Oh happy day. Today’s selection is courtesy of search “smile”. Shumona Sharna snapped the photo on March 20, 2010—and it’s popular, with more than 13,000 views. She explains about the context: “Two boys were actually […]
Category: Media
Flickr a Day 34: ‘Into the Light’
Objects and animals, particularly cats, define the photographic style of Beverley Goodwin, who joined Flickr in April 2009. She volunteers for an animal rescue organization and, additionally, tries “to help by featuring cats on my photostream, […]
Nexus 6 delights the Ears
Compressed audio gives up so much, I am surprised by the fidelity Nexus 6 gives back. Shocked is better word. I ordered the smartphone from T-Mobile on January 21 and received it the following day. As I will explain in my forthcoming review—tentatively planned as an “I love you” post on BetaNews (and here), Nexus 6 is amazing. I haven’t enjoyed using a handset this much in years. The overall user experience is spectacular.
My audio expectations were modest, when first connecting my Grado Labs Rs1e headphones and streaming from Google Music. Soundstage and detail exceed streaming from iTunes to iPhone 6, or—I do not lie—listening to music stored on MacBook Pro SSD. The differences in detail are shockingly apparent. On all three devices, graphic equalizer is not enabled.
Flickr a Day 33: ‘A Fast Car’
Perhaps you’ve heard of concept “six degrees of separation”, which during the Internet era often is applied to social media connections. But its origin is much older. Hungarian writer Frigyes Karinthy proposed the idea in 1929 short story “Chains”—that no two people are separated by more than five intermediaries, which works out to six degrees of separation. Sometimes, online, the connections surprise for being so seemingly far removed, yet close. That’s how I see today’s photo selection.
Searching Flickr for “Groundhog Day”—and it’s today—summoned everything but the oversized rodent. Self-titled “A Fast Car” caught my attention for perspective and panning. In scanning the Flickr profile for the photographer, Takashi Hososhima, a familiar picture greeted me. Turns out Takashi and I are previously acquainted. I must apologize for forgetting. My return to him and his photostream is roundabout.
Cox Flex Watch Temps Me More
Anywhere from two to three times a week, Cox sends offers to join Flex Watch, which would add $19.99 to my $59.99 Internet service. The cable company guarantees the price for 12 months—no contract—and would provide HD set-top box with access to local networks and some premium, subscription channels. Last year’s offer: HBO and Starz. Last month’s adds Encore. This week, Cox sweetens by tempting with Cinemax and Flix for just $5 more.
The HD box and local channel access doesn’t tempt the slightest. Cox would have to rewire our setup to enable access from the living room, but I’m a believer in the “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it” approach to networking. I’ve got 120Mbps Internet pumping down to the bedroom, where there is no TV, and don’t want to risk mucking up what we’ve got. But I am tempted to pay $19.99, or $24.99, for the subscription channels and stream to the tellie content in their apps—which I find offer better experience and more options. But does that cross the line? Is it still cord-cutting?
Flickr a Day 32: ‘British News’
You don’t select a Javi Sánchez de la viña image, it chooses you. His street photography is immersive—each picture pulls you into perspective, motion, and time stopped. I came to his photostream by way of […]
Comic-Con Heroes: The Academic
My fourth installment of excerpts from ebook Comic-Con Heroes: The Fans Who Make the Greatest Show on Earth takes an interesting directional shift. So far we’ve met The Dark Knight, Medieval fighter, and twin-brother toy collectors. Would you believe there are people who study toys as a profession? Read on to see.
To recap: I attended San Diego Comic-Con 2013 with intention of profiling one-dozen among the 130,000 attendees. As SDCC 2015 approaches, I am posting 13 installments, after which the book will release into the public domain, on July 8, 2015, when my current commitment for Amazon KDP Select ends.
Flickr a Day 31: ‘Couple’
Today’s selection comes from Flickr searches for the Leica X1 and X2 digicams. Photographer Andrew Xu uses the latter, and I once owned the former. Originally from China, and living in New Zealand, the VFX artist is true to his profession, by posting photos that punch you with their terrific visual style.
I could easily fill the remaining 324 Flickrs a Day with Andrew’s images, which is comment about the challenge choosing one. I left the decision to fate, picking the pic from my initial search. Andrew’s style is so strong because, in part, he has a photographic philosophy that merges art and science. I recommend reading the full explanation on his Flickr profile page.
Flickr a Day 30: ‘Try’
Where is Fe Ilya? He joined Flickr in July 2008, but his last posted pic was taken Dec. 11, 2011. I see him on Tumblr, where his last posted photo was June 7, 2014; despite bleeding-edge presentation, […]
Flickr a Day 29: ‘Tiny Houses’
Vantage point best describes the photography of Jessica P., better known as jjesskalee around the social networks. Perspective works just as well. She sets very defined viewpoints, often getting in close to subjects. Like me, she uses the Fujifilm X100T, which shoots surprisingly great Macros; the f/2 lens gives shallow depth-of-field that produces fantastic bokeh.
Jessica shot self-titled “Tiny Houses” on Dec. 31, 2014. The houses belong to board game The Settlers of Catan, which was unknown to me before seeing this pic and a companion my wife prefers. As someone who fanatically role-played Dungeons and Dragons and Empire of the Petal Throne in high school, I’m surprised to somehow have missed Catan, which Klaus Teuber developed and released to the German market 20 years ago.
Flickr a Day 28: Licensing Lesson
All photos in this series are authenticated for copyright. Sometimes the process for the photographer is more difficult, particularly when language and location are factors. Luigi Alesi shot today’s selection, licensed Creative Commons noncommercial, on […]
Responsible Journalism Cheat Sheet
Several themes consistently recur in my posts about good journalism. They’re spread out over about five years of posting, and it’s unrealistic to expect anyone to read everything to find them. So for your benefit, and even my own, I pull together some quick tips that every news gatherer should strongly consider adopting as part of his or her daily routine.
News reporting isn’t a profession but a lifestyle. Ethics you adopt shape it—and you.