SPARKLE Announced SPA Tune OC Software For Graphics Cards

Taipei, Taiwan – November 6, 2008 - SPARKLE Computer Co., Ltd., the professional VGA card manufacturer and supplier, today proudly announced SPA Tune, an exclusively designed OC software for users which will effectively balance the computing power and power consumption of Graphics Cards from SPARKLE.

Exclusively Designed OC Software
SPA Tune software is designed by intelligent R&D team of SPARKLE. It's integrated the gorgeous user interface with the formidable graphics cards regulation functions. Now users of SPARKLE Graphics Cards have the powerful tool for getting superlative graphics performance in latest DX10 games and best energy saving effects in 2D operating mode.

All-functions Design
Graphics Cards users want blazing fast performance—blasting their way through the latest game, but they also being the environmentalists who want to economize the energy when they are doing 2D works with graphics cards. Now with strong R&D team from SPARKLE, SPA Tune software can meet the bilateral demands. SPA Tune will help the users optimized the configuration of power supply and select the appropriate mode to economize the energy.

Smart and Convenient Operating Interface
SPA Tune software is designed with smart and convenient operating interface. It provides 5 compact designed control buttons for graphics cards core clock, memory clock, shader clock, GPU temperature and fan speed. With just simple click on one of these buttons, SPA Tune software will show the exact value in the display Area. SPA Tune software also provides three mode transition buttons for Overclocking mode (OC), standard mode (STD) and green mode (GRN).

Three Different Working Mode
With the OC mode, SPA Tune software will provide high speed, best performance and more power consumption. When users choose the OC MODE, graphics cards will runs at the fastest clock and keep the strongest performance to meet the needs of DX10 games. The STD mode brings standard performance and lesser power consumption. When users choose the STD mode, graphics card will runs at the standard clock ,whatever you open websites or enjoy the Blu-ray DVD or playing games it’s all OK!! The GRN mode provides the energy saving and green power consumption. When users choose the GRN mode, graphics cards will consume the least power. The cooling fan of the graphics card will has the lowest speed and has silence noise .

Bundled With Latest Graphics Cards
SPA Tune software will be bundled with latest graphics cards products from SPARKLE. SPA Tune software endows graphics cards from SPARKLE with valuable add-on and convenient functions.

you suck at photoshop, you do..

i just saw these videos over on the drawn! blog. which by the by is a great blog to read about general awesome stuff including illustration and drawing. put 'em in your reader. so these videos...i laughed so hard i wanted to share them w/ you guys because i love you and i have a sick sense of humor and thought you may as well. they are hilarious, however not safe for work, unless you work in a cubicle and have ear phones and/or your boss is completely asleep.

Opening Pics Brett Cook's Supernatural..

Last week I posted about Brett Cook's install of his show Supernatural at Guerrero Gallery...here are the pics from opening night. It seriously could not have been better weather. It almost felt like summer in San Francisco! The gallery was in full swing as I rode up, there were kids outside drawing and playing with clay, food was being served, Tecate was being poured and lots of laughs and fun happening as people spilled in and out of the gallery.

Inside Brett's altars and effigy's graced the gallery thoughtfully, paying homage to great intellectuals, visionaries and political figures such as Angel Davis, Noam Chompsky, Martin Luther King Jr., Thich Nhat Hanh, and most importantly, I thought was Brett's Granmother. Brett celebrates the interconnectedness of all beings, but the back room dedicated to the life of his Grandmother touched me the most. Lots to look at and think about.

Supernatural runs through July 3. More images after the jump and the full night of pics on the blog's flickr.

needles pens celebrates 5 years! happy birthday!.

awww, my very favorite shop needles & pens in san francisco is five today! they have a great show planned. if you are in sf it is definitely the place to be tonight. many, many wonderful, awesome and creative peeps will be showing there tonight and i'm sure be there as well. totes not to be missed! i'm a tad bit jel i'm not there, ok, i'm just downright bummed...but this post is about how awesome needles & pens are, not what a crybaby i am. here are some of our (that's me and you!)very favs that will be showing tonight:

Andrew Schoultz, Andrew Scott, Brion Nuda Rosch, Caroline Hwang, Chris Duncan, Chris Pew, David Benzler,Jeff Canham, Jen Smith, Jenny Hart, Jeremy Fish, Jeremy Taylor, Jessica Cusik, John Dwyer, John Trippe, Jovi Schnell, Julianna Bright, Kyle Ranson, Lena Wolf, Maria Forde, Mark Todd, Mary Joy Scott, Matt Furie, Maxwell Loren Holyoke Hirsch, Maya Hayuk, Monica Canilao, Nigel Peake, Nikki McClure, Paul Urich, Paul Wackers, Rachell Sumpter/Jacob Magraw, Randy Lee Sutherland, Ryan Jacob Smith, Tara Jane Oneil, Tara Lisa Foley, Tauba Auerbach, Zefrey Throwell

it's going to be an amazing, knee slapping, hoot hollering good time!

travel in the time of swine flu

As we sat in the terminal waiting to board our stage coach in the sky en route to paradise last week, DanO and I (along with the rest of the passengers on our flight) watched in horror as the Vice President of this great, resilient, not-easily-frightened country full of brave, rational citizens told everyone to STAY HOME FORTHELOVEOFGOD. DON’T TRAVEL, AND BE AFRAID. BE VERY, VERY AFRAID.Aw, thanks for the sound advice, Joe ‘Footinyourmouth’ Biden. Fear monger much?Shortly after that wise, well-founded governmental decree, I felt that itch. The undeniable one that will surface no matter how you try to squelch it.I sneezed. So help me, I sneezed in an airport and I’m pretty sure the world almost ended.The stares! The glares! The disgust on people’s faces!I must have slept through Biden’s other press conference announcing that sneezing was being added to the axis of evil because HOLY CRAP that reaction seemed unwarranted.Folks. Chill. It was just a well-contained, kleenex-covered, high-pitched, girly sneeze. If you’ve heard one of mine, you’d agree: they are undeniably feminine and dainty and definitely not pandemic-spreading. You should hear DanO’s, on the other hand. I’m already saving up for the nasal reconstructive surgery he will need before his 35th birthday.Other effects of the swine flu we observed while (GASP!) traveling:The African Hogs were “resting” rather than being out on display in Disney’s Animal Kingdom petting zoo. Although there was no reference as to why, we all knew. (Would an ‘unclean’ joke here be inappropriate and culturally insensitive? Dang.)Disney World usually has this fancy end-of-days technology where you touch a scanner and it associates your finger print with your ticket so that you can’t cheat the (overpriced) system, but it has been discontinued “for health and safety purposes”.Two face masks were seen on people at the Cleveland Airport.The Orlando news station was consumed with hysteria. A local private school announced it’s closure for a week while we were there, and that was pretty much the only news we got the whole trip.Oh, and there was one small news blurb about how the CDC announced that “JK! It’s not going to be as bad as we thought!”…but they didn’t really go over that story much.

The Seafarers - The Trident of Power..

I woke up to Ferris Plock and Kelly Tunstall's new cartoon, The Seafarers - The Trident of Power from Eighty Four Films in my inbox. Not bad stuff for a Monday morning, I'll tell you what! So much to take in and enjoy, it deserves a couple of watches. I love the map of the ocean: 'gratuitous graphic element', 'ziggy stardust islands', 'sea of unspeakable evils'. All so good and fun to watch. in fact, I'm gonna make coffee and watch it again!

You can see my visit with Ferris here while he printed for his show, Fare Thee Well at Giant Robot a few weeks ago.

The Seafarers - Trident of Power from Eighty Four Films on Vimeo.

john casey's book scarecrow..

this thursday, just in time for halloween, rowan morrison will be hosting the launch of john casey's new book scarecrow. a limited 1st edition art book featuring over 60 unseen bio-morphic, classic, casey drawings. the book is 6x9, 2 color offset, signed and numbered with an intro by james kaufman. order your copy here. at $20 bucks, it's a steal and a definite must have. original drawings from scarecrow will be on show, with john in attendance to sign books, answer questions and eat halloween candy with you, because he's just that good.

be sure to check out john's blog, where he writes often with lots of great photos of his work and all the amazing art shows going on in the bay area. oh and check out a q&a john did for the blog back in may, right here, it's one of my favorite's.

my monday afternoon

Getting this:Took going through this:Which was awkward.Not that I’m complaining. Because I’m not. Pedicures are fabulous.Now they’re just fabulously awkward too:“Here, rub these. They’re swollen and puffy and they hurt. Also, could you perform all of the maintenance on them I haven’t been able to for the last 6 weeks? Thanks.”

saelee oh letter press print at tiny showcase..

500 of these bad larrys by saelee oh are available for a mere 10 clams, peeps. yeppers. it's the first installment of tiny showcase's 'tiny tiny print series'. so get on over and get up and get down and hit "add to cart" to help sing in the inaugural series. help them, help you! RUN!

while you wait for your print to arrive, you can check out saelee's new blog.

and then she was like

The reason of the week that I’m glad I’m not in high school:Not having to care when peers arbitrarily don’t like me.I’m just gunna put it out there – I have a minimum wage, part-time job. It’s kind of my guilty pleasure, my “do something lame and menial before I spend the rest of my life pouring my whole self into teaching”, my last hurrah.This job also happens to be a bunch of 16 year olds first hurrah. This fact certainly keeps the workplace banter interesting. Some of the spectacular things I’ve been asked by (high school) co-workers: “What’s the difference between like a Jew and a Christian?”, “So like Michael Jackson was actually part of the Jackson 5?” or a personal favorite from a 18 year old: “What’s leap day?”But by far the most frequent question I get is “What do you think of So-n-so?”. It doesn’t take a college degree (3.5 weeks!) to know that that is a mine field of a question. I almost universally answer that “I think she seems nice” and that “I enjoy working with her”.Today, however, I received my own results on the “What do you think of Allison” workplace poll. The results: They didn’t like me. When my co-worker told me that, I was astonished at the extent of apathy which I felt. 6 or so young women (according to this self-proclaimed drama authority) weren’t my biggest fans. Why didn’t I care? Well, I knew I had done nothing to wrong them, I had never personally taken a disliking to a single one of them, and I certainly didn’t answer in kind when asked what I thought of any of them. So, I realized, if someone wants to dislike me for having a super hot husband or too many freckles (this is what I had narrowed the possible reasons down to) I give them all the right to, in-as-much as they are aware that I don’t care.“Don’t you want to know why they didn’t like you?” She asked.No, I thought. “I guess, I dunno” I said.“When you first started here, they thought you worked too hard.”That was all the validation and flattery I could handle in that moment! Not only had I not cared initially that I hadn’t won the praise of a handful of girls who don’t know what leap day is, but the reason they hadn’t liked me was for an attribute I am glad to have!And so, on this day – exactly 24 days before I receive my college degree – I officially declare myself victorious over the high school social paradigm! I, like, feel, like, totally untouchable!

the only bump I will be talking about today

That? Is my bump at 15 weeks.This? Was my bump last time at 22 weeks.GAH! SEE?!?! I told you I look embarrassingly pregnant!(I should also apologize for the impossibly messy front hallway behind me in the current picture. It’s winter here in Minnesota, which means we have coats and boots up to our blue Swedish eyeballs… which would explain the coats and the boots, but not DanO’s flip-flops there on the ground. For those I have no excuse.)ANYWAY. I know that you ‘pop’ sooner in subsequent pregnancies, but as of right now I am a good 7 weeks ahead of myself. SEH.VIN. Almost 2 months. More than half a trimester. Nearly 50% of my present gestation duration.Which is kind of ridiculous.To put it another way, I look 150% more pregnant than I am. (Right? Did I do the math correctly on that? It’s never been my strong suit. (Please disregard the fact that I used to teach 6 year olds how to add and subtract, the foundations upon which they would build their entire math knowledge. It’s a disconcerting thought. (PS: I like parentheses.)))

because the native americans used them

Welcome to the O My Family household, Pee-Pee Teepee.OBaby, may you find it in your heart someday to forgive me.Amen.

Always remind me..

(picture taken by the beautiful and talented Mrs. O, herself!)

On my parents last trip to California, they brought back a few wooden word signs that my sister bought us.

They’re cute and displayed right by the front door.

But one says “I love being a mom, but please remind me”

Most days I walk past that sign and chuckle. Some days that sign is enough to collapse me.

Today was one of those days.

Today was one of those days where it felt like some of the very first days.

I’m not going to lie, I am STILL dealing with PPD 2 years later. I’m still not over it.

I STILL have thoughts I shouldn’t have. I praise the Lord that I know the difference between those thoughts and actions, but when I tell Aaron I just can’t do it anymore, I need him to jump in quickly.

Days like this, that sign brings me to my knees. Who needs to be reminded that they love being a parent?? Obviously, me.

So please don’t ever stop reminding me.

Caleb Neelon X MFA Boston..

Photo Credit: Photos by Damon Beale for the Museum of Fine Arts.

Over the past year my friend Caleb Neelon has worked with over 125 kids from all over the city of Boston to create "Signs and Symbols," now on display (through September) at the Museum of Fine Arts. The process involved showing children, ages 7-12,  examples of how people have used text throughout history in all shapes and forms of artwork. From 4,000 year old hieroglyphics to a scrolling LED text piece by Jenny Holzer. Caleb may have had more fun than the kids, when asked he remarked his favorite piece by far is "Who farted."

Caleb will be giving an artist's talk on May 7th. See more information about this colorful and inspiring project here.

Photo Credit: Photos by Damon Beale for the Museum of Fine Arts.

Photo Credit: Photos by Damon Beale for the Museum of Fine Arts.

early griffin press 3rd series..

early griffin press just released their 3rd series of prints. they've been received w/ extremely open arms as one print, tom gauld's "the giant robot" print, has already sold out. sheesh. peeps act fast. but that's just how you've got to do it these days. you snooze you lose and then everybody's crying. and we all know how we hate crybabies. the last, but most def not the least, are two prints by french and rachel cattle, respectively. 'the boar tree' by french, who's known for his intricate, crazy line work and his knack for turning gore into lovely, is a three color print. who can resist a piggy? (you can read an instant message interview i did w/ the charming french here.) rachel cattle is known for her beautiful pencil drawings, her print is of an axe in a beautiful graphite gray. 10% of the proceeds go to the artists choice.

caleb brown..

O.K. so I guess I should really stick to writing about artists who have websites or other places where their work can be viewed beyond this blog --but someone needed to post these paintings.  Otherwise they'd be tucked away in the far reaches of Caleb's Facebook, hidden from view.  Caleb works out of Portland.  He's got a real knack for producing manly, highly charged compositions, tightly rendered in an old master style.  How much better would Drop Zone have been if it had sky sharks?  Much better.

Caleb says one of these days he'll have a more of a web presence.  Until then keep your ear to the ground for this talented young man.

Valerie Hammond..

I've been home sick all day. One of the best things about my job is that when I can't stop sneezing, I can work from my bed. That never could have been possible working in retail. ;) So to shake myself out of cabin fever I spent the evening looking at new to me blogs and of course Pinterest. Always Pinterest, lately.

I spotted Valerie Hammond on Westervin. Hammond works in a variety of mediums...and works well in all of them, I might add. Not always an easy feat so it's great to see an artist transpire there talent.Such gorgeous pieces!Perfect for my foggy head.

From her artist statement:

Valerie Hammond has always been drawn to places and objects that are full of mystery. The expressive and devotional qualities of church shrines, ex-votos, and Asian art ranging from Tibetan medical drawings to Buddhist sculptures serve as inspiration for the artist. As spiritual objects, they possess the ability to impart on the viewer a sense of enchantment grounded by human connectivity, and this offering of transformation echoes Hammond's desire to record both the tangible and elusive aspects of the human condition in her work.

Little Paper Planes Give-a-way Hilary Pecis Print..

I am super excited to greet you this Monday morning with not only the awesome work of Hilary Pecis but a chance to win the above print through Little Paper Planes. LPP is offering a very limited run of Hilary's "beautiful collaged moments", only 15 are available and one could be yours! Please leave a comment, I will leave the comment section open til Saturday. While you sit patiently with baited breath to find out if you won, check out this great interview with Hilary on LPP.

a cool stream of water

Sometimes, on a 90° day spent walking around the farmer’s marketyou just need to kick off your flip-flopsand wade ankle deep in a cool stream of water.{A special thanks to my stepmom for grabbing our camera to capture this!}

Christian Rex van Minnen Website Update..

Christian Rex van Minnen updated his website this weekend with three new pieces. Man, his painting is so intense and real! He makes meaty, guts and bulbous, tumors look almost beautiful with the warm light he captures so effortlessly, yet his work still manages to have a macabre edge. They almost glisten sinisterly. I find the pretty, white moths dancing around to be a nice, soft touch. You know, to take the edge off some dis-embowled guts found on the forest floor. I love Christian's juxtaposition of the gory with the beautiful. He does it so well. You can read a Q&A I did with Christian last year here.