This seems to be a bit of a craze at the moment. How it works (put simply) is that you take a photo of whatever is behind your computer screen, and then use it as your desktop. Obviously it’s a more precise art than that, but it’s relatively simple. But it really got me thinking how fantastic it would be if someone could develop LCD/TFT glass displays.

We have them on watches already. I’ve owned a couple of “Casio Twincept” models which have a very cool holographic display idea. Mine was a lot like this but much cooler, with a metal strap. It really made you stand out from the bog standard three dial watch, and was very functional.

I’m aware that having a transparent monitor would not be particularly functional. Let’s face it, the contents of the wall behind your desk just aren’t that exciting! I remember a similar glass concept being shown in the film “Minority Report“, and when searching for it, I came across this. I don’t know whether it’s a concept or a prototype, but it looks stunning.

It’s food for thought anyway. And if you’ve got a spare five minutes, give the photo desktop transparency effect a go. It might be really effective!

It’s just over one month since I started tracking the hits to this website using a decent script (give it a go). I’m pleased to say that after only that period, the site has recieved 25,000 hits! It’s great to know that people are interested in my general ramblings, and they like to come back to check up on what’s happening.

It appears that details relating to the new version of Photoshop have been released (accidentally or not, they are out in the public domain).

From AppleInsider:

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Company-authored documents, obtained by AppleInsider, say the new version — due to begin shipping this May — will bring “a new level of power, precision and control to the digital photography experience.”

Officially labeled “Adobe Photoshop CS2,” the software will feature advanced tools for digital photographers and video professionals such as a new Spot Healing Brush for correcting blemishes, and Smart Objects that will allow users to scale and transform images and vector illustrations without losing image quality.

Filling requests from video professionals, Photoshop CS2 will reportedly add support for non-destructive editing and the creation and editing of 32-Bit High Dynamic Range (HDR) images. A new direct export feature will let users view FireWire Previews on a TV.

Photoshop CS2 will also pack new creativity tools such as Vanishing Point and Image Warping, documents say.

“Vanishing Point cuts tedious graphic and photo retouching tasks by allowing users to clone, paint and transform image objects while retaining visual perspective,” Adobe said in a press release apparently scheduled for April 4th, 2005. Image Warping is described as a feature that will reinvent workflows, such as product packaging development, by making it easy to fold, stretch, pull, twist and wrap an image into shape by selecting an on-demand preset or dragging custom control points.

Likewise, Adobe plans to improved the speed of imaging workflows with the addition of new Camera Raw features and an overhaul to the Photoshop File Browser.

With the debut of Photoshop CS2, File Browser will be upgraded to Adobe Bridge, which will function as a hub for productivity and imagery, providing multi-view file browsing and smooth cross-product integration across the entire Creative Suite software product line. Adobe Bridge will also provide access to Adobe Stock Photos, a new stock photography service that the company will offer to users as a one-stop shopping service for high-quality, royalty-free images.

Meanwhile, the new Camera Raw 3.0 workflow will support batch processing of raw files in the background and without forcing the user to launch the main Photoshop application. Additionally, the new version will allow settings for multiple raw files to be simultaneously modified, while new non-destructive cropping and straightening controls will allow raw files to be easily prepared for final output.

The new version of Photoshop will also add task-based menu presets, equipping users with tools to create their own custom presets, highlight favorite items and define eventbased scripts that execute automatically when triggered by actions.

Apparently, Adobe Photoshop CS2 will begin shipping in May to customers in the states, and later on in May and June for people here in the UK/Europe.

Photoshop CS2 will also be bundled as part of Adobe Creative Suite 2.0, also slated to ship around the same time. The software suite will support Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows 2000 with Service Pack 4 or Windows XP with Service Pack 1 or 2. It should be around at the same time as Tiger. Plenty of updates!

It’s my dad’s birthday next week and we noticed a few months ago that Jack Dee would be doing a stand-up in our local theatre (the Victoria Theatre) on the 26th March. We bought a few tickets, and in the end 6 of us went to see the show.

I’m a huge fan of miserable, sarcastic comedy so Jack Dee appeals to my tastes very well. I was very pleased to see that most of his performance was not the same as other stand-up’s I”ve see him do (Live at the Apollo for instance). In fact, quite a few of the jokes were tailored to our local area. The guy clearly does his research before he goes on stage! They focused around the run-down aspect of Halifax, and it’s “rougher” areas (one of which is called Mixenden).

He also put his “text” number up on the theatre curtain at the interval so people could send him a message and he’d read it out at the end. Quite how well this works, I’m not sure. I don’t know whether he actually has the phone turned on at the end of the show when he is reading them out, and it still seems as though many of the jokes are Jack Dee’s type of thinking
The show lasted around two hours in all, with a 20 minute interval. It was side-splittingly funny all the way through, and I’d fully recommend it to anyone into that type of comedy. It was fairly clean all the way through, and really good fun. All I’d tell you to make sure you do is get there on time. If you start barging your way into the theatre after he’s been on ten minutes, you just know that he’ll make a spectacle of you.

It’s nice to have a few days off on holiday over Easter, but as always there are lots of things to do. I’ve got a couple of web projects to work on, friends to meet and all the while trying to remember the real meanings behind Easter.

I’m in quite a relaxed mood though, looking forward to a couple of weeks off. I’m also going to see Jack Dee tomorrow night, at the Victoria Theatre. I’m a big fan of his sarcastic comedy, so it should be a good evening.

Now then, a plea for help

I’ve just moved from Windows to Mac (as most of you know), and I really don’t like the way Dreamweaver works on the Mac. I’ve used it for web editing for years, and until now it has satisfied my needs.

What I’m looking for is an editor which handles XHTML and CSS well, provides colour coding and preferably hints to help writing code quickly.

Can anyone suggest an OSX application? (Preferably free… :))