That’s right folks still frame stamps are a thing of the past. Video stamps, using lenticular technology, is where it’s at. The thought of video stamps is fairly new, but lenticular printing was designed in the 1940’s and continues to be refined. The process which is extremely complex uses several intricate steps to get the effect working right. The Herzog stamp uses a total of 48 images to get the desired effect, which equals out to roughly 3 seconds of video. This stamp was Austria’s way of honoring the UEFA EURO 2008.

I was driving home from work this evening, completely bored out of my skull. I am in desperate need of new music for my iPod, nothing was on the radio and I’ve failed to reactivate my XM subscription at this present time, so my music choices were slim. Normally I can bare with, but anyone who knows, my commute to/from work is never less than an hour and that’s if I’m reaching speeds nearing triple digits. Regardless, I was left with my thoughts.

Two nights ago I had the pleasure of spending the evening hanging out with two very dear friends of mine that I haven’t seen in quite some time. They are in a lesbian relationship together. One I grew up with, S1, and her partner, S2, I met last year. S1 and I have always joked around growing up about being together - S2 on the other hand makes it pretty obvious that she has a man crush on me.

Being the debauch individual that I am, I began to think of how to work a threesome out of the deal. After much consideration, I figured the easiest way to fit myself into the picture would be an arrangement of a polygamous relationship. now I am the type of person that believes, you are who you are and you shouldn’t be ashamed of that. So if a polygamous arrangement was made I would have to change my relationship status to reflect the change. Then it hit me, there is no option in the relationship feature on Facebook for polygamy.

Now you could make the argument that polygamy is illegal in the United States, but yet it is legal in Utah. About 60,000, (%5 of Utah Mormons) polygamists reside in Utah. How come they aren’t convicted if polygamy is illegal? In 1998 the Salt Lake tribune ran a poll - discovering that 35% of Utah’s population think that polygamists should not be prosecuted. Many of the people in Utah are descendants of polygamists. In addition, the laws that were written against polygamy are basically laws against consensual sensuality, which cannot be prosecuted in today’s legal climate.

As I struggle, looking for the right combination of words to wrap this rant up in a nice little package, I played the role of devil’s advocate. I attack only Facebook with its stance again polygamy (which is purely hearsay, and I am just shooting from the hip on this one for a topic to write about). What about MySpace, they don’t allow the option for polygamy either? By default, no, MySpace doesn’t, but you are able to create custom layouts for your MySpace page - allowing you to add features that MySpace doesn’t offer, thus giving you the ability to set up your relationship status, among other things, to whatever you please.

As many people who know me know, I am obsessed with shoes. All kinds, but preferably ones that not too many have, especially in the Greater Philadelphia Area. I’d order shoes and have them shipped over from Europe if I knew that you can’t buy them in the States and they looked good ( I’d also have to have an outfit that they matched or I’d go out and buy one ).

Well right away I knew that Doggie Biscutz weren’t sold in South Jersey, or if they were, I had never come across them in my travels. What made me even more excited was that they were made by Pony, who made nice, clean sneakers. So I started to Google some of these shoes, checking out the various styles when I came across the pair I must have - Snoopafly-Low Casual.

I probed the web, looking for these shoes. I even enlisted the help of others to try to find them for me in hopes that the more eyes the faster they would be found. After much time dedicated to the search of the Snoopafly-Low Casuals, one conclusion was made - they only can be bought at shoemall.com and that they were out of stock until further notice. And that sums up this sad story in a nutshell.

“I really love my Twitter account but I feel like I haven’t been using it the way I want to…It would be silly to just delete this account I have here, especially if there is someone out there that had like interests and had something to say or wanted to get involved in some relevant conversations.”

That’s right Andrew, because if someone wants to get into some relevant conversation you’ll be right there to answer them…you know, after you sell your account and make a few thousand dollars. How about you just stop pretending and just come out and admit that you are a douche. I don’t know, it could just be me - it could be that he really didn’t rub me the right way when I met him back at PodCamp Boston ‘05. No, I lied, I do know what it is - Baron selling his Twitter account is the social media equivalent to gamers selling their Diablo or World of Warcraft characters online for thousands of dollars. Wait, excuse me, they don’t sell their characters, because they don’t own them, they sell the time invested in working on building them up. That’s basically what Andrew is doing, selling the time invested in getting his 1,506 followers. And that my friends is what really grinds my gears.

Feel free to read more about Andrew selling his account on news.com.

I’m going to pass on sending in my entry, but I plan on finishing it tomorrow if I get some time. I refuse to be completely defeated. I set up a sub-domain just for my CSS Off gallery. I figure if this is suppose to be a monthly contest I will continue to enter every month. I think continuing at it will not only keep me fresh on web standards and semantic markup, but will allow me to increase my production time, which is always good.

What is CSS Off?

First off, we don’t have everything figured out. But here’s what we’d like to do, with your help. We’re definitely open to suggestions.

Every month, we’ll design a web page in Photoshop and host a competition to see who can turn it into the best web page. The designs we release will present specific markup challenges, along with design and coding considerations for everyone from web newbies to experienced developers.

The point of CSS Off is to make you think critically about web design, and then execute it on a dime. You’ve got 24 hours to take our design and slice it up. Be thoughtful, be creative. Above all, use flexible markup, lean CSS, good design and your best judgment.
Within 24 hours, email us back a zip of your final html, css, supporting images and anything you care to throw in the mix.

You can read more about what CSS Off is here.

I’ve had the site up all day. On the homepage they have a count down to when the next CSS Off is - 2hours 1minute 33…32…31..30seconds. I’ve even taken a nap after work today so that I knew that I would be able to “burn the midnight oil” and produce something great for this contest.

What I enjoy about the contest is that, if you win, you have the choice of accepting the cash prize or having it donated to a charity of your choosing.

We’re tickled to announce that this month’s contest is being designed by guest designer and illustrator, Brad Colbow.

As always, the winner of this contest gets to pick between cash or a donation to a charity of their choosing ( we’re trying to scrounge up exactly how much cash, and possibly some goodies - more to come ), and we’ll feature you and your site when we discuss your winning entry.

Atlanta-based rapper, Lil’ Jon, starts off his new venture project, Little Jonathan Winery. With his label, TVT Records, recently going bankrupt, Lil Jon continues to produce hits, but hasn’t released an album since 2004. This gives him ample time on his hands for winemaking and other ventures. He clearly acknowledges that he is no wine connoisseur he “…just like the taste.”

Read more about this on USA Today.

Both types look superb, but one may work better for your room and viewing preferences
Fierce competition among flat-panel TV makers means these sets will continue to get bigger, better, and cheaper. Top-notch LCD and plasma models offer picture quality that can please even fussy videophiles. This quick comparison will help you understand the strengths of each technology.

An LCD TV might be better choice for you if:

• Your room is relatively bright, or you do lots of daytime viewing: LCD TVs offer a noticeably brighter picture than plasmas, and most LCD screens have a glare-resistant finish so that images remain crisp and clean even in rooms with lots of ambient lights.
• You often watch material that might cause burn-in on a plasma: Unlike plasmas, LCD TVs don’t use phosphors, so images can’t burn in to their screens. If you regularly watch non-HD programs in 4:3 mode, or play video games, an LCD would be a better choice
• You want 1080p resolution - the highest available: Although some plasma TVs now offer 1080p, you’ll find many more 1080p TVs can show all of the detail in every high-def video source.

Plasmas were that first flat-panel TVs available, and have consistently offered superior picture quality, although LCDs have recently narrowed the gap. Plasma TVs also offer very good value, typically costing less than a similarly sized LCD.

A plasma TV might be a better choice for you if:

• You love rich, warm colors and deep blacks: Plasma screens use a phosphor coating like the tube TVs we all grew up watching, so their color looks natural and “right.” And plasmas typically deliver higher picture contrast and deeper blacks than comparable LCDs.
• You often have friends or family viewing with you: If your favorite chair is off-axis when you watch TV, or if you often watch with friends or family spread around the room, plasma is a smart choice because it provides noticeably wider viewing angles than LCD. The picture stays bright and colorful even viewed from the sides.
• You watch a lot of sports or other fast-action material: Plasma TVs have faster video response times than LCD, son on-screen action always looks naturally smooth and smear-free.

I found that pretty helpful. It looks like my initial purchase of a LCD TV was a smart one, because it was cheap and I was planning on using it as a computer monitor once I upgraded to its bigger plasma counterpart.

Another interesting thing I learned was that the U.S. government is requiring all full-powered TV stations to stop broadcasting analog signals and switch to a 100% digital broadcasting format by February 17, 2009. Don’t fret my tech-illiterate friends, the government is not sending you violently into the realms of “better” technology. Those who are affected will primarily be viewers who rely on local over-the-air broadcasts received via antenna. If you fall under this category, my advice is to upgrade to digital cable or satellite TV, but if this is not an option you are willing to partake in, analog tuners will still work if connected to a digital-to-analog converter box, which connects between the antenna and TV. ( You will need a converter box for each TV ).

Using one of these boxes, you should see improved picture quality for your local stations. It won’t be true high-definition; more like DVD quality. Converter boxes will sell for $40-$70, but the government has set up a website ( http://www.dtv2009.gov ) that lets you apply for up to two $40 coupons per household, to reduce the cost of the digital transition.

I can recall roughly 10-12 years ago when I was first getting into web design and you would always see links at the bottom of pages for the “webmasters.” Back then it seemed like a important title for someone in the industry, but seriously I was in elementary school, what did I know? Now that I’m older and have been in the industry for a few years, I come across people who call themselves “webmasters,” and I am torn between asking them what the hell it is they master and laughing in their face.

These webmasters are the ones who still use bright backgrounds with light-colored fonts ( or the opposite - black background with dark-colored font ), a slew of animated gifs and “cool” background music. Some of my favorite examples: 1 - Ok, I lied, after this one I couldn’t, in my right mind, subject you to looking at anymore.

Dear Webmasters,
You master NOTHING! You are a far cry from mediocre at any one thing, let alone, mastering many. Please stop trying to play up your title to make yourself look important and call yourself what you really are…a HTML hobbyist and an arts and crafts mom at best.
Yours truely,
Brandon