Toonbots message board: What I've been doing instead of Toonbots

Brother Emsworth Tue May 22 23:16:40 2001 Re: What I've been doing instead of Toonbots > So the Defenestration storyline, which I actually have planned! will > *start* tomorrow instead of building up to it. Sorry, Emsworth. Sigh. But there will be *something* new tomorrow? I've already informed a couple online acquaintances to be here on May 23 for a special Toonbots. Ah, well. Still, I'l try to be patient (and I ll only hope this meta-fictional over-stuffed armchair will placate the wolverines in the mean time.) > Aren't they beautiful? Actually they are. I might be more specific tomorrow, but right now I'm too tired, despondent, incoherent, and headachey. Goodnight, all.

Michael Wed May 23 01:24:46 2001 Re: What I've been doing instead of Toonbots > Sigh. But there will be *something* new tomorrow? I've already informed a > couple online acquaintances to be here on May 23 for a special Toonbots. > Ah, well. Still, I'l try to be patient (and I ll only hope this > meta-fictional over-stuffed armchair will placate the wolverines in the > mean time.) NOOOOOOO!!! Not my armchair! I'm going to do my damndest to have something every day for at least a week. I'm doing it for the Jihad! > Actually they are. In all seriousness, thank you. They're an absolute pain to produce, with a Hungarian physicist hanging over your shoulder saying, "No! That green sucks! It should look less like spinach!" and knowing (1) the color response of your retinas are comparable to that of a dog and (2) the green better damned well be perfect, because this talk, this one talk, is her triumphant return to her home city, Budapest, and it is more important to her than life itself. I'm proud of these slides. I look at them and I think, these slides could appear in Scientific American and not be ashamed. I've never been worth beans with graphics, in comparison to people who, you know, DO graphics -- but now, I think maybe there's hope.

Napoleon Wed May 23 14:59:03 2001 Re: What I've been doing instead of Toonbots > [...]with a Hungarian physicist hanging over your shoulder saying, "No! That > green sucks! It should look less like spinach!" For some reason, this bit amuses me highly when taken out of context. Oh, and I don't see no new Toonbots. Where's my new Toonbots? :P

Michael Wed May 23 15:01:47 2001 Re: What I've been doing instead of Toonbots > Oh, and I don't see no new Toonbots. Where's my new Toonbots? :P Waaah! I'm sorry! I'm trying!

Napoleon Wed May 23 15:03:53 2001 Re: What I've been doing instead of Toonbots > Waaah! I'm sorry! I'm trying! You do realize that I have *even more* reason to defenestrate people today than usual... Hint, hint...

Michael Wed May 23 16:38:40 2001 Re: What I've been doing instead of Toonbots > You do realize that I have *even more* reason to defenestrate people today > than usual... > Hint, hint... Yes, I know, Napoleon. Complain to my wife, and her lovely advisor, who gave, oh, days and days of notice that he was going to be gone for a month and so the presentation had to be ready to show him beforehand. I'll have *something* started before midnight. Best I can do.

Napoleon Wed May 23 18:44:17 2001 Re: What I've been doing instead of Toonbots > Yes, I know, Napoleon. Complain to my wife, and her lovely advisor, who > gave, oh, days and days of notice that he was going to be gone for a month > and so the presentation had to be ready to show him beforehand. > I'll have *something* started before midnight. Best I can do. Ah, I'm just joshin' ya. Defenestrate you too many times, and you might start to turn out some decidedly weird content. ...err...

TimberBram Wed May 23 15:06:01 2001 Re: What I've been doing instead of Toonbots > http://www.vivtek.com/kaon_slides.html Aren't they beautiful? They are, indeed, very impressive looking. I have only a very vague understanding of any sort of particle physics so most of the actual meaning is beyond me, but as graphic objects they are clearly drawn and well executed, virtues often overlooked in the effort to be splashy and exciting. Well done. Peace, Tim Bram.

pv Thu May 24 10:03:40 2001 Re: What I've been doing instead of Toonbots > Please, people, take a look at my slides (the purtiest ones, anyway) and > tell me I haven't been suffering here for nothing. I haven't done anything > else since about Thursday. I mean, literally (except for a loooong design > session with a new startup that might actually work out). (I'm a lurker who fell down a rabbit hole from the sluggy seti board, and is massively amused by toonbots) As someone who has a passing familiarity with physics, and who used to make his rent money working in the graphic arts, not bad at all. The only critique I would make is on two slides. the horizontal lines (indicating the top and bottom of a beam pipe cross-section?) aren't perfectly straight and parallel. Printed out it's probably not visible, but in low-res it looks a bit off. Move the anchor points around a bit. PV

Michael Thu May 24 10:34:01 2001 Re: What I've been doing instead of Toonbots > (I'm a lurker who fell down a rabbit hole from the sluggy seti board, and > is massively amused by toonbots) I wondered if anybody would follow that link. > As someone who has a passing familiarity with physics, and who used to > make his rent money working in the graphic arts, not bad at all. Thanks! I have a passing familiarity with my wife, who has much more than a passing familiarity with physics. By application of the rule of transitivity, my calculations would indicate that I, too, have a passing familiarity with physics. But after all this work with Illustrator, I'm almost to the point where I believe I can actually do graphics. > The only critique I would make is on two slides. the horizontal lines > (indicating the top and bottom of a beam pipe cross-section?) aren't > perfectly straight and parallel. Printed out it's probably not visible, > but in low-res it looks a bit off. Move the anchor points around a bit. PV Yep -- printed, or on the screen, it was completely invisible. When I rendered to a bitmap the pixelation showed up due to the lower resolution. Fortunately, the slides on my page are just for display; my wife prints transparencies for the talk itself. I doubt I'll mess with things at this point. I'm just curious to see what the Italians think of my drawing of their detector. We found a really grungy-looking CAD-like rendering on their website, pulled it over to Illustrator, then drew ellipses and lines on it. And then we erased the original. The result looks pretty clean, I think. The little rays going out from the collider in the center were my idea. (Those are kaons!) (I think it's neat that if you misspell kaons, they become koans.) Eh. I really like those slides. Illustrator really and truly rocks once you get past figuring out its UI. Now that I have, though, I really like it. I've even started to be able to draw curves that don't entirely suck. Besides, I'll bet nobody else at the conference will have fan art for *their* slides. Heh. It's nice to have a Jihad, sometimes. Although the furniture bill can mount up.

pv Thu May 24 21:15:06 2001 Re: What I've been doing instead of Toonbots > I wondered if anybody would follow that link. The first hurdle is actually getting to the sluggy seti board. > Eh. I really like those slides. Illustrator really and truly rocks once > you get past figuring out its UI. Now that I have, though, I really like > it. I've even started to be able to draw curves that don't entirely suck. Bezier curves hurt your brain when you first start playing with them, but they're a truly beautiful thing. > Besides, I'll bet nobody else at the conference will have fan art for > *their* slides. Heh. It's nice to have a Jihad, sometimes. Although the > furniture bill can mount up. Yeah, Tirdun's cartoon made me laugh out loud, which I very rapidly squelched because I didn't want to try to explain the joke to my cow-orkers. PV