Happy Mothers Day to all the soon to be and all the Mothers out there doing what they do best, being Mom’s! I hope you all have a wonderful full of happiness and fun. None of the drama! You kids better be NICE to your Mom’s! There are less fortunate people out there who don’t have Mothers! Cherish what you have!
You would think an intelligent person like Hawking would theorize a little more that we we’re created by God. Mathematically, it all adds up. What doesn’t add up is the theories that are layered on top of theories and layered on top of more theories about how, why and when life was created. We haven’t even searched more than 1% of our own oceans! How can Hawking presume we aren’t alone!? We are our own worst enemy. He acts like we are some paradise of humans that “cultivate” the land. If “aliens” were to only read the comments left on blogs and websites and based earthly life on it, they would annihilate us on the spot. We are an extremely destructive species that no “alien” would cater to. Come in peace? How about come and free the earth from the virus we call humans.
Your smart Stephen, I think you can do better then that! I am in shock that the world would listen to this. I have no sympathy for this kind of thinking.
Your right, we better not invite aliens here.. they would save the earth, from us.
After purchasing a pair of KLH B-PRO6 bookshelf speakers for 40 dollars at Radio Shack and hooking them up at home, I realized why they were 37.99 on clearance. They sound like crap. Well, they aren’t THAT bad. They have a nice thump and decent highs. It is missing something though, they sound “hollow-ish”. I think. Anyway, I thought for a second, remembering tricks I learned growing up reading magazines like Crutchfield and from other places here and there… that poly-fill can make a dramatic difference. You could technically even “shrink” the internal volume of your box and make it a sealed enclosure. Anyway, I opened these puppies up by unscrewing the 4 screws holding down the woofer (the KLH’s just in case I lost you) and low and behold… NO POLY-FILL IN THEM. So here I sit so broken hearted. What to do, what to do… I know!
PILLOWS!
I can use PILLOWS! I run upstairs and grab an old pillow of mine, (I wouldn’t suggest using the pillow you sleep on!) tore that ragged piece of old slumber stained cover open and VOILA! Poly-fill! For free!
You can figure out the rest.
Well, to me, I think they don’t sound nearly as hollow and it surely tightened up the response. I am no EXPERT but I do have experience listening to all kinds of speakers. This little trick will save you a trip to the store and probably about 10 bucks!
Enjoy.
Easily make complex selections – Masking hair? Having trouble? Fear no more.
Content Aware Fill – Need something removed from a photo? This will do it perfectly.
Superior HDR Imaging – never have trouble creating HDR images again.
New Painting Effect Tools – Mixer brush for color blending and Bristle Tips which lets you create lifelike textured brush strokes.
Automatic Lens Correction – This tool will fix virtually any type of lens born problems: Distortion, Chromatic Aberrations and Vignetting. Uses image EXIF data to precisely correct any problems. Now that is INTENSE!
Adobe Mini Bridge – Manage your media right in Photoshop including batch file renaming.
UI Management Enhancement – Switching workspaces has never been easier.
And loads more!!!
Adobe really has their hands on something. They are celebrating 20 years of Photoshop development! I personally love Photoshop, there is nothing else like it. From photo retouching to graphic design to 3D editing, Photoshop has all you’ll ever need.
When it comes to doing what you do best, in any situation for that matter, it pays to have the right tools and knowledge. When it comes to Photo Retouching you better have both if you want to do it right. Let me start off by saying that having a decent computer is a must (specs a little later), a decent monitor and most importantly.. a TABLET. Preferably a Wacom Tablet. I have used Wacom Tablets since 1999 and I swear by them. I have used other inexpensive tablets and Wacom has it down pat. There isn’t anything wrong with using other tablets but I recommend Wacom. The bigger, the better. There are reasons for this and primarily it has to do with resolution. I currently, due to funding, have a Wacom 4×6 Intuos 3 and I cant wait for the day to get my 12×19. This will have to do for now. I learned how to Photo Retouch using a 12×19 and that is what I will always need and want. I make it work but it definitely is a little more demanding on the wrist and I tend to get a little achy. That’s OK though.
What type of computer should I get, “Mac or PC?” At this point in time both Operating Systems offer excellent performance provided they are backed by at least a 2.0Ghz Dual Core CPU and at least 4GB of RAM. You definitely want 4GB of RAM. Photoshop or GIMP can consume it all if need be. I have an Intel based machine running Windows 7 x64 Edition (x64 editions of Windows allow for larger than 3GB’s allocation of RAM in the Operating System and per application provided the application is 64 bit. 32 bit applications still can only utilize up to 3GB of RAM even in the 64 bit environment) , 2.4Ghz Core2Quad CPU, 6GB of 800Mhz RAM, a rock solid Intel Motherboard (DP35DP) and, I hate to even say it (another funding problem) a 24″ Westinghouse Monitor which actually isn’t all that bad. This setup is PLENTY fast for Photo Retouching and pretty much anything else within reason. There are many faster CPU’s out now but this is fine! If I could change anything, it would be the monitor and the tablet. Like I said before, it would be the Intuos 3 or 4, 19×12 which is HERE and the monitor would be an Eizo ColorEdge which can be found HERE.
Software. Oh, bloody software. This is where all the magic happens, isn’t it? Well, Adobe Photoshop is the industry standard and almost every Pre-Press Company uses it. Trust me, if you are going to do Photo Retouching, Graphic Design, Draw, Edit or whatever it is you plan on doing, this is what you should use. Alternatives? (I tried a lot)… The only piece of software that I have used that comes close to Photoshop is GIMP and it’s free! I personally will never use it until there are performance issues corrected but it is a viable alternative. There is software from Corel but it isn’t free and I wouldn’t buy it. Sorry Corel, your just not my type! Just for the record, there are TONS of programs out there that attempt to give you what you want (for free and paid) and I just think they fall way too short for considering it for professional use. I will never use anything else other than Photoshop. I will not use GIMP or anything else for that matter. It falls way too short for my needs. I learned on Photoshop and I truly believe it’s the best.
Also, a nice comfortable desk and chair is gonna help big time! Photo Retouching can be pretty grueling when done continuously for hours on end. Forget about the BLUR on the skin! You better get your hand on that damn tablet and get to work! This isn’t playtime! This is business!
- Professional Mike
