Awash with images..... but customers?
Friday, July 17, 2009
Being such a libertarian on people creating their own realities, I really don't have anything to say about MicroStock. Other than I don't get it. It makes no sense within the reality of markets and goods and services and the ability to profit from one another. RF disks I got, but MicroStock is way different to me. The valuation of the single image is now in a few dollars.
And to refer to the people who buy images as art buyers with some sort of reverence... wow, sorry, I just don't get that at all. I wonder if the designers who are paying $8 bucks for the brochure photography are charging $12 for design?
I'm thinking no...Awash with images..... but customers?
Posted byDon at 8:08 PM 1 comments Links to this post
Choices...
Thursday, July 16, 2009
I have no idea if this is true or not. But it is touching, and it seems like the right thing to do sometimes, to bring something touching to the light.
I received this in an email, so I will post it here. Some of you may have already seen it. That's cool.
This makes you think harder about choices..
Two Choices
What would you do?....you make the choice.. Don't look for a punch line, there isn't one. Read it anyway. My question is: Would you have made the same choice?
At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves children with learning disabilities, the father of one of the students delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended. After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he offered a question:
'When not interfered with by outside influences, everything nature does, is done with perfection.
Yet my son, Shay, cannot learn things as other children do. He cannot understand things as other children do.
Where is the natural order of things in my son?'
The audience was stilled by the query.
The father continued. 'I believe that when a child like Shay, who was mentally and physically disabled comes into the world, an opportunity to realize true human nature presents itself, and it comes in the way other people treat that child.'
Then he told the following story:
Shay and I had walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were playing baseball. Shay asked, 'Do you think they'll let me play?' I knew that most of the boys would not want someone like Shay on their team, but as a father I also understood that if my son were allowed to play, it would give him a much-needed sense of belonging and some confidence to be accepted by others in spite of his handicaps.
I approached one of the boys on the field and asked (not expecting much) if Shay could play. The boy looked around for guidance and said, 'We're losing by six runs and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team and we'll try to put him in to bat in the ninth inning.'
Shay struggled over to the team's bench and, with a broad smile, put on a team shirt. I watched with a small tear in my eye and warmth in my heart. The boys saw my joy at my son being accepted.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay's team scored a few runs but was still behind by three.
In the top of the ninth inning, Shay put on a glove and played in the right field. Even though no hits came his way, he was obviously ecstatic just to be in the game and on the field, grinning from ear to ear as I waved to him from the stands.
In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay's team scored again.
Now, with two outs and the bases loaded, the potential winning run was on base and Shay was scheduled to be next at bat.
At this juncture, do they let Shay bat and give away their chance to win the game?
Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat. Everyone knew that a hit was all but impossible because Shay didn't even know how to hold the bat properly, much less connect with the ball.
However, as Shay stepped up to the plate, the pitcher, recognizing that the other team was putting winning aside for this moment in Shay's life, moved in a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shay could at least make contact...
The first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and missed.
The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly towards Shay.
As the pitch came in, Shay swung at the ball and hit a slow ground ball right back to the pitcher.
The game would now be over.
The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could have easily thrown the ball to the first baseman.
Shay would have been out and that would have been the end of the game.
Instead, the pitcher threw the ball right over the first baseman's head, out of reach of all team mates.
Everyone from the stands and both teams started yelling, 'Shay, run to first!
Run to first!'
Never in his life had Shay ever run that far, but he made it to first base.
He scampered down the baseline, wide-eyed and startled.
Everyone yelled, 'Run to second, run to second!'
Catching his breath, Shay awkwardly ran towards second, gleaming and struggling to make it to the base.
By the time Shay rounded towards second base, the right fielder had the ball .. the smallest guy on their team who now had his first chance to be the hero for his team.
He could have thrown the ball to the second-baseman for the tag, but he understood the pitcher's intentions so he, too, intentionally threw the ball high and far over the third-baseman's head.
Shay ran toward third base deliriously as the runners ahead of him circled the bases toward home.
All were screaming, 'Shay, Shay, Shay, all the Way Shay'
Shay reached third base because the opposing shortstop ran to help him by turning him in the direction of third base, and shouted, 'Run to third!
Shay, run to third!'
As Shay rounded third,the boys from both teams, and the spectators, were on their feet screaming, 'Shay, run home! Run home!'
Shay ran to home, stepped on the plate, and was cheered as the hero who hit the grand slam and won the game for his team
'That day', said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face, 'the boys from both teams helped bring a piece of true love and humanity into this world'.
Shay didn't make it to another summer. He died that winter, having never forgotten being the hero and making me so happy, and coming home and seeing his Mother tearfully embrace her little hero of the day!
We all have thousands of opportunities every single day to help realize the 'natural order of things.'
So many seemingly trivial interactions between two people present us with a choice:
Do we pass along a little spark of love and humanity or do we pass up those opportunities and leave the world a little bit colder in the process?
A wise man once said every society is judged by how it treats it's least fortunate amongst them.
May your day, be a Shay Day.
Posted byDon at 5:38 PM 0 comments Links to this post
CBO Chief Criticizes Democrats' Health Reform Measures - washingtonpost.com
Well... he ought to just shut up then. He is obviously not a team player and is some crazy rightwing nutcase. There is only one way, folks. It is not open for interpretation from some "nonpartisan" hack.
CBO Chief Criticizes Democrats' Health Reform Measures - washingtonpost.comFrom the Washington Post even. Hmmmmm.... traitors amongst them?Instead of saving the federal government from fiscal catastrophe, the health reform measures being drafted by congressional Democrats would increase rather than reduce public spending on health care, potentially worsening an already bleak budget outlook, the director of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said this morning.
Under questioning by members of the Senate Budget Committee, CBO director Douglas Elmendorf said bills crafted by House leaders and the Senate health committee do not propose "the sort of fundamental changes that would be necessary to reduce the trajectory of federal health spending by a significant amount."
Posted byDon at 5:13 PM 1 comments Links to this post
Strobist Winner for Food Shots
Congrats... beautiful shot!
Posted byDon at 11:46 AM 0 comments Links to this post
Could we be wrong about global warming? - Science Fair - USATODAY.com
Could we be wrong about global warming? - Science Fair - USATODAY.com:
"The conclusion, Dickens said, is that something other than carbon dioxide caused much of this ancient warming. 'Some feedback loop or other processes that aren't accounted for in these models -- the same ones used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change for current best estimates of 21st century warming -- caused a substantial portion of the warming that occurred during the PETM.'"
Posted byDon at 9:15 AM 0 comments Links to this post
25 Large Photo Background Websites | Designfeed.me (Beta)
25 Large Photo Background Websites | Designfeed.me (Beta):
"With internet speeds being faster then ever, more and more websites are pushing the limits with HD videos, animations and huge beautiful images. These websites showcase websites that use large photos to portray their message. The web content, and functions lay over top, and in some cases the photo brings a really great sense of contrast. I really enjoy viewing these websites, the message is so clear, enjoy!"
Posted byDon at 8:21 AM 0 comments Links to this post
Is Seth Talking about Commercial Photography too?
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Of course. Just think about it. Read the whole thing, but the money is here.
Seth's Blog: The confusion:Does a high-priced shooter extend the self-esteem of the editor or AD? Are there social triggers that are in place when a photographer's brand and portfolio sync with the needs of the buyer? Does it matter at all, for commercial photographers, to be different and unique so to present a more qualifying shooter?
"Products are remarkably similar, yet we use their marketing stories as an extension of our self-image and self-esteem. Should a new phone really make you that happy?
Colleagues are almost always trying to work with us, yet it's easy to blame them when anxiety about other events triggers time-honored patterns in our behavior.
Hang out at the mall two weeks before the prom. Can those items on the rack really pacify the raging anxieties of the teenagers waiting to buy them (or is the social triggers that do it)? Watch McKinsey doing a multimillion dollar consulting gig for a Fortune 500 company. Are they really telling the board something that couldn't have been discovered by a few talented folks in the finance department? Or are they paying for peace of mind?"
I think it does,
Posted byDon at 9:27 PM 1 comments Links to this post
Armchair Commentary: For All Mankind
My buddy Ernie and I and our girlfriends... I can't remember her name, were in a swimming pool drinking some sort of concoctions that night. We had a full moon that night and we all lay around on floating things staring at the sky and getting stoned, while listening to the radio report of the landing. It was amazing.
Yeah... some things you remember forever.
Armchair Commentary: For All Mankind:
"This week marks the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 space mission and humankind's first steps on the moon. From the first words, to first images, to the first Presidential phone call- this event would forever be cemented in history and popular culture. No one who saw the event, would ever forget it. One such person was director, Al Reinert, whose award winning documentary, For All Mankind, includes 80 minutes of real NASA footage, taken on the Apollo missions of the 1960s and 1970s all the while focusing on the human aspects, views, and emotions of the space flights."
Posted byDon at 6:37 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Selling Stock Independently
A good article at A Photo Editor on selling stock individually.
A Photo Editor - Selling Stock Independently:
"I think for many photographers the ability to license their images as stock without paying a huge commission to some middle man is the ultimate dream. And, to be honest I don’t think it matters a bit to buyers whether they get the image from Corbis/Getty or directly from the photographer as long as the transaction is fairly seamless (e.g. prices are fixed, high res download available, images are captioned). Photoshelter has a solution with a new feature that allows photographers to form virtual agencies. Art Wolfe, David Doubilet, and Thomas Mangelsen formed a new agency called Wild (here). Art thinks the big agency model is dead and you can read more on that in a story he wrote for Outdoor Photographer (here)."
Posted byDon at 4:46 PM 0 comments Links to this post
A Degree in Blacksmithing or Bloodletting?
Maybe Steamship Design? - Dude has a point. Sad for journalism, but good riddance to the "schools" who for the last 30 years have created the whole in which they find themselves standing.
Say goodnight.
Richard Sine: Close the J-Schools:I love this graph... (emphasis mine).
"Shocking news from the halls of academia: Forbes reported earlier this year that enrollment in graduate journalism schools is booming. These kids are paying upwards of $70,000 (the cost of Columbia's J-School, including living expenses) for a ghost's chance of landing a job, at pitiful pay, in an industry that is rapidly collapsing. What's going to be the next hot field in graduate study? Blacksmithing? Bloodletting? Steamship design?
I don't meant to offend anyone from the noble field of steamship design, where there is actually a lot to learn. Journalism is not a profession like engineering, medicine or even law. You can pick up most media skills on the job, or with a few hours of instruction. If you screw up, nobody dies, and nothing collapses. This is why so many — perhaps most — journalism pros have built successful careers without touching J-school, and why many of them considered a J-degree a dubious credential even in the field's heyday.
Most J-school enrollees know this already: They go for the 'contacts' thought to be essential in a competitive field. This made sense a few years ago. These days, it's like boarding the Titanic in hopes of meeting the captain. Many of these 'contacts' are old-media refugees who made the desperate leap onto J-school faculties in response to buyouts or layoffs. . . ."
Do not fill up two years of anyone's time with bush-league "news services" (Oh boy! A clip in The Daily Supplement!) or mandatory classes in media history, communications theory or journalism philosophy. Do not charge so much money to walk through the door that the program is open only to the rich, the idle, or the financially illiterate. That's not a journalism school; that's a gold-plated welfare program for your old newsroom buddies, built on the backs of starry-eyed naïfs.
Posted byDon at 2:14 PM 0 comments Links to this post
theblogprof: Michigan unemployment hits 15.2%!!! Number of unemployed highest since 1976! Obama says jobs NOT COMING BACK!
Yeah. This is working out really fine. My favorite Orwellian Speak is "Jobless Recovery" as though it has some sort of meaning. Jobless Recovery is an oxymoron - like - government intelligence or smartest administration ever... ya know.
theblogprof: Michigan unemployment hits 15.2%!!! Number of unemployed highest since 1976! Obama says jobs NOT COMING BACK!:
"I'm going to step out on a limb here and say that this will be tops amongst the 50 states. Not the distinction I would wish on this great state of mine. This follows the previous month rate of 14.1%. We're on a bad trajectory as you can see on the right. Keep in mind that unemployment is 20% higher in Democrat strongholds. Worse yet is that Michigan is staring at a $2 billion hole this fiscal year ending in September, and what will probably be staring at a $3 billion deficit for the 2009-2010 budget year. What is being done regarding the budget deficit? I'll give you a clue - go to a very quiet place and stick your fingers in your ears."
I love this graph... emphasis mine.
"Do not fill up two years of anyone's time with bush-league "news services" (Oh boy! A clip in The Daily Supplement!) or mandatory classes in media history, communications theory or journalism philosophy. Do not charge so much money to walk through the door that the program is open only to the rich, the idle, or the financially illiterate. That's not a journalism school; that's a gold-plated welfare program for your old newsroom buddies, built on the backs of starry-eyed naïfs."
Posted byDon at 1:56 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Revisiting the Death of Photojournalism, Ten Years Later - The Digital Journalist
Sad... but true. I still think that the hunger is there, the medium is changing.
Revisiting the Death of Photojournalism, Ten Years Later - The Digital Journalist:
"Way back in 1999, I wrote an editorial lamenting how difficult it was becoming to pursue a life in photojournalism. Budgets were being slashed at the newsmagazines for photography, entry-level jobs at newspapers were becoming increasingly difficult to obtain, and once such an internship was secured, it was hard to move up the ladder. Compared to the glory days of photojournalism in the 1970s, the situation was looking bleak.
As I reread that article recently, I realized that what I was talking about then were some cracks in the dam. Today, the whole damned dam is gone. It is difficult not to be concerned by the changes in the industry over the past year. Newsmagazines are not exempt from these changes. Time and Newsweek once had an extremely heated and competitive battle each week to get the very best photographers on the big stories of the week. During the 1982 siege of Beirut, I headed a 'delta team' for Time magazine of no less than 10 photographers covering that struggle day in and day out for more than a month. On a major presidential international trip, there would be at least three or four contract photographers flying with the president, with stringers picked up along the way. Radio repeaters were set up to coordinate the photographers' movements. Advance trips"
Posted byDon at 6:17 AM 0 comments Links to this post
Bring On The Social Media False Profits
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Bring On The Social Media False Profits:
"There is a constant tug of war within the new industry of social media between people that consider themselves the thought leaders of the industry and the unending “sharks” launching themselves as social media experts every day.
The simple act of labeling yourself as a social media expert of any kind can turn stomachs for many. It is that bad. But, I say bring on the false profits. Worry about the issue no longer."
Posted byDon at 8:46 PM 0 comments Links to this post
5 Pet Peeves Developers Have With Designers (and How to Avoid Them) | Webdesigner Depot
Interesting article. I rarely butt heads with either... I know how the web works and always always always look for solutions that promote my clients needs. Designers who design for themselves are as interesting as developers who develop for themselves.
Simply... they're not.
5 Pet Peeves Developers Have With Designers (and How to Avoid Them) | Webdesigner Depot:
"The website is a mere button and some text, but the designer insists on using Flash, even if it triples the downloading time.
Issue
For some designers, using core web technologies (HTML, CSS and JavaScript) to create a web page can feel like the death knell of innovation. They limit their creativity and force them to depend on the developer to realize their vision.
Flash gives designers potentially unlimited design possibilities, and they can retain far more control over the final product, especially if they know ActionScript. With Flash, designers can choose from any typography, tilt and skew elements, add animation and create special effects that are just impossible in boring ol’ HTML."
Posted byDon at 8:34 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Google Images Mislabels Many Copyrighted Pictures
PDNPulse: Google Images Mislabels Many Copyrighted Pictures:
"Many Flickr users still don’t understand the concept of a Creative Commons license, or don’t care. Some users tag every image in their collection with a Creative Commons attribution license—even images they grabbed from somewhere else. And why wouldn't they? It’s time-consuming to put a different label on every image, and there are no checks in place to hold users accountable for unauthorized copying or incorrect licensing labels."
Posted byDon at 1:15 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Hope that Change is on the Way... uh, Soon!
But, hey... how's that Stumulus workin' out for you? Think it's gonna get better? Are you kidding? This is simply terrifying if you know anything about how things work. If you are a victim of public schooling, however, you are probably confused as to what this means to American Idol...
Move along... nothing to see here.
BizzyBlog » This Is What ‘Going Galt,’ and Obama’s Induced Uncertainly and Fear, Have Led To:
"Receipts, which I had estimated would be $230 billion in June, came in at $215.4 billion. O…M…G."
Posted byDon at 12:37 PM 0 comments Links to this post
IMO, Photographers web sites built in Flash=FAIL. « Visual Reserve Blog
IMO, Photographers web sites built in Flash=FAIL. « Visual Reserve Blog:
"I love to visit other photographers web sites and I love to critique them to myself. I’m very proud of mine and when I set out to have it redesigned I had a few goals in mind (speed, load-time, functionality, mobile compatibility, etc.)
The one thing I knew that I did not want my site to be was a Flash site. IMO, Flash web sites are slow, take up resources on a persons computer, not very SEO-friendly, images/pages can’t be bookmarked in the browser, etc.
My web site is 99.9% html. The only Flash is on the front page to make the grey bars fade in and out. It’s not even needed and if you go to my site on a non-Flash enabled device the site still works the exact same way.
The reason I say all of this to you, fellow photographers, is this. I just bought my first iPhone, the new 3GS. It’s a great phone and I find myself using it way more than I thought. I use it waiting in line, at the airport, around the studio and home, sitting on the toilet (sorry) and sometimes even when I’m in front of my computer."
Posted byDon at 12:27 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Photographer Learned About VIBE Shutdown in Mid-Shoot
Well... that kinda sucked. It may be a sign of the times as well when you read that the owner of a rental studio 'freaked out' at possibly losing 400 bucks... sheesh.
Photographer Learned About VIBE Shutdown in Mid-Shoot:
"At exactly the same time, reports were beginning to spread online that VIBE magazine was folding. Within a few hours, VIBE Media Group had announced that the entire company was going out of business immediately.
Think Big Studios owners Craig Persin and Lynn Renee learned about the news on Facebook. They're friends with a lot of photographers, and one of them had posted a link to a story about VIBE closing down.
Persin immediately realized they might not get paid for the use of the studio, for which they were charging $390. “I realized, David’s not paying me. VIBE’s the one who signed the contract,” Persin recalls. “I started to freak out.”"
Posted byDon at 10:51 AM 0 comments Links to this post
The Economy Is Even Worse Than You Think - WSJ.com
Still Hopin' for Change. Or, maybe this is exactly the change some wanted... hmmm.
The Economy Is Even Worse Than You Think - WSJ.com:
"The Bureau of Labor Statistics preliminary estimate for job losses for June is 467,000, which means 7.2 million people have lost their jobs since the start of the recession. The cumulative job losses over the last six months have been greater than for any other half year period since World War II, including the military demobilization after the war. The job losses are also now equal to the net job gains over the previous nine years, making this the only recession since the Great Depression to wipe out all job growth from the previous expansion."
Posted byDon at 6:15 AM 0 comments Links to this post
Nearly all my professors are Democrats. Isn't that a problem? | csmonitor.com
No... not at all. Especially the kind that this young person encountered. Nawwww... whatever could be wrong with that?
Which is why if I had my way I would simply close every one of these institutions and start again. The level of bullshit that spews forth on the floors of these bastions of crappola is mindnumbing.
Hate filled people of compassion are tough to get a handle on, ya know.
Emphasis mine...
Nearly all my professors are Democrats. Isn't that a problem? | csmonitor.com:
"From the disgust with which she attacked me, you would have thought I had advocated Nazism. She quickly grew so emotional that she had to leave the room. But before she departed, she stood over me and screamed."You understand that my column was basically a prophesy," I shot back. I had suggested right-leaning ideas weren't welcome on campus and in response the faculty had tied my viewpoints to racism and addressed me with profanity-laced insults.
What's so remarkable is that I hadn't actually advocated Republican ideas or conservative ideas. In fact, I'm not a conservative, nor a Republican. I simply believe in the concept of diversity – a primarily liberal idea – and think that we suffer when we don't include ideas we find unappealing.
After my article on political diversity was published, I received numerous e-mails from students at other schools who spoke of similar experiences. As a result of my research and personal experience, I can now say without reservation that the lack of ideological diversity on college campuses is a dangerous threat to free and open discourse in academia. Sadly, there are few perfect solutions."
Posted byDon at 5:38 AM 0 comments Links to this post
Palin bashing is women bashing - Yahoo! News
Monday, July 13, 2009
What, you say? Bitches ain't just for humpin' and dumpin'? Damn, next the chicks will start to think they actually matter... At least that is what I get from pop culture.
I am not a fan of Hillary Clinton, but what Obummer and the boys did to her was cruel and sexist... purely and simply sexist. And now Sarah Palin. Just shows that there has been little that has been accomplished thanks in great part to Hollywood and the misogynistic pop culture.
Palin bashing is women bashing - Yahoo! News:
"Langhorne, Pa. – Let's call it what it is: sexism in the media. No matter your political stripe, pundits are skewering Sarah Palin. Again. Back in the media spotlight for announcing her resignation as governor July 3, she's become easy fodder for misogynistic bashing.
During the presidential campaign, the press bombarded her with stereotypes that already plague us as a gender – airhead, stupid, not qualified. And no, the media weren't picking on her just because she was a former beauty contestant. If Governor Palin was crucified, Hillary Rodham Clinton was slaughtered. Here, a woman of substance, education, and strength was portrayed as weepy, dowdy, and shrewish.
In a commentary this past week on the Huffington Post, Peter Daou qualifies the reasons for such bashing: 'Unlike Clinton, Palin didn't have time to develop the layers of thick skin required to handle the withering glare of the national celeb/politico spotlight, a glare that for some reason shines much more harshly on women like Palin and Clinton.'
Some reason? Please. Read the word 'women' above and know the truth of it. While it may be true that Palin wasn't 'seasoned' enough to bear the spotlight, that 'withering glare' shines on all women,"
Posted byDon at 4:00 PM 0 comments Links to this post
I did some research on food photographers...
For a friend... thought I would share here...
Terry Heffernan is one of my favorite shooters.
www.heffernanfilms.com
And Phil Marco - but I didn't see any commercial work in his site.
www.philmarco.com
Lou Manna has to have some.
www.loumanna.com
Bill Milne in NY specializes in booze.
billmilne.com/
Matt Klein has some great food shots... may have a beer shot or two.
www.matthewklein.com
ALA Carte Partners may have some.
www.alacartepartners.com
Shooting beer is not really a niche... look for food and still life shooters.
Zucker may have a beer shot or two.
www.mathewzucker.com
Check out Lincoln Barbour's work for inspiration.
www.lincolnbarbour.com/book3/
And lastly, Chris Collins is a knock out still life shooter with a hell of a book... he has some killer beer shots.
www.chriscollinsstudio.com
Posted byDon at 8:58 AM 0 comments Links to this post
Californication and a Girl’s Guitar
Big Hollywood » Blog Archive » Californication and a Girl’s Guitar:
"I have been trying to figure out how to work the Red Hot Chile Peppers’ (RHCP) 1999 hit, Californication, into a blog. I had known and liked the song for some time. Who doesn’t? But other than simply liking the song and having a general sense of what it was about, I had never listened closely. Of course, the title itself has almost the entire meaning of the song within it. I had recently read economist Russell Robert’s Hayekian novel, “The Price of Everything.” It is a simple yet spiritual characterization of the mystery of what Hayek called the “spontaneous order” in human organization."
Posted byDon at 8:17 AM 0 comments Links to this post
Secrets of the photo workshop business | WildShots
Sunday, July 12, 2009
An interesting article on bad workshops.
Secrets of the photo workshop business | WildShots:
"I’m writing this article because frankly, I’m upset. It seems that every time I meet with photographers who have attended a previous photography workshop, at least one of them has a horror story about a previous experience. After hearing the stories, I’m surprised they were able to put the bad experience behind and have the fortitude to try again with another workshop leader. What’s really upsetting about a lot of things I hear about the photography workshop business is that it casts a dark shadow on the entire industry. I know that there are a lot of great folks who put on workshops (and in spirit of full disclosure, I have a workshop company myself) and it is unfortunate that many of our peers only seem to be in it for purely selfish reasons. The stories I’ve collected come from the nature photography business. I suspect they occur in other specialties as well, but my direct experience is with the folks who attend nature photography workshops."
Posted byDon at 1:09 PM 0 comments Links to this post
New algorithm guesses SSNs using date and place of birth - Ars Technica
Wow... thanks Government wonkfucks! Your burokracee is the best, dudes. Now, we understand how hard this is because of your, well, thoughtless stupidity. I can't wait to let you help with our medical industry. I'm sure you have it down now.
New algorithm guesses SSNs using date and place of birth - Ars Technica:
"The irony of their method is that it relies on two practices adopted by the federal government that were intended to reduce the ability of fraudsters to craft a bogus SSN. The first is that the government now maintains a publicly available database called a Death Master File, which indicates which SSNs were the property of individuals who are now deceased. This record provided the researchers with the raw material to perform a statistical analysis of how SSN assignments related to two other pieces of personal information: date and state of birth."
Posted byDon at 12:16 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Rep. Grayson Taken to Cleaners in Ponzi Scheme - Roll Call
First... He is one RICH guy... and good for him. He must be a financial genius. Sort of...
Freshman Rep. Grayson Taken to Cleaners in Ponzi Scheme - Roll Call:This is the last graph on the page:
"Freshman Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) lost $3 million in a stock swindle between 2000 and 2005, a Florida television station reported this week."
"He is a member of the Financial Services Committee."Well, there ya go. We are so screwed. So screwed. Stupid fucks wanting to run the country.
Posted byDon at 8:03 AM 0 comments Links to this post
The Year in Pictures: Happy Birthday Irving Penn
Saturday, July 11, 2009
This is a great post about one of my favorite photographers.
The Year in Pictures:
"Irving Penn – the surviving half of the pair of colossi who straddled the worlds of fine art and editorial photography for over half a century and whose influence remains undiminished turns 92 today. (The other half was of course Richard Avedon.) Like Ali and Frazier, Olivier and Gielgud, Federer and Nadal, Adam Lambert and Kris Allen, the counterpoint and implicit rivalry of two such great artists only served to elevate their accomplishments. Avedon was the id, the puncher, the provocateur. Penn was the ego, the counter-puncher, the sly fox."
Posted byDon at 6:02 PM 0 comments Links to this post
The Year in Pictures: Cloudy
Visit to see the image being described. This is really cool.
The Year in Pictures: Cloudy:
"Looking out the 11th floor window of her law office, Jane Wiggins did a double take and grabbed her camera. The dark, undulating clouds hovering outside were unlike anything she'd seen before.
'It looked like Armageddon,' said Wiggins, a paralegal and amateur photographer in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. 'The shadows of the clouds, the lights and the darks, and the greenish-yellow backdrop. They seemed to change.'
They dissipated within 15 minutes, but the photo Wiggins captured in June 2006 intrigued — and stumped — a group of dedicated weather watchers who now are pushing weather authorities to create a new cloud category, something that hasn't been done since 1951."
Posted byDon at 5:59 PM 0 comments Links to this post
The White House - Press Office - Remarks by the President to the Ghanaian Parliament
Posted without comment or completely understanding if this guy is simply not that sharp...
The White House - Press Office - Remarks by the President to the Ghanaian Parliament:Twenty percent?
"(Applause.) No business wants to invest in a place where the government skims 20 percent off the top -- (applause)"
TWENTY PERCENT, Mr president? "\
No business wants to invest with 20% skimmed by the Government? Is that what you said?
Are you even cognizant of what that means?
Posted byDon at 3:37 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Politics of personal destruction takes a new target
You're surprised?
Why?
He made a liberal stooge look bad?
Nope.
His and several others had a lawsuit that the very wise Latino Woman Judge (her words... HER words, not mine) had reversed.
So, in complete to script manner, we destroy the man... not the lawsuit. The private citizen who exercised his rights, and stood a chance to lose, is now a target.
Not the ruling - which was overturned. Not the process.
The man.
Yeah, this is the kind of judge we want on the bench. Vindictive, mean-spirited, seemingly racist/sexist person with the ability to strike her detractors down.
Hmmmm... yeah, sounds right for the time, ya know.
Sotomayor backers urge reporters to probe New Haven firefighter | McClatchy:
"'To go after so sympathetic a plaintiff as Frank Ricci . . . is a new low in the politics of personal destruction,' said Roger Pilon, the director of the libertarian Cato Institute's Center for Constitutional Studies. 'If they were smart, they'd keep a low profile.'"
Posted byDon at 7:35 AM 0 comments Links to this post
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