Creativity Within Structure

Whether you are a do it yourselfer or a veteran financial planner, Morningstar's robust investment information makes it one of the most authoritative financial resources on the internet. A typical user may view a mutual fund's expense ratio, moving average, or current NAV value to help decide on a fund purchase. Another user may simply check on the “star rating” Morningstar provides for each fund. Information gathering can be at a high level or can be very granular depending on the user, how much they drill down into the information, and statistical data provided. There is a need for financial information that can be accessed in real time. For the day trader this information must be reliable and available constantly. It has been suggested that the market's volatility may be due in part to the ability to automate trading and stop loss orders through the web. I feel Morningstar is a major information resource for financial investing. Applying the usability guidelines offered...

An analysis of the Medical Mirror's usability reveals a major challenge. Is a flaw in the system preventing the Medical Mirror from reaching its full potential? The Medical Mirror is a web cam, mirror, and computer system working together to provide immediate vital sign feedback to the individual looking into it. Ming-Zher Pooh an electrical and medical-engineering graduate student at MIT developed a technology that monitors pulse, respiration, and blood pressure through a web cam, computer and mirror (Mone, 2011). The web cam receives input in the form of reflected light waves, translates the information, and outputs a readable rate measurement on the mirror’s surface. Consider the immediate benefits for the health conscious individual in the way of heart rate, and blood pressure monitoring prior to a workout routine. Additionally, it can prove valuable in hospices, nursing homes, and hospitals. Uses can be extended to include infants, the elderly, or infirm where attaching mon...

As they retreated into the studio it became apparent that Paul would rather be the guitarist for "his" tunes rather than George. Truth be told George's guitar playing early on was a bit behind the beat, and not very sure handed. From all accounts this was the cause of some concern among the other members. His lyrics tended to be of the simplistic "rhyming couplet" love tune variety. He started to come into his own around the "Rubber Soul" period. The chiming "If I Needed Someone", and the the testimony to individualism in "Think for Yourself". But his greatest contribution was the Sitar on Norwegian Wood. The beginning of his new voice. His focus becoming increasingly eastern. Perusing God consciousness rather than individual achievement within a ridged framework. The result, a sound unlike any musician of his time. If you seek a higher plane rather than "compete" at a lower level your true voice will emerge. For George ul...

I've been more conscious of framing, and lighting. It makes a huge difference in the presentation of the image. Rather than keeping the sun at your back, I've been attempting to angle the sun of the upper right, or lower left. Highlight rather than full on lighting. In this shot I knew I was going for a soft back lit type of exposure. I focused on the center wild flower, but what I discovered upon viewing the image after I downloaded it was an incredible green/gold back lighting. The darker green leaves and the back lighting seem to be the theme of the image rather than the wild flower which was my original intention. The structure: Shutter Speed 1/160 Aperture Value 4.0 ISO Speed 200 Lens EF70-200mm f/4L Focal Length 160.0mm The magic is the unexpected creative shot that happens!

Saturday May 28th I had the opportunity to shoot my friend's band "Kick it Out". It was an outdoor event so lighting was not an issue. I used my Canon XTi with my f/4 70 - 200. For most of the event I used the lens hood as it was a sunny day, I also used the B&W polarizer at various times. The challenge for the most part was getting a good frame of all the musicians involved. I attempted to capture each one as they were performing. Some, obviously are more demonstrative than others in their performance. Owing to my background I had an intuitive sense as to the length of the solos and the crescendos of the various sections of music. I tried to capture from various angles, stage left, right, and even from behind from the musicians perspective. I think that was perhaps my favorite angle. In hindsight, I think I should have used the wide angle as well and captured the band from the bottom of the stage shooting up. Additionally, the level of the musicianship and the qualit...

      The Structure: Shutter 0.6 Aperture f/5 ISO Speed 200 Lens 18.0 - 55.0mm Focal Length 35.0mm I doubt I could recreate this if I tried. What at first seemed like a harmless shot turned into an interesting exposure. There was not enough light so the shutter went long. The people who are stationary appear frozen, and the people in motion appear...well in motion. I sharpened the people that are seated to create an added feeling of being stationary. All things at the museum, a hurried pace and a rested moment all captured in the same shot. The creative is primary, the meta data left to the analysts.

Solar Tones is a system of tone generation based on the position of the planets in the solar system for any given month. The tonal or key centers were derived from the open strings of the guitar. Background The guitar is constructed in such a way that the intervals occur chromatically ascending and descending. I've drawn the parallel between the construction of the guitar and the structure of our solar system. Planetary order Sun Mercury Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Pluto This system assigns an interval to each planet in the solar system, and additionally depending on their positions in the solar system, I have a different set of tones each month to use as a composition frame work. Planets and their equivalent interval order Sun -> Open Mercury -> mi2 Venus -> Ma2 Earth -> mi3 Mars -> Ma3 Belt of Asteroids -> P4 & aug4 Jupiter -> P5 Saturn -> mi6 Uranus -> Ma6 Neptune -> mi7 Pluto -> Ma7 The role of planetary as...