Freelance Projects, Design and Programming Tutorials
Barack Obama is to say the challenges facing the US are a “Sputnik moment” in a State of the Union speech referencing the 1950s Soviet satellite launch that sparked a wave of US innovation.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
The UK tax authorities have failed to credit £1.3bn in National Insurance Contributions, says MP Ian Liddell-Grainger.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Somali pirates are now operating farther offshore A UN envoy has proposed setting up courts to prosecute pirates in the Somali enclaves of Somaliland and Puntland, and in Tanzania.
Jack Lang, UN adviser on piracy, also said more needed to be done to capture the leaders of the piracy gangs.
Several countries have expressed concern over a lack of ability to deal with pirates in cases where they are caught. As a result, many are released.
Meanwhile, pirates have seized a German cargo vessel north of the Seychelles.
The MV Beluga Nomination had been sailing from Malta to South Korea, but is now being steered by pirates towards Somalia.
The crew, which include a Polish captain, seven Filipino, two Russian and two Ukrainian seamen, had hidden in a safe room after raising an alarm, but after two days the pirates managed to seize control of the vessel.
“Not everything has been done to get to the top and capture the brains behind these crimes”
Jack Lang UN envoy
Incidents of piracy – the majority of which take place off the Somali coast – are growing, and pirates are increasingly operating farther offshore.
Mr Lang, special adviser to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Somali piracy, proposed that pirates be tried under Somali law in courts set up in Somaliland, Puntland in northern Somalia, and Arusha in Tanzania.
“Pirates are becoming the masters of the Indian Ocean,” he said.
He recommended that the specialised courts be created within eight months, and estimated that the project would cost less than $25 million (£16m) over three years.
Two special prisons would also be built in Somaliland and Puntland, each to house 500 people, with another to be built in Puntland at a later date.
Under international law, sovereign nations have the right to seize and prosecute pirates Arusha is currently hosting a UN-backed tribunal for suspects from Rwanda’s 1994 genocide.
Somalia, which has not had an effective government since 1991, lacks the legal infrastructure to prosecute pirates, and Kenya, which has hosted some trials, has complained that it was being unfairly burdened.
Mr Lang also stressed the need to track down the “those who order the pirates to carry out their attacks.”
“Not everything has been done to get to the top and capture the brains behind these crimes.”
“There are about a dozen brains. We know their names,” he added, without giving details.
The breakaway enclave of Somaliland and semi-autonomous Puntland are both seen as relatively stable compared with Somalia.
Mr Lang also suggested that all countries should make piracy a criminal offence and impose universal jurisdiction for it.
Somalia has been without an effective central government since President Siad Barre was overthrown in 1991. Its authority has been further compromised since 2006 by an ongoing Islamist insurgency.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Small protests have been held in the capital in the past week to support Tunisia Anti-government activists in Egypt are preparing for a rare day of protest, inspired by the recent political upheaval in Tunisia.
Organisers have called for a “day of revolt against torture, poverty, corruption and unemployment”.
But the government has warned they face arrest and is calling its supporters out in a counter-demonstration.
Weeks of unrest in Tunisia eventually toppled President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali in Tunisia earlier this month.
The events in Cairo are being co-ordinated on a Facebook page – tens of thousands of supporters have clicked on the page to say they will take part.
“Our protest on the 25th is the beginning of the end,” Reuters quoted the organisers as saying.
“It is the end of silence, acquiescence and submission to what is happening in our country. It will be the start of a new page in Egypt’s history – one of activism and demanding our rights.”
The BBC’s Jon Leyne in Cairo says event is a direct response to the campaign that ousted President Ben Ali of Tunisia, in which the internet also played an important part.
But there is bound to be scepticism about exactly how many will actually turn up, say our correspondent.
They know they could face a tough response from the police, who often break up protests with violence.
In a statement, the government’s security director in the capital said: “The security apparatus will deal firmly and decisively with any attempt to break the law.”
Egypt’s political opposition is also divided – one leader, Mohamed El-Baradei, has called on Egyptians to take part, but the Muslim Brotherhood, still the most powerful opposition movement, has been more ambivalent.
Egypt has many of same social and political problems that brought about the unrest in Tunisia – rising food prices, high unemployment and anger at official corruption.
But protests so far have only been small-scale and correspondents say a similar political upheaval is unlikely.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Charlie Mulgrew plays for Celtic football club Charges against a footballer and his wife, which came after reports of a child being left in a vehicle in a car park, have been dropped.
Celtic player Charlie Mulgrew, 24, and his wife Alana, 23, had been charged by police under section 12 of the Children and Young Persons Act.
It followed an incident in the car park of Costco in Glasgow on 22 December.
A Crown Office spokesman said “there was insufficient admissible evidence to raise proceedings”.
It is understood the incident came to light after Ultimo lingerie founder Michelle Mone reported a baby had been left in a car in sub-zero temperatures.
The Crown Office spokesman said: “The procurator fiscal received a report concerning a 24-year-old male and a 23-year-old female in relation to an incident on 22 December, 2010.
“After full and careful consideration of all the facts and circumstances and of the relevant legislation and case law, the procurator fiscal decided that there was insufficient admissible evidence to raise proceedings for a contravention of Section 12 of the Children and Young Persons (Scotland) Act 1937.”
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Mexico’s drugs cartels get many of their weapons from the US The authorities in US state of Arizona say they have broken up a gun-running network that was smuggling weapons to Mexican drugs gangs.
At least 17 people have been arrested in and around the city of Phoenix.
The suspects are accused of conspiring to buy firearms, including assault rifles, for Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel.
The US is under pressure to curb the flow of guns into Mexico, where more than 15,000 people were killed in drug-related violence last year
A federal grand jury indictment unsealed on Tuesday alleged the suspects had conspired to buy guns and illegally export them to Mexico for use by drug cartels.
They are accused of acting as “straw purchasers” by claiming the weapons they bought from licensed Arizona gun shops were for their own use, when in fact they were destined for the Sinaloa cartel, the prosecutor’s office said.
“The massive size of this operation sadly exemplifies the magnitude of the problem – Mexican drug lords go shopping for weapons of war in Arizona,” the statement added.
The guns included AK-47 assault rifles, a weapon of choice for drug cartel gunmen.
All of those indicted are US citizens or legal residents.
The indictment came a day after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited to Mexico to reiterate US support for President Felipe Calderon’s fight against the cartels.
Mexico has long been pressing the US to do more to stop the flow of guns across the border.
Since President Calderon took office in late 2006, more than 34,000 people have died in drug-related violence in Mexico, the government says.
In the same period, Mexico’s police and army have seized more 93,000 guns from alleged drug traffickers. Many of the weapons originate in the US.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Canadians feel so strongly about defending their claims to the Arctic that they support increasing troops numbers there, a major poll suggests.
Some 9,000 people in eight Arctic countries gave views on their nations’ relationship with the Arctic.
The Canadian-led research suggests Canadians feel most strongly when it comes to sovereignty issues.
“The Arctic is seen as a crucial ingredient to our sense of national identity,” said the study.
The research was published by the Munk School of Global Affairs and the Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation.
Fifty-eight percent of Canadians said they supported a strengthened military presence in the north to protect against international threats, the study’s authors’ said.
“While Canadians say they are open to working with other countries, at the same time a clear majority of Canadians…want to increase Canada’s military presence in the Arctic,” its authors said.
Certain parts of the Arctic have been under dispute for many years, including the Arctic sea region and parts of the Arctic seas.
Around three-quarters of the Canadian respondents believe the contested Northwest Passage is in Canadian waters, and half of them believe the Beaufort Sea should belong to Canada.
Forty-three percent of Canadians said their government should pursue a firm line in defending Canadian sections of the Arctic.
This hard line was echoed by 36% of respondents in Iceland, 34% in Russia and 10% or less in the United States, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark.
In response to the survey, Canada’s defence minister Peter MacKay said the Arctic was “a very high priority for Prime Minister Stephen Harper and our government”.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Up to 100 homes have been evacuated in a security alert in north Belfast.
The army are examining a suspicious object on the city’s Antrim Road close to Glandore Avenue.
Police said nothing suspicious had been found at this stage, but the investigation is continuing.
Families who have been moved from their homes will be accommodated in a rest centre at Fortwilliam and McCrory Presbyterian Church,.
The area is expected to remain cordoned off for some time.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Aston Villa make it two Premier League wins in succession for the first time this season to move six points clear of fellow strugglers Wigan.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Arsenal break Ipswich’s valiant resistance to overturn a first-leg deficit and book their place in the Carling Cup final.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Lindsay Ann Hawker was found in the apartment March 2007 The family of a British teacher found dead in a bath in Japan say they are disgusted at reports the man charged with her murder is publishing a book.
Lindsay Ann Hawker, from Brandon, near Coventry, was found buried in a sand-filled bath in the Tokyo apartment of 32-year-old Tatsuya Ichihashi in 2007.
Now, there are reports he has written a book about the 33 months before he was traced and arrested in late 2009.
Her family said the news had caused them more hurt.
Miss Hawker was found at Mr Ichihashi’s apartment in March 2007.
He was arrested at a ferry port in Osaka, southern Japan, in November 2009 after he went on the run and later charged with raping and murdering her.
In a statement they said: “The Hawker family are disgusted that the man who has yet to stand trial for Lindsay’s murder has been allowed to write and publish a book.
“This has only served to cause the family more hurt and we want no association with it or him.
“All we have ever wanted is justice for Lindsay.”
The Guardian reported on Tuesday that lawyers for Ichihashi said his book, Until I Am Arrested, was a sign of his contrition and that royalties would be given to Ms Hawker’s family or donated to charity.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Manchester United stage a stunning late comeback to go five points clear at the top of the Premier League table with victory over Blackpool at Bloomfield Road.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Mr Drax said he did not want there to be “any misunderstanding” An MP has had to rewrite an entry on his blog after saying plans to teach children about homosexuality would impose “questionable sexual standards”.
Conservative Richard Drax said a state-funded plan to use maths, geography and science lessons to instruct about same-sex relationships was “ludicrous”.
He later removed the posting following a complaint, saying he had not “intended to be homophobic”.
But Labour said the MP’s views were “astonishing”.
Mr Drax, MP for South Dorset, wrote the original entry in response to a recent article in the Sunday Telegraph which said the lesson plans had been drawn up as part of LGBT History Month – an initiative designed to encourage teaching about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transexual issues.
The initiative, due to run next month and funded by the Training and Development Agency for Schools with a £35,000 grant allocated under the previous government, is voluntary and it is up to schools whether to make use of it.
The lessons, written by teachers, will be available for schools to download from the website of Schools Out – the body running the initiative.
In response, Mr Drax wrote: “Yes, if you can believe it, homosexuality will be on the curriculum for students studying maths, geography and science.”
“This plan is ludicrous and pushes political correctness to new bounds,” he added.
“I would have thought raising educational standards and teaching our children to read, write and add up is far more important than imposing questionable sexual standards on those too young to understand their equality czars.”
However, Mr Drax later took down the entry and posted a new message on the subject.
“Following a call from a member of the public about a recent blog, I have decided to re-write my comments to ensure there is no misunderstanding,” he wrote.
“My point was not intended to be homophobic but sprang more from a concern that young children should not be taught a subject they simply would not understand.”
He said the focus should be on improving the teaching of maths, geography and science given the “lamentable state” of UK standards in these subjects compared to other countries.
The Sunday Telegraph reported the lessons could include using gay characters to explain maths problems, encourage pupils to design symbols linked to the gay rights movement and study the transformation of an area of San Francisco into the world’s first “gay neighbourhood”.
Mr Drax is not the first MP to criticise the plans – fellow Conservative Craig Whittaker recently called the idea “nonsense”.
But the BBC’s Adam Fleming said Mr Drax’s views had been criticised elsewhere in the party, with one gay Tory MP describing him as a “lone voice” and “educationally challenged”.
Schools Out has said the initiative is not about “tub-thumping” but is designed to “remind teachers” that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transexual people are part of the population.
Reacting to the MP’s comments, the organisation’s co-chair Sue Sanders said: “Schools lie by omission when they do not include the stories of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transexual people.
“Anyone who finds our work problematic needs to realise they are giving comfort to homophobics. Homophobia kills and is expensive.”
Labour said it had been “standard practice” for many years to use references to same-sex relationships in the mainstream curriculum.
“It is astonishing in this day and age that a Tory MP is complaining about giving our children a realistic vision of Britain today,” said James Asser, co-chair of LGBT Labour.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Andrew Kramer released his “Tron-Pilot” After Effects CS4 project file and a short video walk-through which describes creating the faux 3D text in AE (adding the Vegas filter) and building a few expressions. The project was previewed in December.
There’s some other tutorials to mimic the TRON look, and some background on the VFX of TRON: Legacy from Fxguide (on face replacement effects) and in numerous “Making of” videos like those posted by Digital Domain. Here’s a few more tutorials for After Effects, veering off with a few on neon:
In this tutorial we’re gonna show you how you can create an abstract audio reactant background with Trapcode Form and we will discover the advantages of Audio React.
I create composition by clicking Menu-> Composition->New Composition. Make it 1280*720 square pixels 1:15 seconds long, name it as ‘Maint’.
Create new solid clicking by Menu->Layer->New->Solid. Change the color to Black. Make it comp size (1280*720) and name it as ‘BG’.
Create new solid clicking by Menu->Layer->New->Solid. Change the color to #EC7099 . Make it comp size (1280*720) and name it as ‘Circle’.
Select the Ellipse tool and create a simple mask and set the layer opacity to 49%.
Create new solid clicking by Menu->Layer->New->Solid. Change the color to white . Make it comp size (1280*720) and name it as ‘Stars’.
Add CC Star Burst (Effect->Simulation->CC Star Burst) and Glow (Effect->Stylize->Glow) and set the following properties.CC star burst is a great plugin to create a starfield for example.It’s static now because we set the speed value to 0.You can play with the properties if you want a different look.
Create new solid clicking by Menu->Layer->New->Solid. Change the color to Black . Make it comp size (1280*720) and name it as ‘Star Fade’.
Select the Rectangle Tool and creat a simple mask.Press the "m" key twice to reveal the mask properties and set the mask feather to 310 pixel.
Create new solid clicking by Menu->Layer->New->Solid. Change the color to Black . Make it comp size (1280*720) and name it as ‘Form’.
Go to Effect->Trapcode->Form and set the following parameters.
Go to quick maps and select the forth template from the color map properties and set the following colors 1.(#FFFF00) 2.(#FC7303) 3.(#FF7FBF) 4.(#A000FF) and set Map opacity+Color over to X. Let’s set the Map#1 to the fifth template and set Map#1 to opacity and the Map#1 Over to radial and this wash the edges of the form so it’s not too sharp anymore and it makes our look much more natural.
Select Audio React and select your audio file. Before you do that you have to import it into after effects and this time you can use an mp3 file or a wav file.The important thing is that you have to choose a simple not too complicated song. . Let’s set the strength to 150 and the Map to to Fractal, Delay Direction to X Outwards and set Delay Max to 1 sec.
Select Fractal Field and set Displace to 300. Remember in Audio React we set the map to Fractal so if you now preview the video then you will see the particles are moving. So if you want to add extra details then go back to Audio React and add a new Reactor and select a different propertie and set Map To Disperse maybe.
Our Form animation is a little bit "flat" now so let’s add a glow effect to it.Go to Effect->Stylize->Glow and set the following properties.
It’s not necessary just optional, but if you have Trapcode Shine than you can make much more dramatic look.Just set the following properties.Change the transfer mode to add and set the colorize to none.It means shine will use our form’s original colors.
Let’s add a new camera clicking by Layer->New->Camera.
Let’s set the camera’s position.Just play with the settings if you want a different look.
I create composition by clicking Menu-> Composition->New Composition. Make it 1280*720 square pixels 30 seconds long, name it as ‘Aetuts logo’.
Import the logo and hit the "s" key on the keyboard and type in the following scale properties and also check the continuously Rasterize on because we are using a vector file.
.Create new solid clicking by Menu->Layer->New->Solid. Change the color to Black . Make it comp size (1280*720) and name it as ‘Form’.
Go back to the main comp and select the form layer and select the Form,Shine and the glow and press ctrl+c to copy them. Now go to the Aetuts composition and select the form layer and press ctrl+v to paste the effects.In form turn off the quick maps and add a new layer map. The layer is our aetuts logo and set the Functionality to RGBA to RGBA and the Map Over to XY.
Don’t forget to add your audio file and turn off the aetuts logo.ai file.
In the final video I create a simple fade in fade out effect.So I decreased the form opacity and increased the Aetuts logo opacity and convert the keyframes to easy ease(select them and press f9).
If you don’t want to use any music or song just a simple abstract background animation then you have to change the following properties.If you wnat to create a perfect loop than check on the floow loop checkbox and in loop time set the length of the comp.
Here is what your video should look like
