Tripple Distilled

Food in hectares

2009-05-15T15:09:00.001+01:00

One commonly-used estimate of the minimum amount of arable land to feed one person is 0.07 hectares. For example:"The minimum amount of agricultural land necessary for sustainable food security, with a diversified diet similar to those of North America and Western Europe (hence including meat), is 0.5 of a hectare per person. This does not allow for any land degradation such as soil erosion, and it assumes adequate water supplies. Very few populous countries have more than an average of 0.25 of a hectare. It is realistic to suppose that the absolute minimum of arable land to support one person is a mere 0.07 of a hectare–and this assumes a largely vegetarian diet, no land degradation or water shortages, virtually no post-harvest waste, and farmers who know precisely when and how to plant, fertilize, irrigate, etc. [FAO, 1993]"

drawing lines for perspective

2009-05-15T15:06:00.001+01:00

Geometric perspective (sometimes called linear perspective) makes subjects in a drawing look like they recede into distant space, appearing smaller the farther they are away from you.
Geometric perspective can also create the illusion that you are either above or below the subject of a drawing. Using geometric perspective makes your drawings appear three-dimensional (rather than flat), and more realistic.

To get started with geometric perspective, you first need to acquaint yourself with the following:
Horizon line: An imaginary horizontal line, sometimes referred to as eye level, which divides your line of vision when you look straight ahead.

Objects below this line are below your eye level, and objects above this line are above your eye level. Artists draw horizon lines to accurately establish perspective in their drawings.
Perspective lines: Straight lines, drawn at an angle from the edges of objects, back into perceived distant space, until they finally converge at a point on the horizon line. These lines establish guidelines for drawing objects in proper perspective.

Angular lines: Straight lines that are neither parallel nor perpendicular to the horizon line.
Vanishing point: The point on the horizon line where the angular perspective lines of an object visually continue past its edges and eventually converge.

Objects become smaller and smaller the closer they are to the vanishing point and, at this point, seem to completely disappear (or vanish). Some objects can even have more than one vanishing point.

Lines of objects that are parallel or perpendicular (at a right angle) to the horizon line don't appear to go back in space (such as the top, bottom, and side edges of a building from a frontal view) and therefore don't meet the vanishing point.

Creating a drawing's horizon line
Always draw your horizon line parallel to the top and bottom of a square or rectangular drawing space. You determine the viewer's eye level by choosing the position of the horizon line. You control whether you want viewers to feel like they're above, below, or at eye level with the objects in your drawing.

A bird's-eye view looking downward
In the first drawing in Figure 1, the horizon line is close to the top of the drawing space, higher than the cubes. Imagine that you are standing on the top of a high cliff, or floating in a hot air balloon. The perspective lines of objects below you angle upwards towards the horizon line and converge at the vanishing point.

Figure 1: Observing cubes from two different perspectives, below and above the horizon line.
If you want viewers of your drawings to feel like they are looking downward, draw the subjects below the horizon line.
Looking upward
The horizon line is below the cubes in the second drawing in Figure 1. You sense that you are below the cubes — maybe looking up into the sky or standing in a valley looking upward. The perspective lines of the objects all lead downward to the same vanishing point. The cubes almost look like helium-filled balloons, and the perspective lines seem to hold them anchored at the vanishing point.
To create the illusion that the viewer is looking upward, draw your subjects above the horizon line.
Eyeing the horizon line from a level perspective
You are at eye level as you look into Figure 2. The horizon line is the first horizontal line, almost halfway down from the top of the drawing space.
Look at the angular lines (neither horizontal nor vertical) that define the edges of the objects, and visually follow them to the vanishing point on the horizon line. You should notice the following:
Angular lines of objects at your eye level (touching the horizon line) converge both downward and upward.
The lines of objects above your eye level (above the horizon line) converge downward.
Angular lines of objects below your eye level (below the horizon line) converge upward.

Figure 2: An eye-level perspective — all angular lines converge at the same vanishing point.
Finding vanishing points
When an object's perspective lines recede into a properly placed vanishing point, your drawings appear more three-dimensional and visually correct. Finding and properly placing a vanishing point allows you to draw your subjects more realistically and in proper perspective.
Finding the vanishing point in a photograph or sketch
Many artists work from photos, without realizing that a camera lens can sometimes visually distort a scene. This may not be a problem when drawing landscapes. However, if you have human-made objects in your scene, such as buildings, stairs, or other objects with horizontal lines, you need to find the vanishing point and use geometric perspective to make them look visually correct.
The following steps explain how you can find a vanishing point in a photograph or sketch. These basic principles also apply to rendering a final drawing from one of your rough sketches.
Find an image that includes a level, man-made object with horizontal lines, such as a railing, deck, or wharf, or the roof, horizontal siding, or steps of a building. Then follow these steps:
1. Find an object in the image that you know is level and has more than one horizontal line.
In Figure 3, the horizontal lines on the edge of the railing and the wooden planks in the deck are level.
2. Tape a piece of tracing paper over the entire image.
3. With a pencil and a ruler, outline the upper and lower horizontal edges of this object, as well as any other lines that you know to be parallel, such as railings, decks, or the upper and lower edges of doors and windows.
Look at the outlines of the upper and lower edges of the railing and some of the spaces between the boards in the second drawing in Figure 3.

Figure 3: Tracing the outlines to find the vanishing point.
4. Tape your traced drawing to a larger sheet of drawing paper, leaving room to extend the horizontal lines of the object.
Refer to the lines on your tracing and take note of the direction in which they point. You can visually identify which lines are going to eventually converge.
Tape only the outer edges so that the tape doesn't tear the center area of your drawing paper when you remove it.
5. Use your ruler and a pencil to extend all of the horizontal lines until they meet.
Keep your lines light, so you can erase them later. Note the point where most lines converge. This is your vanishing point, which is located on the horizon line.
When an object has only one vanishing point, its perspective is referred to as one-point perspective.
6. Draw a straight line (the horizon line) through the vanishing point, horizontal to the top and bottom of your drawing paper.
Figure 4 shows the location of the vanishing point and the horizon line (Line AB).
7. Remove your tracing, redraw the lines of the object using the vanishing point as a guide, and complete your drawing.

Figure 4: Extending the horizontal lines until they converge at the vanishing point.
Sometimes you can see more than one side of an object, such as a building. If the angle (or corner end) of the building is closer to you than one of its sides, you need to use this same method to locate the second vanishing point (this is called two-point perspective). Horizontal lines on other visible sides of this object also converge at vanishing points somewhere on the same horizon line.
Finding a horizon line and vanishing point in real life
To identify the horizon line in an actual scene, mark it with your eye level. Remember — your eye level and the horizon line are one and the same. Look straight ahead, and the horizon line is in front of you.
Some clues for finding a vanishing point in a real setting include the following:
A building or object with horizontal lines provides a perfect clue. Follow the same procedure as in "Finding the vanishing point in a photograph or sketch" earlier in this article. However, instead of drawing the lines, you simply eyeball them to find the approximate position of your vanishing point. Then you mark it in your drawing.
Two parallel lines of the edges of straight roads, railway tracks, and fences can lead you to the vanishing point.

maximising my website

2009-05-15T11:01:00.002+01:00

as i wanted my website to be as image intensive as possible, it was essential that my images where as big as could be. instead of making my site a certain size i set out to try and create my site to have full screen capabilites. looking into this i didnt think would be too much hassle untill i tried to start things. i tried various different typs of code and obviously as i am no coder i found it very difficult to scale correctly for use with alot of other different types of computer screens. in the end i wasnt able to do this so i had to stick with the correct dimensions for a 1024px screen.

the code i tried was as follows.

Hey everybody.

I'm trying to make my background scale in proportion as the flash file is scaled.
With the help of a forum post on this site, I was able to get the background to stay fullscreen and scale in proportion.

However, the image ends up getting cut off too much if the file is scaled vertically too much.

I'm looking for some type of logic that will prioritize vertical image viewability and cut off the horizontally instead. Or at least to center the image during scaling so the effect isn't as noticeable

Here is my project: http://ethanlofton.com/main.swf (try scaling up/down while keeping the width the same to see what I mean)
I want functionality when scaling very similar to: http://www.blusites.com/george/ (try the same)

By the way, this is my scaling actionscript (wrapped inside a size listener):
Code:

mainimage._x = 0;
mainimage._y = 0;
if(Stage.height > mainimage._height or Stage.width < mainimage._width){
mainimage._height = Stage.height;
mainimage._xscale = mainimage._yscale;
}
if(Stage.width > mainimage._width or Stage.height < mainimage._height){
mainimage._width = Stage.width;
mainimage._yscale = mainimage._xscale;

}

//Code written by sbeener (suprabeener)
/*
i wrote this code, but you can use and abuse it however you like.
the methods are defined in the order which they occur to make it
easier to understand.
*/
// variables ------------------------------------------
// put the path to your pics here, include the slashes (ie. "pics/")
// leave it blank if they're in the same directory
this.pathToPics = "animation/";
// fill this array with your pics
this.pArray = ["image0.jpg", "image1.jpg", "image2.jpg", "image3.jpg", "image4.jpg", "image5.jpg", "image6.jpg", "image7.jpg", "image8.jpg", "image9.jpg"];
this.fadeSpeed = 20;
this.pIndex = 0;
// MovieClip methods ----------------------------------
// d=direction; should 1 or -1 but can be any number
//loads an image automatically when you run animation
loadMovie(this.pathToPics+this.pArray[0], _root.photo);
MovieClip.prototype.changePhoto = function(d) {
// make sure pIndex falls within pArray.length
this.pIndex = (this.pIndex+d)%this.pArray.length;
if (this.pIndex<0) {
this.pIndex += this.pArray.length;
}
this.onEnterFrame = fadeOut;
};
MovieClip.prototype.fadeOut = function() {
if (this.photo._alpha>this.fadeSpeed) {
this.photo._alpha -= this.fadeSpeed;
} else {
this.loadPhoto();
}
};
MovieClip.prototype.loadPhoto = function() {
// specify the movieclip to load images into
var p = _root.photo;
//------------------------------------------
p._alpha = 0;
p.loadMovie(this.pathToPics+this.pArray[this.pIndex]);
this.onEnterFrame = loadMeter;
};
MovieClip.prototype.loadMeter = function() {
var i, l, t;
l = this.photo.getBytesLoaded();
t = this.photo.getBytesTotal();
if (t>0 && t == l) {
this.onEnterFrame = fadeIn;
} else {
trace(l/t);
}
};
MovieClip.prototype.fadeIn = function() {
if (this.photo._alpha<100-this.fadeSpeed) {
this.photo._alpha += this.fadeSpeed;
} else {
this.photo._alpha = 100;
this.onEnterFrame = null;
}
};
// Actions -----------------------------------------
// these aren't necessary, just an example implementation
this.onKeyDown = function() {
if (Key.getCode() == Key.LEFT) {
this.changePhoto(-1);
} else if (Key.getCode() == Key.RIGHT) {
this.changePhoto(1);
}
};
Key.addListener(this);

Customizing the Photo Gallery Code
Now here comes the relatively simple part of customizing the code to work with your own pictures to make your photo gallery something more meaningful than 10 pictures of wildlife I found over at the National Geographic site. Make sure your Actions dialog box is displayed with the code you pasted and read on!

More than likely, you have your images stored in a certain location on your Web site or on your hard drive that is different from where your Flash animation is stored.

Find the first line of code (it is a variable actually) that says: this.pathToPics. Modify the path set by the aforementioned variable to the folder containing your images. For example, in the version of the code in the tutorial, the images are stored in the animation folder. Therefore, the variables pathToPics equals "animation/". If your images are stored in the SAME directory as your animation, simply make pathToPics equal "" as in:

this.pathToPics = "animation/";

Other examples of how you can modify the code include:

this.pathToPics = "../animation/";
this.pathToPics = "http://www.kirupa.com/pics/";

Now, you get the chance to specify the file name for the images that will be used! Find the line that says this.pArray. Replace all the image names I have written with the images that you will use instead. If you have more images than spaces provided, simply add more image names by adding a comma with the image name in quotation marks.

The code for just two images would be:

this.pArray = ["flash.jpg", "windows.jpg"];

Again, you can have as many or as few images in the photo gallery. The code that sbeener wrote is intelligent enough to count the number of images you specify in the pArray variable and customize the gallery accordingly.

You are done with customizing the code and this tutorial (for the second time). Preview the animation and see how it works. If you are good with ActionScript, you can tweak the code with a few modifications of your own.

Creating the Back and Forward Buttons
You have finished everything except the Back and Forward buttons. While this is optional, it is always nice to provide users a way of navigating your photo gallery without having to use the back and forward keys. To create the back and forward buttons, try the following steps:

1. Draw the arrows or text that you choose to use for the back and forward buttons.

2. Select a button and press F8. From the Convert to Symbol dialog box, select Button and press OK. Repeat this step for the other button.

3. Right click on the button for "back" and select Actions. Add the following line of code:

on (release) { _root.changePhoto(-1); }

4. Similarly, right click on the button for "forward" and select Actions. Add the following line of code:

on (release) { _root.changePhoto(1); }

Rejoice! You have just completed your photo gallery tutorial (again) with the next and forward buttons.

Brochure

2009-05-14T16:26:00.003+01:00

Originally i wanted to create a 20pp brochure double A4 landscape wide. This is the general format for a development brochure so i began to try and get some quotes for the printing . in the end, the job i wanted done was going to cost some where in the region of 400quid. this was for 200 brochures. Also the origional inspiration brochure i took to the printers, they siad was produced by off set printing. Now this is a very exspensive method of printing, however the 400pound would have been for digital printing not giving as good a result. in the end i changed the design to 8 pages at A5 and printed it digitally in the uni. as i done all of the work myself the cost for 80 brochures came to around 40 pound including printing. the final design is shown below.

terms and conditions example

2009-05-14T12:25:00.000+01:00

All copyright on images and files made available through the Make me a Home, Northshore, Stockton-on-Tees competition and website belong to Urban Splash and cannot be used or duplicated for any other purpose other than for use in the submission for entry to this competition.

1. Introduction

(a) These terms and conditions apply to the entire contents of the Make me a Home, Northshore, Stockton-on-Tees website and to any correspondence by e-mail between Urban Splash and you. All references in these terms and conditions: to the "Website" refer to this website; to "we", "us" and "our" refer to Urban Splash Limited; to "you" and "your" refer to you, the user; to "Content" refer to the text, graphics, plans, photographs, information and other material displayed from time to time on the Website.
(b) Please read these terms and conditions carefully. By using this Website you are deemed to accept these terms and conditions whether or not you choose to register with us. We reserve the right to amend these terms and conditions from time to time and recommend that you review them regularly.

2. Copyright

(a) Unless otherwise stated, we own the copyright and other intellectual property rights in all Content and expressly reserve all rights in the same. You may print and download extracts from this Website for your own non-commercial use provided that you do not modify any of the Content, you do not use any graphics or photographs separately from their accompanying text and you do not remove any copyright or trade mark notification from such extracts.
(b) All other reproduction or use of extracts of Content is strictly prohibited. In particular, no part of this Website may be reproduced or stored in any other website or included in any public or private electronic retrieval system or service without our prior written permission.

3. Your Access and Use

(a) We endeavour to ensure that this Website is accessible 24 hours a day. However, we will not be liable for any losses, expenses, costs or liabilities that you, your business or any other person may suffer if this Website is unavailable at any time or for any period or your access to the Website is interrupted, restricted or delayed for any reason.
(b) Access to this Website may be suspended temporarily and without notice in the case of system failure, maintenance or repair or for any reasons beyond our control.
(c) Other than personally identifiable information which is covered under our Privacy Policy, any material or information that you transmit or post to this Website or e-mail to us (your "Non-Personal Information") will be considered non-confidential and non-proprietary. We will have no obligation to you with respect to your Non-Personal Information. By sending such non-Personal Information to us you agree that we are free to copy, disclose, distribute, incorporate and otherwise use all Non-Personal Information for any and all commercial or non-commercial purposes.
(d) By using this Website you agree not to attempt to access our systems and you agree not to post on or transmit to or from it any material:
(i) that is threatening, defamatory, obscene, indecent, offensive, discriminatory, inflammatory, blasphemous, criminal, in breach of confidence or privacy or a third party's rights or which may otherwise cause annoyance or inconvenience; or
(ii) which is technically harmful including, without limitation, containing computer viruses, logic bombs, Trojan horses, worms, harmful components, corrupted data or other malicious software or harmful data.
(e) If you breach any of the terms of these terms and conditions, your permission to use this Website automatically terminates and you must immediately destroy any downloaded or printed extracts from this Website that you have within your possession or control.
(f) We will fully co-operate with any law enforcement authorities or court order requesting or directing us to disclose the identity of or to locate anyone posting any material onto the Website in breach of paragraph 3(d) above.

5. Linking to Website

(a) You may create a link from your own website to the Website provided that you obtain our prior written consent and provided that you only do so on the basis that you link to, and do not replicate, the home page of this Website and you DO NOT:
(i) create a frame or any other browser or border environment around this Website;
(ii) in any way imply that we endorse any properties, products or services other than our own;
(iii) misrepresent your relationship with us or present any other false information about us;
(iv) use any of our Content or trade marks without our express written permission;
(v) link from a website that is not owned by you; or
(vi) display any content on your website that is distasteful, offensive or controversial, infringes any intellectual property rights or other rights of any other person or otherwise does not comply with all applicable laws and regulations.
(b) We expressly reserve the right to revoke any right we grant to you to link to our Website should you breach any of these terms and conditions. By linking to the Website, you indemnify us for any losses, damages, liabilities, costs or expenses that we, or any of our group companies, may suffer or incur due to your breach of any of the terms set out in paragraph 4(a) above.

6. Disclaimer

(a) You must satisfy yourself, by inspection physical of the properties or otherwise, of the accuracy of all Content. While we endeavour to ensure that the Content is correct and up-to-date, it is provided "as is" and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee as to its accuracy, completeness or adequacy. Accordingly, to the maximum extent permitted by law, we exclude all express and implied warranties, representations and conditions with respect to the Content.
(b) The Content in relation to the properties is provided for information purposes only and does not constitute an offer for sale or otherwise by us. We may make changes to the Content, or to the properties and prices described in it, at any time without notice.
(c) The Website may from time to time contain links to third party websites which we provide solely for your convenience. We have no control over, and make no endorsement of, the content or availability of these third party websites and you use and rely on the same at your own risk.
(d) You acknowledge and agree that any reliance you place on the Content and the content of any linked third party sites is at your own risk. To the maximum extent permitted by law, we (and our group companies) exclude all liability for any direct or indirect losses, loss of profits or other consequential loss, damages, costs, expenses or liabilities that you may suffer or incur arising from your use of this Website and/or reliance on any Content.

7. Governing Law

These terms and conditions and your use of the Website will be governed by and construed in accordance with English law and you agree that any disputes arising in connection with the same will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.

This website is operated by Urban Splash Limited - a company registered in England and Wales; company registration number 3141013; registered address is Urban Splash Group Limited, Head Office, 16-22 Worsley Street, Castlefield, Manchester, M15 4LD. Please contact us on +44 (0) 161 839 2999 if you need assistance.

website inspiration

2009-05-14T12:09:00.001+01:00

Website

2009-05-14T11:28:00.005+01:00

The initial idea was to set about making a website that could be used to market the development, a stylish and contemporary look was essential. After playing with alot different ideas and trying to take experiments from various different websites i came up with the following. it is meant to be taken seriously and give people a general impression of my project.

The website can be seen live at MarsSurrealEstate.com

final images choice

2009-05-14T11:21:00.002+01:00

These final images where choosen to best represent the development from a marketing point of view. after now finishing these images it was time to best represent them in a brochure and complete marketing material spec.

Final images

2009-05-14T10:41:00.003+01:00

Tilt-shift photography

2009-05-13T20:30:00.001+01:00

Tilt-shift photography refers to the use of camera movements on small- and medium format cameras; it usually requires the use of special lenses.
"Tilt-shift" actually encompasses two different types of movements: rotation of the lens relative to the image plane, called tilt, and movement of the lens parallel to the image plane, called shift. Tilt is used to control the orientation of the plane of focus (PoF), and hence the part of an image that appears sharp; it makes use of the Scheimpflug principle. Shift is used to change the line of sight while avoiding the convergence of parallel lines, as when photographing tall buildings.
In many cases, "tilt-shift photography" refers to the use of tilt and a large aperture to achieve a very shallow depth of field.

History and use
Movements have been available on view cameras since the early days of photography. Nikon introduced a lens providing shift movements for their 35 mm SLR cameras in the mid 1960s,[1] and Canon introduced a lens that provided both tilt and shift movements in 1973; [2] many other manufacturers soon followed suit. Canon and Nikon each currently offer several lenses that provide both movements. Such lenses are frequently used in architectural photography to control perspective, and in landscape photography to get an entire scene sharp.
Some photographers have popularized the use of tilt for selective focus in applications such as portrait photography. The selective focus that can be achieved by tilting the plane of focus is often compelling because the effect is different from that to which many viewers have become accustomed. Walter Iooss Jr. of Sports Illustrated, Vincent Laforet, Ben Thomas, and many other photographers have images using this technique on their web sites.
A similar technique, known as Smallgantics, applies the same effect of miniaturizing the subject as seen in tilt-shift photography, but is a motion-picture technique that is accomplished in post-production using digital effects software. It was first seen in the 2006 Thom Yorke music video "Harrowdown Hill," directed by Chel White.
Movements have been available on view cameras since the early days of photography. Nikon introduced a lens providing shift movements for their 35 mm SLR cameras in the mid 1960s,[1] and Canon introduced a lens that provided both tilt and shift movements in 1973; [2] many other manufacturers soon followed suit. Canon and Nikon each currently offer several lenses that provide both movements. Such lenses are frequently used in architectural photography to control perspective, and in landscape photography to get an entire scene sharp.
Some photographers have popularized the use of tilt for selective focus in applications such as portrait photography. The selective focus that can be achieved by tilting the plane of focus is often compelling because the effect is different from that to which many viewers have become accustomed. Walter Iooss Jr. of Sports Illustrated, Vincent Laforet, Ben Thomas, and many other photographers have images using this technique on their web sites.
A similar technique, known as Smallgantics, applies the same effect of miniaturizing the subject as seen in tilt-shift photography, but is a motion-picture technique that is accomplished in post-production using digital effects software. It was first seen in the 2006 Thom Yorke music video "Harrowdown Hill," directed by Chel White.

Camera movements

Tilt

24mm lens that tilts (as seen above) as well as shifts
On a regular camera, the image plane (containing the film or image sensor), lens plane, and object plane are parallel, and objects in sharp focus are all at the same distance from the camera. When the lens plane is tilted relative to the image plane, the plane of focus (PoF) is at an angle to the image plane, and objects at different distances from the camera can all be sharply focused if they lie on a straight line. With the lens tilted, the image plane, lens plane, and PoF intersect at a common line;[3] this behavior has become known as the Scheimpflug principle.
When the PoF coincides with an essentially flat subject, the entire subject is sharp; in applications such as landscape photography, getting everything sharp is often the objective.
The PoF can also be oriented so that only a small part of it passes through the subject, producing a very shallow region of sharpness, and the effect is quite different from that obtained simply by using a large aperture with a regular camera. It can be used to make a large scene appear much smaller, as the shallow depth of field is similar to that achieved by a macro lens on miniature subjects.[4]
View camera users usually distinguish between rotating the lens about a horizontal axis (tilt), and rotation about a vertical axis (swing); small- and medium-format camera users often refer to either rotation as "tilt".

Shift

In a subject plane parallel to the image plane, parallel lines in the subject remain parallel in the image. If the image plane is not parallel to the subject, as when pointing a camera up to photograph a tall building, parallel lines converge, and the result sometimes appears unnatural, such as a building that appears to be leaning backwards. Shift is a movement of the lens parallel to the image plane that allows the line of sight to be changed while keeping the image plane (and thus focus) parallel to the subject; it can be used to photograph a tall building while keeping the sides of the building parallel. The lens can also be shifted in the opposite direction and the camera tilted up to accentuate the convergence for artistic effect.
Lenses designed for shifting have a much wider field of vision than a standard lens of the same focal length. Whereas the image frame fits tightly in a standard lens, the shifting lens has an imaging area many times wider. Shifting the lens allows different portions of the image circle to be cast onto the sensor plane, similar to cropping an area along the edge of an image.
Again, view camera users usually distinguish between vertical movements (rise and fall) and lateral movements (shift or cross), while small- and medium-format users often refer to both types of movements as "shift".

Applying camera movenments

On a view camera, the lens and camera back are connected by a bellows, and many view cameras allow a considerable range of adjustment of both the lens and the camera back, so the tilt and shift movements are inherent in the camera. Applying tilt on a small- or medium-format camera usually requires a tilt-shift lens or perspective control lens; shift can be applied with the same type of lens or with a lens that offers only the shift movement.
Tilt-shift and perspective-correction lenses are available for many SLR cameras, but most are far more expensive than comparable lenses without movements. The Lensbaby SLR lens is a low-cost alternative for providing tilt and swing for many SLR cameras, although the effect is somewhat different from that of the lenses just described. Because of the simple optical design, aberrations are significant, and sharp focus is limited to a region near the lens axis. Consequently, the Lensbaby's primary application is selective focus. If that is the objective, however, the Lensbaby may be a perfectly acceptable choice.
It is also possible to construct a tilt-shift lens of sorts, as described in the linked article by Dennison Bertram.

these are the renders i didnt use...

2009-05-13T20:22:00.000+01:00

improvenment

2009-05-13T19:57:00.002+01:00

fromt this point in, everything including, vray camera set-up, vray hdri, lighting ,materials and render settins are all sorted. so lets see the raw renders of the images that in the end i didnt choose.

Also one thing to mention is the use of camera correction in all of my images. This effect straightens all verticles in order to provide a more aesthetically pleasing image. essentially the effect is in place to recreate a tilt and shift lens on an origional camera.

hopefully in just the raw renders themselves it is imediatly visible that changes made to the light and camera set-up where well worth changing.

Another thing to mention is the Glass, now because at some points their can be anything upto six different panes of glass in front of eachother, this would become impossible to composite because you would only have control of the one pane which is effectly acting as six. now reflections, refractions and colour etc can not be boosted individually and every pain of glass has to be different and is different in real life. in the instance i had to split up each section of glass into its own scene file. essentially, if their was 6 panes of consecutive glass then their would have to be 7 scene files. the glass was renderd with everything hidden to camera apart from the glass and the material was set to 100% reflectivity. basically if you times 7 by 14 renders you get an idea of how many renders had to be done to start, then these all had to be composited together creating large file sizes and complicated compositing files.

One compositing attempt

2009-05-13T19:56:00.001+01:00

renders.... continued

2009-05-13T19:49:00.002+01:00

Renders at 2000px

2009-05-13T18:20:00.003+01:00

These examples of some of the renders i did are complete without glass and are raw out of max. Standard lighting and camera set-up, renderd with all vray high quality settings. standard uk hdri, as you can see this gives a very blue look to the images, something that wouldnt be present on Mars. With these render i had yet to tweak materials so they are probably looking a little stale at the moment. 14 different renders that i got down from over 30 camera angles. these wer originally choosen to be the best and my intentions where to whittle this down to a small selection of the very best. after all they always say your only as good as your worst piece of work!

Dome master, Buck

2009-05-13T18:13:00.002+01:00

Richard Buckminster “Bucky” Fuller (July 12, 1895 – July 1, 1983)[1] was an American architect, author, designer, futurist, inventor, and visionary.
Throughout his life, Fuller was concerned with the question "Does humanity have a chance to survive lastingly and successfully on planet Earth, and if so, how?"[2] Considering himself an average individual without special monetary means or academic degree,[3] he chose to devote his life to this question, trying to identify what he, as an individual, could do to improve humanity's condition, which large organizations, governments, and private enterprises inherently could not do.
Pursuing this lifelong experiment, Fuller wrote more than thirty books, coining and popularizing terms such as "Spaceship Earth", ephemeralization, and synergetics. He also worked in the development of numerous inventions, chiefly in the fields of design and architecture, the best known of which is the geodesic dome. Carbon molecules known as fullerenes or buckyballs were named for their resemblance to geodesic spheres.

Biography
Fuller was born on July 12, 1895, in Milton, Massachusetts, the son of Richard Buckminster Fuller and Caroline Wolcott Andrews, and also the grandnephew of the American Transcendentalist Margaret Fuller. He attended Froebelian Kindergarten. Spending his youth on Bear Island, in Penobscot Bay off the coast of Maine, he was a boy with a natural propensity for design and construction. He often made things from materials he brought home from the woods, and sometimes made his own tools. He experimented with designing a new apparatus for human propulsion of small boats. Years later, he decided that this sort of experience had provided him with not only an interest in design, but a habit of being fully familiar and knowledgeable about the materials that his later projects would require. Fuller earned a machinist's certification, and knew how to use the press brake, stretch press, and other tools and equipment used in the sheet metal trade.[4]
Fuller was sent to Milton Academy, in Massachusetts, and after that, began studying at Harvard. He was expelled from Harvard twice: first for looking at porn troupe, and then, after having been readmitted, for his "irresponsibility and lack of interest". By his own appraisal, he was a non-conforming misfit in the fraternity environment.[4] Many years later, however, he would receive a Sc.D. from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Between his sessions at Harvard, Fuller worked in Canada as a mechanic in a textile mill, and later as a labourer in the meat-packing industry. He also served in the U.S. Navy in World War I, as a shipboard radio operator, as an editor of a publication, and as a crash-boat commander. After discharge, he returned to the meat packing industry, where he acquired management experience. In 1917, he married Anne Hewlett. In the early 1920s, he and his father-in-law developed the Stockade Building System for producing light-weight, weatherproof, and fireproof housing – although the company would ultimately fail.[4]
In 1927, at age 32, bankrupt and jobless, living in public, low-income housing in Chicago, Illinois, Fuller lost his young daughter Alexandra to complications from polio and spinal meningitis. He felt responsible, and this drove him to drink and to the verge of suicide. At the last moment, he decided instead to embark on "an experiment, to find what a single individual [could] contribute to changing the world and benefiting all humanity".[5]
By 1928, Fuller was living in Greenwich Village and spending a lot of time at Romany Marie's,[6] where he had spent a fascinating evening in conversation with Marie and Eugene O'Neill several years earlier.[7] Fuller took on the interior decoration of the café in exchange for meals,[6] giving informal lectures several times a week,[7][8] and models of the Dymaxion house were exhibited at the café. Isamu Noguchi appeared on the scene in 1929 –Constantin Brâncuşi, an old friend of Marie's,[9] had directed him there[6] – and Noguchi and Fuller were soon collaborating on several projects,[8][10] including the modelling of the Dymaxion car.[11] It was the beginning of their lifelong friendship.
Fuller taught at Black Mountain College in North Carolina during the summers of 1948 and 1949,[12] serving as its Summer Institute director in 1949. There, with the support of a group of professors and students, he began reinventing a project that would make him famous: the geodesic dome. Although the geodesic dome had been created some 30 years earlier by Walther Bauersfeild, Fuller was awarded US patents. He is credited for popularizing this type of structure. One of his early models was first constructed in 1945 at Bennington College in Vermont, where he frequently lectured. In 1949, he erected his first geodesic dome building that could sustain its own weight with no practical limits. It was 4.3 meters (14 ft) in diameter and constructed of aluminum aircraft tubing and a vinyl-plastic skin, in the form of a tetrahedron. To prove his design, and to awe non-believers, Fuller hung from the structure’s framework with several students who had helped him build it. The U.S. government recognized the importance of his work, and employed him to make small domes for the army. Within a few years there were thousands of these domes around the world.
For the next half-century, Fuller contributed a wide range of ideas, designs and inventions to the world, particularly in the areas of practical, inexpensive shelter and transportation. He documented his life, philosophy and ideas scrupulously in a daily diary (later called the Dymaxion Chronofile), and in twenty-eight publications. Fuller financed some of his experiments with inherited funds, sometimes augmented by funds invested by his collaborators, one example being the Dymaxion Car project.

The Montreal Biosphère by Buckminster Fuller, 1967
International recognition came with the success of his huge geodesic domes in the 1950s. Fuller taught at Washington University in St. Louis in 1955, where he met James Fitzgibbon, who would become a close friend and colleague. From 1959 to 1970, Fuller taught at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Beginning as an assistant professor, he gained full professorship in 1968, in the School of Art and Design. Working as a designer, scientist, developer, and writer, he lectured for many years around the world. He collaborated at SIU with the designer John McHale. In 1965, Fuller inaugurated the World Design Science Decade (1965 to 1975) at the meeting of the International Union of Architects in Paris, which was, in his own words, devoted to "applying the principles of science to solving the problems of humanity".
Fuller believed human societies would soon rely mainly on renewable sources of energy, such as solar- and wind-derived electricity. He hoped for an age of "omni-successful education and sustenance of all humanity". For his lifetime of work, the American Humanist Association named him the 1969 Humanist of the Year.
Fuller was awarded 28 US patents[13] and many honorary doctorates. On January 16, 1970, he received the Gold Medal award from the American Institute of Architects, and also received numerous other awards.

Gravestone (see trim tab)
Fuller died on July 1, 1983, aged 87, a guru of the design, architecture, and 'alternative' communities, such as Drop City, the community of experimental artists to whom he awarded the 1966 "Dymaxion Award" for "poetically economic" domed living structures. In the period leading up to his death, his wife had been lying comatose in a Los Angeles hospital , dying of cancer. It was while visiting her there that he exclaimed, at a certain point: "She is squeezing my hand!" He then stood up, suffered a heart attack and died an hour later. His wife died 36 hours after he did. He is buried in Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Philosophy and worldview
The grandson of a Unitarian minister (Arthur Buckminster Fuller),[14] R. Buckminster Fuller was also Unitarian.[15] Buckminster Fuller was an early environmental activist. He was very aware of the finite resources the planet has to offer, and promoted a principle that he termed "ephemeralization", which, in essence – according to futurist and Fuller disciple Stewart Brand – Fuller coined to mean "doing more with less".[16] Resources and waste material from cruder products could be recycled into making higher-value products, increasing the efficiency of the entire process. Fuller also introduced synergetics, a metaphoric language for communicating experiences using geometric concepts, long before the term synergy became popular.
Buckminster Fuller was one of the first to propagate a systemic worldview, and he explored principles of energy and material efficiency in the fields of architecture, engineering and design.[17][18] He cited François de Chardenedes' view that petroleum, from the standpoint of its replacement cost out of our current energy "budget" (essentially, the net incoming solar flux), had cost nature "over a million dollars" per U.S. gallon (US$300,000 per litre) to produce. From this point of view, its use as a transportation fuel by people commuting to work represents a huge net loss compared to their earnings.[19]
Fuller was concerned about sustainability and about human survival under the existing socio-economic system, yet remained optimistic about humanity's future. Defining wealth in terms of knowledge, as the "technological ability to protect, nurture, support, and accommodate all growth needs of life," his analysis of the condition of "Spaceship Earth" led him to conclude that at a certain time in the 1970s, humanity had marked an unprecedented watershed. He was convinced that the accumulation of relevant knowledge, combined with the quantities of key recyclable resources that had already been extracted from the earth, had reached a critical level, such that competition for necessities was no longer necessary. Cooperation had become the optimum survival strategy. "Selfishness," he declared, "is unnecessary and hence-forth unrationalizable.... War is obsolete."[20]
Fuller also claimed that the natural analytic geometry of the universe was based on arrays of tetrahedra. He developed this in several ways, from the close-packing of spheres and the number of compressive or tensile members required to stabilize an object in space. One confirming result was that the strongest possible homogeneous truss is cyclically tetrahedral.[citation needed]
His technologically oriented point of view can also be taken as a metaphor for what it is to be human generally. In his 1970 book I Seem To Be a Verb, he wrote: "I live on Earth at present, and I don’t know what I am. I know that I am not a category. I am not a thing — a noun. I seem to be a verb, an evolutionary process – an integral function of the universe."

Major design projects
Fuller was most famous for his lattice shell structures - geodesic domes, which can be seen as part of military radar stations, civic buildings, environmental protest camps and exhibition attractions. However, the original design came from Dr. Walther Bauersfeld. Chapter 3 of Fuller's Book Critical Path states:
"....I found a similar situation to be existent in World War II. As head mechanical engineer of the U.S.A. Board of Economic Warfare I had available to me copies of any so-called intercepts I wanted. Those were transcriptions of censor-listened-to intercontinental telephone conversations, along with letters and cables that were opened by the censor and often deciphered, and so forth. As a student of patents I asked for and received all the intercept information relating to strategic patents held by both our enemies and our own big corporations,..."
An examination of the geodesic design by Bauersfeld for the Zeiss Planetarium,built some 20 years prior to Fuller's work, reveals that it is an exact duplicate of Fuller's Geodesic Dome Patent[citation needed].
Their construction is based on extending some basic principles to build simple tensegrity structures (tetrahedron, octahedron, and the closest packing of spheres), making them lightweight and stable. The patent for geodesic domes was awarded in 1954, part of Fuller's exploration of nature's constructing principles to find design solutions. The Fuller Dome is referenced in the Hugo Award-winning novel Stand on Zanzibar by John Brunner, where a geodesic dome is said to cover the entire island of Manhattan, and it floats on air due to the hot-air balloon effect of the large air-mass under the dome (and perhaps its construction of lightweight materials).[21]
Previously, Fuller had designed and built prototypes of what he hoped would be a safer, aerodynamic Dymaxion car. ("Dymaxion" is a syllabic abbreviation of dynamic maximum tension, or possibly of dynamic maximum ion as reported the National Automobile Museum.) Fuller worked with professional colleagues for three years beginning in 1932. Based on a design idea Fuller had derived from aircraft, the three prototype cars were different from anything on the market. They had three wheels (two front drive wheels and one rear steered wheel. The engine was in the rear, and the chassis and body were original designs. The aerodynamic, somewhat tear-shaped body was large enough to seat 11 people. In one of the prototypes it was about 18 feet (5.5 m) long. It resembled a melding of a light aircraft (without wings) and a Volkswagen van of 1950s vintage. All three prototypes were essentially a mini-bus, and its concept long predated the Volkswagen Type 2 mini-bus conceived in 1947 by Ben Pon.
Despite its length, and due to its three-wheel design, the Dymaxion turned on a small radius and parked in a tight space quite nicely. The prototypes were efficient in fuel consumption for their day. Fuller poured a great deal of his own money into the project, in addition to funds from one of his professional collaborators. An industrial investor was also keenly interested in the concept. Fuller anticipated the cars could travel on an open highway safely at up to about 160 km/h (100 miles per hour). But due to some concept oversights, they were unruly above 80 km/h (50 mph), and difficult to steer. Research ended after one of the prototypes was involved in a collision resulting in a fatality.
In 1943, industrialist Henry J. Kaiser asked Fuller to develop a prototype for a smaller car, and Fuller designed a five-seater which never went beyond development.
Another of Fuller's ideas was the alternative-projection Dymaxion map. This was designed to show Earth's continents with minimum distortion when projected or printed on a flat surface.

A Dymaxion House at The Henry Ford.
Fuller's energy-efficient and low-cost Dymaxion House garnered much interest, but has never gone into production. Here the term "Dymaxion" is used in effect to signify a "radically strong and light tensegrity structure". One of Fuller's Dymaxion Houses is on display as a permanent exhibit at The Henry Ford in Dearborn, Michigan. Designed and developed in the mid-1940s, this prototype is a round structure (not a dome), shaped something like the flattened "bell" of certain jellyfish. It has several innovative features, including revolving dresser drawers, and a fine-mist shower that reduces water consumption. According to Fuller biographer Steve Crooks, the house was designed to be delivered in two cylindrical packages, with interior color panels available at local dealers. A circular structure at the top of the house was designed to rotate around a central mast to use natural winds for cooling and air circulation.
Conceived nearly two decades before, and developed in Wichita, Kansas, the house was designed to be lightweight and adapted to windy climes. It was to be inexpensive to produce and purchase, and easily assembled. It was to be produced using factories, workers and technologies that had produced World War II aircraft. It was ultramodern-looking at the time, built of metal, and sheathed in polished aluminum. The basic model enclosed 90 m² (1000 square feet) of floor area. Due to publicity, there were many orders in the early Post-War years, but the company that Fuller and others had formed to produce the houses failed due to management problems.
In 1969, Fuller began the Otisco Project, named after its location in Otisco, New York. The project developed and demonstrated concrete spray technology used in conjunction with mesh covered wireforms as a viable means of producing large scale, load bearing spanning structures built in situ without the use of pouring molds, other adjacent surfaces or hoisting.
The initial construction method used a circular concrete footing in which anchor posts were set. Tubes cut to length and with ends flattened were then bolted together to form a duodeca-rhombicahedron (22 sided hemisphere) geodesic structure with spans ranging to 60 feet (18 m). The form was then draped with layers of ¼-inch wire mesh attached by twist ties. Concrete was then sprayed onto the structure, building up a solid layer which, when dried, would support additional concrete to be added by a variety of tradition means. Fuller referred to these buildings as monolithic ferroconcrete geodesic domes. The tubular frame form proved to problematic when it came to setting windows and doors, and was abandoned. The second method used iron rebar set vertically in the concrete footing and then bent inward and welded in place to create the dome’s wireform structure and performed satisfactorily. Domes up to 3 stories tall built with this method proved to be remarkably strong. Other shapes such as cones, pyramids and arches proved equally adaptable.
The project was enabled by a grant underwritten by Syracuse University and sponsored by US Steel (rebar), the Johnson Wire Corp, (mesh) and Portland Cement Company (concrete). The ability to build large complex load bearing concrete spanning structures in free space would open many possibilities in architecture, and is considered as one of Fuller’s greatest contributions.

Quirks
Fuller was a frequent flier, often crossing time zones. He famously wore three watches; one for the current zone, one for the zone he had departed, and one for the zone he was going to.[22][23] Fuller also noted that a single sheet of newsprint, inserted over a shirt and under a suit jacket, provided completely effective heat insulation during long flights.

Practicle achievments

Fuller's development of the dome and his roles as a philosopher and as a gadfly within the design and architectural communities left an important legacy. He introduced a number of concepts, and if every one wasn't entirely new, he honed each one well.
Certainly, a number of Fuller's projects did not meet success in terms of commitment from industry or acceptance by a broad public. However, more than 500,000 geodesic domes have been built around the world and many are in use. According to the Buckminster Fuller Institute Web site, the largest geodesic-dome structures are:
Fantasy Entertainment Complex: Kyosho Isle, Japan, 216 m (710 ft).
Multi-Purpose Arena: Nagoya, Japan, 187 m (614 ft).
Tacoma Dome: Tacoma, WA, USA, 162 m (530 ft).
Superior Dome: Northern Michigan Univ. Marquette, MI, USA, 160 m (525 ft).
Walkup Skydome: Northern Arizona Univ. Flagstaff, AZ, USA, 153 m (502 ft).
Poliedro de Caracas: Caracas, Venezuela, 145 m (475 ft).[24][25][26]
Round Valley High School Stadium: Springerville-Eagar, AZ, USA, 134 m (440 ft).
Former Spruce Goose Hangar: Long Beach, CA, USA, 126 m (415 ft).
Formosa Plastics Storage Facility: Mai Liao, Taiwan, 123 m (402 ft).
Union Tank Car Maintenance Facility: Baton Rouge, LA USA, 117 m (384 ft), destroyed in November 2007.[27]
Lehigh Portland Cement Storage Facility: Union Bridge, MD USA, 114 m (374 ft).
The Eden Project, Cornwall, United Kingdom[28]

Panoramic view of the geodesic domes at the Eden Project
Other notable domes include:
Spaceship Earth at Disney World's Epcot Center in Florida, 80.8-meters (265 ft) wide
The dome over a shopping center in downtown Ankara, Turkey, 109.7-meter (360 ft) tall
The dome enclosing a civic center in Stockholm, Sweden, 85.3-meter (280 ft) high.
The world’s largest aluminum dome formerly housed the “Spruce Goose” airplane in Long Beach Harbor, California.
However, contrary to Fuller's hopes, domes are not an everyday sight in most places. In practice, most of the smaller owner-built geodesic structures had drawbacks (see geodesic domes). Used as family houses, domes put off many people by their unconventional appearance.
An interesting spin-off of Fuller's dome-design conceptualization was the Buckminster Ball, which was the official FIFA approved design for footballs (association football), from their introduction at the 1970 World Cup until recently. The design was a truncated icosahedron -- essentially a "Geodesic Sphere", consisting of 12 pentagonal and 20 hexagonal panels. This was used continuously for 34 years until it was replaced by a 14-panel version in the 2006 World Cup.
While an envisioned widespread and common adoption of geodesic domes is yet to materialize, Fuller's ideas, teachings, and attitude to life and creativity, in combination, have prodded designers and engineers. What Fuller accomplished, in that sense, was to make professionals and students think "outside the box"; to question convention. Fuller was followed (historically) by other designers and architects, such as Sir Norman Foster and Steve Baer, willing to explore the possibilities of new geometries in the design of buildings, not based on conventional rectangles. The English writer, playwright, and philosopher John Dryden wrote something quite relevant to the pioneering forays of Fuller still to be brought to full result: "We must beat the iron while it is hot, but we may polish it at leisure."

Dome choice in the end

2009-05-13T18:08:00.000+01:00

In the end i went with a geosphere dome. When looking at my original dome choice it does look very simplistic and actually brings the whole look of the visuals down because i didnt put as much effort in as i originally should have. after researching domes in earlier parts of my blog i decided to go with a geosphere dome, not just for looks but also as it would stand up alot better in the real world and also looks alot more architecturally sound. All of this actually adds more to the realism factor!!

explination of some of the camera controlls

2009-05-13T18:04:00.001+01:00

Basic parameters
Type - determines the type of the camera. This mostly has an effect on the motion blur effect produced by the camera:
Still camera - simulates a still photo camera with a regular shutter.
Cinematic camera - simulates a motion-picture camera with a circular shutter.
Video camera - simulates a shutter-less video camera with a CCD matrix.

Targeted - specifies whether the camera has a target in the 3ds Max scene or not.

Film gate - specifies the horizontal size of the film gate in milimeters. Note that this setting takes into account the system units configuration to produce the correct result.

Focal length - specifies the equivalen focal length of the camera lens. This setting takes into account the system units configuration to produce the correct result.

Zoom factor - specifies a zoom factor. Values greater than 1.0 zoom into the image; values smaller than 1.0 zoom out. This is similar to a blow-up rendering of the image.

Target distance - the distance to the camera target for a targeted camera.

f-number - determines the width of the camera aperture and, indirectly, exposure. If the Exposure option is checked, changing the f-number will affect the image brightness.

Distortion - specifies the distortion coefficient for the camera lens. A value of 0.0 means no distortion; positive values produce "barell" distortion, while negative values produce "pillow" distortion.

Distortion type - determines what distortion formula is used when the Distortion value is not zero:
Quadratic this is the default distortion type. It uses a simplified formula that is easier to calculate than the Cubic method.Cubic this is the distortion type used in some camera tracking programs like SynthEyes, Boujou etc. If you plan on using one of these programs, you should use the Cubic distortion type.

Vertical shift - allows the simulation of shift lenses for 2-point perspective. Changing this parameter is similar to applying a Camera correction modifier. Use the Guess vertical shift button in order to achieve the 2-point perspective.

Specify focus - this allows you to specify a focus distance different from the camera target distance.

Exposure - when this option is on, the f-number, Shutter speed and ISO settings will affect the image brightness.

Vignetting - when this option is on, the optical vignetting effect of real-world cameras is simulated. You can also specify the amount of the vignetting effect, where 0.0 is no vignetting and 1.0 is normal vignetting.

White balance - allows additional modification of the image output. Objects in the scene that have the specified color will appear white in the image. Note that only the color hue is taken into consideration; the brightness of the color is ignored. There are several presets that can be used, most notably the Daylight preset for exterior scenes.

Shutter speed - the shutter speed, in inverse seconds, for the still photographic camera. For example, shutter speed of 1/30 s corresponds to a value of 30 for this parameter.

Shutter angle - shutter angle (in degrees) for the cinematic camera.

Shutter offset - shutter offset (in degress) for the cinematic camera.

Latency - CCD matrix latency, in seconds, for the video camera.

Film speed (ISO) - determines the film power (i.e. sensitivity). Smaller values make the image darker, while larger values make it brighter.
Bokeh effects
These parameters control the bokeh effects when the Depth-of-field option is on.

Blades - defines the shape of the camera aperture. When this option is off, perfectly circular aperture is simulated. When on, a polygonal aperture is simulated, with the given number of blades.

Rotation - defines the rotation of the blades.

Center bias - defines a bias shape for the bokeh effects. Positive values make the outer edge of the bokeh effects brighter; negative values make the center of the effect brighter.

Anisotropy - allows stretching of the bokeh effect horizontally or vertically to simulate anamorphic lenses.
Sampling parameters
There parameters control the sampling for the virtual camera.

Depth-of-field - turns on depth of field sampling.

Motion blur - turns on motion blur sampling.

Subdivs - determines the number of samples (rays) for calculating depth of field and/or motion blur.
Miscellaneous parameters
These parameters control various other aspects of the camera.

Horizon line - turns on and off the display of the camera horizon line in the viewport.

Clipping - turns on and off camera clipping.

Near/far clipping range - the near/far clipping range, when Clipping is on.

Near/Far environment range - the near/far environment range (used by some atmospheric effects in 3ds Max).

useful link, Vray camera

2009-05-13T18:03:00.000+01:00

http://www.spot3d.com/vray/help/150SP1/examples_vrayphysicalcamera.htm

Rendering continued

2009-05-13T16:58:00.003+01:00

The render process was taking roughly 4 to 5 hours to complete each image, this obviously depended on the complexity of the scene and i thought wasnt too bad in the end, that was however one problem out of the way. The next problem was that i found my results wherent realistic enough, now although alot of time was going to be spent making the raw renders stand out in photoshop, it is actually difficult to improve an image that doesnt originally look any good!

My original setup did use HDRI from earth but had mostly blue sky colours and general housing development in it. Also my textures needed to be tweaked further and my dome needed to be changed too. although this doesnt sound too difficult, it meant that alot of work had to be done again. Not only that, my camera set-up was a standard max camera, no fancy settings and no realistic settings that could be used. obviously as i was trying to push realism out of my images, and this wasnt going to be the best option but after trying to explore realism further into my computer generated visuals i came across the idea of using a vray camera and vray hdri that works in unison. Basically with the vray hdri you can activly select what specific time of day and where abouts in the world you want the hdri to represent. This enabled me to have greater control over the colours that would bounce around my scene. In the end i choose a more of a dusky time at night and then the location was choosen from the deserts in austrailia. The idea for the time of day was so i could make use of the deep oranges, purples, hints of yellow and red, to try and best replicate the colours from Mars. To ensure that i had the correct rgb values for my hdri, i took an rgb reading from the sky of my image i used to photo composite, this would endure that when i got to the compositing process i had atleast got the colour intensity and colour correct, which would save alot of tweaking time. sometimes depending on what colours you managed to achieve from your hdri, depends on whether it is possible to achieve each different colour.

Not only that, when using the vray hdri you have to use a vray physical camera in order to achieve the correct results. Not only does the physical camera have great capabilities of showing good colours from the HDRI it also has all of the complicated settings found on all professional digital SLR's, these controlls include ISO (film speed), apature, F-Stop, focal length etc. all in all this makes for a better end result as having better control of your camera gives you the advanced realism needed for such an image.

Rendering

2009-05-13T15:17:00.003+01:00

so its about time that all of my scenes are set up and ready to go, however the problems have already started in terms of rendering. as i want the images to be printed to atleast A0, they have to be pretty big. i was thinking somewhere in the region of 5000 pixels by 2500 pixels. although this isnt actually that big in terms of render sizes, im sure the major visualisation companies around the world dont think twice about rendering at atleast double that in with massive scenes. However the limitations would be advisable not to go over the 5000px threshold as my scene was pretty polygon intensive, especially now with all my tree's in there.

So i started the render process at 5000 px and there was no chance it was going to work, their was a bitmap paging file error, now i had never come across this error before so i proceeded to google it and it turns out that its quite a common problem. In actually fact it was very easy to fix and just took some time to look through the preferences in max and give it a restart and then bob was certainly my uncle.

Now when you render images of out max with a general Vray set up it does an initial light cache set-up, this basically means that vray is calculating the light around the scene, basically the most complicated part of the rendering process. depending on what settings you choose, depends on how many different levels of light cache it renders. because i want my images to be as high quality as possible, i had to increase every setting to the highest i possibly could without things gettin ridiculous. i was planning on doing roughly 13 renders and i obviously didnt want them to take 24hrs each, which equates to 13 day obviously. so i had to begin tweaking my settings and doing test renders in order to find a happy balance where i could render at high quality, keep the large pixel size but not have to wait forever for each image.

So i pressed render once more and it started fine but got to the end of my light cache and crashed. obviously i was pretty shocked at first but just thought it was being a little funny so i rendered it again. anyway a couple of hours later and the same thing had happened. when i created my scene i did use the usual xref's and vray mesh export for my tree's however this still wasnt enough. i then started to lower the settings of my renders, i tried lowering the Gi settings, the subdivs on all of my textures, subdivs on the lighting. you name it i tried. i even tried it the other way round by keeping the settings high but making the image smaller, this didnt work either. so then i even tried taking baking out the irradience seperate and then rendering from that, to split up the whole process, and guess what, that didnt work either. at this point and after over a week of testing i began to believe it could be a memory issue, although i didnt want to question my tools!

one computer:

Mac book running 32bit XP

4gb (3.25 visible in bootcamp)of ram, ddr2

Core 2 duo 2.13ghz pentium

and not about the graphics.

second computer:

Pentium D

32bit XP

dual core 2.8 ghz

4Gb ddr2 ram

ati HIS radeon HD 2900, 1gb ddr 3 ram

and neither wer having it.

to get around the memory issue i tried to delete everything out of my scene that i couldnt see for each camera angle. i had choosen over 30 different camera angles and obviously this would mean that i would have had to split my scene into over 30 different scenes because each camera would have seen totally different parts of my model. however if this was going to work then that would have to be done. however it turns out that after getting my scene down to a measly two millinion polygones it still wouldnt spit out a high res, high quality render!!

also tried different dynamic memory settings but that didnt seem to do anything!!!

This then created a pretty bad problem as a desperatly wanted the images at 5000px. in the end i had managed to render out all of the images at high quality but at only 72dpi @ 2000pixels which it turns out was definatly not good enough.

In the end i managed to hunt down a quad core 2.7 ghz, 64bit, XP, 4gb ram, ati V7700 512mb ram. FASSSSTTTT!!! this enabled me to render all images out at the desired 5000px without a problem.

New Trees - Evermotion

2009-03-10T15:51:00.003Z

As you can see i have bought some 3d tree's, 110 quids worth i might add but they do have great benefit to my project. even if you look at some earlier renders of my house you can see how greatly improved the images look with the tree's. Another thing is, if i didnt buy the tree's i would have had to find images of them over the internet and then composited them in afterwoods, basically they wouldnt have looked half as good and it would have been very difficult. The only down side to the tree's now is the rendering time but this is livable. Still some tweeking to do on the materials, but i think there looking good so far :D

Purchase of MarsSurrealEstate.com

2009-03-10T15:40:00.001Z

the man for the job

2009-03-10T15:39:00.003Z

http://www.mediamusicnow.co.uk/Media-voices/Voice-over-talent/Anthony-Richardson/

Script Email

2009-03-10T15:39:00.001Z

Hi Lee,

We spoke earlier today about having a voice over done for my final year university project. I have had a listen to Anthony and i think he could be the man for the job.

My Script is as follows:

"a dream home"

"a secure future"

"living tomorrow, today"

"Mars Surreal Estate.Com,... for homes that are truly out of this world"

I have taken inspiration from an existing advertisement which can be found on YouTube.com.... the link is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Xzra0Sidp4

it would be great to have a slight American accent, deep and quite smooth.

Please find attached an audio sample of how i would like the script to be read. it is important that Anthony notes the pauses and highs and lows as this is an essential part for my advert to work.

Just to clarify the voice over will only be shown at my final year show at Huddersfield University and will not be used for any commercial purposes.

If you could get back to me on a quote first and then we can go from their. Please contact me if more information is needed.

Thanks

Martin

Into SCRIPT at first

2009-03-04T14:48:00.002Z

a dream home

a secure future

living tomorrow, today

Mars Surreal Estate.Com,... for homes that are truely out of this world

Introduction Video

2009-03-04T14:44:00.002Z

At the beginning of my presentation i want to introduce myself and then lead straight into an introduction video. For the video i want some animation of my stills, to show my logo. I will include some background music and a voice over. Im not sure who is going to do the voice over yet, i have looked at a few companies that offer it and it doesnt seem too exspensive, it mainly depends how many words you want. But i could definatly do with a professional voice and recording.... firstly need to write the script

Further testing of the dome, Mars addition

2009-03-04T14:32:00.001Z

Quick test...

2009-03-04T14:18:00.002Z

As i have already discussed i am looking at putting in a globe system into my 3D model. After some fiddling about i managed to get a glass structure modeled with supporting box structure. I had a little trouble at first with my glass on the dome as it wasnt creating shadows when i positioned my light outside the dome, but this was a simple Vray material issue. My idea is to have lush planting surrounding the building and the vision of Mars on the outside of the dome, this way i can leave the reveal till the last minute, giving my development idea more interest and to keep the viewers of my presentation guessing. As you can also see i have introduced some grass around the building, this will aid the visual effect when the foliage is in place. This was just a quick render to see how it looked. I actually think it look s good, it sits well in the dome and makes it look like a more believable development already!

Private Jet Charter Brochure No' 2

2009-03-03T16:48:00.002Z

Alot better but a little lost on the design, it isnt outstanding, yet it will be an unbelievable amount to fly with them, their brochure should be upto scratch! and i dont know why they sent me two different ones.

Private Jet Charter Brochure

2009-03-03T16:36:00.005Z

This brochure was sent via email as a PDF. As you can see from the examples below, it isnt designed very well and has alot of pixelated images within it, not exactly the best way to impress your potential clients!

Documentation from Private Jet Charter

2009-03-03T16:33:00.002Z

Our Benefits

The benefits are numerous when you charter with International Air Charter.

The difference in our service:

• Commitment to Quality – ISO 9002 certification
• Offices throughout Europe & the Middle East
• Established UK Company with 15 years experience
• A Professional and Secure Client Service
• Dedicated Charter Experts
• Actual 24hr Availability – you can reach us at anytime
• Impeccable Safety & Security Record
• A wider choice of executive jets, business jets and VIP Airliners
• Medivac aircraft (Dedicated medically equipped aircraft)
• Highly competitive quotations
• Detailed fixed prices
• Alternative options on different jets in every quotation
• Worldwide destinations including regional airports
• Departures worldwide
• Aircraft available within two hours of a confirmed booking
• Empty leg charter flights available
• Powered by C.A.T.S. computerized aircraft tracking system

The advantages of using a private jet:

• Use of private business and VIP terminals worldwide
• Dedicated check-in facilities, rapid but secure immigration procedures
• Minimal check-in timings (30 minutes before departure)
• Dedicated flight deck crew to ensure that our every client’s need is met
• First Class Catering and Service
• The privacy to work, hold board meetings, conferences or just to relax
• Convenience, Confidentiality and Comfort
• Safety and Security

International Air Charter looks forward to working with you, we guarantee a personal and professional service at all times.

Please feel free to ask us for a price on our 24h hotline +44 (0) 20 8897 8979 or via email sales@privatejetcharter.com, we guarantee to give you the best quotation.

Your International Air Charter Team

Private Jet Charter Reply

2009-03-03T16:33:00.001Z

Good Afternoon Martin,

Many thanks for requesting our Company details. I did just leave a message on your voicmail. Please let me
know if you need any further information, or if you have any trips planned that we can help with.

I have attached a copy of our latest brochure, together with an aircraft guide showing a selection of the
aircraft we offer for worldwide charter. You can view the full range of aircraft on our website
www.privatejetcharter.com

Please feel free to forward our details on to any of your colleagues who may also arrange air travel of this
type.

As one of the world's largest air charter brokers, we are able to supply a wide range of aircraft from
business jets, VIP aircraft and helicopters to corporate airliners.

We offer a 24hr service and can provide aircraft at extremely short notice when required.

If you do have anything coming up that you would like a quotation for, call our charter team direct on +44
(0)20 8897 8979 or email your enquiry to sales@privatejetcharter.com

Kind regards

UK Head Office
Quayside House
Standard Quay
Faversham
Kent
ME137BS
United Kingdom
T +44 (0)1795 590888
F +44 (0)1795 590880

E sales@privatejetcharter.com
W www.privatejetcharter.com

Ali Carpenter

Business Development Executive
International Air Charter plc

E Ali.Carpenter@privatejetcharter.com
T +44 (0)1795 590888

Legal Notice

This e-mail and any attached files are confidential and for the use of the intended recipient's only. If you have received it in error please notify the sender immediately and then delete the message from your system. Any copying, distribution or disclosure of its contents is strictly prohibited.

Exclusive websites - Private Jets website examples

2009-03-03T16:15:00.002Z

Exclusive websites - Private Jets website examples

2009-03-03T16:12:00.000Z

http://www.netjetseurope.com/eng/welcome-to-netjets/

Exclusive websites - Private Jets website examples

2009-03-03T16:11:00.002Z

http://www.airpartner.com/privatejets/

Exclusive websites - Private Jets website examples

2009-03-03T16:09:00.001Z

http://www.flymenow.co.uk/?gclid=CJ2lndqSh5kCFQFhQgoduzTAmA

Exclusive websites - Private Jets website examples

2009-03-03T16:08:00.001Z

http://www.jetrepublic.com/en_GB/the-club/the-programmes/?gclid=CMiX25eSh5kCFQ5GQwodpFUgmg

Exclusive websites - Private Jets website examples

2009-03-03T16:06:00.000Z

http://www.aircharter.co.uk/?gclid=CNaWuOqRh5kCFQulQwod4RZvmw

Exclusive websites - Private Jets website examples

2009-03-03T15:16:00.003Z

http://www.privatejetcharter.com/

Hoax New York Times Published

2009-03-03T15:08:00.001Z

Hoax New York Times Published

2009-03-03T14:44:00.000Z

Google Hoax

2009-03-03T14:42:00.000Z

April Fool's hoaxes

[edit] 2000

Google, two years into its life, announced a new "MentalPlex" search technology that supposedly read the user's mind to determine what the user wanted to search for, thus eliminating the step of actually typing in the search query. This always led to a page full of April Fool's results.

[edit] 2002

Google reveals the technology behind its PageRank Systems—PigeonRank. Google touts the benefits of this cost-effective and efficient means of ranking pages and reassures readers that there is no animal cruelty involved in the process. The article makes many humorous references and puns based on computer terminology and how Google PageRank really works.

Pigeon Rank

[edit] 2004

Fictitious job opportunities for a research center on the moon. Luna/X (a pun to Linux as well as a reference to both the Windows XP visual style and Mac OS X) is the name of a new operating system they claimed to have created for working at the research center.

Google Copernicus Center

[edit] 2005

Google Gulp, a fictitious drink, was announced by Google in 2005. According to the company, this beverage would optimize one's use of the Google search engine by increasing the drinker's intelligence. It was claimed this boost was achieved through real-time analysis of the user's DNA and carefully tailored adjustments to neurotransmitters in the brain (a patented technology termed Auto-Drink). The drink was said to come in "4 great flavors": Glutamate Grape (glutamic acid), Sugar-Free Radical (free radicals), Beta Carroty (beta carotene), and Sero-Tonic Water (serotonin).

This hoax was probably intended as a parody of Google's invite-only email service called Gmail. Although ostensibly free, the company claimed the beverage could only be obtained by returning the cap of a Google Gulp bottle to a local grocery store: a causal loop. In the Google Gulp FAQ, Google replies to the observation "I mean, isn't this whole invite-only thing kind of bogus?" by saying "Dude, it's like you've never even heard of viral marketing."

[edit] 2006

On April Fool's Day 2006, Google Romance was announced on the main Google search page with the introduction, "Dating is a search problem. Solve it with Google Romance." It pretends to offer a "Soulmate Search" to send users on a "Contextual Date". A parody of online dating, it amusingly had a link for "those who generally favor the 'throw enough stuff at the wall' approach to online dating" to Post multiple profiles with a bulk upload file, you sleaze in addition to Post your Google Romance profile. Clicking on either of these gave an error page, which explained that it was an April Fool's joke and included links to previous April Fool's Jokes for nostalgia.

[edit] 2007

[edit] Gmail Paper

At about 10:00 PM Pacific time (where Google has its headquarters) on 30 March 2007, Google changed the login page for Gmail to announce a new service called Gmail Paper. The service offered to allow users of Google's free webmail service to add e-mails to a "Paper Archive", which Google would print (on "96% post-consumer organic soybean sputum") and mail via traditional post. The service would be free, supported by bold, red advertisements printed on the back of the printed messages. Image attachments would also be printed on high-quality glossy paper, though MP3 and WAV files would not be printed. The page detailing more information about the service features photographs of Ian Spiro and Carrie Kemper, current employees of Google. Also featured are Product Marketing Managers of Gmail Anna-Christina Douglas, and Kevin Systrom.

[edit] Google TiSP

Google TiSP (short for Toilet Internet Service Provider) was a fictitious free broadband service supposedly released by Google. This service would make use of a standard toilet and sewage lines to provide free Internet connectivity at a speed of 8 Mbit/s (2 Mbit/s upload) (or up to 32 Mbit/s with a paid plan). The user would drop a weighted end of a long, Google-supplied fiber-optic cable in their toilet and flush it. Around 60 minutes later, the end would be recovered and connected to the Internet by a "Plumbing Hardware Dispatcher (PHD)". The user would then connect their end to a Google-supplied wireless router and run the Google-supplied installation media on a Windows XP or Vista computer ("Mac and Linux support coming soon"). Alternatively, a user could request a professional installation, in which Google would deploy nanobots through the plumbing to complete the process. The free service would be supported by "discreet DNA sequencing" of "personal bodily output" to display online ads that relate to culinary preferences and personal health. Google also referenced the cola-and-Mentos reaction in their FAQ: "If you're still experiencing problems, drop eight mints into the bowl and add a two-liter bottle of diet soda." Also, look for delivery offered through the sewage system!

[edit] 2008

[edit] Adsense for Conversations

Google releases Adsense for conversations (http://adsense.blogspot.com/2008/04/introducing-adsense-for-conversations.html)

[edit] Blogger "Google Weblogs (beta)"

The Blogger dashboard featured an announcement for Google Weblogs, or "GWeblogs," or "Gblogs," the next revolution in personal publishing. Features include algorithms putting your best content at the top of your blog (rather than publishing by reverse chronology), automatically populating your blog's sidebar with the most relevant content, posting directly into Google search results for maximum visibility, blog headers refreshed with images from Google's team of artists for anniversaries of a scientific achievement (similar to Google Doodle), and automatic content generation ('Unsure of what to post about? Just click "I'm Feeling Lucky" and we'll "take care" of the rest!')

The announcement was followed by a link to a video tour of the product, which actually led to Tay Zonday's cover of Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up."

Blogger Buzz: The Official Buzz from Blogger at Google: Announcing Google Weblogs (beta)

[edit] Dajare

Google launches Dajare in Japan (google.co.jp), with the mission of "organizing the world's laughter." ^[1]

[edit] gDay

Google announces gDay in Australia (http://www.google.com.au/intl/en/gday/press.html), a new beta search technology that will search web pages 24 hours before they are created. ^[2]

[edit] Gmail Custom Time

Gmail Custom Time feature hoax

Gmail's sign-in page and a banner at the top of each gmail inbox announced a new feature, called Gmail Custom Time, that would allow its users to "pre-date" their messages and choose to have the message appear as "read" or "unread". The new feature uses the slogan "Be on time. Every time."

Around 11:00 p.m. EST March 31, 2008, on the newer and older version of Gmail, but not in the basic HTML version, in the upper right corner, next to Settings, a link appeared labeled, "New! Gmail Custom Time". The link led to a 404 error until April 1,^[3] ^[4] when it led to the full Gmail Custom Time hoax page.^[5] Clicking any of the three links at the bottom of the page brought the user to a page stating that Gmail Custom time was, in fact, their April Fool's day joke.

Google wrote that the new joke feature "utilizes an e-flux capacitor (a pun from the movie Back to the Future) to resolve issues of causality." Fake testimonials are given by "beta users"; one example is, "I used to be an honest person; but now I don't have to be. It's just so much easier this way. I've gained a lot of productivity by not having to think about doing the 'right' thing."

The feature only allows for ten pre-dated emails per year, claiming that any more "would cause people to lose faith in the accuracy of time, thus rendering the feature useless."

Gmail Custom Time

[edit] Google Book Search Scratch and Sniff

Google Book Search has a new section allowing users to "scratch and sniff" certain books. Users are asked to "...please place your nose near the monitor and click 'Go'", which then "loads odors". When clicking on "Help", users are redirected to a page in a book that describes the origins of April Fools' Day ^[6].

Inside Google Book Search Blog: "Google Book Search now smells better"

[edit] Google Calendar is Feeling Lucky

Google added the "I'm Feeling Lucky" button to its calendar feature. When you tried to create a new event, you were given the regular option of entering the correct details and hitting "Create Event," and also the new option of "I'm Feeling Lucky" which would set you up with an evening date with, among others, Matt Damon, Eric Cartman, Tom Cruise, Jessica Alba, Pamela Anderson, Paris Hilton, Angelina Jolie, Britney Spears, Anna Kournikova, Johnny Depp, George W. Bush, or Lois Griffin.

[edit] Google Dialect Translation

Google announces Google 사투리 번역 (Google dialect translation) for translating regional dialects of Korean to and from Standard Korean.^[7]

[edit] Google Docs

A little easter egg was added, where a user can click the file menu and directly under new document is "New Airplane" which immediately opens a copy of a Google branded paper airplane. To reach the file menu, click the new menu, then "Document" then a new window opens. The image that is embedded in the "New Airplane" document can be seen here.

[edit] Google Manpower Search

Google launches Manpower Search (谷歌人肉搜索) in China (google.cn). This new feature is powered by 25 million volunteers who do the searching around the clock. When the user entered a keyword, volunteers will search any possible answers from a mass of paper documents as well as online resources. The user is expected to get the search result within 32 seconds.

Google Manpower Search

[edit] Google Summer of Code Licenses

Google changed the licenses on the SoC pages to all be "WTF Public License, Version 2".

Google Summer of Code

[edit] Google Talk

Google announced plans to, on April 22, 2008 (Earth Day), shorten all conversations over Google Talk thereby reducing the energy required to transmit chats in an effort to reduce carbon output.

Google Talk Goes Green

[edit] Google Wake Up Kit

Google launched their "Wake Up Kit" as a calendar notification option. The option sends a series of increasingly aggressive alerts, starting with an SMS message to your cellphone, and ending with a bucket of water dumped into your bed, which would then flip over, tossing you out (all using apparently-free equipment).

Google Wake Up Kit

[edit] Virgle

Main article: Virgle

Google announces a joint project with the Virgin Group to establish a permanent human settlement on Mars (http://www.google.com/virgle/index.html). This operation has been named Project Virgle. The announcement includes videos of Richard Branson (founder of Virgin Group) as well as Larry Page and Sergey Brin (the founders of Google) on YouTube, talking about Virgle.^[8] An "application" to join the settlement includes questions like "I am a world-class expert in" A. Physics, B. First Aid, C. Engineering, or D. Guitar Hero II. After you submit the application, the site notifies you that you are not fit for space, or that your application is fine and "all you have to do is submit your video" [as a response to their video on YouTube]. As a result, an open source Virgle group has been established, OpenVirgle.

[edit] Yogurt

Google's Orkut displayed its name as Yogurt.

[edit] YouTube

On April 1, 2008, all featured videos on the UK and Australian homepages, and later, all international homepages, of Google-owned YouTube linked to a video of Rick Astley's song Never Gonna Give You Up, causing all users of the website who clicked on featured videos to be Rickrolled. This was the first year YouTube participated in Google's April Fool's day tradition.

[edit] Easter eggs

Various Google services also hide Easter eggs meant to be amusing entertainment.

Searching for "the answer to life, the universe, and everything" will make the Calculator answer 42, a reference to Douglas Adams's novel The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. In order for this Easter egg to be successful the phrase must be entered in lowercase and without the quotation marks.
Searching for "number of horns on a unicorn" produces the answer "1" in the Calculator. (Google actually reads the strings "number of horns on a unicorn" and "answer to life the universe and everything" as numbers. One can also use these phrases in the calculator. For example searching for "number of horns on a unicorn usd in euro" produces the current dollar / euro course or searching for "answer to life the universe and everything*5" produces 210.)
Searching for "once in a blue moon" shows the result "1.16699016 × 10^-8 hertz".
Google offers services in many languages, including several uncommon ones like Swedish Chef's Bork bork bork, Pig Latin, Hacker (usually known as leetspeak), Elmer Fudd, Klingon and Pirate
When asked how to get from a location in North America to a location in Europe or Africa, Google Maps included the instruction "Swim across the Atlantic Ocean".^[9] This Easter egg is now removed.
When asked for directions from North America to Australia, Google Maps includes the instruction "Kayak across the Pacific Ocean"^[10].
The measurement tool in Google Earth allows users to measure distance in smoots, a unit of length derived from a tradition at MIT.
Taking the term Easter egg literally (and perhaps to celebrate the Easter holiday), Google has an official Easter Eggs page.^[11]
If one sets the iGoogle theme to the "Beach" option at 3:14 AM every morning, the Loch Ness Monster surfaces for 1 minute, then at 3:15 dives back under. The reason for the timing of 3:14 is rumoured to be a tribute to the number pi. Additional 3:14 eggs include the "Seasonal Scape" showing off the Northern Lights, the "City Scape" with UFOs, the "Spring Scape" with a monster, and the "Tea House" that has spirits in the mist.
On Google Earth, tapping out ctrl-alt-A will activate a hidden flight simulator. (This is now an official feature.)
Going on Google Street View, and heading to the rear of the company's Googleplex headquarters in Mountain View, California, the Google Street View's production team can be seen.
In Google Chrome, Google's Web Browser, entering "about:internets" into the address bar brings up a copy of the Windows Screen Saver 3D Pipes, with the title "Don't Clog the Tubes". In the event that this does not occur due to the fact that the screensaver file does not exist in the system, the browser will instead display a gray screen with the title "The Tubes are Clogged!"
The Google Gear's Firefox add-on description line reads "These are the gears that power the tubes :)"
- The above two easter eggs allude to Senator Ted Stevens' "series of tubes" speech on the Senate floor.
In Google's iPhone and iPod touch search application, swiping downwards (past About) repeatedly in the 'Settings' interface brings up a hidden menu item, allowing customization of colors, sounds and more within the app.^[12].

[edit] Non-hoaxes

Google has chosen April Fool's Day to announce some of their actual products. This marketing strategy is used to make people think that the product is a hoax and spread the word around, and then to surprise them when they realize that it is real.

Shortly before midnight on March 31, 2004, Google announced^[13] the launch of Gmail. At least one person believed it was a hoax, because free web-based e-mail with one gigabyte of storage was unheard of at the time^{[citation needed]}.

In 2005, Google increased Gmail storage to two gigabytes and released Google Ride Finder.

On July 20, 2005, the 36th anniversary of the first human landing on the moon, Google debuted a version of Google Maps that included a small segment of the surface of the moon. It is based entirely on NASA images and includes only a very limited region. Panning causes the map to tile. The map also gives the locations of all moon landings, and the Google Moon FAQ humorously mentions a connection to the Google Copernicus hoax, which Google claimed to be developing. Supposedly, by 2069, Google Local will support all lunar businesses and addresses. Zooming to the closest level in Google Moon used to show that the moon was made of cheese.

http://www.spacex.com/

2009-03-03T14:41:00.001Z

Website devoted to development of space programs, could be useful for some technical terminology.

Challanges in the speace industry

2009-03-03T14:38:00.000Z

Lecture Description

The space industry has a very complicated regulatory structure and this has been the biggest obstacle, says Musk

Mars minning

2009-03-03T14:33:00.001Z

Lecture Description

Musk thinks that establishing a base on the Moon or on Mars is an enormous opportunity, on a trillion dollar level.

General Space Travel Today

2009-03-03T14:29:00.001Z

Lecture Description

Musk talks about the problems with space exploration in the US in the 22nd century. The long term plans are to have something cheaper and safer. In Russia, it is safer and cheaper and they have a better track record. They are constrained however by the weakness of the Russian economy. China is expected to launch their first person into space this month, becoming the third country to put a person into the orbit. They have great ambitions and are planning to set up a space station on Mars and eventually sending humans to Mars. In the US, once enterprises enter this space with an entrepreneurial spirit, Musk hopes to see the same growth seen in the internet. Musk talks about efforts that are already in the pipe line.

Mars Oasis - Opportunites

2009-03-03T14:28:00.000Z

Lecture Description

Early in 2002, Musk started doing some research on space. Every other sector where technology was used had improved dramatically but he did not understand why space exploration not done so. He talks about the idea behind project Mars Oasis" and his visits to Moscow to buy a Russian launch. Following his visit he put together a group of experts to study the feasibility of making lower cost launches in the US."

Mars Oasis - Opportunites

2009-03-03T14:13:00.001Z

Elon Musk, founder of PayPal

2009-03-03T14:02:00.000Z

Someone is putting his money where my mouth has been. Describing permanent settlement of Mars as "a positive, constructive, inspirational goal" capable of uniting humanity at a critical time," dot-com entrepreneur Elon Musk has pledged a substantial portion of his personal fortune to realizing that goal, beginning with a proposed $20 million technology-demonstration Mars lander to be launched perhaps in 2005. Calling his "victory condition" seeing NASA's top priority change to establishing a permanent human presence on Mars, he said in an interview last week that "the path by which I hope to get there is to get the public enthusiastic about the possibility, then translate that into legislative pressure so that Congress hands us a Mars mandate." Musk's plans are invigorating, finally matching for Mars the initiative and boldness recently displayed in Low Earth Orbit by Dennis Tito's flight and the recent MirCorp announcement of a private "MiniMir" orbiting facility. I hope his entrepreneurial directness will bring a new effectiveness to the Mars effort. I hope also that he can avoid being brought down by the Byzantine politics of space: on the Hill, in the scientific community and in the space movement.

NASA wants to know whether there ever was life on Mars. Musk - and I, and many more - want to know if there ever can be.

Musk's "Mars Oasis" project is a small robotic lander intended primarily as a mini-greenhouse, growing samples of food crops in an enclosed chamber filled with treated Martian regolith (soil), to test the feasibility of humans living off the land. Other experiments may include test units for the production of oxygen and rocket fuel from the Martian atmosphere, and radiation sensors. In a radical departure from the missions scheduled by NASA, each experiment would focus on developing data critical to human habitation, rather than on pure planetary science. While the project's centerpiece is essentially the project long advocated by NASA planetary scientist Chris McKay, Musk stated that he had only met McKay in passing and had not discussed the project with him.

Musk's immediate efforts are focused closely on the completion of a feasibility study by a Russian/American team including the Russian Babakin design bureau, currently the contractor for the Planetary Society's solar sail test mission, and John Garvey, formerly of McDonnell Douglas's DC-X program and founder of Garvey Spacecraft Corporation. The study, under way for four months, is driven as much by cost as by technical feasibility, as Musk would have the mission cost under $20 million. He claims to have lined up financial support from "other technology entrepreneurs disheartened by NASA's efforts over the past thirty years." He plans to announce the slate of project financiers within a few months of the end of the study.

He refused to engage in political posturing or NASA-bashing, saying that "I don't have a palpable ideology for private or governmental missions." He described his relations with NASA as "good, I would say. I have not had any bad relations whatsoever. I don't see them as the bad guy. NASA's in the position it's in not through any desire of its own. The public is asking NASA often to have a perfect track record and a perfect safety record," yielding excessive caution and institutional gridlock. "By driving this private space mission forward," he continued, "I hope for changes for NASA, for it to receive a clear and pressing mandate for a human base [on Mars]. I want to reinvigorate NASA."

His goal of moving Congress to declare a human presence on Mars to be a priority implies substantial legislative action, at the very least putting forward a legislative program to be advocated to Congress by citizen supporters. He explicitly describes mobilizing popular and political support as mission-critical. Yet he described his Foundation's legislative role as being only "to maintain a clear and open dialog with political figures relevant to space." Its "job will be done," he said, "when there's a self-sustaining civilization on Mars," with an organizational role continuing through settlement, changing its nature to become "more of a supportive organization."

Interestingly, his thoughts on public support are profoundly divergent from the mass-action or Beltway models on which the space movement has depended. He attributed the success of his second company, PayPal, to "viral marketing mechanisms." Relying on word of mouth advertising - "how any successful business grows over time" - "your marketing force extends with your customer base." Or, everyone jumps on the bandwagon as it rolls by, and picks up the tune.

The model grows out of modern communication tools, unlike the grass-roots approach of old-time radical politics, build around local face-to-face meetings, tables at events, and the like, or the suit-and-tie political approach which has declined in relevance alongside that of the governments it focuses on. Modern coordinative activity requires modern methods - an obvious notion, except in the space movement, many of whose leaders are still mired in the politics and tactics of a generation past. Mass-action approaches essentially treat us as rabble, to be inflamed by emotional appeals into being spear-carriers for a self-appointed leadership. A legislative focus tends to relegate us to acting the whiny child at the mall: "Mommy, I want the shiny pretty spaceship!" A viral marketing approach, seen in the early days of the Mars Society and among the Space Frontier Foundation's cadre of Advocates, allows for individual enthusiasm to find its own best expression, creating a "marketplace" of projects, with good ones attracting money, supporters and attention. The Spacefaring Web is such a market on a species-wide scale, with time, money and talent flowing where it can best be employed at any time.

Musk admits to being "very focused on the short term, to getting the feasibility study done, then the next step - securing a launch vehicle contract, a construction contract for the space vehicle and payload." His space learning curve is doubtless steep, and wisely he's been playing to his entrepreneurial strengths, approaching the mission as any technology-driven startup.

Founder of Zip2, which provides internet enterprise software for media companies and largest shareholder of PayPal an internet financial services company, Musk made an enthusiastic splash in the space community earlier this year at a Mars Society fundraising dinner featuring James Cameron. Pledging $100,000 to the Society, he was granted a rare seat on the Society's Board of Directors by founder Robert Zubrin. Yet he has chosen to go his own way, establishing his Life to Mars Foundation as the vehicle for his projects. Along with the rest of the independent Directors of the Mars Society, he resigned his seat after the organization's August meeting. Asked about his relations with the space movement, he replied that "to the degree that we can serve as a unifying force to get NASA's mandate for the permanent human settlement of Mars, we'd love to have interaction with anyone."

On the one hand, Musk's independence is a good sign. Three years ago, Haughton Mars Project founder Pascal Lee went to a Mars Society conference with a first-rate project in hand, and arguably paid too great a price for Society support. Certainly much of the public recognition for the first-rate research the HMP team has done on Devon Island has gone over to the Society, given its genius at publicity for its hab's role in the overall effort. Affiliation with the Society has on occasion led to difficulties in working with particular groups within NASA, who saw the project as being compromised by its close relationship with chaotic personalities and politics within the Society. Musk's avoidance of that particular pitfall bodes well.

However, "Not Invented Here Syndrome" has claimed many a victim in the space movement before. Two generations of scientists and activists have devoted their lives to the goal of establishing a human presence on Mars. David S.F. Portree has written an invaluable book subtitled "Fifty Years of Mars Mission Planning," highlighting how much time and talent has already been invested in this cause. The work of these people has been critical, and continues to be deeply relevant. They have not succeeded in reaching their goal in large part because their community has lacked precisely those things Musk brings to the table: capital, and experience in creating and managing a successful technological enterprise from scratch. With Musk as a node in the Spacefaring Web, we might all just reach our goal. With more of the attitudes others have displayed, the aforementioned "not invented here" and the Founder's Syndrome threatening several space advocacy organizations, we'll be in for more waste, disappointment and failure.

Musk describes his goal as providing "positive inspiration at a time when we need such inspiration. The world has reached a stage where it needs some positive challenge it could get excited about, something that helps unite humanity." The Mars Oasis project could accomplish a great deal to bring that about. Musk and his nascent Life to Mars Foundation have much to contribute to the cooperative, networked effort of thousands of people with means, talent and enthusiasm who are working to build a spacefaring civilization. Welcome to the Spacefaring Web.

For more background on Musk, see the 1999 Salon article at http://nx5.salon.com/tech/feature/1999/08/17/elon_musk/index.html and for more information about PayPal, see the FAQ at http://www.vedicweb.com/PayPal_Info.htm

Musk, along with Mars Society President Robert Zubrin and Haughton Mars Project Principal Investigator Pascal Lee, will be speaking on a panel that I will be chairing entitled "New Visions For Mars" at the Space Frontier Foundation's annual conference on October 21 in Los Angeles, California. For more information, go to http://www.space-frontier.org/Events/SFC10/SFC10.html or contact me directly at kaseido@earthlink.net .

Mars Now is a weekly column © 2001 by John Carter McKnight, Mars Program Director for the Space Frontier Foundation. http://www.space-frontier.org Views expressed here are strictly the author’s and do not necessarily represent Foundation policy.

Responses to the Mars mission

2009-03-03T13:47:00.002Z

30 years from now, o man! Lets do it next week lol

- reply
- flag
- Snails
- 4 days ago
Total waste of money and time. More imbeciles.
Why do we think stupid people ought to have all the money - when they can't think to save their souls?
- reply
- flag
- 02
- 4 days ago
2 responses to this
- reply: 02
Space exploration is a funny thing. It does seem like a total waste of both time and money, but then again - how could it be better spent. Earth is limited, the secrets of the universe are limitless. Its neat - yes it is a huge waste on money - but then again, what value does money have if its not to advance society. I guess, if they have money to spend, and this is how they choose to spend it, we should be so fortunate to se what they accomplish... Its not like they're giving ten billion to GM... which will... build more cars... for people who need, excessive numbers of cars. Money in development of something new is better spent than in the production of something unnecessary.
- reply
- flag
- Samiammi
- 4 days ago
There are far - far better ways of going to mars than these guys envision.
The people who have no imagination and no idea of how to go about designing the process, - have all the money.
So what's really going on?

Let's seee, it must be their way to make money, right here on earth.
If we wanted to go to Mars - it could be done in five years.
They want grants for purported goals, but really - they just want a paycheck. The more dilly-dally, the better as far as they're concerned.

I can design the whole thing myself. All of it.

Does that sound outrageous? The outrageous part - is that it's not.
- reply
- flag
- 02
- 3 days ago
2 responses to this
- reply: 02
The prospect of exploring mars with a manned mission is very exciting. There have been many movies and books that have dealt with the subject. I personally want to see a mission happen and be a success. All the new pictures and information will be invaluable.
recommended by current89
- reply
- flag
- jubal
- 2 days ago
We should send Obamas budget there.
- reply
- flag
- clownpuncher
- 2 days ago
"when earth conquers mars watch out for falling stars.."
- reply
- flag
- ANBU_sonny
- 1 day ago
Women... They need to include women in this experimental isolation... It would make it more tolerable...Well... maybe not...

Short list, Mars isolation announced

2009-03-03T13:47:00.001Z

Six of the eight candidates will be chosen to live, eat, sleep and work inside a sealed laboratory in Moscow that will simulate a Martian mission, the European Space Agency (ESA) said.

Their stay, starting in March, is a precursor to a longer study later in 2009 in which another six-member crew will experience 520 days together.

The extreme experiments are aimed at seeing how long-term confinement acts on mood, morale, hormone regulation and the effectiveness of dietary supplements.

The final eight candidates for the 105-day test are all male, aged between 28 and 39, and hail from Denmark, Sweden, Germany (2), France (3) and Belgium, ESA said in a press release.

They were put through their paces at the Central Clinical Hospital of the Russian Academy of Sciences, where doctors carried out extensive medical tests and had them screened by a neurologist, a dentist, a psychologist and an ophthalmologist.

The project is a joint venture between ESA's Directorate of Human Spaceflight and the Russian Institute for Biomedical Problems (IBMP).

ESA and NASA have separately sketched dates around three decades from now for a historic manned flight to Mars.

The distance between Earth and Mars varies between 55 million kilometres (34 million miles) and more than 400 million kms (250 million miles), which means that a round trip to the Red Planet would take at least 18 months.

The health of the crew -- psychological as well as physical -- is considered as daunting a challenge as mustering the financial resources and technical means for the trip.

Mars isolation experiment

2009-03-03T13:46:00.001Z

Last Updated: Wednesday, 20 June 2007, 09:37 GMT 10:37 UK

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version

Volunteers sought for Mars test

By Paul Rincon
Science reporter, BBC News, Paris Air Show

The Aurora programme envisages Europeans on Mars

The European Space Agency (Esa) is seeking volunteers for a simulated human trip to Mars, in which six crew spend 17 months in an isolation tank.

They will live and work in a series of interlocked modules at a research institute in Moscow.

Once the hatches are closed, the crew's only contact with the outside world is a radio link to "Earth" with a realistic delay of many minutes.

It sounds like Big Brother, but there are no plans to televise the test.

The modular "spacecraft" measures some 550 cubic metres (19,250 cubic feet), the equivalent of nine truck containers. It is based at the Russian Institute for Biomedical Problems in the Russian capital.

The goal is to gain insight into human behaviour and group dynamics under the kinds of conditions astronauts would experience on a journey to Mars.

Big commitment

With the exception of weightlessness and radiation, the crew will experience most other aspects of long-haul space travel, such as cramped conditions, a high workload, lack of privacy, and limited supplies.

The volunteers will be put through a number of scenarios, such as a simulated launch, outward journey of up to 250 days, an excursion on the Martian surface, followed by the return home.

The 500-day duration is close to the minimum estimated timescale needed for a human trip to the Red Planet.

The Earthbound astronauts will have to deal with simulated emergencies and perhaps even real ones.

But, while Esa says it will do nothing that puts the lives of the simulation crew at unnecessary risk, officials running the experiment have made it clear they would need a convincing reason to let someone out of the modules once the experiment had begun.

"The idea behind this experiment is simply to put six people in a very close environment and see how they behave," Bruno Gardini, project manager for Esa's Aurora space exploration programme, told BBC News.

Team ethic

In all, 12 European volunteers will be needed. They must be aged 25-50, be in good health, have "high motivation" and stand up to 185cm tall. Smokers, or those with other addictions, to alcohol or illicit drugs, for example, will be rejected.

Esa is also looking for a working knowledge of both English and Russian.

"We will do pre-selection, medical tests, psychological tests, etc. But at the end, you really have to see how they react in as close to a real situation as possible on Earth," explained Mr Gardini.

He added that the results would help define the selection criteria for a future Mars mission.

"This is the beginning; it will be a long time before we go to Mars," the Esa official said.

"But this is a field which is difficult to quantify. It's human behaviour, so there's no method. The Russians have done lots of study in the past and we will be sharing some data.

"We have to look at the mix of people; at the end of the day, we want a team."

Robots first

Marc Heppener, of Esa's Science and Application Division, said the crewmembers would get paid 120 euros (158 dollars) a day.

Viktor Baranov, of Russia's Institute of Biomedical Problems, said his organisation had received about 150 applications, only 19 of which had come from women.

A precursor 105-day study is scheduled to start by mid-2008, possibly followed by another 105-day study, before the full 520-day project begins in late 2008 or early 2009.

European scientists have been asked to submit proposals for experiments in the areas of psychology, medicine, physiology and mission operations.

Mounting a mission to Mars would face many other hurdles, not least of which would be shielding the crew against the potentially deadly dose of radiation they would receive on the journey.

Esa's Aurora programme has already begun preparations to land a rover - called ExoMars - on the Red Planet. It has the stated aim, however, of trying to get European astronauts to Mars at some time in the future.

Another funny spoof, professional and believeable

2009-03-03T13:41:00.001Z

The best fake i ever saw!!!

2009-03-03T13:34:00.002Z

This spoof goes the extra mile with professional actors, a specially written script, products that back up what they are saying and an overall excellent aesthetic.

This is the best spoof that i have ever seen, and when you read through some of the comments on you tube, some people actually believe that its real!

The great thing about this video is how well the script is written, it trys to implicate the advertising nature of apple, yet rip it apart with cleaver technical jargon.

"everything is just a few hundred clicks away" V.funny!!

Spoof, Bad example

2009-03-03T13:32:00.001Z

This is a spoof advert about accident claims, to be quite honest, it isnt funny, but it doesnt work either as the acting is extremely bad and so is the quality of the footage!

Guns for sale

2009-03-03T13:08:00.004Z

This is another very interesting video for an amnisty intonational show about the use of AK-47's around the world. The idea behind the video is to shock the public about the facts about weapons and that children are forced to fight and use them in other countries. Although there is a very serious side to the shopping channel spoof, it is also slightly funny. However analysing the video more closely, it is again the professional nature of the show that makes it so believable.

....200th post

2009-03-03T13:08:00.001Z

YEEEE HAAAAAAAA

Another interesting website

2009-03-03T13:00:00.002Z

http://www.thetruth.com/facts/usefulcig/index.cfm... this is just a little interesting website about cigarettes, just a little something to keep you amused.

Mid term advertising information from Iman...

2009-03-03T12:09:00.002Z

This is an interesting spoof advert about the effects of tabaco and how dangerous it is. The advert was aired inbetween a super bowl show, so it would have had a massive audience, with lots of reaction. The professional aesthetics of the advert and the website all aid towards making the viewer believe what they are seeing is real. As you can see from watching this it really does work and they also keep the reveal until the very end, ensuring the viewer keeps involved and keeps guessing about what the advert is about. I want to encorporate a similar idea into my presentation...

Presentation Sildes

2009-03-03T11:40:00.002Z

Presentation Sildes

2009-03-03T11:27:00.001Z

Presentation slides

2009-03-03T11:24:00.001Z

presentation slides

2009-03-03T11:22:00.001Z

My presentation slides

2009-03-03T11:18:00.004Z

Presentation shown at my mid term...

2009-03-03T10:35:00.003Z

With my last presentation for the end of term, i was down graded for having a presentation that wasnt up to scratch. Sooo for this one i was sure that i wanted to present well, with a good opening, middle and end. I didnt push my hard sell in this presentation but made sure i had some good looking visuals to really push home my idea, although it still does need alot of refining.

Feedback - hmmm

2009-02-26T14:05:00.002Z

well after my feedback from the mid term review i was happy with the result, but concerned that i wouldnt be able to keep my grade. After some talks and some thought about increased work load, i am going to try and put the grade situation behind me and concentrate on making the best piece of work i can.

As i have spoken about before, my project relies quite heaverly on my presentation, as i am going to try and push my idea as a marketing ploy. Anyways i have to crack on and write a script about this so we'l see how it goes.

Feedback - mid term

2009-02-26T14:02:00.001Z

Martin "Martian" Crosbie

• Very good style of presentation, both visually and verbally.
• Keep the audience guessing, consider hiding or obscuring the grand reveal as long as possible.
• Good to see visuals of the real estate
• Clever name
• Look at Shards O Glass. http://bloat.me/l1Yw Amnesty Intl End the arms trade by Poke. http://bloat.me/fIZC
• Research exclusive private jet firms, find out what their communication / web presence is like.

Grade: A

Nice idea....

2009-02-04T14:26:00.000Z

Plans and Elevations

2009-02-04T14:08:00.003Z

i am thinking that i could incorporate some plans and elevations into my project somehow, although i dont know how to create them, they have a certain aesthetic about them that i could recreate in photoshop giving them the appeal that they look real. There is actually no need for them to be real so faking this shouldnt be a problem. Plus my buildings are pretty simple...examples below, the plans are top down sections and the elevations are taken front on, side on, top down and from the back.

Grand Designs inspiration....not that i am basing my designs on the grand designs programme.

2009-02-04T13:39:00.001Z

My House on Mars

2009-02-04T13:14:00.000Z

....or maybe not

Selling Martian Real-Estate

2009-02-04T13:09:00.000Z

Martian real-estate can be broken down into two categories; habitable and open. By habitable real-estate I mean that which is under a dome, allowing human settlers to live there in a relatively conventional shirt-sleeve open-air environment. Open real-estate is that which is outside the domes. It is obvious that habitable real-estate is far more valuable than open real-estate. Nevertheless, both of these can be bought and sold, and as transportation costs drop, both forms of Martian real-estate will rise in value.

The only kind of land that exists on Mars right now is open. There is an immense amount of it - 143 million square kilometers - but it might seem that that it is all completely worthless because it cannot currently be exploited. Not so. Enormous tracts of land were bought and sold in Kentucky for very large sums of money a hundred years before settlers arrived - for purposes of development trans-Appalacian America might as well have been Mars in the 1600's. What made it salable were two things: 1) That at least a few people believed that it would be exploitable someday, and 2) That a juridical arrangement existed (in the form of British Crown land patents) which allowed trans-Appalacian land to be privately owned. In fact, if a mechanism were put in place that could enforce private property rights on Mars, land on Mars could probably be bought and sold now. Such a mechanism would not need to employ enforcers (e.g. space police) on the surface of Mars; the patent or property registry of a sufficiently powerful nation, such as the United States, would be entirely adequate. For example, if the United States chose to grant a mining patent to any private group that surveyed a piece of Martian real-estate to some specified degree of fidelity, such claims would be tradable today on the basis of their future speculative worth (and could probably be used to privately finance robotic mining survey probes in the near future). Furthermore, such claims would be enforceable internationally and throughout the solar system simply by having the US Customs Office penalize with a punitive tariff any US import made anywhere, directly or indirectly, with material that was extracted in defiance to the claim. This sort of mechanism would not imply US sovereignty over Mars, any more that the current US Patent and Copyright Offices coining of ideas into intellectual property implies US government sovereignty over the universe of ideas. But whether it's US, NATO, UN, or Martian Republic, some government's agreement is needed to turn worthless terrain into real-estate property value.

Once that is in place, however, even the undeveloped open real-estate on Mars represents a tremendous source of capital to finance the initial development of Martian settlements. Sold at an average value of $10 per acre, Mars would be worth $358 billion. If Mars should be terraformed, these open land prices could be expected to grow 100-fold, with a rough planetary land value of $36 trillion implied. Assuming, as appears to be the case, that a method of terraforming Mars could be found with a total cost much less than this, then those who own Mars would have every reason to seek to develop their property via planetary engineering.

Of course, all open real-estate on Mars will not be of equal value; those sections known to contain valuable minerals or other resources, or which are located closer to the habitable areas will be worth much more. For these reasons, as with land speculators on Earth in the past, the owners of open unexplored real-estate on Mars will exercise all their influence to further the exploration of, and encourage the settlement of land under their control.

Far more valuable than the open real-estate will be habitable real estate beneath the domes. Each 100 meter diameter dome, massing about 50 tonnes (32 tonnes for the inflatable Kevlar pressure dome, 16 tonnes for the Plexiglas geodesic rigid shield dome, 2 tonnes for miscellaneous fittings), would enclose an area of about 2 acres. Assuming that dwelling units for 20 families are erected within it, and each family is willing to pay $50,000 for their habitation land (a plot 20 meters on a side), then the total real-estate value enclosed by a single dome would be $1,000,000. At this rate, the creation of habitable land by the mass production and erection of large numbers of domes to house the waves of immigrants should prove to be one of the biggest businesses on Mars and a major source of income for the colony.

In the 21st Century, Earth's population growth will make real-estate here ever more expensive, making it ever harder for people to own their own homes. At the same time, the ongoing bureaucratization of the former terrestrial frontier societies will make it ever harder for strong spirits to find adequate means for expressing their creative drive and initiative on Earth. Regulation to "protect" what is will become ever more burdensome to those who would create what is not. A confined world will limit opportunity for all and seek to enforce behavioral and cultural norms that will be unacceptable to many. When the frictions turn into inevitable revolts and wars, there will be losers. A planet of refuge will be needed, and Mars will be there.

The man who sold me my piece of mars

2009-02-04T12:59:00.000Z

The Man Who Sold the Moon
by Jim Davidson

It gives me considerable joy when I come across a space entrepreneur with grit, determination, and audacity. Dennis Hope is such a man, and his web sites at www.moonshop.com and www.marshop.com are a demonstration of his audacity. On these sites, in addition the usual souvenir fare of T-shirts and the like, you can buy an actual deed to an actual plot of ground on the Moon or Mars.

Now that isn't as far-fetched as it might sound. Who owns the Moon? Who owns Mars?

According to various international treaties, these are the common heritage of all mankind. Dennis Hope is a man. So by the usual sort of syllogism that passes for reasoning among the international political community, Dennis Hope owns the Moon.

Curiously, Hope doesn't seem to see it that way. For example, he was offered $50 million for the entire Moon and turned it down. Instead, he continues to sell deeds to parcels of the Moon piecemeal. He has sold large sections to companies for significant cash payments. But when offered the opportunity to score big, he balked.

Why, then, is he doing this? Why sell parcels of the Moon to ordinary people? I had the chance to catch up with Hope at a space conference in San Francisco. He was gracious enough to give me a few minutes of his time, and a deed to a small lunar parcel.

What he seems to be trying to do is to interest a very broad cross-section of the public in lunar territory by giving them a personal, financial interest in going there. Naturally, he isn't averse to making some money in the process. But he isn't making a fantastic amount of money, nor is that the point.

The point he makes over and over with every sale is that ordinary people want to go into space. He is not the first person to make this point, but he needs to continue to make it frequently. Happily, his customers are paying him to do that.

When I say that others have made this point in the past, I want to be sure you understand my meaning. In the 16th Century, Giordano Bruno speculated that stars are actually like our own Sun, with planets about them like Earth, and other peoples living upon them. Around 1610, Johannes Kepler wrote to Galileo, "Create ships and sails capable of navigating the celestial atmosphere and you will find people to sail them, people not afraid of the vast emptiness of space."

At the end of the 19th Century, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky wrote of large human settlements in space. His contemporary Jules Verne wrote of ordinary men setting out from Florida on a trip around the Moon. Dozens of writers from Robert Heinlein to Neil Smith have written at length on this subject, extending and enlightening these visions.

In the 1960s, Gene Roddenberry created the television program Star Trek which elevated science fiction television to a new level. In that series, he depicted men and women from many cultures, many walks of life, flying through the galaxy at Warp speed by the hundreds. He scattered the galaxy with Starbases and inhabited planets, and showed ordinary people living on those distant planets, travelling to them, and doing important work in space habitats and on starships. The popularity of Star Trek was enormous. The reason it captivated audiences is because it showed people like you and me, ordinary people flying in space.

In the 1970s, another brilliant visionary, George Lucas, unveiled his masterpiece Star Wars. This brilliant film also depicted millions of ordinary people living and working in a galaxy far, far away. Its popular appeal was staggering. Its ticket sales smashed all the box office records from years before. Why? Because people on Earth want to fly in space, because we want to go, to see, to do, to be . . . out there.

Space is not about political achievements. It is not about cooperating with other nations. It is not about scientific achievements. It is not about new knowledge. It is not about technological development. It is not about new toys. If space achieves things in these areas it is incidental to its primary function.

Space is a new frontier. It is an opportunity to expand the human horizon beyond all boundaries, beyond all borders, beyond all nations. It is about the future of the human species, and in no small measure it is about the future of life itself.

Going into space isn't something to be reserved for jet jockeys and scientists with doctoral degrees. It is something to be done by anyone with the conviction to go and do it. Ultimately, it will not be possible for governments to limit access to space. The urge to explore new vistas is a primal urge. The advancement of technology is proceeding at a pace that is transforming the world every year now, a pace which is unstoppable.

Beyond the desire to dominate others through politics, beyond the urge to learn new things or build new machines, there is a more fundamental desire: the desire to do well, to succeed, to profit by your efforts, to make money. This desire is responsible for the creation of the modern Internet, the development of the World Wide Web as a highly commercial landscape within cyberspace, and the success of the microcomputer revolution. That economic interest is what motivates the vast majority of people on Earth, and it can be the driving force to taking us beyond Earth, beyond our Solar System to spread our way of life and life as we know it through the galaxy.

Dennis Hope is a man who understands that aspect of the situation. He isn't selling deeds on the Moon as a joke, nor as a gimmick, but as a serious endeavor to interest a vast number of people at an economic level in going there and starting the development of this new frontier. The list of celebrities and companies who have purchased deeds from him is a tribute to his accomplishment in this area.

Whenever people from any place have moved into another, they have done so to better their situation. The distant ancestors of the American Indians followed herds of mammoths across Beringia about 10,000 years ago because they wanted to find better hunting grounds. Europeans came to the New World to seek gold, furs, and other resources to make their lives better, to provide a better future for their families. Americans went West for similar reasons, and then North into Alaska for gold and oil. Always it has been economics that has motivated the development of new frontiers.

Space is the same sort of frontier. It is awash in economic opportunity. From the sale of real estate to the gathering of solar power, from the unique opportunities for communications relay satellites to the tremendous value of remote sensing surveillance, and from the incredible potential of tourism to the practical aspects of manufacturing, space is just like the frontiers of the past. If we are to travel there, if we are to live there, we will need to make money there.

More than a little audacity is needed to do that. And folks like Dennis Hope show that audacity has not yet disappeared from the human species. It is, in fact, a very good sign that he has sold many thousands of deeds to parcels of land on the Moon. These motivated lunar real estate buyers will want to visit their properties. The sooner, the better.

Confirmation

2009-02-04T12:58:00.000Z

Transaction Confirmation

Please retain for your records

Thank you

Your transaction has been processed by WorldPay, on behalf of MoonEstates.com Ltd.

Transaction details:

Transaction for the value of: GBP 23.00
Description: Unique Gifts from MoonEstates.com
From: MoonEstates.com Ltd
Merchant's cart ID: 63026
Authorisation Date/Time: 04/Feb/2009 12:26:09
WorldPay's transaction ID: 1694530267
This is not a tax receipt.
This receipt is sent to you by WorldPay - your payment has been processed by our secure Payment Gateway.

To enquire about your purchase, please contact MoonEstates.com at administrator@moonestates.com.

If you didn't make this transaction or dispute the transaction please e-mail administrator@moonestates.com immediately and return a copy of this digital receipt.

Enquiries

This confirmation only indicates that your transaction has been processed successfully. It does not indicate that your order has been accepted. It is the responsibility of MoonEstates.com Ltd to confirm that your order has been accepted, and to deliver any goods or services you have ordered.

If you have any questions about your order, please email MoonEstates.com Ltd at: administrator@moonestates.com, with the transaction details listed above.

Thank you for shopping with MoonEstates.com Ltd.

When you submit your transaction for processing by WorldPay you confirm your acceptance of WorldPay’s shopper privacy policy, a copy of which can be viewed at: http://support.worldpay.com/shopper/privacy/

MoonEstates.com

2009-02-04T12:38:00.003Z

Thank you for ordering from MoonEstates.com

On 2009-02-04 12:23:42 the following order was processed:

Order Details

Order Reference: 63026

Shipping Type: StdUK

Transaction ID: 1694530267

Amount Paid: GBP 23.00

Customer Details

Name: MARTIN CROSBIE
Address: 126
Town: HUDDERSFIELD
County:
Country: United Kingdom
Postcode: HD1
Telephone:

Order Contents

BASKET CONTENTS
----------
1 * One acre parcel of land on Mars @ 19.75 - 19.75
Inscription: Martin Crosbie
---------------------
SubTotal: 19.75
Discount (): 0.00
Delivery: 3.25
Order Total: 23.00

BEGIN IMPORTANT RETURNS POLICY INFORMATION

* Returning/Exchanging an Item or Cancelling an Order

Under the United Kingdom Distance Selling Regulations 2000 you have a right to cancel your purchase order within seven days of receipt by the appropriate addressee, of products sold under our agreement with you.

These are the terms which apply:

You must tell us you wish to cancel within 7 days of your receipt of the Goods;
In any event, you may not cancel orders for personalised items;
The Goods must be returned to us within 21 days of you telling us you wish to cancel:
1. with both goods and all packaging in their original condition;
2. securely wrapped;
3. including your order or transaction number, and full name and address;
4. at your risk and cost (it is recommended that - for your own protection - you should send the products back to us using recorded delivery, so that you have proof of delivery. You will have to meet the delivery costs of returning the products).
After we have received the Goods, we will credit your credit or debit card with the full purchase price of the goods returned no later than 30 days from the date of receipt, less the P&P charge;
If you do not return the Goods to us, you are still liable to us for the cost.

* Faulty or Wrong Item

If the item you received is faulty or is not what you originally ordered, please e-mail info@moonestates.com quoting your order number, your name and address, details of the product and whether you require a refund or a replacement. We will then advise on how to proceed with the return.

** END IMPORTANT RETURNS POLICY INFORMATION **

Thank you for shopping at www.moonestates.com. We hope that you will order from us again.

MarsShop.com - What do i get??

2009-02-04T12:38:00.001Z

Below you will can see some low resolution pictures of the three certificates you receive with each of your Martian properties. All of the certificates are printed on 11 inch x 14 inch simulated parchment paper suitable for framing. Apart from those, you still of course get a copy of the short story called "You own WHAT?", which contains a copy of the declaration of ownership that was filed with the United Nations, as well as the US and Russian governments. All documents are in English.

The Martian Deed

The Martian Deed is your formal document of ownership and it makes for an intensive read!

The Martian Site Map

The Martian Site Map shows you where on Mars your property is located. It also shows your properties position by latitude and longitude.

The Martian Constitution and Bill of Rights

Mars wouldn't be the same without it. The Martian laws (which are different from the Moons! Please see the FAQ for details), your rights, and of course, the all important laws of BIG RED (aka The Head Cheese), the omnipotent ruler of Mars, as we amicably call Mr. Dennis Hope!

Marsshop.com

2009-02-04T12:36:00.000Z

You too can be the proud owner of a property on Mars! The next novel gift that's a must for your shopping list!

The MarsShop is a part of the Lunar Embassy Computer Center.

The MarsShop webserver is soley dedicated to the sale of extraterrestrial properties on the planet Mars. It therefore only contains information relating to Mars. For all general information regarding extraterrestrial properties, please check out the brandnew and hot

Lunar Embassy Main Webserver

From there you can get to all the other extraterrestrial property servers that the Lunar Embassy Computer Center is running. You can also

			find out more about the whole story, the legal situation and and and...
			WIN a free Goodie of your choice by signing the new extraterrestrial guestbook!
			look at TV Press reports in Quicktime Movie Format
			check out the latest Newspaper Articles printed about the Lunar Embassy
			get a "Seal of Approval" for your Website
			find our banners for linking, check our many homepages others have made for us
			check out our general FAQ (which is different than the one on this webserver)
			find our contact addresses and information; read our latest Newsflash!
			and finally, join the extraterrestrial mailing list.

So! With all that out of the way....we warmly welcome you again to the MarsShop! If you are looking for an extraterrestrial property on Mars, you have come to the right place! This really is the cheapest real estate in the universe!

If this sounds like a joke to you, please read on, because this is no joke. The sale of Lunar property has already been ongoing for many years by the Lunar Embassy, which posesses a legal basis and copyright for the sale of Martian, Lunar and other extraterrestrial property. Thousands of people (including some very famous celebreties), are already proud owners of their Lunar property. (Please see our Main Webserver for more details).

You may have seen a presentation of the Lunar Embassy and an appearance of Mr Dennis Hope on one of your local TV channels recently. This is THE website that represents the Lunar Embassy

AS SEEN ON TV

and you have come to the right place.

WE THE LUNAR EMBASSY, are the only recognized world authority for the sale of Martian and other Planetary Real Estate (including the Moon). Please be advised, that any others are copy cat companies without authority, soliciting your money for unauthorized products.

And...regardless of what you may have heard...it's all true: After having bought the Moon, here you can now buy a property on Mars!

OK, what are the details?

Firstly you should know, that in keeping with the Lunar Embassies traditional policy of selling extraterrestrial property at the lowest possible prices, we are happy to announce that a property on Mars is very similar in price to that of the other extraterrestrial properties the Lunar Embassy sell on other planets and Moons. However, there is no division between 'lit' and 'dark' sides like for the Moon, as Mars itself rotates.

The price for a one acre parcel is:

Only $19.99
+ $1.51 (Martian Tax)
+ Shipping and handling of $10.00

(Shipping and handling for up to 5 parcels going to the same address). Believe us, there's enough room for a BIG swimming pool in your garden...

What do I get for my money?

Apart from the property itself, you receive:

			A Martian Constitution Bill of Rights
			A Martian Deed
			A Martian Site Map (Showing the approximate location of your Property)
			A copy of a short story entitled "YOU OWN WHAT?" which includes a copy of the declaration of ownership that was filed with the United Nations, as well as the US and Russian governments to ensure that in fact, a legal basis for the ownership of the properties sold here can be claimed.
			All documents are in English and are printed on 11 inch x 14 inch simulated parchment paper, suitable for framing.

Guarantee Policy.

Please note that we follow a strict no-argument 30 day moneyback guarantee policy. If you are not completely satisfied with your product, you may return it, and receive a full refund, no questions asked.

If you would like to see a picture of the documents you will receive, then please click here .

How many properties are there?

There are several billion (!) separate pieces of property on Mars. Please note that, due again to the heavy demand, we sell one property after the next, and are unfortunately unable to assure you whether your property will have any views on any craters. Perhaps you cannot choose the exact location of your property, but, if in one order, you order several properties, they will be next to eachother.

I don't believe it....

Believe it. It's true. If however you are still not convinced we suggest you have a look at our Martian Frequently Asked Questions List , or contact the Netcheck Internet Commerce Bureau , of which we are a member.

What happens if we find life on Mars?

Here is a part that is quite different from selling Lunar Property, and we must make you aware of it. We can be reasonably sure that there is no life on the Moon, but, not even the Lunar Embassy can guarantee you that we will not find life on Mars. If such extraterrestrial life is found, and if such life is sentient enough to make a decision of any kind, in any form, language or gesture, as to whether it would like you on its property or not, then the opinions of the lifeform will take absolute priority and OVERRULE any rules we may have made. This is regardless of, if such extraterrestrial opinions may make sense to humans or not. What does this mean? Simply put, it does mean that if you buy a property on Mars, and when you get there a little green thing is on your property, and it says: "we don't want you here", well then, unfortunately your 20 dollars were a malinvestment (and ours too!). The Lunar Embassy prides itself on respecting all lifeforms of the Universe. Whether they be sentient or not, we feel, is unimportant. Further, should any lifeform that is NOT sentient exist on your property, it is your (and our) responsibility to ensure that it does not come to any due harm due to our presence on the planet. Yes, that includes microbes.

OK OK! I'm hooked. I'll build a home for my microbes when I find them! I WANT ONE! WHADDOIDO?

Firstly, as before, you can order as many as you like. There are NO limitations. Martian properties are available to all the people on Earth. It does not matter what country you are in or what your circumstances are. Further, we are sure you have heard one of your friends once say "DON'T TYPE YOUR CREDIT CARD NUMBER INTO THE INTERNET". Whilst we feel the risk is neglegible, we will not ask you to, unless you so desire.

When you are done looking around this site, which we suggest you do before ordering anything, and you would like to order your Mars Property or goodies, then please

CLICK HERE TO ORDER

or choose "Order Form" from the navigation tool at the top. As you will see from the description below, there's much more to see on this site!

For example, we would also like to let you know that we also sell T-shirts, Hats, Nightshirts, Mousemats and other goodies related to your property purchase! As much as Mars itself, these make for great and original gifts for any occasion. After all, if you're not wearing the T-Shirt, how will someone know that you own a massive piece of property? Life is not worth living without it.

About the other fun bits on this site!

The Whats sold Mars map allows you to have a look at how much of the Martian surface has already been sold.

The Mars Links section is a small collection of the best links relating to Mars . What is the current status of the manned mission to Mars, what do we know about life on Mars in the form of microbes plus a host of other useful information. Please do not forget that NASA and JPL pictures are copyrighted.

The Bedroom. Ah! The bedroom. We almost forgot the bedroom on Mars! Well, this is what the view out of your bedroom could one day look like, if you live on Mars!

Finally, please don't forget to look at our Martian Frequently Asked Questions List . This list covers everything we can think of, as well as everything you thought of. How the Lunar Embassy came to be, and what legal basis the Lunar Embassy has to sell Mars.

If there's any problem, you can contact us by clicking here . We do try to personally respond to all e-mails, even if it takes us a while.

We THANK YOU sincerely for your orders and hope that you tell your friends about this wonderful adventure. There's plenty of property for everyone. In the meantime, we look forward to being your neighbors on Mars one day!

Sincerely Yours,
the Lunar Embassy Staff.

I NOW OWN MARS

2009-02-04T12:16:00.002Z

...well when i say i own it, i have purchased an acre of Mars. I havent yet received my land but the deeds are on their way with my name on them. This all started as i came across a website that actually stated that you could buy real estate on Mars so i thought i would investigate further, although it just took me to a website called MoonEstates.com and this is where i bought the sacred land haha.

I thought the least i can do is buy some land up there and i also want to see how the deeds are presented. I am expecting them to be a little shabby but it could be a good insight to what i could include if i am still going to produce a welcome pack with each property.

Entourage

2009-02-03T16:16:00.001Z

Basically the designs in my previous post show how the building is looking on its own. I am going to add a garden area with some lush planting, lights, paths, decking and a swimming pool (heated with geothermal energy, or something along those lines).

The houses will have all conventional luxuries such as a bespoke kitchen area, seating, living, dinning, sleeping quaters and bathroom. As their is an oversized glass facade being the main feature of the design, i have intergrated a electronic frosting system within the glass so it can become less refractive or even completely opaque at the touch of a button!!

This building is my main aim to get well on its way for the mid term of 2009.

Designs..

2009-02-03T16:00:00.000Z

Basically what

Bedroomn with funky glass saferail

2009-02-03T15:58:00.000Z

Left View

2009-02-03T15:46:00.001Z

Top View

2009-02-03T15:05:00.002Z

Front view

2009-02-03T15:04:00.002Z

Perspective

2009-02-03T15:01:00.001Z

New Designs

2009-02-03T14:40:00.002Z

well over the past couple of weeks i have been contemplating some design ideas for my real estate side of things and i basically just set about doing a design i'd been milling around in my head. The design you could say is similar to "Grand designs" type of stuff. I've originally gone for this style because it is the type of thing that is very sort after in today's market, clean, contemporary and
fresh. Also it would out of place having a semi-detached house on the surface of mars now wouldnt it.......Not only that, as i am trying to market selling this possible real estate now it means i have to direct it to the current market, possibly without all of this cred crunch madness.

....

2009-02-03T14:37:00.001Z

Sorry i forgot to mention in my last post that this is obviously a new design i have created and i will talk about that in a second, but also this is obviously a simplified version of the kind of thing im thinking of. The final image would be comped up and include a more technical description etc... better than this one basically.

Technology input

2009-02-03T14:13:00.004Z

Below is an example of how i can show the technical explanations of my buildings, their materials and how they are run, etc....

Tuesday morning follow on..

2009-02-03T12:27:00.003Z

One issue with my project is how i am going to market it. I am thinking that i will have to input a lot of technical data to make myself and my project stand out in terms of style. I will obviously have to brush up on my knowledge for any presentations but i want to use the technical data to try and further sell the development.

I might have to come up with some false materials for my project, with the included technical specifications.....

Macromolecular phosphate rock that is used to build the main structure of the house.

this is 2 parts Mars rock which we call Illodine and 1 part water mixed in the thermoheater to become its white colour.

Just as an example. all part of the faking process.

Tuesday, Tutorial session....

2009-02-03T11:44:00.002Z

I have just had a tutorial with Iman my final year tutor and we discussed my project and i answered some questions about where i want to take it and if iv got any problems that needed to be addressed.

Firstly we discussed the name of my project. Although i havent yet thought of one i put down on my sheet "Mars, Real Estate" which i know is very boring and i do have to think of something that reflects the outstanding idea of real estate on Mars. Iman mentioned a company in the Huddersfield area called Vega Homes. This is quite an extravigant name for a Huddersfield based company. Thus i need to think of something more exciting.... imagine, ..... FOR HOMES THAT ARE OUT OF THIS WORLD, IMPACT, REAL ESTATE. or something along these lines.

I have to think in my presentation and about my project, what exactly am i offering people who are going to invest in real estate on mars?

I am offering them a new, UNIQUE lifestyle, a chance to become part of the Mars exploration, sending data to earth and discovering new things.

Be the first to explore what it is like to live on Mars.

For a life thats out of this world.

A good idea about my blog is to print it out for my final submission, this not only looks impressive but as its my main (only) means of documenting my work at the moment, it means that i can physically show how much work iv done which always looks better.

Also an idea for presenting is to bring books in that i have read and highlighted, take some notes on them and slot them in on pieces of paper for easy reference to important parts.

The session questions

1. Does your project have a name?

Not as yet

Mars, Real Estate is maybe too simple.

2. Do you have a one paragraph description of your project?

A convincing real estate company that offers property on Mars.

Conventional marketing

Life style

Exploring realism and its boundaries and conventions

3. Have you done enough work up to now?

no

4. Are you still on target from last weeks plans?

Slightly behind maybe

5. What do you need to do this week? (details)

Fill at least one of my house designs with entourage.

Look at starting compositing, do some renders see what its looking like

6. How will you address the technical needs of your project?

This depends how far I will take my project.

In terms of compositing the first port of call will be where I work.

7. Will you need any help or can you do it by yourself?

I am pretty sure I can do it by myself, although I am not afraid to ask for help if needs be.

8. Is your technical experimentation being documented adequately?

It will be when do a few hours today that I was meant to do last week.

Although I always have the underlying concern that I need a physical sketchbook

9. Do you know how long each component will take to make?

One house could take a strong week if I put my head down. This is if I already have enough entourage for the interior and ideas for the exterior.

10. What do you need to improve now? and what do you need to improve later?

More motivation.

Advertising - Stimulating phrases

2009-01-29T12:29:00.001Z

Act now!... Send your name... All sent free to introduce... Amazing literature.. Free... Ask for free folder... Bargain lists sent free... Be first to qualify... Catalog included free... Complete details free... Current list free... Dealers write for prices... Description sent free... Details free!... Dime brings details... Everything supplied!.. Exciting details free... Extra for promptness.. First lesson, 25 cents... Folder free!.. For literature, write:.. Free booklet explains... Free plans tell how... Free selling kit... Free wholesale plan... Free with approvals... Full particulars free... Get facts that help.. Get started today!... Get your copy now!... Get yours wholesale... Gifts with purchases... Illustrated lists free... Interesting details free... Investigate today... It's Free!... Act Now!... Literature free... Mail material to:.. Money making facts free... No obligation! Write!... Offer limited!... Send today... Only 10 cents to introduce... Order direct from:... Order Now!... Don't Delay!... Particulars free... Postcard brings details... Request free literature... Revealing booklet free... Rush name for details.. Sales kit furnished... Sample details free... Samples sent on trial... See before you buy... Send for free details... Send for it today... Send no money... Send post card today... Send 15 cents for mailing... Send today... Send your want lists... Stamp brings details... Stamped envelope brings... Test lesson free... Unique sample offer... Valuable details free... Write for free booklet free... Write us first!... Yours for the asking... 15 cent stamp for details... $1 brings complete... 32-page catalog free... Booklet free!... Order TODAY!... Now's the time... Guaranteed FREE with...

Advertising - Punch words

2009-01-29T12:27:00.000Z

Absolutely.. Amazing.. Approved.. Attractive.. Authentic.. Bargain...Beautiful.. Better.. Big.. Colourful.. Colossal.. Complete.. Confidential.. Crammed.. Delivered.. Direct.. Discount.. Easily.. Endorsed.. Enormous.. Excellent.. Exciting.. Exclusive.. Expert.. Famous.. Fascinating.. Fortune.. Full.. Genuine.. Gift.. Gigantic.. Greatest.. Guaranteed.. Helpful.. Highest.. Huge.. Immediately.. Improved.. Informative.. Instructive.. Interesting.. Largest.. Latest.. Lavishly.. Liberal.. Lifetime.. Limited.. Lowest.. Magic.. Mammoth.. Miracle.. Noted.. Odd.. Outstanding.. Personalized.. Popular.. Powerful.. Practical.. Professional.. Profitable.. Profusely.. Proven.. Quality.. Quickly.. Rare.. Reduced.. Refundable.. Remarkable.. Reliable.. Revealing.. Revolutionary.. Scarce.. Secrets.. Security.. Selected.. Sensational.. Simplified.. Sizable.. Special.. Startling.. Strange.. Strong.. Sturdy.. Successful.. Superior.. Surprise.. Terrific.. Tested.. Tremendous.. Unconditional.. Unique.. Unlimited.. Unparalleled.. Unsurpassed.. Unusual.. Useful.. Valuable.. Wealth.. Weird.. Wonderful.

Advertising buzz words

2009-01-29T12:17:00.002Z

Persuasive advertising entising people to dubai. The use of key words is paramount it seems for this type of advertising.

embed yourself in modern and sereen architecture

Explore

Diversify

Succeed

Dubai, uncover the past and uncover the future

Stylised advert

2009-01-29T12:11:00.002Z

Specifically aimed at real estate in Dubai this advert has an underlying tone of community spirit about it. I suppose this is what alot of people look for when buying a new home so i could definatly try to relate this to my study, try to emphasise a homely, new, fresh yet community feel to Mars.

sorry the embeding option was cut

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Dc8AKgW4Nlk

Wow factor

2009-01-29T12:02:00.002Z

this is a slight side track from my origional idea of looking at adverts for places but i came across this advert which i think does have the 'wow' factor about it. I think the main reasont this advert stands out is the music as it really builds the feel good factor within the advert and makes the viewer think WOW, i want to do that!!!

'When was the last time you did something for the first time?'

Ooops, i stumbled across this

2009-01-29T11:27:00.002Z

Interesting advert to say the least, small budget but loud sales technique like the B.O.G.O.F. offer from safestyle u.k. windows and doors.

Safestyle UK

Adverts for Places of interest around the world.

2009-01-29T11:12:00.002Z

Their is a very interesting phenominon that has hit the box in recent years, and this is advertising for capital cities and countries around the world.

The very first time i seen anything like this was when i flew to Singapore via Dubai. As the plane started its decent as usual and then the televisions flashed and the plane was presented with an advert that was promoting Dubai as a fantastic place to visit. This was probably the first time i had seen something like this, especially on a plane. These type of adverts could be useful to me as they are promoting places people have never been before and the use certain persuavive techniques to convince people that they want to go.

Over the next few chapters i am going to look at some of these adverts and analyse there advertising techniques.

Caribbean Real Estate

2009-01-29T11:00:00.002Z

This is an interesting video and had me think of a little caption. In the first few seconds of the video it asks the viewer, 'Are you seeking a change in your life' , 'maybe a new caribbean lifestyle' well i could have instead,

'are you seeking a change of lifestyle?'

'a change thats out of this world' (this is a play on words because Mars is physically out of this world)

i also seen on another caribbean real estate video that i cant find at the moment a caption that said something along the lines of, 'you dont have to be a residant of the caribbean to live here', 'their government and inhabitants welcome foriegn investors to their country' this is suggesting that the offer is open to anyone, the avdert is trying to answer questions that they think people would be asking themselves. Mainly, is it for me?

Real Estate - Funny

2009-01-28T16:35:00.003Z

This austrailen commercial is pretty funny, but like all of the others, doesnt exactly stand out as being anything special. Seen as i am selling a House on Mars, it will have to go beyond all of these adverts, how, i just dont know yet!!