Photography and 3D Software Training from Dan Ablan

Dan is a fantastic teacher. If you want to learn, start with his
materials. http://www.3dgarage.com/default.asp?m=0

Allen Bussell
Sent from my iPhone

Boo-hoo! Go grow some compassion...

I'm going to be honest here, I'm a crier - evident during my "scratchy-eye" moments during romantic movies like Fools Rush In, inspirational ones like Glory and Rudy, during graduations, weddings, births, and seeing old friends.  Most of my life, I'd assumed this automatically meant that I was one of God's truly compassionate people.  I mean look at me...my eyes are bloodshot!  I really care about those around me - deeply - and I advertise it with appropriate sniffles and boo-hoo's.

BUT...speaking with a dear friend today I realized that this brine emanating from my ducts has very little to do with whether or not compassion truly lives in me, and even less with using that gift to help my friends and family.  Touchy-feely does not automatically enroll one into the "I care" club.  In fact, it could be argued that those of us with our heart, at least partially, on our sleeves are actually less compassionate than we should be.  Why?  Because the emotions end-up pouring out like an untamed river in the rainy season and, unfortunately, releasing most of the energy that went with them.  

I need to learn from my friends who are more analytical, more apt to slow-down, listen, assess, encourage and, hopefully, give good advice.  They share real tools to deal with problems, situations - and honestly, we all need that - just as much as we need a friend to sit next to us and cry.

Obviously, suffering with those whom we love is not wrong or wasteful - today was just a good reminder that God endowed different gifts to each of us - to help those He's placed around us.

 

Perfection? No.

As many of you know, I've been working as a 3D visualization artist for many years.  One of the first things I learned when building objects and creating textures is that perfection equals fakery.  Now translate this into looking more deeply into our relationships: personal, business and otherwise.  If you know someone who's never made a mistake, never failed, never REALLY screwed up; it's likely that person is a fake, a liar.

Give me blemishes and imperfections, failures and second-place finishes!  Without them we remain shallow, weak, without personality and lacking in compassion and empathy.  I want to base my deep friendships not on perfect people, but on broken, injured people with hearts that speak to me and with minds that, though sharp, exude kindness.  Honestly, I fight with showing my weaknesses every minute I'm awake - not wanting to open myself to disappointment and heartbreak - but what is life then?  After all, a year of sunny days is a draught.

Time to recapture me.

In a life so full, so busy, so demanding, I need to seize more of my
time - just to think - to contemplate - to assess. I've lost so much
of who I used to be that I barely recognize myself. Enough!

Allen Bussell
Sent from my iPhone

Eli and the new kitty

Though it's more crowded in the apartment, Eli doesn't seem to mind sharing with the new cat.

Because it's the LAW!

I am a TEA Party patriot and I believe it's time that those in DC (no matter their party) are held accountable to obey and protect our Constitution and understand that, by definition, our Bill of Rights are there for individual and States rights and that the Law prohibits the federal government from acting outside it's bounds, as defined within it's pages. Some want Federal workers to have greater and more control over our lives, to keep stealing from the "rich" (as defined by whomever is currently in power) to supposedly give to the "poor" (you know the workers in DC making over $100,000/year). These people also want laws to allow the IRS to force every man, woman and child to buy a product from a private company whether or not they want or need the product.

Here's the deal: If you want the United States to become this type of country then grow a backbone and lawfully amend or dismiss our Constitution... You know the one that thousands have died and suffered to protect.

Eli falling asleep

The Nemesis

Another reason I'll not visit Mexico: 13 dead in massacre at Juarez party - USATODAY.com

Mexico: 13 dead in massacre at Ciudad Juarez party
http://usat.me?40793764

From the USA TODAY iPhone App

TUAW: "iPads join tongue depressors and latex gloves as a hospital fixture"

"iPads join tongue depressors and latex gloves as a hospital fixture" - TUAW.com

http://www.tuaw.com/2010/10/22/ipads-join-tongue-depressors-and-latex-gloves-as-a-hospital-fixt/?icid=px-iphone

The next time you visit a hospital or medical clinic for a routine check or emergency, don't be surprised if the doctor shows up with an iPad in hand.

The Chicago Sun-Times is reporting that in several Windy City hospitals, the iPad is making inroads in a big way. The Loyola University Medical Center has given Apple's tablet to all of its orthopedic residents as a pilot program, while the University of Chicago Medical Center is expanding an existing pilot by providing iPads to all of their internal medicine residents.

What are the iPads used for? At the University of Chicago, plastic surgeon Dr. Julie Park shows breast-cancer patients what they may look like after reconstructive surgery. At the Metro South Medical Center, many of the emergency room doctors purchased their own iPads once they found out that they could access the hospital's medical record system from the devices. One Metro South doctor was quoted as saying that the iPads resolved one of the traditional problems with moving from paper to electronic records -- having to go to a desktop computer to order lab tests or update patient notes.

Since the iPad is used as a portal device to the record system at Metro South, no patient info is stored on the device. Both the medical record system and iPad are password-protected as well, keeping secure information safe from prying eyes.

If you're using an iPad in a hospital or other medical venue, let us know how it's working out by leaving a comment.

[via MacDailyNews]

-------------------------------

This link came from The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) iPhone App. It is your source for tips, reviews, news, analysis and opinion on everything Apple. From iPod to Mac to iPhone, with tips from beginner to advanced, TUAW keeps you current with daily updates delivered to your iPhone or iTouch.

To learn more about the app or download it go here:
http://www.tuaw.com/downloads/iphone

Allen Bussell

Sent from my iPhone

Test using posterous.com

Testing the capabilities of using posterous to post to several places at once: Facebook, Twitter, Blogger.

Eli & Pops in the Park

Changes in Aviation: A presentation by Director Boldon of NASA

Gmail Priority Inbox

Goog ads Priority Email.  As a Gmail user, this will be handy in helping to automatically sift through the myriad of email that's out there.

Day One Hundred and Eighty Six - ( 365 ) Pt. 2

Day One Hundred and Eighty Six - ( 365 ) Pt. 2
Originally uploaded by tommy...c

Love this guys photography. Stunning work here; day after day.

Testing the opportunity to text my updates to the blog.

Clayton Homes: Exciting new sustainable home concept

Close but no cigar...

Apple's WWDC happened on Monday.  What was announced?  Basically the new iPhone4.  That's it - Well, that and Safari 5 and an update to iTunes.  A shame the mac pro wasn't announced.  It's long overdue.

Not saying I'm not excited about the new iPhone.  It's a wonderful update and since I'm still working with the first Gen. iPhone, I'm really looking forward to the possibility of upgrading.  That said, professional developers and creatives need tools to make the apps and such that these little consumer devices will use.  The mac pro being untouched for such a long time brings doubt into the minds of those professionals that Apple is not committed to them.  Right now, every major PC manufacturer is offering workstations with the new 6-core Intel processor and better choices of video cards.  Apple really has nothing to offer to compare with the speed these new machines provide the user.

Hopefully, the wait is due to Apple waiting on supply chain issues to be worked-out prior to committing their distribution system to providing a product to their high-end customers.  We'll see.

Apple's BIG WWDC?

For you Apple users, WWDC this Monday could prove to be the biggest for announcing new products in many years.

Of course, the new iPhone is reported to be announced (very nice from all leaked accounts), but there's also other reports that lead me to think a new mac pro with a hexacore processor (or two if a Dual) will be coming to shelves. For my friends who are not the geek-type, hexacore means that there is six processors on a single chip. In Intel's latest version, each of the cores is hyper-threaded and so acts like 2 processors per processor. So when you're working in Photoshop CS5 your machine will think it has 12 processors instead of six (or 24 instead of 12 if it's a dual). Lens blurs have never been so fast.  Yummy.

In a more consumer level product, an updated mac mini may be announced as current inventories are said to be very low. Photos posted at Macrumors.com a few weeks ago have shown the device with an HDMI port. Connecting directly to a HDTV would make the mini a near perfect media center. Small, easy to use, and with USB and Firewire, very storage expandable. Not holding my breath on this one as people have asked Apple to do this for a very long time and nothing's changed yet. We'll see.

Speaking of TV, the AppleTV is said to be updated into the form factor of an iPhone - but without a screen. The device supposedly streams 1080p video and, of course, audio.

This leads to the other huge story that may be announced: iTunes Live, supposedly a streaming service that will allow you to access all of your iTunes purchased media from the "cloud". This is conjecture, but there IS a reason Apple purchased Lala and then, last month, shut it down. This guess is also backed-up with the opening of a very large, $1 billion, data center in North Carolina. And with that data center, there's also word that parts of the current MobileMe service will become free. Currently the service, at $130 or so per year, is just too pricey for what's provided.

In summary, there could be a lot of Apple news Monday - may prove to be a very long keynote for Steve Jobs.

Allen Bussell
from my iPhone

Sharing my Flickr images...

Past, Present, Future

This day in 1988, I entered Bootcamp as a new recruit at Great Lakes, MI.  My Son-in-Law, Jonathan, is there now "enjoying" the same experiences I had 22 years ago.  While he is gone, my Daughter and out new Grandson, Eli is staying with us.  I do my best to hold Eli when I can, as soon Jonathan will be out of training and will take his wife and new son to begin a new life in California.  Thinking about it now makes me miss them so much.

Time to help feed the baby...

Microsoft Windows Phone: An iPhone Killer?

WinPhone (Windows Phone 7 Series...named by a committee, I'm sure) based on the ZuneHD.  Hope this works well for Microsoft. The new ZuneHD, from all reports, is an outstanding device and beats the iPod Touch in every way but in the availability of Apps.  If Microsoft maintains very tight controls over hardware, this will be a success (at least in a technological POV).

As an Apple and iPhone user, I cannot say I'll go out and get the new device, but, at the very least, the competition Microsoft is providing is welcome and will help push the market in improvements to all of the "Smart Phones" being sold.



Microsoft's official page

Link to FoxNews report on the device

Allen

iPad

A very good discussion of the ups and downs of the iPad

A Victorian Schoolhouse

Modeled and rendered in Luxology's Modo.

Strength comes from service....REAL service.

Tonight on FoxNews, the small ticker on the bottom of the screen read: 80% of all workers in the United States are employed in the "service" industry.  The shame is the "service" they're talking about is not making a real and long-lasting difference.  We're making, creating less than ever before.  We're more consumers than creators.  This is a huge strategic problem for our country.  No matter what the idiots in DC tell us, the economy is not controlled by the number employed, but by what those employed are creating, what those workers are manufacturing.  To think otherwise is, at best, ignorant.

Without manufacturing, there is no backbone to a country, nothing to keep it strong.  Nothing, nothing great is accomplished without the creation of something.  Why was the United States able to win in World War II?  We won because we could manufacture the materials needed to outfit our soldiers, sailors and airmen to fight against the Nazis in Germany, fascists in Italy and imperialists in Japan.  We were strong because of our manufacturing strength, not because our "service" industry.

Why have we lost our strength?  We are not strong today because of one thing:  Greed.  Not just the greed of CEOs (though the self-righteous Left would have us think so), but of everyone - from the hamburger flipper to the President of the U.S.  Our "leaders" tell us that we "deserve" all the best in life without regard to our giving, sacrifice, creation or genuine service to others.  We "need", not because we've worked for it, but because we have this silly idea we're better than we really are.   We have an emptiness that we are unable to fill - but continue to try.  That is greed.

Greed has nothing to do with the amount of money we earn, nor the amount of things we have.  We are greedy because of our lack of a real and healthy relationship to Jesus Christ and His church - and thus our misplaced sense of self-worth.  Get right with God and your neighbor - then go out and make something that will help those in need.