Photoshop Fade In Fade Out

This is a mini-tutorial on just one Photoshop "trick." Viewpoint Design's Fade Tutorial shows the user how to take two Photoshop images and have them fade in and out of each other.

Great Beginnings

Perhaps the hardest part of writing a book is coming up with that perfect first sentence, paragraph, or page. Frequently it's the first sentence that hooks you into the rest of the book. Opening Hooks is a data base of first lines. The criterion is set by the readers and is not the work of a group of literary movers and shakers. Many of the lines are the ones you expect to see while others may introduce you to writers and novels you've never heard of before. My one complaint with the site is that there are so many typos. I'm sure they were not all intended by the authors.

Kim Komando Photo Contest

Kim Komando, radio computer diva, has teamed up with Radio Shack to come up with a photo contest. Prizes will be given out each month for the next 3 months. Each month there will be a $1,000 prize for best photo in each of three categories and a $2,500 prize for best photo over all. Visit Kim Komando's site for details of this contest if you're interested.

Photographic Blog

David J. Nightingale has a photographic blog. He has received notable mentions and won several titles with his photos. He now showcases many of his photos at his Chromasia blog. This is one more method of showing your work and being recognized. See how Mr. Nightingale has used this media--and learn.

Photographic Awards

This is a site for the serious photojournalist. The Best of Photojournalism 2004 links to a plethora of award sites. They include, but are not limited to, Newspaper Photographer of the Year, Magazine Photographer of the Year, Sports Portfolio of the Year, Nature and Environment Picture Story, and Computer Image Illustration. How do your photos compare?

Video Game Revolution

A couple weeks back I caught the tail end of a two-hour PBS television show titled: The Video Game Revolution. The Video Game Revolution web site compliments the program. It covers the video game and its history, how it has affected our culture, our economy, and our life style. If you plan to make gaming a part of your career, you must visit this site.

Government Jobs

The USAJobs site posts nearly 17,000 federal jobs in their database. In addition the site offers users the ability to create and store their resume, find the jobs most in demand, and a skills and assessment center where you can match your interests and potential to the jobs available.

Photoshop tutorials online

Russell Brown has written numerous articles and books about Photoshop. He has created animated tutorials about Photoshop that run anywhere from just a few minutes on up to nearly 30 minutes. If you want the Photoshop exercises along with the tutorials videos you will need to register (spelled $$$) . The video/animations are quite good and will probably suffice for the intermediate computer user.

If you back off the URL down to the home page you will find this Photoshop tutorial is part of a larger collection of tutorials. Collectively they are called lynda.com online learning library. Some of the latest releases are: Learning Apple Keynote, Intro to Internet Searching, Learning Jasc Paint Shop Power, and Advanced ActionScript 2.0.

Poetry of Henry Reed

According to the site banner, "Critical and biographical information for the poet and radio dramatist Henry Reed (1914 - 1986), author of Naming of Parts." Many of Reed's poems are printed here in full or in part. They are only to be used for educational purposes.

Apple + iTunes = Movie Trailers

Apple has brought Movie Trailers to its iTunes web site. The trailers can be loaded for free. Broadband is definitely going to be the order of the day for this site. While they are not the complete movie and only trailers they are important examples of marketing/advertising in the film industry. Most of the trailers are for current or recent releases. But there is a nice mix of various studios. Even the Independent films have a representation in this collection.

Golden Age of Cartoons

Before Yu-Gi-Oh and the whole anime crowd. Before Sponge Bob and his friends. There were the Looney Tunes, Walter Lantz, and Walt Disney cartoons. That's what Golden Age Cartoons is all about. Be warned: there is a lot of commercial product promoted here. However there are articles and additional links for the discerning Golden Age Cartoon aficionado. Go to the Looney Tunes & Merrie Melodies Page and find out what scenes from your favorite cartoons the television censors have cut.

Poet and Songwriter Helper

If you are an old-fashioned songwriter who likes to rhyme his/her verses you'll like the WriteExpress Online Rhyming Dictionary. Poets that use rhyme will also find it helpful. The interface is quite simple. Type in the word. Hit enter. Write Express produces a list of possible rhyming words.
Another rhyming site is the Rhyme Zone. This one rhymes words and student writers can post and critique poetry. In addition to the rhyming there are links to famous books, quotations, Shakespeare, Mother Goose, and other features.

Free Photo Editing Software

Kodak has made its EasyShare Software available free of charge on the Internet. While it is certainly not as powerful as many commercial photo editing software, the price is right for students who would like to clean up their images, or just make some good prints. Some of the features include: naming photos, multiple displays, create photo albums, captioning, store images online and make emailing easier, and the ever-popular more.

The Great Illusion

I'm not certain how this site could be useful to Columbia students or staff. But I'm sure they can appreciate the artwork. The reason I'm posting the Great Illusion is because I like the artwork and wanted to share it with others. Enjoy.