Hey, to the few of you who read my journal. I know I promised you this great funny story, about how I came unprepared to my own art showing....But, life got in the way. Don't think I'm not going to post it, I will. But....I applied for the Art Institute, and have been very busy doing the application, and getting the money I need together.

I'm still 100$ short....provided I survive the gauntlet this Saturday, however, they have accepted me for the open house. Which was a two part phone interview, that felt like I was being lead to slaughter.

So after I spend the morning finishing my application, and writing an essay about why I feel I want to go to school there, I'm going to unwind by writing this very funny series of events.

I want to thank a few of you who recently, have put a smile on my face. It truly does remind me why I came to this site in the first place. Though, I have my moments of anti-deviousness, there are a few of you, who truly inspire me. I only hope I do the same for you.

I have a project that needs to be done tomorrow, it's a commission, and provided the person is being legit with me, it might just be a good one. Though in my own mind, I think my art has lacked recently.

On a final note: A warning. When I logged in to the site yesterday in the AM, I caroused my few comments, to see something of a nice and kinda cute comment. I was going to the kind person's page and looking their gallery, when "THREAT DETECTED!" pops on my screen. Those of you who use AVG, may know AVG is kind enough to show you where the threat is coming from, and what it is, as well as the seriousness of the threat. In this case it was an exploiter virus. An unhappy virus, that when or if it infects...can cause all kinds of unhappiness to your system. Simple stuff like browser hijacking, to the all unhappy "Fatal Execution Error." (aka the blue screen of death)
But, it came from right here. In fact, "deviantart.net." Their what I believe subsystem (intranet) domain, and server. Being as happy as I was I sent the help desk a note, letting them know I was less than appreciative for the gift. Asked if they wanted to know the path, so they could deal with it, and a few non cursory words, but I did shame them. Probably why they didn't write me back.
But, I'm not banned.... (Sorry guys)

Also, there is a similar virus that wreaking havoc on Myspace. Though I'm not a user, I received about 15 IM's (yahoo)from people asking for help....Some of the offenses were bad, many people lost key data, some had infectious keyloggers, and a few lost hard drives, and had to reboot....I know I have read a few journals here recently where people have had bugs....Now you may know the source of them.

Here is a brief list of sites that help remove malicious software, in case you are one of those people, who might be in need; or honestly, don't realize you need to protect your pc.

Anti Virus:
AVG homepage: [link]
*They are having free 30 day trials on their internet security pro as well. As the Christmas holiday
approaches; people buying online....this is a WISE decision to get for 30 days.

Cnet~Download.com recommendations: [link] (editor's picks)

DO NOT EVER GET PRO DEFENDER, FREE OR OTHER WISE!!!!!Yes, its about ten dollars....but it's actually malware itself, and will let every Trojan onto your pc. I just saw what it did to a friend's p.c.

Spyware:

I already mentioned AVG.

"crap cleaner" (c cleaner): [link]

Spybot Search and Destroy: [link]
*Note for people with slower pcs it is recommended you do not use their tea timer device, and if you have Anti Virus that actively scans web sites, it just isn't needed.

This next one is tricky, but it has to be said in two parts. There is a website called "trendmicro," where you can get a wonderful free tool that will do great repairs to your pc. But they also offer another product at no charge, called hijack this. I do not recommend you download hijack this unless you are familiar with how to edit your registry, and you know how to pick off malicious keys, or values. However, if you want to take the time to copy the data and search it on the web, you can grab it. But, it is VERY time consuming. However, learning, isn't always bad.
The other is housecall, now I just got it to work right on Vista, so it may not work for everyone. But this tool completely scans against their database, which updated every few hours, from there it finds, viruses and other malware, spyware etc, and will remove them. The service is free, but it should be said that its not perfect. You could run house call, then run c cleaner,and realize it didn't get everything.

Both are on their free tools page: [link]

For those of you who need a free registry cleaner, because the one for c cleaner is worthless...

Eusing: [link]

Ok so that is my rant for the night, I am slowly catching up on your deviations, I am very behind on redbubble as well. However, I'm a little upset about something there at the moment, so I have been putting it off some.

Thanks everyone for reading, I hope you find these tools helpful. I really hope you understand this is not a pot shot at dA, and I'm not gearing up for another war, but merely informing you of the "love" I received, if there are others...I think it would be great to hear your tale as well, so I can send something to administration. Maybe they'll listen....
Ok I'm stopping now....
Good night!

Be Healthy,

Saen.

Coming soon, a rather funny journal, about coming to an art showing unprepared.



Want a piece made just for you? What 10 year anniversary is just around the corner? Be the first to answer and I'll be glad to make you a piece.

Yes, I'm somewhat back, no it won't be the same. Please bear with my cantankerous moods. Its the holiday season, and I have no family to celebrate with.

So, if you are one of those people like me, stuck at home, no place to go. I'm considering opening an external chatroom probably on yahoo, full of weird music, and hopefully some people, comment me if you're interested, I'll note you to get info.

Be well,

Saen.

I received an email from a friend minutes ago, in its contents was an article from the New York Times. The article was stating the Artist known as OBEY (Shepard Fairey) is and has been intertwined in a lawsuit over his now famous Obama HOPE posters.

The poster has a picture of Barack Obama's Face looking up and away, taken from a press conference in 2006. Fairey's original claim is: its from a press conference from 2006 where he was sitting next to actor George Clooney, and therefore it was fair use. (Clarified later)

Anthony T.Falzone who is the executive director of the Fair Use Project and a law lecturer for Stanford University has stated: Mr. Fairey used the photograph only as a reference and transformed it into a “stunning, abstracted and idealized visual image that created powerful new meaning and conveys a radically different message” from that of the shot Mr. Garcia took. (Source NY Times)

He also claims Fairey has done nothing wrong.

The suit asks the judge to declare that Mr. Fairey’s work is protected under fair-use exceptions to copyright law, which allow limited use of copyrighted materials for purposes like criticism or comment.

Depending on who you talk to the picture could be seen as criticism.

Paul Colford, a spokesman for The A.P., said on Monday (this last Monday) that the agency was “disappointed by the surprise filing by Shepard Fairey and his company and by Mr. Fairey’s failure to recognize the rights of photographers in their works.”

However, last week Fairey and his company have been in talks with the AP working to settle amicably, in fact with the proceeds going to A.P. Emergency Relief Fund, which is a charitable fund that supports A.P. journalists around the world who suffer personal loss from natural disasters and conflicts.

A few interesting developments worth noting:

A collaged work made by Mr. Fairey based on his Obama poster was acquired last month by the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, part of the Smithsonian Institution, and placed in its permanent collection.

Further complicating the dispute, Mr. Garcia contends that he, not The Associated Press, owns the copyright for the photo, according to his contract with the The A.P. at the time. In a telephone interview on Monday (Last), Mr. Garcia said he was unsure how he would proceed now that the matter had landed in court. But he said he was very happy when he found out that his photo was the source of the poster image and that he still is.

Garcia:
“I don’t condone people taking things, just because they can, off the Internet,” Mr. Garcia said. “But in this case I think it’s a very unique situation.”

He added, “If you put all the legal stuff away, I’m so proud of the photograph and that Fairey did what he did artistically with it, and the effect it’s had.”

~New York Times

With all that said, I can say personally, if he has used the piece that Garcia took with out Garcia's consent, it is considered art theft. But, there are two three things, that present thisas a very unique; and odd situation.

Garcia himself has said, he was not even aware that the photograph is his; and he is proud of the work being used. The second, is that the work has been accepted into a museum in a collage form; acknowledged by the Smithsonian. The third, the Obama campaign team was presented with the poster, and acnowledged it, however they did not use it because there were concerns at the time of copyright infringement. So, why wasn't something done at the time? Fairey used those posters everywhere to promote the Obama campaign team...

Fairey, himself is known as a graffiti artist. Depending on your personal feelings about graffiti the work could easily be seen as criticism, or as menacing.

Fairey is well known for his work as OBEY, which has included the face of Andre the Giant with OBEY written underneath, or "Andre the Giant Has A Posse." Which has become a pop culture icon. His work has included the face from 1984, and various other works.

Fairey is known for manipulations, that make very political statements, and at 38, still pastes them or spray paints stencil mediums of his work everywhere.

There has been speculation that Fairey himself does not create his own images, which does contain truth as several of his works including the "Andre" logo are available for free use for stencil. However, the piece in question is not one of them.

Just for curiosity's sake I looked up first: OBEY obama, it came back with 156 hits.
Then Shepard Fairey Obama, 182 hits. Shepard Fairey, (stand alone) 690 hits.
Just here on deviantART.

Something to consider....

I received an email from a friend minutes ago, in its contents was an article from the New York Times. The article was stating the Artist known as OBEY (Shepard Fairey) is and has been intertwined in a lawsuit over his now famous Obama HOPE posters.

The poster has a picture of Barack Obama's Face looking up and away, taken from a press conference in 2006. Fairey's original claim is: its from a press conference from 2006 where he was sitting next to actor George Clooney, and therefore it was fair use. (Clarified later)

Anthony T.Falzone who is the executive director of the Fair Use Project and a law lecturer for Stanford University has stated: Mr. Fairey used the photograph only as a reference and transformed it into a “stunning, abstracted and idealized visual image that created powerful new meaning and conveys a radically different message” from that of the shot Mr. Garcia took. (Source NY Times)

He also claims Fairey has done nothing wrong.

The suit asks the judge to declare that Mr. Fairey’s work is protected under fair-use exceptions to copyright law, which allow limited use of copyrighted materials for purposes like criticism or comment.

Depending on who you talk to the picture could be seen as criticism.

Paul Colford, a spokesman for The A.P., said on Monday (this last Monday) that the agency was “disappointed by the surprise filing by Shepard Fairey and his company and by Mr. Fairey’s failure to recognize the rights of photographers in their works.”

However, last week Fairey and his company have been in talks with the AP working to settle amicably, in fact with the proceeds going to A.P. Emergency Relief Fund, which is a charitable fund that supports A.P. journalists around the world who suffer personal loss from natural disasters and conflicts.

A few interesting developments worth noting:

A collaged work made by Mr. Fairey based on his Obama poster was acquired last month by the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, part of the Smithsonian Institution, and placed in its permanent collection.

Further complicating the dispute, Mr. Garcia contends that he, not The Associated Press, owns the copyright for the photo, according to his contract with the The A.P. at the time. In a telephone interview on Monday (Last), Mr. Garcia said he was unsure how he would proceed now that the matter had landed in court. But he said he was very happy when he found out that his photo was the source of the poster image and that he still is.

Garcia:
“I don’t condone people taking things, just because they can, off the Internet,” Mr. Garcia said. “But in this case I think it’s a very unique situation.”

He added, “If you put all the legal stuff away, I’m so proud of the photograph and that Fairey did what he did artistically with it, and the effect it’s had.”

~New York Times

With all that said, I can say personally, if he has used the piece that Garcia took with out Garcia's consent, it is considered art theft. But, there are two three things, that present thisas a very unique; and odd situation.

Garcia himself has said, he was not even aware that the photograph is his; and he is proud of the work being used. The second, is that the work has been accepted into a museum in a collage form; acknowledged by the Smithsonian. The third, the Obama campaign team was presented with the poster, and acnowledged it, however they did not use it because there were concerns at the time of copyright infringement. So, why wasn't something done at the time? Fairey used those posters everywhere to promote the Obama campaign team...

Fairey, himself is known as a graffiti artist. Depending on your personal feelings about graffiti the work could easily be seen as criticism, or as menacing.

Fairey is well known for his work as OBEY, which has included the face of Andre the Giant with OBEY written underneath, or "Andre the Giant Has A Posse." Which has become a pop culture icon. His work has included the face from 1984, and various other works.

Fairey is known for manipulations, that make very political statements, and at 38, still pastes them or spray paints stencil mediums of his work everywhere.

There has been speculation that Fairey himself does not create his own images, which does contain truth as several of his works including the "Andre" logo are available for free use for stencil. However, the piece in question is not one of them.

Did OBEY steal? You decide.

I received an email from a friend minutes ago, in its contents was an article from the New York Times. The article was stating the Artist known as OBEY (Shepard Fairey) is and has been intertwined in a lawsuit over his now famous Obama HOPE posters.

The poster has a picture of Barack Obama's Face looking up and away, taken from a press conference in 2006. Fairey's original claim is: its from a press conference from 2006 where he was sitting next to actor George Clooney, and therefore it was fair use. (Clarified later)

Anthony T.Falzone who is the executive director of the Fair Use Project and a law lecturer for Stanford University has stated: Mr. Fairey used the photograph only as a reference and transformed it into a “stunning, abstracted and idealized visual image that created powerful new meaning and conveys a radically different message” from that of the shot Mr. Garcia took. (Source NY Times)

He also claims Fairey has done nothing wrong.

The suit asks the judge to declare that Mr. Fairey’s work is protected under fair-use exceptions to copyright law, which allow limited use of copyrighted materials for purposes like criticism or comment.

Depending on who you talk to the picture could be seen as criticism.

Paul Colford, a spokesman for The A.P., said on Monday (this last Monday) that the agency was “disappointed by the surprise filing by Shepard Fairey and his company and by Mr. Fairey’s failure to recognize the rights of photographers in their works.”

However, last week Fairey and his company have been in talks with the AP working to settle amicably, in fact with the proceeds going to A.P. Emergency Relief Fund, which is a charitable fund that supports A.P. journalists around the world who suffer personal loss from natural disasters and conflicts.

A few interesting developments worth noting:

A collaged work made by Mr. Fairey based on his Obama poster was acquired last month by the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, part of the Smithsonian Institution, and placed in its permanent collection.

Further complicating the dispute, Mr. Garcia contends that he, not The Associated Press, owns the copyright for the photo, according to his contract with the The A.P. at the time. In a telephone interview on Monday (Last), Mr. Garcia said he was unsure how he would proceed now that the matter had landed in court. But he said he was very happy when he found out that his photo was the source of the poster image and that he still is.

Garcia:
“I don’t condone people taking things, just because they can, off the Internet,” Mr. Garcia said. “But in this case I think it’s a very unique situation.”

He added, “If you put all the legal stuff away, I’m so proud of the photograph and that Fairey did what he did artistically with it, and the effect it’s had.”

~New York Times

With all that said, I can say personally, if he has used the piece that Garcia took with out Garcia's consent, it is considered art theft. But, there are two three things, that present thisas a very unique; and odd situation.

Garcia himself has said, he was not even aware that the photograph is his; and he is proud of the work being used. The second, is that the work has been accepted into a museum in a collage form; acknowledged by the Smithsonian. The third, the Obama campaign team was presented with the poster, and acnowledged it, however they did not use it because there were concerns at the time of copyright infringement. So, why wasn't something done at the time? Fairey used those posters everywhere to promote the Obama campaign team...

Fairey, himself is known as a graffiti artist. Depending on your personal feelings about graffiti the work could easily be seen as criticism, or as menacing.

Fairey is well known for his work as OBEY, which has included the face of Andre the Giant with OBEY written underneath, or "Andre the Giant Has A Posse." Which has become a pop culture icon. His work has included the face from 1984, and various other works.

Fairey is known for manipulations, that make very political statements, and at 38, still pastes them or spray paints stencil mediums of his work everywhere.

There has been speculation that Fairey himself does not create his own images, which does contain truth as several of his works including the "Andre" logo are available for free use for stencil. However, the piece in question is not one of them.

Did OBEY steal? You decide.