Fun with avatars

[bpmod]

I'm doing a little experiment and I need your help.

At about 2:40am EST Sunday March 3, I changed my avatar. I would like you to tell me what you see in it. You might know the location where the picture was taken (it wasn't taken with a wooden leg, but with a camera), or you might at least be able to identify what, in a general sense, is in the picture.

Please post your observations here and we will see if my experiment worked.

Brian

[Paucle]

I see what looks like a MLB Park.

[jeff6286]

Ooh, is this like one of those inkblot tests, where everyone is going to see something different? I love those!

[jeff6286]

Okay, it looked like a baseball stadium, as Paucle described, then I made the above post, and after submitting it, your picture changed to a different view of a baseball stadium. Then I reloaded, and it went back to the original picture.

Oh, now I see. It appears to be cycling through several different pictures, at least 3 or 4, maybe more, with the image changing every second or so. All appear to be MLB stadiums, though I don't know if they are pictures of different parks, or the same one shown from different angles.

[skullturf]

I think I can make out the team name in one of the pictures.

[gsn93]

I recognize three of the stadiums (Dodger Stadium, Sky Dome, and Jacobs Field). Still working on the forth stadium.

[Vanya]

One of the players has a wooden leg.

[silverscreentest]

I recognize three of the stadiums (Dodger Stadium, Sky Dome, and Jacobs Field). Still working on the forth stadium.

I.m guessing the fourth is Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati.

[Vanya]

Are you doing this with gif? Or some other method?

[bpmod]

Are you doing this with gif? Or some other method?

Some other method.

I made a list of pictures and programmed the file to pick a random one from the list. But what was supposed to happen was the browser was supposed to cache the picture rather than each person seeing more than one of the pictures. Bummer.

Incidentally, only one park has not been named. Well, not properly, anyway. You guys are good. And that even though the two boardies that were present when two of the pictures were taken (that is one boardie was present at one location and another at another) have not weighed in.

Brian

[bpmod]

Incidentally, only one park has not been named. Well, not properly, anyway.

Upon reading this back, I realize it's a litte misleading.

All 4 parks have been named. 2 of those parks have had a change of name. You have given three of the names as the park was known at the time the pic was taken (and not given back).

And I believe that those with good eyes can see the timestamp on one of the pictures.

Brian

[jeffwolfe]

Jacobs Field was renamed Progressive Field in January 2008 and it looks like the picture is date stamped July 2008.

I knew Jacobs Field had been renamed but I used Wikipedia to verify the date.

[MarkBarrett]

Some time back in the aughts the SkyDome became the Rogers Center, I mean Centre.

[jeff6286]

Are you doing this with gif? Or some other method?

Some other method.

I made a list of pictures and programmed the file to pick a random one from the list. But what was supposed to happen was the browser was supposed to cache the picture rather than each person seeing more than one of the pictures. Bummer.

Incidentally, only one park has not been named. Well, not properly, anyway. You guys are good. And that even though the two boardies that were present when two of the pictures were taken (that is one boardie was present at one location and another at another) have not weighed in.

Brian

I figured the cache thing would have something to do with what you were planning here, after the recent thread where I posted a link to your avatar picture, you subsequently changed your avatar, then different people were seeing different things due to browser cahces. But if that was your goal, wouldn't it have made more sense to use pictures of different things? If User A says "I see a baseball stadium", User B says "I see a baseball stadium", User C says "I see a baseball stadium", etc., how was anyone supposed to know that they weren't seeing the same stadium?

[bpmod]

Some time back in the aughts the SkyDome became the Rogers Center, I mean Centre.

Yes. I don't remember when that change happened, but I have not been to the Rogers Centre since it's been called that, so my pic is of the Sky Dome. (I was last there in '02.)

I figured the cache thing would have something to do with what you were planning here, after the recent thread where I posted a link to your avatar picture, you subsequently changed your avatar, then different people were seeing different things due to browser cahces. But if that was your goal, wouldn't it have made more sense to use pictures of different things? If User A says "I see a baseball stadium", User B says "I see a baseball stadium", User C says "I see a baseball stadium", etc., how was anyone supposed to know that they weren't seeing the same stadium?

That was part of the intended fun. I fully expected things to start out with just that reaction. But then, I expected, as turned out, that these guys (and gals if any have participated) are smart enough to identify which baseball field. And if one were looking at what was obviously Progressive Field and another was absolutely certain that he could identify Dodger Stadium, that's when the fun would really begin.

But you caught on right away that not everybody would be looking at the same thing. Maybe it's just 'cause you know me too well.

And as a result of the experiment, I have come up with another idea. I have created a truly random avatar generator that anybody can use. I am just now creating a login area where any boardie can upload avatars (as many as desired) and have them randomly change whenever a page is loaded. The other use this little utility has is if anybody has a picture that he/she would like to us as an avatar, but does not have the tools or knowledge to resize it, this will do just that.

Brian

[Paucle]

The other use this little utility has is if anybody has a picture that he/she would like to us as an avatar, but does not have the tools or knowledge to resize it, this will do just that.

Oh, aren't you lucky we live nowhere near each other else I'd kiss you! (Guess I'm lucky too!)

I sent a long time trying to figure out which park I was looking at so I could say more than what I did, but I just wasn't sure. If I had, Jeff probably would've sussed it out even more quickly (unless he got the same one on his first visit).
I thought it was pretty cool when I read Jeff's post later. My first reaction was "What?" because as far as I noticed the park hadn't changed. But I came in again and YUP! There's Skydome! (No, "The," guys... you know better!)

[bpmod]

The other use this little utility has is if anybody has a picture that he/she would like to us as an avatar, but does not have the tools or knowledge to resize it, this will do just that.

Oh, aren't you lucky we live nowhere near each other else I'd kiss you! (Guess I'm lucky too!)

So, can I infer from this that the utility will be helpful, then?

I sent a long time trying to figure out which park I was looking at so I could say more than what I did, but I just wasn't sure. If I had, Jeff probably would've sussed it out even more quickly (unless he got the same one on his first visit).
I thought it was pretty cool when I read Jeff's post later. My first reaction was "What?" because as far as I noticed the park hadn't changed. But I came in again and YUP! There's Skydome! (No, "The," guys... you know better!)

I used 'the' as opposed to 'The'. Acceptable?

Brian

[Paucle]

So, can I infer from this that the utility will be helpful, then?

Oh, very much so. I've gone through half a dozen or more attempts at various files before finding one various fora will accept as an avatar. (I really don't know how to do that tech stuff!)

My first reaction was "What?" because as far as I noticed the park hadn't changed. But I came in again and YUP! There's Skydome! (No, "The," guys... you know better!)

I used 'the' as opposed to 'The'. Acceptable?

Kick save and a beauty!

[Vanya]

So, can I infer from this that the utility will be helpful, then?

Brian

I think you can guess what I would use it for .

[BigDaddyJ]

From the standpoint of sheer geekery, this is a really cool development. However, one of the nice things about people having relatively static avatars is that it makes the conversation easy to follow once you start associating certain avatars (or at least certain types of avatars, as in the case of Vanya) with certain people. It will be interesting to see how that dynamic changes if many people start doing this.