I picked today’s pic for mood. Ashton Pal writes about capturing the moment: “People waiting for the ferry on Centre Island to go back to the mainland (Toronto) after a summer’s night on Centre Island. […]
Why I Returned iPhone 6s Plus for Nexus 6P
If you asked me two months ago about using a Huawei smartwatch or smartphone, I would have scoffed. Yet, here I am doing just that. Timing on the latter is ironic. On Oct. 15, 2015, I bought a 128GB silver (and white) iPhone 6s Plus using Apple’s 24-month finance plan, rather than paying in full up front. Huawei-made, Google-branded 64GB Nexus 6P arrived the next day for review. The following morning (the 17th), I hauled down to Apple Store and returned the iPhone for full refund. That act sums up my reaction to the new Android flagship running “Marshmallow”.
I didn’t expect to be so wooed by Nexus 6P, but Google got me by delivering superior contextual experience. This device, and Android 6, is all about context, starting with what for me is the killer function I couldn’t part with: the fingerprint reader on the back of the phone. Picking up the device and placing my forefinger on the circular indentation wakes and unlocks the 6P. Wow-way is right! The mechanism beats the Hell out of Apple’s two-handed jimmy from the Home button.
Flickr a Day 292: ‘Orange/Blue White/Blue’
We carry forward yesterday’s color theme, with self-titled “Orange/Blue White/Blue”, which Daniel Chong Kah Fui captured on Sept. 6, 2008, using Canon EOS 1000D and EF-S18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS lens. Vitals: f/10, ISO 200, 1/500 sec, […]
Nexus 6P Early Review
Finely balanced and contextually practical are the terms that best describe my first impressions of Google’s flagship Android. Nexus 6P preorders are about to ship, and I was fortunate to receive a review model but with short embargo lift: Delivered Oct. 16, 2015 before every blogger and reviewer on the planet blasted out simultaneous reviews and first-reactions on the 19th. I choose the latter, because a scant three days isn’t enough time to rightly evaluate the smartphone.
Much of my experience is cast in moving from the previous flagship, Nexus 6, although there was a day between them where iPhone 6s Plus and I fitfully danced. The 6P is in many respects what its predecessor should have been: Smaller. Much as I like the larger Motorola-made phablet, its Huawei-manufactured successor has greater physical and feature balance. Both are superb smart devices, but the newer Nexus is better tuned to practical purposes.
Flickr a Day 291: ‘Geai bleu / Blue Jay’
When I think dramatic photo of bird in flight, eagle, falcon, or owl comes to mind—not blue jay. Hence, the self-title of our Day taker captured by Eric Bégin on Jan. 27, 2008, using Olympus […]
Flickr a Day 290: ‘Anécdotas de la Sequía’
Great title, bleak mood, and compelling accompanying blog post give the Day to Carlos Acosta. He shot self-titled “Anécdotas de la Sequía”—”Anecdotes of Drought”—on June 15, 2014, using Canon EOS Digital Rebel XSi and EF-S18-55mm […]
Moose are Loose
While finishing up an appointment with the eye specialist, Dad texted. He sent these two photos, which granted aren’t National Geographic caliber—more a problem of their bieng hugely downsampled during transmission. He used one of […]
Flickr a Day 289: ‘Neglected’
Okay, camera geeks, this one is for you. “My beloved Yashica Mat 124G”, Vu Bui describes, “that I have completely neglected”. Hence the self-title. He used one of my fav mirrorless digicams, the Fujifilm X100, […]
Flickr a Day 288: ‘Behind the Castle’
Many shooters featured in this series are decidedly amateur, which describes Archie Ballantine. But only one pic needs to be good enough to be picked, and Day takers often are either interesting or evoke a […]
Eight Years Later
On this day in 2007, the small Wilcox clan relocated to San Diego—to be closer to my father-in-law, who turns 94 in about two months. We sacrificed much, and gained some, too, by leaving the Washington, D.C area. Daisy, as seen in one of her last romps in our backyard, is among the many things precious we left behind. I still miss that rabbit, which surely has exhausted her lifespan by now.
If I could redo any part of my life, we would stay somewhere around Washington and never move out West. The community left there, we never really regained here. My daughter’s burgeoning ice skating career collapsed with the loss of coach and friends. While she found other mates at San Diego High School and San Diego State University, she left behind more—as did my wife Annie and I.
Flickr a Day 287: ‘Macaw’
Here is another example of stock photo perfection. No other description suits the work of William Warby, who shot self-titled “Macaw” on Aug. 13, 2013, at the zoo in Santa Barbara, Calif. Vitals, using Olympus E-3 […]
Responsible Reporting Section 3 ‘What You Must Do’: Chapter VIII
Being so far behind serialization of my ebook Responsible Reporting: Field Guide for Bloggers, Journalists, and Other Online News Gatherers and so close to the end, I break the Sunday rule and sneak in an installment. That makes the next chapter the last before the book releases into the public domain.
What follows is my responsible reporting primer. The list isn’t inclusive, but encapsulates my basic guidance for writing well online during this era of contextual news gathering,