Category: SWiSH

 

 

So you see, technology will never get the upper hand, unless of course we are not extra careful and alert for possible errors and/or changes of plan. Be warned.

Below you will find some clear proof that everything is connected to everything else in one way or another.

Feel free to test this hypothesis by clicking on the individual shapes and dragging them around the area (which represents the whole universe). You and only you are capable of producing the most unbelievably beautiful and intricate shapes within this web we call human experience.

Try it out and see for yourself. See, I told you so...

I am not sure whether or not you already know about it, but rumor has it that 2004 will be a wonderful and fantastic year for those who decide to take advantage of it. I am going to place all of my bets on this possibility and go for it.

In other words, have a really great, fun and relaxing year this time around and be sure to drop by my web log once in awhile. See you around...

Sometimes it is exactly this time of the winter season when during the early evening hours the moon merely hangs there. Just dangling beneath the night sky like a low-hanging fruit up for grabs. A circular slice of light being reflected backwards in time. Movement so powerfully slow that the passing arc is seen to change if one stares long enough and imagines it. So close that one can almost touch the sphere's jagged and cratered surface if only humanity could concentrate hard and long enough.

This is kind of an experimet in taking a three-dimensional view of a given object, better known as me (the object). I got Lennart to pretend he was an avante-guard European film producer and shoot a sequence while he walked carefully around me in as round a circle as possible.

You can interact with this object in a number of ways, namely:

• Place the mouse cursor on the RIGHT side of the object in order to play the film (note how the mouse cursor changes).
• Place the mouse cursor on the LEFT side of the object in order to play the film in reverse (note how the mouse cursor changes).
• Do nothing, and after 10 seconds or so the film will jump randomly to a different view.

I hope that this is an entertaining object to play around with. For those of you interested, you can download the SWI-file (436 KB) for your own eveil devices

Believe it or not, I submitted this example to the Swish-Tutorials web site, and they were so kind to add it to the download section.

Have a look for yourself at 3D-view forward, reverse or random.

Hopefully this will make the GishTeq web site more attractive, and not inadvertently scare off too many people with its interesting message. Does it look professional enough or is just too flashy?

Get the SWiSH file here.

While I may not consider myself a master film director, it is still fun anyway to play around with my camcorder. Like trying out new and exciting visual effects. Fell free to check out the following video clip:

It may look like Marlies and I are just staring into the camera motionless, but the truth of the matter is that we are spinning around at high velocity. If you look closely you can spot the background moving by.

Here's a little something I created the other day just for fun. Maarten and I goofing around is all.

Passing the time together in a simple and fun way just making the best of good times while they last. Click around on the round colored buttons in order to operate the pseudo-advanced technical viewing console if you dare.

You might not realize it, but you should. Time is in the imagination but it is still passing us by at an amazingly fast rate. If you do not believe me, then have a look for yourself:

Just click on the object above to find out where you are at the exact moment of the here-and-now. Appreciate the peace and quiet for a moment before continuing on in life (by clicking it again). Hopefully you will learn to appreciate things better when you realize this.

By the way, I created this thing all by myself using the latest, fanciest, state-of-the-art version of SWiSHMax, like it?

If like me you also happen to be a proud owner of the most recent version of SWiSHMax, then you can download the SWiSH file and see for yourself how I created this near masterpiece.

Just for the fun of it, I decided to add a new SWiSH category for this blog where I can collect all my creations in one place.

Here is the famous quote that my French grand-mère used to make quite often, so often in fact that it has been carried on down to me via my French mother.

"Moins on en dit, mieux ça vaut." -- Grand-mère Beaucourt.

Is there anyone out there who can translate it for us?

After redoing it about a hundred times, I think I have finally got it down pat. My voice mail announcement that is. Not too artificial, not too closeup and personal, down-to-earth and straight-forward, a message which is attractive enough to invite (potential) customers to leave their name and telephone number so that I can call them back.

Thank you for calling Gishteq, your Internet and e-business enablers. We're sorry, but there is no one available right now to handle your call. Please leave your name and telephone number after the beep, in English or in Dutch, and we will contact you right away.

Listen for yourself

From deep in my heart I wish each and every one of the fine readers out there a really great year:

Rumor has it that this time around the year will be an especially good one, at least that is how I am going to embrace it with open arms.

Enjoy and peace on Earth.

For some strange reason, the whirls and whorls below his bare feet were driving him completely crazy. Not as if he were forced to look at them and agree, because if he really wanted to, he could easily look the other way. No problem really or at least one might assume and hope. However, when he attempted to raise his head, turn his eyes and focus on some other inanimate object over in the far corner, some invisible attractive force pulled his view back down and "made" him look at the many whirls and whorls. Again and again, and they were moving he was sure. Mesmerized he saw movement whereas he knew that there was no movement at all. No way that that was possible but it was. And yet the intertwining shapes and patterns and convoluted curves were exactly the reason for his catatonic fascination. Let us just say that he would rather look at them than not at all, it had become an addiction of the mind. There was no inbetween, just extremes to be dealt with, a prison cell to get used to and make more comfortable than it was meant to be. The perseverance and dedication required would take nearly a whole lifetime, but in the end it would be more than worth it. He had been at it for some time, and it seemed like he was getting closer to the end, closer and closer as the time passed him by so swiftly. The hidden messages were meant to be unraveled, the mystery exposed, the answer acquired, and by gosh he would find a way to accomplish this undeserved miracle one way or the other. He was the chosen one. He knew it and I knew it but no one else did nor even cared. Look at all the other people in the room doing nothing, and to think that they too had the very same floor beneath their feet. Though not bare like his. I tapped him again on the right shoulder, this time a little harder than before. In order to wake him from his dream world. He did not budge or seem to notice or seem to care. So I did what I had to do. I purposely stood in front of him in order to obscure his view and hopefully jar him awake from this magnetic quality which had entrapped him. The prison cell which had to get used to. For a few seconds it seemed not to help, but at the exact moment when I was ready to give up all hope completely and leave him until the following day, he sighed ever so slightly while raising his head. "Alright, what is it this time?" he asked me with a robot-like aggravation and slow movements to match. I tried to explain it to him all over again, by now about the hundredth time, but he just did not ever seem to get it. "What do you mean exactly?" he asked. By now I had all but given up every tidbit of hope, but the fact that he had even ventured to pose this simple-mannered question was enough to make me think twice. Make a double-take. The people in the room noticed this and started to stare which gave me an uncomfortable feeling like they were a bunch of soulless fools waiting to pounce on us. And they were. I asked him if this time around he indeed really was interested to know and if he wanted me to show him the way, the one and only way. Not salvation, but a grand escape nonetheless. He spoke ever so softly, as if he were afraid that some passerby might happen to overhear our secret conversation, those other people in the room "You know how I feel about it." To be honest I didn't, but I nodded in affirmation just in case. "You do?!" Of course I did. This made him quiet again, and the silence lasted for some time longer. Perhaps five or ten or maybe even fifteen minutes. At the point when his vision became blurred and the mumbling sounds began, I stepped out of the way. It was time once more to allow the whirls and whorls to take over his life again. I would see him again in a couple of days and give it another try.

Alright so what if forty-five seems at first glance to be a nice round number? Divisible by nine and five and three and one. It comes in cycles and it is an interesting experience to be that old yet again. Half of ninety which defines about the end of the cycle whereas nine is only the beginning. A mid-point between nine and ninety, about. At least that is what I have been told.

Why was that bug bothering him all the time like that? Just buzzing around his head without stopping. He tried to swat the bugger a couple of times, but this fine creature was smarter than you might think. The insect's time scale was accelerated so that one second of human time was approximately ten seconds of bug time. As the hand came down close, the bug just waited for the last possible instant. Purposely to make fun of this person even more. Just a little more. As the shadow came over him, he sprung to the right side. And then to the left. Over there to the window and back again. The man was getting desperate because for some unknown reason this simple creature had taken over his life. Nothing could be done now until the bug had been taken care of. That is, either obliterated to kingdom come or with sly movements coerced out the window that had been opened just a small crack. For about ten minutes, the noise had disappeared, and it seemed that the bug had gone its happy way for good. But when the man finally sighed with relief it was back again. On purpose just to bother him even more. Alright he thought that he had had enough of this game and it was time to do something serious. Very serious, if that were possible. In any way within the stretches of the imagination. First he had to think up something clever, more clever than clever, the cleverest thing he had ever thought of in his whole life. And then he had it, he knew exactly what was to be done. A daunting challenge, but still (barely) possible nonetheless. He had seen his dog do it a couple of times, and with success. Snap, crackle and pop. So he waited and waited, until just the right moment. It was time, wait and wait, slowly open his jaws wide and wider, now! With a swift snapping motion he caught the aggravating visitor right between the top and the bottom rows of his teeth. Quite similar to those slow motion films one often sees on shows like national geographic where the patient frog hurls his elongated tongue way out there to snag the insect in a wink of the eye. Except that it is in slow motion, a different time frame. You see, otherwise the frog's tongue is too fast to see. But for the man there was no elongated tongue, just a quick snapping motion of his jaw and then a crunch. Time elapsed showmanship, that's for sure. And he had done it also, just like the frog but even better he had to admit. Isn't the human mind an amazingly creative organ if used properly? Of course, not everyone is capable of this amazing feat, he knew. Next comes the complete obliteration, as promised. One gulp and the little creature was no more. Feeling pretty proud of himself, he decided to go to bed early that evening. Tomorrow would lead to new adventures, and he needed the rest.

At the rate I am going now, the whole house should be mosquito free within about a week or so. Yet another "raamhor" (mosquito screen) has been constructed and put perfectly in place. Bought it at Gamma and it turned out pretty good. The great thing about these Doe-het-zelf (Do-It-Yourself) stores is that they make idle and insecure-feeling men like myself feel better and more confident (eg. more macho and manly), building up their deflated egos, as if they are true carpenters at last, every kid's dream. These boxed kits are so easy that even a child can do it. That is, at least if you are willing to follow the directions like you are supposed to. Of course, the first thing I did was cast the confusing two-page instructions over to the side. Juggle the pieces of metal and various connectors around in the hopes that it would somehow magically fit together. Nothing to it, a piece of cake, there you go. Lo and behold I did it, I did it, look at me Mom! At least that is what I thought (more accurately: "hoped") at the time. Actually, the frame had been put together by me inside-out instead of the other way around. By yours truly: the junior apprentice carpenter. Dummy. That is when I decided to inspect the instructions better, concentrate and study the cryptic Dutch language. Try and make sense of it all. Pulled everything apart and put it back together again like it was supposed to be. So now I know how it is to be done, for the next time. And the next next time. Until the house is completely enclosed in a green criss-crossed network. Time to package and encapsulate the house completely from floor to ceiling with every imaginable mosquito preventive screens and various other intricate meshed cages. No I am not compulsive. My childhood dreams of becoming a true blue carpenter are here, alive and kicking! Yes, another goal in life has been attained. Next week I think I want to become a policeman for a few days.

This is a special message for all you folks out there in need of guidance in one way or the other.

Just in case you were wondering, this flashy message was created with the help of SWiSH.

Let's start off then with the color which appeals to me the most at this particular moment in time, the so-called fundamental color which is the starting point for this weblog:

Blue

#3366CC

This means that there are a number of possible harmonic combinations which will be the most pleasing for the average human mind perception and so forth. According to scientific theory we can define the following interactions of two or more colors:

			Complementary	1 + 7
			Split-Complementary	1 + 6 + 8
			Triad	1 + 5 + 9
			Analogous	12 + 1 + 2

This information is based on the color schemer online which I can recommend highly for anyone who wants to learn just a little bit more about the influence of colors in our lives.

Is this near to the harmony of colors I had originally intended or is it a bit off base or is it completely wrong? Some people call it color scheming, others call it color therapy, some view it as an artistic endeavor, and still others appeal to the appearance of some invisible aura. I call it this: trying to get my blog to look nice enough that it does not scare everyone away before they have been able to get lost in my jungle of completely off the wall thoughts. It is up to you to decide the future and how I will have to deal with it in technicolor induced mental unawareness, if you know what I mean. Are there any interesting reactions to this once in a lifetime challenge?

This weblog entry can also be found on my homepage at the Harmonic Colors page.

The great thing about Maarten is that he is still young, spontaneous and happy with most things in his life. Something for which we should all strive, even in our coming old age. Even if you are still young. Maarten can be a real goofball and jokes around alot, acting weird but in a fun kind of way. The film clip below attests well to this fact, if you know what I mean. Okay everyone, each morning before you go to work, stand in front of the mirror, look at yourself, and do the exactly as the following film instructs you to do:

Maarten goofing around and making funny faces.

I know for a fact that you will feel much better afterwards, that you will be much more relaxed and therefore productive at the office. This I know based on my own personal experience. If you forget to follow these instructions, it is not recommended that you try to make up for your oversite by practicing in the office bathroom. You will receive strange looks and might even get fired. Be careful out there in the real world.

To every single one of you out there in blogger land (and elsewhere on this planet) this wish goes to you all:

I have been told in a whisper that it will be a very symmetrical year, in many and all respects: two-thousand-and-two. Very symmetrical. Meaning just that: balance, equality, the middle path, two twos on either side escorted by two zeroes inbetween.

Ever wondered how fireworks work? Or where "Old Lang Sign" comes from?

Enjoy and peace on Earth.