Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with background

photography that blends into web pages

ollyolly — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 11:10:36 -0800

Is there a term for photography with a plain-colored background (i.e. a background that will blend seamlessly into an x-colored web page background)? I like photographs that blend seamlessly into the background color of a web page (e.g. this photo of red shoes). Basically, anything photographed so that there are no shadows, patterns, or textures to indicate where the photo ends and the surrounding web page background begins. I've tried just searching "white background" (that's where I found the above example photo), but is there a specific term (or place to look) for this type of photography?

Good movie driving shots for chroma keying?

wavejumper — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 08:30:30 -0800

Here's a fun one: can you think of any films that have good, usable -moving background- shots / tracking shots, that I could use as a fake "driving" backdrop for a movie I'm making? I filmed a green-screen shot of my friends driving and dancing along in a convertible (which wasn't actually moving) for their music video...and now I'm chroma-keying in various exotic and ridiculous moving backgrounds. I'm looking for things like: driving along a beach highway, driving along a beach itself, driving through a nightclub district or New York / Las Vegas downtown at night, driving through a jungle, anything crazy even (like boating shots over water, etc.), anything that looks cool, i't supposed to be ridiculous and fake and fun, that's fine, but we're also trying to make it look -awesome- :-). So recent or high-res, non-jumpy clips would be best. One shot I have so far is them driving through outer space, which is pretty cool looking.

Can you think of any films (or other sources) that have tracking shots like what I'm thinking of? I need two angles: one looking directly backwards out the rear of a moving vehicle, and one looking sideways off the side of the road as things go by. "Empty," purely background-only shots would be best of course, though with a certain amount of finess, I could remove another car in the shot and replace it with the one we filmed. I can also reverse shots that show forward-motion, so those are possibly usable as well. Thanks a lot!

If it hurts, don't do it?

pwnguin — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 13:01:17 -0800

Why does my background torture LCD screens? I made a (IMO) awesome fractal background in GIMP. I'm discovering though that it's rather killer on LCD screens. Supposedly LCD doesn't suffer burn-in, but that's basically what I'm facing.

Only some parts of the image seem to provoke "image persistence" or whatever people want to call this. Interestingly, only the dark regions seem to trigger memory, but not all dark regions. The dark areas on the screen border left or right don't trigger it.

For a long time I thought it was some weird magnetic field line effect, before I realized my background does have similar form. Are there ways to tweak the image to reduce this?

How to create a dot background pattern for a blog / website??

arbor day — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 20:44:17 -0800

I'm looking to create a very subtle dot background pattern, like the one on this site. I'm pretty familiar with Photoshop and Illustrator and have been able to produce a dot pattern, but the scale is much too big, and when I try to create a smaller pattern using a smaller circle, it simply disappears, or becomes a solid gray once I import it as a background. Does anyone have any idea how to make a pattern like the one on that site? It seems like it should be pretty straightforward, but I haven't been able to figure it out.

How to know if your luck has run out?

lslelel — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 20:45:57 -0800

Five interviews in a three weeks...no offers...Am I doing something wrong or is it 'the market'? Please have a look at this list of experiences and let me know if you see anything odd. I am happy I am getting interviews, but I wonder after all of these ups and downs...Are these companies managing my expectations only to keep me interested?

All of these opportunities were made via Cover Letters and Resumes sent in by email, no personal connections...

1) Web Development Company - Meet 1st level IT admin, relatively cold on me at first, warmed up, and got his boss to talk to me. Got along great with the boss for around an hour, nailed technical questions, went over my and his experiences, generally had a great time...He gets the HR lady to explain to me the next steps. She's walking out and tells me 'We've made some other appointments and have to honor those because it's polite, but you need to meet the VP next and we can move forward." I follow up a few days later by email., but don't hear anything. Get a phone call saying they made an offer to someone else. Kick in the stomach really...

2) Financial IT company - Interview with IT Admin starts cold, but ends great after an hour or so...On my way out he says he definitely wants me to meet the boss the next week, but by the time I get home the 2nd interview is already scheduled for the next day. I go to meet the boss, get a cold look, and the overall meeting lasts three minutes. Never heard a definitive no, but it's obvious right?

3) Hospital - Go to meet the manager of the department I'm working in. Get along great right off the bat, we cover a million bases of what they do, and since my last full time gig was in the industry, so I share similar stories, and how I already basically know what they need. Great humor from her, and we get along great. Most of the time, she's on her Blackberry towards the end trying to get her boss to meet me, she tells me she can't make it and how about Monday. Monday rolls around, no appointment. My primary contact in HR tells me that my email goes unanswered because she was on vacation, and she is waiting on feedback. Nothing since

4) Hedge Fund placement (shudder...yes i wrote that)...THE YOUNGEST PEOPLE IVE EVER INTERVIEWED WITH. No joke...they must have just finished their bachelor's or still finishing it. They were all about logic problems, corporate philosophy statements (think corny Jack Welch/business motivation book synopsis) and some technical questions. I go through a pretty decent grilling, including some attitude testing from the 2nd round person...I finally get to meet with an adult who goes through a series of questions, ends with 'Great, you seem like a good guy. I need you to sit in on a conference call tommorow, call me in the afternoon". I call in around 12, speak to the 1st young kid who tells me 'Things are hectic here. I will get you some feedback later in the day". Didnt hear anything back.

5) Small IT Shop - Great guys. Nothing but positive back and forth and some explicit interest. Have an interview with a VP next week, and I'm still confident about this one. I need this one.

My cover letters and CV can't be horrible because they are getting me interviews. I'm not dumb about interviews. I know how to dress, talk, groom, and 'read' the situation. I've had horrible interviews in the past, and generally have a good sense of how things are going, and know when/how to tell a joke and when to be serious.

So What's Wrong With Me?
31, Male...um...'ethnic'/facial hair

I moved around alot, first due to years of temp/admin work , recent relocations due to corporate restructuring and one move for a girlfriend/greatjob that didnt pan out....the greatjob...not the girlfriend.

Most of the jobs I used to get were one interview, and I knew by the end of the day sort of thing...I'm not used to this back and forth, and honestly, I don't have the stamina or money to wait weeks and weeks.

Any advice? Apologies for the poor grammar above.

Where to find vector graphic website backgrounds?

Merlin144 — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 13:54:46 -0800

Where can I find/buy great website backgrounds such as the examples below? Or, where can I find good vector graphics to tile and make my own? I want to download/buy/create a few backgrounds similar to:
http://ecozenboutique.com/
http://babybearshop.com/shop5-welcome.htm

Please let me know where to find similar, or if you have ideas for vector graphics sites where I could find something to tile-ize.

Thank you!

Why won't firefox display pages correctly?

runcibleshaw — Wed, 06 May 2009 16:11:29 -0800

What is wrong with my firefox? It seems like firefox has forgotten how to display backgrounds and colors on web pages. I don't know anything about css or html, so I don't really know what the problem is, but I posted a couple screenshots of two pages and the error console for one in this album. I have tried completely uninstalling and reinstalling firefox, but with no luck. Chrome and Safari work fine. This is on an Acer Aspire One running Windows XP.

unsettling ambient music?

MaddyRex — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 15:01:10 -0800

Looking for something along the lines of the theme to the movie Halloween, the Dark Knight Soundtrack or the background music to this amazing commercial Nothing with words, no thrasher metal, nothing atonal or screechy. Just soft, creepy ambient music. A clear, heavy beat might be nice but isn't necessary. Thanks!

Upbeat instrumental, piano or string music?

Andy's Gross Wart — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 12:15:41 -0800

Please help me find other songs that have a similar sound to the first 30 seconds of Vampire Weekend's M79. I am looking for upbeat, celebratory, instrumental music to use as background music for my brother's wedding video. I really like the combination of strings and drums in the Vampire Weekend song. I have found some of the Bela Fleck, Yo Yo Ma, Mark O'Connor, Joshua Bell and Edgar Meyer tunes that are close to what I am looking for:

Etienne Et Petunia - Appalachia Waltz

BT - Heartland: An Appalachian Anthology

1B - Heartland: An Appalachian Anthology

Brooklyn Rider - Brooklesca - is another tune that sounds similar.

Are there any other songs or musicians that are similar to the M79 introduction?

Are college degrees public or private record?

ilovehistory — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 16:21:57 -0800

Are college diplomas public record? Are transcripts the only method of proof of college work completed? Don't some web sites have a listing of names of the graduates of that year? I've had employers ask me to bring them the physical degree and also other schools ask for transcripts. But, if I want to find proof of somebody's college education, where could I find it without those things or somebody find that one me?

What color text on what color background maximizes screen readability while minimizing eyestrain?

Joe Beese — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 15:26:37 -0800

What color text on what color background maximizes screen readability while minimizing eyestrain? I've probably seen a dozen different answers to this question. The green-on-yellow suggested by this study seems like an especially poor choice.

Music teachers at school

mooza — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 11:15:52 -0800

How hard is it these days to get a job teaching kids music as a part of an after school or part time program? Are there many hurdles involving police checks etc? This is for a story I'm writing. If a guy who's good at music and needs a job but no experience teaching at schools has a friend who says "hey, my school is needs a music teacher for a few hours a week for this program", how plausible is that? Do you need more qualifications than just being musical? Are there background checks and do they take ages? Is it different in the US, Canada, UK, Australia etc?

Nonfiction DVDs for background?

cadge — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 09:41:20 -0800

DVD recommendations needed - boxed sets of documentaries and historical/cultural overviews to put on in the background while I'm working. When I'm working or cleaning up my house, I like to throw on nonfiction DVDs that you can listen to without actually needing to look at them.

I've had a great time watching the box set of A History of Britain, but by now I've thrown it on dozens of times and I'm looking for something new.

Any recommendations for nonfiction DVDs (documentaries, history, cultural concepts) that are good for background noise? I'm especially looking for overviews of American and world history (to balance out all the British history that's filled up my head) and for multi-part boxed sets.

I want to see what Google sees

BobbyVan — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 15:56:45 -0800

How can I make my Vista desktop display what people are searching for on Google? I was watching this video about Google's NYC headquarters, and they had a cool floor display that projects what people are searching for on Google in a cool, Matrixy kind of way.

So I was thinking that it would be cool if there was some sort of widget for Vista that could display live Google searches the same way, preferably covering my entire desktop background. I just want to see the randomness of the Internet cascading across my screen.

Is there anything like that out there?

America, it's time for our desktops to CHANGE.

bookish — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 09:58:59 -0800

Please help me find a good desktop background image, with which to celebrate the election of Barack Obama as 44th president of the USA. Right now I've got this one up, but Barack's head is all down in the corner and it's hard to appreciate.

What do I show on a bunch of projectors during this event?

niles — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 12:34:34 -0800

This week an organization I work with is running a big, high energy (iPhone and Wii giveaways, the whole 9 yards) event geared towards high-school students. I'm tasked with organizing some of the creative/design aspects of it, but I've hit a few dead ends, specifically in the area of what I would call ambient video. I have two parts I'm looking for help with.

1) During the opening of the event, we have a band playing a song. For similar events we've done openers similar to Blue Man Group's Be a Rockstar with prerecorded music, so I could just put something together in Motion. No way I'm doing that for live stuff, and all of the programs along the lines of MilkDrop I've tried lag a good 1.5 seconds behind.
In short, what do the cool kids throw up on the screen during shows these days?

2) We'll also have a few screens set up throughout the auditorium playing other ambient video before anything starts. We'll most likely be playing music videos on the main screen, so I'm fine driving the secondary projectors with something like MilkDrop, but I'm wondering if there is anything else out there. I've looked through some of the other questions along these lines, but I don't want the "random nature shots" that they all seem to be.
The theme of this event is "Big", so maybe random commercials/short videos incorporating that idea? I'm not sure.

Thanks for the help!

ID song from "iPhone in the enterprise" video?

Asymptote — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 17:16:16 -0800

What is the song used in the background of Apple's iPhone in the enterprise video? It's intensely familiar which is why I'm especially bugged about not being able to figure out what it is.

My first thought was that it was Digital Droo. I can't find any of his songs that match. Maybe I heard on Groove Salad.

If the direct link to the video above stops working, you can click on "Watch the video" on the left of side of this page.

Thanks!

What's the best site to conduct background checks?

thewittyname — Thu, 22 May 2008 20:58:15 -0800

What's the best website to research someone's background? I know there are several websites where you can conduct background searches on people, usually for a fee. Which ones are good, and which ones should I avoid?

Reading people by observing subtle mannerisms

sixcolors — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 08:47:16 -0800

Help me read people better. What are some ways that you can locate certain personality types or backgrounds based on body language and interaction with the environment? Many of my friends and even some of my relatives are ahead of me on this. When we meet new people or observe strangers out in public, they can tell if someone's a virgin vs. promiscuous, straight vs. gay, upper middle class vs. working class, nice vs. asshole, local vs. from X state/city, etc.

The thing is that I don't think my friends go by obvious things such as clothing or hairstyle. I think those things are taken into consideration, but not the only things. I'm usually told it's "the way they move" or how they react to things and people around them.

[HR / background checks] What exactly is a "10-year background check" (for the US feds)?

coffeefilter — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 15:50:15 -0800

[HR / background checks] What exactly is a "10-year background check" (for the US feds)? I've already read through Metafilter's extensive "background check" archive. Sounds like half the world has a suspicious background they're worried about! Me too!

I thought I'd try to make my questions as specific as possible, so here they are. This is in reference to the federal "10-year background check." What do they check, how do they check it, and how do they interpret the results? Here goes:

Prior Residences -

(1) Suppose you lived in 10 different states in the last 10 years. Would the federal agency consider you "unstable" somehow?

(2) Suppose you lived in a third world country for a while, and their police force, such as it is, never responds to requests. Especially from those bossy Americans! So when a US agency does a criminal records search, they can't get any information at all, positive or negative. What happens then? Is your background check delayed indefinitely?

Prior Bad Employers -

(3) What if one of your past employers has gone out of business? What happens when the background checker is unable to verify your dates of employment? Do you fail your background check?

(4) What if your past employer is really, really disorganized, so when the background checker calls them, they say they don't remember you, and hang up? Does the background checker assume you were lying?

Unverifiable Gaps in Employment History-

(5) What if you spent several years not working, because you were being the house -wife/husband? And your SO is now your insane ex-SO. Are they actually going to call up your insane ex-SO?

(6) What if you took a few months off to explore the wilderness? Do you have to find some park ranger's telephone number so they can verify it? Or how about two moose and a bear? Or do they just figure you're a total slacker?

And finally -

(7) If something bad turns up, do they ever tell you, so you can resolve it? Like someone stole your identity, and now you're wanted for bank robbery in seven different states. Will they tell you? Or do they just quietly send you letter thanking you for your interest, but they had many qualified candidates ....

My mind says fraud, but that can't be right.

Phire — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 19:16:58 -0800

Legally, what would you call refusal to adhere to city/government by-laws to fingerprint or background check volunteer workers? I imagine it's a fairly serious crime. Location in Canada preferably, but US examples welcome. If an organization is required by city/provincial/whatever law to screen their volunteers/workers via background checks or fingerprinting, and the employer actually refuses to follow through on this during the hiring process and allows unscreened volunteers to work anyway, what would this be called, and what would the consequence be if reported/caught?

CSS Alternative Style Sheets

maxwelton — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 14:37:55 -0800

Do the contents of alternative style sheets load when they are not the active style sheet? I understand that background images in style sheets all load when embedded in a common style sheet--this is why you have additional style sheets if you use (for example) different background images for various pages of a website, to prevent a page from having to load images it has no need to display.

My question: Are the background images in all style sheets requested on page load, or only those in the current active style sheet? For example, if my main style sheet has

#dork { background: url("bg.jpg"); }

and I have a couple of alternative style sheets for users to choose from, all of which contain some variation on

#dork { background: url("bg2.jpg"); }

are all of those different background images for "dork" loaded no matter what, or only the "dork" background image in the currently selected sheet? To use an extreme example, you could have 100 alternative style sheets each calling a different 50K image. Not a big deal if they're only loaded when requested, but internet-exploding if they all are called at once.

Mystery voice haunts Ted Leo song. News at 11.

spiderskull — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 12:16:06 -0800

What is this mysterious background voice saying in the Ted Leo & The Pharmacists song "Ballad of the Sin Eaters"? It comes somewhere around 3:58... I usually don't listen to this song because it gets tiresome, which is how I somehow missed this for so long.

It sounds like a female voice, and I believe she says something about cocaine followed by some laughter.

I don't have my audio tools anymore, so I can't really get in there and isolate it. It sounds like it's panned a bit to the right. Maybe someone else will have more luck?

GoogleFu fails me...

Ikazuchi — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 08:07:09 -0800

OK, in the vein of kinda wasting a question but I really want to know: Anyone know either where can I find a non-resized version of this wallpaper or a link to where I can snag the original photo and make my own version?

IE6 Image Display Bug

maxwelton — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 14:44:41 -0800

In IE6, I occasionally get an image being covered by the background color of the div that contains it. Huh? If I have this (much simplified, both HTML and CSS) structure:

<div>

   <div>

      <div style="background-color: #fff;">

         <p><img src="ie_blows.jpg" width="100" height="100" style="float: left;" />Howdy neighbors!</p>

         <p style="clear: both;">Next paragraph, etc.</p>

      </div>

   </div>

</div>

In IE6, the page lays out as you'd expect, with a space for the image, but the #fff background color will be all you can see. Oddly, if you right-click, you can save the image, or view it in a new window, but it always displays behind the background of its containing div. So it's there but not there. This doesn't happen all the time, so it must be a combination of style attributes that causes this to happen.

I googled, probably not very precisely, trying to find if this is a known bug and what its trigger might be, but didn't see anything. IE7, FF, etc. don't have this problem.

I've tried a few different things but the only thing that actually works is removing the background attribute from the containing div, not a real elegant solution.