Öne time I was out at a clients and needed to perform some Photoshop work on an image that we were uploading to their new website. I have used Adobe's "Photoshop Live" at photoshop.com before, but it's pretty basic and we could not get the image cropping to work correctly... so went back to the Google search results for "Photoshop online" and the next item in the search was "Pixlr". Well! This just blew me away, what a great service and free!. The work that must have gone into the development of this online app. Pixlr is a user friendly online image editing application that is essentially designed for non professional users and allows them to effortlessly edit images. Fast, simple and enough features to make this a great find for low- to moderate-level photo editing. You can create a new image, upload an image, or grab one directly from a URL location. The Pixlr Editor has nice features but requires some knowledge of photo imaging software or you will get lost. There is not much user support available (it is free), but the user interface is very easy to navigate and user-friendly. There is a easy version called "Pixlr Express", which is so simple anyone can master it in seconds. You can also grab a Firefox or Chrome extension "Pixlr Grabber" that lets you right click on any image in a webpage and load it into Pixlr for editing.

www.pixlr.com

The 8 hour workday is one of those things that seems be something in place largely because it’s just the way we have done things for so long. I know there are exceptions to the idea that the 8 hour workday doesn’t make any sense. There are certain industries and certain jobs that are required to operate in the structure of an 8 hour day in order to function. I recognize and respect that. But as we move from industrial age to an age of information, it’s time to realize that the system is kind of an efficient "cluster-mess". Let’s look at the flaws of an 8 hour work day.

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If you're an aspiring musician, stop reading now, this will be painful. Japan's Crypton Future Media has unleashed upon the world what may be the future of pop music in the amazingly realistic, holographic singing idol called Hatsune Miku.

Hatsune is a product of Japan's popular Vocaloid software scene in which fans can create their own songs for fictional characters to sing. The twist here is that Crypton took things to the next level by making the character into a hologram and actually putting their avatar on tour, playing to huge enthusiastic audiences. The spectacle of a hologram performing on stage, with a live backing band in front of thousands of screaming fans is pure science fiction brought to real life. To really process exactly how amazing (and hauntingly creepy) the Hatsune Miku music tour is, take a look at the HD video below. And just one more thing to add, this definately reminds me from the Manga "Macross Plus" with Sharon Apple!

Gobelins is an art school in France that I would personally say has the best animation program in the world. Consistently it turns out talented folks year after year and this animated short is equally impressive. It’s called Le Royaume (The King and the Beaver) and was cretaed in collaboration between Nuno Alves Rodrigues, Oussama Bouachéria, Julien Chheng, Sébastien Hary, Aymeric Kevin, Ulysse Malassagne & Franck Monier with music by Mathieu Alvado.

It’s really reminiscent of Japanese animation with lots of interesting character expressions and a real fluidity in the characters move. I also like that the story is a bit dark and mysterious and nature. Where di the King come from? Where did his kingdom go?

Influencers is a short documentary that explores what it means to be an influencer and how trends and creativity become contagious today in music, fashion and entertainment. The film attempts to understand the essence of influence, what makes a person influential without taking a statistical or metric approach. Written and Directed by Paul Rojanathara and Davis Johnson, the film is a Polaroid snapshot of New York influential creatives (advertising, design, fashion and entertainment) who are shaping today’s pop culture.