text:
Sony announces beginner-friendly Alpha A230, A330 and A380 DSLRs
Sony has developed its latest round of alpha SLRs with the first-time user in mind. They've designed the A230, A330 and A380 for consumers looking to step up from their digital compacts into the DSLR class. From the multi-colored menu screens down to the control layout, these cameras are lighter, cheaper and intended to be user-friendlier than any of Sony's current Alpha offerings.
With the introduction of the new Alpha cameras, Sony is also rolling out four new lenses, a flash, and a set of colorful camera accessories.
In a smart play to encourage first-time SLR users to step up from their familiar compacts, Sony has included dual memory card slots for SD/SDHC and their proprietary Memory Stick format.
Existing Sony Alphas have only been outfitted with CompactFlash card compatibility, so those who are hesitant to ditch their old memory cards and buy into a new system can now take a closer look at Sony's new cameras.
To make these cameras more familiar to those moving up from a point-and-shoot, Sony has equipped them with 9-point phase-detection auto focus, a system that doesn't require a viewfinder blackout to acquire focus.
The Alpha A230, A330, and A380 will all feature in-body Steady Shot image stabilization and compatibility with all Sony Alpha lenses as well as Minolta and Konica Minolta AF lenses. These three cameras also share the same optical viewfinder, offering 95% field of view coverage. On the back of each camera body, Sony has moved all buttons and controls to the right side of the 2.7 inch LCD. Each model is also equipped with their BIONZ image processor and pop-up flash.
Menu screens have also been given a makeover for this round of Alphas. Users will now be able to choose from a few different display colors – black, white, brown and pink – and will also be guided through menu screens with optional on-screen help guides. The menu graphics themselves have been re-designed with a first-time user in mind, too. Proper shutter and aperture adjustments can be made with the help of icons that demonstrate how different settings will affect the image.
Sony Alpha DSLR-A230
Rounding out the lower end of the pricing spectrum, the Sony Alpha A230 will debut as part of a one or two lens kit priced at $549 and $749, respectively. At the heart of this camera is a 10.2 effective megapixel APS-C size CCD sensor, presumably the same imager found in the Alpha A200.
The Alpha A230 will feature the same size 2.7 inch LCD as the A330 and A380, but unlike the screen on the other two cameras, this one doesn't tilt. The A230 also sacrifices Live View function on this camera to bring the price down.
Sony Alpha DSLR-A330
Price-wise, the Alpha A330 fits comfortably between the A230 and the A380 at $649 for a single-lens kit and $849 for a two-lens kit. Sony is also making this camera available in a new copper brown color.
Like the A380, the Alpha A330 offers shooters Live View functionality with their 2.7 inch display. The LCD also tilts upward by 135 degrees and downward by 55 degrees.
The A330 offers the same sensor specs as the A230.
Sony Alpha DSLR-A380
At the top rung of the price ladder, the A380 offers a higher resolution sensor with 14.2 effective megapixels. As we mentioned before, it shares live view capability with the A330 as well as a tilting LCD.
Lenses and Flash
In addition to the new zoom and telephoto lenses being sold with the new cameras, Sony has introduced two additional lenses for the Alpha line. Optimized for the APS-C sensor within each new Alpha, Sony will also offer a portrait DT 50mm f/1.8 lens and a macro DT 30mm f/2.8 lens.
Each of the four new lenses will feature Sony's Smooth AutoFocus Motor for in-lens autofocus. The new standard zoom and telephoto lenses will cost $200 and $230, respectively, and the portrait lens will sport a price tag of $150.
An external flash unit, HVL-F20AM, also makes its debut today. It should give users more flexibility and higher flash output than the standard pop-up flash. It will debut with a $130 price tag.
Alongside the announcement of these new DSLRs, Sony is also taking the wraps off of some new camera accessories including new bags and color-coordinated camera straps.
Sony will begin taking pre-orders for the A230, A330 and A380 starting today at their retail website.


text:
A few days ago, Pauladin, who has taken over the LibStatLogic and TankPoints addons, left a comment indicating that he had a more complete data set that was giving him slightly more accurate coefficients for dodge diminishing returns. He was kind enough to share that data set with us, and we've analyzed it thoroughly in both MATLAB and Excel. As a result, we've managed to determine our dodge and parry DR coefficients to a significantly higher degree of accuracy than we've been able to achieve previously.
In this post, I'm going to provide the fits to the data and a little commentary on the logic that gets us to our final estimates. If you're not interested in the fitting, skip to the end of the post for the full form of the diminishing returns equations including all of the constant values of interest.
First, let's look at the parry fit:
General model: f(x,y) = 3+164/Q+(x/Q+y)/((x/Q+y)/C+k) Coefficients (with 95% confidence bounds): C = 237.2 (237.2, 237.2) Q = 243.6 (243.6, 243.6) k = 0.886 (0.886, 0.886) Goodness of fit: SSE: 5.852e-011 R-square: 1 Adjusted R-square: 1 RMSE: 6.267e-007
And this is what it looks like plotted:
This data set is amazing, because it's so exact and covers a wide portion of the parameter space. And the fit we get from it is excellent, as you can tell from the error metrics. More importantly, look at the residuals, which are the differences between data and fit at each point:
The amazing thing here is that none of them are larger than 0.000005% parry. That's how good this fit is – it beats the tooltip rounding by 3 orders of magnitude!
There are other hints here that tell us the fit is correct. We've known that the value of $a$ was around 243.6 already. The fact that the fit correctly predicts this is further evidence in favor of this fit. And the value we get for $C_p$ is consistent with what we've been seeing in fits based on warrior data, suggesting that $C_p$ is the same for both warriors and paladins. The value for $k$ is slightly different than what we've been using based on our earlier, less accurate data sets (0.885), which explains the minor discrepancies we've been seeing in our fitted caps.
The MATLAB output only shows a few significant digits, but it keeps quite a few more. If I ask it for 10 decimal places, I get:
Cp = 237.1860845891 Qs = 243.6053468436 k = 0.8860000602
The value of $k$ is too close to 0.886 to be a coincidence, in my opinion. If we fix that to be exactly 0.886, we get the following results from the fitting algorithm:
Cp = 237.1860403230 Qs = 243.6053629097
This value of $Q_s$ is a little different than what I've seen thrown around in other work. In fact, this was the issue that led to Pauladin and I analyzing the data in further detail. In the first pass, the residuals exhibited a distinct curvature, suggesting that something wasn't right. Ideally, the residuals should be both small and random. But we were seeing relatively large residuals (i.e. 0.001%) that looked like they followed a functional form in both parry and dodge data sets.
At first we thought this might be due to having the wrong functional form, because we simply couldn't get that artifact to go away by only varying $k$ and $C_p$. However, after playing around with it in MATLAB, it was clear that $Q_s$ was to blame. We were using 243.608552799873, and the fact that it was off by about 0.003 was enough to show clear systematic error in the residuals. As such, now that we've eliminated that problem, I feel very confident in our values of $C_p$, $k$, and $Q_s$.
It gets even more interesting when we analyze the dodge data. This data set only has two points that have an agility much higher than base, the rest are either just base agility or base agility +4 (from Kings). However, those two points at 480 agility ended up being crucial, because they were what allowed us to accurately nail down the value of $Q_a$, the agility-to-dodge conversion factor.
The other neat thing is that the dodge fit predicts the exact same $k$ value that the parry fit does, 0.886. To show that, here's the fit I get while leaving all three parameters free, followed by the 10-decimal expansion:
General model: f(x,y) = 3+2+97/Q+(x/Q+y)/((x/Q+y)/C+k) Coefficients (with 95% confidence bounds): C = 66.57 (66.57, 66.57) Q = 1e+004 (1e+004, 1e+004) k = 0.886 (0.886, 0.886) Goodness of fit: SSE: 4.86e-011 R-square: 1 Adjusted R-square: 1 RMSE: 5.711e-007 Cd = 66.5674515795 Qa = 9999.9310120191 k = 0.8859999914
This is just more reinforcement that $k$ ought to be 0.886. If we fix that, we get slightly modified values for $C_d$ and $Q_a$:
General model: f(x,y) = 3+2+97/Q+(x/Q+y)/((x/Q+y)/C+0.886) Coefficients (with 95% confidence bounds): C = 66.57 (66.57, 66.57) Q = 1e+004 (1e+004, 1e+004) Goodness of fit: SSE: 4.139e-011 R-square: 1 Adjusted R-square: 1 RMSE: 5.253e-007 Cd = 66.5674547339 Qa = 10000.1158515656
And by now, I think it's pretty clear that $Q_a$ is likely to be exactly 10,000. So let's fix that in place and see what we get:
General model: f(x,y) = 3+2+97/10000+(x/10000+y)/((x/10000+y)/C+0.886) Coefficients (with 95% confidence bounds): C = 66.57 (66.57, 66.57) Goodness of fit: SSE: 4.39e-011 R-square: 1 Adjusted R-square: 1 RMSE: 5.392e-007 C = 66.5674461982
Here's what that fit looks like:
And the residuals, this time plotted in 2-D (collapsing the agility axis):
As you can see, we're doing a little better with the dodge residuals than we were with parry. Our error is no larger than about 0.000002% here. And the residuals do look more or less randomly distributed about the fit. I said earlier that it was the residuals plot that clued us into our errant values of $Q_s$ and $Q_a$, so to give you an idea of what that looks like, here's the residuals plot with the systematic error included (i.e. using $Q_a=10025$:
You can definitely see the curvature I'm talking about. In addition, the two points towards the upper left are the high-Agility data points, which are clearly wrong. Those two points allowed us to home in on 10,000 as the conversion factor, and relaxed the constraints on $k$ and $C_d$ that were causing the curvature.
It's worth noting here that Mythor has been working hard on determining the warrior dodge cap to similar accuracy. So far we've got the warrior cap to $C_p^{\rm (warr)}=90.6425(0)$. We're hoping to add a few more digits to the end of that with more mixed gear sets (i.e. high agility and high dodge rating).
The block data was a lot more annoying, despite being a one-dimensional fit. Our initial fits seemed to get the functional form right, but had much larger residuals than our dodge and parry fits. For example, here's a fit to the raw data just using our usual DR equation:
General model: f(x) = 3+10+x/(x/C+k) Coefficients (with 95% confidence bounds): C = 150.4 (150.3, 150.5) k = 0.886 (0.8859, 0.8861) Goodness of fit: SSE: 0.0005365 R-square: 1 Adjusted R-square: 1 RMSE: 0.001904 Cb = 150.3606885994 k = 0.8859892350
As you can see, this fit is still quite good, but the residual errors are now larger. Our max residual with this fit is around 0.004%, large enough that we see disagreements of ~0.01% with the tooltip value in certain gear sets. In fact, Jere from tankspot and I have been discussing this problem, as he noticed it before I did and brought it to my attention.
The confusing part was that the residuals were very evenly distributed about zero, with no apparent functional form. It looked like random noise on an excellent fit. But why would there be random noise in the function?
Well, there isn't. Pauladin and Jere compiled more extensive data sets for mastery and block, and once that was done, the residual plot gave us a hint as to what was wrong. See if you can tell what it is:
As soon as I saw this, I knew the problem was rounding. Parallel lines on a residual plot like this are usually caused by discretization, and the curvature was due to the DR equation. The obvious answer is that there's some rounding going on in the equation, and that's causing our errors. It was just a matter of figuring out where and how to round to make them go away.
Which was a lot harder than it sounds, it turns out. The obvious first guess is to round mastery. And we did, over and over again, to different precisions, with no luck whatsoever. Rounding to the nearest 0.001 or lower had little to no effect, rounding to 0.01 or higher made the errors worse. There was something we were missing, and we didn't know what. There's a fun story behind this, but it's rather long, so feel free to skip it if you're not interested:
Pauladin and I puzzled over this for 5 or 6 hours yesterday, trying different rounding schemes ("What if we round (mastery/C)? What if we round the entire denominator?") to no avail. Somewhere after midnight he gave up and went to bed. I soldiered on in MATLAB until around 1:30 AM before giving in to sleep.
But in that extra hour and a half, I made a breakthrough that would lead me to the answer. I was playing around with a "fake" data set in MATLAB (basically, I made an array of mastery values from 8 to 25 in steps of 0.0001) to try and figure out what part of the rounding determined the number and spacing of the features on the residual plot. From that, I determined that it came down to the rounding factor you used – it had to be a rational fraction times the point spacing. For example, my points were spaced by 1/10000, so I'd get nice clean lines for a round like
${\rm roundedMastery} = {\rm ROUND}((N*10000/M)*{\rm mastery})$
N and M would determine the number of lines and the amount of error. I could use this to tweak the number of lines and the size of the residual errors in my "fake" data set, which was nice, but it still didn't line up with my real data. Defeated, I went to bed. It wasn't until I was lying in bed thinking about the problem as I drifted to sleep that I stumbled across the idea that would get me to the correct function.
My "fake" data set used a point spacing of 0.0001. But in-game, we have a coarser discretization: 1 point of mastery rating. What if I discretized my "fake" mastery array in steps of exactly 1 mastery rating? As soon as I woke up this morning, I ran to the computer and tried it. And it gave me better results, but only sort-of. Rounding to the nearest $Q_m=179.280042052667$ didn't quite work, but $Q_m/7$ gave me roughly the right number of lines, and $5*Q_m/7$ gave me roughly the right amount of error. But I couldn't get both simultaneously.
Then it hit me. 5/7*179.280042052667 works out to 128.0572. That's close to 128… what if they rounded in binary? 128 is 2^7, maybe they just rounded to the nearest 8-bit floating point value? So I tried rounding mastery by round(128*mastery)/128. And the residuals dropped by an order of magnitude. That was it! After that, some fine-tuning of the DR constant with the curve fitting tool dropped our residuals to the same level as our dodge and parry fits.
Since we're already confident that $k=0.886$, we can fix that in the fitting algorithm to get a better estimate for the block cap $C_b$:
General model: f(x) = 3+10+round(128.*x)./128/(round(128.*x)/128/C+0.886) Coefficients (with 95% confidence bounds): C = 150.4 (150.4, 150.4) Goodness of fit: SSE: 7.897e-010 R-square: 1 Adjusted R-square: 1 RMSE: 1.35e-006 Cb = 150.375946929671870
This block cap we're getting is consistent with what I've seen in fits to warrior data, which is reassuring. This suggests that both warriors and paladins have the same block cap, even though our $k$ values differ (theirs is the old Cataclysm value of 0.956). And our residual error is now down to the point that we shouldn't see any more of the 0.01% errors that were showing up before.
With this data, we can fairly confidently state the diminishing returns formulas for parry, dodge, and block:
Parry Diminishing Returns
${\rm Parry} = 3 + \frac{\rm baseStr}{Q_s} + \left (\frac{1}{C_p} + \frac{k}{({\rm Str}-{\rm baseStr})/Q_s+{\rm preParry}}\right)^{-1}\large$
Dodge Diminishing Returns
${\rm Dodge} = 3 + 2 + \frac{\rm baseAgi}{Q_a} + \left (\frac{1}{C_d} + \frac{k}{({\rm Agi}-{\rm baseAgi})/Q_a+{\rm preDodge}} \right)^{-1}\large$
Block Diminishing Returns
${\rm Block} = 3 + 10 + \left(\frac{1}{C_b}+\frac{k}{\rm roundedBlock} \right )^{-1}\large$
In these equations:
${\rm Parry}$, ${\rm Dodge}$, and ${\rm Block}$ are your post-DR parry, dodge, and block values (on the character sheet).
${\rm preParry}$ and ${\rm preDodge}$ are the pre-DR values given in the parry and dodge tooltips.
${\rm roundedBlock = ROUND(128*preBlock)/128}$ is the 8-bit binary-rounded block value used in the Block DR equation. ${\rm preBlock}$ is your pre-DR block percentage rounded in binary form (for paladins this is just their mastery, i.e., if you have 20% mastery, ${\rm preBlock}=20$; for warriors it's ${\rm masteryPercent}*0.5/2.2$).
${\rm Str}$, and ${\rm Agi}$ are your character sheet strength and agility values. ${\rm baseStr}$ is your base strength (naked, unbuffed).
$C_p=237.1860(403230) \pm 0.00005478$ is the parry cap for paladins and warriors
$C_d=66.56744(61982) \pm 0.000006006$ is the dodge cap for paladins (warrior's is $90.6425(0)$ according to latest estimates)
$C_b=150.3759(4692967) \pm 0.0000094316$ is the block cap for paladins and warriors
$k=0.886$ is the scale factor for paladins (warrior's is $0.956$), these are exact
$Q_s=951.158596$ is the L90 strength-to-parry conversion factor for paladins and warriors (exact, given by Blizzard)
$Q_s=243.60536(29097) \pm 0.00000704$ is the L85 strength-to-parry conversion factor for paladins and warriors
$Q_a=10000$ is the L85 agility-to-dodge conversion factor for paladins and warriors, this is assumed to be exact based on fitting residuals.
And since those latex expressions aren't in easy copy/paste-able form, here's the constants in plain text:
Const Nominal Value 95% CI Notes C_p = 237.1860(403230) 0.00005478 C_d = 66.56744(61982) 0.000006006 90.6425(0) for warriors C_b = 150.3759(4692967) 0.0000094316 k = 0.886 (exact) Q_s = 951.158596 (exact) L90 Q_s = 243.60536(29097) 0.00000704 L85 Q_a = 10000 (exact)
I've already updated my Tankadin spreadsheet with the updated $k$ and $C_i$ values. You may note that I haven't bothered to add agility scaling to it, even though we've known it has existed for quite some time. I don't think anyone will be attempting to stack enough agility gear to make it relevant, and as a result I don't think it makes sense to needlessly complicate the spreadsheet.
As a final comment, I'd like to note that much of this post is directly attributable to the work of Pauladin, Mythor, and Jere, who deserve at least as much credit as I do (and probably more) for these results. Without their data sets and insights about the errors we were bumping into, these results would not have been possible.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
20 minute crafter-DIY photo canvas
Want to save several dozen dollars and make your OWN photo canvas?
Do you have a printer? Do you have a canvas? Well let's get on it.
I can't wait to try this again with a black and white photo...or for Christmas gifts!
I'd love to see if you try this! Have fun!
P.S. I have an InkJet printer. :)
90 comments:
Wow, where did you get this idea? It's great. Thanks for not only sharing but also making it a tutorial. Don't worry, the photos are fine :)
- October 27, 2011 at 11:52 AM
- HotHarmony said...
Where did you get the tissue paper?
- October 27, 2011 at 6:22 PM
Where did you get the PRAY sign?
You always have the best decorations on your mantle :)
- October 28, 2011 at 11:12 PM
Thats awesome! I wonder how you would feed a tissue paper through the printer? I have visions of it getting gunked up with ink and jamming the printer :)
- November 7, 2011 at 9:54 PM
- Shannon said...
I have done this on tiles for coasters and they look great...haven't tried the tissue paper on canvas yet. This will be my next project:) I tape my tissue paper to a piece of card stock and it goes through the printer just fine. Thanks for this wonderful idea!
- November 18, 2011 at 4:56 PM
- Rhiannon said...
awesome idea! pinning this!
- November 22, 2011 at 4:00 PM
- Unknown said...
What kind of a printer? Does it matter if its an ink cartridge or a laser toner?
- November 27, 2011 at 8:32 AM
- Donna @ Loopy Loop Creations said...
Just shouted you out on my facebook page! I am beyond impressed and yeah, I would have thought it would have ripped!
- November 27, 2011 at 3:53 PM
- Misty Makes said...
What kind of printer are you using, laser or ink jet?
- November 27, 2011 at 7:19 PM
- Tait said...
Just did this and it came out GREAT! I decided to sponge paint a thin line around the edge where the picture meets the canvas and it looks very artsy. A black and white or sepia photo would look vintage with black around it. Thanks for the awesome (and easy!) idea.
- November 27, 2011 at 9:10 PM
- Miss Kindergarten said...
TOtally cool!!!
- November 28, 2011 at 10:17 AM
- Heidi said...
This is awesome! Please come share at our link party...junkintheirtrunk.blogspot.com/2011/11/link-it-up-wednesday-5.html
- November 30, 2011 at 10:31 AM
- Unknown said...
Did you use your fingers to push out the bubbles?
- December 1, 2011 at 8:36 PM
- Suzanne Bay said...
If you're short on time, you can get awesome 5x7 tabletop canvases for only $12.99 on cvs.com. The 8x10s are also reasonably priced at $19.99. My friends all LOVED them. :)
- December 2, 2011 at 9:58 AM
- Unknown said...
I did this for Christmas presents! I taped my tissue paper to the printer paper before sending it through the printer. My pictures aren't exactly centered and one has a slight tear but they still look great!
- December 4, 2011 at 7:31 PM
- Vicki Dutcher said...
This is so fun! i can't wait to try it~
- December 9, 2011 at 5:55 PM
- Ashley said...
OMG this is awesome!!! Thanks for the wonderful tutorial
- December 11, 2011 at 12:23 AM
- Michelle Ann said...
Okay so I was totally inspired by this idea. I made 4 of these for my sister for Christmas, I did pictures of my nephew. The first one I did was a HUGE struggle bus... Then I learned if you tape the tissue to the computer paper it gets easier AND I have a very cheap (free w/ purchase) printer so the (lack of) gentleness of the print kept tearing the tissue. Then I realized (I have a Mac) that you can change the paper quality to "special paper" and I used the Iron-On option... and it printed so much softer with less ink so the tissue didn't smear or get ripped! Sooo awesome! I'm ecstatic! The last 3 turned out awesome. I'm going to do a 1/2 inch black ribbon around the edge of mine to cover up where the canvas meets the print and to give it a "finished" look. I thought it would make it look kind of framed.
Again, awesome idea! Thanks for sharing =] Hope my tips help anyone else who runs into the same snags I did. (on the plus side, I learned the secret compartment to unjam my printer ;-)
- December 16, 2011 at 1:36 AM
- Diane Swett said...
Great idea. I am amazed that you didn't have to adhere the tissue paper to freezer paper 1st before putting it thru the printer. Love this Idea. thanks for sharing.
- January 12, 2012 at 1:24 PM
- Unknown said...
WOW!! What a brilliant idea!! Gotta do this! (Found you through Pinterest and will follow you)! xxx
- January 19, 2012 at 9:52 AM
- A Creative Operation said...
I totally have to try this...this is awesome! Thanks for sharing!
- January 21, 2012 at 10:35 AM
I just did this for Valentine's Day! I used regular printer paper and the picture was in black and white. The only difference here is that you have to be super careful when adjusting it and to make sure you put a good layer on the canvas before laying the picture down. My picture did tear a wee little bit when I moved it (I had to pull it up and put more mod podge on the canvas because of bubbles.) But I had ribbon that was going to frame the picture and it covered it up nicely! LOVE THIS PROJECT!
- February 8, 2012 at 9:21 PM
- Unknown said...
Thank you. Very good tutorial! And the photos were just fine. LOL
- February 20, 2012 at 9:06 PM
- Princess_zelda_2009 said...
I taped the tissue paper to a regular sheet before printing to get it to go through better. I also let the ink dry, then ironed it again since it got a little wiggly with the ink. I have a laser printer and the pic comes out a littler darker than expected. So I lightened it, had the pic fade to black edges, and reprinted. Then after placing the tissue on the canvas, I just pressed the bubbles down instead of smoothing them out. I didn't want to rip it or smear the ink. It left little wrinkles, but I think the texture looks nice. There was a spot near one of the edges that tore a bit. After I trimmed off some of extra from the other side, I cut that into strips the length of the tear and stuck them down to cover it up. It's not really noticeable, especially with the second coat of Mod Podge. Which by the way, I made my own using the Pinterest recipe of 1:1 water and Elmer's glue. I made it a little thick to try to avoid smearing the ink too much. It looks great right now, but it still has a few wet spots. After it dries I'm going to paint the uncovered sides black so the edges of the pic aren't visible since they're black. I'll probably give it a coat of clear spray paint later on just to seal it better since I only used glue and water.
- February 24, 2012 at 1:57 AM
- Diane Swett said...
sounds great! cant wait to see a picture of your project..
- February 24, 2012 at 9:52 AM
I just made 2 of these tonight ... and I love them. I found it useful to tape my tissue paper to cardstock when printing. I also found it helpful to iron my image after it was printed and before Modge Podging it to the canvas. I did this by ironing it between the cardstock and another sheet of tissue paper (so as to not get ink on the iron). I used two landscape photos. :)
- March 7, 2012 at 10:40 PM
- Modern Allergy Mom said...
Really neat! Is there a reason why you used tissue paper instead of regular paper?
- March 12, 2012 at 8:03 AM
- Nancy C said...
Saw this on Pinterest and had to visit you. This is fantastic! Thank you so much for your creativity. :)
- March 13, 2012 at 8:55 AM
Someone asked about the printer. Did you say it had to be a laser printer, not inkjet?
- March 15, 2012 at 11:54 PM
- Mimi said...
This is a great idea. What do you use to smooth out the bubbles? Your finger or the foam brush?
- March 25, 2012 at 12:59 AM
I used this idea with a 16 by 20 print I ordered from Costco. It worked perfectly. I just used a sponge to mod podge the photo onto the canvas. I also painted the edges of the canvas before I mod podged the photo.
- March 25, 2012 at 9:34 AM
I'm in the UK and was wobdering what modge podge is?
Thank you!
- April 5, 2012 at 3:51 PM
- Diane Swett said...
for Jennie - Moge podge is a glue with additives like varnish - You can make your own but here is a great explination why you shouldn't http://www.modpodgerocksblog.com/2011/11/why-you-shouldnt-make-your-own-mod.html
Her is a recipie for homemade if you would like to try it: Repurposeful Play: How to Make
Homemade Mod Podge!
Posted in: Do It Yourself,Family, Family // 3 Comments
Anyone else addicted to Mod Podge?! My love for Mod Podge goes all the way back to my junior high days and I still love it. BUT, it's pretty expensive, so I am excited to find a way to make it myself with items I have on hand!
What you will need:
1 jar (An old pasta sauce or salsa jar will work)
1 bottle of Elmer's glue (Hopefully you stocked up with the Back to School sales)
Empty the glue into the jar. Add water; you will need equal parts water and glue, so you can even use the (now) empty glue bottle to measure your water. Now, shake the jar until it's well blended. You will need to shake it a lot, so pace yourself!! This recipe will make Mod Podge that is a little on the runny side. If you want yours to be a little thicker add more glue.
Homemade Mod Podge
- April 6, 2012 at 9:16 AM
- lindatwell said...
Love it and cant wait to try, thanks so much for sharing!
- April 8, 2012 at 2:48 AM
- Ann said...
Thanks for the 'how to' on this.
Can't wait to try it.
Also, I just bought the exact same owls you have in the first picture at a yard sale last month! I was surprised to see them here. : )
- April 11, 2012 at 8:29 PM
Hi I've tried to do this but my printer keeps eating up the tissue paper so I tried taping it to card and its done the same and just shoves it out the other end ripped!help
- April 29, 2012 at 12:20 PM
- Holly Carter said...
This is my new favorite craft! I linked up to your tutorial on my blog about my own photo canvas creations.
http://www.optionsabounddesigns.com/2012/06/05/diy-canvas-prints Thank you so much for sharing!
- June 5, 2012 at 11:25 AM
- Meg said...
There is a thin paper that you can get in the scrapbook section. I used it for wedding invitations, I bet that would work better in the printer.
- July 6, 2012 at 7:11 PM
- Meg said...
There is a thin paper that you can get in the scrapbook section. I used it for wedding invitations, I bet that would work better in the printer.
- July 6, 2012 at 7:11 PM
- Leni said...
Hello, my name is Leni and I'm from Brazil. Forgive me the errors of English.His work was wonderful. I'll try to do it.if you want to add me on facebook, look me up by Penachio Arte and Crafts. My blog http://penachioarte.blogspot.com.
- July 9, 2012 at 7:57 PM
- the Grammar Gramma said...
I have found that spraying the photo after printing with clear fixative keeps it from bleeding when modpodged...I use an inkjet printer.
- August 12, 2012 at 7:40 PM
- Kristin K said...
I'm not sure how this worked for others but it ended up jamming up my printer. End result: bloody thumb (from ripping out paper) and broken $300 printer. I wouldnt suggest this on a printer you care about! I guess you would need to use a cheaper printer you could manually feed it through.
- August 19, 2012 at 11:43 AM
- Kristin K said...
I don't know how other got this to work but it totally failed on me. End result: Jammed printer, bloody thumb from unjamming it, and broken $300 printer. I wouldn't suggest this on an expensive printer, rather one you could manually feed it through.
- August 19, 2012 at 11:45 AM
- PrncssAmarasMommy said...
It's called Vellum. I was wondering if anyone had tried using it instead of tissue paper epically after some of the comments I've read about issues with the tissue paper.
- August 27, 2012 at 1:16 PM
- PrncssAmarasMommy said...
It's called vellum. After reading several of these comments I was curious to know if anyone else had thought to use it.
- August 27, 2012 at 1:19 PM
- Michelle Glass said...
I'm going to try this with tracing paper instead of tissue paper seems a little sturdy and might go through the printer easier....anyone else try it with tracing paper????
- September 18, 2012 at 12:29 PM
- Sara said...
If you've ever printed on vellum you know that the ink can bead up on top of the paper -- I've used a "vellum" setting when printing on vellum. I imagine the tissue would absorb the ink somewhat. I'm still concerned with the ink jet ink running or smearing with the Mod Podge. I have "Mod Podge for Paper", I think that's the one I'll use.
I have a printer that will print bigger than 12x12 and I think I'd like to try printing larger and wrap the picture over the edges of the canvas....
Great tute - thanks. Found you on Pinterest.
- September 21, 2012 at 11:29 PM
- Unknown said...
Hi, I've used both an ink jet and laser printer with tissue paper. Both came out fine. I used a glue stick and dabbed the corners of regular paper and attached tissue paper to it. I did my project by mod podging the tissue printed photos to a glass cup candle holder fom dollar tree. Came out nice, especially when the candle is lit! :)
- September 24, 2012 at 10:46 PM
- Unknown said...
Hi, I've used both an ink jet and laser printer with tissue paper. Both came out fine. I used a glue stick and dabbed the corners of regular paper and attached tissue paper to it. I did my project by mod podging the tissue printed photos to a glass cup candle holder fom dollar tree. Came out nice, especially when the candle is lit! :)
- September 24, 2012 at 10:46 PM
- Unknown said...
- This comment has been removed by the author.
- September 24, 2012 at 10:50 PM
- Brenda said...
I use freezer paper when putting something other than copy paper. I iron fabric, etc., to the shiny side of the freezer paper that has been cut to 8 1/2 x 11 size and hand feed it into my ink jet printer. After a few minutes I am able to peel it off the freezer paper. I rarely have a problem with tearing.
I going to try this soon. Thanks. B
- October 21, 2012 at 6:26 PM
- crystal said...
Hi! I tried this once..with freezer paper and did it the exact same way..however after a few days green spots started to appear on the canvas and it kinda ruined the picture. Do you have any idea why this happened? Feel free to email me at email@example.com
- October 22, 2012 at 2:20 PM
- Karla86 said...
I did this project and it turned out great. I mod podged wrapping paper along the sides of the frame and then did the picture on top looked great
- October 26, 2012 at 9:35 PM
- Unknown said...
Thanks so much for this idea! had to tape the tissue paper to a regular sheet of paper and send it through like normal... also ink will only print on one side of the tissue paper (the side that looks shinier). Instead of a picture I chose a memory verse I loved and typed it on word then added jewels and pearls to the canvas afterwards! LOVE THE IDEA!
- December 3, 2012 at 10:10 PM
- Unknown said...
Tried this at home and LOVED it! A few things I had to do differently were tape the tissue paper to a sheet of regular paper so it would run through my printer (I have a brother MFC-J435 Inkjet). Also it would only print on one side of the tissue paper (the side that's glossy). instead of a picture I typed a memory verse I love and added jewels or bead-pearls to spice it up! GREAT IDEA! Thanks for posting!
- December 3, 2012 at 10:12 PM
- Unknown said...
Love this. Thanks for the step by step. Here are a few tips I've learned.
1 Tissue paper is better than vellum, regular paper or photo paper. When you apply the tissue correctly it appears like the photo is printed on the canvas. Other papers appear like its just placed over canvas. This is NOT the outcome I desire.
2 When you use tissue paper apply pressure from the front & back of the canvas with your hands so you can sink the paper into the grooves of the canvas. This makes it look printed directly on the canvas.
3 cut the tissue larger than the copy paper & fold it over then tape it on the back side. This prevents it from jamming in the printer!!!!
4 Iron the wrinkles 1st is a must. My printer smears on the wrinkles if I don't iron!
- December 13, 2012 at 6:55 PM
- Unknown said...
Love this. Thanks for the step by step. Here are a few tips I've learned.
1 Tissue paper is better than vellum, regular paper or photo paper. When you apply the tissue correctly it appears like the photo is printed on the canvas. Other papers appear like its just placed over canvas. This is NOT the outcome I desire.
2 When you use tissue paper apply pressure from the front & back of the canvas with your hands so you can sink the paper into the grooves of the canvas. This makes it look printed directly on the canvas.
3 cut the tissue larger than the copy paper & fold it over then tape it on the back side. This prevents it from jamming in the printer!!!!
4 Iron the wrinkles 1st is a must. My printer smears on the wrinkles if I don't iron!
- December 13, 2012 at 6:57 PM
- Unknown said...
How do I keep from the ink on the tissue paper from smearing? I let my picture dry overnight, then I mod podge it to the canvas, let it dry for about 45 minutes, then I put mod podge over it and it smears my ink. What am I doing wrong? Mine are all smeared. Should I turn the ink volume down one notch on my printer?
- December 17, 2012 at 12:35 PM
- Unknown said...
How do I keep the image from smearing? I print the image out on tissue paper, let it dry over night, then i mod podge it to the canvas, then let it dry for about 45 minutes, then put mod podge over it for the finishing touch. It still smears the ink when I put the final finish on it, how can I keep it from doing that? Should I turn the ink volume down a notch on my printer? I have a HP Photosmart printer.
- December 17, 2012 at 12:37 PM
- Bailey said...
This DID NOT WORK!!! I have a Lexmark Intuition printer and I tried just running the tissue paper through and it jammed. I tried taping tissue paper to regular paper and it jammed even worse!!! :( Really bummed because this was going to be a gift.
- December 25, 2012 at 1:05 PM
- AJ said...
I just did this step-by-step and once I put the mod podge on top of the picture it removed all the brown out of the background and mixed with the blue of my image's shirt- creating a purple/pink hue of glue covering everything! So I cleaned it all up carefully with water to remove all the purple and now the background is green... so it doesn't go with my bathroom decor anymore. Gotta fgure out where to put this now. Is there a way -or something to spray- to keep the colors from bleeding/smearing? 20minute project turned into an hours worth w/o the desired result.
- January 13, 2013 at 2:48 PM
- Nicki Elisé Elwin. said...
Hey :) first off, let me just say that I LOVE your guidelines [Ephesians 4:29].
Secondly, I was just wondering if this also works when printing large images?
Thanks for posting this by the way! I'm definitely going to try it!
My email address is: email@example.com
Thank you! :)
- January 15, 2013 at 12:53 PM
- The McCarthy Family said...
I love the idea of using tissue paper, although I printed it this way attached to regular paper and it printed fine but came out dark. I can't lighten it too much as its a pic of my dog who is very blond so I then printed on regular paper. By the 4th picture I finally got all the wrinkles out. I don't think I used enough modge podge on the others. But I still like the look of the canvas better and not just a photo tacked on top. I will have to try the tissue paper again only setting the printer to iron on as one other reader suggested. Thanks for all the great ideas!
- January 15, 2013 at 9:20 PM
- Unknown said...
What is mod podge? Is it an american thing?
- January 30, 2013 at 3:25 PM
- Korinne King said...
What do you mean you used it for a 16x20? You used a regular photo? I'd like to do a canvas larger than my printer could print on tissue paper, but I can't think of how I could!
- March 14, 2013 at 7:01 AM
- The Alakaby's said...
My tissue paper jammed... took me 30 min to unjam it....
- March 22, 2013 at 7:56 PM
- kulkedisi said...
Hi, I tried this project before. first, I printed my picture on regular paper. But I have problem with the quality of the picture. It was the best setting on my camera. So, it is because of my printer, or camera? Do I need to print the pictures in the stores? My second question is; I got lots of bubbles between the canvas and pict. When I try to remove them, the paper ripped. what did I do wrong? thanks for help.
- April 2, 2013 at 6:23 PM
- Unknown said...
First, let me say that I was able to print out a beautiful picture of my nephew, and the canvas, although a bit wrinkled, turned out great. I didn't mess with the colors and they came out very vibrant!
Just a couple notes:
1. As I saw mentioned by others, cut your tissue paper a little long and tape it to the back of a piece of BLANK copy paper. My printer would not feed the tissue paper alone through without eating it. Also when I recycled an unused Fedex label, it transferred onto the picture. 2. Look at how your printer feeds. My manual tray feeds so that the printer grabs the copy paper not the tissue paper, but my other tray did not and ate the tissue paper.
Otherwise, I am in love with this project and will be doing it again!! Thanks for posting!!
- April 22, 2013 at 9:42 PM
This was awesome and easy. A lot of people asked if u you used your finger or other tool. At first I used a brush and couldn't get it right so I used my finger and that worked a lot better. I lined up the top of the picture with the canvas and held the bottom of the picture with my other hand then rubbed left to right across the picture as I layed it down as I went. Hope this helps.
- May 5, 2013 at 8:21 AM
- Unknown said...
I just tried this and it didn't work out so well for me. I tried to manually load the tissue paper in the printer and the printer just ran it though and said "out of paper". So I tried to tape the tissue onto regular printer paper and the printer just tore the tissue paper to shreds. What kind of printer do you own? I have an HP Deskjet 2050
- May 7, 2013 at 1:59 PM
- Charli said...
Sorry but no where do I read when the photo is added? Did I just miss it?
- May 9, 2013 at 5:02 PM
- BJRaynor said...
I do this all the time but I tape the tissue paper to a piece of card stock before feeding it through the printer. I measure the tissue about a 1/2 in longer than the card stock and tape the tissue to the card stock by folding the excess over the card stock. I then put the full tissue paper side down in the printer. Works every time.
- May 13, 2013 at 2:28 PM
- Luvlyjess said...
Regular paper won't flex to the canvas, nor would it show the canvas textures :)
- May 15, 2013 at 3:55 AM
- Luvlyjess said...
Regular paper won't flex to the canvas nor show the canvas texture :)
- May 15, 2013 at 3:56 AM
- Kristy said...
I read this post last summer (found you via Pinterest) and tried it out. Unfortunately, it didn't work for me. :( The paper fed through the printer fine without jamming it, but the ink bled horribly when printed (despite trying multiple printer settings, even using very little ink with a draft print). I didn't even try putting it on to a canvas because the print looked so bad, despite using a high-end photo printer.
I decided to try my own technique and printed my photos on matte photo paper and adhered them to the canvas with mod podge, and I also painted the edges so they woud look nicer. Looks great! I have a post about it on my blog. :)
- May 28, 2013 at 3:00 PM
- floosy said...
I have used tissue to print on, taping the top edge down with invisible sticky tape which is nice and flat. That is the edge which goes into the printer.
I use a brayer, or ink roller to smooth the tissue paper onto the canvas. Also I have used a small foam paint roller, dry, which is nice because it is gentle but does a good job.
- July 21, 2013 at 6:13 AM
- Unknown said...
There are a few things about this project I have found.
First, the kind of printer you have is a factor. I wasn't able to get mine to work right. The reason is my printer doesn't feed but one way. The way it feeds grabs from the top, which tears the tissue paper every time. You must have a printer that will grab from behind the page. Usually this will be the manual feed area. I don't have a manual feed on my printer.
I was able to get the project done, but not using my own printer.
The other problem that I have read as a recurring problem is the bleeding of the inks. You have to first let it dry. After it has dried you MUST spray it with a spray fixative. This seals the ink in the paper and will prevent it from running.
I hope this helps someone that is making one and has one of these issues.
- July 27, 2013 at 8:43 PM
- stuhr727 said...
Definitely need to get special canvas paper and there are a few things to consider when printing, recommend ensuring you have plenty of ink and canvas to do a few practices. Have you tried printing a single Photo on Canvas across three separate canvases?
- September 7, 2013 at 4:23 PM
- OMGitsAnOwl said...
Hey anybody got a tip for this to work on an epson printer?
- September 17, 2013 at 12:46 PM
- OMGitsAnOwl said...
hey anyone got a tip for this to work on an Epson printer?
- September 17, 2013 at 12:48 PM
So wonderful idea's given indeed you are i really appreciated with that so thanks for share these ideas with us get more details just
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- October 1, 2013 at 2:46 PM
- Nyssa said...
I have also done this, like others taped the tissue paper to plain paper before printing. I made it larger so could tape on the back.
To stick it down, I used spray adhesive and started in the corner - spray a line diagonally, rub it down using a dry foam brush. This way I could get it wrinkle free, and had the option to lift up a re-lay the last few cms if needed. Then I mod podged over the top. To avoid smearing ink, I had to spread it quickly over a small area and then not go back over it (once it wet the ink it would smudge, so on first application when the tissue paper was still dry, it worked well).
I used my ink jet printer.
Someone earlier asked about mod podge and is it American, I'm in Australia and have no trouble finding it.
Yes you can print on other paper etc and stick it down more easily, but that doesn't let the canvas texture show through which is why I (personally) prefer the tissue paper method.
Thanks for posting your article, hope my feedback helps some people!
- October 9, 2013 at 4:43 PM
- Unknown said...
I just had a quick question. Once you applied the tissue paper to the canvas and too all bubbles and wrinkles out, did you use the gloss mod podge or the matte?
- January 28, 2014 at 9:49 AM
- Helen's Humor said...
I just printed right onto the canvas.
- April 20, 2014 at 6:37 PM
- Mimi said...
I did it! I wish i could send you a picture....it looks amazing. I taped the tissue paper onto regular 8x11 and used the manual feed! i used a glue/water mix instead of a commercial gel and it dried beautifully. the smaller the picture, the better the look...but still amazed. you are a life saver. My son will cherish this graduation keepsake forever (I hope).
- June 3, 2014 at 11:37 AM
- Unknown said...
I stumbled across this post via Pinterest. This is just what I needed. Thanks so much. Getting ready to begin the project this weekend. I will let you know how it turns out. Robin @ sasasplace.com
- September 16, 2014 at 12:32 PM
- Marina Ribacki said...
SO lovely! I'll try to do it to my boyfriend's birthday!
- May 4, 2015 at 8:35 AM
- Marina Ribacki said...
SO lovely! I'll try to do it to my boyfriend's birthday!
- May 4, 2015 at 8:36 AM
- GenericMav said...
i wonder how are you able to feed in the tissue paper into a printer without tearing it apart, but nevertheless it was a great idea to transfer photo print onto canvas.
Most of the time i just get my canvas printed from online printer such as FotoZZoom, never thought you can get something similar with just tissue paper and mod podge. Thanks for your article, it gave me a lot of idea.
- June 15, 2015 at 9:31 PM
- lizcarper said...
I can get the tissue to feed in, but I cannot get it to print in color....well, just blue. Any ideas on what I'm doing wrong? I've tried paper settings, photo paper settings, printing from Panstoria and printing it as a pdf. all the same result. Help? Thank you!
- November 8, 2015 at 10:37 AM


text:
lmhanlon necesitaba un nuevo diseño de logotipo y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 61 diseños de 16 diseñadores freelance.
Women for Wounded Warriors - a Women Impacting Public Policy task group.
"Women for Wounded Warriors" is a "Women Impacting Public Policy" supported group and was formed to support spouses of wounded warriors who are now faced with becoming the family breadwinner.
These "Women" are the 500,000 women small business owners that can provide jobs or mentoring to the wounded warrior spouses to help them become family income producers. W4WW will Facilitate Employment Opportunties and Create Business Lines thru mentorship.
W4WW provides spouses and family members acting as caregivers of our American War Warriors' resourses, support and employment opportunities to enhance the healing process and to sustain the family for a wholesome, happy and fulfilling life.
American Military, Supporters, Families, Small Business Owners or anyone who can hire or mentor wounded warrior spouses as they enter or re-enter the job market in order to take a larger role in family income.
W4WW must be in the logo....
Women helping women (or any military spouses of wounded) with JOBS or Business creation mentoring as their wounded spouse returns home.
UPBEAT and OPTIMISTIC, DUTIFUL is best.
This will be tough. W4WW with military and helping "theme" is a good start.
MUST be available to provide in all formats... for cards, letterhead, web, etc... as it will be used in all formats..... JPG, PDF, BMP, GIF, etc.... and must be scalable with aspect ratio maintained, etc.
Descubre cómo funciona un concurso de diseño u obtén más información sobre nuestros servicios de diseño de logo.


text:
Celeb Holiday Traditions: Stars Get in the Christmas Spirit!
Christmas is coming, and even the celebs are ready to indulge in a little holiday food and drink. But for some, the holidays come with quirkier traditions. Read on to find out who goes caroling after Christmas, who's having a White Elephant party, and which A-lister may set his kitchen on fire.
From: The Salvation Army's third ;annual Rock the Red Kettle Concert LIVE in Los Angeles with performances by musical artists Owl City, Hot Chelle Rae, Andy Grammer, and Bridgit Mendler! ;
To: YOU!
It's your all-acess pass to Rock the Red Kettle. Just 'like' the Salvation Army's page for the opportunity to stream this exclusive concert LIVE on December 15th. ;Click here ;and check it out! ;
Fall in "Like" with us! For the latest from Wetpaint Entertainment, Like us on our Facebook page at Facebook.com/Wetpaint, or Follow us on Twitter at Twitter.com/WetpaintTV.


text:
Coming unstuck: Helping others is the best way
The other day, a teacher friend of mine was mourning the increasing number of children she works with who have problems with depression. Her solution? Community service.
"Kids need to do something meaningful for someone else rather than staying stuck inside themselves," she says.
As it happens, the perfect opportunity for getting "unstuck" is upon us. National Family Volunteer Day is November 16. Organized in our community by AlbemarleKids.com and United Way Thomas Jefferson Area, this event is designed to encourage families to get involved and stay involved in volunteering.
"We have loads of great projects for families this year," says AlbemarleKids.com managing editor Jennifer Bryerton.
Among that list of projects are number of facilities that provide services for seniors. "Our grandparents don't live nearby," says Bryerton, "so our kids don't get to experience older people like we did as kids. This is a perfect opportunity to get that intergenerational interaction."
Programs are set up to allow families to share a meal with older individuals, help out with gardening or holiday decorating at a retirement facility, take elderly residents for a ride to see Christmas lights, or visit with them for a game of chess.
The city has come up with a couple of stream clean-up projects at McIntire and Quarry Parks that are perfect for older kids who like to be outside and active. "This is also the kind of thing that kids can do every time they take a walk in the woods," Bryerton comments. "Take a bag along and collect trash along the way."
This year, not all projects are restricted to one Saturday in November. There are projects available throughout the holiday season for all ages, any family size (including aunts and uncles, cousins and grandchildren, even neighbors and school groups), and lots of different interests.
Those who want to get involved can check the AlbemarleKids.com website for organized projects and choose one that fits. (There are also suggestions for do-it-yourself, year-round volunteering listed on the site.) Once settled on a project, volunteers are asked to call Shaele Wood at United Way (972-1705) for details and to sign up. Wood will also be able to direct you if you have questions about what may be appropriate for your family.
Family Volunteer Day gives us the chance to show the kids that one of the best ways to nurture yourself is to nurture others.
Family Volunteer Day takes place November 16 and throughout the year. For information about projects, check albemarlekids.com and call Shaele Wood at United Way Jefferson Area at 972-1705.


text:
Sebastian Vettel is on top of the motorsports world.
The 25-year-old German has won three straight Formula One world championships and drives for a Red Bull team that has won 34 races over the past four seasons.
But Vettel's run at the top could be over.
Red Bull lagged behind Mercedes and Ferrari during the recent preseason tests and former world champions Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso both seemed poised to regain the title as the 19-race season heads into Saturday night's season-opening Grand Prix of Australia.
Hamilton has moved from McLaren to Mercedes while Ferrari has retooled its effort behind Alonso after going five seasons without a championship. Here is a look at the Formula One lineup heading into the season in order of projected finish.
Mercedes (drivers Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg): Hamilton, 28, comes over from McLaren to replace seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher, who didn't produce the expected results when he came out of retirement in 2010. Despite a number of changes on the management and technical sides of the equation, the new W-04 model was the fastest car in winter testing. Rosberg finished ninth in points last year and Schumacher was 13th.
Ferrari (Fernando Alonso, Felipe Massa): Ferrari has lost the championship in the season finale three times in the last five years. Alonso gave Ferrari a series of spectacular drives in 2012 and finished second for the second time in three years. If Ferrari delivers on its promise to give Alonso, 31, a better car, a fourth title could be in the offing. Massa might be the best No. 2 driver on the circuit.
Red Bull (Sebastian Vettel, Mark Webber): The Renault-powered team shot to the top of the sport in 2010 in just its second season. Vettel is a great talent with 26 wins and 46 podium finishes in 101 starts. Webber has been the perfect teammate for Vettel. The team was unexpectedly off the pace in preseason testing, but Adrian Newey's crew is still ahead of the curve heading into the final season of V-8 powerplants.
McLaren-Mercedes (Jenson Button, Sergio Perez): The only team with two drivers in the final top five last season. But the loss of Hamilton, a McLaren mainstay since 2006, hurts the British team. Jenson Button has great skills, although his inconsistency has befuddled his team and followers of the sport.
Lotus (Kimi Raikkonen, Romain Grosjean): Former world champion Raikkonen finished a distant third in the final standings last year as the former Renault team made giant strides. Using the Renault engines that powered Alonso to titles before he left for Ferrari. But Raikkonen's position last year based more on consistently high finishes rather than the speed that wins races. Grosjean was eighth in the final 2012 standings.
Sauber-Ferrari (Nico Hulkenberg, Esteban Gutierrez): Two new drivers for a team that finished 10th and 12th in the standings last year. But both new drivers might have a higher ceiling than the drivers they replaced. Team had four top-three finishes in 2012. Hulkenberg finished 11th in the final 2012 standings driving for Force India.
Williams (Pastor Maldonado, Valtteri Bottas): Williams regained some of its past glory last season when Maldonado won the Grand Prix of Spain. Renault joined Williams last year and supplied engines that produced some impressive qualifying runs. But Maldonado had more mishaps than strong runs. Both he and Bottas are long on potential.
Toro Rosso (Jean-Eric Vergne, Daniel Ricciardo):Red Bull's junior varsity team returns both its drivers from 2012. But Red Bull uses this team as a development program. The lineup could change any time a driver in Red Bull's development program appears ready.
Force India (Paul di Resta, Adrian Sutil): Losing Hulkenberg hurts. The lineup is the same as the 2011 pairing. Mercedes engines a plus. Team finished seventh in the manufacturer's standings in 2012.
Caterham (Charles Pic, Giedo, van der Garde): Although it has Renault engines and Red Bull support, the team has headed backwards since its 2010 launch.
Marussia (Jules Bianchi, Max Chilton): The only team using Cosworth engines has two rookie drivers and limited funding.
Local Laps:
RaceLegal.com Drags: Friday night, west access road, Qualcomm Stadium, 6 p.m. to midnight.
On TV:
NASCAR: Sprint Cup -- Bristol, Tenn., Sunday, Channel 5, 10 a.m. Nationwide Series: Bristol, Tenn., Saturday, 11 a.m., ESPN2.
Formula One: Grand Prix of Australia, Saturday, NBCSN, 10:30 p.m. (retelecast, Sunday, 9 a.m.).
American Le Mans Series: 12 Hours of Sebring, Saturday, Speed Channel, coverage starts at 7:30 a.m.
NHRA: Sunday, Gainesville, Fla., ESPN2, 4 p.m.


text:
sguggi necesitaba un nuevo diseño de logotipo y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 205 diseños de 34 diseñadores freelance.
Sara Guggenheim Designs
I have owned a successful preschool for 11 years and with it practically running itself have decided to indulge in my creative side and enter the jewelry business. My designs are edgy, whimsical, elegant, powerful, feminine, unique, both modern & traditional. i have started out with bracelets which are easy to wear but beautiful at the same time. Being that my maiden name is "Guggenheim" and i am directly related to the museum, I decided to use that as my name. If you got it, flaunt it! I am an "almost 40" year old mother of three and live in beautiful Southern California, namely the "O.C." as some call it! I have always been interested in fashion, trends and what the "it" thing is at the moment.
Because I offer a wide array of designs from feminine to edgy, my target audience is quite large. I think the majority of my designs appeal to women in their 30's & 40's; however, I do have bracelets that my mom's friends (65+) are snatching up left and right! In addition, I do make bracelets for the "little princesses"...little girls to tweens.
I have always liked the look of two different fonts. I'm not stuck on that design aspect but have noticed those often catch my eye. Usually one is block, the other script.
Again, this is not written in stone just an idea.
Catch words such as, whimsical, edgy, modern, traditional should be encompassed in the design.
Descubre cómo funciona un concurso de diseño u obtén más información sobre nuestros servicios de diseño de logo.


text:
Rounding Third: Red Sox, Lester make it look easy in Game 1
Philadelphia, PA (SportsNetwork.com) - We heard an awful lot about the St. Louis Cardinals' starting rotation heading into this World Series.
Perhaps we should have paid a little more attention to the man pitching for the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday.
With an air of uncertainty surrounding the Red Sox' starting staff, Jon Lester eased a lot of minds in Boston - for at least one night anyway - and tossed 7 2/3 scoreless innings in his team's, 8-1, Game 1 win.
Earlier on Wednesday news started to trickle out that righty Clay Buchholz may not be 100-percent. Boston manager John Farrell then named John Lackey his Game 2 starter and said that Jake Peavy will go in Game 3.
Buchholz and his 5.40 ERA this postseason are still penciled in for Game 4, but he is certainly no lock to be on the hill Sunday in St. Louis.
Quite simply, the Red Sox needed a big effort from Lester and that's exactly what he gave them, as the left-hander scattered five hits, struck out eight and retired the final nine batters he faced, while keeping his perfect World Series ERA intact.
Of course, Lester pitched 5 2/3 scoreless innings in the Red Sox' Game 4 clincher over Colorado in 2007 in his only other Fall Classic start.
Lester seemed to be an afterthought coming into Game 1 with St. Louis starter Adam Wainwright on the mound.
Lester was the one who looked like an ace on Wednesday, though, as he worked out of a one-out bases loaded jam in the fourth and didn't allow the Cardinals an extra base hit.
"He did everything he had to do," St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said. "He kept us off balance and made pitches all night. And so that's kind of what we expected and we just expected for us to, one, obviously put some runs on the board, but also keep them off. We had a tough time doing the latter."
And while the Boston lineup may have struggled against the Detroit Tigers' starting staff, it jumped all over the NL wins leader for three runs in the first inning and led 5-0 after two, which was more than enough for Lester.
"I think once again we were able to go into the game with our approach, Farrell said. "I thought we had a lot of quality at-bats that we were able to build some pitch counts against Wainwright."
There was even a little controversy, as David Ortiz grounded into what looked like a tailor-made double play with one out and runners on first and second in the first inning.
St. Louis shortstop Pete Kozma dropped Matt Carpenter's flip to the second- base bag, but umpire Dana DeMuth ruled that he lost control on the exchange and called Dustin Pedroia out at second as a result.
Farrell sprung from the dugout to argue, and after an extended meeting with all six umpires, the call was reversed.
"It's a pretty tough time to debut that overruled call in the World Series," Matheny said. "Now, I get that trying to get the right call, I get that. Tough one to swallow."
Next year that's a play that likely would have been reversed thanks to instant replay, but what a great job by the umpires for conferring and making the right call.
At the end of the day that's all you can ask for.
So, instead of runners on the corners with two outs, the Red Sox now had the bases loaded with one out. Mike Napoli made the most of the opportunity with a bases-clearing double and the rout was on.
"He's such a dominant pitcher, you have to take advantage of him while you can," Napoli said.
When it was all done for Wainwright, he had allowed, five runs (3 earned) in five innings on 95 pitches.
You have to wonder why St. Louis skipper Mike Matheny left him in for as long as he did. Perhaps he would have been better served getting him out of there earlier and bringing him back for a Game 4 start on Sunday.
"Well, we got him out pretty early, still," Matheny added. "We're not ruling out anything moving forward."
If you believe in trends, the Red Sox have now managed at least three runs in each of their last three World Series Game 1's. Of course, they have swept their last two sets and have now won nine straight World Series games.
"I guess it says that our guys, regardless of who's on the roster, and probably David is the one that's linked everyone together, you know, we're more than prepared to play," Farrell said. "Our guys seemingly in this setting, through the nine games you made reference to, have gone out and executed consistently, particularly on the mound. And that was the case again tonight."
Boston may not have been able to solve Detroit's starting staff, but it certainly resembled the team that led the majors with 853 runs scored on Wednesday. And given the state of the starting staff at the moment, that would certainly be welcomed.
After 2,064 regular season games and 45 amazing postseason contests, Carlos Beltran's first World Series appearance lasted all of two innings.
Perhaps the best postseason hitter of this generation, Beltran had to leave the game in the third inning after robbing Ortiz of a grand slam in the second.
In obvious pain after making the catch, Beltran went to the locker room the next half-inning, and John Jay took his place in the lineup. X-rays were negative and he's listed as day-to-day.
Considering how long it's taken him to get here, you have to think Beltran will be in the lineup on Thursday.
St. Louis may have been at a disadvantage even before starting Wednesday's Game 1, as teams that have clinched their pennant at home and don't have home field advantage in that time are 0-9 in their World Series appearances.
And, of course, nine of the last 10 Game 1 losers have gone on to lose the World Series.
St. Louis will try to get back in the series on Thursday behind 22-year-old rookie Michael Wacha, who has been the story of this postseason.
Wacha outdueled Los Angeles' Clayton Kershaw twice in the NLCS and has won all three of his postseason starts, while pitching to a 0.43 ERA.
Since closing the regular season with 8 2/3 no-hit innings, Wacha, the NLCS MVP, has pitched 21 postseason innings, limiting the Pirates and Dodgers to one run on eight hits.
"I think we just don't talk about it much, because we don't want it to change," Matheny said of Wacha's brilliance. "We want to see it a few more times -- a couple, at least. We just want him to think that this is normal and this is expected."
If anyone doubted whether or not Lackey was fully recovered from Tommy John surgery needs to look no further than his Game 3 performance against the Tigers that saw him outduel Justin Verlander and give control of the series to the Red Sox.
Lackey hasn't pitched in the World Series since Game 7 in 2002, when -- as a rookie -- he led the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim to their first championship.
"It is a big game," Lackey said. "There's no running from that. And it's something you've got to embrace. It's something you've got to enjoy."
Lackey has been much better at home this season than on the road, but with Buchholz's status up in the air, he may be the Sox's best option right now anyway.


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Browsing Department of Economics (ECON) by Author "Tvede, Mich"
Now showing items 1-3 of 3
Tvede, Mich; Olai Hansen, Bodil (København, 2007)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: In the present paper a model of competition between sports clubs in a sports league is presented. Clubs are endowed with initial players but at a cost clubs are able to sell their initial players and buy new players. The results are that: if the quality of players is one-dimensional, then equilibria in pure strategies exist, and; if the quality of players is multi-dimensional, then there need not exist equilibria in pure strategies, but equilibria in mixed strategies exist. Equilibria in mixed strategies resemblance signings just before the transfer window closes in european soccer. competition between sports clubs, dimension of quality of players, equilibrium in pure strategies, equilibrium in mixed strategies. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7555
Files in this item: 1wp10-2007.pdf (380.2Kb)
Ghiglino, Christian; Tvede, Mich (København, 1999)[More information][Less information]
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7548
Files in this item: 11998_8.pdf (389.0Kb)
Monetary Steady StatesGhiglino, Christian; Olai Hansen, Bodil; Tvede, Mich (København, 2000)[More information][Less information]
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7611
Files in this item: 1wpec012000.pdf (148.2Kb)
Now showing items 1-3 of 3


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New York, NY � April 2, 2009 � Despite heavy competition, Ghost Hunters last night continued its reign as one of cable's top programs, ranking #1 among Adults 25-54 for the fourth consecutive week. Airing Wednesday from 9-10pm, the episode scored a 1.8 Household rating, a season-high 1.8 million Adults 25-54 (#1 in cable) and 1.7 million Adults 18-49 (#3 in cable). This is up vs. last week's new episode by +14% in both key demos.
In 8-11pm prime, SCI FI was the #1 cable network for Adults 25-54, and ranked no lower than #2 for the night among Adults 18-49, Women 18-49, Men 18-49, Women 25-54 and Men 25-54.
Ghost Hunters also scored with a 10pm repeat telecast that delivered the best-ever performance for a repeat telecast of the series with 1.3 million Adults 25-54, ranking #7 for the day. It also outperformed the season finale of The Real World and a new episode of Dog the Bounty Hunter on A&E that aired in the same hour.
In October 2004, SCI FI introduced Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson � plumbers by day, Ghost Hunters by night! Its spin-off series, Ghost Hunters International, recently wrapped a successful first season that cemented the Ghost Hunters brand as the top paranormal franchise in cable. The franchise just expanded further with the greenlight of a brand-new pilot, Ghost Hunters: College Edition. Ghost Hunters, Ghost Hunters International and Ghost Hunters: College Edition are produced in association with Craig Piligian's Pilgrim Films and Television (Dirty Jobs, The Ultimate Fighter, My Fair Wedding). Piligian and Thomas Thayer, along with Rob Katz and Alan David, serve as executive producers.
SCI FI Channel is a television network that fuels the imagination of viewers with original series and events, blockbuster movies and classic science fiction and fantasy programming, as well as a dynamic Web site (www.scifi.com ) and magazine. Launched in 1992, and currently in 95 million homes, SCI FI Channel is a network of NBC Universal, one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies.


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Matt Dallas & Derek Theler Replicate 'Kyle XY' Abs Flash Pose!
Matt Dallas joins Baby Daddy cast members Derek Theler, Jean-Luc Bilodeau, and Tahj Mowry in doing his classic Kyle XY abs flash pose in these behind-the-scenes photos from the set of Baby Daddy.
Matt, 30, will be guest starring on the episode "There's Something Fitchy Going On," in which Ben (Bilodeau) suspects Riley's (Chelsea Kane) new love interest (Dallas) is too good to be true. The episode airs on Wednesday, June 5 at 8:30 ET/PT on ABC Family!
In case you didn't know, Matt and Jean-Luc starred on Kyle XY together!
15+ stills inside of Matt Dallas guest starring on Baby Daddy…


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Norma Moruzzi, Associate Professor, Political Science and Gender & Women's Studies, Director of the International Studies Program, University of Illinois at Chicago
Post-revolutionary Iranian women are active in the public sphere, and have become a major force in contesting and negotiating the nature of politics and social relations. But in Iran, as in many parts of the world, "feminism" is a troubled category, associated with a narrow Western model of liberal reform (individual rights), top-down state policy (legal reforms), and hostility to local religious lifestyles (universalist claims to identity). The split between secularly identified women activists (feminists mobilizing around issues of "gender equality) and religiously identified women activists (Islamists mobilizing around issues of "gender justice") has made effective political collaboration difficult. As the two camps make tentative efforts to work together, the need for crafting a shared local model of women's agency becomes more urgent. This paper argues that one possibility involves a rereading of Ali Shariati's well-known Essay "Fatemeh is Fatemeh," along with a re-examination of the activist role of his women students. These individuals, part of a legacy of progressive Islamist activism that was integral to the Iranian Revolution but has been suppressed by the post-Revolutionary Iranian state, offer a model of engaged social identity and political agency that can bridge this divide in contemporary struggles for women's full political citizenship and social inclusion.


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Gov. Martin O'Malley has recently made the case for beefing up law enforcement to battle this year's rise in crime, including in an op-ed in The Sun. "So long as levels of enforcement continue to decline," he argued, "shootings and homicides will continue to go up."
This argument overlooks the way an emphasis on enforcement prevents this city from tackling violent crime. In fact, over-enforcement has the opposite effect and renders crime more pernicious in the communities that are most affected. To solve our problems with violent crime, we need to first repeal our drug policies.
By focusing on enforcement, we inevitably force police to measure success through arrest statistics. Under the current systems, it will always be easier to arrest someone for drug possession than it is to find someone in-house, on-demand treatment. In 2010, 47,633 people were arrested in Maryland on drug charges, of which 56 percent were related to possession of marijuana. This amounts to more than five times the number of people arrested in connection with violent crimes.
Baltimore, as David Simon has described it, is "the point of the spear when it comes to the drug war." While rates of incarceration remained roughly constant through much of American history, things began to change with tougher drug laws in the 1970s. In 1970, there were fewer than 400,000 people jailed in the U.S. Now, there are more than 2.2 million. Today, America has the highest rate of incarceration in the world.
As the creator and faculty supervisor of the JustAdvice law clinic, a product of the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law in conjunction with the Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service and other legal service providers, I see the consequences of the war on drugs on a daily basis. A large portion of our clients come to us for help with their criminal records. Many of them have drug convictions that cannot be expunged. They often cannot obtain public benefits, employment and housing because of their records.
In the communities most affected by the war on drugs, the drug trade serves as the sole bread winner. In Baltimore City, over 95 percent of incarcerated juveniles are minorities. Is it any surprise that half of young African American men in this city are unemployed? When we direct our energy toward increasing enforcement, we condemn whole communities to subsist outside formal economic channels — where criminal records are not a barrier to employment.
These policies disproportionately affect African Americans and minorities, and they only serve to marginalize already underprivileged communities. Despite an equal rate of drug use among racial groups nationwide, African Americans account for 51 percent of people incarcerated on drug charges. Here in Maryland, even after the courts began monitoring the Maryland State Police for racial profiling policies, enforcement statistics have remained skewed. In 2007, the Baltimore City Police Department was forced to settle after similar allegations of racial profiling.
Ultimately, these policies undermine our ability to address violent crime in three important ways. First, our police departments lose the trust of the city they serve. Police work depends upon a constructive and collaborative relationship with the city's residents. Without trust, the police lose their most important source of information.
Second, by focusing resources on drug possession and misdemeanors, fewer resources are available for the more intensive work required to arrest those responsible for violent crimes. Zero tolerance emphasizes quantity of arrests over quality.
Lastly, as the city becomes weary of racial targeting and over-charging, it loses faith in the criminal justice system. Prosecutors routinely drop cases where arrests were made with no probable cause. We have seen judges forced to dismiss cases because of the strain on their dockets, and we have seen nullification because jurors simply no longer believe the evidence was the result of good police work.
The only way to sensibly tackle crime in this city is to get real about our drug policies. No society has ever fully rid itself of drugs, nor will we. But, if we eliminate the prohibition on drugs we can abate much of the social and personal damage currently associated with its trade.
Drugs should be legalized and regulated to keep the trade out of the hands of criminal gangs who profit while enforcing monopolies through violence. By taking drug issues out of the criminal justice system, we can free our police to do the real work necessary to make our streets safer.
Leigh Maddox is a retired state police captain and a board member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, a group of police, judges, prosecutors and other law enforcement officials opposed to the war on drugs. Her email is email@example.com.


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One of the two greatest questions anyone will ask (or rather just assume) about the smart fortwo is, "Is it safe?"
Despite hundreds of documented real world data and lab crash tests, many still say no (why??). Some of those people bring a good point too. When it comes to crashing usually the small car will always takes the most energy, the most damage, and more likely injures to its occupants. With some of the best selling vehicles in America being the Ford F-150 that can be quite scary for many prospective buyers.
Back in September the ADAC conducted a test with the smallest vehicles on sale, the smart fortwo, KIA Picanto, and the Renault Twingo. They collided with a sled (weighing about the same as the average mid size sedan) at 50km/h with a 50% offset.
Of those tested vehicles, only the smart fortwo (the smallest car in the test) prevented the occupants from life threatening injury. Unfortunately footwell intrusion made the chance of severe foot injury high for the driver.
So how did the smallest car come out on top? Easy, a collaboration of safety innovations in one tight package.
- The heart of the fortwo's safety is the Tridion Safety Cell. It is best described as the hard shell of a nut (or NASCAR rollcage for American readers). It's a high strength steel structure with fifty percent of the structure reinforced with even higher strength steel. And the roof can withstand well over nine thousand pounds of static force.
- Due to the girder like qualities of the safety cell, there are small but efficient crumple zones front and rear. Along with absorbing force, these are also designed to transmit force back into the opposing vehicle, using its crumple zones. The rear mounted engine is also designed to absorb crash forces and even to remove itself from the equation in the most severe crashes.
If you've ever seen a crashed smart you might notice that a few of its wheels may have broken. Yep, they absorb force too!
- The fortwo's high seating position and short wheelbase come at a great advantage for safety. Occupants sit up high in seats with built in roll bars. And because the wheelbase is so short, side impacts are almost guaranteed to strike an axle instead of the interior.
- The interior is outfitted with soft deformable parts and eight well placed airbags. There's one in front of you, one for your knees, one for your head/chest, and curtain. Your passenger gets the same!
But of course, the safest crash is the one that doesn't even happen. For that, the fortwo has a host of active safety measures. Electronic Stability Program, Automatic Braking, Brake Assist, and a wide track all help you avoid the crash in the first place.
Whether you like the fortwo or not, you have to admire the innovation that Mercedes injected into the car to make it safe. While it might not be as safe as your neighbor's lifted F-350 (well, maybe...) it sure can hold its own in the real world...
(Photo Credit: Flickr)


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Sure, Pleasure Island has resembled a ghost town for two years, but now it's officially dead. Walt Disney World announced last week its plans to rename and reinvent the area, the center segment of Downtown Disney.
Coming up is the Hyperion Wharf name. Going down will be buildings that housed four P.I. nightclubs, starting with Motion and Rock 'n' Roll Beach Club and then, eventually, the demolition of BET Soundstage Club and the Adventurers Club. All will be replaced with restaurants.
This had long been the rumor, even before it was announced in 2008 that all Pleasure Island nightclubs would be closing. The goal, Disney officials said, was to provide more shopping and dining options at Downtown Disney. The lakefront property of that side of P.I. was considered a prime spot for the eatery expansion.
Since then, there's been limited development of the strip, with the exception of Paradiso 37, a Latin restaurant that opened in 2009.
"You don't like to see an entire area like Pleasure Island basically empty and appearing to be abandoned," says Lou Mongello, a Disney-oriented writer, publisher and host of the WDW Radio podcast. He is pleased with the direction Disney is going, he says.
"It's going to be a destination for families," Mongello says. "I think part of what Pleasure Island's difficulties were was that it was for adults only. … You couldn't take your kids there at night because there were people doing shots at the Beach Club."
Even in the glory days of Pleasure Island, there weren't a lot of guests around during the day. The Hyperion Wharf concept is designed, Disney says, to be used all day and to have folks linger in the area, which will include a waterfront park set to open next summer.
"I think it's great that they now have a plan in place," says Lance Hart, editor of the Screamscape website devoted to theme parks and attractions. "However, I do think they acted too hasty when they closed everything previously, and I think the things like the Comedy Warehouse and Adventurers Club would have fit right into the new area perfectly."
The Adventurers Club has vocal supporters. Lack of A.C. was a common complaint in the comments on the Disney Parks Blog post about the new plans.
"I think a lot of Adventurers Club enthusiasts still have hope" for a rebirth, Mongello says. The establishment had an old-time explorers theme and centered on a series of skits.
"I don't think the Adventurers Club, per se, will return," says Mongello, whose enterprises are not affiliated with Walt Disney Co. "I think there will be the return of that same type of interactive experience, but I think it will be a dining experience, something you can bring your family to. So you won't just have a bar."
He imagines it more on the Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue model — with reservations and more turnover in audience — and not necessarily at Downtown Disney.
But for now, the plans reflect what Disney said it was going to do — add shopping and dining options.
"I don't see where that adds value to the guest experience," says Scott Smith, a professor at the University of Central Florida's Rosen College of Hospitality Management.
"If somebody else had come up with this we'd be like 'Oh that sounds really good and unique,' " Smith says. "But with Disney, we hold them to a higher standard or expectation, so this announcement is underwhelming."
What we know
•Disney expects Hyperion Wharf to be finished by early 2013. Work will be done in stages so as not to disrupt current guests.
•The giant Pleasure Island lettering atop the former Mannequins building will be removed. (That building is staying but will be repurposed, a Disney official says.)
•The plan calls to cut through the Motion cul-de-sac to connect Hyperion Wharf with Downtown Disney's Marketplace.
What we wonder
•The identity of the restaurants remains a mystery. Disney is in negotiations, says Keith Bradford, vice president of Downtown Disney.
•While looking at project renderings (fire eaters?), we wondered if that billboard might be an elaborate light display (see side of Amway Center).
•The signage for stores in the renderings is surely fake, but it sure doesn't look like the Harley-Davidson store either.
Sure, Pleasure Island has resembled a ghost town for two years, but now it's officially dead. Walt Disney World announced last week its plans to rename and reinvent the area, the center segment of Downtown Disney.