Custom Fonts

I came across a periodic table for fonts recently and it made me think of generating a custom font.

 

Image from http://www.behance.net/

 

A quick search for custom fonts led me to this site: http://www.yourfonts.com/

Basically the steps break down like this:

1. Print out the character form
2. Fill in each letter with your handwriting
3. Scan the form
4. Generate your font using the scanned image of the form
5. Download and install your font

The first font I created was really messy, so I created a second, which I think is an improvement, but still isn't quite what I want. 

I also had an idea for a "ransom" font which could be funny.  If I were to cut out characters from newspapers and magazines to use, paste them to the form and generate a font.  I'll let you know if I get around to that.

Here's the first font I did, starting with the form:

CBOND FONT 1

SINCE I USUALLY WRITE IN ALL CAPS, I WILL WRITE OUT THE SAMPLE STATEMENT IN ALL CAPS.

“WE THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES, IN ORDER TO FROM A MORE PERFECT UNION, ESTABLISH JUSTICE, INSURE DOMESTIC TRANQUILITY, PROVIDE FOR THE COMMON DEFENCE, PROMOTE THE GENERAL WELFARE, AND SECURE THE BLESSINGS OF LIBERTY TO OURSELVES AND OUR POSTERITY, DO ORDAIN AND ESTABLISH THIS CONSTITUTION FOR THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA”

“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

 

And here is the second font, starting with the form:

 

CBOND FONT 2

SINCE I USUALLY WRITE IN ALL CAPS, I WILL WRITE OUT THE SAMPLE STATEMENT IN ALL CAPS.

“WE THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES, IN ORDER TO FROM A MORE PERFECT UNION, ESTABLISH JUSTICE, INSURE DOMESTIC TRANQUILITY, PROVIDE FOR THE COMMON DEFENCE, PROMOTE THE GENERAL WELFARE, AND SECURE THE BLESSINGS OF LIBERTY TO OURSELVES AND OUR POSTERITY, DO ORDAIN AND ESTABLISH THIS CONSTITUTION FOR THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA”

“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

Updated Professional Site

I've updated my professional site, http://www.colinbond.com today. The previous version looked a little too hokey. I hope this looks better.

The Computers We Use

Desktop computers and laptops are so ubiquitous these days that we often don't stop to think about the machines that we use everyday.

On average I use three different computers a day, not including checking email and webpages on my T-Mobile Dash smartphone.

I compiled a quick Power Point presentation based on the machines I use every day.

Compy/Lappy Presentation

Pride

Mike proudly stands next to the urinal in his 'ice house'.

For the rest of the photos, check out the photo set on Flickr: 20070908-The Urinal

Irish's garage/ice house

The urinal in Mike's garage

mike and i hung the urinal in his garage/ice house. ;-)

@ the incubus concert

Monica, Heather, Mike and I at the Incubus concert in The Woodlands.

See the rest of the photo set here: Incubus [Flickr]

Walking Around Houston

On Saturday morning I went for a long walk through the neighborhood. It turned out to be 4.6 miles in an hour and a half.

The neighborhood is really eclectic. There are half-million-dollar-plus town homes next door to one-storey single family homes next to a restaurant or antique store.


Here's a map of the path I took.

USB Missile Launcher

Jefe got Yeager and me a USB Missile Launcher a couple of weeks ago. Here's mine set up in my office.

UPDATE:

I showed the Missile Launcher to my manager and he loved it! My coworkers found it hilarious as well.

Thanks, Jefe.

Fwd: Today's driving lesson

So the following is an e-mail from a friend of mine.  He sent it to me this morning.  I thought this was a wonderful start to the day, so I'm sharing it with you.

 

The term "C1" (used in the last sentence) refers to me.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Aug 22, 2007 10:49 AM
Subject: Today's driving lesson

So today I learned something on the road, that I thought I'd share with you. A 'safety moment' if you will....

 

Knowns: I am a very observant person. I take calculated risks. I handle my truck well.

 

Actors: J1Yeage (me) and A1Hole (the other guy)

 

Scenario: I am travelling at 75 mph westbound on IH 610 N in the left lane. Traffic is relatively light between 45 and 290. There is a distant car ahead and a couple cars in the lane to my right. No one is behind me. I have just gotten off of the Hardy ramp to enter 610 westbound and sat in the line waiting to pass the backup that occurs every morning where 45 south dumps onto 610 west. After those slow 4 miles, it's usually smooth sailing until 290.

 

As I mentioned earlier, there is no one behind me and I haven't squeezed my truck in anywhere, blocked anyone, tailgated, or otherwise upset any other drivers (this morning at least).

 

Next thing I know, there is a silver, late model Lincoln Town car right on my ass. He has offset to the left (half on the shoulder) to make we aware of his presence. By this time, because I am traveling 75 in a 65, I have nearly caught up to the car in front of me. There is still a solid wall of cars to my right. There is really no where for me to go at this point. I have been known to tailgate and it really doesn't make me the slightest bit nervous to have someone close on my tail. I continue at 75 with him probably 3 feet off my rear bumper. He is so close, I can see him getting upset in my very large side view mirror. This gave me a warm fuzzy, so I smiled at A1.

 

The car ahead of me slows for the traffic in front and I let off the throttle, but didn't hit the brakes. A few seconds later the car in front hits his brakes, so I am forced to apply mine. A1 also applied his brakes and slipped into a small gap that opened up one lane to my left. When he's even with me, he stares, so I smile back again. His next move is to cut me off, and hit his brakes (standard A1 move, totally expected) He proceeds to drive 35 mph allowing the gap ahead to grow to 300 yards.

 

I figured, "hmmm....I'll ride your ass the whole way to 610 & I-10 if you want me to...it would be my pleasure actually." He ended up doing something I didn't see coming though, he got out of my way and started changing lanes rapidly to the right as we approached 290. As I was passing him, he flipped me off...so I smiled and waved. Then I stopped and he came up to me again, flipped me off again, and I again....smiled and waved while laughing hysterically. I think that made him even madder. It was great.

 

Lesson for today:

"Smile at your enemies C1.....it confuses the shit out of them." - J1Yeage

Heinz Commercial

Hi everybody!

My brother entered a commercial contest for Heinz 57. He and his friends produced a 30 second commercial and it's on YouTube. Please check it out and rate it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gg0OdeiEVkk

I'm not exactly sure what the next step is, but I think judges will whittle the entries down and then let everyone vote for their favorite.