Random cat with 3 dandelions

Random cat with 3 dandelions, originally uploaded by moclaydon.

Actually not so random, this is one of the senior cat's best buddies, they have a shared basking spot under the front garden hedge. Still ailing, seems like it's an infection on an imploded filling that's causing the problem, nasty feverish dreams last night when the painkillers wore off.....don't want to talk about it because I can't get a dental appointment till next week.......

SO.....MOVING SWIFTLY ON TO OTHER STUFF.......

A couple of arty farty free software downloads for your delectation

'Alchemy is an open drawing project aimed at exploring how we can sketch, draw, and create on computers in new ways. Alchemy isn’t software for creating finished artwork, but rather a sketching environment that focuses on the absolute initial stage of the creation process. Experimental in nature, Alchemy lets you brainstorm visually to explore an expanded range of ideas and possibilities in a serendipitous way.' You can even create art by talking into your microphone......haven't tried that yet though!
Versions available for Mac, Windows and Linux

MyPaint is 'a fast and easy open-source graphics application for digital painters. It lets you focus on the art instead of the program. You work on your canvas with minimum distractions, bringing up the interface only when you need it.' Versions available for Windows and Linux

Last link of the day.....I came across this interesting photography blog yesterday

They say '500 photographers is a weblog that posts 5 active photographers a week for 100 weeks. The photographers can be from any discipline within the photographic range, but they have to be worth looking at and have a certain level of quality. When we get to number 500, we will have a deep database of great photographers.' Today's post was for No 25.......worth a click and a bookmark maybe!

STOP PRESS.....BONUS LINK.....Almost forgot to post this one......Seeing as it's the day after election day, this is as close as I'm going to get to any political comment except to say it's suitably depressing.....just watch out for the soma spray people.....

Click to download mp3s of Side 1 and Side 2

Gratuitous quote.......

"No shoving there now!" shouted the Deputy Sub-Bursar in a fury. He slammed down the lid of his cash-box. "I shall stop the distribution unless I have good behaviour" 

The Deltas muttered, jostled each other a little, and then were still. The threat had been effective. Deprivation of Soma - appalling thought! 

"That's better'" said the young man, and re-opened his cash box.

......not that I'm a pessimistic old git......what me?......nah, no way!

A mildly techie post...converting .avi files to play on an iPod Classic

Mainly for Chris....
....first off a warning, this is not something you should leave until an hour before you leave for the airport, and probably not something you'd want to do at all if we're talking a "watch once then discard" film....just keep it for all-time favourites. It's not a quick process, one hour playing time will take at least double that to convert to mp4 format.

The best freeware conversion software I've found and used is WinFF. Download, unzip and install, and you're off! Documentation here, but I doubt you'll need it.

Still to come (because I haven't tried it yet!)....converting traditional DVDs to mp4 using Handbrake (also freeware)

Move over Steven Spielberg.....

Free, downloadable video editing software that gives Windows MovieMaker a run for it's money. With VideoSpin you can even automatically upload your completed masterpiece to YouTube and Yahoo Video. Shame it's too late for this years Oscars!

Found on Download Squad

Another free graphics programme

They say.....

"Autostitch™ is the world's first fully automatic 2D image stitcher. Capable of stitching full view panoramas without any user input whatsoever, Autostitch is a breakthrough technology for panoramic photography, VR and visualisation applications. This is the first solution to stitch any panorama completely automatically, whether 1D (horizontal) or 2D (horizontal and vertical)."

AutoStitch.....demo (but fully functional when I tried it), requires download, Windows only.

ps.....it works!