I don’t eat candy anymore, so sought another treat for Halloween: From Dead Zebra/Dyzplastic this year’s holiday appropriate Special Edition: Warty Witch. “We found a few Lucky Lucy figures in the warehouse, so we have […]
Author: Joe Wilcox
Flickr a Day 303: ‘Something Fishy’
I can’t get enough of portraits like this, where light pierces darkness to illuminate a child’s face. I would have composed differently until looking longer at self-titled “Something Fishy”. I like. I like. Overall quality is soft, but proves to be effective here. The hues are pleasing.
Caden Crawford captured the moment on Feb. 22, 2013, using Canon EOS Rebel T2i and EF 50mm f/1.8 II lens. Oh, baby, what a prime! Vitals: f/18, ISO 100, 1/20 sec, 50mm. From Red Lodge, Montana, he joined Flickr in May 2012. He is most active on Tumblr and keeps an (outdated) Facebook.
Flickr a Day 302: National Cat Day
Our selection is quite unplanned and adds yet another feline (I know, I know—too many). Last night, I discovered that Oct. 29, 2015 is the 10th annual National Cat Day, founded by animal welfare advocate […]
Android vs iPhone: When Hype Bites
The haughty headline from yesterday’s Apple fiscal fourth quarter 2015 earnings report isn’t big revenue or profit performance ($51.5 billion and $11.1 billion, respectively), but a figure given by CEO Tim Cook during the analyst call: “We recorded the highest rate on record for Android switches last quarter at 30 percent”.
Blogs, and some news sites, set the statement off like an atomic blast of free marketing for Apple. The fallout spreads across the InterWebs this fine Wednesday, largely undisputed or corroborated. Just because Cook claims something doesn’t make it true. To get some perspective, and to either correct or confirm the public record, today I asked a half-dozen analysts: “Does your analysis of the smartphone market support that assertion?”
Red radically improves YouTube Viewing
Wow, weird is my reaction to YouTube Red, which is live starting today. The experience is so different from the regular service, I am stunned. Fast-loading is the first thing, so be careful what you click—or turn off autoplay. Videos on Facebook feel like a moped racing a Lamborghini compared to YT Red.
Using this 2012 MissFender video as example: Pressing the stopwatch on my Nexus 6P at the same time I click to enter the URL, 9 seconds passes before I can start watching the vid. The time includes the auto-loading ad, how long it plays before YouTube permits me to skip, and lag caused by my own responsiveness dismissing the advert.
Flickr a Day 301: ‘In the Rain’
Do I even need explain why Patrik Nygren takes the Day with this street portrait? Her expression looks permanently fixed, and it might very well be. Is the weather, the photographer, or both what she […]
Flickr a Day 300: ‘Destiny Calls’
For out three-hundredth selection: The appropriately self-titled “Destiny Calls”. To which Neal Sanche smartly adds: “Sometimes, when the phone rings, you should answer it”. I feel a bit of destiny calling as our series crosses […]
#OptOutside is Brilliant Marketing
Well, Hell, I just spotted an email sent by REI three hours ago, and I am having a “Miracle on 34th Street” moment. It’s like Macy’s Santa sending customers to Gimbels. The outdoor clothier and gear retailer will close for the biggest shopping day of the year. While other sellers countdown to sales, REI ticks time until doors closed.
Marketing tagline: #OptOutside. And there is a website, to socially share and join the community going outdoors rather than inside the concrete jungle of rabid, frothing sales seekers. You know the breed. They’ll attack anyone and anything—no prey is too large—to save two bits on a dollar. They roam in vast herds of destruction across the retail prairies the day after Thanksgiving. They are vicious, vindictive creatures. REI is right to free employees from serving them, or customers encountering these beasts drawn to discounts like they were pheromones of heat.
I Couldn’t Break the Surface Tension
Today, Microsoft started selling Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book, and I strongly considered buying either. During the past 10 days, I visited the company’s Fashion Valley store four different times specifically to play with the devices. The hardware dazzles, but I couldn’t get beyond Windows 10 when compared to benefits I receive using Chromebook Pixel LS. SB’s price, which starts at $1,499, is another impediment.
There is something to be said for straightforward, simple, and efficient computing, which Google gets right. Contextual sync is among Chrome OS’s biggest benefits. Little things, like popping my camera’s SD card into Pixel’s slot and the laptop backing up photos to Google Drive, which is accessible from the file manager as if local storage. Granted, there are application gaps, but the overall user experience fills them in.
Flickr a Day 299: “Higher Calling”
The “photostream is full of life” a commenter expresses to Matthew G., who doesn’t reveal his last name on Flickr or Facebook. She rightly identifies his street style, which makes picking a single pic misery. […]
Flickr a Day 298: ‘Violinist at Pike Place Market’
After a hiatus, we return to street photography for the next couple of days. “During my walk around Pike Place Market, I encountered a street performer who was playing a violin”, Lan Phan says. Hence […]
Hey, Washington Post (and Other Investigators), How About Comparing Candidate Spending Habits?
Let me preface: this is not a political endorsement for Donald Trump or anyone else. But the comedy and drama of this early campaign cycle sure is interesting. Among yesterday’s dramedy stories catching my attention: Washington Post on Mr. Trump telling super PACs to return contributions gathered in his name.
The presidential hopeful finances the campaign from his wealth and smaller donations from individual contributors. I got to wondering: Wouldn’t a candidate largely using his own money spend differently from someone getting to what amounts to free cash? There’s a stereotype that people spend their own (say, savings) more prudentially than what comes easily and freely (like credit). Is there a difference this early on among the would-be nominees in how or where they spend on the respective campaigns?