The Beatles escape from Apple Prison

If Christmas Eve 2015 is remembered for nothing else, it will be the gift given to anyone wanting to listen to The Beatles anytime, anywhere, and on anything. As I write, the group’s last recorded album, “Abbey Road”, streams from Tidal in the glorious 1411kbps Free Lossless Audio Codec. Listening with Master & Dynamic MW60 headphones, detail is super fine, such I can appreciate Ringo Starr’s drumming and hear just how tight is the Fab Four’s playing. I haven’t heard The Beatles like this in years, if ever. You go on and listen to 256Kbps AAC from Apple.

My introduction to the group came from the soloists, following the breakup. I was too young when Beatlemania stormed England, the United States, and most everywhere else. My first record album was Paul McCartney & Wings’ “Band on the Run”, which title song is metaphorically appropriate for The Beatles’ escape from Apple prison.

Photo by Joe WilcoxDec 24, 201512:02 am

Flickr a Day 358: ‘PopCorn Culture’

Go figure, I had planned to feature something more traditional for Christmas Eve but couldn’t resist self-titled “PopCorn Culture”, which J Mark Dodds captured eight years ago today using Fujifilm FinePix E900. Vitals: f/2.8, ISO 800, 1/4 sec, 7.2mm. The pic is a reminder about what matters — people, particularly those whom we are closely bounded, and major reason this series focuses (no pun, honestly!) more on them than the things.

“I’m a photographer with a lot of food and drink experience in restaurants, bars, clubs and pubs. The distractions of a life full of inescapable things gets in the way of taking and processing photographs—and I spend a lot of time with my boys who are becoming men”, he says.

Web by Joe WilcoxDec 23, 201510:10 am

I see Tumbleweeds Rolling Across the Google+ Ghost Town

As the New Year approaches, and I contemplate 2016, my online social space surely will change; my like-affair with Google+ draws close to an end. Nearly six weeks ago, the service “reimagined“, as a “fully redesigned Google+ that puts Communities and Collections front and center”.

Since then, my Google+ engagement has dropped by more than 90 percent. I don’t find as many posts to Plus-one, to share with others, or on which to comment. Similarly, I see shocking decline in the number of responses to my posts—not something I actively seek so much as by which to judge interest in what I write and also to interact with other Plusers. After years of misguided critics calling Google+ a ghost town, the tumbleweeds roll.

Photo by Joe WilcoxDec 23, 20157:53 am

Flickr a Day 357: ‘Endless Winter Nights’

The series seriously could feature more landscapes. I picked self-titled “Endless Winter Nights’, which Carlos Andrés Reyes shot on Jan. 1, 2015, for composition with the moon. He captured the moment using Canon EOS 70D and EF-S18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS […]

Photo by Joe WilcoxDec 22, 20152:31 pm

Flickr a Day 356: ‘Bank Vole Transporting Hazelnut’

The series should feature more nature shots, and what an animal candid capture is self-titled “Bank Vole Transporting Hazelnut”.”I bought my first camera in the middle of 2014, and my first dSLR a few months later”, Hanna Knutsson says. “Now I take every opportunity to visit the nearby forest and take pictures of the local wildlife, preferably small mammals”.

She shot the rodent (sounds grim, doesn’t it?) on Nov. 18, 2015, using Canon EOS 70D and EF-S55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS STM lens. Vitals: f/8, ISO 400, 1/250 sec, 250mm.

Web by Joe WilcoxDec 22, 20152:06 pm

Do You Hear What I Hear?

For years now I’ve claimed to be able to easily distinguish, highly-compressed low-bitrate musical tracks from CD/lossless. Apparently not everyone can, and most people don’t care—otherwise why would 256kbps AAC and 320Mbps MP3 be start […]

Photo by Joe WilcoxDec 21, 20156:42 am

Flickr a Day 355: I’m Board

As the series’ end approaches, picking pics grows ever-more difficult. I would like the last ones to be special, but finding them also takes more time than easily invested—got a new project coming, and there […]

Photo by Joe WilcoxDec 20, 20156:47 am

Flickr a Day 354: ‘Adam Keys — Ollie Over Rail’

Action and sports shots often require prep and finesse, as Paul Scott demonstrates with our Day taker. He shot self-titled “Adam Keys—Ollie Over Rail” using Canon EOS 60D, one year ago today. Vitals: f/3.5, ISO 250, […]

Society by Joe WilcoxDec 19, 201510:15 am

My New Friend

The 2015 holiday Android Collectible is Bingle Bear. U.S. Postal Service delivered him about 40 hours ago—in two days, despite the holiday rush, and shipped immediately, too. Thank you Andrew Bell and Dead Zebra. His […]

Photo by Joe WilcoxDec 19, 20156:49 am

Flickr a Day 353: ‘Gothia Towers’

I picked today’s pic for what it is (captured with a smartphone) and what it isn’t (taken with an iPhone). If you believe marketing folklore, the only good cameraphone is an Apple. Here, in the […]

Apple by Joe WilcoxDec 18, 20151:55 pm

Last-minute Tech Stocking Stuffers

Here we are, days before Christmas, and you’re thinking about last-minute stocking stuffers. I’ve got an eclectic selection of things I would want to get or give for December 25th. Some of them will demand rushing online to take advantage of last-minute shipping offers. Others require no shipping at all, like music subscription services. Confession: Some items will require a larger stocking but no wrapping.

I present the list alphabetically, and in no order of preference.

Photo by Joe WilcoxDec 18, 20157:34 am

Flickr a Day 352: ‘Left Alone’

What’s missing makes the photographic art of John Meadows so commanding. Color for one. Digital for another. The modern is absent, too. If you look at portraits from one-hundred years ago and earlier, the subjects often don’t smile; typically there’s a seriousness to their facial expressions and bodily postures. The look, feel, and mood is similar; most any of his captures could easily be mistaken for a picture from the 1910s.

But John is a modern shooter blending past and present techniques. “As time goes on, I find myself moving more and more drawn back to film-based photography and historic processes such as Cyanotype and Van Dyke Brown”, he says. “However, I will take advantage of certain digital technology, so even when stating with a film negative my workflow tends to be hybrid”.