Armino

1. 500px is Photography

500px lets you create stunning professional photographic portfolios, find friends, and express yourself in a new way.

500px is Photography

2. Amazing Planet – Filip Kulisev Photography

Filip Kulisev has, at young age, achieved international recognition that the majority of professional photographers throughout their lives only dream of. He exhibits not only in Slovakia, but his photographs have admired in Vienna, Budapest, Brussels, Sydney, Pittsburgh, Washington, Vancouver, or the permanent outdoor exhibition of the Caribbean Turks & Caicos Islands.

Amazing Planet - Filip Kulisev Photography

3. Beat A. Von Weissenfluh Photography

Fine art photography by Beat A. Von Weissenfluh

Fine art photography by Beat A. Von Weissenfluh

4. Behance Network – The creative professional platform

Great work deserves to be seen – Showcase your work on the world’s leading platform for creative professionals, and gain exposure to millions.

Behance Network

5. Edward Aninaru Photography

At the age of 31 , you may say that is too late to begin doing something; mostly when you didn’t try to do anything by then. However the happening took place. Playing around in Photoshop, i realized that i don’t have much images to work with.
So it came about the time to acquire a photo camera and with it i began stressing visually all my friends, for starters and after i cought a little courage also some online communities and in the end, yourselves.

Edward Aninaru Photography

6. Hong Kong photographs

Hong Kong photographs and photography – a collection by Nic Tinworth.

Hong Kong photographs

7. Landscapes with a soul

Landscape photos it is shots of gardens, outdoor traveling and discovers. Nature in all its fascinating beauty: mountains, sea, rivers, cliffs, sunset, snow, sand, desert and city parks, oasis and windy roads. Photos from all corners of the world, gathered during trips and travelings.

Landscapes with a soul

8. Photo.net – Photography comunity

Photo.net is a photography community that includes forums, reviews, and galleries for members and casual viewers.

Photo.net - photography community

9. Photography Served

The Served sites bring you a steady supply of top quality creative work, with each site streaming fresh projects in specific categories(e.g. fashion, industrial design, photography…). To deliver this work to you, we comb through projects from the portfolios of the most talented creative people and teams around the world. We then serve up the best of what we find -at each of the Served sites, and in our weekly and monthly Served emails.

Photography Served

10. Scott Stulberg Photography

Travel and stock photography from around the world

Scott Stulberg Photography

11. Shooting Strangers in Orchard Road, Photography by Danny Santos II

This is a gallery of street photographs by Danny Santos II taken on the weekends in Orchard Road, Singapore.

Shooting Strangers in Orchard Road, Photography by Danny Santos II

12. ZoneZero – From the lightscreen

ZoneZero ® is a site dedicated to image making & photography. Founded in 1994 by Pedro Meyer, ZoneZero ® has been both witness and active participant of the ongoing digital (r)evolution. ZoneZero ® first appeared online when the internet became a public resource, making it the oldest website dedicated to photography that is still standing and growing. We are proud to acknowledge that ZoneZero ® paved the way for thinking that viewing photography on a computer screen was a legitimate platform.

ZoneZero - From the lightscreen

These days I needed an iPhone browser simulator to work on my Ubuntu Linux and searched the internet for a good one. After a couple of hours I finally found one at ibbdemo iPhone browser simulator.
Here is a screenshot with my blog in the iPhone version:

iPhone browser simulator

Another pretty good android/iPhone browser emulator could be found here:
ibrowsertest.com

Enjoy.

Hello again,

In this tutorial we’ll try to create some cool drapes, hopefully.

Start with a blank, 800 x 600 px, design.
Select the Blend Tool (L key) and choose the FG to BG (HSV counter clockwise) gradient fill. I picked for foreground color a dark blue (#081d47) and for background some red (#e01717). See Picture 1.

Picture 1 - The toolbox

Then fill the background layer with the previously selected gradient. We’ll have something like in Picture 2.

Picture 2 - The gradient background

Now create a new layer and name it plasma. Go to Filters menu -> Render -> Clouds -> Plasma. Leave the default settings and click OK (see Picture 3).

Picture 3 - Plasma tool

Now we have something like in Picture 4.

Picture 4 - Plasma noise

Go to the Colors menu -> Desaturate and in the next Dialog window pick Luminosity (see Picture 5).

Picture 5 - Plasma noise desaturated

Create a new layer and name it drape. Go to Filters menu -> Render -> Pattern -> Sinus and fill the sinus parameters as in pictures 6, 7 & 8.

Picture 6 - Sinus tool

Picture 7 - Sinus tool - colors settings

Picture 8 - Sinus Tool - blend settings

The resulting image should like in the Picture 9.

Picture 9 - Sinus image

In order to create a realistic drape we’ll apply a lens distortion effect on the sinus layer. Go to Filters menu -> Distorts -> Lens distortion and set the parameters as in Picture 10.

Picture 10 - Lens Distortion tool settings

At this point the image looks like this:

Picture 11 - Distorted sinus

Now change the mode of the drapes layer to Multiply and the mode for plasma layer to Grain merge (see Picture 12).

Picture 12 - Layer multiply

We are almost done. Since now we have our drapes as in Picture 13.

Picture 13 - We're almost ready with our drapes

Let’s make it more appealing by adding some neon glow text to it. Choose the text tool and select a nice slim font of your choice. I’ve selected “MgOpen Cosmetica”.
Now write some text as in Picture 14 and color it with a light blue (#d4e1fb).

Picture 14 - The Drapes Tutorial text

Duplicate the text layer 3 times as in Picture 15.

Picture 15 - Duplicated text layers

Now right click in the layer toolbox on the 3rd duplicated text layer and select Layer to image size. Repeat this step for the other two duplicates.
On the 3rd duplicated text layer apply a Gaussian Blur filter with the radius of 30, on the 2nd one a blur radius of 20 and on the 1st duplicate a blur radius of 10.
Change the text color on the original text layer to white, and we’re done (see Picture 16).

Picture 16 - Final result - The drapes tutorial

You can download the gimp file here: the-drapes-tutorial.xcf.zip

Hello everyone,

This is a beginner level tutorial to show you how to use guidelines and how to use paths in conjunction with selection tools in order to create a nice pie chart as practice example.

Start with a new 600px x 600px with a white background, and setup two guide lines for centering as in Picture 1.

Picture 1 - Guide lines setup

Create a circle selection using the ellipse selection tool . Hold down SHIFT + CTRL keys to create a perfect circle centered at guide lines intersection as in Picture 2.

Picture 2 - Circle selection

Now from the Select menu click To Path ( Picture 3).

Picture 3 - Selection to path

You will see in the path dialog the newly created circle path (Picture 4). Rename the path to circle for reference. Press CTRL+SHIFT+A to remove any selection.

Picture 4 - Circle path

Ok, it’s time to begin our pie slicing. Remember to keep the guide lines in place. First we will create the slice paths and then we’ll complete the pie.

Click on the eye icon at the left of the circle path icon in order to make the path visible. See Picture 5.

Picture 5 - Make the circle path visible

Select from the ToolBox the Path Tool or press the B key. See Picture 6.

Picture 6 - Toolbox - Path tool

Create a path as in Picture 7 from outside the circle to the intersection of the guide lines and again outside the circle. On the Toolbox click Selection from Path button. You will get a selection as in Picture 8. Go to the Path Dialog window (Picture 9), right click on circle path and choose intersect with selection from the menu (Picture 10).

Picture 7 - The knife path

Picture 8 - knife path to selection

Picture 9 - Path dialog

Picture 10 - Intersect with Selection

You will get a selection as in Picture 11. Go to Select menu and choose To Path. You will obtain a new path as in Picture  12. Rename the path to sector 1. Hit CTRL+SHIFT+A to remove the selections.

Picture 11 - Sector 1 Selection

Picture 12 - The new path sector 1

So far we got our first pie sector. To create the next sector we switch to our knife path and drag the left (outside the circle) node of the path to the new cut position as in Picture 13.

Picture 13 - knife path second cut

Picture 14 - Path dialog with all sectors

We’ll repeat the steps above to create another 2 more sectors :
- path to selection
- right click on the circle path and intersect with selection
- selection to path
After this we have the configuration of the paths as in Picture 14.

We are now ready to start coloring the pie. Go to the Layers dialog window and add another transparent layer. Named it sectors. See Picture 15 for details.

This layer will contain our sectors.

Picture 15 - The sectors layer

Go back to the Paths dialog and right-click on the sector 1 path. Choose Path to Selection from the menu. From the Toolbox choose a color of your choice and drag it into the selection. See Picture 16 for result.

Picture 16 - The red sector

Repeat the operation above for each path and choose your preferred color for each sector. I have colored mine like in Picture 17.

Picture 17 - Colored sectors

Switch to the layers dialog window and select the background layer. Go to the Path dialog window, right click on the circle path and choose Path to Selection. Fill the selection with a color of your choice.

That’s it. Hope you enjoyed my tutorial.

Here is the final image:

Picture 18 - Final pie chart

Hey everyone,

It’s been quite a long time since my last post. I’ve been pretty busy coding the new website for vreaumobila.ro.

It is not fully tested yet, so be warned that bugs might be at large .
You can check it at www.vreaumobila.ro.

Here is a preview of the homepage:

Even it has been released several months ago I just heard about it.
I must say it is an impressive documentary about Earth, and everyone should see it.

We are living in exceptional times. Scientists tell us that we have 10 years to change the way we live, avert the depletion of natural resources and the catastrophic evolution of the Earth’s climate. The stakes are high for us and our children. Everyone should take part in the effort, and HOME has been conceived to take a message of mobilization out to every human being. For this purpose, HOME needs to be free. A patron, the PPR Group, made this possible. EuropaCorp, the distributor, also pledged not to make any profit because Home is a non-profit film. HOME has been made for you : share it! And act for the planet.
Yann Arthus-Bertrand, GoodPlanet Fundation President

If you cannot see the embeded video here is a direct youtube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqxENMKaeCU&feature=player_embedded

TO DEBATE AND TAKE ACTION: http://www.goodplanet.org/en
More information on :
http://www.goodplanet.info

Yesterday I searched through my stuff from my parents’ house and found an old tape recording of NOMAD, a rock band I created a long time ago with some friends of mine.
I don’t remember very well, but I believe the song was recorded back in 1995 or 1996. At that time I was playing the guitar.

Unfortunatelly after I listened to it I realize it was not the original recorded version, but a remastered copy done in house, with my guitar solo’s trials.

Also our english was very poor at the time, and we named the song “By my own” instead of “On my own” .

Nevertheless, here is the mp3 version of the song to be remembered. Download By my own here

Almost forgot: the band composition was Me (solo guitar), Edward (rhythm guitar and voice), Mihai aka Tinere (bass), Andy Ilie (rhythm guitar) & Cristi (drums).

This is a beginner level tutorial on how to make an Audi logo in Gimp.

Step 1: Start a new graphic with 800×600 px dimensions, or whatever your preferences are.
Choose the ellipse select tool and make a circular selection similar to mine. I made one of 220px in diameter.

First circle selection

Note: You can adjust your dimensions exactly by entering them manually in the tool options. Enter ellipse selection manual size

Step 2: Building the first ring
Go to [Select] menu and choose [Border] by 8 px. This will be our outer circle.

Border 8 px

Now create a new transparent layer above the background and keep the selection active.  Name the new layer “audi circle”.

The audi circle layer

From the toolbox select the gradient tool (FG to BG) and fill the selection with a black to white linear gradient from bottom to the top as show in the next image. The “audi circle” layer must be the active layer.

Outer circle gradient fill

Now we have to make the inner circle. From the toolbox choose [Fuzzy] select tool and click inside the circle.

Inner circle - click on the picture to enlarge

Then go to [Select] menu, choose Shrink and type a value of 8 px.

Shrink selection by 8px

Go again to [Select] menu, choose Border and type a value of 8px again. The workspace should look like this:

Inner circle - border

Now repeat the gradient fill as described above but from top to bottom. Remember that the “audi circle” layer must be the active layer.

Inner circle gradient filled

As you can see our design starts to get a shape.

Step 3: Duplicate the rings
Right click on the “audi layer” and choose “Alpha to selection”.

Alpha to selection

As you observe, the whole ring is selected. Now copy the selection with (CTRL+C) and paste it (CTRL+V).
Now move your pasted graphic as in the next photo.

Duplicated ring

In order to move you drag with the mouse the pasted selection to the desired position. After you begin dragging press CTRL for axis constraint. This will ensure the alignment of the rings.
Go to the layers toolbox and click on the [new layer] button.
Note: I have added the pasted ring in a new layer in order to be able to correct it’s position easier.

new layer

At this point your layers should look as below:

Layers 2 rings

Don’t bother to rename the “Pasted layer” as we will merge the layers together later. Now repeat the step above and create the rest of the rings.
Until now we have something like this:

4 rings

We are not ready yet. We have to add some more magic to our logo. First we will combine all pasted layers into “audi circle” layer.
Go to Layers toolbox, right click on the topmost layer and select “Merge Down” from the menu.

Merge down layers

Step 4: Final touch
Duplicate the layer “audi circle” and move the duplicate below it. Also hide the “audi circle” layer by clicking on the eye icon.

Audi circle copy

Right click the “audi circle copy” and select from the menu “Alpha to selection”. Now fill the selection with black.

Duplicate layer black

Now deselect (SHIFT+CTRL+A) everything and go to the [Filters] menu -> [Blur] -> Gaussian blur.
Select a value of 15px.

Gaussian blur

That’s it. We now have a nice and simple Audi logo. Don’t forget to unhide the “audi circle” layer if you haven’t done so already.

The final Audi logo

Hope you liked my tutorial.

Oh, I almost forgot, you can download the .xcf file here: audi_logo.xcf

Let’s say your network settings are as following:

IP: 10.10.0.25
NETMASK: 255.255.255.0
GATEWAY: 10.10.0.1
DNS SERVERS: 10.10.0.2, 10.10.0.3

Before starting it is very useful to run ifconfig, in order to see the network interfaces.

The output should look similar to this:
eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:1a:31:a2:1d:de
UP BROADCAST MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:0 (0.0 B) TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)
Interrupt:251 Base address:0x6000
lo Link encap:Local Loopback
inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0
inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 Metric:1
RX packets:3153 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:3153 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:375999 (375.9 KB) TX bytes:375999 (375.9 KB)

So, let’s setup our network adapter:

root@localhost$ ifconfig eth0 10.10.0.25 netmask 255.255.255.0 broadcast 10.10.0.255

Next you must set the gateway. We will use the route command.

root@localhost$ route add default gw 10.10.0.1 dev eth0

The above line tells the kernel that the default route is 10.10.0.1 through ethernet adapter eth0. This is very usefull especially if you have more interfaces in your system.

Everything is ok by now, except the dns resolving. For that you have to edit /etc/resolv.conf file, and add the next lines:

root@localhost$ nano -w /etc/resolv.conf
nameserver 10.10.0.2
nameserver 10.10.0.3

This is a fast way to setup your network. However this are not permanent settings, so when you will restart your system all the changes will be lost. For your settings to be permanent you have to learn about your system configuration files and modify them properly.

Browsing the web, I stumbled over a recent Google blog post about the future release of their operating system, Chrome OS.
I wonder what would mean to Microsoft the release of the new OS.

According to Google

Google Chrome OS is an open source, lightweight operating system that will initially be targeted at netbooks. Later this year we will open-source its code, and netbooks running Google Chrome OS will be available for consumers in the second half of 2010. Because we’re already talking to partners about the project, and we’ll soon be working with the open source community, we wanted to share our vision now so everyone understands what we are trying to achieve.

If the Chrome OS will be fast and stable as the Chrome browser I think it will be a real success, so I look forward to get it on my computer.

Read more here