Create Leopard's Aurora wallpaper

Create Leopard's Aurora wallpaper

Posted by tech master  |  at  2:18 AM

Okay. I’m going to attempt the impossible. Well, it seemed impossible at least. Gonna try and recreate the Mac OS X Leopard wallpaper. Please don't laugh at me.

Step 1: Make a very large document. If you want 1650*1050, then make it 1900*1400 and so on. Fill with #090608

Step 2: Create a new layer (Command+Shift+N). Name it “cloud 1”. Now take your Lasso tool and drag out a sort of shape. Doesn’t have to be perfect. Then go to Select > Modify > Feather and give it a 10 point feather.

Step 3: With the shape still selected, go to Filter > Render > Difference Clouds. Deselect it (Command+D).

Step 4: Now go to Filter > Blur > Radial Blur. Notice the thumbnail at the bottom right. Make the zoom such that the crosshair is towards the center of the document. Hit OK. If the effect is not too much, then hit Command+F to run the filter again.

Step 5: Do step 2 through 4 a couple of times till you have a fan thing. (refer to the Leopard wally for guidance). Use the transform tool to increase size, rotate and get it right.

Step 6: Select the first ‘cloud 1’ layer and hit Command + U. Check the “Colorize” box. Hue: 302 | Saturation: 44 | Lightness: 16. Do the same for the other cloud layers as well, only vary those hue saturation numbers a bit here and there.

Step 7: Create another one of those “cloud layers”, but make it wide. Very wide. Notice the Leopard Wally has a blue tinge at the bottom left to top left. Get the cloud such, and give it a blue hue instead of the purple. Position that blue layer under the respective purple layer(s).

Step 8: Try different blend modes for the other cloud layers. Stuff like hard light, vivid light creates some nice blends.

STARS
Step 9: Select the brush tool (B). Select a round brush in the brush toolbar. Then open up the brushes palette (Window > Brushes).

Basically scatter those brush dots.

Step 10: Create separate layers for star sets for small dots, medium dots, and a few large ones. Give the layer a pink/purple outer glow (layers > layer options > outer glow). Also create another star set with mixed stars and give it a blue outer glow.

Step 11: Experiment with blurring out stars (Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur), layer opacity and such to get depth for the stars

Step 12: Now also create a layer above all others. Make it’s blend mode into “Color”. Select a nice big soft brush (400px or so) and reduce the opacity of the brush to 10-15%. Now lightly brush over random areas with a deep blue colour.

I’m guessing given the time and patience, a close resemblance to the Leopard’s Aurora wallpaper can be achievable. Mine’s far from it, but I’m going to work on it some more and see where I end up…

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Increase Your Hard Disk Speed

Increase Your Hard Disk Speed

Posted by tech master  |  at  2:04 AM

To speed up your hard disk speed we need to configure a special buffer in the computer's memory in order to enable it to better deal with interrupts made from the disk.

This tip is only recommended if you have 256MB RAM or higher.

Follow these steps:

• Run SYSEDIT.EXE from the Run command.
• Expand the system.ini file window.
• Scroll down almost to the end of the file till you find a line called [386enh].
• Press Enter to make one blank line, and in that line type Irq14=4096

Note: This line IS CASE SENSITIVE!!!

Click on the File menu, then choose Save.

Close SYSEDIT and reboot your computer.

Done. Speed improvement will be noticed after the computer reboots.
Update: The most speed improvement is visible with IDE drives, however there are reports that this tweak also does good for SCSI disks. In any case, it won't harm your system, so why not try it yourself and let me know what you find

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Disable The Booting Logo in Windows XP

Disable The Booting Logo in Windows XP

Posted by tech master  |  at  9:54 AM

One can remove the boot logo that appears when you start Windows XP. This little
tweak saves a few seconds of your boot time, but seconds count if you are serious about trying to get Windows XP up and running as quickly as possible. The only negative is that if you remove the boot logo, you will also not see any boot messages, such as check disk.

To remove the boot logo, follow these steps:

1. Select Start-->Run, type msconfig, and click OK.
2. In the System Configuration Utility, click the BOOT.INI tab.
3. On the BOOT.INI tab, click the NOGUIBOOT check box option. Click OK.
4. Restart your computer to check the results.

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Converting a Black & White Picture to Color

Converting a Black & White Picture to Color

Posted by tech master  |  at  2:14 PM

Photoshop Knowledge required: Medium
External Plug-ins required: None
(Before starting reset your workspace by Window ---> Workspace ---> Reset Palette Locations)

This could be an interesting tutorial.
Using this you can color almost any Black & White image.
Actually there are two ways to color an image. You have to use them according to your needs.
The methods are sorted with simplicity.


I method: Simplest


Adobe Photoshop has a great blending mode called the color mode.
It can give fantastic effects!

Step 1: Select the color you want to do to a specific part of image
Step 2: Select "Brush Tool" {Size: Choose according to your needs --- Mode: "Overlay" or "Color" --- Opacity: 100 --- Flow: 100}
Step 3: Go nuts! Just paint the area of the picture you want to color

Pros: Easiest coloring possible, well for newbie’s who don't want the resultant image to be too realistic.
Cons: Very time consuming, provides pretty cheap results, you can't adjust the colors because you'll have to paint again...


II method: Hardest


Remember that in this method you'll have to work with objects that are in the front and then go to the objects in the background.
Here I'm taking a picture that comes with Adobe Photoshop as a sample.
You can find it in [Drive]:\Program Files\Adobe\Photoshop CS\Samples\RanchHouse.jpg



Step 1: Change the image to color mode by Image ---> Mode ---> RGB Color (!!!IMPORTANT!!! Always check this)
Step 2: Zoom to about 200%
Step 3: Select the magnetic lasso tool {Feather: 1px --- Anti-aliased: Yes --- Width: 10px --- Edge Contrast: 10% --- Frequency: 100}
Step 4: Now click on the edge of any object Coat, Boot, Hat, Door etc... (Not the wall or the floor)
Step 5: Just move your mouse cursor around the edges of the object until you have a complete selection. Like this
{Tip: If your magnetic lasso tool doesn't go where you want it to, you can just click the points manually. To remove the last point just press backspace. Refer to Photoshop manual for more assistance}



Step 6: Press Ctrl+J to do "Layer via Copy"
Step 7: Go to Image --> Adjustments --> Hue/Saturation {Colorize: Yes}

Step 8: Now adjust the Hue/Saturation and Lightness until your object looks realistic.
{Tip: The realism of the resulting image depends on the experimenting you have done. And the amount of efforts put to small objects. Always remember to experiment with the "Brightness/Contrast option to make your objects looks better}

Step 9: Set the blending mode of the layer to "Color". You can experiment with others too...

Step 10: Do the same for every other object. (Remember to click on the Background layer first)
{Tip: Using "Magnetic Lasso" tool won't always do the work ... It is difficult to select the images using this tool...
So after using this tool... select the "Rectangular Marquee" tool and select the "Add to selection button" (Hold your mouse over the buttons to make the text appear" and then draw at the edges}

t

Step 11: To color the background (Ground, Wall) you need not worry about the selection too much because you have already colored the objects and put them over the top of the background...
So Click on the Background layer and just select the wall including the objects and directly apply "Hue/Saturation" to it...

Step 12: Layer ---> Flatten Image
Step 13: Image ---> Adjustments ---> Auto Levels & Auto Contrast & Auto Color




This should make you able to color most of the B&W images to color...
If you have any problems, feel free to comment here

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Nine-year-old writes iPhone code

Nine-year-old writes iPhone code

Posted by tech master  |  at  4:44 AM

A nine-year-old Malaysian boy in Singapore has written a painting application for the Apple iPhone.

Lim Ding Wen created the finger painting program, known as Doodle Kids, for his two younger sisters aged three and five.

The program allows iPhone owners to draw images on the handset's touch screen using just their fingers.

The program has been downloaded more than 4,000 times from Apple's iTunes store in less than two weeks.

While most children of his age are painting or drawing with crayons, Lim Ding Wen has been programming.

Lim, who is now fluent in six programming languages, first started using a computer when he was two-years-old, discovered programming aged seven, and has since completed more than 20 programming projects.

His latest application, Doodle Kids, allows users to draw pictures using their fingers and then clear the screen by shaking the iPhone.

"I wrote the program for my younger sisters, who like to draw," said Lim. "But I am happy that people like it."

Lim wrote the original application on his computer but has now adapted it for use on an iPhone.

He told The Electric New Paper in Singapore that he wrote the application in just a few days in Pascal.

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Codemaster's game FUEL makes a world record.

Codemaster's game FUEL makes a world record.

Posted by tech master  |  at  4:39 AM

5,560 square miles: the largest playable environment in a console game recognised by Guinness World Records™

Friday 22nd May (10am UK TIME)– It covers the approximate area of Trinidad & Tobago, it’s larger than Hong Kong, Singapore, St Lucia and the Isle of Man put together. Innovative open-world racer FUEL™ – launching on June 5th (localise per territory) for the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system, Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft® and a Games For Windows® edition to follow - boasts 5,560 square miles of accessible in-game terrain, making it officially the largest playable environment in a console game ever.



The accolade, presented to FUEL developers Asobo Studio, was confirmed by Guinness World Records, who have verified the record for inclusion in the next Guinness World Records Gamers Edition of the best-selling guide.

Guinness World Records presented Codemasters and Asobo Studio with a certificate that officially documents:
“Largest playable area in a console game: The largest playable environment in a console game is 5,560 sq mi (14,400 km²), and is featured in FUEL (Codemasters, 2009). The area features rivers, deserts, forests and mountains and was demonstrated at the offices of Guinness World Records, London, UK, on 20 May 2009.”

“We’ve been very impressed with the technology powering FUEL, and I’m pleased to welcome Asobo and Codemasters into the Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition,” said Gaz Deaves, Video Games Records Manager for Guinness World Records, “What we’ve seen from FUEL places it right at the cutting edge of the open-world racing genre and really raises the bar for games developers in the future.”

“We knew FUEL was going to be big,” said Phil Wright, Producer, Codemasters, “but to have this confirmed officially by Guinness World Records justifies our faith in this ground-breaking title. No other game comes close to offering the variety of environments, the range of vehicles or the sheer size of FUEL. It’s one of the most innovative racers ever, and we’re thrilled it’s been recognised as the biggest console game of all time.”



To celebrate the award, today Codemasters has released a new video featuring David Dedeine and Sebastian Wloch, two of the co-founders of Asobo Studio, who explain gameplay features and the technical challenge in creating the record-setting FUEL. The video is available from www.fuel-game.com (in the Downloads section).

FUEL’s world is one of staggering size and beauty. To put it into perspective, if players choose to drive from one side of the map to the other, it will take over 3 hours straight. This unprecedented virtual playground offers 19 environmental regions and features some of the most dramatic weather effects ever seen in a racing game. FUEL’s free-roaming nature allows players to pick and choose their route, races and career progression, offering almost limitless ways to play.

FUEL is set to become the ultimate racing sandbox when it launches Friday June 5th for the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system and Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft® with a Games For Windows® LIVE edition to follow. Gain an insight into the creation of the game that sets the new standard in open-world racing by downloading the video at www.fuel-game.com.

More screenshots are available on the Codemasters Official Flickr Channel.

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