That's no moon!

Oh wait; yes it is.




More here.

Is Amazon Insane? Or was it the fish?

Over at Netflix, they've been running a couple contests to find better recommendation algorithms. At Amazon, I think they're secretly running a contest to find an algorithm that's makes insane recommendations.

For example:




Would I like a second copy of Days of Future Passed? No thanks. I mean, I really enjoy listening to it at times, and it was quite a ground-breaking concept at the time, but I'm good with just the one copy. I can always rip it to MP3 or make a personal backup copy on my own.

How about some DVD recommendations, then? I like Futurama so Good News, Everyone!:




Errrr, no. Maybe Professor Farnsworth is a closet Angela Lansbury fan?

OK, that's just silly. I do like my animation in lots of different ways, including talking dogs and homicidal gay babies, so what else might Amazon have in store for me?




Oh dear god! For the love of Cthulhu, WTF is that about?

I guess I should say "Thank you Amazon, for bringing a little surreality to my life." And good luck to the people entering your contest.

About PoGo Print Manipulation

OK, so like apparently thousands of people, I watched the video "Dippold and Hippoyard present some way to manipulate Zink paper and PoGo Polaroid." (click on the post title to see it).

I love my Pogo printer, it's not analog instant photography, but it's pretty cool. And I love the little prints it produces, as is. But it's always fun to do more artistic stuff once in awhile. Unfortunately, the four and a half minute video contains six techniques, and I personally found some of it hard to follow. Nonetheless, my searches for written information on Pogo manipulations were not successful (but damn, that video sure is!)

So I've tried to capture as much of the presented information as I can. It's listed below. Parts that I'm unclear on are marked with question marks. I'd more than welcome any corrections, additions, whatever.

OK here we go:

1. Choose a subject
   
2. Take a picture
   
3. Take Zink (tm) photo paper
   
4. Print with Polaroid Pogo (tm)
   
5. Destroy and Create
   

01. Transfer Water + Paper

• Soak print 30-40 minutes
  
• Blow with hair dryer (?)
  
• Peel off top layer (orange-ish) with tweezers
  
• Place layer on watercolor paper
  
• Press with damp sponge (?)
  

02. Transfer Water + Paper

• Soak print 80-90 minutes
  
• Place entire print face down on watercolor paper
  
• Press with damp sponge
  
• Blow with hair dryer on both sides of watercolor paper
  
• Peel off backing paper and layers so that top layer is left on watercolor paper
  
• (not shown!) Peel off blue layer??
  
• Wet watercolor paper and orange layer with damp sponge
  
• Place (very fragile) blue layer on top of orange layer
  
• Use tweezers to straighten out
  
• (Strange flash of some other picture at 1:47, WTF?)
  

03. Print & Play Water + Sponge + Fire + Wire Brush

• Yeah, I got no idea exactly what is going on here.
  
• (Another flash of some other picture at 2:21, WTFF?)
  

04. Print & Play Sandpaper + Acetone Fire + Pyrograph

• (from Wikipedia: Pyrography is the art of decorating wood or other materials with burn marks resulting from the controlled application of a heated object such as a poker. It is also known as pokerwork or wood burning.)
  
• Rub sandpaper block on print
  
• Use q-tip to apply acetone (?) at certain spots
  
• Splash with acetone(?)
  
• Make it burn
  
• Put out fire with damp rag (?)
  
• Sand some more
  
• Draw on print with fine-tipped wood-burning tool (aka pyrograph, I guess)
  
• (enough with the flashes! 2:54)
  

05. Play & Print Sandpaper + Acetone

• Use sandpaper and acetone as above, on unprinted Zink paper, both sides (?)
  
• Print with Pogo
  

06. Cash Slip

• Take thermally printed cash register receipt, same width as Zink paper.
  
• (not shown, so I assume) trim length to match Zink paper
  
• Place on TOP of a sheet of Zink paper
  
• Print with Pogo
  
• Peel Apart