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Welcome! This, my randomly-(dis)organised WWW site is starting to become more and more of a sprawl (or Sprawl, if you've ever read 'Neuromancer'). It started out quite simply and has continued to grow, somewhat incrementally, ever since. As you wander around here, you'll soon realise that although I'm an engineer, working on a big telescope project, my interests extend into animation, art, writing, digital imagery & photography - this engineer is also a scuba diver, a WWW-page hacker, a spare-time Java addict and someone who thinks that Disney's Beauty and the Beast is a landmark work in animated filmaking. I also reckon that the average day is too short by at least 24 hours... So, that's what you're letting yourself in for. Enjoy! |
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'Not An Actual Life...' |
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| Site-Seeing There are a few good things out there that become important. I keep 'em here, so I don't have to go too far to get my daily fix.
..and more Some of these pages have been quite neglected in recent months, but you may wanna take a look!
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Big Science? In 1998 I left the Royal Greenwich Observatory in Cambridge, England and am now working for the Gemini 8m Telescopes Project here in Hawaii - yes, it's a tough life alright! You can read a little more about this international project right here. With a staggering lack of foresight and a total absence of historical perspective, the RGO closed in October 1998. This decision was taken by the current UK Government and the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council - PPARC, the controlling body. I wish British science the best of luck. Its custodians have not shown themselves to have its best interests at heart... Tech. stuff... Need information? Check out my page of links to tech sites - including semiconductor manufacturers, some hardware and software suppliers, etc. Mostly electronics and control oriented.
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Animation, Art & Obsession... |
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Animation, Disney and me...
After I saw Walt Disney's animated feature Beauty and the Beast in London in 1992, I realised that I'd discovered animation too late, but also at a time when it was entering a new Golden Age, in technical achievement and popularity. Because of my overwhelming admiration for the achievement and the effort of making it, I put together this series of Web pages about Beauty and the Beast - including one dedicated to my favourite animator, Glen Keane.
That wasn't the end of it. I started to draw - just because I wanted to see if I could do it. I'm still at it; it's tough, it's frustrating, but I wouldn't give it up. (Notice that I didn't say I was any good - but what the hell. :) |
Canis lupus et al...
It started with a copy of a great book, the Wolves of Time: Journeys to the Heartland, by William Horwood. A tangled tale (tail?!) then followed - I'm responsible for introducing this book to a friend of mine, Matt Robinson, where it kinda displaced his lion-obsession for a while... :) In his turn, Matt introduced me to a remarkable book on wolves; Of Wolves and Men - which meant that when I started drawing, I already had an animal obsession going; plus an interest in mythology, folk tales and the mythic beasts. When you see the sketches of lions, wolf paws, animal and furry heads, y'know why... Meanwhile, I begin work on Kãnii. I have no idea what this will turn into... wait and see. |
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Sketchpads... After I'd been trying to draw/sketch for a good while, I started keeping sketchpads around and, following some good advice, threw down little drawings, scribbled notes etc., as often as I could. It helped! If you are starting out too, be prepared to do the same - produce hundreds, thousands of 'bad' drawings, waste a lot of paper, spend a lot of time at it - for encouragement (and so you can have a laugh at my attempts) take a look at a few things I've done. (Yeah, they are the absolute best of my work - so you can see, I have a way to go!) So far, my virtual Daler pad - where I put the 1% of stuff that's possibly worth a look - has three pages; called (with a staggering lack of originality) page 1, page 2 and page 3. |
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Imaging & Art Resources... A few good sites...
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Photoshopping... Once upon a time, I used the (still available, and still excellent) PaintShop Pro: but now I'm a Photoshop convert. Photoshop V5.0 is (still) pretty much the ultimate in image manipulation - providing you have that sort of lateral-thinking mind, and a willingness to experiment. If not - check the following for stacks of free Photoshop plugins and filters, so can you can still do things the easy (and dull) way! |
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Cool Stuff Out There... |
| 'Citizens, citizens...'
Don't stop here! On your way back to the AOL and MSN-dominated net tedium, detour through the exotic domains of this select group of friends, scattered around the world... Be sure to see Ian Richardson's site - also here in Hawaii, Ian and his Canon gear explore the reaches of these islands (check out his great lava photography!); James Hallows - by now a dentist, once a diver, but also the creator of a great bit of software for the flight sim/gaming community - Fox 2 Pro - and Matt Robinson - lion and wolf obsessive, impulsive and barking-mad furry...! Remember, these people are the future! :) |
Wonders...
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Java... Java is my latest programming language. Below are some useful links to get hold of the stuff you will need to get started:
...and all the rest All the stuff I couldn't be
bothered to segment, categorise and organise. It's here:
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Net Censorship? Unregulated, uncensorable smut? Or the greatest, most accessible and anarchic information resource ever? (Believe it - as of April '98, the estimated size of the Web is 320 million pages!) Join the debate - and check out the resources below.
Think you're an unknown on the Internet? Think again...
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 If you wish, you can email me at chris.carter(at)iee.org To assert your right to private communication, you can
use PGP. You will find my public key on public keyservers such as this one. Search on my name; my key ID
is 3E2A28C0.
Alternatively, contact me by land mail: c/o Gemini Observatory 670 North A'ohoku Place University Park Hilo 96720-2700 Hawaii (808) 974 2581 Voice (808) 935 9235 Fax |
Some images on these and subsequent pages are copyright © and/or registered trademarks ® of their respective organisations. All such trademarks and source material are acknowledged. In particular:
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This page has received Thank you! |