PyQt is lacking a range slider, or double-handled slider, and I didn't like the ones I found out there, so I implemented this simple one in Python and made it available on GitHub.

http://rsgalloway.github.com/QRangeSlider

Changelog:

• Added support for wildcards in source input
• Added format method to Sequence class for formatted string stdout
• Printing a Sequence instance now returns a simplified compressed sequence string
• Added SequenceError exception for non-sequence exceptions
• Sequence append method raises SequenceError for non-sequence members
• Export diff function to get numeric differences between two sequential files
• Alpha version of uncompress func for expansion of compressed sequence strings
• Added additional attributes to Item class: path, frame, head, tail
• Item name attribute is now base name, fixes bug with file paths as names
• Moved function main() to lss permanently
• Added --format and --debug options to lss
• Ability to set log level with environment variable $PYSEQ_LOG_LEVEL
• Simplified format directives, e.g. from %(head)s to %h, with support for padding, e.g. %04l
• Fixed duplicate sequence index number bug
• Added 32 additional sequence file test cases
• Performance improvements
• Documentation improvements

http://rsgalloway.github.com/pyseq/

My father, Dr. Darrell Galloway, "retired" about a year ago, in December 2009. Since then he's been doing some of the usual retirement things, but also fielding consulting offers from various company boards, universities and the government. The civilian equivalent of an Admiral, he headed up billion dollar programs at the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) for the Pentagon (DoD) assigned to research and counter biological weapons, including launching a program called "Transformational Medical Technologies Initiative (TMTI)".

TMTI, how it was used to combat the swine flu and my father were the subjects of a recent article in the New Yorker, called "Going Viral" (Full Article), written by Pulitzer Prize winning author David E. Hoffman. Hoffman's article is well written and it's actually a fun read, without much technical jargon. I could even see it being adapted into a film akin to "Outbreak", or "The Andromeda Strain".

On Tuesday night, April 28, 2009, Darrell Galloway, a senior official at the Pentagon’s Defense Threat Reduction Agency, watched a news report from Mexico City about a new strain of influenza known as swine flu that was spreading fast. That night, Galloway, a microbiologist, resolved to do something about it. He was authorized by the military to work on a specific set of threatening diseases that were considered potential weapons in war or in terrorism, including anthrax, smallpox, plague, and the Ebola and Marburg hemorrhagic fevers. Influenza was outside his focus, but the next morning, Galloway summoned his staff and announced that they were to begin work immediately on creating a new antiviral drug to combat swine flu.

I remember that well because at the time I was planning a trip to Mexico City, and he urged me to reconsider. I ended up going anyway, but about a month later instead. Fortunately, I didn't get sick at all, not even with Montezuma's revenge.


TMTI's basic initiative is to modernize and speed up the development of vaccines and therapeutics against deadly pathogens, and the swine flu was a perfect way to test its rapid response capabilities. Ironically, it seems the biggest hurdles to rapidity were politics and overzealous DoD bureaucrats concerned with protocol. Eschewing these obstacles, Dr. Galloway decided to take matters into his own hands, and in the end the work was vindicated making TMTI a permanent program at the DoD.

In January, 2010, President Obama, in his State of the Union address, promised "a new initiative that will give us the capacity to respond faster and more effectively to bioterrorism or an infectious disease."

He did complain about the politics from time to time, but that must have felt good.

via The Hollywood Reporter

The new full-service VFX business will aim to cut costs for clients without sacrificing quality. Three VFX veterans from Robert Zemeckis’ recently shuttered ImageMovers Digital have launched a new facility in Emeryville, Calif.

Named Atomic Fiction, the business was co-founded by Kevin Baillie, who serves as president and VFX supervisor; Ryan Tudhope, creative director and VFX supervisor; and Jenn Emberly, performance and animation supervisor. At ImageMovers, Baillie, Tudhope and Emberly served as VFX supervisor, digital FX supervisor and performance supervisor, respectively. 

 I found this part especially interesting (Kevin told me they're utilizing Amazon EC2):

“We’re trying to find smart ways to do things less expensively,” Baillie said. “We are looking at cloud computing for rendering so that we pay for it as a service, pay as you go.”

I think it's great the AF is trying to innovate in a market where many producers are chasing subsidies and tax incentives. I think the best way to stay competitive in the VFX market these days, especially in California, is through real innovation.

Using Emeryville as its data center, the company also is considering the use of satellite bases in areas such as in Louisiana or Vancouver, where it can benefit from financial incentives.

Obviously, Vancouver is a major industry hub these days, but Louisiana could be next. Pixel Magic recently opened a branch in Louisiana and Huck Wirtz is basing his startup Bayou FX there as well. Apparently, Louisiana offers some great tax incentives in addition to LITE being in Lafayette.