mysite blog

Moving Across

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 11:53:00 +0000

I still like my blog page here for nostalgic reasons, but by now I have pretty much moved most things over here to Google Plus.

Cloud file storage and syncing

Tue, 25 Oct 2011 10:20:00 +0000

I never thought I would actually get enthusiastic about online cloud file syncing. I always thought that something like Dropbox with a simple shared folder is all there is. But SugarSync is really so much more. You can remote-access files and folders on different computers and devices (this can but doesn't have to be synced to other computers), there's an unsynced web drive for backup purposes, syncing can exclude subfolders which can be useful for e.g. programming projects with a build folder, etc. Files are versioned, you have a trash folder, good mobile apps and syncing, and also a good web interface, music streaming, easy sharing of folders and files, syncing happens over a secure connection and close to real-time and is only delayed by your connection speed. The free version is limited to 5GB (plus extra space for completing some tasks) but has all features enabled. More space is available with one of the pricing plans. After a week or so of using the free version I got an offer for half-price subscriptions, plus the first month of a paid plan is free. Overall, SugarSync wins hands down over Dropbox and most other services. From my research just SpiderOak seems another good alternative to me. I suspect that this and pricing models may change should Google actually release its long rumoured GDrive, we will see.

Anyway, for now I'm happy with SugarSync. I currently need some reliable cloud storage and sync system to work on a cross-platform project and to keep my backups.

If that's what you're looking for as well, then sign up to SugarSync using this link and get an extra 500MB on a free, or an extra 10GB on a paid account (yes, yes, I'll get the same extra space - that's a win-win, right?).

Cloud picture via explodingdog.com

Scribbler Too

Tue, 28 Sep 2010 15:17:00 +0000

(click here to see the large image)

Scribbler Too is quite an addictive online drawing tool. It does not draw straight lines; instead strokes connect to existing lines if they are in their influence area. Try it and you will see what I mean.

Interestingly this tool creates a new drawing experience. Instead of focusing on individual lines I drew my attention to the entire image and the relation of the lines. I was amazed at the results considering that I only used a mouse to draw (which with other drawing programs creates pretty bad scrawly images).

The influence of the lines on the brush behaviour is an interesting effect that really only works in a digital environment. Below are some more drawings that I made today.

Dipl-O-Matic

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 19:37:00 +0000

Just live: Dipl-O-Matic

This website records the progress of my Master of Art & Design Project at Auckland University of Technology (AUT), New Zealand.

The website attempts to demonstrate the entire development of the project through notes, theoretical and practice-based means, contextual, theoretical and methodological research procedures, visual experiments, etc, up until the final practice result and exegesis.

The navigation is set up in form of a timeline that visually represents the progress of the project in different areas. Tags and categories allow deeper cross-linking and context-based structuring of the content.

For more information and a more detailed description please visit Dipl-O-Matic. The site will be updated frequently.

Zotero

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 19:10:00 +0000

I came across a really useful software today: Zotero.

It helps to collect, manage, cite, and share your research sources. Basically it's a Firefox browser addon that can store sources and make it easy to organise them. If you are looking for a book resource you can simply go and find it on e.g. Google Books, Amazon or many other pages and save the source with a single click. You can then easily cite and Zotero creates the bibliography with your desired bibliography style. It's as simple as drag and drop and it works across many different applications.

There are also Zotero plugins for Word and Open Office.

The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 19:01:00 +0000

A fantastic silhouette-style steampunk animation by Antony Lucas. In terms of the visual style of the animation I really like the fusion of 2d and 'unobtrusive' 3d style. It reflects the theme of the futuristic yet nostalgic and mechanical world of Jasper Morello in an ideal way.

It's quite an inspiration for my Postgraduate studies (towards a Master of Art & Design) that I started last week. Actually the mechanical ideas blend in well with my current story idea that I've been carrying around with me since end of 2008 (and which due to an incredible lack of time is still far from complete).

Lucas' animation was nominated for an Oscar and a BAFTA award in 2006.

I luckily discovered it through ARDEN, the Postgraduate Research Community of the School of Art & Design, Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand.

Yet Moving

Fri, 08 Jan 2010 11:22:00 +0000

Actually I did find the time and updated this website to the latest stable version of Silverstripe which was smoother than expected.

Moving

Wed, 06 Jan 2010 15:52:31 +0000

I've moved this and a few other sites to a new server. It's probably about time to also update the content management system (CMS). This site runs on Silverstripe which is still an amazing CMS, but more up-to-date versions are much better on the resources (especially on memory) and have many other improvements. Plus I'm much more familiar with the system now. So if I find the time...

Kitten Looking for a Good Home

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 13:18:41 +0000

(more photos)

A single kitten is looking for a good home. Currently located in Auckland.

The kitten is very cute (well, it's a kitten, so how couldn't it be cute?), friendly, not shy at all and it seems to be very quick to get attached.

Our friend found it wandering about in the garden. It's old enough to get adopted. We would keep it but our current cat doesn't accept the kitten.

~~If you're keen please give me a ring as soon as possible on 021 035 0176 or send an email to anatol@nugob.org .~~

~~Also, if you happen to know anyone who might want this adorable kitten please let them know!~~

~~Thanks! You won't regret this!~~

Thank you for 'spreading the word' and all your interest. It seems the kitten found a new home and will be picked up tomorrow.

Excellent! Excellent!

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 17:14:19 +0000

Yesterday I won the University of Auckland 2009 General Staff Excellence Award for Excellence in Innovation which is conferred every year to one staff member across the entire University. I highly appreciate that the efforts are recognised. The ceremony was held by the vice-chancellor.

Here's the citation:

"Anatol led the technological implementation, customisation, improvement and maintenance of the online learning management system (LMS) Moodle for the Faculty of Education. He managed the transfer of existing online courses from the legacy system and the creation of new courses in the LMS.

He also provides ongoing support and training for staff and students. He created a student management system that is essential to the implementation of the new e-learning environment and developed a CD-ROM generator for readings CDs.

He engages in ongoing research into technology and media that is innovative and useful for teaching and learning and that helps to keep the University up-to-date and competitive in the tertiary sector."

The award also comes with a nice cash prize that will come in quite handy to get some equipment for my Masters studies for a MA Art & Design at AUT University that will commence next year. What a lot of good news at once!

Be Careful What You Wish For

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:21:55 +0000

I'm usually not the biggest fan of Flash sites but this one blew me away: Coraline

Also, the film is absolutely brilliant and it really annoys me that I missed the 3D screening in cinemas. I hope that one day I can make up for this. Perfect stop-motion animation and a beautiful dark story.

Here is the trailer.

Incredibly Strange: Movie Marathon 09

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:42:17 +0000

It seems I survived the 24 hour Incredibly Strange Movie Marathon over the weekend. Here is the lineup:

The Secret Four/Kansas City Confidential (1952)

(opening sequence)

Zombieland (2009)

Road House (1989)

Forbidden World (1982)

Vice Squad (1982)

Paranormal Activity (2007)

Maidens of Fetish Street (1969) part of The Abnormal Female

(Couldn't find a trailer but here's a photostream on Flickr)

Mill of the Stone Women (1960)

Night Train to Terror (1985)

(Watch the trailer here.)

The Visitor/Stridulum (1979)

The Informant! (2009)

Creature From Black Lake (1976)

(Couldn't find anything on this film.)

Howling II: ... Your Sister Is a Werewolf / Stirba: Werewolf Bitch (1985)

Commando (1985)

That's all folks.
Including some very short breaks it lasted about 25 hours nonstop.

Here are the instructions for this year's movie marathon:

And if you still don't have enough here are some trailers for the Movie Marathon itself. Enjoy!

A million thanks to Ant Simpson and everyone involved for a fantastic weekend!

I, Robot

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 15:53:54 +0000

I just came across a really nice game today: Machinarium. A little roboton a big adventure. This is a nice little point and click adventure game with very beautiful design made in Czechoslovakia.

Funny enough I could say the exact same thing about a game called Little Wheel, except that that's from Slovakia. Both are definitely worth a look. I wonder which was first.

Big White / Big Black

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 11:50:39 +0000

Hmmm ... ja! I really like this animation by Rosto: Big White / Black White

Also make sure you check out his website with much more amazing stuff like these episodes (dammit, the gears remind me of the idea I'm working on right now...)! And the music is also written by the director. It seems my new hero is Dutch.

Here is a good collection of other works.

I, Robot

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 15:39:02 +0000

I started to work on a new animation. Above is a visual test of the protagonist (see the large version). It's more than likely that the look will change completely but I somewhat like this still. It could make a good flyer as it is but the style will probably not be expressive enough for character animation.

For those who are interested in the tools: The robot above was made from scratch in the free open source software Blender, the halftone texture on the robot comes from a PyNode Script for Blender by T.K., backgrounds are put together and modified in Photoshop.

The story is complete (but I won't spoil it here). It will be a rather short animation, yet I expect it'll still take me quite a while to complete because I have a lot of stuff on my plate right now.

Reinventing Your Inbox

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 16:46:52 +0000

It seems that Google is currently reinventing email. According to the keynote the upcoming Google Wave indeed looks very promising. It has the potential to become an incredible innovation for the world wide web. I think what sums it up is probably the question that the Google developers asked themselves:

"What would email look like if it was invented today?" (email has been around for 40 years)

As I see it Google Wave could potentially replace email as we know and use it today. It is from the ground up designed to be collaborative (much more than e.g. Google Docs or Wikis etc). Think of it more of a 'conversation space' rather than an inbox with the 'traditional' concept to send and receive letters. It can also link into (or be embedded in) any web content.

One of the best decisions around that is that it's not proprietory to Google but will be an open source project with open standards.

You'll get the best idea if you watch the 1h 20mins keynote. Or if you wait a couple of months until it'll be released.

The Rabbit

Mon, 07 Sep 2009 13:11:43 +0000

Sweet. The animation The Rabbit by Australian animator Rosalie Osman is now available online. I love it. And a very nice style, too. Thank you for letting me know about the update!

Cyclomaniacs

Fri, 04 Sep 2009 13:19:14 +0000

I hardly ever play Flash games, but this one got me hooked: Cyclomaniacs

The gameplay couldn't be simpler: cycle, jump and spin. You get extra boost for stunts (sommersaults and wheelies), access to new levels and cyclists if you accomplish special goals (finish in 60 seconds, do 3 forward sommersaults, etc...) and with price money you can buy speed, acceleration, spin etc... Overall there are 20 cyclists on different bikes and all of them behave differently and are more or less suitable for each of the 26 different tracks.

And in a strange way one of the cyclists, Farty Pants, strongly reminds me of my former animation teacher Mr. Felix – now out and about for the last 6 years or so cycling Southeast Asia.

Here is a little Making of... from the developers of the game.

Highly recommended, especially if you actually have tons of more important things on your plate!

Portfolio Relaunch

Fri, 31 Jul 2009 17:13:57 +0000

Just gone live: my new and completely revamped portfolio. Visit the site at portfolio.nugob.org

Rosalie Osman

Thu, 28 May 2009 13:08:07 +0000

I came across this animation showreel by Rosalie Osman. I love the style and the stories look very interesting, but there's only one film out there to watch completely: The Kitchen Drawer

I would be quite keen to see her other works: Bibliomania and The Rabbit.