Blogs nowadays suffer because of lack of interest—general interest has moved to the mega-blog with multiple contributors (Slashdot, Delicious, Digg, news sites of all sorts) and specific interests have been moving to more specific sources: social networking (Facebook, MySpace, Twitter) and media social networking (Flickr, DeviantArt, Picasa Web Albums, YouTube, Vimeo). Sustaining a following on a blog can be a tough job, and I know for one I run short on the necessary time.

I will give you my Flickr and Twitter pages. I’ve been enjoying these recently.

Ambitious Distractions

Jesus Raises the Bar

For Ambitious Distractions, I found a program that I just started getting to know (I haven’t had time to really get dirty with it): Context Free. Vladstudio used it in one of his tutorials, and it is a dynamic little program for fractal art and code-based design.

For Jesus Raises the Bar, I used a grungy font to begin with, then messed it up a whole lot more. It is an inspired picture, because the word Jesus has words cutting into it. So, not only is it the word, but it’s also in red letters :-).

Type telnet towel.blinkenlights.nl into Terminal in any *nix system.

Taken from lowendmac.com

This was a completely original drawing. Get the brushes and the font from the misprinted type.

Powell Church has released its first live album. Download it at the Powell Church website.

A short time ago, we purchased recording equipment that allows us to track the full 48 tracks our sound board uses. This was a step in our goal to release consistent, high-quality recordings of different songs so that those in our congregation (and anyone else who would like) has access to great quality music that is free and very local and personal.

This first editition did not come from our current recording system, but from a special worship night in February. It gets the ball rolling on an exciting project free from the responsibility of being awesome: no expensive tracking sessions, no expensive producers, no expensive marketing means that we can release these often with great music that, overall, creates an awesome product.

So, download a copy or listen online. Check back for Live 2 in October.

On very special evenings, I enjoy dunking a bag of delicious tea in a cup of hot water, (waiting two minutes) remove the bag (currently I have Celestial Seasonings’ Pear White Tea), and get lost clicking link after link in Wikipedia, every once in a while sipping on the delicious leaf’s nectar.

I’ve been following Mac rumors lately, as I’m excited about an update to the Macbook and Macbook Pro line. I got lost again reading about Mac OS X, the delightfully clever move from OS 9 to a UNIX based operating system. UNIX traces its roots to 1969, when the first code was written that started the roots of what a UNIX system runs today (Leopard on Intel machines is a certified UNIX standard OS, other versions are UNIX-like).

My hypothesis is this: the best operating systems currently run a UNIX base.

Ubuntu, the OS I use on my older hardware and desk computer, is a UNIX-like codebase. It’s the best option for non-production machines (the creative programs are lacking, but not the office and Web options). Mac OS X runs certified UNIX. Vista runs a hybrid kernel. The comparison is vast: compare software freedom to proprietary software, compare developer numbers, code accessibility, it’s brilliant! The future of Linux should be set to take on Apple, Inc.

Redmond’s third tier because of *NIX:

pronounce it aster-nicks.

p.s. geek out over darwin at developer.apple.com/opensource

The Pen Tool: the magic weapon of creating graphics in Photoshop. I found a good walkthrough for using the tool. I’m going to try this some more and I’ll share it with you if it’s a quality tutorial.

This picture took much time for seemingly small results. I’m still trying to becoming proficient at creating composite images from custom elements, as opposed to manipulating a picture that is a capture of reality. The paper bag texture is CGI, the Asian Sun as well, both from tutorials the great Google found for me. The barbell, the flame, and the Olympic gold medal are from the stock exchange.

The flame’s bowl, the rainbow strap on the gold medal, the starry background, the bird in the lower-right corner, and the olympic rings (with the red one not intersecting so no one sues me) are original elements or from different brushes.

The picture of the apple comes from the stock.xchng (thanks, Scott Liddell). It’s supposed to echo the fruit from the garden of Eden. And for this stereotype, I must apologize.

I’m sorry, Mr. Apple, why you’ve gotten such a bad report. You taste delicious and crunchy, but most people blame you for the downfall of all people. As if it’s your fault. But you don’t even compare to the current status of snakes. The poor serpent doesn’t even have arms, and nobody wants to have lunch with a snake. Most people still enjoy a nice hot meal with an Apple at their side.

This week’s picture attempts to use text with boldness and fluid.  It has simple elements with loud contrasts: the background basis is a Vladstudio tutorial.  The word “Repent” is extra large, falling off the edges; it has a couple mixture layers to make it blend some into the background. “The Need to” has a bit of black neon. The picture’s rich, red tone echoes fire, the stereotype of messages about repentance.