Arbor Day in Louisiana

This past weekend the Terrebonne Parish Library hosted an Arbor Day Tree giveaway. The event was sponsored by the Apache Corporation, on of the largest private landowners in Louisiana.

After signing in at the entrance to the event area, each person was allowed to select two potted trees and a reasonable number of bare-root saplings. There were potted oaks, bald cypress, maples, willows, and I think a couple of other types of trees, in addition to a variety of different bare-root saplings species.

I selected a swamp red maple and a swamp chestnut oak from the potted trees and a handful of water oak saplings from the bare-root selection.


Below are pictures of the planted trees in my back yard.

 

Swamp Red Maple - PLANTED!

Close-up of the Swamp Red Maple tree with tags.

Swamp Chestnut Oak flanked by Water Oak saplings and a existing Crepe Myrtle in the distance.

Close-up of the Swamp Chestnut Oak with tag.

Water Oak in the ground.

Six Powerful Web Tools For Getting Unusual Things Done, From Audio Editing To File Conversion | Fast Company

A Fast Company article on cool web-based tools that replace what used to be strictly desktop applications.


Six Powerful Web Tools For Getting Unusual Things Done, From Audio Editing To File Conversion | Fast Company:

'via Blog this'

New Tech for CGI Overlay, Holodeck Potential?

Article on OTOY's new technology that could allow an actor to forever look the same age in future gigs...AND could lead to the development of a HOLODECK!



Banking Youth: Otoy's Technology Allows Actors To Stop Time | Co.Create: Creativity \ Culture \ Commerce:

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icaughtsanta.com

Imagine the look of wonder and surprise when a child receives a photo of Santa caught in the act in his or her very own home. iCaughtSanta.com is a unique website that helps visitors create those memorable keepsake photos. 

They are also giving you 50% off with the code "SANTA50" (without the quotes).

In three simple steps anyone can upload a holiday photo, add Santa Claus and print it as proof… or share it via Facebook and Twitter. Last-minute shoppers can purchase Gift Cards and eGift Certificates for loved ones with children, making iCaughtSanta.com a great gift idea even if you don't have kids yourself. 

Merry Christmas! 








(I'm trying to win an iPad...)

Ladybug

Here is a pic of a ladybug on my front porch.

I took it with my Blackberry Torch. It's not great, but it was handy.

I was surprised to see such a big lady bug around the house.

Google "Drag-N-Drop" Image Search

Somebody posted about this feature on G+ that I had never heard of...Google's Drag-N-Drop Image Search. I immediately thought "What a great frickin idea"!
So I went to the URL to try it out. The first thing I did was to try to D-N-D an image from another website...SUCCESS! I dragged my LinkedIn profile photo into the search bar and got the following results:

Headshot Drag-N-Drop Search

It showed links to my G+ profile (with the same photo) and three other profiles that I have in my circles. The really funny part is that it also served up a grid of head shots of bald or balding guys in suits from around the web.

I tried several other photos, but didn't get great results...a picture with some wood-grain prominent in it resulted in pictures with lots of wood-grain; Ones with a dominant color resulted in pictures with that dominant color present AND dominant; A picture with one of my daughters and me sitting on a bench resulted in picture of either multiple people or people sitting down. All in all, fairly interesting. 

I finally decided to try using one of the pictures from my travels, choosing one of a castle I visited in Scotland, but had forgotten the name of. I got the results listed below:

Fyvie Castle Drag-N-Drop Image Search

Not only did it find similar pictures, it also reminded me which castle it was with a couple of thumbnails from just about the exact perspective from my picture.

I can see where this can help you if you are trying to find similar pictures to one you have already, say for a project, or if you think someone may be using your photographs without your permission on the web.

I like the tool, but it would be nice if they could come up with a way to refine how it searches for the images you drag-N-drop onto the search bar. 

Let me know what you think about it...