26 Gigapixels of Paris …
SWAIA Indian Market, 2009.- I'm way late with this. This wasn't procrastinating, per se; I was waging a long battle with the harsh white backgrounds, difficult lighting and low spectator seating that required extra editing time. A *lot* of extra editing time. I decided it's time to stop fiddling and just get the gallery up. Enjoy the photos!
LastInterceptor.com.
For fellow “Road Warrior” fans. Replica Interceptors. Gotta have the supercharger with a clutch, though ...
365/70.
I’m a ‘leg man’ tonight. I really like the visual rhythm in this one. No “B” shot; didn’t have time.
The Atlantic: Household Debt Shrunk at Fastest Rate on Record in 2009.
“Household debt shrunk by 1.7% in 2009. That might not sound like much, but it’s the largest decline since the Federal Reserve began keeping track in 1946. In fact, it’s the only annual decline in household debt over that period—even in 2008 household debt increased slightly by 0.1%.” That is indeed incredible.
Tried disabling mod_security,
but it borks the whole weblog with a 500 error. Suppose I must sit tight and wait for the techs to answer.
Well, that’s a pain in the butt.
For no reason, my server’s 404’ing MarsEdit updates. I’ll have to use EE’s own UI. Not as fast. Debugging’s under way ...
Technorati: Reuters Discourages Breaking News on Twitter.
“Many reporters currently use Twitter as both a reporting tool and service for getting out breaking news faster. But Reuters wants their journalists to be very clear one on thing, you shouldn’t be breaking stories before they go out on the wire.” Scoop the pay-for service ... not a sustainable concept.
ReadWriteStart: Square’s On-the-Go iPhone Credit Card Scanner.
“Usually, running credit card transactions means opening up a special merchant bank account and dealing with various fees. Any bank account will work with Square, and the only charge to use the service is $1 for the application and the card reader accessory; however, Square can afford to give away the dongles because they will be banking 2.9% of each transaction.” Very cool. Another plus for iPhone.
Gallup: Americans’ Global Warming Concerns Continue to Drop.
“In response to one key question, 48% of Americans now believe that the seriousness of global warming is generally exaggerated, up from 41% in 2009 and 31% in 1997, when Gallup first asked the question.”
Washington Post: Powerful men attract PYTs, but powerful women are a turn-off.
“How many men can resist the bold advances of a beautiful young intern or a flattering media groupie that fawns on your every word? Are we saying that are men the weaker sex when it comes to controlling their basic instincts? But isn’t it precisely the crucible of leadership to resist temptation, have self-control, and live by a higher standard?” Conversely, I’d say political leadership is about bluffing, strategic concealment. Playing your opponent’s hand. The political gamble itself becomes the attraction, and that bleeds into other aspects of a legislator’s life. We’ve seen it throughout history.
NY Times: Switching to Grass-Fed Beef.
”Beef from grass-fed animals has lower levels of unhealthy fats and higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids, which are better for cardiovascular health. Grass-fed beef also has lower levels of dietary cholesterol and offers more vitamins A and E as well as antioxidants.”
CNet: Why Google Android is winning.
“The global smartphone market is still RIM’s to lose, with Apple in the pole position to profit from its mistakes. But new ComScore data on the U.S. smartphone market suggest that both should be worried by what they see in their rear-view mirrors.” I think it’s a little early to say ‘winning.’ But there’s the beginning of a trend here.
ColourLovers: Calculating Color Contrast for Legible Text.
“According to the W3C, when you’re evaluating your web site for accessibility, you should ensure that foreground and background color combinations provide sufficient contrast when viewed by someone having color deficits or when viewed on a black and white screen.” This is one of my favorite bugbears. *Vital* when choosing colors for presentations on rear-projection screens. I used black levels to help separate and render text legibly, versus background colors.
CNN: Former NFL star, actor Merlin Olsen dies.
”On television, Olsen played the gentle Jonathan Garvey opposite Michael Landon on ‘Little House on the Prairie’ from 1977 to 1981, and the lead role in ‘Father Murphy’ from 1981 to 1983, according to entertainment database imdb.com.” One of those “B” television actors you assumed would be around forever. Loved his gentle demeanor. Rest in peace.
Reuters: Big majority wants Wall Street regulation.
”The findings suggest that 82 percent of Americans want the government to clamp down more strongly on Wall Street excesses, with a particular emphasis on bonus schemes that have rewarded employees at loss-making companies such as American International Group.” I could care less about the bonus schemes ... they’re a drop in the bucket compared to the other ‘excesses.’
ars technica: Safely whitelist your favorite sites and opt out of tracking.
“Many were more than happy to unblock Ars, but many others had difficulty doing so due to the complicated nature of many ad blocking solutions. Dozens of you asked for help, so here it is. In the first of many articles we plan to produce about these topics, we’ve attempted to collect information on how an informed Web user such as yourself can safely and responsibly whitelist websites that you support and trust.”
Miller-McCune: Get Your Nose Out of That Book.
“At long last, scientists have developed a ‘sniff test’ to measure the telltale aroma of old books and irreplaceable historical documents. You know the smell — that ‘combination of grassy notes with a tang of acids and a hint of vanilla over an underlying mustiness,’ as the authors put it. Inhale and smell the Industrial Revolution!” A Kindle or iPad will never attractively pong ... unfortunately.
Design You Trust: Buick Streamliner.
Now we’re talkin’. Put this at the top of my automotive ‘want’ list. It’s just stellar. Beautiful curves make my world spin.
Matt Legend Gemmell: iPad Application Design.
“We already have iPhone apps on the iPad (they can run at their native size in the middle of the screen, or be scaled up to fit). That’s useful, but it’s not particularly interesting. Far more relevantly, we can bring desktop-class applications to iPad — but we need to rethink our user interface and design in general.” I wonder how iPad-specific apps scale down to iPhone?
Design You Trust: YURI Sunglasses.
Are these really any better than those ginormous things you see old people wearing? Put a pair of these on, people might think you’re ... a little Gaga.
Creative Overflow: The Philosophy of Typography by Steven Acres.
Rob Galbraith DPI: Complete model releases on the iPhone with Easy Release.
“Washington, DC-based photographer Robert Giroux has co-developed an app for the iPhone and iPod touch that enables model releases, with signature, to be completed right on the device.” Now THAT will encourage me to get an iPhone or Touch. Model releases are a pain in the butt, more necessary than ever. This is BRILLIANT.
Discovery News: Animal Suicide Sheds Light on Human Behavior.
”Organisms of all sorts are known to self-destruct in one way or another, usually in order to protect their relatives — and so to save their genes.” One’s mind runs to lemmings, but that dogs and other animals would do so ... that’s new to me. That horribly abused animals might have a voluntary ‘out’, actually brightens my perceptions.
NY Times: Statues Seem Ready to Leap, but Police Say They Won’t.
“They stand about six feet tall and look like naked human beings. Over the next few days, 27 of them will be scattered across rooftops and ledges of buildings in Midtown Manhattan — including the Empire State Building — as part of a public art exhibition. About the same time that the first figure was placed atop a four-story building at 25th Street and Fifth Avenue on Tuesday, the Police Department issued a statement reassuring New Yorkers that the figures are not despondent people on the verge of leaping to their deaths.” Nothing like eliciting a panic reaction. Is that an ‘artistic success’, I wonder?
Queness: Most Effective Method to Reduce and Optimize PNG Images.
Cute little trick.
Miller-McCune: Sparking Creativity Via Multiculturalism, Thinking Like a Child.
“Looking at practical applications, the researchers suggest games and ’guided imagery exercises designed to facilitate a childlike mindset‘ could help foster originality in both the classroom and the workplace.” I look at the photographs I used to take in early high school, and still remain in awe of my simple curiousity and natural ability to gather graphical shapes into B&W;photos. Perhaps I shouldn’t chase that muse, but just try to reimagine the world as a 9th grader would.
MIssed this the other week.
A Ducati Chopper concept. I prefer the Monster, but this is still pretty neat.
New Scientist: The green revolution sweeps into the bathroom.
And here I was just posing a question the other day, where the recycling, self-cleaning toilets of the 21st century were. Not there yet, but at least someone’s *thinking* about it. Bonus points go to this article for the link to using dog poop as fuel.
Hemmings Auto Blogs: Gas-Saving Gadgets and Gimmicks, part 1.
Illinois.EDU: 20th Century American Bestsellers.
By decade. Via Metafilter.
