, but I have absolutely no motivation to look it up. I did not, as it turns out, begin my viewing of Rome. Got a last minute invite to go see The Bourne Ultimatum with some friends. Generally enjoyable film. Did not like the constant shaky-cam style. Did not think it was Matt Damon (damn, he looks different). Am not usually attracted to Julia Stiles but she was H-O-T. Good summer action flick and somewhat frightening because the atrocities of the CIA are believable even though they shouldn’t be!
Elation! sadness. Annoyance.
So, Yay! The second Season of Rome is in my possession. Aside from the general enjoyment I will undoubtedly obtain from the series, I hope it may inspire me to continue the Goddess series of poetry with some dabbling in the Roman pantheon of deities. And it came with some wine-stopper thingie. I don’t drink wine, but maybe this is a sign that I should start. That’s about it for the elation.
Sadness: The package says “Final” season of Rome. :( It better be damn good.
Annoyance: Had to spend an extra 2o minutes at work (which will be unpayed) to get the damn alarm to arm. Had to call the security company and reset the panel. It would not be my choice to spend time (any time, not just time I then cannot spend watching my list price $83.99 season of an HBO series) screwing with alarm systems. I did enough of that when I worked security. And, they’re doing construction work on both one-way streets going past my apartment, reducing the three lanes to one. No matter which way I leave to go to work, I am screwed by this.
So this week I will be busy watching Rome and Saturday I have to leave right from work to my mother’s house for my niece’s first birthday party, so my posting this week may not be stellar. But I shall try. For you, my reader(s).
Ready for Season 2
Season One of Rome is completely re-viewed. I am ready to jump into season two as soon as I get off work and buy it tomorrow evening.
I did a little bit of shopping today. First point I would like to make: I am THE worst person in the world to shop for an infant. I have no capacity to imagine what a one year old would want, assuming they could form a cognitive process of wanting that is above the instinctual level. I opted for the collected Grimm’s fairy tales, figuring they could be read to her and then she could read them when she can read. Second point: Found out there was a new Sister Hazel CD, “BAM, Volume 1.” I’ve given it a listen-through, and, provisionally, I like it. Ironically, I also found out they had released “Lift” the same way. Clearly, I am not a fan.
Registered for fall classes. If I take the time to count, this will put me on an 11-year span for graduating college. So, about the same time my friends are finishing PhDs, I may be starting graduate school. I feel a tad bit pathetic when I think about it. I’ll be stumbling through online versions of Calc I and Latin I (which two topics I hope I remember some things from high school), and driving out to scenic Iowa City once per week to attend “Poetry writing,” though I suspect I will have much less challenge in that class.
On a blog-y note, I think I will slowly bring my poems posted on my MySpace blog over here. I prefer the blogging features on wordpress and I think it would be good to have a more single repository. And, I promise most solemnly, I will update the about tom page. really. Hopefully before I have class work that fills up my leisure hours with non-leisure.
Happy coincidences
While perusing Reassigned Time, which was linked from RateYourStudents, I came across a link to Pandora. Being an internet junkie, at times, I follow loads of crazy links, and this one is a cool idea. I had never heard of it, but it has apparently been around since 2000 or so. Assuming I am not the only one to have missed this gem, a quick summary. The group responsible for Pandora has analyzed music and artists and created the Music Genome Project, and based on artists and songs you like, builds a custom music station to bring artists and songs with similarities to you. I put “Journey” in as my favorite group: I listen to them much more than anyone else. Then I added “Sister Hazel,” because I am quite fond of their albums as well. The playlist kicks off with “Ask the Lonely,” then the second song, chosen because of its similarities to Journey, was “All For You,” by Sister Hazel.
Rome!
The second season of the HBO series, Rome, comes out on Tuesday. To commemorate the occasion, I will be most productively spending my two days off re-watching the first season of Rome, to prepare myself. I’ve move my laptop to the coffee table so I can continue wasting spending time on the internet.
Update at 16:03: Finished with episode 5. (possible spoiler-ness) I love the scene when Lucius Vorenus gets inducted into the Evo Carti (sp?). The lighting and colors are fantastic! If I ever become a film-maker (a must unlikely proposition) I shall recall that scene like today’s filmmakers think of Reservoir Dogs. Or Spike Lee, I guess.
Game Over.
I’ve previously noted the amazing efforts of this group here, but today, I saw a fresh video from them. Seems like this group does some other work in design (at notsonoisy.com).
Today: Pole Position!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywqu_8RIDvU]
Hello world! / General Coolness
Welcome to WordPress.com. This is your first post. Edit or delete it and start blogging!
Edit: Well, “Hello!” to anyone who reads this. This is a quick edit to the default comment which will be a quick repost of what will be my last post from my myspace blog. Over here, I pretty much want to continue the themes of random coolness and poetry. More to come later.
Haven’t been doing much writing recently, so here’s a quick post with some general cool stuff.
I love the sandwich analogy. Another good one is “if atheism is a religion, ‘off’ is a TV channel”.
From Pharyngula
Why we should all be secularists
Archives of the Penn Jillette Radio Show
Hopefully, I’ll be back with some fresh verses soon.
