Galen's Photo News

Had to Share It...

2008-09-18T15:06:00.001-04:00

This is important, true and we should all spread the word!!!!

Surprisingly Useful...

2008-07-11T07:48:00.003-04:00

Not long ago my friend and fellow blogger Kevin managed to send me a link to sign up for Xoopit which is in private beta. I quickly signed up (because honestly who can resist a private beta?) even though I wasn't sure how useful the service would be and I have to say that initially I wasn't all that impressed. I mean it did crawl my gmail account and organize all my photos, videos and attachments into an easy to use interface but honestly with gmail's search function being what it is it wasn't all that necessary. BUT...as I kept getting photo's I noticed that it was not only pulling in attached photo's from my email but also going out and getting photo's from sites like shutterfly, flickr and snapfish and downloading them into an easy to view slideshow format and then organizing them by sender. This has proven to be their most useful feature as far as I'm concerned as it saves me the unbelievable hassle of going to those sites, logging in and using their often unsatisfying slideshows. I'm not sure it works with all photo sites but I'll update further once I know more...Just thought I would share my experience...Oh, by the way, if you want an invite let me know, I have 5 to give out...

Video on Flickr!

2008-04-09T15:48:00.002-04:00

That's right...video on Flickr...whats the big deal you ask? Well, most of us who use flickr love it because it's an easy medium to share from and a good way to show off your photo's...BUT...we've always had to use another service to share video's...no more...We can all now share all our fun in one place! Yes, I hear you saying "But we can only upload a 90 second video..." OK, but you also know that there's more to come from the Flickr-ites...there always is! Regardless, I'm psyched and look for some video's soon...

New Pics on Flickr...and PicLens.

2008-01-28T10:13:00.001-05:00

Hi...I thought maybe I'd start posting whenever I add public photo's to Flickr...Hope you all enjoy!
These are from a couple of trips I took around Walton lake recently and I took a little time to do some photoshop work on them...
Oh and one more thing. To really see the photo's how they were intended by the photographer, I highly recommend using PicLens.
It appears that it is now available for every major browser (YES, even IE!!!) and is simply put an AMAZING improvement over any other way I have seen to view photos on the web.

2008-01-08T10:40:00.001-05:00

More year in photo's links

2006-12-22T09:48:00.000-05:00

I'm back and it's been less than a month! Anyway, here are a few more links to "The Year In Photo's" end of 2006 type slide shows...There's one from the Army (Please note, I just thought the photo's were cool, this is in no way supporting what their web site is intended for or commenting on the various wars we are involved in.) One from Time Magazine and thats about it for now...more to come as they are released.

Year In Photo's

2006-12-11T17:35:00.000-05:00

Ok so I've been away for freaking EVER but I still think about my blog here that most don't read...I'll be trying to post the "year in photo's" slide shows from around the web...here's the first from Boston.com. Hope you enjoy!

Big Moo...

2006-09-21T10:09:00.000-04:00

Just found this cool site through Flickr and thought...hey, maybe I should actually make a post on my blog about it as it's been forever yet again since I did anything here. oh well. Anyway, it's a printing site that so far only offers business card sized photo quality cards. You can customize the crop, choose any images you want from your flickr page and customize the info on the back...best part? If you're a flickr pro you get an order of 10 cards free...by free they mean free. No shipping, no handling, no costs whatsoever. The one catch? It's only available to the first 10,000 pro's who ask...so get on it!

My SuprGlu Page

2006-08-21T08:47:00.000-04:00

I have created a page at SuprGlu.com, yet another "Web 2.0" type page that allows you to piece together RSS feeds and display them all in one neat and tidy place. It's kind of like a news reader that we can share what we are reading with the world. I think it's kind of neat and I will have a Link to the page in the "Useful Photo Sites" section on the Right side below. This site will also display any new images that I post that are public so feel free to check there in case I forget to post about the new stuff. Enjoy!

Iron Workers In Boston Pay Tribute To Cancer Patient

2006-08-11T20:38:00.000-04:00

Every day when I go to work I walk past the new Cardiac Treatment Center being built for the Brigham and Womens Hospital. I've never really noticed much about the workers there outside of the fact that they are pretty typical construction workers: loud, dirty, boisterous men with a certain swagger and a not so quiet confidence to them. The one thing you never really think of them as is soft hearted. This stereotype has yet again proven to be false. When I saw an article in the Boston Herald (which is unavailable as of today through their web site) and on the news about the iron workers of the local 7's latest gesture to a cancer patient I was surprised I hadn't noticed it before and was immediately reminded of the iron workers similar messages to Jimmy Fund Patients when the Smith building at the Dana Farber was being built in the late 90's. Well...having seen the pro's photo's in the Herald, I had to try and take my own...so I did. This is one of three, you can see the rest here.

Make Your Own 3d Pictures

2006-08-03T09:08:00.000-04:00

New site picturecloud.com allows you to take 20 or 30 photo's of an object and make them into your own "3d" image of it. Neat concept and all but it is really just modified "photo stitching" that allows you to use a large number of images instead of two or three. They're not very smooth but hey...if you can beat Microsoft to the punch you're not doing too bad. Check out this example of a car to see what you can do...

Iciclelanding.com Shutting Down

2006-07-25T14:12:00.000-04:00

Not sure how many of you are familiar with the site but...Iciclelanding.com is shutting down. It was founded by MIT student Thomer M. Gil a few years ago and he has been running it on donations from it's users and through the generosity of MIT in allowing him to use their resources to host the site. Not huge news as there were only about 800 of us using the site to host some of our photo's but I thought that the concept of a free and unlimited photo hosting site was neat especially considering the fact that he had no ads on it either. This was also the site that took my online photo posting virginity and allowed me to decide to pay the bucks and sign up for Flickr...Feel free to take a last peak at my photo's on the site and kiss the link below goodbye!

New Flower Photo's

2006-07-17T20:59:00.000-04:00

Took some photo's in our garden the other day and I was pretty happy with how they came out...can't wait to get my hands on a macro lens though as these could have been even better!! Anyway, enjoy!

Cool Photo's of Giant Squid

2006-07-14T12:34:00.000-04:00

I'm not totally sure these are new as they were taken in September of 2005...BUT...I still think they are really cool. Apparently someone finally got a photo of a Giant squid ALIVE instead of dead. Just a really neat thing to see as they have always existed outside our own world in so many ways.

A walk in the park

2006-05-31T14:14:00.000-04:00

I have posted a few more photos from around Boston...some are black and white, some are not and before you ask, the kids running around in the Frog Pond are random children. I don't know any of them, I just thought that the sheer joy on their faces and the water splashing around would make a nice photo...and, I think it did! As always, comments and critiques are welcome. Enjoy!

Interesting promise revealed by Micron Technology

2006-05-18T11:15:00.000-04:00

I am usually a pro-Canon guy - and I don't think this has changed- however I am first a pro-photography guy so any news that seems to promise improved photo's for everyone is good news as far as I'm concerned. The AP is reporting that Micron Technology is promising a new 8 megapixel CMOS chip and is quoting 10 frame per second burst and 2 megapixel at 30 frames per second video from the same chip. The 8 megapixel 10 FPS quote rivals that of the best DSLR's available and the 2MP video is essentially HD quality so, pretty impressive. They chalk all these performance capabilities up to faster processing by the new chip. Problem for them seems to be that this won't actually be put into production camera's until 2007 at the earliest
and even then the expectation seems to be that the top manufacturers (Canon, Nikon and Sony) are Japanese and either produce their own microchips or purchase from Japanese manufacturers. Somehow I have a feeling this announcement won't end up being a bad thing for us consumers as long as they live up to their promises and actually price the chips so that the camera's are available for under $300...as they state they are planning to do.

More of Our Fair City

2006-04-26T07:13:00.000-04:00

I got to work so early yesterday that I had time to go up to the executive floor here at Dana Farber and take some photo's of the sun coming up over Boston and Cambridge. My biggest challenge was capturing the images I wanted while attempting to avoid the nasty glare of a magnified sun in my eyes as well as my own reflection in the windows. I'm somewhat happy with the photo's I ended up with and am yet again surprised at how this assignment has worked out so far. I am finding that if I actually bring my camera with me to more places...I have time to take more photo's. What a revelation! My next goal with this series is to get some more unique to Boston photo's though those will be the real challenge as it will require trips outside of my usual route to work. Any suggestions or ideas for photo opportunities in and around Boston are welcome.

First Attempts

2006-04-24T10:05:00.000-04:00

So I managed to snap a couple photo's of Dana Farber and Brigham and Womens Hospital on the way home Friday afternoon. Nothing I'm too thrilled with but...it's a start. I can certainly say I'm making better progress with my "assignment" than I thought I would. Anyway, feel free to check out the pics and be sure to watch for more...

Boston in Black and White

2006-04-21T10:52:00.000-04:00

An interesting but brief series of Black and White photo's of Boston. The reason I'm writing about them is that the idea has inspired me to do my own study of "our fair city" in Black and White which I will be posting some time in the next month or so...Yeah! A photo assignment (however self imposed it may be) that I am excited about!!!

Samsung SGH-T509 for T-Mobile: slimmest candybar phone yet

2006-04-05T11:24:00.000-04:00

"That 0.39-inch thick SGH-T509 phone from Samsung -- the slimmest candybar phone so far announced for the US -- just got confirmed today, and should be available in the states this May. The phone features EDGE data, Bluetooth 1.2 connectivity, and a camera of undetermined resolution. Samsung actually isn't spilling much info on this phone for as hyped up about it as they are in their PR. We still know barely more than we skimmed off the FCC site in March, but it does look like this phone will be making its way to T-Mobile users. Catherine Zeta-Jones will be so proud."
[via Engadget]

Definitely Unique

2006-03-30T07:17:00.000-05:00

We all saw yesterdays eclipse on the AM news about 500 million times...but none of us saw this view from the space shuttle provided by National Geographic. Certainly the most interesting and one of a kind photo from a day full of amazing pictures.

What exactly is a "Review"?

2006-03-09T07:09:00.000-05:00

Yesterday three quality camera and photo equipment information sites got together and agreed to clear up what constitutes a "review" vs. a "preview" and so on. It's good to see honest and forthrite sites taking on the sleazy marketers at manufacturers who compose press releases as though they were unbiased reviews of their products. These sites have also managed to put aside their competitive instincts to provide a really useful service to the consumer. Another rare occurrence in photography business as not to mention electronics as a whole. Check out the definitions from DPreview.com, Digital Camera Resource and Imaging Resource.

Fun Flickr Tools

2006-02-28T09:55:00.000-05:00

Ok, so I'm not going to say I'm proud of myself because I didn't find this on my own...but I'm proud that I actually posted in under a month and that this is a fun topic. As you may have figured out, I am a Flickr enthusiast and promoter. My good friend and fellow Blogger addict Kevin Skobac (k.b.$kob@c) pointed out a post on Gizmodo that referenced a fun little page that tallied up both a top 100 of camera brands as well as camera models that users of flickr posted pictures from. Well, being the geek that I am I investigated the site (flagrantdisregard.com) further and it contains all sorts of neat "Flickr Toys" The photo I posted above is an example of the magazine cover utility from the site. This is a perfect example of a recent web trend called "Mashing Up" and one that is pretty cool. Basically it takes currently available information from web sites and "mashes" it with other web apps to form a more useful piece of information. CNet News.com has far better explanation and information than I do but I find this trend in web applications pretty interesting. For more information on the subject check this group out called Mashup Camp.

Around the web

2006-02-07T08:52:00.000-05:00

Hi all, recently I have been scrambling around for even the lamest excuse to post which as you can see hasn't actually come to mean I post anything at all. My latest foray into posting is to "google" search various key words and see what I find in the results that is interesting. My first attempt was an obvious one and initiated from the title of my site: the word Photo. My results might surprise you a bit in that most of the sites I found have very little actual photography sites. The first hit was photo.net, a site that appears to be an online community of photographers and wanna-be's that interact to post and critique their work a la Flickr but with a less "flavor of the week" smooth as silk home page. The advantage it appears is that it is a very clearly linked site with descriptors like "Member requests for critique" and "Top rated photos." On the whole the site seems to offer a clean, user friendly interface that supports a community of photographers looking to improve themselves. Essentially, a recommended site.
As we go down the list from photofriday.com (A weekly photo challenge site) to our first commercial photography equipment sales site bhphotovideo.com (an excellent, reliable and trustworthy siteby the way) to apples ipod site and on and on and on I noticed one very strange thing. No "photo.com" site came up at all. That got me thinking and believe me very curious about this fact so I started over and typed "photo.com" and wouldn't you know, there it was. I clicked the link and...this came up:
with a link to email them and nothing else. Whoever "they" are. Anyone have any ideas? More to come...

Most Interesting...

2006-01-06T14:17:00.000-05:00

To begin with, this is one of my favorite images that I created in 2005 (August to be specific) using nothing more than my kitchen sink and a glass of water. Also, recently CNet.com posted a couple of neat links, one to the Most Interesting Web Cams of 2005 and One to the Most Interesting Images of 2005. I also found Time Magazine, Reuter's, and an actual web site name Pictures of the Year that is apparently a non profit organization that judges submitted pictures. All very interesting and good to see lots of great photograpy! I did notice however that all the US based organizations had a very Katrina-centric point of view and that worldwide the "greatest" pictures were consistently those depicting people in pain. Kind of sad considering the state of the world and the fact that we all could use some more joy in our day...Hope you all enjoy my photo's and the photo's of the worlds photographers.

New Look

2006-01-04T14:54:00.000-05:00

Please forgive the appearance of the blog for right now, I'm playing with a new format. More to follow...also, feel free to comment!

I'm Back...Kind of

2005-12-07T13:31:00.000-05:00

I recently organized my Flicr photo's for those of you who are interested. Here's a link to my new and improved sets...Also, I am quite obviously biased in my most recent subject matter so for those of you who don't like babies...TOO BAD!!!! One a more serious note, I will be posting occasionally once again but the vast majority will be updates to my photo's...Enjoy!

Canon Developing Fuel Cells to Replace Batteries

2005-10-25T08:46:00.000-04:00

This is an interesting story about Canon's push to be largely independant of outside companies in the production of their products. The Fuel Cells are but one step in the process of in house technology development that they have been pushing of late including Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) displays for to replace traditional LCD displays. In addition to this they have just introduced a new wireless capable camera, the SD 430 which is essentially the SD450 with wireless capabilities added.

Sorry!

2005-10-19T13:19:00.000-04:00

I know I've been slacking but those of you who know me know why...anyway, heres a link to my some pics I've posted since September! Enjoy...

New Photo's Posted

2005-09-16T23:28:00.000-04:00

I've posted some new photo's to my Flickr page. Be sure to scroll through until you stop seeing new ones...

New Sony Camera Sets Bar a Little Higher for Non-SLR Class Camera's

2005-09-08T09:12:00.000-04:00

The knock on most digital camera's has always been that the sensors were not large enough to offer a true and accurate depiction of the subject without losing quality to noise and forcing the user into a more difficult lighting setup than with a similar film camera. Sony has addressed this by developing an APS (Advanced Photo System) style 10.3 Megapixel CMOS sensor that uses far less power (70% to be exact)than their previous setups and is 12 times the size of a typical digital camera sensor. This allows them to offer a very un-SLR like live preview on the 2.0 inch LCD screen while still getting about 500 shots per charge on the battery. They have combined all of this with a non-interchangeable Carl Zeiss® Vario-Sonnar® 5X Optical zoom lens with T* (T-star) coatings. All this will reportedly retail for under $1000.00 in November. Check out DPReview.com's exclusive preview here and Sony's own release here.

New Photo's from the Cape

2005-09-06T08:26:00.000-04:00

It seems the site has gotten over it's little SNAFU and is working properly so, here's one of the photo's as a teaser...

Nikon Releases Wireless Camera's

2005-09-01T09:25:00.000-04:00

Today, Nikon released 5 new digital camera's including 2 wireless models (P1 at 8 megapixels and the P2 at 5.1 megapixels)that utitilze the 802.11 b/g standard to communicate with the new version of picture project. They also released the new 6.1 megapixel 5x zoom L1, a new coolpix the S3 which is essentially the S2 but with 6 megapixels and another swivel screen model the S4 which also has a 6 megapixel sensor and a 10x nikor zoom lens. So far returns are good, but what did we really expect from the #2 digital camera manufacturer (in terms of quality only, I make no claims about sales #'s). I mean didn't they have to respond to Canon's latest deluge of excellent consumer products?

Hurricane Red Cross Donations

2005-08-31T11:06:00.000-04:00

Ok, I know it's a cliche and I know it's off topic a bit for my site but...click here to donate and remember to be sure and specify where you want your donation to be spent!!! Some photo's from the Boston Globe.

Couple More...

2005-08-30T08:58:00.000-04:00

I have three more new photos if anyone's interested...

New Photo's

2005-08-29T13:35:00.000-04:00

I've posted some new photo's from the past few days, take a look and let me know what you think!

Haunting Images From Hub Photographer

2005-08-26T11:29:00.000-04:00

Boston Herald Photographer John Wilcox happened to be photographing in and around the Boston Public Garden yesterday afternoon when he came across an unforgetable and unbelievable scene that sounds more like a story out of a movie than real life. Three men sitting in a public park with children and families walking by shooting up. Disgusting, nauseating images of a man's death. Read his story here and see the pictures here. It's this kind of story that makes me think about the power of photography as well as the precarious position we are all in when we chose to photograph the public. I am often reticent to take pictures of people without talking to them first and in the case here, this photographer caught something horrible with his equipment. It's the kind of thing we all dream about from a artistic standpoint but also the kind of thing we all dread from a personal point of view.

The Smarter Sex?

2005-08-26T09:49:00.000-04:00

I'm not sure how comfortable I am saying this but...apparently Men ARE smarter than Women, at least according to Richard Lynn Emiritus Professor of Psychology at Ulster University. Now to be fair this is the same man that claimed that Whites are smarter than Blacks but the lecture will be published in the British Journal of Psychology and the good professor does have a co-author Paul Irwing of Manchester University. The professor does however also state that despite mens greater intelligence, women are more likely to make better use of the intelligence they do have. This of course begs the question, what is better, being smart and lazy or stupid and hard working? I guess it all depends on perspective...and of course whether you are a man or woman...

Red Sox Have OFFICIALLY Gone Too Far

2005-08-23T14:03:00.000-04:00

Those of you who know me even a little bit know I love the Red Sox as much as the next guy and also know that I respect this ownership group for 99% of what they have done with the team since purchasing it. The thing is though that they have now hit a new low that even I wouldn't participate in. They are offering fans the "opportunity" to buy a piece of fenway park from last years world series. Now, that in itself is a neat idea but the thing of it is that it's not a seat or a piece of the clubhouse chair that Big Poppi sat in, but a piece of the dug up and discarded turf. It's grass for sale here folks. Only $1.09 per square inch (Smallest size you can buy is a 162 square inch piece for $150) It's freaking grass!!! Check out the web site here. I think the best part of all of this is that the intention is for the grass to be grown in your own yard. It's been kept alive in Rhode Island and certified by Major League Baseball. Now you can plant it and hope to god it live long enough for you to build a fence around it so you don't forget which patch of grass it is...As much good as the money raised will do the Red Sox Foundation (which is where the proceeds are most likely going) I can't believe people are actually going to spend money on this. Come on you know who you are, there's no use denying it.

I-pod to lose ground in digital music wars?

2005-08-23T09:30:00.000-04:00

According to a cnn.com article Apple's days of dominating the MP3 market are numbered. They cite a number of industry resources and Sony and Samsungs positioning as recognizable brands with significant assets amongst other reasons for the expected decline. Apple is also portrayed as being so stubborn and stuck in their ways that they are viewed as "almost a cult" by one insider from the record industry. I know personally I would love to see some more competition drive prices down on both the players and the mp3 files themselves though I can't really complain as the vast majority of my music has come from my own CD collection...

Canon Releases 97 New Products

2005-08-22T13:50:00.000-04:00

Ok so maybe not 97, maybe it's actually about 15 but still...there has been a sudden and as far as I can tell unexpected deluge of new Canon digital camera's, flash's, lenses and printers today. They have released 9 camera's (the EOS 5D,EOS 1D Mark II N , Powershot S80, Powershot SD450 and SD550, Powershot SD30, Powershot A610 and A620, and the Powershot A410 ) two lenses, one new flash and a whole new line of all in one printers. This has been an amazingly well kept secret and from a preliminary glance all the products appear to keep Canon at the forefront of digital image creation.

MORE BS!!! (Or ESPN2.com's The Sports Guy)

2005-08-17T13:20:00.000-04:00

When Bill Simmons put up his first anchorman/NBA column, I had no idea there would be a part two, but well here it is! More excellent work followed by More Cowbell! By the way, I'm not too sure how I missed this when it actually came out the day after part one but...I did. (Oh and yes, I am trying to make up for a lame post with extra pictures)

Flickr books and prints coming soon?

2005-08-16T13:43:00.000-04:00

There's a chance this could be be a scam leak, but word is that Flickr will soon be offering the ability to order prints of your photographs, among other cool features. What looks to be really interestings is the opportunity to order photo books covering certain categories...probably albums you've put together or specific keywords. The photos will be printed four to a page and include the descriptive information that you include on Flickr. Some real preperation would go into making a really cool book- pulling together a great set of photos, labeling, and describing them, but the final production could rediculously cool and a great way to commemorate something. The source for this leak, found here, maintains he is part of a viral teaser campaign that Flickr is innitiating to some of its power users.
-kbs

50 Photographers of Tomorrow and the State of Photography Today

2005-08-16T10:28:00.000-04:00

In a recent article from Guardian Unlimited titled "Movers and Fakers" the author questions todays photographic reality of everyone being a photographer and asks where the room is for the professionals anymore? They wonder if the ability to have a camera everywhere and to take a picture of any event is going to erode the role of the professional. The simple answer is of course yes. My ability to take an acceptable picture with my cell phone will of course take away from the role of a photo journalist given the immediacy of my access to not only take the photo but to actually send the photo to a news source within seconds of the capture.
The fact remains however that the professional will always have the experiential, talent and access to equipment that none of us amateurs ever will. I may consider myself a photographer in the making but I will never have the resources to spend tens of thousands of dollars on camera equipment, computers and printers like someone who does it for a living must.
An interesting book by William A. Ewing, Nathalie Herschdorfer and Jean-Christophe Blaser titled reGeneration: 50 Photographers of Tomorrow is not yet available from Thames and Hudson but is previewed by their website through the link above.

Seven MORE dirty words

2005-08-15T09:11:00.000-04:00

According to Infoworld.com's Editor Steve Fox George Carlin's not the only one with a seven dirty words list. However I can say that Carlin's were a little funnier in a juvenile "he said a dirty word" sort of way. Fox says these words are Brittle, One-off (really more of a phrase despite the hyphen,) Legacy, Opaque, Propriatary, Churn and Silo. Pretty funny article...and also pretty accurate I mean how many of us with IT jobs HAVEN'T heard these words in reference to our own systems? How many vendors have spat out the phrase "Well, with your legacys systems running proprietary software you're opening your network up to tons of problems." I guess the sales people better start looking for some new inside jokes after this guy outed them.

Killer Features vs. Pseudo Features

2005-08-10T09:17:00.000-04:00

There was an interesting editorial on Gizmodo yesterday about "killer features" vs. "pseudo features", and how when the general market gets obsessed with the wrong one, good ideas die. The writer basically discusses from a camera perspective how there are hundreds of cameras out, all declaring the millions of little features that make the camera the best. People flock to the brand names, the popularity, and fancy wording, and the multitude of declared unique elements, and ignore the fact that all of those supposed special things really don't matter. But once in a while someone comes along and develops a "killer" feature, one that changes the way we can use our product, such as the new image stabilization feature in the Panasonic FX7. In the author's words: "In general, that will make your pictures noticeably sharper—all of them. It’ll also let you take pictures without a flash with a quarter the light that other cameras need...and it really works." Ultimately, he declares that paying attention to the one killer feature will make or break your buy, and unfortunately too many people don't follow this rule- leading good marketing to topple inovation, and leading superior products (he says Beta vs. VHS) to fall by the wayside.
-KBS

New Pics

2005-08-10T09:07:00.000-04:00

I just posted some new pics from yesterday afternoon's jaunt through Brookline...Let me know what you think!

The Great Gammons

2005-08-09T12:23:00.000-04:00

Recently Peter Gammons, one of the great baseball writers of all time, was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame and he proved yet again what a classy and amazing individual he is. His speech was moving, funny, intelligent, I could go on...check out the video and the transcript and many other items here. Also see Dan Shaunnessy's tribute from the Boston Globe.

BS Tribute to Anchorman

2005-08-04T15:33:00.000-04:00

For those of you who don't know I constantly think it's funny to refer to Bill Simmons' articles as BS articles. I know, silly, juvenile and really lame but I can't help myself. On to the topic at hand, BS has written yet another outstanding piece of sports entertainment literature for ESPN2.comt that you must all read RIGHT NOW. If you like the Anchorman movie and even the NBA (which the article is about by the way) you should get a kick out of this. Also check out his Blog entry about Manny Ramirez from the other day.

Bush Running Away From Presidency

2005-08-03T14:13:00.000-04:00

Well folks it's not like he's trying to hide it, President Bush is proving yet again that there's no way he's actually running the country. He's going on a 5 WEEK VACATION to Crawford Texas and will (assuming he stays there uniterrupted) break the last 2 term Republican Presidents record for days on vacation. Details from Boston.com and Washintonpost.com.
Oh and the funniest part about this 5 WEEK VACATION is that he just wants to go, get settled in and reconnect with the common man...What an ass, the "common man" can't take a five week vacation!

The $6 Million Dollar Man: Closer Than Ever To Reality

2005-08-03T09:12:00.000-04:00

CNet.com recently posted an article and interview with Bert Harman, CEO of Otto Bock Americas about how amputee technology is moving forward with implementing chip technology into their products. The chips take a data sample of the wearers environment and actions 50 times per second and optimize the leg and its components based on that information. In this same interview Harman says that he could see amputees having integrated body parts that are fused with their bones rather than being based on the current socket model within 10 years. Pretty incredible. If you want to see more pics, check out the rest of the photos here.

Interestingness

2005-08-02T20:05:00.000-04:00

I know most of you have seen my photo's on Flickr via either this site or email but they have come up with a new algorith they are calling "Interestingness." Essentially it is a way that you can pick a point in time (from August 2004 on) and see the most interesting photo's from that date. Whats really interesting (wow, I just wrote that and didn't even realize it, wanted to take it out but then couldn't) about this is the way that they determine "interestingness" is not exact. Read all about it here.

Family Pictures

2005-08-02T12:53:00.000-04:00

Heres a link to some photo's I took over the weekend in NY at Joe and Erica's house. The link should take you to a slide show...enjoy!

NASA Finally Redisigning Shuttle

2005-08-02T11:39:00.000-04:00

So, after years and years of failing with the current shuttle design and watching independantly funded companies make it to space safely with much cheaper (and I must say much more intelligently designed) spacecraft NASA has decided that maybe they should redesign the shuttle. Huh, Ya think??? The new concept places all important cargo (read people or satellites etc.) in front of and as far away from all rockets as possible. The NY Times does a nice job of presenting the details in an article today.

Beer...good anyway you can get it... or only in bottles?

2005-07-29T08:48:00.000-04:00

According to Sam Koch founder of Sam Adams beer, bottles are better than cans for good tasting beer. A Boston.com article about this very topic supplies a number of industry opinions ranging from Budweiser and a random girl drinking a Schlitz (shockingly) supporting cans to quotes from Koch himself supporting his bottles are better theory. Boston.com also supplied a poll that you can vote in to see what the people think...Also, much of this brew ha ha (pun partially intended) stems from the Sam Adams Beer Drinkers Bill of Rights posted on the Sam Adams web site. Check it out, it's a good way to think about beer...MMMMM, BEER...

I have seen the light!

2005-07-29T08:40:00.000-04:00

I've uploaded a few new photo's to my flickr page for those of you who want to see them. Please post comments and suggestions for future work...constructive criticism is always appreciated!!

Funny, funny, funny

2005-07-27T15:32:00.000-04:00

I realise that this is outside the usual realm of subject matter but hey, it's my blog and damn it I do what I want! Anyway, Bill Simmons (AKA "The Boston Sports Guy," AKA "The Sports Guy" after he sold out to ESPN2.com like we all wish we could) is one of my favorite sports writers of all time. He's hilarious and has a unique way of relating to his readers about not so unique topics. He reviews Wedding Crashers (which by all accounts is hilarious) and Bad News Bears (Which seems to be a remake of a hit movie that isn't as funny as the original and stars an actor in Billy Bob Thornton who isn't as funny as he was in his last role as Bad Santa because this role is in a PG movie.) Check out the review and then his "Sports Guys World" site from time to time as he's always writing.

Drawings that come to life

2005-07-27T11:15:00.000-04:00

This is a page highlighting a street artist that has mastered the art of 3d drawing to the point of realism. Here you can see portraits that he's done that, when captured in photography or viewed from afar, convince the eyes that the scene is actually part of the landscape. Take for example this guy, who is just standing on the gravel, but appears to be stepping into a pool...
You can see the rest of his pictures here.
-kbs

Talk About BAD SANTA!

2005-07-26T13:18:00.000-04:00

Yikes! This is sure to give children around the world nightmares and prove once again that Santa must not be Real. Check out some pics from Boston.com and info on Newsday.com.
All these Santa's are registered with the World Santa Claus Congress and meet every year to discuss official Santa business. One guy even legally changed his name to Santa Claus!!!

Liftoff

2005-07-26T11:41:00.000-04:00

NASA managed to squeek a shuttle launch through all the bad publicity over their continued lack of innovations, new technology and successful missions not to mention 30 year old spacecraft, faulty fuel gauges (something even car manufacturers in Korea managed to get right) and other such embarassing SNAFU's. Oh well, at least we got titanium and freeze dried ice cream out of them...

Meet the Love of Your Life! At Wal-Mart...

2005-07-26T09:55:00.000-04:00

Really a pretty scary concept if you stop and think about some of the people you see on any given day during a trip to Wal-Mart. I can't imagine wanting to even talk to anyone I see at these stores much less date them. I guess it's not that bad considering the fact that these are some of the same people who started trying to find dates over the internet...

Use your monitor to play X-Box?

2005-07-25T12:57:00.000-04:00

I thought this was a pretty neat concept especially for people with limited space and/or budget, especially in dorms or studio apartments. It's a VGA converter to hook up your X-Box or Gamecube to your computer monitor instead of a TV. It retails for $49.99 from Merconnet.com which isn't bad since it's about half the cost of a cheap TV. Also, check out a review on Globetechnology.com they seem to think it works pretty well.

Red Sox ringtones...

2005-07-22T12:49:00.000-04:00

The Sox have a new product out that I found fairly amusing and yet I am starting to feel a bit exploited. You can now download ringtones, wallpaper, video and more at MLB.com. I think the first one is pretty cool and I think I would consider getting it if for no other reason than to annoy Yankee fans...

Turbo Beer!!!

2005-07-20T11:48:00.000-04:00

Now THIS is technology worth researching...make sure you watch the video...He he...It even does Guinness!!!
07/21/05 **OK, since there was obviously some confusion as to what exactly this is a photo of, I will clear it up now: It is a new kind of beer tap that pours a beer in 2 seconds using new technology. Please, feel free to check out the web site by using the link above...GK

Greatest Web Sites EVER! (At least if you value quality baseball announcers)

2005-07-19T19:40:00.000-04:00

Have any of you suffered the same painful thing I did this weekend when watching what should have been a very entertaining Sox-Yankees series? I had to sit through Joe (Bleeping) Morgan and Tim (Yankee Fan and Moron) McCarver blather on about NOTHING RELEVANT TO THE GAMES on two separate nights. It appears that I am not the only one who thinks that Morgan is carried by his outstanding partner Jon Miller (who by the way has carried Morgan to not one but TWO EMMY's on ESPN) and that McCarver and Joe Buck should be banned from ever being within 100 yards of each other. Two outstanding in concept but mediocre in product sites have sprung up in honor of these two: firejoemorgan.blogspot.com and shutuptimmccarver.com. Check them out...they're both at least worth looking at and hey, maybe it will help you feel like you can get back some of the time you spent watching these two "analysts."

Konica Minolta/Sony to share technology

2005-07-19T08:46:00.000-04:00

According to DPReview.com Konica Minolta and Sony will be collaborating on a new line of DSLR's and sharing technology including Sony's CMOS sensors and Info-Lithium batteries and Konica Minolta's AF, Metering and Anti shake systems. The camera's will have Konica Minolta lense mounts. The press release does not say whether the two will collaborate on P & S consumer cams. This sounds like it could be a good match especially considering the fact that the two companies could not touch Canon's or Nikon's DSLR's in either sales or quality.

Open Source...the next big Beer?

2005-07-18T07:32:00.000-04:00

According to the Wired News
a group of students from IT University Copenhagen have created a recipe for a beer containing herbal supplement guarana that they are marketing using the open source model from the IT marketplace. They allegedly want to use the format to get their recipe out there and see how it will be improved by many different brewers tweaking it. The catch is that you must give them the credit if you make money selling a version of their brew and you must post the recipe for your successful libation on their website. I thought this was a pretty cool idea and will follow the story in the future to see what comes of it.

At Long Last...More Photo's!

2005-07-17T22:45:00.000-04:00

I took this at the Wayside Inn Grist Mill in Sudbury a few days ago. It's a beatiful property that I will be visiting again and posting more pics from as soon as both weather and schedule allow. Lots more photo's on my Flicr page if you're interested.

Even the Mayor thinks Nextel Sucks

2005-07-15T09:14:00.000-04:00

Apparently Mumbles the Mayor (AKA Tomas M. Menino) here in Boston is sick of crappy cell phone reception from Nextel and wants something done about it. Well, what the Mayor wants, the mayor gets and he went on a tour of the city and documented areas that he drove through and his cell phone lost signal (see graphic.) Shockingly (and yes this is intended to be sarcastic) the mayor found that low income areas (the self titled "ghettos") of Boston tended to lose service the most. I wonder if the Mayor realizes that the reason this occurs is the result of fairly sound business practice: If people don't have money to pay for a product they don't generally buy said product. If there is no customer base, there is no motivation for the provider of the aformentioned product to provide a quality service to that area...Anyway, check out the full article at Boston.com
I guess the real question that arises from all of this is how the city chose Nextel over a real carrier like Verizon Wireless or Sprint? The only reason would be the walkie talkie function on Nextel, but if you get no signal...

Rollei Ups compact digital camera ante

2005-07-14T10:26:00.000-04:00

According to DPReview.com it looks like Rollei has a slick new 8MP digital camera that we can all drool over. They used to make great film cams so this could be pretty cool.

Housekeeper Robot still needs work

2005-07-14T09:25:00.000-04:00

This little $6,000 dollar guy is being advertised as a housekeeping robot but the impression I got from the article is that it acts more as a companion for the lonely. It performs a few tricks, can walk around and respond to some basic commands, but really does no functional housekeeping sort of tasks. Perhaps its best feature is its ability to snap pictures and send them to your mobile phone: people in Japan are using it to check up on their children. Overall, a cool bit of technology but still many generations away from the Jetsons "Rosie".
-cwk

Now you can be addicted to Alcohol and Nicotine at the same time!!!

2005-07-13T15:09:00.000-04:00

Apparently now you don't even have to smoke to be addicted to cigarettes, at least not if you drink NicoShot! The makers say that it is a potential replacement for the patch or nicotine gum and that each 250ml shot can contains 3mg of Nicotine or the equivalent of around 2-4 Cigarettes. I guess this means you don't need to want a cigarette to have one, or something like that. Realbeer.com has an article that has portions of the press release and smoking-industry.com has (I think) the full press release.

I thought I had a problem..

2005-07-13T14:52:00.000-04:00

These people spend waaaaaayyyy too much time, effort and money on coffee. Don't get me wrong, I love me some coffee and yes, I am an addict...but this is ridiculous. $28 a pound, $1400 espresso machines...Find the story here from the Washington Post (**In order to read the story you will have to sell your soul to the devil, I mean register with them**)

Worst ipod accessory EVER

2005-07-12T15:10:00.000-04:00

At least according to CNet.com
reviewers. It appears that it is another one of those great concept, poor execution bad price point items that never should have hit the market. Oh well, we can't have everything now can we...

MobiBLU tiny, tiny, tiny MP3 player

2005-07-12T13:14:00.000-04:00

This is supposedly the smallest MP3 player "in the world" and from what I can tell it's true. The thing is you can't actually buy it anywhere yet and from the review posted on Mobilwhack.com they have a little firmware work to do. Looks pretty cool though and I'd love to see one in person to get a feel for how small they really are. If you want to try and find them for sale somewhere, try the MobiBLU web site and click the where to buy tab. My feeling is that no one has them yet...

Moab Pics

2005-07-12T09:38:00.000-04:00

These are some pretty cool pics my friend Pete has graciously allowed me to post...nice work, hope you all appreciate them! I must say I am also envious of his trip to Moab but that's for another place and time...

Weasel Words - sure to cut down on productivity gains everywhere...

2005-07-11T14:08:00.000-04:00

I know this has nothing to do with my usual subject matter but I just couldn't resist. This site is devoted to decoding and debunking the concept of "corporate speak." In other words he wants to clear up all the BS your boss spits at you every week and make sure you know you're getting "offshored" BEFORE it happens...The gentlemans name is Don Watson and in addition to his website he has a book coming out called "Death Sentences: How Clichés, Weasel Words and Management-Speak are Strangling Public Language"

Calm before the storm???

2005-07-11T08:48:00.000-04:00

This was the coolest and least depressing Hurricane Dennis Picture that I found...also kind of ominous and scary don't you think???

Sushi???

2005-07-11T08:33:00.000-04:00

Ok, I know many people have an aversion to Sushi but do you think you would eat this? It's made from all sorts of chocolate and other candies. Click the link above to go to the home page. The most unbelievable thing about it? The price!! 5 pieces for $60 US...I know it must be hard to make but that's ridiculous...

2005-07-08T10:30:00.000-04:00

Cousin Frank is a proud new Dad! Congrats to him and his wife Amanda on their new son Frank (Jr. I think...) born June 26th and weighing in at 7lbs 11 Oz.

2005-07-08T10:22:00.000-04:00

This photo is kind of old but definately one of my favorites. The waterfall is in Saxonville, a small part of Framingham with old factories in it.

London

2005-07-07T13:30:00.000-04:00

Kind of sad that I felt comfortable not even qualifying my title on a day like today. Anyway, on to the image...I felt that this was a unique image not so much because of the fact that it was taken with a cell phone but because the person who took the picture actually had a camera and thought to take a picture in this situation. Then in addition to this had the presence of mind to send it to a news network and have it end up all over the world in a matter of a few minutes. Quite simply amazing...technology has given us instant access to information and images that we never thought possible and that many of us do not find necessary on a daily basis. The link above should take you to the rest of the pics from the BBC.

Live8 Photos

2005-07-06T11:22:00.000-04:00

I thought these were some neat photo's from the Live8 concerts posted on Boston.Com, good cause, great music...

2005-07-05T19:53:00.000-04:00

NOT another yellow Lily

2005-07-05T19:52:00.001-04:00

I know, another bleeping Lily...

2005-07-05T19:52:00.000-04:00

Angie lounging on the patio in entirely too much sunlight for me to get a really good picture but this is the best one..

Canon DSLR Learning Site

2005-07-05T13:06:00.000-04:00

Canon just announced and launched a DSLR learning site for newbies, after a brief look it seems promising and may even help some of us who already think we're no longer newbies but really still are...ENJOY! **NOTE** Canon has temporarily removed the site due to incorrect usage of sample images, updates to follow. Also, the above link is not currently working**

Woodi Pod

2005-07-05T11:13:00.000-04:00

CIMG0064, originally uploaded by ZapWizard.

Pretty cool photo's I found on Flicr.com, someone has lot's of time on their hands...but still, very beautiful, amazing...the list of superlatives could go on and on (and for those of you who are interested, yes we do all of course want one!) Be sure to check out all the pics, it even appears to be fully functional. I see a huge profit on ebay for this guy...

Deep Impact...

2005-07-04T09:41:00.000-04:00

Thought this was pretty cool, NASA actually did something right! Cool photo's of the Deep Impact (Yeah, yeah, all juvenile joking aside) Probe (again...) Enjoy!

2005-06-30T22:10:00.000-04:00

Purple Baloon flower

2005-06-30T22:09:00.001-04:00

More ants...

2005-06-30T22:09:00.000-04:00

Yet another yellow flower...

2005-06-30T22:08:00.000-04:00

Ants in a Lily from my garden

2005-06-22T12:13:00.000-04:00

Rain drops

2005-06-22T12:12:00.000-04:00

Tulip after rain

2005-06-21T14:54:00.000-04:00

Chloe thinking she's rather clever...