American Made - or Wasn't It

I have to post about a personal and not art related matter again, which is very important for me personally. I apologize for that before hand, but things like this are sometimes necessary. :)

When I posted yesterday about the YouTube video about the labor certification, did I also read the comments to the article in InformationWeek that pointed me to the video in the first place.

I also spend time to read some additional articles related to the subject, such as this one, titled
"The H-1B Debate: Beneath The Policy, The Personal".

I left a comment there as well and decided today to post about the issue again and show some aspects of the issue, which are often overlooked and ignored during the debate.

It often sounds like that America is doing foreign workers a favor by letting them into the country and work and produce in the United States.

This is only true in some cases, but it is in all cases also the other way around. The foreign workers are doing America a favor. In fact, America would not be what it is today without them.

You do not do me a favor by giving me a Green Card one day. You do yourself a favor, because if this is not going to happen, I will pack up and leave and take my business and ideas with me to another place, where my contributions to society is appreciated and wanted, not only financially (which makes a big junk of it though), but also culturally and intellectually.

To show my point, am I showing you an interesting study that was published by the NVCA - National Venture Capital Association called: "American Made - The Impact of Immigrant Entrepreneurs and Professionals on U.S. Competitiveness". You can download the study in PDF format here.

Often forgotten is the fact that you need a Green Card or Citizenship to start your own business in the U.S. (not to confuse with foreign investment and a visa you would get without problem because of that).

There is a considerable number of Immigrants who do not want to "take away a job of an American", no, they want to create jobs for Americans, if you let them. H-1B visa owners are often highly skilled and intelligent and made of the material that makes up an entrepreneur.

Google, Yahoo!, eBay, Sun Microsystems, Intel, WebEx, NVIDIA, Juniper Networks are all American companies, right? Not really, if the anti-immigration supporters would get it their way, none of those companies would exist, at least not in the United States.

The funny thing is that the complaints are coming from people who are not Native Americans. They are in essence former immigrants themselves or the descendant of one.

Germany, the country where I was born, has never been a country of immigration and the immigration laws of Germany always reflected that. They are bad and anti-immigration and Germany realized that they lost competitive advantage because of it. How much of great engineering and technological innovation came from Germany in the last few decades? Not very much, at least not enough to justify the view that some people still have of Germany.

Those things from the past, glory and reputation will fade away eventually if Germany will remain unable to live up to it.

Do Americans want to put themselves into the same position by forgetting and ignoring what made this country what it is today in the first place? I do not think so. Keep this in mind when you scream and yell about not letting highly educated and skilled foreign workers into the country where you did not even had to pay for their education.

Cheers!

Carsten aka Roy/SAC

Immigration Issues, YouTube PERM Video and Backgrounds

This week issue of Information Week, which I had in the mail today, had a little news article titled: “Of Green Cards & YouTube”, which caught my attention.

The law firm Cohen & Grigsby published a video on YouTube.com from its May conference discussing immigration laws with employers. The speaker describes a practice that sounds not so nice if taken out of context. The video was pulled from the site after the firm got a letter from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL).

The Programmers Guild was able save a copy of the video before it was removed. They re-edited it and added text messages and comments to it and then re-published it at YouTube.com again. The video is available below.

The video has been viewed over 160,000 times while I was writing this and over 1,400 comments were made. The comments were mostly garbage that mix-up this case with illegal immigration and industry migration to low labor cost countries.

The video speaks about the PERM (PDF), also known as Labor Certification, which is the first step of the Green Card process for foreign workers who already live and work in the United States and have a valid work authorization via a work visa, such as H-1B or L1. The first step of the PERM requires employers to post a Job Ad in three places to find an U.S. citizen who would qualify for the job. If no qualified U.S. workers respond, an employer can immediately apply for certification.

The lawyer in the video states: that the goal is to find ways to comply with immigration laws and not to find qualified and interested workers at the same time.
This sounds bad, if taken out of context as I mentioned already. I was going through the process myself and can relate to it. I do not agree with using shady methods though, but I also do not agree with how the immigration process is handled right now as well.

What are they talking about here is to speed up the process to acquire a Labor Certification and do not delay or jeopardize it. This is not done because of kindness and love for the employee, at least not primarily, but for very selfish reasons. A foreign worker who works for the company already for some time, often year does so based on a work visa. To acquire a work visa for a foreigner are similar steps necessary as for the Labor Certification and is IMO the right time when it makes the most sense. Why hire somebody from out of the country, if you have domestic workers available and looking for such job?

Now a foreign worker cannot stay forever in the country based on a work visa. The duration of such visas (including extension) is usually five to six years. If the foreign worker wants to stay longer in the country than that, he has to start the immigration process to become a permanent resident (= Green Card).

The company who sponsors a Green Card process is obviously satisfied with the foreign worker and wants him to keep beyond the lifetime of the work visa. The worker qualifies for the job, knows it very well and fits into the organization. If that would not be the case, they would not sponsor the process, period.

They do not want to replace the employee with somebody else and invest time and money into his training to come up to speed and 100% effective and to find out if the person fits into the company or not. The Labor Certification adds some risk that the company might be forced to do that, because of shifts in the job market. Take the job market for web developers and engineers in the Bay Area in 2001, after the DOT COM crash. The end-result for the foreign worker would be horrible as well, because he is forced to leave his newfound home as result of that.

The video talks about ways to reduce that risk for the employer and the worker. I personally do not understand why another Labor Certification is necessary for somebody who qualified already for the work visa earlier. There are no higher skills and education necessary to qualify for the Labor Certification than it is for a work visa, as far as I know.

Well, but this is a complete different issue.

Because of my own issues (or better delays, which are an issue for me) with the U.S. immigration process, did I create a web page that contains useful tips and resources for people who want to start or are in the process of getting a Green Card. My resources are clean and straightforward though.

This was a personal post and unrelated to art, but I thought I have to comment on this.

Cheers!
Carsten aka Roy/SAC

Baby Girls Olympic Games 2012 with Broken Logo

I just came across Seth Godins post about the unveiling of the new Olympic Games logo for the 2012 Olympic Summer Games in London UK.

The official post (or whatever you want to call it) was actually made by the BBC.CO.UK on June 4, 2007. The ugliness of the logo made me actually create an account at the BBC website and leave this comment about the logo.

Quote (myself):

This is is ugliest logo for an important event like this I have ever seen. Starting with the colors and ending with the shapes. It looks like the "broken Olympics" or the baby girls Olympics logo that was dropped by one of the baby girls when the pampas slipped.

The worst thing is that:

1. £400,000 were wasted on this piece of junk


2. a bunch of official guys brag about it as if it would be the best thing since Michelangelo's "The Last Judgement" painting on the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel in Rome.

I added the logo to the post only for one reason. As proof that I am not talking BS here and that it is really as ugly as I said it is.

For this amount of money could they have gotten tens of thousands great logos designed by artists from around the world. They could have just started a contest at deviantART.com and offered £10,000 as prize money. That's it. Problem solved.

I actually recommend that they still do that. It's still enough time to fix the "broken logo".

Gesundheit!
Carsten aka Roy/SAC

Nude Girls in ASCII - Even More Naked Truth

I realized 2 days after my post about the 30 years of naked ASCII art that the gallery was not working with Firefox and Safari.

No wonder that it died at Digg before it even started. I would be glad, if you could revive it by digging it, if you happen to have a Digg account. Thanks. Much appreciated.

I fixed the Gallery and tested it with Firefox 2.0 and Safari for Windows. It works fine now. While I was at it, did I extend the gallery from 20 to 30 pieces of art.

I also did significantly improve the interface. I am now showing little thumbnails for the picture selection and also added a little "fading" effect if you hover over a picture, which works for IE and Firefox (not for Safari, sorry).

       d@$iWWb:
     '8$$$$#$$$k
     '8$$$$ `$$M&
     X$$$$K  `$$XX
     $$$$$UUo$@$$$.
    9$$$$$$$$$9$$$$>
   W$$$$$$$$P `#$$?B
  '$$$$$"#$h. d$$$X?$c
   $$$$R      /"$$$X$$
   ?$$$R~    :/ $$R"""\.
    $$$$:  .xHH9$E      !
   '$"9$$N    d$$F       !
   '  M$$$'Ne@$$$!'      '
   E  XR#$>'R P9?  k>     :
   E   '! *f  .f'  :      9k               -~`      `"-.
   `  :    `    >   >     ~$:          .~                `!.
   'L :     ~` ~    !     '$8       .~                        ~\.
    ?         ~   ! .      $$$.    :                             `~:
    `!        '   %X2      R$$W% .~                                  `\
     !:  MM>  FL     :     M5$$ ~   !                                   `.
     !$W.   xF  #buo@$     '^$F   :$$>       .--^`"-.  `.
     !M$$$$*         'k    '     d$*##..-~`           `: "4:x.       `"#5    \.
     '!$$$$$c   !. !xx!     .!  `$$@F`                  >~
     '\!?$$$$$X.     `M   9 !     ~
     '!!!> ~ `!!~!!.  f     ~ ~

A simple click on the current image also closes it and pushes the image selection up and into the center of the screen. So you don't have to scroll all the way to the end of the picture anymore. I also reduced the size of the standard website navigation to the minimum.

A lot of enhancements and extensions. A lot more reasons to check out my ASCII Nudes Collection.



This is a screen shot of the new image selection. Neat eh?
Enjoy!


Cheers!
Carsten aka Roy/SAC

ASCII Nudes Collection - 30 Years of Naked ASCII Art

I was going through some of my ASCIIs in my vast archive and found a number of "interesting" pieces. Who said that ASCII text art is boring?

Guess what, its actually pretty exciting at times. You have probably not seen some of the great pieces of nude ASCII art yet. Luckily for you did I spend the time to collect the best pieces of Nude ASCII art available from around the world and over 30 years.

I created a special page for it on my site. The collection consists of 20 pieces of the finest nude ASCII text art showing naked girls. Some of the pieces are surprisingly realistic.

I am proud to be able to present them to you here and now. You can choose between the display with white background and black font (default) to emulate the look under Windows (like with Notepad) or black background with white font (invert), which emulates the original DOS to some degree (Note: MS DOS did not have a white font as default. It was a light gray, but who is checking? hehe)

Special "Boss Key" Feature
Remember the old days where some programs had a "Boss Key" feature that switched from whatever you were doing to something totaly innocent if you clicked it?

It came in handy when your parents or your parents "other" child entered the room to check what you are doing. Guess what, the "Boss Key" is back :).

You will notice the "Boss Key" to the top right when you open the gallery page. It will stay with you, even if you scroll to look at the ASCIIs. Click it and the page will turn from Rated:R to Rated:G in an instant. The Button will change to "Home", just click it again when everything is safe again and continue where you left off :).

Where is the link? Okay, here it is.

ASCII Nudes Collection - 30 Years of "Naked" ASCII art

One Example

And to show you that I am not kidding, I will show you one of the 20 pieces to demonstrate what I am referring to. Remember, there are 19 more, where that one came from hehe. Voila, "Miss MORGANA". :)

               
           .:IIIIHIHHIHHHII::I:.
         .IIIIHIHHHHHHIHIIIIMHHI:, 
       :IIIIHIHHHHHHMMHHIHHIIHHIII:. 
     .:IHIHHHHHHHHHHHHHIHIHHIHHHIH:I:, 
    ,.:HIHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHIHIHHII:. 
   ,.:IHHHHHHHHHHMMMMHHHHHHHIIHHHIHIII, 
  .:IIHHHHHHHHMMMMMHHHHMMMHHMHHHIIIHIIII: 
  .IIHHHMMMMMMMHHMMMHHHMMMHHMHII:HHHII:I. 
  :HIHHHMHMMMMMMMMMMMMHMHHHHII:HHMMHII:II 
 :HHHHMHMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMHIIHIHHMMHHHHII::I: 
:IIHHHHHMHMMMMMMMMMMHMMHIHMMMMHHHI:"::IIHII: 
:IHHHHHMHMMMMMMMMMMMMHHI:II::I:"' .   '"IHH. 
::HHHHMHMMMMMMMMMMHMHHI:II::.'  .       'VMA. 
IHHHHHMHNMMMMMMMMHMHHI:II:. . .          "MMH. 
HHHHHMHMMMMMMMMMMHMHI:I::.' .  . .      .,MMM:. 
HHHHMHMMMMMMMMMMMHMHI:II:. ..  .    ..LI:"IMMI.
HMHMMMMMMMMMMMMMMHMHI:II.'.        :HT;.,, VHI: 
HHHHHMHMMMMMMMMMHMHHHI:HMHII:,.   ':,MHP"HPIHII. 
IHHHHMHMMMMMMMMMHMHHHII::IT:.I:.  'HMMH ,:" VII: 
:HHHHHHHMHMMMMMHMHHHHIIMMMPVHI::. .P"TIT"'  IH:I 
HHIHHHHHHMHMMMMHMHHHHH:VMMM:.HI:H:. :. . . . II:I. 
:HHHHHMHMMMMMHMHHHHIIHMMHHI:.:HI:. . .. .  :III; 
IHHHHMHMMMMMMMHHHHHI:IT:TI:..:HI:.. ..:. . :IHII 
 IHHMHMMMMMMMMMMMHHI:I::.:. ..:II::.. :I..  :HIIH. 
 'HHHMHMMMMMHMHHHH:II:.. ...:II:II./'::.' IHHIH; 
  HHMHMMMMMMMHMHHHH:I:I::....::VIHI;, ' . . IHHIHA 
  MHHMMMMMMMMMHMHHH:II:::...::II:::.;,,,:   AHHIHH; 
  ;HHMHMMMMMMMMHMHH-:II::..:::I::"",,:"''  .HHHIHHI. 
  'HHHMHMMMMMMMMHMHHA:II:.:H.::-"'""' ,'. .AMHHIHHH; 
   :HHMHMMMMMMMMMMHMHA:II::.::::-;,,:: .. :AMHI:IHHI 
   'HHMHMMMMMMMMMMHMHHA:III:::II:II::. . .AMMHI:IHHH. 
    :HHHMHMMMMMMMMMHMHHA:IIIHII:.:::. . .AMMMHI:IHHH:. 
    'HHMHMMMMMMMMMMMMHMHHHI:":VIII::...:AMMMMHHI:IHHHI
     ;IHMHMMMMMMMMMMMMMHMHHII:. '"" 'AMMMMMMMHI:IIHHH:I. 
     :IMHMMMMMMMMMMMMMMHMHHHII:.  .:IHMMMMMMHHHIHIHHHI::. 
     ;HHHMHMMMMMMMMMMMMMMHMHHHI:..IHHMHMMHHHHHIHHHMHH;I:".' 
     ;HHHHHMHMMMMMNMMMMMMMHMHHHI::.HHHHMMHHHHHIHIHHHHHI:' 
     :HHHHHHHHMHMMMMMMMMMHHHMHHHI:IHHMHMMHHHHHMHIHHHHIHI; 
     ;HHHHHHHHMMHMMMMMHMHHMMHIHMI:IIHHHMHHHHMHMHIHIHHHHI:. 
     IHHHHHHHHHHMHMMMMMHMHHMMHHMMII:IHHMMHMHHHHMMHMHMHHHH; 
     ;HH:":IHHHHMHMMMMMHMHIHMHIIMMHI:IMHMMMI:HHHHHMMHHHHI:I. 
    ;HV" . .:IIHHHMMMMMMMHHHMMHIIHMHHI:HHHMHI:IHHIHHIHHMHI:II;. 
   ;IV"   . .''":VMMMMMMHMHHHMMHI:HHHHI:HHHIHI:IHHHHHIHHHIHII;, 
   .II"   .. .  ':VHHHMHMMMMMHMHHI:HMMHI:IHHHI::IHHHI:HIHHHI:I:. 
  .II . . .  . .  ':HHHHMHMMMHMMMHIHIMMMHI:HHHMI:IHHHIHI:HHHHII:I. 
 .;V' . .. .  .    'IHMMMHHMHHHMMMHIHIHHHHI:IHHHI:IHHHHHIHHHHHIIHII:. 
.:I" .. . .    .   :IHMMMHHHMHHIHHHI:HHIHHHIHIHHHAIHHHHHHI:HHHIHII:. 
'..:  .  .       .  :IMMMHMHHIMHIIHHI:IHHI:IHHIHHHHIHIHHHHIHIHHHHIHI:. 
.: .. . . .      ..:IHMMMHMHMHMHHHHMHIHHI:.IVIIHHHIHHHHHHHHI:HIHHIHII:. 
.: .   . .        . :IHMMMHMIHIH:IIHHHIHH:.I:IIHHHIHHHHHHHHIHI:IHHHI:;.
:: .:. .  .   .   ..:IHHMMMHMIHIH:IIHHHMHH::..:HHHHI:HHHHHHI:I:IIIHII; 
:. ... . .  .     ..::HHHMMHMHHII:HIIHHMMHH:..:HHHMHHIHHHI:: . :IHII:I 
..  ..  .   .      ..:IHHHMMMMHIII:HIHMMMHHI:. HHMHMMHHII:'  '.:IHII:" 
':....   . .      . ..:IHHHMMMMHMHI:HIHMMMHA...VHMMHHHMI:'  .' :IH::" 
 :. ..  ....    .    ..IHHHHMMMMHHII:I:IHMMHA. .VHMHHHI:' ''    '':, 
 ::...  . .... .   . ..::IHHHMMMMIHII::I:IHMMHHMHIHIHI''   .  .     , 
 ::.... . .....  ..  ...::IIIHHHMMIHI::IHHHIIIHHHIIHI".  ..   .      , 
 ::.:.......... .. . ....:::HHIIHHHHHHHIIHMMMHI:' 'VI::..  . .        , 
 ::.:............. .. . ...AHIHIIIIIHHHI::""'      'VII:.. ..    .      
 ::.:.:.......... .. .  ...HHHIIIIIIHHHI::. .       'VII::. . .       , 
 ':::.:.:..... .. . . . ..:MHHIHIIIII:I::. .         'VII:::. ..      . 
  :::::.:..:.... . . . ...AHHHHIHIIII:::. .           'VII:::. . .   :. 
  :::::::.:..... .. . ....MHHHHHIHIII::.:.. .          'VII::.  .   :: 
  :::::::::.:.... .. ....:MHHHHIHII:I::::...  .         'VI::. .   ::I) 
  '::::::::::.:... .. ...:MHHHHIHIIII::::..  .           'VI:.    ...:V 
   .:::::::::::.:.... . .AMMHHIHIII:I::::...  .  .        I::.   ...:-" 
   :.::I::::::::.:. .  ..MMMHHIHIIII:I:::... .  .        .::.  ,..-"
   :..:II:I:::::.:.. . ..MMMHHIHIIIIIII:I::.... .  .    ..::""' 
  .::.:III:I::::::.:.. ..MMMMIVHIHIIIII:I::::.... .   .....:, 
.:.::..:III:I:::::.:... .MMHMAIVHHIHIIIII:I::::.. .  ..::..:, 
. .:::.::III:I::::.:... .VMMHMAIVHHHIHIIII:I::::..  ..:...::: 
. :::I.:::III:I:::.::.. .:MMHHMAIVHHIHIIIII:I::::....:::.:::: 
 .::IIH.:::III:I::::.:.. .MMHMHMAIVHHHIHIIIIII:I:::.:::::::I) 
.::IIHH.II:::II:I::::.:...MMMHMHMAIVHHHHHIHII:I:::..::::::HV 
::IIIHIH.III::I:I::::.:. .MHHMHHHIAIIVHHHHIHIII:...::::.:-" 
:IIHIHHA.VIHII:I:::::::...HHHHHHIHI::":VHHHII:I:::...:-' 
IIHIHHHHI.HHIHII:I:::::...HHHIHII:' .  .'"VIIIII::-' 
IHIHHHHH-:HHIHIIII:I::.:..HIHI::. ..  ...:" 
HIHHHHIHHH:HHHIHIIII:I::.:HII:'. .   ..:" 
HHHHHHMHHHIHHHHHHIHIII::.IHI:.  .    ..:-., 
HHHHHHHMHHIHHHHHHHIHII:..II:'  .    .:"    ''"-. 
HHHHHHHMHHIHHHHHHIHII::..I;'. .   ..:"          '"-. 
HHHHHHHMHIHHHHHHHHIHI::,.I;' . .   .;"              "- . 
MMHMHHHHHH-IHHHHHHIHII::.::;.   :.:;.... .             '"-.
MMMHMHHHHHHIHHHHHHIHII::..:.,  .N.:I::.... .               '"-. 
MMMMHMHHHHHIHHHHHHIHIII:..:.;. :.:AI:::..... .  .             .'-. 
MMMMMHMHHHIHHHHHHHHHIHII:..:.;:.:AIII::::....... .               .':, 
MMMMHMHHHHIHHHHHHHHHHIH:I:.:.,::AHIHIII:I::::::::...... .    .  ...::, 
MMMHMHHHHHIHVHHHHHHHHHIII::.:.:AHHIHIHIIIII:I:::::::.:....... .. ...::. 
MHMHHHIHIIII:HHHHHHHIHII:I:. :AHHHHHHHHHHHIHIIHIIIIIII:I::.:..... ..::. 
HHHHIHIIII:I:HHHHHHHHIHII:: .IHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHIIHIII:I::::::::::::. 
HHIHIIIII:I::VHHHHHHHIHII::. :MHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHIHIIHIIIIIIIIIIIV 
HHIHIIII:I::::MHHHHHHHIII::.. MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMHMHHHHHHIIHIIIHIIIV' 
HHHIHII:I::I::MHHHHHHIHIII:: .HHIHHHHHIHHHHHHHHIHHIHHHIHHHHIHHIHIHHV' 
HHHHIHII:I::::HHHHHHHIHII:I:. MHHHIHHHHHHHIHHHHHHIHHHHHHHIHHHHHHHHV' 
MMHHHIHIII:I::HHHHHHHHIHIII: .:MMMMMMMMMMMMMHMHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHV:' 
II:IHMHHI::::AIHHHHHHHHHIII::. MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMHMHHHHHHHV:' 
III:IHMHIAMMMIHHHHHHHHHIHII....MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM--"""'' 
IIIII:I:IIHMMMMMHHHHHHHHHHHII:::"""""""""""""'' 
IIIII:I:II:.T,  'VHHHHHHHHIHI::: 
IIIHIII:I:::.:,  :HHHHHHHHHHIHII
IIIIII:I::::::.,  VHHHHHHHHHHIHI 
IIHII:I::::.:..., 'MMMHMHHHHHIHI. 
IIII:I:::::.:....:.VMMMHMHHHHHIH. 
IIIIII:I::::::.:..:.MMMMMHMHHHHH: 
IHIIIIII:II::::.:.:.VMMMMMHMHHHHA. 
IIIHIIIHIII:I::::.:..VMMMMMHMHHHHA 
IIIIIHIIIIIII:I:::.:..VMMMMHMMHHHH.         Miss MORGANA
IIHIIIIIIHIIIII:I:::..IMMMMMMMHMHHI 
HIIIIIHIIIIIIIII:I:.:..VMMMMMHMHHI:. 
HIHIIIIHIIIIIHIHI:I::..IMMMMHMHIHI:. 
HHIHIIIIIIHIIIIHIHIII:.:MMMMMHMHHI:: 
HHHIHHHHHHIIIIIIHHHHIHI:MMMMMHMHHII: 
HHHHIHIIIHIIIIHIHHHHHHHI..HHHIHIIHI:. 
HHHHHHIHIIIIIIIIIHIHH..IHHHHIHI:III:, 
HMHHHHHIHIIIIIIIIIHIHMHHIIHIIHI:II:::, 
MMHHHHHHHHIHIIIIIIIHMIHIIHHIIIHI:I::.., 
MHMHMHHHHHHHHHIHIIH.;I:IIIHHIIHHI:::::.,
MMMMMHMHHHHHHHHIHIH;I:IHIHII:HI:HII::.::. 
MMMMMMMMHMHHHHHHHIH;I:IHMHI.:HIIHI:II:IHA 
HMMMMMMMMMHMHHHHHHVI::IMHIHHHMH:IH::I:IHH. 
HHHMMMMMMMMMMHMHH;I:HHIMHHHHMHHIHHI.:AMHI:
HHHHMMMHHHHMMMMM;I:IIHHIIHAIIIHI:HI:HA:IHI
HIHHHHMMMHHHMMM:II:IMHHIIMIHIIIHIHHIHMMH.I

Enjoy!
Carsten aka Roy/SAC

Text Art Google Group

I created today a Google Group titled "ASCII and ANSI Text Art", but it is open to anything and anybody who and which is related to Text Art.

For that reason is the short name and URL to the group "textart" instead of "asciiart" or "ansiart".

ASCII and ANSI text art Visit this group

Subscribe to ASCII and ANSI text art Email: Visit this group

Those templates were provided by Google hehe.

I created already a little resources page and also started a discussion about something that has always been a controversy. I will not tell you what that is, go check out the group and find out for yourself.

A number of XML feeds are also available for anybody who can not live without.

	Atom 1.0 15 New messages 50 New messages 15 New topics 50 New topics		RSS 2.0 15 New messages 50 New messages 15 New topics 50 New topics

Lets see how it goes. Cheers!

Carsten aka Roy/SAC

Image to Text Converter and Fun with Matt Cutts

I came across a nice free tool that converts images to ASCII. It is called Photo2Text.com and produces very decent results. I have looked at a bunch of such converters since the early nineties and the results can vary a lot, depending on the quality of the algorithm that has to decide which text character is the best to get it as close to the original as it possibly can.

I was never a fan on image to text converters. Mostly because those converters were and are often used by guys who are cheats and try to "sell" converted images as their own creation, as in made from scratch and by hand. Real pieces of ASCII art are being created without the use of any special tools other than editors that allow to assign text characters to specific keys on the keyboard and let you easier move around to change individual characters ("insert" off and the ability to move with the cursor to the right without the need to create "spaces" manually first). A number of different tools are available for download at my site.

Anyhow, I take the converters as what they are, a nice tool to have fun with, nothing serious. Nothing is wrong with good old fashioned fun. The only person who is serious about it, is the coder who spent his time figuring out how to produce the best possible result.

To demonstrate the quality of the Photo2Text.com converter, did I use an image of the Google engineer Matt Cutts, who has a blog where he talks to webmasters about SEO and search engine spam (and his pet, a cat). I had my arguments with him a bunch of times, so it just right for me to use him as guinea pig and demonstration object hehe.

You can see the GIF image of him, which I used to the right. I optimized it a bit to increase the contrast for better result. I also made sure that there is not too much going on, like stuff in the background, which would overload the picture and harder to get an ASCII back where you can identify anything.

The tool lets you choose from eight different character sets to be used for the converted image.

Set 1:  @#MBHA&Gh93X25Sisr;:,.
Set 2:  @#MBHA&Gh93X25Sisr;:,.__
Set 3:  #WMBRXVYIti+=;:,.
Set 4:  #Xx+=-;,.
Set 5:  @%#*+=-:.
Set 6:  #¥®Ø$ø0o°+=-,.
Set 7:  01
Set 8:  █▓▒░

An interesting and rare feature is the "slider" to adjust the image's "brightness". It is more than just a gimick and you should play around with it, because it can improve results significantly if you increase or decrease it, depending on the original image.

Also nice, the option to save the final ASCII to your computer. Okay, lets have a look at the results for the Matt Cutts image.

First Version using Character Set: @#MBHA&Gh93X25Sisr;:,.

I used the default "brightness", which is a bit darker. For that reason is the face also filled with characters.

                                ..,ri52G@@HXX2i;::;:                                    
                            rAr;@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@#i,                               
                       ,iH@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@Mr                            
                    .r@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@s.                        
                 .i#@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@;                      
               ,h@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@r                    
             .s@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@r                  
            .2@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@2                
            X@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@,              
          :#@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@S             
        :#@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@X            
       3@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@r           
      s@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@H           
      &@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@;          
      H@@@@@HG#@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@A          
      A@@@@G2i9@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@#@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@.         
      ,@@@Gi552#@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@;         
       s@Bri22SG@@@M#@@@#@@@@@@@#@##@@@@@@##MM##@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@s         
       s@5iXX2S5h#@@@@@@#@@@@@@@####@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@#@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@3         
       i@S39X55ss5G#@###@@GH@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@H         
       r@299X2Siiir;r;;;sii;,:iXA@@@@@@@@@@#952A@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@M         
       ;#299XX2225issrrr;::;;,   ;h2;rrs2Xisrr2A##@@@@M@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@2         
       ,Ah3XXXX52225isiSiiiiSisr:,,,,:::::rsiSih##M@@@#@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@r         
       .3AXXXXX25522iiSiSissrsSs;::;;rsrrsii22i3@@#@@@#@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@G          
        5G522XX2iSX5i55iis;;;;rr;;rsss55sSXSiS22H@@#@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@s          
       :hX2SsiSisi52Sii5rr;;;r;;rrSi55555Siiii52&#@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@H,          
      .GMA3Siisiiii5Siisrr;;;rrrrrsi52552SSSSS522B@@M#@@@###@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@#,          
     ;@@@#XSS5iisriisr;ssrsrrsssrrri2252X5555SSSrX@@###@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@h           
 ;r;X@@@@@@M#BG5iirsirrs2iSSsisr;:rsiS55225SSiiSssS&@@@##@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@r           
.@@#; ,A@@@@@@@H9&32&h3XX2S5SSXh3irssi52XX5S25522SiSG@@@@@@#@@@@@@M2ssSXA@@M,           
  H;   ;#@@@A#@@@#95G@@@@@@@@#@@##AAAhh2SXX22iSSSX3X&@@@@@@@@@A2Sr:;sisS5h@5            
  s;.  ,hH@#hXA@@@#&9G9&B@@@@@@@@@@@#M##AX3hX3hHHM#M#@@@@@@@@9:.:sSSi52Ss2Bs            
   s:  iA3G&B#@@@3S5A#5ri2SA@@@@@M##@@#@@@@#HAGX222S5B@@@@#@@5;i2; :r2G5s2@A            
   ;2,,3AGG&AG9@ASs;sH@@&2X&###A322H@h3AAXr;;;;rsiSSi2M##@#@M33BArsXSSG3rh@B            
    ,ihAHAh&h223XisisS23922hBBAh32i23r;s;;;;;::rS52X22H@@@@@AhHMGr;XXiGXs@@             
     ;#AXX2X29GXisSirri22ssS2XXX2S53irrsiisrr;rS2523X2XBHA##hiX3; :iSi2i#@;             
     rA2522553X5i5X2isrri22555XhhX5SrsissiissiS222XXXX22X9AHhsS2:;S5S2rA@i              
     SM22252XAh22X33X25irrsiSiiiisr;;rrrrriiS25XXXX3hXXhGAHB&2hAXA3S2rX@r               
     5B225S2GX2i55XG&A&9SiiSisrrrrssssrrsiiS22X33XXXXX9h&AMMA3i;;SA3s9@3                
     2M2X5S2XS;;iS5XXXhhX22XXisiiiiiiiiSSSS52222XX22XXX3AAH#H9i;;riiH@h                 
     SBXX2Xh35SXX225SiXAG22X25Siiii55522Sii5S52223XX93X9G&B#Xr2352iX@2                  
     r#BA&M@@#HAA&M#AAH&2sS2Siiiiii222222Sii5SS529G9399&hHM#3;;S39#@A                   
     .3#M#@@@@@M@@@@@HXiiiisiissrii5255552SS2X293hh2XGA&ABMB@#&A#@@h                    
      :@#H###@MM@###HAAXX25SSSisriis5555SS522X3hh&hhGGAAABMM@@HB@#:                     
      :##&HAG9#@@Ah9GAA&&G&hG&3XSiiiiS5225523X9h93XXG&AAAB###BGA@h                      
      ,A@#MHAX522is2&AB#BGHHGAG22sssS5S522233999X393GA&BMHH##H&H@M                      
       rBHH#@@@#MA9939ABBMMBAAA9XSssi5SSS523X3h99GG&AAAHBHB#MBHH@@                      
       ,@B9hA&HM@@@@#&&AHHH##&A#AiiSiii525239hh99&AAAHHHHMMMBBB#@@                      
       :@@MA9Xi2AHG3XX3G&5rSG&G&92isiS522Xh9339hG&AABHAAHMMMHHM#@@                      
       ,@@@M##AAA&&&&HAhisiii3HA9X52222XXX9&hhG3&HAHAAHABBHBHAM#@@                      
        r@@#M@@@@@@#BA33XXGh9&B@#9hG923h933399&AAAABHAHHBBMHBBB#@@                      
         r@@AGH####BA3X52ABMBAM@#AA9GGhG93XXhh9AAGAHAA#MBMMAB##@@@                      
          H@#HG9G32X3X5SS9BABMB###GhhGh223X3hhGG&AHAHHBBBHAAM##@@#                      
          ;#@@A9&AA&h39hhhBBAHHHM#Ah333XX9X99AAAAAAHHHAHHAHHM##@@#                      
           B@@#A&B#H9XAHBGABHAAH#B&3XXhGhh99&AAAAAHBHAAA&&HHM#BB@&                      
           ,#@@@BB#HhAA#@BHBM@@@@@AXhGh&AAA&AHAAABHAHAA&&ABHBMMh2G:                     
             X@@@@@@@###@@@@@@@@@#&XGGGG&HHAAAAAAAA&AGGGG&AAHBAXsSs.                    
               sB@@@@@@@@@@@@#B&X2XG&&AGGHHABB&AAA&&G3GAG3ABA&XS5s;                     
                 :BH#@@#BAGX2SSX3XG&AAGAA&AAAAG&&&9hGXX99G&BMAXSs;.                     
                  .5S2GM##MAhAHAAAHHHAAHA&AA&GAAhh9X3993XG9&BG2i;.                      
                  .9Xr;ri&#@@@@BB#MMHA&&AAGG&AAh39hXX3X333GAG2r;.                       
                  :hh3ir;;ri&#@@@#BAHAGAAAA&hhh9XX222XX9h9Ahs,.                         
                  ;XXA35srr;rrS9ABMHBAG&&h332S2X25X22XX9h&9S,                           
                  ,si239X5ir;rsii5239X2X2SSS55iSSSS2X39GG3X;.                           
                     :i2XX5irrrsiisiSiiiiiii55555Si23992sr:,                            
                      :sri55isrrssiiiiSSiS522222i53225ir:                               
                       .;r;rSSisrrsiiiiSSS5255225S2Sssr;.                               
                         ,;;rsiSsrrrsssssssiisiSSsrsis,                                 
                           .,:;sssssrssrsssssrssssir,.

Now a different version using the

Block ASCII Character Set: █▓▒░

I also increased the "brightness" so that the face does not require as much characters. It makes it look much cleaner IMO.

                                   ░░                                              
                                ▒████████████████████▓                                  
                          ▒███████████████████████████████                              
                      ░██████████████████████████████████████░                          
                    ████████████████████████████████████████████░                       
                 █████████████████████████████████████████████████▓                     
               ▓████████████████████████████████████████████████████▓                   
              ▓███████████████████████████████████████████████████████▓                 
             ███████████████████████████████████████████████████████████▒               
            ██████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████              
          ███████████████████████████████████████████████▓█████████████████             
        ████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████            
       █████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████▓███████            
       ██████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████           
       █████▒░▓██████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████           
       ████▒  ░█████████████████████████▓█████████████████████████▓██████████▓          
       ▓██░    ▓██████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████          
        █▒  ░  ▒███▓▓███▓███████▓▓▓▓██████▓▓▓▓▓▓██████████████████████████████          
        █  ░░   ░▓██████▓▓█████▓▓▓▓▓▓▓███████████████▓▓████████████████▓██████          
        █ ░░░     ▒▓█▓▓▓██░▒▓█████████████████████████████████████████████████░         
        ▓ ░░░░                 ░▒█████████▓▓░  ▒▓█████████████████████████████░         
        ▒ ░░░░░                   ░      ░     ▒▓▓█▓██▓███████████████████████          
        ░░░░░░░                                ░▓▓▓███▓▓██████████████████████          
         ▒░░░░░░  ░                            ░▓█▓███▓██████████████████████░          
         ░ ░ ░░   ░                       ░     ▒██▓█████████████████████████           
                                               ░▒▓██████████████████████████▒           
        ▒▒░                                      ▓██▓▓▓██▓▓▓████████████████▒           
      ▒██▓░                            ░░        ░██▓▓▓▓████████████████████            
     ▒█████▓▓▒░                         ░          ▒███▓▓██████████████████▓            
 ░█░   ░███████▒░▒░ ░░░        ░        ░░     ░░   ▒▓█████▓██████▓    ░▒██▒            
        ▓███▒▓▓██▓░ ░▓███████▓▓█▓▓▒▒▒░░░ ░░      ░░░▒█████████▒          ░▓             
        ░▒█▓░░▒███▓▒░░░▒▓██████████▓▓▓▓▓▒░░░░░░▒▒▓▓▓▓████████░            ▒             
        ▒░░▒▓▓███░  ▒▓     ▒█████▓▓▓██▓████▓▒▒░░     ▓████▓██         ▒   ▓             
        ▒░░▒▒░░▓▒    ▒██▒ ░▒▓▓▓▒░ ░▒█░░▒▒░            ▓▓▓█▓█▓░░▒▒     ▒░ ░█░            
       ▒▒▒░▒░ ░░░     ░░░  ░▒▓▒░░   ░              ░  ▒█████▒░▒▓░     ▒░ █▓             
      ▒░░░ ░ ░░░             ░░░░  ░               ░░ ░▒▒▒▓▓░ ░░        ▓█              
      ░      ░░   ░           ░░░░                ░░░░░ ░░▒▒░          ▒█               
      ▒     ░▒░  ░░░░                          ░░░░░░░░░░▒▒▒▒ ░░ ░░   ░█                
      ▒ ░  ░░░    ░▒▒▒▒░                      ░░░░░░░░░░▒▒▓▓▒░    ▒░ ░█                 
      ▒ ░   ░      ░░░░░░  ░░                 ░ ░░  ░░░░▒▒▒▓▒░      ▒█░                 
      ▒░░ ░░░  ░░░░   ░▒░░ ░░                   ░░░░░░░░▒▒▓▓░  ░   ░█                   
      ▒▒▒▒▓██▓▒▒▒▒▓▓▒▒▒▒                        ░░░░░░░▒░▒▓▓░   ░░▓█░                   
       ▓▓▓█████▓█████▒░                      ░ ░░░░░░▒▒▒▒▒▓▓▓▓░▒▓██░                    
       ▓▓▒▓▓▓█▓▓█▓▓▓▒▒▒░░                    ░░░░▒░░▒░▒▒▒▒▓▓█▓▒▓█▓                      
       ▒▓▒▒▒░░▓██▒░░░▒▒▒▒░▒░░▒░             ░░░░░░░░▒▒▒▒▒▒▓▓▓▓░▒█░                      
       ░▓▓▓▒▒░ ░    ▒▒▓▓▒░▒▒▒▒░         ░ ░░░░░░░░░░░▒▒▒▓▒▒▓▓▒▒▒█▒                      
        ▒▒▒▓███▓▓▒░░░░▒▒▒▓▓▒▒▒▒░          ░░░░░░░▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▓▓▓▒▒▒█▒                      
        ▓▒░░▒▒▒▓████▓▒▒▒▒▒▒▓▓▒▒▓▒         ░░░░░░░▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▓▓▓▓▒▒▓█▒                      
        ██▓▒░░ ░▒▒▒░░░░▒▒   ▒▒░▒░        ░░░░░░░░▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▓▓▓▒▒▓▓█▒                      
        ▒██▓▓▓▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒░     ░▒▒░░    ░░░░░▒░░░░▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▓▒▒▒▒▒▓▓█▒                      
         ▓█▓▓███▓██▓▒▒░░░░▒░░▒▓█▓░░░░░░░░░░░░░▒▒▒▒▒▓▒▒▒▒▒▓▓▒▓▒▒▓█▓                      
          ▓█▒░▒▓▓▓▓▓▒░░ ░▒▓▓▓▒▓█▓▒▒░▒▒░░░░░░░░░▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▓▓▒▓▓▒▒▓▓██▒                      
          ░█▓▒▒░░░░░░░   ░▓▒▒▓▒▓▓▓▒░░░░░ ░░░░░░▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▓▓▒▒▒▒▓▓▓██▒                      
           ▒█▓▒░▒▒▒▒░░░░░░▓▒▒▒▒▒▓▓▒░░░░░░░░░░▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▓▓▓██▒                      
           ░██▓▒▒▓▓▒░░▒▒▓░▒▒▒▒▒▒▓▒▒░░░░░░░░░▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▓▓▓▓▓                       
            ▒██▓▓▒▓▒░▒▒▓█▓▒▓▓█████▒░░▒░▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▓▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▓▒▒▓▓░                        
              ▓██████▓▓▓█████████▓▒░░░░▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒░▒▒▒▒▒▒░                        
                ▒████████████▓▓▒░ ░░▒▒▒▒░▒▒▒▓▒▒▒▒▒▒▒░░▒▒▒░▒▓▒▒░                         
                  ▒▒▓██▓▓▒▒░░  ░░░░▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒░░▒░░░░▒▒▒▓▒░                         
                     ░▒▓▓▓▓▒░▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒░░░░░░░░░▒░▒▒░                          
                         ▒▓████▓▓▓▓▓▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒░░░░░░░░░░░▒▒░                           
                    ░░      ▒▓███▓▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒░░░░░░░  ░░░░░▒░                            
                     ▒░        ░▒▓▓▒▓▒░▒▒░░░   ░  ░  ░░░░▒░                             
                      ░░░         ░░░░ ░            ░░░░▒░                              
                                                    ░░░                                 
                                           ░ ░░   ░░

The 3rd version of the ASCII uses the Character Set: #WMBRXVYIti+=;:,.
I continued to use the higher brightness to make the look of the ASCII more clean and sharp.

I also inverted the colors to have white characters on black background, which is closer to the look and feel of MS DOS. MS DOS used a gray font on black background, but I did not try to make it authentic. I was more going after the looks of it.

                               +###################WI                                  
                          ;B#############################B                              
                       #####################################R                           
                    ############################################                        
                 X################################################V                     
               t####################################################I                   
              Y###################W######################M############V                 
             ####################################WW###########WW########:               
            ######################################################W#######              
          ############################W##################BWWMW#######M#####             
        #############################WW########W#########WW#################            
       ######W########################W#############################MW######            
       ######W#############################W################################M           
       ####Wt;X#####################W##################W##########W##########           
       ###W;  ,#####################W##WBM############WW##########B##########t          
       X##;    X###WW#############M#####################W###W################B          
        #I     ;W#MVR##WR######MRBRRMWW##WBRVVXBMWWW####WM############W######B          
        #       :X##M###XB####BBRRRRBBM#######WMWWMMMBBWM####WM#######MBM#####          
        # .:      ;VBRXR#M;tR#################W#######WW#WW#####W######W######          
        V ,:                    ;B########BX:  +B#MM##W#######################.         
        + ,:.                     .            iRRMBMMV#########W#############          
         .. .                                  :BVVWWWXB#####################M          
         ;                                     .B#BM##B##MW###WMW########WM##           
         ,                                      t#WXW###########W#########M##           
                                                =RMMWW#W###W############MW##=           
        ++.                                      Y#MYRBW#BRRM###########WW##+           
      +##V                                        W#RRXBW###WWMW############            
     =####WIVt,                                    =BW#RR####WW######MW####X            
  #    ,#######+ :  .                               ;B#####BM#####Y     +M#+            
        YM##+RBMWV. ,R######WVXBYI::;,,           ..=M#######Mi          :R             
         iWX:.+W##X;,:,;I#########WRYYRR+ .,  ,itYXVB#####M##,            i             
        ;.;=YRM#W,  =R     +####BYXRMBX###WV+=,      Y####R#M         :   V             
        =;;=i;:Bi    t##=  =VRXi.  IM: ==             VBBWBMY. i;     :. ,#             
       :++:=;  .       .,  :IIi:.   .                 t#####+,iI      :  WX             
      ;:   . :;                    .               ..  ItiRR;           X#              
      .      ,.                ::                  ..   .:+t:          =#               
      =     .+:                                    ,:  :;iII= ., .     #                
      ;     ;.     :;=;                           .   ::=iYVi.    :   #                 
      =               :,                              .,+iIXi.      +#                  
      ;    :.          +:                        ,..:. ,;+YB        #                   
      =i==Y##V+=+=YRi+t;                         ,;:.::=:tYX     .X#,                   
       IIR####WYM#W#Wt.                        ,.:: .=+=iIVIRY:;Y##                     
       VVtXXXMVVMXVRti+                       .::=;:=;i+iIVYMRiIMV                      
       iV=ti;:X#Mi:,;ii;;:;.,,                ,::, .;=++iIXVRY;iM                       
        XXVt+.      =+IRI:ii:;,            ..,,,.,:,;i=IVtIXXt=t#;                      
        +itRMWWRYi:,.,+IIYYI+++.           . .:,:;;=+i+IIIYXVItI#i                      
        Yt,:i=tV####V==iIttRV=iV;          .,::::=i+iIItIVVYYIIV#+                      
        R#Yi:.  it;. ..;+   ;=;;.         :,.,::;=+iIIt+tVVYtIVR#=                      
        i##YVX++i====t+:     .t+,         ,=;:;,+tiItiI+IIIItiYR#i                      
         Y#RYM#WBWWXI+,.  ;:,=YBV.,,  .,,,.,,,=+i+iIt+ttIYYtYIIR#V                      
          R#+;IXXRRY+,   iIYI+V#R+=,;;:;:.. ;:,i+=+t+iXYIVViIVXW#i                      
          ,WVt=:;. .,    ,IiIYIRXX;::;;  . ,::;==itittIYItiiVXRW#;                      
           t#Bi:+i++:.::::YIiIttVXi;,., .,.::+++++itttittitIVVVM#;                      
           .##Vi=IXt:.+tY;+Iti+tRI=...:;;:::=++++iIItiii+=tIYVYIX                       
            =##BYIXt;+iXMItYVMMM#M+.:=:=++i=+t+iiIIiti+==iYtIYY:                        
              YW####MBVBW########B=.;;;;=tti+iii+i+=+==;;=titIt                         
                ;############RY=   ;=+i=;ttiYI=+++==;,;+=.+Ii=.                         
                  ;+X##RY+;.    , ;=+i;+i++ti+====,;; .::=+IV+                          
                      ;VRXY+;+ti+itttiiti=+t+;++:;:.,::,.=:=I;                          
                         =XW##MYYRVYt++=++=;=i+:.::  ,.,.,;+;                           
                    .       ;RMW#RIit+=++++=:::,.     .:::+:                            
                     =         ,+YYIY+;==:..           ::;,                             
                                   .,                ,:;;                               
                                                    .,,

Last but not least the "Geek Version" using only 0 and 1. Well, Matt Cutts is an engineer and geek and probably loving this version the most hehe.

                               1000000000000000000001                                  
                          10000000000000000000000000000000                              
                       00000000000000000000000000000000000000                           
                    00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000                        
                 00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001                     
               100000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001                   
              100000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001                 
             000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001               
            00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000              
          00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000             
        00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000            
       000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000            
       0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000           
       0000011100000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000           
       00001   000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001          
       1001    100000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000          
        01     100010000000000000000000000001110000000000000000000000000000000          
        0       11000000100000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000          
        0         110010001100000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000          
        1                       100000000001   1000000000000000000000000000000          
        1                                      1000000100000000000000000000000          
                                                011000100000000000000000000000          
         1                                      00000000000000000000000000000           
                                                10010000000000000000000000000           
                                                10000000000000000000000000001           
        11                                       1001000000000000000000000001           
      1001                                        00001000000000000000000000            
     100000111                                     1000000000000000000000001            
  0     00000001 1                                  100000000000001     1001            
        1000100001   0000000010011111               10000000001          10             
         101  100001 1 110000000000011001      11101000000000             1             
        1 1110000   10     1000001100000000111       10000000         1   1             
        111111 01    1001  11011   101 11             1000001  11     1   0             
       111 11               1111                      1000001 11      1  01             
      11      1                                        111001           00              
                                                          111          10               
      1      1                                         111111          0                
      1     1      1111                                111111     1   0                 
      1                                                 11111       10                  
      1                1                                1110        0                   
      111110011111101111                          1    1 111      10                    
       110000001000001                               11111110111100                     
       1111110110110111                          11111111111001101                      
       111111 1001  11111 1                         1111110101110                       
        11111       1110111111                      11111111111101                      
        1110000011    111111111                  11111111111111101                      
        11 1111100001111111011111                11111111111111101                      
        0011    111    11   1111                111111111111111001                      
        100111111111111       11           11 1 111111111111111001                      
         1001000000111    11 1101             11111111111111111001                      
          00111111011    1111110011 1111    11 1111111111111111001                      
           0111 1         1111101111 11     1111111111111111110001                      
           1001 1111   11 1111111111         111111111111111111001                      
            00111111  1111111111011    111  111111111111111111111                       
            10001111111001111000001  1 1111111111111111111111111                        
              100000001000000000001 111111111111111111111111111                         
                1000000000000011   111111111111111111 111 1111                          
                  111000111       1111111111111111 11    11111                          
                      1101111111111111111111111111       1 111                          
                         1100001101111111111111           111                           
                            1000001111111111  1           1                             
                     1          111111111                1                              
                                                       11                               

Pretty cool, eh? Go check out Photo2Text.com yourself and have fun with it.

It's fun. I actually had that much fun, that I am thinking of creating a little gallery with people in the search engine marketing space in ASCII format. Maybe even people from the affiliate marketing industry. This would maybe bring some people closer to the subject of text art and make them realize that you can do amazing things with something as simple as plain text.

Too bad that the converter does not support ANSI, to create colored version of an image. Maybe they develop a version in the future that supports that.

The history of text art dates back hundreds, if not even thousands of years and were not an invention that came with the computer as many people tend to believe. The first "modern" text art was created on typewriters, which are around for well over 100 years.

I also blogged in the past about things like ASCII animations, called ASCIImation. The music video example that was made up entirely of text was cool too.

Cheers!

Carsten aka Roy/SAC

PCBoard BBS Software

Something else was even longer on my to-do list than the post about leveraging sites like deviantART for online marketing.

It has been on my list for over one year now and I also got finally around to do it. What am I talking about? The article to the PCBoard BBS Software at Wikipedia.

I extended the article significantly and also added a photo of the box of the software, which I took myself with my digital camera. You can see the picture here in the post as well. For the folks who don't know, I used to run a BBS myself called "Closed Society". I wrote about it on the homepage of my RoySAC.com website.

I used as BBS Software PCBoard. First via multiple PC's under MS DOS and then all Notes on one machine running under IBM OS/2 Warp. The BBS was up 24/7 for over 2 years in my one bedroom studio. Did the noise of the running computers bother me when I was asleep? Actually quite the opposite.
I had a problem sleeping when the BBS was shut down and offline.

PCBoard was a great software and the best thing about it was the availability of its own script language to change the look, feel and behavior of the BBS. I wrote and published a bunch of tools myself. You can download all of them here.

I launched the BBS shorty after SAC was founded. The existence of the BBS did cause me to create more ANSI art than I would probably have done without it. So it was kind of a good thing to have a BBS of your own and do ANSI text art. It also did not make me depend on the time and talents of other artists hehe.



Clark Development, who created the software did unfortunately go bankrupt in 1997, the year when I shut down my BBS. They saw the reign of the BBS coming before most sysops at the time (including me) and started development on a product called PCBoard Metaworks, which was the attempt of the creation of a BBS like environment on the internet. The product was not finished to save the company. It died together with the company and never saw the light of day.

That's fate I guess, but no whining will change anything and we have to move on.

Cheers!
Carsten aka Roy/SAC

deviantART and Web 2.0

It was a post that was several months in the making. I was having it on my to-do list for months, but was finally able to finish and publish it.

I am not talking about a post here, but at my Blog at ReveNews.com, which is related to internet and affiliate marketing. The blog post I did is titled "User Generated Advertising Web 2.0 Style" and is about leveraging communities like deviantART.com for your business.

deviantART is a great place for businesses who want to do "different" advertising, 100% Web 2.0 style. I suggested the use of dA design contests to have artists create designs for any kind of thing you can come up with. I explained the benefits like this:

You engage people, inspire creativity and get authentic designs, which are honest and pure. It could be a web 2.0 style advertising campaign, very viral (speaking of buzz marketing).

It's a pretty long post, but I recommend to read it, if you are interested in this sort of things.



I did a contest at deviantART myself last year. It was not a design contest, but it was a contest to promote my Text art site RoySAC.com a little bit. I blogged about it too. I hope this provides some inspiration. Just think outside the box from time to time and try out new things. This is true no matter what you are doing.

Cheers!

Carsten aka Roy/SAC

At Last - Some Success at Wikipedia

I am a Wikipedian since December 2005. I wrote about how that happened back in April.

I did over 2000 edits in Wikipedia since then, mostly articles and other things that are either related to internet marketing or to the Demoscene and Text art. I did a lot of work on the articles to affiliate marketing and the article to ASCII art.

I try for a long time to get other affiliate marketers to contribute to Wikipedia to that subject, but my attempts are not bearing any fruits so far. In addition, my major rant last month was not as successful as I had hoped. I hope that it will change eventually.

But there are also good news.

The article to search engine optimization was promoted to “featured article” at Wikipedia. I did contribute some stuff to the article and was always watching it for spammers and vandals. I was also active in discussions on the articles talk page.

What does featured article mean? Here is what Wikipedia itself says, quote:

Featured articles in Wikipedia

Featured articles are considered to be the best articles in Wikipedia, as determined by Wikipedia's editors. Before being listed here, articles are reviewed at Wikipedia:Featured article candidates for accuracy, neutrality, completeness, and style according to our featured article criteria.

At present, there are 1,420 featured articles, of a total of 1,815,298 articles on Wikipedia. Thus, about one in 1,270 articles is listed here. Articles that no longer meet the criteria can be proposed for improvement or removal at Wikipedia:Featured article review.

A small bronze star () on the top right corner of an article's page indicates that the article is featured.

Nice, eh?

It was not easy and it was a lot of work, mostly by the editor Jehochman, who is a SEO with the real name Jonathan Hochman.

You can see that by looking at the discussion page for the nomination. One of the biggest issue was the fact that many sources are blogs. Wikipedia is still working on improving on the bias a lot of editors have regarding the quality of blogs. Some missed the fact that blogs became popular with online publications and also classic offline ones who have a website and publish their content online. That did not prevent the debate whether or not the references used to verify the facts are reliable or not.

I made a call to several known SEOs to comment on the resources. A few actually did, which was nice, while others, like Rand Fishkin from SEOmoz posted an article at his blog instead.

It was titled “Search Engine Optimization Article at Wikipedia Doesn't Deserve Attention” and I know that Rand did choose the title more to draw attention to it than actually meaning it.

He is not supporting Wikipedia and the efforts made by other marketers, like Jonathan and me. He did also make some valid points. I believe however, that there are a lot of misconceptions and bias from the side of the SEO community towards Wikipedia, something the SEO community blamed the Wikipedia community for. That is actually very ironic. Yes, it is true, there is bias, but at least try the Wikipedians to cope with it and find a solution for the problem. I left a ton of comments at the blog and hope that I got something across. For example:

"The truth becomes whatever the popular opinion is."

Isn't that what the "truth" is anyway? Truth is to 99% opinion. Even if all items available to you are proven, documented and unskewed facts, does it not make it true, because you don't know if all items that are available to you are all items there are.

The leaving out of a fact can change the "truth" in an instant. No lie or biased comment necessary.

and as response to a comment to my comment did I write:

That's why are the core rules "Neutral Point of View" and "no original resource" so important. An encyclopedia is about facts, not interpretation. Neutral point of view means that facts that could be interpreted as negative have to be included as much as the facts that could be interpreted as positive.

The interpretation of all the facts and make it out to be something good or something bad is not the purpose of an encyclopedia. If you take the same set of facts today and look at them again in the future, the interpretation might changes from good to bad or the other way around due to changes in society and people's values.

That's the idea, but that is harder to do in reality than it sounds when you say it. People are people and the only thing we can do is trying. If the try was good or bad is a question of interpretation again. Ironic, isn't it? :)

I made a lot more comments, but you get the picture. It is not as easy as it seems and all we can do is try our best to make it as good as possible.

Barry Schwartz was also reporting about it at SearchEngineLand.com. I could not help it, but be a bit sarcastic in my comment.

Well, it’s done, the article is now a featured article and I think that it will help the SEO community indirectly. If you plan to do work at Wikipedia, check out my collection of relevant Wikipedia resources for newbie’s. I am sure that you will appreciate them.

Cheers!
Carsten aka Roy/SAC