Ramblings of a…
Archive for July, 2010
The Wonders Of “Content Aware” in Photoshop CS5
Ok ok I know I am a little late in jumping on the Band Wagon for the new features of Photoshop CS5.
I thought I would write a post which contains 3 of the video’s I found to be amazing with the new “Content Aware” feature in CS5.
Content Aware has re-ignited my interest in both Photoshop as a whole and Photography (a hobby).
Content-Aware Fill Sneak Peek
This video was/is the very first video I saw, I was amazed when the tree was simply deleted !! Watch and you shall see… Sooo much better than the old methods such as Spot Heal, Clone Stamp Etc…!!
How awesome !!??!
Content Aware Spot Healing
Ok the next video shows how to use the Spot Healing tool along with Content Aware.
Content Aware Scaling
This next video is about “Content Aware Scaling“, again another fantastic feature, and as the narrator describes it is much easier than the old methods to achieve a similar result.
Hold Your Horses.. Is It Really That Easy??
These 3 videos are truly awesome, they show how easy Content Aware is to use, or so I thought. After installing CS5 and eagerly jumping into Photoshop (ignoring Dreamweaver, Illustrator etc…) I found it wasn’t quite so easy. I grabbed the first image I could find which was suitable for experimenting and began fiddling with content aware.
To begin with I was having some strange results, if I could give one tip to all new users to Photoshop (something which I had forgotten foolishly) it would be this… “make sure you are using an image with suitably high resolution“. My first attempts were with low res images, and the results were shall I say … Disappointing.
Ok I guess my eagerness got the better of me on this occasion. since then I have had a lot of joy out of Content Aware in CS5.
Happy Photoshopping !!
Vagus Nerve Stimulator (VNS)
All going well with Tom’s VNS.
Well Thomas (my son) has had his Vagus Nerve Stimulator (VNS) now for just over 2 months and I can happily say i am very impressed with how it has changed his life in such a short space of time…
Tom was diagnosed with Epilepsy when he was 1 (hes 4 1/2 now). Things were pretty steady for a while, having a seizure every few months. As soon as he started school they quickly increased until he was having up to 20 seizures every day. The doctors tried all sorts of Anti Epilepsy Drugs to help control them, all of which had little effect.
The VNS was suggested in December ’09, we applied for funding (as each implant costs £10,000) and thankfully got it. Tom joined the waiting list and was given a Operation date of the 26th April 2010.
VNS Device
What Is the VNS??
For people who are researching what the VNS is and what it does this picture is of me holding a replica of the device so you can get a good idea of what it looks like here. As you can see they are fairly big!! I was shocked how big they are, however once implanted under the skin it forms only a slight bulge.
The Vegus Nerve Stimulator is a device which acts in very much the same was as Grandads “Pace Maker” for his heart… Instead of controlling the rhythm of a heart beat it controls and regulates the Electrical impulses in the brain in an attempt to control epileptic activity and reduce seizures.
The device is implanted on your chest under the skin, and a wire is connected to the left Vagus nerve in the neck. Thomas has two very neat little scars following his operation.
The operation its self was fairly quick, it was over within 2 hours and Tom was back on the ward within 3 hours.
Once the scars had healed after a couple of weeks we returned to the hospital and had the device switched on. The epilepsy nurse held a “magic wand” to his chest and activated it (must be some kind of bluetooth type thing.. Cooool !! I have a bluetooth child).
The device was set to “pulse” every 5mins for 30 seconds at a very low electrical current, the device can be tweaked to pulse more frequently and with higher current depending on the needs of the patient. The good thing about this device is that you can control how much stimulation it gives. The hospital provide you with a magnet which can be swiped across the device if the patient feels a seizure coming on. In a lot of cases the effects of the seizure will be reduced and in some cases even prevented.
After The Device Was Implanted.
Initially the device had very little effect, which made me think was it all worth it. After tweaking the device settings Thomas’ seizures were dramatically decreased, from 20 a day before the implant to 6 a day within the first month of having the VNS.
This is a fantastic result, we went back to the hospital and had the device tweaked again, the current increased slightly and his seizures have reduced to 1 or 2 a week.
I am amazed with the effects the VNS has had on Tom’s life within such a short space of time. His co-ordination, speech, attention span and quality of life have all improved !!! The doctors say that it usually can take anywhere from 6months – 12 months after implanting the device for the settings to be tailored to the individual. After only 3 months things are looking very good for Thomas, hopefully the next visit to hospital will finally rid him of his seizures.
Further Info
If you want to read more about the VNS I have provided a few useful links below..
Cyberonics – www.cyberonics.com
Epilepsy Action – www.epilepsy.org.uk
Fable – A History of VNS – www.fable.org.uk
National Epilepsy Society – www.epilepsysociety.org.uk
Well well… my first post.
Ok ok I have taken long enough to get round to setting up a Blog !!
I really have no idea where this is going to take me, I did originally intend to create a Blog which is related to my profession (SEO / Web Design). Then I thought about creating a Blog about Epilepsy from a parents point of view. (My son has Epilepsy).
These two ideas are pretty good on thier own, I had a long hard think about why I wanted a Blog, I settled for creating one mainly for myself and if other people find it interesting then yay !! It will be a combination of everything which is going on in my life at the moment so interesting, some boring, some useful and some complete rubbish.
I may look into setting up a different Blog for my SEO / Web work at a later date, but quite honestly my life is pretty full at the moment and will find it difficult to keep on top of more than one Blog.
Ok so my Blog.. I have been trawling the internet looking for suitable themes after updating to WordPress 3 (I found some shocking themes). I have settled for this theme for now as personally I quite like it, no other reason !
Im sure I will find blogging easier as I find my feet and get into a rhythm, but for now this is all I can muster up. If you want to read more about my professional life then there is a link at the top.
Awesome !! 