PIXELS ATE MY HOMEWORK

Doune Doune Doune

2012-02-01T00:19:00.001-08:00

Doune Terrace in Edinburgh - end house - terrace curves gently uphill. Across the road behind the camera, the road drops steeply to Stockbridge - with shops, houses less grand, like a village in a city. Here on the hill - grand, high ceilings, former glory hanging on.

On Hearing Of Twinkie Bankruptcy

2012-02-01T00:10:00.001-08:00

Bankrupt news travels
faster than a quick defence
Hearts sinks Abort plans

PBS Twinkie haiku contest

With a hat tip tip to Rutheh

Weegee: Murder Is My Business | International Center of Photography

2012-01-21T06:26:00.000-08:00

Weegee: Murder Is My Business | International Center of Photography

Weegee: Murder Is My Business

JANUARY 20–SEPTEMBER 2, 2012 Manhattan NYC

Advice For Lawn Lovers

2012-01-14T16:49:00.001-08:00

Abandoned In A Strange Hand

2012-01-14T16:44:00.001-08:00

Now Is The Time

2012-01-02T02:13:00.001-08:00

B: The five classical positions of photography

2012-01-01T07:37:00.000-08:00

Blake Andrew's phenomenally wonderful B: The five classical positions of photography

Deaf Ears

2011-12-26T22:01:00.000-08:00

I was just reading the Insights section written by Rabbi Sinclair commenting on this week's Torah portion that concerns Joseph's interpretation of Pharaoh's dream.

Rabbi Sinclair points out that Joseph reverses the chronology and starts by telling Pharaoh about the seven years of famine that are to come.

Then Joseph tells Pharaoh about the seven 'fat' years that are to come first.

And he asks the question as to why Joseph reversed the order and says (attributing the insight to Ramban) that at the time, Egypt was a prosperous country and that trying to grab Pharaoh's attention by telling him about the good times would have sent Pharaoh to sleep.

The lesson being that in communicating ideas to people, you must first gain their attention. Without that, the best arguments will fall on deaf ears.

Where Was He Standing

The story inside the story goes that when Pharaoh described his dream to Joseph he said he was standing beside the river Nile. In fact, when he dreamt, he dreamt that he was standing on the Nile.

Why the change?

It was because Pharaoh saw himself as a god, and as such he stood on the Nile, commanding it. But he had a dream he could not interpret and he knew there was something wrong with his vision even of himself, so he told Joseph he was standing beside the Nile.

Happy Holiday Season To One And All

2011-12-26T04:56:00.001-08:00

SPANA Gifts And Cards

2011-12-05T12:26:00.001-08:00

Spana Gifts And Cards is the shop for SPANA - helping working animals in the world's poorest countries, and by extension helping the owners whose livelihood depends on these animals.

http://quillcards.com/

Click The Image To Follow Through

2011-12-05T12:24:00.001-08:00

Facilitutors: Tidings of Comfort and Joy and a Fantastic Christm...

2011-12-05T11:58:00.000-08:00

Facilitutors: Tidings of Comfort and Joy and a Fantastic Christm...: Leave a comment to win this beautiful stained glass star Ho, ho, ho and a merry Facilitutors Christmas to one and all! As we head toward...

Reading through, I was struck by the silver ring from Karen Sarll - and beautifully photographed.

Space Is Not An Issue On My iPhone

2011-11-10T05:06:00.001-08:00

Donkey Serenade

2011-11-09T17:56:00.001-08:00

The Donkey Serenade is a song from the 1937 film The Firefly, and has been recorded by, among others, The Andrews Sisters, Mario Lanza, Glenn Miller, Artie Shaw, Gracie Fields, and The Band Of The Royal Corps of Signals.

It begins:

There's a song in the air
But the fair senorita doesn't seem to care
For the song in the air.
Oh, I'll sing to the mule
If you're sure she won't think that I am just a fool
Serenading a mule.

Adoption

2011-11-03T02:06:00.001-07:00

How Tall {Small} Was Charlotte Bronte

2011-10-25T17:41:00.000-07:00

Charlotte Bronte was 4'9" or 4'10" (1.45m) with a very slight build. One of her dresses that we saw today on display at the Bronte parsonage in Haworth looks tiny.

And, another fact, if her father had not changed his name when he came from Ireland to England to seek his fortune, she would have been Charlotte Brunty.

Looking at SpreeCommerce

2011-10-25T17:37:00.000-07:00

It's a funny thing, but the SpreeCommerce open-source e-commerce site itself looks very good, but the showcased sites built on SpreeCommerce don't seem as polished.

I am looking through the showcased sites to get an idea of layouts.

Things to Know - Buying A Digital Camera

2011-10-25T16:01:00.000-07:00

This is just a quick post to link to the article that I wrote on the Quillcards Blog that is a guide explaining viewfinders, sensors, image processing, etc.

It explains how to decide between the trade-offs that anyone has to go through in deciding which is the best camera for their needs.

Blogger Enables Switching Profile to Google +

2011-10-25T02:20:00.000-07:00

It's easy to do. I read the details in this article on Tech Crunch, but basically once you are logged in to Google + all you need to do is go to

http://draft.blogger.com/switch-profile.g

and check the box to switch, and I have done it.

Bursting Through The Glass Ceiling

2011-10-13T12:15:00.001-07:00

Looking up at the glass ceiling of the museum reminds me of Greek mythology and the notion of bursting through the net that surrounds the world.

And it reminds me of the Moirae - otherwise called the Fates - of Greek mythology and of Clotho, the Fate who spun the thread of life, and of Lachesis who measured the thread, and of Atropos who cut the threads of a man's existence when his time was up.

And somehow I imagine a kind of reverse abseiling (rappelling) and speeding up the thread and leaving the cut part of the it behind and watching it fall lazily to the floor of the museum below.

YouTube 500 Server Error

2011-09-29T13:47:00.000-07:00

Something went wrong when I tried to bring up a YouTube video and the page showed this.

Reading the statement from YouTube, I have some questions:

Who trains the monkeys? What do they feed them on and where do they keep them?

Wouldn't it be more sensible to have human coders look into these kind of faults?

Surely it is not in Google's best interests to use monkeys solely for this task. The cost of training, food, and housing must surely outweigh the benefits because I have never seen a 500 Server Error before and it must be rare.

Perhaps the monkeys are part of a wider project and if so, I think we have a right to know.

I think 'search relevance' would be a good place for monkeys to start working on.

The YouTube Video

This is the video that should have appeared:

Nepal Plane Crash

2011-09-25T05:11:00.001-07:00

Sad news about the plane crash in Nepal. The passengers were just returning from a trip to see Everest - probably full of reflections and high hopes.

A Different Spin On LIfe Is Not A Test

2011-09-25T04:53:00.000-07:00

Trust Marty to put a beautiful spin on the old saw that life is not a test. Don't let me take away from the pleasure of you reading it - just head over and read it there:

http://mydailyaphorism.blogspot.com/2011/09/test.html

It Has To Be Simultaneously There And Here

2011-09-19T03:32:00.001-07:00

This talk about major new FB and G+ being introduced in the next few days.

It has to be quantum wormholes leading to 3D nano-holographic space where we can all meet.

Branding On A Knife Edge

2011-09-19T02:50:00.001-07:00

This morning I am weary of branding - weary of seeing it; weary of it.