Category: Media

Read More

Wow, the Amazon Home Page

Solidarité is right, and nothing for sale visible above the fold. Americans are often too oblivious to tragedy overseas, even among Western allies. If someone didn’t see the news, and shops Amazon, they have to wonder what the page refers to.

My wife and I watched live coverage for hours from CBS and Sky news services, streamed, since we’re cord-cutters again. To recap: Coordinated terrorist attacks left more than 120 dead in Paris, late last night (local time there). The city is in lock down. 

Read More

Flickr a Day 317: ‘Jacky’

Are you feeling lucky? We come to our third Friday the 13th in 2015 (there is but one next year). The other two were in February and March on Days 44 and 72. Good photographers make their own luck, as Teymur Madjderey did the last time there was Friday 13th in November, 2009, while traveling in southern Germany (he lives in Cologne, which is his hometown).

“This was taken in a very nice hotel in Karlsruhe”, he says, “in  the Hotel Der Blaue Reiter. Gotta get back there at some point and discover the other great rooms they have”. Our runner-up better shows off the room. Teymur used the same model for both photos. He shot self-titled “Jacky” using Nikon D3 and 24-70mm f/2.8 lens. Vitals: f/5.6, ISO 400, 1/200 sec, 29mm. 

Read More

Take the Pledge and Stay Off the Internet This Saturday

You spend too much time online. Take a break from the Net on November 14th. Show us all that you aren’t a connected device junkie—that you can step out into the real world and enjoy fresh air and sun, and prove your ability to talk to real people face to face (pack the breath mints!).

Aren’t your thumbs tired from texting and Facebook Liking? Don’t your eyes need a break from squinting at flat-screens? If you must stare at a screen, make it a big one—catch an early matinee. Take the pledge to give up the Internet for one hour. You could even go 90 minutes. Turn off the PC, smartphone, or tablet. Join others taking the challenge. Let’s everyone start at 8:45 a.m. PST and commit to staying offline until 9:45, or later. You’ll feel better for it.