If it weren’t for the tools available to us in the digital age that we live in, many forms of art would either be impossible or extremely difficult. It wasn’t long ago that people were forced to use film cameras (gasp!) as there was no alternative. You had to have dark room skills to get your photos to turn out just right, and if you messed up, well, it was all over.

In the modern world we have many software applications available to us to manipulate our digital photos, the most prominent being Photoshop (which is what I use). It’s really amazing what you can do with this piece of software. Straighten your image, bring out the sharpness of the details, blur your subject’s skin, quickly fix imperfections, enhance or change colors, fix lens distortion…it’s downright amazing. And if you mess up? Just undo baby. If only life had an undo button.

Flickr user Pamela Viola appears to be a master of Photoshop, creating images that are half photograph, half painting. My educated guess, based on some of the comments on her photos, is that she achieves this look by layering textures on top of her base images, giving them a weathered, painterly look, almost as if they were painted on canvas hundreds of years ago. I’d love to see how she accomplishes this look.

If you can’t afford Photoshop or CS2, definitely pick up a copy of Photoshop Elements or some other manipulation program. At a bare minimum you should be able to crop your images and adjust the contrast and color. You’ll be amazed at how an ordinary photograph can turn into something spectacular.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

The Hoyas once again snatched victory from the jaws of defeat, beating UNC in the quarterfinals to advance to the Final Four. This is the second year in a row that the greater DC area has had a team in the finals of the big dance, and this weekend’s matchup with the Buckeyes should be one to remember.

One of the things, in watching Sportscenter at lunch today, is that Dick Vitale does not look, well, vital. He’s been the central media figure of March Madness for years and years, and it’s a bit sad to see him look so old and try to pull off his usual fervor.

That said, this weekend’s games in Atlanta are the big deal. Expect this town to go absolutely crazy when the Hoyas win.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Dear Stan Kasten & The Lerners.

This city has sacrificed its finances, its land, its honor and its pride in order to get MLB to have a baseball team here in DC. This city, on behalf of the fans, have done things that even rock-band groupies wouldn’t do. The very least that you can do is get us our fracking tickets in a reasonable fashion. As it stands, opening night is a week hence, and I still don’t have my 20 game ticketbook, and I understand, that I’m not alone.

I remember growing up when the A’s tickets would come in early March. It was a great day. We’d take the packs of tickets out of the envelopes and check all the games. They’d then go in the lefthand drawer of the credenza til we’d get them out before driving into Oakland.

All through Spring Training, we’d know the tickets were in the drawer. It was the best feeling ever. As it is, I know we have our opening day tickets (us 20 game plan folks don’t get them as part of the plan and have to buy them.) but I’ve been waiting to get our ticket books from Adam before going out to Reston to get them. That day just keeps getting later and later and there’s no time to stare at the tickets with rapt joy before the season starts.

As it currently stands, your inattention to detail has gone farther than it ever should. It’s bad enough that our team may only win 50 games this year, but to further alienate your fans in this city is a recipe for disaster that you cannot afford. You need your season ticket holders as much as they need you. Nothing will make that more clear than seeing RFK half-empty on opening day. Don’t take us for granted, Mr. Kasten and Mr. Lerner. That would be unwise.

Regards from the 400 level,

Tom Bridge

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

The Airbus A380 is visiting Dulles, and will be doing a demo flight today (Monday, March 26). Don’t expect to be able to fly with it, or visit the aircraft to see its luxurious insides, or even get a good chance to view it from the terminals, on the ground or above it. IAD’s A380 update tells us that the plane will generally be out of reach of the thronging masses:

However, the organizers of this event have not made arrangements for the general public to view the aircraft. Public areas of the airport do not offer a good view of the A380 when it is parked on the airfield. Views of the take-off and landing of the demonstration flight from public areas of the airport are also limited due to the configuration of the airfield. Dulles Airport will be operating normally throughout this event. If you come to the airport, please be mindful of passengers who will be traveling those days. Do not park in unauthorized areas, which will be patrolled by Airports Authority Police.

Any planespotters who manage to snap decent — or even indecent — shots of the superjumbo at Dulles, please do let us know in the comments, and add them to the DC Metroblogging Group. This is one planefan who’ll be waiting for those photos with baited breath. (Props go to Vidiot for his photos of the A380 visiting JFK Airport in New York.)

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Why work to create some cool links and content for you when I can link to this Metafilter post and have a beer instead? Virginia has put together a great post there with links about the architect behind the US Capitol, the capitol itself, the art and architecture thereof and more. If you need a little weekend linkage go check it out.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Photo by DC Metroblogger

I hate early morning flights. I would much rather fly late or overnight and have a full first day wherever I am going.

Seems I am in the minority of those who travel out of National airport on the weekend.

Where my usual 10pm to 12am departures are half empty, this morning’s flight to DFW is packed to the wingtips with passengers.

So my fellow Washingtonians, if you are headed to Austin for the weekend + business to Wednesday do you depart Friday night or Saturday morning?

And would a work-paid hotel from Saturday onwards change your mind?

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

discourtesy via WaPo

While writing yesterday’s post about the Jonathan Coulton show today I found that he’d been written up in the May 22nd edition of Express, WaPo’s freebie ripoff of USA Today’s in-depth reporting. I could read the article itself on page 53 of the PDF edition but when I went to copy the address for Ram’s Head…. nothing.

When some old cruft pasted into the edit window instead of what I wanted I just assumed I’d failed to press CONTROL-C correctly and went back to the other window to do it again. And discovered that Express apparently releases their PDFs with copy functionality disabled. It’ll let you highlight something – just to get your hopes up, I guess – but no copy.

Really? Your various puff-pieces in your giveaway paper are so precious that I need to be prevented from copying a paragraph? Admittedly, in the realm of difficulties in my life having to re-type that address into the google maps bar isn’t such a trial, but c’mon guys – what’s gained by making my life more difficult? The entirety of the WaPo daily can be copied from the web. Open up your PDFs.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

With just 2.5 seconds to go, Jeff Green launched an off-balance shot that put the Hoyas over the top tonight, beating Vandy 66-65 in regulation. Next up is the winner of the USC/UNC game, and a spot in the Final Four. Do the Hoyas have what it takes to go all the way? My wrecked bracket sure hopes so, or my aunt will mercilessly mock me for years to come.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Photo by DC Metroblogger

What would downtown DC egress be like if it were not for CVS? Every Friday until it is again too cold, the delivery truck will block 15th Street and block in parked cars.

The delivery men will then use the sidewalk, street, and the whole corner to sort their shipment. If they gave out free samples or at least kept it contained I would not mind.

Alas it is not so. It is spring and CVS is yet again taking over the K Street corner as the Downtown Helper looks on with indifference.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

photo courtesy of JoCo

Hey, you got your Coulton in my Annapolis! Hey, you got your Annapolis in my Coulton!

Okay, so they can’t all be gems.

Jonathan Coulton will be performing tomorrow at the Rams Head Tavern in Annapolis at 1pm. Bob & Storm will be there as well, just like the show they did a few weeks back at Jammin Java (though likely without the Da Vinci’s Notebook mini-reunion). I can’t speak highly enough of how enjoyable a show Coulton puts on, so I’ll let him speak for himself with this delightful tune “First of May,” about the joys of the impending warmer weather. Give it a listen free here… though you should probably wear your headphone if you’re in the office or mixed company.

He brings that same wit and whimsy to the stage, though usually with less profanity.

Hmm, I have almost talked myself into going even after seeing him just two weeks ago…

Rams Head Tavern & Fordham Brewing Co.
33 West Street
Annapolis, Maryland 21401
(410)268-4545

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

The Virgin Festival‘s second trip to the DC area will happen at the Pimlico track just outside of Baltimore this August 4th and 5th, and will feature headliners The Police, The Beastie Boys and Smashing Pumpkins, providing an awesome base on which to sell tickets and get people in the doors. Last year’s festival featured The Killers, The Who and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, one could say the festival’s on par. I’m not sure if there’s enough money in the world to make me hang out at an outdoor race track in Baltimore in the middle of August, but I will admit to thinking about it a bit now that the Police are playing…

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Photo by DC Metroblogger

Late last night I got the call. My bid on a home in Petworth was accepted and I am now on the fast track to homesteading.

And a $450,000 mortgage.

This morning both those realities hit me and you can see the result: crazy fear. Fear of many things, rational, irrational, even imaginary, but rarely financial.

Let me serve as an example of affordable housing in Washington DC. My three bedroom + finished basement house will be just under $3,000 a month with very traditional and conservative financing.

Thats $800 a person as a group house, or as we will do, $1,100 for my girlfriend and I, and $800 for the basement. Quite affordable by DC housing standards.

So to those who moan about the lack of “affordable housing”, I call bullshit. Housing is affordable. Mortgages are pricing out at rent levels.

If you read this and are thinking, “Nice, Wayan, but I really can not afford my dream home,” maybe its called “dream home” and not “reality home” for a reason.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

I don’t know where the hell that is, but post-OLPC talk that’s where we’re heading. Ignore the timestamp above – it’s about 8:25pm. So if you’re in Alexandria, c’mon by.

I lied – we’re at Joe Theissmans.

Oops, lying again – at Segars at the King St Hilton.

Hmm, starting to see the possible benefits of Twitter.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

I’ve been quiet lately, primarily because my once-beloved job had taken a turn for the torturous and soul-sucking, so pretty much my entire experience of DC was reduced to trudging the few blocks between my office and my garage, thinking, “oh god, another day of this,” and then drinking heavily with the other Metrobloggers. Not exactly the stuff of scintillating blog entries.

But I’ve gotten myself a new job, which I’ll be starting soon, and so my outlook has brightened considerably. Yay! And since the pros and cons of various employment situations have been on my mind lately, I present you with:

Tiffany’s Favorite Things About Working Downtown

• Mini parks. Every time a state street intersects a letter street and a number street at the same time, there’s a park. Some of these parks make fantastic places to eat lunch and get away from the office when the weather is nice. I missed these during the two years I worked in an office in a shopping center in Potomac.
• Street vendors. I’m so lame that I only know what’s fashionable based on which knockoffs are being stocked at the purse vendors.
• A sense of perspective on travel. While my family back home postpones long-desired vacations to Europe because of train bombings and liquids-on-planes scares, I know that I work near the White House. When one of the most attractive targets in the world is four blocks from your desk, you stop worrying about what could happen to you while on holiday, because hey… at least you’d be on vacation instead.

What do you like about the area where you work?

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Photo by DC Metroblogger

The latest entrant to the caffeine beverage wars is out in force today.

Chic Energy Supplinent free samples are going fast as heartbeats at 15th and K.

Grab one for yourself if you like overly sweet (sugar free!) caffeine + taurine and inositol water. Who knows what those last two chemicals do but the sin-a-man taste does nothing for me.

I’ll take my caffeine the right way: as an espresso in a French cafe.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Apparently the Washington Post (both in print and in the online edition) has decided to spontaneously rename Penn&Teller’s Showtime series “Bullshit!” I wonder if they bothered to tell the producers?

I don’t have access here to the Chicago Manual of Style (which I believe the Post purports to follow) so I don’t know what the approved method of redacting an ‘offensive’ word might be (Bull—-? Bull****? Bulls*it?) but I am pretty sure that simply altering it – and leaving accuracy behind – isn’t it.

screen grab of The Washington Post Online

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

photo courtesy of RoadKillBuddha

Jenn F wrote about a disconcerting experience she had over in the Eastern Market area a week ago and I wanted to bring it to your attention. Call me nuts – or just a person with low expectations – but I find it a somewhat uplifting story. Jenn took the time to find a cop and report it. The transit cop responded expediently and clearly some action was taken.

Forgive me for being trite, but I think its during these million little 60 second encounters every day that our city gets better or worse, not as a result of the Big Things or sweeping heroic gestures. Thanks for being one of the ways the city got better that day, Jenn.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

photo courtesy of the Red Cross

The supply is critically low and the Red Cross has been smacking their speed-dial button to my number like a monkey lookin for a heroin pellet. So go donate – why should I be the only one to suffer?

The addresses and service times of permanent donation centers can be found here and you can search for drives and other locations here.

And yes Wayan, we know you’re not allowed to donate and that you think it’s stupid. You too, Mik. Thanks in advance.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

OLPC Children’s Machine XO

Have you heard of the One Laptop Per Child program? Nicholas Negroponte’s efforts to create a “$100 laptop” for children in the developing world?

If you are international development, technology, or education, you should. I have, and I write about it daily on OLPC News, a website I started to track OLPC efforts.

Better yet, if you are in the technology field, specifically a new media professional, then join me tomorrow night at Refresh DC, a community of new media professionals working together to refresh online trades in Washington, DC. There, I will be speaking about:

OLPC XO: Design Environment for 10 Million New Web Users

In the next 12-18 months, OLPC plans to distribute 5-10 million laptops (the single largest computer monoculture ever shipped), and children in the developing world will be consuming and producing educational content on a grand scale.

What will the Internet look like? What should it look like? How will OLPC impact web design, content generation, information consumption, the entire “average user experience” online? The OLPC Sugar UI is just the beginning of the revolution.

Join me in discussing the rest of the revolution in computing at the Washington DC headquarters of The Motley Fool (map) | (metro) Thursday night.

The party starts at 6ish, I start yapping at 7pm, and this should be one lively discussion!

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

I’m looking forward to seeing The Pillowman this Friday night at Studio, and while I had by no means forgotten that my season tix were for that night I certainly appreciate the helpfulness of Studio sending out a message reminding me. “Dear Patron, This is your courtesy reminder that on Friday, March 23, 2007 at 8:00pm you are scheduled to attend: THE PILLOWMAN.”

A nice little feature, but as I am quickly skimming down the mail I see this next-to-last paragraph.

Please Be Advised that this production of THE PILLOWMAN contains the use of strobe lighting, haze effects and smoking of non tobacco products on stage.

Uh…. huh? Not that I actually think you’re going to spark a doob, dude, but what the hell does that mean? Is this a content warning a la “sexual situations and simulated drug use” or that there’s going to be a smoke machine running? Fake tobacco? Juggling of flaming torches? Self-immolating buddhist monk?

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs