Perhaps you have noticed the ads for "Bing" showing up lately. It's a new web search service from Microsoft. While they do have a nice homepage (I like the background images) I find their search results to be lacking a little in comparison to my everyday search engine (name begins with a "G").

Rather than go into a lengthy dissertation over the merits of each, I thought I would just post a couple of my searches and have you judge for yourself. An image search for "Ryan Bliss" on Bing returns this (a bunch of head shots of various Ryan Bliss's around the world) while a search on my old standby returns this (a page filled mostly with examples of my work). Perhaps it is my artist's vanity but I prefer the latter.

You may prefer Bing's results and that is your prerogative. Competition is a wonderful thing. It also could be that G* knows who I am when I am searching (quite likely) and is returning images to stroke my ego.

Just thought I would mention it. What do you guys think?

I've found myself coming to the same crossroads while putting together my space images. I create this planet/nebula/phenomenon and then have to decision to make.

Do I want it to be "by itself" or do I want to show the feature as in the sky from ground level. For my latest piece, "Beginning of the End", I took the ground level approach.

The other option would be to simply feature the space object by itself. For some reason this route always seems a little like cheating to me.

What do you guys think? Does it matter?

I also wanted to mention that we celebrated Jason's third birthday over the weekend. He was very explicit when we asked him what he wanted on his cake.

Here's a pic.

As you may or may not know, I've recently lowered the price for my Lifetime Memberships. Members can now purchase a Lifetime Renewal for $49 and Non-Members can purchase a Lifetime Membership for $59. I'm still deciding on whether the prices will stay at this level.

A lot of folks have asked me whether it is more advantageous for me if people renew yearly or if they pay up front. Which will better ensure that I can continue making wallpaper for a long time to come?

First off, I'm thrilled that people want to support my work. Words cannot express how thankful I am to be doing what I do.

So my answer is: Please do whatever is best for you. I lowered the price so everyone can have an affordable option to enjoy my work. If there's someone out there who wants to use my wallpaper, but doesn't want to pay a yearly fee, then I would rather have that person as a Member then have them feel locked out because my Lifetime option is too expensive.

A lot of folks have mentioned that the $99 fee was a good price and the lower price is too cheap. My renewal form has a field where you can add an amount over and above the renewal fee. If someone wants to show extra support I have other ways as well.

I still haven't decided if the price will stay at this level though. I am going to watch it over a little longer span to see if it works out.

For my part, I am just happy to have your support and keep doing what I do. Thanks everyone!!

I guess it shouldn't surprise me that no one has placed the inspiration for me "Temple of the Leaf". I had to search pretty hard for the line which planted the seed...

"I must have this city," she told them, sitting crosslegged on a pile of cushions, her dragons all about her. Irri and Jhiqui poured wine. "Her granaries are full to bursting. There are figs and dates and olives growing on the terraces of her pyramids, and casks of salt fish and smoked meat buried in her cellars."

Those lines were spoken by Daenerys Targaryen in reference to the city of Meereen in George R. R. Martin's "A Storm of Swords" (the third novel in his famously unfinished "Song of Ice and Fire"). I've been re-reading the series for a while now and am enjoying the books almost as much as the first time.

I read the paragraph above and thought that a pyramid with gardens growing on its terraces would form the basis of a cool scene. I didn't take much else from Meereen (there are no harpies on my pyramid and no slaves to be seen) so the rest is my own creation.

I get asked all the time where I get my ideas so hopefully this will provide some insight.

After careful consideration, I've decided that I do not need two video cards in my workstation. I only run one monitor (and will most likely do so for the time being) and I am not impressed with SLI on one monitor.

Therefore I have an extra Nvidia Quadro FX5500 video card sitting around. Before I head over to eBay I thought I would put out the word here and see if I could swing an "informal" sale.

It's a very powerful video card and it has performed flawlessly for me. I just don't need two of them.

You can read tech details on the card (and see its retail price) here.

I will leave this post up for a week or so and see if there are any serious offers before I put it up on eBay. Send me an email if you have questions or wish to make an offer (Members can post their comments below).

Serious offers only please. PayPal and most major credit cards accepted. Thanks!

I've been away from my desk a lot in the past few months. For health reasons I haven't been able to sit in my office chair like I used to. I don't know what the future will hold and I would prefer to work at my desk (I have a pretty nice setup) but if I can't I want to start thinking about alternatives.

I have a small laptop but it is only really for web surfing. I'd like to pick up a tablet model with some muscle that I can use to work on Zbrush and Vue scenes "on the go".

My question: Are any of you out there using this sort of setup? I'm really looking for a machine with a sensitive enough touch-screen/stylus that I can do brushwork in Zbrush (pressure sensitivity would be nice).

I'd love to hear what some of you fellow artists out there are using!