Maya Arts and Crafts

Check out Maya Arts and Crafts.  You can place orders for custom made items for personal use or for gifting.

Links:
http://www.mayaartsandcrafts.com
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Maya-Arts-and-Crafts/158547724227040

Tts a bit different kind of shopping.  Ideally, people like to see and feel and judge if its worth the price before buying any item.  Here, you have to describe what you want and you get it.  Yes, most people find it difficult to describe what they want.  I have that same issuse.  When multiple options are given for colour or shape or design, I don't know what to choose.  Probably because I never knew there were options available for such minute details.

Well, consider it as a priviledge.  Say what you want and watch it take shape, a shape better than you imagined at first!!  And.. you'll find it worth the price.

How to create a 3-bit colour palette in Gimp

I wanted to use a 3-bit palette in Gimp.  Why?  To preview images for Nokia Sleeping Screen.

Gimp does not have a 3-bit palette by default.  But it has a nice feature where you can add your own palette.  So I created one.

Start the Palette Dialogue with Windows -> Dockable Dialogs -> Palettes

You'll see this box:

Click on the "New Palette" button higlighted above.
You'll see this box now:

Save this image and open in Gimp:

I found this image on a Wikipedia article.  This shows the 3-bit palette.

Now click on the 8 colours in the image you opened in the previous step.  You'll see the colours filling up in the 'New Palette' window.  Give a name to the palette so that you can identify easily:

Click the save symbol.

Well, thats it.  You have a 3-bit palette now!

Okay, so how do I use it?
I'll describe it in the next blog when I show how I created images for Nokis Sleeping Screen.

For short instructions:
Image -> Mode -> Indexed
Click Use Custom Palette
Click the colour symbol below this and select 3 bit colour palette
Select a Dithering option
Click Convert
 

Community behaviour

One of my old relatives said that they did not have so many anti-social-elements in the society.  Nor did they have so many mannerless and misbehaving kids.  Or grown-ups for that matter.  Now the number is growing, and fast.

Me: "Really!  How did you manage to keep the numbers so low?"
Old guy: "Because, we had the liberty to punish any misbehaving kids, and not just your own."

He went on to highlight a few more differences:
Then: If you are caught stealing mangoes from a mango farm, anybody who caught you would scold/chase/beat you.  The person who caught you could be you parent, the farm owner or some passerby.
Now: If you are caught stealing mangoes, the farm owner only chase you away.  Everyone else don't care.

Then: If a complain reach your parent, your parent would severly punish you.  Complaining to parent was the final straw!
Now: If a complian reach your parent, the parents just try to trivialize the issue.  Nobody has time to listen.  "whats the big deal man", "yeah whatever", "okay okay, it'll not happen again".  If a kids see his parents supporting him, his activities would only grow.  Be it good or bad.  Especially bad.

Then: You were the maintainer of the society.  You would make sure you keep the society in such a way that your kid would safely grow and live in it.

Now: You don't care about society anymore.  All you care is how much wealth you can create for you and your kid.

After the discussion with the Wise Old Man, I was bought into his argument.

Unfortunately, this is not something one person can change.

Perceptive opinions

Some time back, I was having an argument with a relative over child behaviour. She happened to mention "you used to throw away your plates while having food when you were a kid".

I was surprised! I don't remember throwing away plates while eating. Obviously, I refused to believe it. The response was 'Ask your mom'. My mother was not there and that was the turning point of the argument which, obviously, I lost.

Back at home, I asked my mother about it and she said that I did throw my plate while having food. I said I don't remember. She said "you were a little baby then". I asked her how many times did I do that. She said "Oh! I did not count, maybe a couple of times".

What the ...!!!

I must have had food at least three times a day. Everyday. For so many years! That did not count at all. What did matter was the two or three times that I threw the plate away. My mother said she happened to mention this during a casual conversation to that relative. But now my relatives think I *always* used to do it!

"You always ask the same question again and again"

I have heard this many times, especially during arguments.  Oh! why would I ask the same question again if it was answered the first time?  That logic, for some reason which I am yet to fathom, is not valid.  Especially during arguments.

Oh boy! I  find it strange that people just create opinions about others and spread it as well.  Strangely, these created opinions always seem to be favourable to the creator.