CARWYN LLOYD JONES.

Busy busy busy Photographing

2010-07-01T19:30:00.005+01:00

This last week I found myself doing allot of photography so I thought I would write a long overdue blog about it. Saturday I was with Julian helping him with a project for Ark, we were going out to video interview some people on the street. Seeing i was meeting him at an empty shop in the Castle Arcade (where the Ark project is being held) I thought I would have a look around the shop, and I found the basement!

Next stop was doing the video interviews, I was on video duty for half of it, then Julian took over and I managed to get some shots of him and Allie in action

Also on Saturday was the National Military Day, I was just in time to catch the parade and then pop down to Cardiff Bay to see all the Military goings on.

After all that I was done and sunburnt a bit I was knackered, roll on Sunday, the day of rest. Unfortunately i got a text off Andrew saying he was going kite boarding, if anyone hasn't read Andrews blog I suggest you check it out here as he has recently taken up kite boarding and has been blogging about it. So off I went down to Aberavaon to meet Andrew and have a go at his kite, really suprised of the power of the kite, when the wind picked up it was dragging me across the beach! and now he wants an even bigger one. Unfortunately while I was having a go on his buggy the lines of the kite frayed and the fun was over! gutted!, but here are some snaps:

Next was Monday and a trip up to North Wales, me and Julian and meeting on Tuesday morning, so after the meeting we took advantage of the situation and headed to Llanberis to do some road side bouldering. I have done some indoor climbing but have never been outside climbing, Julian thinks this is hilarious as I grew up a few miles from Llanberis, never climbed, moved away and now i'm back there climbing! Here are some shots, Julian looking skilled, me looking like i'm hanging on for my life!

After all that, the last few days I have been trying to get out to take some photos for my course, I think I have decided on my theme 'Unloved/Left Behind'. Here are some more shots:

That is all... for now!

Photomarathon 2010

2010-06-13T14:42:00.003+01:00

Yesterday was that time of year again, Photomarathon time. If anyone is unfamiliar with Photomarathon, it is a photograph competition with a twist: Over 12 hours you have to take 12 pictures on 12 given topics. It's not your physical condition, but your sense of improvisation, fun and creativity that is stressed throughout the Photomarathon.

I have taken part in Photomarthon 4 times now with a bit of success in the past, I have won a topic prize and i have won the public vote for one of the topics. I have never entered into Photomarthon wanting to win, to me Photomarthon is not about producing a great photograph but it's more about opening your eyes and appreciating the world around around you. The best example of this was last year where one of the topics was Welsh, on receiving this topic I stepped outside and in the space of 10 minutes I saw women dressed up in Welsh dress, someone wearing a Welsh t-shirt and someone carrying a Welsh flag. Coincidence? i don't think so, this just shows how thinking about a certain subject opens your eyes to what is around you.

This year was slightly different to the previous years though, this year they switched over from film to digital. I had mixed opinions about this, and still haven't made up my mind about it. There are Pros and Cons, the pro being you can review you image straight away on your camera and decide if you like it or not and retake if needed. The problem is this also a con, for every topic I had a set of pictures for this topic because i couldn't make my mind up which one I preferred. This simplicity of shooting on film was, once you had taken a picture then that was it, there was no going back, even if it was carp. Of course with digital this is not the case, you can take a picture, review it, delete it, retake is, review it, and so on. I nearly feel into this trap of taking to many picture and being indecisive about which one i wanted to use, in the end I just had to delete all the other and keep one for each topic. I think overall there will be a higher grade of photo this year, as people had the advantage of being able to review their images and delete the bad ones, eliminating the errors.

At the end of it all it was still a great day, lots of fun, lots of thinking, few beers and aching legs! I also had a little distraction this year, i was being filmed and interview for an S4C program, was quite fun when we were descended on by security guards in Cardiff Bay doing their best impression of a CIA agent wanting to know what we were doing and asking us to leave, world has gone mad!

Below are my efforts, unprocessed, exactly as they will be judged for the competition.

1. Entry Number / Giant

This topic is the first one every year as they use it to identify your photographs, but last year and this year they added a new twist to it by combining it with something. Last year it was Entry Number / Colourful, the year they added Giant into the mix, i tried to show my entry number as a giant number with a person standing within the number. It kind of worked...

2. Aroma

Nothing better than the aroma of bacon cooking... this was also lunch, yum

3. On a shoe string

While photographing this on my balcony I turned around to see my neighbours of their balconies watching me with what looked liked a few thousand pounds hanging from a show string.

4. Inspiration

There are so many things that can inspire you, but to me, just looking at the world around me inspires me and you can do that without your eye!

5. Up in the air

Seagulls are always up in the air in the Bay!

6. Arc

There are many arcs around, but i didn't want to use the usuall arc above you hear in an arch, so i found this.

7. Seven

What can i say? one, two, three, four, five, six, seven!

8. Fail

I like this as it's a double fail, bad spelling and parking in a no parking area, or should i say not parking area.

9. Old School

What's more old school than Converse shoes... i have a few!

10. Contemporary

This is Contemporary right?

11. Backwards

A mirror is not very clever, but i do like the shot and i got myself into my shots!

12. Identity

One of the most distinctive parts of your body.

So those are my picture, i'm happy with some more than other, but at the end of the day it was just good fun.

Thanks to all the Photomarathon team, really good event again, if you would like to try it yourself have a look here.

Geotagger’s World Atlas

2010-06-07T10:39:00.004+01:00

Some people interpreted the Geotaggers' World Atlas maps to be maps of tourism. This set is an attempt to figure out if that is really true. Some cities (for example Las Vegas and Venice) do seem to be photographed almost entirely by tourists. Others seem to have many pictures taken in piaces that tourists don't visit.

Blue points on the map are pictures taken by locals (people who have taken pictures in this city dated over a range of a month or more).

Red points are pictures taken by tourists (people who seem to be a local of a different city and who took pictures in this city for less than a month).

Yellow points are pictures where it can't be determined whether or not the photographer was a tourist (because they haven't taken pictures anywhere for over a month). They are probably tourists but might just not post many pictures at all.

The maps are ordered by the number of pictures taken by locals.

New York:

Chicago:

Las Vagas:

Taken from here

Week 5 - Ffotogallery Course

2010-06-06T18:20:00.012+01:00

I think this will be an even shorter blog that the last one, but again this week i have been taking more photographs to do with my theme, some more example below:

We looked at photo manipulation in more detail this week and looking at example of it through the years, quite handy seeing as i'm going to write about it for my Essay.

Some great examples are below:

Above is a great example from communist Russia. Unwanted persons, so-called "enemies of the people" were not only killed, but also removed from photographs where their presence was unwanted. The first image shows Lenin, with Trotsky next to the box, but in the second image Trotsky is no where to be seen.

Nikolai Yezhov, chief of the Soviet secret police, suffered a fate similar to that of Trotsky. This is very impressive editing, better than some people can do with photoshop.

Those are example of 'editing history' but what about editing peoples views of people?

The left image is the cover of Newsweek, who used the original police mug shot of OJ Simpson for an article they were running, but the right image is a cover from Time magazine, again using the same image, but this time manipulated. Time got into a allot of trouble about this as they have appeared to make OJ much more sinister looking at for some reason more black, raising racial issues.

I have already shown this image in a previous post, but this is relevant to this post. The above image is by Gursky and is an arial shot of the Bahrain F1 circuit, where he he decided he wasn't happy with one corner of the track (by the way designed by one of the greatest circuit designers) and manipulated it to his liking.

Gursky also created the above image, titles "F1 Boxenstopp III", the image appears just to a great shot of two F1 teams frozen in time mid pit-stop. The truth is both image where taken at separate races, in different pit lanes, and then digitally edited together.

Gursky's photographs are technically very good, but he has manipulated them look perfect and to his needs, which to me doesn't really carry any message. An alternative example of a manipulated images, that are again technically good, but have more thought about them, are images by Kelli Connel. Whilst on first glance the photographs look to be normal, but beautifully shot, photographs the truth is both subject are the same person. They were shot in different poses, in different poses/clothes, one subject feminine and one masculine and then digitally manipulated together.

Whilst Gursky and Connels images have used manipulated to be quite artistic, manipulation can be used in a bad way. The above shot came to light just a day or two after the 911 tragedy. It appears to show an image of a tourist on top of one of the twin towers just moments before the plane hit the tower. The image circulated around the interest with the story that the camera was found in the rubble of the tower... very unlikely.

Manipulation is heavily used to create funny images that circulate the internet, the above is a great example or how manipulation is now taking over the from the written joke, because people want a visual joke.

Another area where manipulation is highly used is in advertising, especially in the fashion industry. We are all aware of these images and how models are highly edited to make them perfect. To highlight this Britney Spears released the above image showing her before and after images, this really shows how much we are lied to in images.

In a total 180 degree spin on manipulation in fashion, the above image is of a model that has been photoshopped in the opposite way to be overly thin and look ill, this was to highlight how models are overlay thin.

Ok, that blog was even longer than the over one. The main purpose of the blog was to start collecting information for my essay, so apologies if it's a little bitty!

Week 4 - Ffotogallery Course

2010-06-06T17:31:00.005+01:00

I think the blog is going to be a short blog for two reasons - one, we have started to concentrate more our final project now so have been discussing this in more detail - two, im watching The Goonies while typing this!

I'm not struggling for ideas for the final project, more struggling with choosing one and committing to it. So far I have though about the following:

Contrast - A set of pictures showing a strong contrast between two things, this could be old and new, hot and cold, chalk and cheese etc, here is an example shot i took below:

Cardiff Bay - Through not trying i have taken a few shots in the bay for the course (possibly living and working here has something to do with it) and again without trying i have shown the bay in quite a negative way, this is the way i see it unfortunately. Here is an example shot i took below:

Random Objects - I'd like to find an object in a scene that is out of it's usual environment. Here is an example shot i took below:

Different outlooks - I always think people spend to much time looking in one direction, so i want to take picture of something everyday from a different angle to hopefully highlight a beauty in it that would normally be missed. Here is an example shot i took below:

Manipulation - Seeing as the course is about using the computer to edit your photo i wanted to shoot a scene and manipulate certain elements in the picture so at 2nd or 3rd glance things don't seem quite as they should be. Um, no example of this... yet!

There are more example of all of these on my flickr.

As well as the final project I also need to write an Essay, i think i'm happier with this and i'm going to write about Photo Manipulation through the years, right from the invention of photography.

We had an attempt at re-creating a a style from photographer Diane Varner, she takes a normal landscape/nature photograph and in manipulates it (to much in my opinion) to make it 'pretty'. Here is my attempt, before and after:

Hey, the blog wasn't that short!

Dragon Boat Race

2010-06-06T16:26:00.003+01:00

Few shots from the Dragon Boat Race in Cardiff Bay today, more here

Lego Printer.

2010-06-02T15:52:00.000+01:00

Week 3 - Ffotogallery Course

2010-05-29T21:19:00.006+01:00

I'm so late in putting this latest update up, few things got in the way of writing this, mainly actually taking photographs for the course, so it's a good excuse. I think week 4 update will follow quite quickly!

I completed my homework from week 2 which was to take a set of 6 pictures of a location or place and through those pictures show how your feel about that place. Well after about 5 attempts, ranging from the plan not even happening (Jules had a cold!), taking some pictures at big weekend (slightly tipsy and enjoying the sun to much, see here), taking some pictures for the office, I then settled on Cardiff Bay. Because I live and work here I wanted to show how it makes me feel, to me it's not the idilic bay side setting, but a soulless, over developed place that hasn't been well thought out. I have lived here for around 3-4 years now and I have lived on a building site and in a brand new development, which might as well of been a building site the amount of fixing that has and still needs to be done (3 years in!). The biggest problem about the bay is the over development, everywhere you turn there are flats, or flat being built, and because of the financial crisis the flat in development have been abandoned and left as concrete shells. Where the developers, or council, or whoever runs Cardiff failed, is they didn't think to build any supporting infrastructure to all these new flats, i live here but i can't shop here, or spend anytime here, so there is zero community. There is a big unbalance here, and to much time and effort has been spent of concentrating on the present, what will the bay look like in 5, 10 or 20 years? My guess is there will be a stack of these flats, looking very sorry for themselves (they are already looking quite run down a few years in), people will eventually get bored of a lack of community and local amenities, it's not sustainable in the current and future economic and environment climate.

So I went off on a bit of a tangent there, but I wanted to show my feelings towards the bay through photographs, see here. By doing this i have think it has helped me figure out what i would like to do for a my final project. I have thought of a few ideas, but they were all quite 'pretty', so instead i'm looking to highlight something through the photographs, ideally this would be quite deep, but i'm about as deep as a puddle. Initial ideas are find situation where I can show something unusual, this could be either through showing beauty in a place that you wouldn't expect it, or by highlighting an object that is outside of it's usual environment. Either way i need to shoot a few examples!

Ok so on with the technical stuff, we learnt about white balancing and picture modes, things i already know, but i have shown examples of different white balancing and picture modes below to highlight the difference being on the modes can do:

Here are the different white balancing modes:

Here are the different picture modes:

We looked at the work Andreas Gursky, and Diane Varner, i quite like the work of Andreas Gursky, he is a German visual artist known for his enormous architecture and landscape color photographs, often employing a high point of view, this makes most of his photographs look like patterns. Interestingly Gursky holds the record for the highest price paid at auction for a single photographic image. His print 99 Cent II, Diptych, sold for GBP 1.7 million (USD $3.3 million) at Sotheby's, London (See below)

He didn't use any digital manipulation before 1990, but since then has been quite forth coming of his use of manipulation, one particular image interested me, his arial shot of the Bahrain F1 circuit, where he he decided he wasn't happy with one corner of the track (by the way designed by one of the greatest circuit designers) and manipulated it to his liking.

Diane Varner I wasn't that impressed with, she highly manipulates nature pictures to make pretty pictures that would probably find in Ikea! She was part of our homework though, we had to take a nature picture to manipulate in her style, so here is mine:

I will be showing my manipulated image in my next update, even though I have already done it, but pretend i wrote this before i did it!

Cardiff Bay

2010-05-27T16:53:00.003+01:00

Ok, I think this Plan E for my Photography course, after some attempts at taking a set of pictures about a place, here is my latest and I think final attempt at it. I think what i'm trying to get accross is the over development in the bay and how things are started and then because of the financial climate are them left.

2010-05-24T17:42:00.006+01:00

Sunbathing:

Drinking:

Sun:

Rubbish:

Bright Lights:

A Bad View:

Finale:

Lostprophets at Big Weekend

2010-05-24T15:54:00.002+01:00

Wales' Strongest Man

2010-05-16T20:03:00.005+01:00

Popped down to Penarth Marina today to watch the Wales' Strongest Man competition, some very strong lads in Wales, let's hope a few of them go through to Britain's Strongest Man and then on to the World's Strongest Man.

Some more shots on my Flickr

Week 2 - Ffotogallery Course

2010-05-16T19:02:00.007+01:00

Friday was week 2 of my Advanced Digital Photography course, again an enjoyable session where we looked camera settings where I can honestly say I hadn't really used before, I probably ignored them because I didn't understand them.

We looked at the metering system on the camera which measures the light reflected back from objects in the frame, by measuring this light the camera can work out the correct combination of aperture and shutter speed. Most cameras have 3 metering settings:

Evaluative Metering - Where the frame is split into 4 sections where are average reading is taken to set the camera
Average Metering - Where a measurement is taken at the centre and around the centre, but with the centre influencing the reading the most
Spot Metering - This is for metering a specific part of the frame.

We also looked at Automatic Exposure Compensation - this is where you use the +/- setting on your camera to slightly under or over expose your frame. The advantage of using this is if your frame is slightly under or over exposed you can adjust this without having to change your shutter speed or aperture and therefore totally changing your image or depth of field.

Above is an example of Exposure Compensation, the central image is the start image and above and below show how an image can be adjusted to be darker or lighter.

Here is the follow up to a little homework, i had to take 3 pictures next to each other and join them together in photoshop to make a landscape, a simple task, but I rushed it a bit!

Now I need to think about this weeks homework, i need to take 6 photographs of a place, could be my flat, the office, a forest, anything really but I need to show in the photographs how the place makes me feel...

Of and I still need to think of my final project!

Out with the old, in with the new!

2010-05-16T12:12:00.002+01:00

Following on from my post here about quality V price, i'm happy to say I went back to Jacobs photography and bought myself a new lens, a Sigma 17-50mm F2.8 to be exact. Really looking forward to playing around with it, watch my blog as i'm sure photographs taken with it will be appearing.

Climbing - Take 2

2010-05-14T10:46:00.001+01:00

After Julian took me and Andrew climbing for the first time a couple of months ago (see here), i decided to go again yesterday. Having just returned from my second climbing session, and even though I enjoyed it, I can honestly say it's the most frustrating thing I have done in a long time. Like Julian put it tonight, walking, swimming and climbing are the most basic things a human can or should be able to do, so the only way I can put it is - it's like learning to walk again.

At present I don't count myself as being unfit, I have been a regular at the gym for the past 15 months, going on average twice a week, and in that time I have lost weight, toned up a little and been able improve the amount of weight I can push and pull by 300%, but what good has this done me? The frustrating thing about climbing is it's a whole other kind of strength and easily puts you in your place, and that place is the mat in the middle of the bouldering section watching other climbers effortlessly get up a route that I cant. That is another thing about climbing, when you watch a skilled climber go up a route it's the most elegant things, there is no straining or forcing, just a fluid movement up the wall only using the energy you need, while i'm clambering for the holes like my life depends on it.

So I would like to thank a few people, firstly the small child who was climbing better than me (humbled me), secondly the woman who got up a route that I couldn't, came down, gave me a wink and that wink said - i'm smaller than you, twice your age and a woman, but I can do what you can't - (again humbled) and lastly thanks to Julian for taking me, that's him in the picture and if you are wondering why the picture is slightly blurred it's because my hands were shaking after trying to get up a route.

I still maintain I can beat Julian in an arm wrestle, but where it the skill in that?

David Camerwrong presents a new Vision for Britain

2010-05-13T12:35:00.000+01:00

Quality V Price

2010-05-11T08:55:00.007+01:00

I have been thinking about this for the last couple of days, what is most important? quality of service or the price you pay?

I have been hunting around for a lens to replace my kit lens for a few weeks now and have been going around in circles with all the choices and reviews out there. I have been in various shops, talked to a few people, read the reviews etc, all the usual and i was no better off, but then i went into Jacobs Photography in Cardiff. I spoke to very helpful man behind the counter who spent about 30-45 mins with me going through the various options open to me, dependent on my needs. I was allowed to fully test the lenses on a body, even take them outside the shop and take photographs to review them. After all this I am now confident I know which lens I need, but instead of buying it I thought I better go home and compare prices on the internet to see if I could get it cheaper. I hunted around and found that I could get it £20 cheaper, then it got me thinking, is it really worth saving £20 and not getting that service?

Personally I have chosen to go back to the shop and that extra £20 is for extra service I got at the shop. Even though I could of got it cheaper on the internet, I doubt i would of got the correct lens and defiantly not had the service.

Bournemouth Day out

2010-05-10T20:33:00.004+01:00

Well today I had to drop my car off to get some work done, so instead of sitting there reading 4 year old car magazines I decided to borrow their curtosy car and head down to Bournemouth. As always I had my camera with me and above are some photos it took, you will more on my Flickr

Oh and I also took some images for my Photography course, what this space!

Week 1 - Ffotogallery Course

2010-05-09T12:53:00.004+01:00

Having always been interested in photography and taking photographs now and again, over past couple of years my interest how grown more. This is probably because of the advantages of running Hoffi and being lucky to work with professional photographers. At Hoffi there has always been a call to photograph our own work for our website, portfolio, tenders, etc and even though we share this task, i have always been the first to put my hand up to complete the task. What emerged from this was, the more I woked with photography the more I wanted to do it.

Even though I love taking photographs I admitted to myself that I am lacking in technical skill and in understanding of photography and even I want to do more photography and introduce photography into Hoffi, I need to develop my skills more. To do this I decided to take a short photography course to try and gauge where I am with photography and hopefully learn. After looking around at various courses on offer I decided on the Advanced Digital Photography course at Ffotogallery in Chapter.

I have just completed my first week at the course, and even though it was an introductory session, it was very enjoyable. We covered what we will be covering over the next 10 weeks, did some photoshop work, which was basic and easy for me but can understand that there are people there that have no knowledge of photoshop and need to learn it. We also watched a video from a War Photographer Don McCullin and discussed War Photography in current media, have we been desensitised to how powerful War Photography is? We were asked to look through newspaper and see if it still appears anymore?.

I have also been given my first bit of Homework, some thinking work and some practical work. I need to think of what my final project is going to be, we can pick a theme which we will use to build up a portfolio of 10 photographs. The bit of practical work is to take 3 photographs next to each other which we will use next week to join together to make a joiner photograph.

Now to get thinking of a theme...

The 221B Baker Street illustration

2010-05-06T22:11:00.002+01:00

This is a fantastic illustration of Sherlock Homes flat based on clues and small details in the books.The illustrator read the entire collection of sixty Sherlock Holmes stories twice in a row, back to back, and took notes of every detail he could find of the Baker Street flat which began to take shape in his imagination.

Source

Ark Networking Evening

2010-05-06T10:03:00.002+01:00

Last night saw me at my very first Ark night. Ark meet every Wednesday at the Cardiff Arts Institute to discuss various issues to do with Social Design. Last night was slightly different because fter a recent blog post about creativity in Cardiff and Wales and networking by Julian, it was suggested that a meet up to discuss a possible overall programme of events and looking into working together to show the strength and vibrancy of creativity in Wales and Cardiff could be looked at.

Vitra Chairless Chair

2010-04-22T20:04:00.002+01:00

Chairless is a seating device for the modern nomad. This sturdy strap of fabric allows its user to sit down in a relaxed manner – but with neither seat nor backrest. It is thus a solution par excellence for times when chairs are in short supply: lunch in the park, while waiting in a crowded airport, a picnic on the lawn, sitting down at a concert, reading on the beach and on countless other occasions. Chairless is so light and compact that you can carry it with you wherever you go.

Chairless relieves the spine and legs, so that hugging your knees or using a support is no longer necessary. Now your hands are free to operate your laptop or your iPod, for reading, eating etc.

Chairless is available in four versions

Eyjafjallajoekull is a good thing!

2010-04-21T22:39:00.001+01:00

So it turns out the Eyjafjallajoekull Volcano drama was good for the environment! see below:

More info here

Scrappage Scheme, good idea?

2010-04-09T15:16:00.003+01:00

So was the scrappage scheme a good idea?

Sitting nose to tail on a disused airstrip, these cars form a tiny part of the massive backlog of vehicles destined for the scrap heap.

The number standing idly on the runway has swelled to around 14,000 as mechanics struggle to cope with the popularity of the Government's scrappage scheme, which ended last week.

The former airfield in Thurleigh, Bedfordshire, is one of a number of 'holding areas' packed with vehicles sold through Lord Mandelson's £400million incentive scheme.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1263548/Now-did-say-left-car-The-28m-backlog-perfectly-driveable-vehicles-waiting-SCRAPPED.html#ixzz0kc2oM2T4

Update: look here

Source

Hank Johnson asks if Guam will capsize.

2010-04-02T21:16:00.002+01:00

Following on from a video i posted here about a politician saying some strange things. Here is another asking something even stranger:

Adobe CS5 Content Aware

2010-03-24T18:38:00.001Z

I think this is brilliant, really want to play with it to see it's limits.

Tilt Shift Photography

2010-03-24T13:33:00.003Z

Julian blogged a couple of days ago about a video that looks like it's a video of a toy town. After Andrew spotted it on Julian's blog I have been filling him in on Tilt Shift Photography, i have never seen it used on video before but I have seem some great still photography that looks fake, but is all of real places.

"Tilt-shift photography" refers to the use of camera movements on small- and medium-format cameras, and sometimes specifically refers to the use of tilt for selective focus, often for simulating a miniature scene. Sometimes the term is used when the shallow depth of field is simulated with digital postprocessing; the name may derive from the tilt-shift lens normally required when the effect is produced optically.

Friday funny for everyone!

2010-03-05T16:12:00.000Z

Ignite Cardiff

2010-03-05T11:34:00.005Z

Some photographs from last night's Ignite night at the Wales Millennium Centre

julian, originally uploaded by Carwyn Lloyd Jones - Dylunio Creadigol.

Paper, originally uploaded by Carwyn Lloyd Jones - Dylunio Creadigol.

Julian_Laura, originally uploaded by Carwyn Lloyd Jones - Dylunio Creadigol.

Adam Voorhes Photography Experiments

2010-03-02T16:28:00.002Z

Some nice shots and photography experiments from Adam Voorhes on http://www.voorhes.com

Above is one shot from his 'Exploded' Experiment

Adidas Builds Augmented Reality Game into Shoe

2010-02-22T22:34:00.004Z

When I first saw this, my first thought was, brilliant you use your shoe to play a game, maybe kick a 3D ball on your screen. I was wrong, turns out you hold the shoe in front of your webcam and move it around. Hhmm not very exciting, but i suppose it's a sign of things to come.

A Photographic History of Hoffi

2010-02-21T19:50:00.023Z

Today i realised i had used about 300gb up of my hard drive through photography, so while sorting out the photographs I came across allot of Hoffi photographs. After looking at a few and laughing at myself i decided to put together a chronological history of Hoffi through the Photographs, ill start with the earliest i have!:

24/04/2008
Aw bless!

07/06/2008
In June we decided to revamp the office. Someone suggested pulling down the ceiling, yeah good idea...oh and have a look at Julians safety goggles!

18/06/2008
Mid ripping the ceiling down the electrician popper by and gave us some new lights!

19/06/2008
How much bloody cable was in that one room! NASA must of rented it before us!

21/06/2008
That home made bomb I had been playing with went off by accident.

04/07/2008
We asked Andrew to pose for his bio picture, this is the pose he decided on, hmm

04/07/2008
I'm not really sure what me and Julian are laughing at but I imagine we had just downloaded Andrew's bio picture!

06/08/2008
We 'popped' to the Eisteddfod in Cardiff, 5 ours later, we were still there! Here is Andrew sporting our Silibili Brand on his chest.

30/01/2009
The day we took new photographs for our website bio's, this one did not make it! The real ones can be seen on Hoffi's website

10/02/2009
Hoffi is 3 years old!

29/05/2009
A trip to the Eisteddfod!

29/05/2009
And this is where we ended up after the Eisteddfod! I burnt my nose that day.

26/06/2009
No, they are not playing spot the ball, this was a photo for a tender, can you guess what for?

10/10/2009
Andrew planning out where the light switches should go on some display board we were designing for Wyeverne Electrical

17/11/2009
A little workshop for the branding and food packaging for a new client

12/01/2009
A workshop for the re-branding of Menter a Busnes

I'm sure there are more photographs around, hopefully i can track them down and update this.

A new blog!

2010-02-21T16:01:00.002Z

Well after originally ripping the code apart for the blog Andrew built for Julian, i have now ripped apart another bit of code, mashed it up with old code, muddled my way through some additional code and hey presto i have a new look for my blog.

I have always muddled my way through coding, and this is no different (you think i would of picked something up sitting next to Andrew for 4 years). It's still a bit untidy but the basics are back in after i had totally wrecked it last night! I will pick it up again tomorrow after i have had a break playing with with some photography

Vancouver 2010 Photography

2010-02-20T19:20:00.003Z

Here is one amazing shot from this years Winter Olympics, more can be found here

Swans in Cardiff Bay

2010-01-24T13:34:00.006Z

Swans in Cardiff Bay, originally uploaded by Carwyn Lloyd Jones - Dylunio Creadigol.

Well it's that time of year again, the swans are back in front of my flat. They are slowly making their nest ready to have the little swans.

I took the opportunity to photograph them, with a little bribe of bread, and the photographs came out ok, but I would love to know how you photograph a bright white swan in sunshine and get the correct exposure!

Wildlife Photographer of the Year Disqualified

2010-01-21T13:09:00.001Z

The winner of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year award has been disqualified after judges ruled that the featured wolf was probably a "model".

The 2009 winning image, dubbed the storybook wolf, was taken by photographer Jose Luis Rodriguez.

Mr Rodriguez strongly denied that the wolf was a trained animal, according to a statement from the organisers.
His photograph was chosen out of more than 43,000 competition entries in October 2009.

Louise Emerson from the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition office explained that the judging panel had been "reconvened" and had concluded that it was likely that the wolf featured in the image was an animal model that could be "hired for photographic purposes".

This, she said, was in breach of the competition rules which are made available to all entrants.
"The judging panel looked at a range of evidence and took specialist advice from panel judges who have extensive experience of photographing wildlife including wolves," continued Ms Emerson.

"They also considered the responses to specific questions put to the photographer."

Wildlife photographer Mark Carwardine was one of the competition judges. He told BBC News that this was the first time in its 46 year history that there would not be a winner.

Mr Carwardine explained that he and his fellow judges had gathered evidence and sought the opinions of wolf experts in order to reach their decision.

The experts compared the winning picture to pictures of Ossian, a tame wolf that lives at a zoological park near Madrid called Canada Real.

"You can see several very distinctive markings and the experts all agreed that, yes, it's the same wolf," said Mr Carwardine.
"We disqualified [Mr Rodriguez] and banned him for life from entering the competition again, so I think that sends a strong message."

Mr Carwardine added that Mr Rodruiguez had, throughout the investigation, denied "hiring" Ossian for the photograph. The disqualified photographer maintains that his subject was a wild wolf.

Mr Rodriguez was not immediately available for comment.

"This is very sad and I think it might make us more suspicious of entries that are too good to be true," said Mr Carwardine. But he added that he hoped it would encourage honesty in the competition in the future.

The disqualified photograph will be removed from the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition, which is being held at the Natural History Museum in London. The exhibition tour will also take place without a winning image.

The annual competition is owned by the Natural History Museum and BBC Wildlife Magazine.

Source: BBC

Interactive Billboard

2010-01-20T16:01:00.002Z

I'm torn between thinking this is cool, but also how it highlights the pollution of cars...

2010 Dakar Rally Photography

2010-01-13T19:24:00.002Z

A Perfect mix of my two favorite passions, photogrpahy and motorsports. This is a stunning photograph from this year Dakar rally, more can be found here

Snow in Cardiff Bay

2010-01-13T10:30:00.002Z

Snow in Cardiff Bay, originally uploaded by Carwyn Lloyd Jones - Dylunio Creadigol.

Ahhh a bit of snow outside the office

Congested Europe airway

2010-01-08T09:58:00.002Z

This satellite picture was taken yesterday showing how congested the airways are, and this was when it was quiet because of the snow!

Frozen UK!

2010-01-08T09:56:00.002Z

This is how frozen the UK is...

HP computers are racist

2009-12-24T17:55:00.001Z

Every minute...

2009-12-24T01:12:00.000Z

Lando Calrissian's Clothes

2009-12-23T21:50:00.003Z

Just a short blog, but a thinker, why is Lando wearing Han's clothes in The Empire Strikes Back? Have a look at the end (ish) he is wearing Han's clothes.

There are many possible answers but a good one is, When Lando lost the Falcon to Han in a bet gone bad, the clothes came with the ship, so Han took over possession of both the ship and clothes, therefore he is not wearing Han's clothes but Han is wearing his clothes, making Han a dirty bugger for wearing Lando's old clothes.

Hhhmmmm

Teen Wolf "Exposed"

2009-12-23T21:44:00.002Z

Um, has anyone else noticed the guy at the end of Teen Wolf with his, um, manhood out...

Intel Rock Stars!

2009-12-23T21:34:00.001Z

This has to be the best advert i have seen in ages...

Rather than focusing on a new product, the 2009 "Sponsors of Tomorrow" ad campaign celebrates what makes Intel different culture, personality, heroes -- and ways Intel has helped change the world for over 40 years.

Photographer Stands his ground!

2009-12-22T18:50:00.002Z

This is the terrifying moment a British photographer cheated death as an out-of-control drag racing car careered towards him out of control. Andy Willsheer kept snapping even as the 250mph car spun towards the crash barrier at Pomona Raceway in California

Check out the pictures he took:

4x4 breaks the rules of gravity

2009-12-22T17:59:00.002Z

Now i'm in now way a fan of 4x4's but it's good to see a 4x4 doing what it should. 1.52 onwards in very impressive!

Jazz Hamsters!

2009-12-04T11:59:00.001Z

Chapter Launch

2009-11-26T08:41:00.004Z

Julian has already posted here on Hoffi's blog about our night at the Chapter Launch, but i thought i would share this with everyone:

I haven't mentioned on my blog how much I want, and need, a Eames DSW chair, they are beautiful on wooden legs. So when the opportunity arose to get my very own, we tried to take it, unfortunately the chair did not fit in Julians pocket.

BMW Kinetic Sculpture

2009-11-10T18:35:00.000Z

THis reminds me of a Kinetic Sculpture created by Greyworld...

Cardiff Arts Institute Opening Night

2009-11-06T09:40:00.003Z

Last night saw us somehow get on the guest list for the opening night of the Cardiff Arts Institute.

Cardiff Arts Institute is a Canteen, Social Club & Music Room. A space to explore creative vision and push the boundaries of what it means to live, work and play in Cardiff right now. They want you to join with bands, musicians, promoters, artists, poets, comedians, DJs, thinkers, dancers, performers, creatives and party people on a brand new adventure. They will program the venue with your influence, with what you want to see, with what you want to do. The venue is a joint project between 580 Ltd the people behind Nation of Shopkeepers (Leeds), Start the Bus (Bristol) and The Lock Tavern (Camden) and the Welsh collective Something Creatives who created (Milgi, Secret Carnival, Big Love Inflatable Church & Northcote Lane Market).

Who needs a submarine when you have a Hummer?

2009-11-05T16:58:00.000Z

Talking food idents for FSA

2009-10-30T18:44:00.002Z

A little tweak here...

2009-10-30T18:39:00.003Z

and a little pinch there...and we have a new National Trust logo, courtesy of Wolff Olins:

New York, New York

2009-10-21T15:49:00.001+01:00

I have returned from New York and have finally got around to uploading some of the Photographs I took on my travels. So through a combination of 5 Airport Security checks, sore legs and feet, 10 very long queues and a few hot dogs to keep me going, below is a selection of my photographs.

Pier on Liberty Island, originally uploaded by Carwyn Lloyd Jones - Dylunio Creadigol.

Central Park View from Rocafella Center, originally uploaded by Carwyn Lloyd Jones - Dylunio Creadigol.

View from Rocafella Center, originally uploaded by Carwyn Lloyd Jones - Dylunio Creadigol.

Subway Car, originally uploaded by Carwyn Lloyd Jones - Dylunio Creadigol.

Inside Guggenheim Museum, originally uploaded by Carwyn Lloyd Jones - Dylunio Creadigol.

Guggenheim Museum, originally uploaded by Carwyn Lloyd Jones - Dylunio Creadigol.

8 Common Graphic Design Myths Revealed

2009-07-18T19:14:00.001+01:00

Below is a link to 8 Common Graphic Design Myths, all true!

See here: CreativeOpera

Thrust SSC team to build 1000 mph 'Bloodhound' car

2009-07-13T20:28:00.002+01:00

A new bid to break the land speed record using British technology was launched today by the Science Minister, Lord Drayson. The idea is that breaking the previous record (held by the same British team mounting this attempt) will inspire schoolchildren to embark on careers in science and engineering.

"Bloodhound"* supersonic car (SSC) will once again be driven by RAF pilot Andy Green, the man who took Thrust SSC through the sound barrier and into the record books in 1997. The head of the Bloodhound project, as with Thrust SSC, will be Richard Noble - the man who took the previous record for Blighty in the Thrust 2 jetcar.

The latest Bloodhound SSC effort is the brainchild of Lord Drayson, who proposed the idea of a comeback tour to Noble and Green in 2007. At the time he was minister for military procurement, but he resigned last year. He said at the time that his passion for racing biofuelled cars had become so time-consuming as to be inconsistent with government office. Others have suggested more plausibly that he was angered by the Army's refusal to comply with his defence industry ideas.

In any case, Drayson is now back as science minister, boosting the Bloodhound SSC scheme, which he believes will inspire young Brits to get into technology. According to Richard Noble, that was the case with the Thrust 2 and Thrust SSC efforts, and Drayson equates these with previous British engineering triumphs such as Concorde and the Lightning fighter**.

“This project is not just about the bragging rights to the world land speed record," he said. That's certainly true: nobody beat Noble's 1984 speed until he came back with Green at the wheel in 1997. Blighty pretty much has the land speed record arena to itself these days, though the late Steve Fossett was said to be planning an American attempt at the time of his death.

“The project’s involvement with young people is vital to inspire them about the exciting things that can be achieved by science and engineering," added Drayson.

"Ultimately, I hope that this iconic British project will encourage the next generation of scientists and engineers."

Those inclined to see the Bloodhound as a waste of government money will be glad to hear that it isn't:

The BLOODHOUND Project is a private venture. Government is part-funding the three year education programme but not the build and running costs of the car. These costs will be covered by sponsorships.
Except that the sponsors include the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, the Ministry of Defence, the National Physical Laboratory and at least two universities. So yes, government is funding it.

Source

Robbie Maddison does it again!

2009-07-13T12:32:00.002+01:00

Robbie does a backflip over Tower Bridge in London

Here is his last jump over the Arc de Triumph, Paris

Speed Humps create a bigger carbon footprint

2009-07-10T22:38:00.000+01:00

The CO2 impact of Speed Humps in the UK is greater than that of the whole of Fiji, says Clear, a self-styled 'Carbon Offsetting Company' whose employees found time to do the maths between other, um, very important offsetting carbon-type things.

In case you don't believe them, they've even provided us with their working out. And here it is...

"The AA (Automobile Association) did a bit of research on fuel consumption for cars at the Millbrook Proving Ground and found that a typical mid-size car running at a constant 30 mph did 58 mpg. However a car slowing down and speeding up for speed humps only did 31 mpg. Put that into carbon figures for a petrol car and you get 113 g/km of CO2 at a constant 30mph, or 211 g/km over speed humps. So a kilometer of road with speed humps creates an extra 0.1kg of CO2 for every single car that travels it.

The average road in the UK has 2.46 cars passing per minute throughout the day, so for argument's sake, a street typically has 1 car going each way down it every minute during the day and night. In a year, that means a single typical 1km stretch of speed-humped road with 10 speed humps creates an extra 103 tonnes of unnecessary CO2 per year or equivalent of taking 32 cars off the road.

Taking into account the UK's estimated 100,0006 speed humps, then that's a colossal 1.03 million tonnes of CO2 per year. That's about the same as the total carbon footprint of the 830,000 residents of Fiji, or almost twice that of Greenland. Ouch. And that doesn't even consider the motorbikes / trucks and other vehicles that use the UK road network."
Thanks chaps - just the ticket for a slow news day!

Source: Pistonheads

I'm F**king Matt Damon

2009-07-10T13:10:00.000+01:00

Red Vs. Blue Episode 1

2009-07-09T10:32:00.002+01:00

Following on from Julian Blog about Matt Mason here, he mentioned an short films on youtube that are made up from scenes in games such as Halo and Grand Theft Auto, here is one of the Red Vs. Blue episodes, very funny...

Trafalgar Square's fourth plinth turned over to public

2009-07-07T18:25:00.002+01:00

Rachel Wardell, a 35-year-old housewife from Lincolnshire, was the first of 2,400 people given an hour to do what they like on the empty 23ft-high platform.

Mrs Wardell, who described herself as a "stay-at-home mum", used the opportunity to highlight the plight of abused children, holding a balloon advertising the NSPCC and ChildLine.

She was followed by Jason Clark, a 41-year-old nurse from Brighton, who did nothing more than take pictures on his digital camera.

The participants have been chosen at random from those that applied, a process meant to bypass the usual methods of sifting 'good' art from 'bad'.

Antony Gormley, the artist behind the 'One&Other' project, said the fact it had been given the go-ahead marked "a shift towards a more open society."

It marked a move towards "a kind of future where each citizen can be a participant, in a participatory democracy which is not going to be run in the kind of way these other monuments represent," he added.

He said he wanted it to create "a portrait of the UK" and described the project as an "antithesis or antidote to this type of military hero".

Gormley, best known for his sculpture the Angel of the North, admitted it was "an experiment" but pronounced he did not care if people got bored with it over the next 100 days.

The launch was briefly derailed at the start when a protester scaled the plinth to unfurl a banner reading: "Save the children. Ban tobacco and actors smoking."

Mr Gormley was forced to ask the protester – who identified himself as Stuart Holmes from Withington, Manchester – to vacate the plinth in time for Mrs Wardell, which he did.

The episode amused Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, who said: "It was a demonstration of the essential spontaneity of the event and nothing could have confirmed more vividly that the space on top of the fourth plinth is open to the people."

Gormley later welcomed Mr Holmes' protest, saying that as One& Other was about freedom of speech then his actions were "absolutely appropriate".

Applications are being taken through the websitehttp://www.oneandother.co.uk, where video footage of participants can also be seen.

Foreign tourists were not quite sure what to make of the whole spectacle. Ora Schwarzwald, 65, a university professor from Israel, summed her feelings up in one word. "Strange," she said.

Source: Telegraph

Walkers' sign lost in translation

2009-07-06T18:47:00.002+01:00

Pedestrians have been left confused by a road sign telling them to look different ways in different languages.
A temporary road sign in Cardiff city centre urged English speakers to look one way before crossing the road, and Welsh speakers to look the other way.

The sign "pedestrians look left" was translated to say "cerddwyr edrychwch i'r dde" - or "pedestrians look right".
Cardiff council said the sign was the work of a contractor, and it had been removed after the mistake was noticed.
Cardiff council said: "This sign was made by a traffic management contractor, not Cardiff council.

"It was originally placed on St Mary Street earlier this year by Wales & West Utilities while essential maintenance work was carried out.

"Cardiff council has now removed the sign from the area."

Meirion Prys Jones, chief executive of the Welsh Language Board, said: "We would like to stress how important it is to ensure the quality and accuracy of bilingual signs."

Source: BBC

Earliest surviving Christian Bible

2009-07-06T09:15:00.001+01:00

About 800 pages of the earliest surviving Christian Bible have been recovered and put on the internet.

Visitors to the website www.codexsinaiticus.org can now see images of more than half the 1,600-year-old Codex Sinaiticus manuscript.

Fragments of the 4th Century document - written in Greek on parchment leaves - have been worked on by institutions in the UK, Germany, Egypt and Russia.

Experts say it is "a window into the development of early Christianity".

Preservation secrets

Dr Scot McKendrick, head of Western manuscripts at the British Library, said the wide availability of the document presented many research opportunities.

"The Codex Sinaiticus is one of the world's greatest written treasures," he said.

"This 1,600-year-old manuscript offers a window into the development of early Christianity and first-hand evidence of how the text of the Bible was transmitted from generation to generation.

"The availability of the virtual manuscript for study by scholars around the world creates opportunities for collaborative research that would not have been possible just a few years ago."

The original version contained about 1,460 pages - each measuring 40cm by 35cm, he added.

The British Library is marking the online launch of the manuscript with an exhibition - which includes a range of historic items and artefacts linked to the document.

For 1,500 years, the Codex Sinaiticus lay undisturbed in a Sinai monastery until it was found in 1844 and split between Egypt, Russia, Germany and Britain.

It is thought to have survived because the desert air was ideal for preservation and because the monastery, on a Christian island in a Muslim sea, remained untouched, its walls unconquered.

The institutions' painstaking work can now be seen at

Source: BBC

Michael Jackson appears in an Oven Dish?

2009-07-02T13:27:00.002+01:00

How many secondary fonts do you need?

2009-07-01T13:22:00.005+01:00

In MTV's case, you need 8! each chosen for their expressive or emotion-inducing nature - and to add an element of fun to the onscreen identity of the channel.

MTV launches a spanky new look as of today – as its international brand refresh rolls out across the company's network of 64 channels, created by MTV's creative directors from around the world in collaboration with UK-based studio Universal Everything.

Below is a look at their new Indents:

Below is their new font and their 8 sub-fonts:

Source: Creative Review

What is this?

2009-06-30T11:57:00.003+01:00

Some kind of circuit board close up? No. A nuclear power plant's control panel full of gauges and labels? No, that's not it. The answer will probably amaze you as much as it surprised me.

According to NASA, these are roads and circular fields in the Egyptian desert, as photographed from the International Space Station.

Source: Gizmodo

Drive-Thru self service garage

2009-06-29T20:17:00.004+01:00

Every wanted to do work on your own car but don't have the space, tools or equipment? How about this, PitStart in London in the first garage where you can drive in, rent a ramp, borrow their tools and work on your own car. Fantastic idea, i hope it takes off and one appears near me.

20p is now worth £50

2009-06-29T18:28:00.002+01:00

A batch of 20p coins accidentally issued with no date on them could be worth £50 each, say coin collectors.

Tens of thousands of the coins have been produced in error by the Royal Mint at Llantrisant, near Cardiff.

They are said to be the first undated British coins to enter circulation for more than 300 years.

The Royal Mint said the issue had been resolved but wanted to reassure the public that the faulty 20p coins were still legal tender.

But with experts saying the coins could be worth up to £50 each, anyone finding an undated 20p may be reluctant to put it towards a loaf of bread.

The date on the new 20p was moved from the 'tails' to the 'heads' side when the country's coins were redesigned last year.
The coins without a date were created by accidentally pairing up the new 'tails' side with the old 'heads' - meaning no date appeared at all.

New Microsoft Adverts

2009-06-29T17:03:00.004+01:00

These brand new IE 8 Ads from Microsoft lie somewhere ‘bizarre but funny’ and ‘uncomfortably untruthful’ but as odd as they are, they’re undoubtedly a step up for Microsoft.

Everyone loves cake

2009-06-29T16:51:00.005+01:00

I have been watch a programme called Ace of Cakes on TV recently, it's a programme following a cake company in America called Charm City Cakes. They create some amazing cakes, here are some of their designs:

More can be seen here

Elmwood repackages Anchor Squirty Cream

2009-06-29T16:04:00.002+01:00

Anchor is relaunching its Squirty Cream brand, with new packaging designed by Elmwood.

The consultancy won a three-way pitch to win the brief to ‘put fun and pleasure back into the brand’, according to Elmwood brand consultant Simon Preece.

The new designs have been rolled out across the Anchor Squirty Cream Standard, Lighter and Extra Thick variants.

The new packaging features ‘cheeky’ faces in an attempt to put more personality into the brand.

‘Our redesign gives people permission to have fun with food,’ says Preece. ‘It’s an antidote to the diet controls we have today.’

The new packaging will start appearing on shelf this week.

Source: Design Week

Peter Arnell trying to defend Tropicana rebrand

2009-06-29T15:52:00.003+01:00

Bit of an old story, but Pepsi rebranded their Tropicana range a few months ago, it was rejected by the public and the old packaging was re-instated. Below is the old and the new:

Here is Peter Arnell trying to defend his work:

Burger King's turn

2009-06-26T10:37:00.002+01:00

After my Tango post, this time it's Burger King's turn

Tango Twat

2009-06-25T16:26:00.002+01:00

Did tango do this on purpose as a marketing stunt, or was it a mistake?

Pinhole Camera Outcome

2009-06-21T18:20:00.006+01:00

Above are a few shots from my pinhole camera experiment, overall i'm pleased with them, i was quite worried that i wouldn't have any photos, but, they all came out, ok they are over exposed and blurry, but how do you control focus of something that has a hole instead of a lens?

I'm now going try again, read more into the build of the camera and see if i can get them all in focus!

Photomarathon 2009 - All Done!

2009-06-21T18:04:00.001+01:00

Well Photomarathon 2009 is over, it was a long exhausting day but well worth it again. This is the 3rd year I have done it and it's still the same amount of fun!, fueled on coffee, beer and laughs we ran around Cardiff taking pictures. For anyone that hasn't heard about Photomarathon, basically you start at 10am where you are given 4 topics, you then have 4 hours to go and anywhere and do anything to take a photograph based on the topics, you are allowed to take one photo and one photo only is the order the topics are give, there is no digital cameras allowed, so mistakes are not forgiven! You then return to HQ at 2pm to be given another 4 topics, off you go again, then come back at 6pm to be given the final 4 topics, then it all ends at 10pm, so 12 topics, 12 hours!

This year went quite well, the topics where:

1. My Entry Number
2. Contained
3. Roll With It
4. Chip
5. Age
6. Crunch
7. Black & White
8. Social Network
9. Spillage
10. Missing
11. Dressed to Impress
12. Winner

Looking forward to the exhibition now at the Old Library in Cardiff, to see if i have one anything!

Photography Skills

2009-06-16T17:37:00.000+01:00

More here: http://www.michaelbosanko.com

Koenigsegg buy Saab!

2009-06-16T16:51:00.000+01:00

Perhaps you’ve heard of Koenigsegg Automotive . They are one of the select few automakers to make a car that goes over 200mph, right off the showroom floor. 806hp will do that for you, you know.

Safe to say that while they deliver spectacular performance, gas mileage isn’t their strong suit. Knowing a business opportunity when they see one, this tiny maker of specialty supercars announced a few hours ago that they had purchased Saab, an automaker that makes around 100,000 cars per year, although that has been dropping of late.

Does that mean the Saab 9-5 will one day beat a 911 around the ‘Ring? Probably not. Koenigsegg’s big challenge for the present is to make Saab profitable. Known for their quirky, small luxury cars, Saab didn’t benefit from their years under the GM umbrella, as fellow Swedish car maker Volvo has under Ford’s ownership. They cars have been rated mid pack and priced near the top of their segment; not a great recipe for success, unless they have enough intangibles to draw buyers.

We will see if Koenigsegg can provide those, and restore Saab to the position it once held. Not too long ago, people wanted to drive a car made by a company that also made top of the line jet fighter planes and police cars for the Vail, CO police force.

GM has been looking to unload all it’s secondary manufacturing units, of which Saab was one, and leave itself with only its core brands, Chevrolet, Cadillac, GMC Trucks, and Buick. Why GM would ax Pontiac and retain Buick, when the former sold many more cars per year is an open question. I would postulate that The Chief’s performance oriented image didn’t sit well with the General’s new bosses in Washington. After all, who needs a V-8 powered sedan with over 400hp?

Americans want small, fuel efficient cars, and Pontiac makes primarily politically incorrect, performance oriented vehicles. If one looks at Toyota Prius sales figures for the first part of 2009, you will see that this isn’t necessarily true, although that’s not what the administration would have you believe. The position that Americans would buy mainly small, fuel efficient cars if given the choice doesn’t hold water if one examines the number of such cars Americans actually did buy when given the chance.

January sales of Toyota’s Prius, poster child for the small, fuel efficient car movement, were down 33.6% in January and 29% in February over the same months in 2008. The Honda Civic Hybrid, a more sporty hybrid than the Prius, experienced declines as well. In January, the Honda Civic Hybrid’s sales were off over 40% year over year, and in March, 2009, only 2,869 Honda Civic Hybrids were sold. All in all, 40.9% fewer hybrid vehicles of all makes were sold than were sold in the same month of 2008. That doesn’t sound like a class of vehicle that is especially popular with American buyers.

When fuel prices are high it is another matter entirely, which is why many are predicting that increasing fuel taxes, or using other means, such as restricting domestic oil production (by limiting new sources of supply from being exploited), will be employed to inflate fuel prices. High fuel prices will force American drivers to seek out more fuel efficient vehicles, such as hybrids, which sales figures amply demonstrate American drivers eschew in other cases.

Will maker of extremely politically incorrect cars, Koenigsegg seek to do what Saab has always done, make mid-level luxury cars, just revitalize the line with exciting, new models? Or, will they take Saab in a new direction, and remake Saab into a producer of smaller, more fuel efficient vehicles, albeit upmarket ones? Perhaps they’ll do a bit of both. If they want to experience a resurgence in the U.S. market, they need to appeal to Americans taste for quirky luxury, with more than a splash of performance, while retaining Saab’s “Green” reputation.

Sarah Palin is No.1 Target

2009-06-16T16:46:00.001+01:00

After the Gordon Ramsay incident, now Sarah Palin has been upset by David Letterman:

David Letterman apologized on Monday for making a sexually charged joke about one of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's teenage daughters, as a group of Palin supporters planned a rally demanding the late-night TV show host be fired.

"I told a joke that was beyond flawed, and my intent is completely meaningless compared to the perception" of the joke by viewers, he said during Monday's taping of "Late Night with David Letterman," according to a transcript given to Reuters.

"And since it was a joke I told, I feel that I need to do the right thing here and apologize for having told that joke," he said. "It's not your fault that it was misunderstood, it's my fault."

Last Tuesday, Letterman joked that New York Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez had "knocked up" the former vice-presidential nominee's daughter during a family trip to a baseball game.

But the daughter in question was 14-year-old Willow, not the intended target, 18-year-old unwed mother Bristol. Letterman said the following night that he was confused between the two and would never make sexual jokes about a 14-year-old.

Despite his explanation, Palin has charged that Letterman made "sexually perverted" comments.

In the transcript from Monday's show, Letterman also said he was sorry to Palin and both her daughters.

"I would like to apologize especially to the two daughters involved, Bristol and Willow, and also to the Governor and her family and everybody else who was outraged by the joke. I'm sorry about it and I'll try to do better in the future," he said.

The apologies came as a group of Palin supporters, calling themselves FireDavidLetterman.com, planned a Tuesday protest outside the show's studio at the Ed Sullivan theater in New York's Times Square.

Palin and protest organizers, including Republican New York State Assemblyman Brian Kolb, have said the comments were demeaning to women, and they are comparing Letterman's case to that of radio host Don Imus, who was fired from CBS radio for offensive comments about a black women's basketball team.

Representatives for Palin on Monday were not immediately available to comment on Letterman's apology.

Free running on a bike!

2009-06-15T12:44:00.000+01:00

Pinhole Progress

2009-06-13T16:32:00.002+01:00

As Andrew has already blogged, on Friday we some spare time so we decieded to build a pinhole camera, for those who don't know what a pinhole camera is, have a look here http://www.matchboxpinhole.com, and maybe build one yourself.

The pinhole cameras make amazing photographs, some examples can be found here on Flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/pinholers/
http://www.flickr.com/groups/pinholephotography/
http://www.flickr.com/groups/bwpinhole/
http://www.flickr.com/groups/wpd/

Below a picture of my build progress, i have been out today and have been busy taking photos of Cardiff Bay, all i need to do now is get the film processed and cross my fingers i guess the exposure right!

Accessible Fonts

2009-06-11T21:06:00.007+01:00

I was reading a post by blacksheep on their blog (this one) about a new accessible font called FS me (below), this is font that is suppose to be set a new standard in legibility and it reminded me of another accessible font that i had come accross a few year ago, infact i think i met the designer, but anyway the font is questions is ReadRegular.

Read Regular is designed with an individual approach for each of the individual characters, creating difference in the actual characters of b & d itself (not mirroring the b to make the d), to create a large character differentiation.

The character shapes are simple and clear, creating consistency. The characters have been stripped down from all unnecessary details –such as a two storey a and a two eyed g.

The individual approach creates striking outlines that make sure that each character stands on its own and works together with its previous or next character. Used in the content of words, sentences and text, the following or the previous character does not try to interfere in its readability process. Ascenders (bdfhkl) and descenders (gjpqy) are long to ensure their legibility. Inner shapes for example within the o, e, a, u and openings in e and g are kept open to prevent from visually closing in. This makes Read Regular a friendly character and a pleasant balance between black and white.

I 'think' i prefer the Readregular one, but what do other people think?

More can be seen here www.readregular.com

Boss Design Environmental DVD

2009-06-11T12:49:00.002+01:00

Ship all your waste to another county, the you don't have to deal with it!

Iphone trends on Twitter

2009-06-08T20:50:00.001+01:00

This is how popular Iphone is on Twitter right now, crazy

New Ipod

2009-06-08T20:20:00.002+01:00

some quick points of the announcements in the Apple WWDC just now:

12:07 pm Thanks everyone. MacRumors.com will be up shortly with all the news updates for your review and discussion. See you next time. - arn
12:05 pm The keynote has concluded.
12:04 pm Phil is thanking all of the teams at Apple for their hard work.
12:04 pm All of this is just the start of WWDC -- tons of sessions and Apple employees on-hand.
12:03 pm Phil is reviewing everything announced today.
12:02 pm A robot camera thinks the iPhone is the same as before, but then the new features are briefly highlighted (mainly video capture).
12:02 pm Showing a new ad.
12:01 pm In the US, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, UK. A week later, 6 more countries. Many more to come this summer
12:01 pm The iPhone 3GS will be available on June 19th.
12:01 pm The iPhone 3G 8GB will be available for $99 today.
12:00 pm Apple wants the iPhone to be more affordable. The existing 8GB iPhone 3G will remain -- for $99.
12:00 pm Those are AT&T prices for new and qualifying customers; may vary elsewhere. Comes in black and white, as before.
11:59 am $199 for 16GB, $299 for 32GB.
11:59 am Ships with iPhone OS 3.0 for $199.
11:58 am Most eco-friendly iPhone yet -- arsenic-free glass, BRF-free, mercury-free LCD, etc.
11:58 am Improved battery life. Now up to 9 hours of internet surfing, 10 hours of video, 30 hours of audio, 12 hours of 2g talk-time, 5 hours of 3g talk-time.
11:57 am Instant remote wipe, encrypted iTunes backups.
11:57 am Something business have asked for -- data encryption, which iPhone 3GS supports.
11:56 am Support for Nike+
11:56 am New accessibility options -- VoiceOver for content and controls, zooming, color inversion, mono audio, etc.
11:55 am New compass app shows your orientation, integration with Maps -- if you double click, the map will reorientate itself.
11:55 am Also -- a digital compass.
11:55 am You can also ask "what's playing now?" and it will tell you. Or say "play more songs like this" and a genius playlist will be built.
11:54 am With the iPhone 3GS, you hold down the home button for a second and a voice control interface is brought up. Simply say things like "Call Scott Forstall" -- if there are more than one entries, it will ask which one you wanted (i.e. home, office, etc) -- or "play The Killers"
11:53 am There is an API for video too, which allows developers to integrate video capture into their apps. Next -- voice control.
11:52 am The videos live alongside photos in the same application. You can scrub a video and edit it too. You can share the video right from your iPhone 3GS to YouTube, MobileMe, MMS, and email.
11:51 am The camera application has a switch that lets you swap between still photo and video mode. 30FPS, VGA with audio, auto-focus, auto-white balance, auto-exposure.
11:50 am Developers can take advantage of the camera too. But the best thing is -- it also captures video.
11:50 am Also features tap-to-focus. Tap on the part of the photo you want to focus, and it automatically does so. Automatically handles exposure and white balance. Better low-light sensitivity as well. Also, auto-macro -- as close as 10cm away.
11:49 am Vastly more pictures on Flickr from iPhones than any other phone. Now features 3MP auto-focus camera.
11:48 am Also has amazing features -- brand new camera.
11:48 am Supports OpenGL|ES 2.0 -- great for games. Supports 7.2Mbps HSPDA.
11:47 am 2.1x faster to launch Messages, 2.4x to load SimCity, 3.6x faster to load an Excel attachment, 2.9x faster to load a large website.

David Thorne email

2009-06-08T18:42:00.005+01:00

Some if you would have probably come across the emails from David Thorne, he tried to give a drawing of spider as payment for his credit card bill, this is his latest offering:

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

From: Jeff Peters
Date: Wednesday 8 April 2009 10.22am
To: David Thorne
Subject: Membership Renewal

Dear David

This is a friendly reminder to let you know your gym membership
expired last week. Your membership is important to us and we would
like to take this opportunity to show our appreciation by offering you
a 20% discount on your membership renewal. We look forward to seeing
you again soon.

All the best, Jeff Peters

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

From: David Thorne
Date: Wednesday 8 April 2009 1.37pm
To: Jeff Peters
Subject: Re: Membership Renewal

Dear Jeff,

Thankyou for your friendly reminder and the kind offer to reduce my
membership by twenty percent. I own a calculator but I could not work out how to do percentages on it so have estimated that I save around $372.10 off the normal price of $420.00 - Please confirm that this is correct and I will renew my membership immediately. Also, do I get a Fitness First sports bag with towel and drinking bottle included in the price? I own my own legwarmers and headband.

Regards, David.

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

From: Jeff Peters
Date: Thursday 9 April 2009 10.01am
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Re: Membership Renewal Due

Hello David

How did you come to that amount? Our half year membership fees are
actually $460 but with the 20% discount as an existing member your
renewing membership fee would be only $368 for the six months saving
you almost $100 off the normal price. We are not Fitness First so do
not have those bags.

Cheers, Jeff

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

From: David Thorne
Date: Thursday 9 April 2009 10.18am
To: Jeff Peters
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Membership Renewal Due

Dear Jeff

Do I get free shipping with that?

Regards, David.

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

From: Jeff Peters
Date: Thursday 9 April 2009 12.48pm
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Membership Renewal Due

Free shipping with what? The $368 covers your membership fees for
six months.

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

From: David Thorne
Date: Thursday 9 April 2009 2.26pm
To: Jeff Peters
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Membership Renewal Due

Dear Jeff

By the power of Greyskull that is a lot of money but I admit to being
in desperate need of increasing my body strength. My ten year old
child often turns the taps off in the bathroom very tightly and I have
to go several days without washing. I feel bad constantly having to
ask the lady from next door to come over and loosen them for me, what with her arthritis and limited wheelchair access to my apartment. To be honest, I originally joined your gym with full intentions of attending every few days but after waiting in vain for someone to offer me steroids, I began to suspect this was not going to happen and the realisation that I may have to exercise instead was, quite frankly, horrifying. My aversion to work, along with the fact one of your employees, Justin, was rather rude, telling me to ‘lift this’,
”push that’ dulled my initial enthusiasm of becoming muscular and I
stopped attending.

Regards, David.

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

From: Jeff Peters
Date: Friday 10 April 2009 9.17am
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Membership Renewal Due

Hello David

Not sure how to take your email, nobody here would offer you steroids,
it is illegal and none of our staff would do this. Justin is one of
our most experienced trainers and if you found him rude while he was
trying to be helpful and just doing his job then there are plenty of
other gyms you could look at joining instead.

Cheers, Jeff

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

From: David Thorne
Date: Friday 10 April 2009 10.02am
To: Jeff Peters
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Membership Renewal Due

Dear Jeff

Yes, I have noticed that there are many gyms in my area. I assume the
low qualification requirements of fitness trainers means that there is
an over supply of these buffed but essentially otherwise purposeless
professionals. I knew a guy in high school who couldn’t talk very well
and collected sticks, he used to call the teacher ‘mum’ and during
recess we would give him money to dance. Then sell him sticks to get
our money back. He went on to become a fitness instructor so I view
gyms as kind of like those factories that provide a community service
by employing people with down syndrome to lick stamps and pack boxes.
Except with more Spandex obviously.

Regards, David.

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

From: Jeff Peters
Date: Friday 10 April 2009 10.32am
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Membership Renewal Due

Go f*ck yourself.

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

From: David Thorne
Date: Friday 10 April 2009 11.38am
To: Jeff Peters
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Membership Renewal Due

Dear Jeff

I was, at first, quite surprised at your response; one minute you are
inviting me to renew my membership and asking me for money, the next
insulting me. After doing a little research however, I have learnt
that mood swings are an expected side effect of steroid abuse. As
another side effect is a reduction in the size of your p#$%, this
gives you understandable cause to be an angry person. I have also
learnt that Spandex contains carcinogenic properties so this does not
bode well for yourself and your shiny friends. If I woke up one
morning and my p#$% was a quarter of the size I would probably take my anger out on those around me as well. There are probably support groups or websites that could help you manage your problem more effectively and picture based books available on the subject for people with limited reading skills. When I am angry I like to Listen to music by Linkin Park. The added angst and desire to cut myself works similarly to the way firefighters fight forest fires by burning off sections, effectively canceling each other out and I find myself at peace. I understand that you guys usually listen to Pet Shop Boys or Frankie Goes to Hollywood so this may be worth a try.

Regards, David.
From: Jeff Peters

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

Date: Friday 10 April 2009 1.04pm
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Membership Renewal
Due

DO NOT EMAIL ME AGAIN
From: David Thorne
Date: Friday 10 April 2009 1.15pm
To: Jeff Peters
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Membership
Renewal Due

Ok.

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

From: Jeff Peters
Date: Friday 10 April 2009 1.25pm
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Membership
Renewal Due

Is that you being a smart@rse or agreeing not to email me again?

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

From: David Thorne
Date: Friday 10 April 2009 1.32pm
To: Jeff Peters
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
Membership Renewal Due

The middle one.

The famous spider one here and some more:

http://www.27bslash6.com/overdue.html

http://www.27bslash6.com/matthewsparty.html

20 Twenty Cricket

2009-06-05T09:38:00.004+01:00

Not that i'm a big fan of cricket, but what can be better than leaving work a bit early, going to the cricket ground in the lovely sunny weather and sitting down for a few ours with a few beers. This is exactly what me, Julian and El did, here is quick snap of the game:

We were kindly invited by one of our clients QTS Training, they are corporate sponsors of this years 20 Twenty and Ashes Cricket, here is a pic of their board at the ground (you need to squint!)

Mr Porky - Pork Crackles

2009-06-03T14:54:00.001+01:00

This is what Julian bought as a treat for me! There are disgusting - about 50% fat - just can't stop having one now and again, urrghhhhhh

Communication Degree 2009 Invite

2009-06-03T14:44:00.003+01:00

Just received an invite to the UWIC Graphic Communication Degree Show 2007, hand delivered by the students!

Quite a nice piece, silk screened onto paper, and numbered 14/100, one we will keep i guess!

Packard Bell New Brand

2009-06-01T12:53:00.001+01:00

After my post about Keep Britain TIdy new brand, which i though was nice and simple, the new one from Packard Bell is far from it, not very nice at all!

Keep Britain Tidy New identity

2009-06-01T12:49:00.001+01:00

The new brand, which will be used in all public-facing communications, will double as the corporate identity for the organisation behind the campaign, which was formerly known as EnCams.

Brand Catalyst was appointed to look at EnCams’ brand and naming strategy in October 2008 following a six-way pitch. This work then led on to a separate brief to create a new identity for the organisation.

Peter Shaw, managing director at Brand Catalyst, says highlighting the ‘It’ in Keep Britain Tidy makes the brand more flexible, so that it can be used in campaigns that also connect back to the corporate identity.

A refreshed Tidyman icon is used as an anchoring device for campaign lines, which will be adapted according to issue and location – such as ‘Let’s keep Wigan tidy’ and ‘Help keep your park tidy’.

Ginette Unsworth, marketing manager at Keep Britain Tidy, says, ‘We work very closely with local authorities and other partner organisations in delivering cleaner, greener places and we realised that we could better leverage our famous campaign identity with Brand Catalyst.

‘The Keep It Tidy idea will allow us to make the campaign more engaging and locally relevant.’

Peter Shaw, managing director of Brand Catalyst, says, ‘We have worked closely with EnCams to create a common identity for the public campaign and the organisation behind it.

‘We had twin objectives of raising the profile itself and to create a campaign identity that would be more engaging to our varied audiences.’

The new brand is in use from today.

Source: http://www.designweek.co.uk/brand-catalyst-creates-new-keep-britain-tidy-identity/3000939.article

Hoffi go the Eisteddfod

2009-06-01T11:37:00.002+01:00

If any one was wondering where we were on Friday afternoon, we were at Eisteddfod yr Urdd in Cardiff Bay. It was good to look around, see some of our clients, such as SiliBili and enjoy the lovely sun in the Bay.

Burnt noses all round.

Not your usual 'Logo'

2009-05-31T18:50:00.005+01:00

We are always talking about logo's but this was not your usual logo, this was the Logos Hope. In their own words "A cutting-edge example of international cooperation and cultural understanding, this growing fleet has been sailing the world since 1970, housing at any one time over 600 unpaid volunteers from around 70 countries! These crewmembers have each given several months or even years of their lives to serve on board, promoting world-wide education, cooperation, aid relief, social awareness and a personal relationship with God, in the ports and countries to which they travel."

What I found interesting was they had huge book shop on board with books about everything, and they were priced up in their own on board currency. Every 100 of their units was worth £1.50, this made it easier for them to deal with different currencies around the world.

Microsoft revamp their search engine

2009-05-28T21:05:00.003+01:00

Microsoft is re-launching its search engine, promising to make search simpler, and aiming to overhaul Yahoo.
Re-named and re-branded Bing.com, the search engine will go live first in the US and launch in beta elsewhere.
Google has more than 64% of the search market in the US, followed by Yahoo at 20% and Microsoft at 8.2%.
Bing offers to make search more relevant by understanding the intention of searches, and grouping more related information to the original query. For example, searches for a product will also bring links to reviews, accessories, and online shops, as well as information about the item.

Searches for flight information will pull schedules and times from websites, as well as linking to hotels and weather.
Microsoft wants to reduce the amount of clicking a user has to do to find specific and related information.
Paul Stoddart, Microsoft UK search lead, "Forty percent of search queries go unanswered. There is something missing here and a big consumer need."

He added: "We can see it in the logs [of searches]. When searching using existing search engines I have to keep re-querying things - adding more words, clicking on a site, going back because it is not the right site, and ultimately abandoning their queries." He added: "We are pulling information that we know people use every day."

He said Microsoft was hoping to build an "emotional connection" between users and its search engines, as well as brand loyalty. Bing has a much softer, less clinical feel than previous Microsoft search engines and rivals, with a daily changing backdrop image.

"Google haven't been able to innovate a lot of the UI (user interface) because they have to display their ads as that's how they make their revenue. We can try things a bit differently," said Mr Stoddart. Users are also able to save their searches to avoid having to remember on which site they found a particular piece of information.

Microsoft is forming partnership with a host of different online services which Bing can then trawl to aggregate specific information around searches - such as flight deals, reviews and holidays. Mr Stoddart said the UK version of Bing was launching later than the US because Microsoft was busy finding the "best of breed" in web services specific to the UK that it could add into search engine results. "People keep building global search engines but doing something for the UK is important," he said. He denied that Microsoft's goal of overtaking Yahoo lacked ambition. "Second place would be a great place. And once we're in second place we will go for first place. "Microsoft has a great tradition of coming from behind."

Departures brands National Assembly for Wales

2009-05-27T20:02:00.002+01:00

Cardiff-based design group Departures is creating brand guidelines for the National Assembly for Wales.

The National Assembly appointed Departures at the end of last year, following a competitive creative tender.

It has briefed the group to refine its logo and redesign its suite of external marketing materials and stationery.

‘Instead of being very closed off, we are trying to present the assembly as more public-facing and approachable, thereby engaging people in the democratic process,’ says Departures creative director Aled Phillips.

The assembly is responsible for holding the Welsh government to account.

The consultancy has come up with a new colour palette for the assembly, composed of ‘dark, muted colours’ including greys, greens and blues, which are intended to recall the Welsh landscape. A secondary palette of brighter accent colours is supposed to reflect the spirit of the Welsh people.

‘We are looking at the vast array of materials the assembly was producing and trying to streamline it and give it more of a publicly focused, engaging, branded feel,’ says Phillips.

Departures’ first piece of work - a visitors’ guide to the Senedd building, the home of the National Assembly - was rolled out a week ago. The brochure bears the new ‘evolved’ logo. The dragon icon remains unchanged, but the words ‘National Assembly of Wales’ now appear in a bespoke sans-serif typeface.

Departures is still working on the brand guidelines, and is also creating a poster that will tell members of the public how to contact the assembly.

The group is also putting together a hardback book about the history and workings of the assembly, with the help of photographer Marcus Ginns.

While the book will have an electronic version, the consultancy remains uncertain about whether it will make it to publication due to budgetary and sustainability considerations, says Phillips. The website will also be modified to take account of the new brand guidelines.

NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FOR WALES BRIEF

Refining the visual identity
Designing a visitors’ guide to the Senedd building
Revamping stationery and external communications materials
Designing a poster showing how to contact the assembly
Creating a book about the history of the assembly

Source: http://www.designweek.co.uk/departures-brands-national-assembly-for-wales/3000749.article

Boris Johnsons near miss!

2009-05-25T11:22:00.000+01:00

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has had what was described as a "near-miss" with a lorry while riding his bicycle in east London. The incident, caught on a private security camera, happened as the mayor cycled in a street in Limehouse. As a lorry overtook him, its back doors flew open and hooked the windscreen of a parked car, dragging it for several yards before smashing into another.

The power of Viral campaigns

2009-05-22T09:54:00.002+01:00

Ok, well maybe this wasn't a campaign by the producer, but after reviews of the 'Three Wolf Moon T-shirt' went viral, Amazon saw the sales of the t-shirt rise by 2,300%.

The first review gave the shirt five stars, saying it "Fits my girthy frame, has wolves on it, attracts women" but "cannot see wolves with arms crossed". Others said "When I put this T-shirt on for the first time, my wife left me! Thank you, Three Wolf Moon T-Shirt," wrote one wag, while another said that "the Three Wolf Moon T-Shirt gave me a +10 resistance to energy attacks, +8 Strength... and I have successfully solved 7 crimes in my city".

Pepsi RAW

2009-05-21T21:36:00.004+01:00

Just a quick one to follow up my previous post about eco products, this is a picture of Pepsi Raw, a new product that uses all natural ingredients to make Pepsi and is suppose to be better. So if this product is so good why is the original Pepsi not made with these ingredients? because it's crap, that's why, it's just another product trying to cover up the problems.