GIMP: GNU Image Manipulation Program

Since we will eventually be doing a couple of image manipulation projects, I decided to post a link to the free software, GIMP.

Also, the noise reduction plug-in Matthew described today is here.

GREYCStoration and Fast Anisotropic Noise Reduction

The link for this can be found here.

From the website:

GREYCstoration is an image regularization algorithm which is able to process a color image by locally removing small variations of pixel intensities while preserving significant global image features, such as edges and corners. The most direct application of image regularization is image denoising. By extension, it can also be used to inpaint or resize images.

GREYCstoration is based on state-of-the-art image processing methods using nonlinear multi-valued diffusion PDE's (Partial Differential Equations). This kind of method generally outperforms basic image filtering techniques (such as convolution, median filtering, etc.), classically encountered in image painting programs. Other comparable image denoising techniques are available (for instance, Noise Ninja, Neat Image ) but are not open-source, and the corresponding algorithms are kept secret. On the contrary, the source code of GREYCstoration is freely available and distributed under the CeCILL License (compatible with the well-known GPL). It gives similar results (not to say better) to existing closed-source denoising filters, and is absolutely free to use. Compared to other PDE-based regularization methods, our approach has several advantages : It performs very fast and is able to preserve thin image details since it works at a sub-pixel accuracy.

The algorithm works by treating the image as a tensor field and then using a trace based PDE(Partial Differential Equation) approach to determine the curvature of each dimension of the image(Red, Green, Blue) everywhere in the image at subpixel accuracy. It then implements this through the use of a line interval convolution numerical method based around Runge-Kutta interpolation. From there it smooths the boundaries within the edges and curves so that the important data is maintained while removing the Chaffe. Examples of all sorts of wicked cool stuff that can be done with it can be found at the website.

There are a few forms available for the algorithm. The two available from the developer are a standalone binary executable in which the direct parameters of the PDE may be manipulated to optimize the output of the image, or there exists a GIMP(GNU Image Manipulation Program) plugin which will allow you to vary the parameters of the standard program plus some others which are not available. It also allows for preview of a section before the entire process is performed.

Question about Baudrillard

Titsworth, et al. state, in their recent paper The Shower Scene from Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho" as Exemplifying Baudrillards four fold simulacrum creation process state:

"there is no more reality because it is impossible to define a definite starting point for any of these relations."

referring to the spawning of various simulacra from an original, real, entity. Which proves more difficult?

1. Defining a starting point for a sequence of entities, or
2. Determining the starting point from the sequence?

Beaudrillard Take One: PostNeoModernisticMetaAnalysis and so on.

Is there a way to tell the difference between connections we know are fake and those we cross our fingers are real? We spent a few weeks in the throes of "anything can be connected to anything fever" and are now dealing with the persistent symptoms of this illness (or delicious madness, as I prefer to call it). We looked to semiotics to understand how the language we use influences the nature of the connections we make. Now we are dining with Jean Baudrillard and discussing his choice of entrees (he insists that since duck is so commonly referenced on tables worldwide and its preparations so interchangeable that there is no longer Duck, only hyper-fowl which are indistinguishable from whatever "real" duck has become.

Semiotics, or A few things about how to talk about talking about things.

Semiotics is "a general theory of signs and symbolism, usually divided into the branches of pragmatics, semantics, and syntactics." There...now that we've cleared that up, we can...(tires screeching, confused pedestrians snatching wayward toddlers from the paths of various runaway musclecars, fruit carts toppling)

If we don't investigate a little more closely, the definition might as well be "a pile of stuff about things for understanding stuff and things, including 1) stuff, 2) things, and 3) combinations of things and stuff."

I don't expect you to become a semiotician (or semioticist, for that matter) by Tuesday, but you need to understand and be able to discuss the basic concepts. Keep in mind the basic diagram we made about the relationship between an artist, the work, and the viewer.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semiotics
http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/S4B/semiotic.html

Calendar Setup

I am experimenting with a couple of calendar versions for the blog. The one that is running now lets you see what you need for the next class period. You will also have access the the entire calendar (to see everything we have done so far) through your email/calendar account. If you don't have a calendar application linked yet, I emailed you an invitation to the class calendar.

Dan Rather is the sphinx of our time, and his riddle is “Kenneth, what is the frequency?”

http://www.harpers.org/archive/2001/12/0075777

We spoke briefly in class about the links between one of my favorite authors, Donald Barthelme and Dan Rather, a newsman about whom I have constructed no particular opinion (except that he descends into temporary madness during election night coverage, erupting into baffling word salads that frighten all but he most hardened psychiatric professionals). The article about it in Harpers is linked above.

Image as Information System

This is Family of Marsupial Centaurs by Salvador Dali. We can begin to apply our fairly limited set of tools to extract whatever information is lurking in this painting. What, if anything, is the image trying to say? In more practical terms--what, if anything, can I force the centaurs to tell me?

Poetron, or My robot has more of the mead of poetry in his tiniest servomotor than you do in your wildest imaginings.

My poetry engine, Poetron, takes the ideas we develop in class and applies them to text. Here is an example of his work. After reading it, follow the link above and try out the engine yourself. This piece is a combination of Colonel Kurtz, the Sugar Hill Gang and an underground UK breakbeat pioneer, William Shakespeare.

How much more praise deserv'd thy beauty's use,
I watched a snail crawl
let's rock, you dont stop
the edge of a straight razor and surviving.
Crawling, slithering, along
to the rhythm of the boogie, the beat
well so far youve heard my voice but i brought two friends along
The Horror.
the edge of a straight razor and surviving.
That’s my dream.