Surface Rendering in SPM

Because everybody loves a good surface rendering, SPM has a built-in, quick-and-dirty tool for splashing those results on your brain surface like splashing pool water at your friends while on your spring break trip to Cancun. (Swing and a miss - but hey, at least I went for it.) I think this technique is a little dated, and personally I think Freesurfer and SUMA do a much better job; but if you just want a quick figure, and if you want to at least earn the bare minimum of respect from your fellow researchers - classified as one step above slime and two steps below the macaque monkey - then this will help you earn that respect. I know what you're thinking: What about telling your fellow researchers that you dress yourself in the morning? Surprisingly, that doesn't work nearly as well.

More details on the strengths, limitations, and spraypaint-like features of surface rendering can be found in the following video.

On Vacation

I will be gone for the next ten days, making a brief layover in Chicago to see some friends, and then traveling back to the frigid northern wastelands of Minnesota to my old stamping grounds of Wayzata (and believe me, I used to stamp the living heck out of those grounds). As a result, there will be fewer posts - although I do have a couple of drafts at hand to sprinkle around like little orts, just to keep you all happy and coming back for more.

But seriously, I want to let you all know that I do not take anyone's readership here for granted. After the initial wave of inflated traffic statistics from bots and pings from Russian adult-oriented websites, I have seen that there is a good chunk of you that - for whatever reason - keeps returning; and so, I thank you. I will be sure to reward your loyalty by putting up Google ads soon, as they are targeted toward your desires, and so will make the experience more enjoyable. You think I am joking, but I am not.

But seriously - for real, this time - each time I get a comment about how this blog has helped someone out with some aspect of FMRI, or statistics, or their romantic life, it all seems worth it. I can't tell you how many times I've thought about hanging it all up and quitting (actually, I can: Twice), but for someone posting a comment at the last minute asking how the hell I could be so stupid as to write that optseq optimizes designs according to beta estimates as opposed to contrast efficiency; upon which I become pissy and defensive, and continue to post out of sheer spite. So to all of you who read and contribute - Thank You! Here is a reward for you all:

Let's Talk about Masks (Live Video)

I've been experimenting more with Camtasia, and I've uploaded a new video showing how masks are drawn on an actual human, rubber brain, which involves the use of R studio, Excel, and colored pens. My hope is that this makes the learning experience more interactive; in addition, you get to see what my mug looks like.