h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Perhaps it was subliminally intended only to catch the attention of me, or people like me.

Hmmmmm, Jonny?

It had no intentions, subliminal or otherwise. Or did it?

I feel compelled to gift you with a random *self*-portrait. This is what happens when I get bored and I have a lot of film:

http://www.floor42.com/spartus/selfportrait.jpg

Yaaay!

That's... two official entries, plus two others, yaaaaay!

Aaargh! It's taken me *5 HOURS* to open this forum today. Is this place so slow for everyone else, or have they deliberately stuck me on a slow bit of network to try and get me to do some work?

Right, OK, so 4 entries eh? How many do you need before you make the page?

Er... well, just one... but I haven't... done it yet. Maybe tomorrow.

And it's not all that slow for me, but what do I know?

It seems a little better today, still too slow for anyone as impatient as me...

I bought myself a brand-spanking-new digital camera yesterday, I'm still in a childish "ooo look, I can make mpeg movies" mode at the moment, but I will get around to doing a proper random self portrait at some point.

I've been in a childish ooh-look-I-can-make-MPEG-movies mode for five months... does that mean there's something wrong with me?

No, it just show how exciting it is to make MPEG movies

The difference, Kristina M, is that your movies are actually creative. Mine just depict my apartment and what a mess it is and, unless I opt for crappy 160x112 mode, only last for 15 seconds. I suppose that's a blessing really. I'm sure I'll figure out what I bought the thing for soon. In fact I know what I bought it for but, having read bits of the instruction book, it seems that I probably shouldn't use it for that. Anyone want to see the squalor of my apartment in glowing MPEG?

Yes I do wan to see your movie

What did you buy the camera for that you shouldn't use it for then?

I wanted to take piccies of skiing in Whistler - hoping for footage of my friends coming a cropper! However, the instruction book goes on about not taking the camera from a cold place to a warm place without first sealing it inside a plastic bag to prevent condensation forming inside it. I'm sure they're just being alarmists though!

Bit of techincal trouble with the movies, I'll stick a couple of stills of my apartment up somewhere in the meantime. I'll be back to let you know where...

Apartment piccies here:

http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Palace/6898/images/MVC-002F.JPG

and here:

http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Palace/6898/images/MVC-006F.JPG

Thet're not very interesting, but give you an idea of the tip I live in and the image quality that the camera is capable of.

Another random self-portrait (*VERY* random, I have to say):

http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Palace/6898/images/RandomSP.jpg

My what huge photos you take Erm not really flat photos though are they, more sort of random food package containers. By the way the self portrait looks just like you

Treat the images like fractals, just extrapolate and you'll get the idea of my entire apartment. I'm going to have to redo the MPEG thing, it comes out fine when I use the camera to view it, but on the PC it's all too dark.

On the self-portrait front, you'd be horrified to know just how much...!

Wow, Jonny! Those are very... large.

Erm, that first one... is it in black and white or, like, sepia? (I'm questioning my vision. )

That'd be the "sepia" setting, I can do "negative" and "solarized" as well. Although I'm not quite sure why I'd want to!

They are rather large, now that you both come to mention it, I'll have to see what I can do with the editing software that came with the camera. My guess would be not alot. Still, at least I can change their size with aitch-tee-em-elly things if I want to display 'em on the web.

OK. Any ideas for my real photographic random self-portrait?

I don't know. Does the camera have a timer? If it does, set the timer for as long as you can, and then go and do something in front of it and try to forget it's on...

I sometimes have a short memory, unfortunately it's seldom as short as 10 seconds.

I'll think of something.

Oh... well, that's too bad... I don't have that problem... my timer lasts 12 seconds.