January 2010
149 posts
Whew!
Deadlines are the pest! Just got one out of the way. If I have a little luck this year - last year didn’t deliver - good things could happen. Gotta be bold!
Bonus video: Cat versus bear
The internet has the rules that for anything, there has got to be a Hitler subtitle video and a kitty video. So in bear-related news (compare my last post) here’s attack kitty dealing with a bear.
'Pilfered'
More reporting from PDN about something I hadn’t heard about. I’m no legal expert, but I have the feeling Pilfered’s situation is comparable to the very early Napster - which worked using the same principle. It’s clearly and blatantly violating copyright laws.
A typical buzzword response
Here is a rather typical response to the post about free I published a couple of days ago. Note that - just like most “debates” that involve technology - it doesn’t actually explain anything, and it doesn’t offer any solutions. It just repeats business mantras, that, once you question them, don’t make any sense (because for the most part, they employ circular logic -...
Verve Fee Policy Sparks Debate About Blog Business...
“A couple of weeks ago photographer Adam Patterson touched off a discussion on Lightstalkers about Geoffrey Hiller’s Verve documentary photography blog charging a new $50 administrative fee to photographers to include work on the site.” - story
Make sure to read the discussion on Lightstalkers when you’re done reading PDN’s post. I had not heard about this discussion...
"I'm only doing my duty."
Oh, some German habits die so hard: A conductor forces a 16 year old off a train in the middle of nowhere, during the coldest night in January (-18 degrees Celsius, which is around 0 degrees Fahrenheit or so), because the young woman does not have enough change to pay 7.20 Euros, she’s 1.90 Euros (which is about 3 dollars) short (she has the exact change to pay the amount she always paid on...
If you want a simple, nice looking website
… why not use Dalton Rooney’s Wordpress-based code?
Among Hitler's Executioners on the Eastern Front
“It didn’t take long for me to figure out that I was dealing with criminals.” - A Red Cross volunteer in WWII remembers what she saw and heard
The internet reacts to the iPad
I can’t not post this, because, as I noted before, it’s obligatory now to have these if something happens. The sad thing is that even though I do read the subtitles, I actually hear the German stuff, and now I know it by heart (which is sad in various ways).
Income Trends: Are Photographers Keeping Up With...
“On the average”, photographers earn less than other occupations.
Note the difference between “mean” (“average”) and “median”. Here’s a simple example why the difference is very important. Let’s say you have a group of ten people, nine making $50,000 a year, one making $50,000,000 a year. Then the average income is $5,045,000.
But...
Shepard Fairey to face criminal investigation in...
“A judge in New York revealed today that artist Shepard Fairey is facing a criminal investigation in connection with his admitted misconduct in the ongoing legal case with the Associated Press, according to reports.” - story
Which one is real, which one is not?
As is well known, the art world has its own way of doing things. And don’t necessarily rely on a court to tell art people to do things the way they’re usually done, because that won’t always work: “In Thome v. The Alexander & Louisa Calder Foundation, 890 N.Y.S.2d 16 (First Dept. 2009), the Appellate Division, First Department upheld a decision of Justice Charles E....
Hooray for plexiglass!
In the light of some lady ripping mistaknely Picasso one post mortem (I couldn’t resist!) those people complaining about plexiglass… excuse me: face-mounted diasec (sounds better, doesn’t it?) for photographs need to reconsider. Even the clumsiest person will be unable to rip a hole into a, say, Thomas Demand! Hooray for plexiglass… excuse me: face-mounted diasec!
CIA Man Retracts Claim on Waterboarding
“Well, it’s official now: John Kiriakou, the former CIA operative who affirmed claims that waterboarding quickly unloosed the tongues of hard-core terrorists, says he didn’t know what he was talking about. […] he claims that the disinformation he helped spread was a CIA dirty trick: ‘In retrospect, it was a valuable lesson in how the CIA uses the fine arts of...
More thoughts on "free"
If one starts to think about the economy of “free” the pattern is not that unfamiliar. Take “outsourcing”. The reason why the manufacturing sector in the US has disappeared is most products are now being produced elsewhere, where “elsewhere” usually stands for the place where the production costs are lowest. That’s great news for consumers, except that...
For photographers and graphic artists, not a...
“In bemoaning the need for speed, the flight from quality and the persistent decrease in pay, it turns out writers have a lot in common with photographers. And graphic artists. And architects. And musicians. And, well, with just about anyone who sees his creative endeavors being commodified or who is exposed to low-cost foreign competition via the Internet. I’ve now heard it...
If Air Travel Worked Like Health Care
Air travel has become a colossal pain in the ass, what with the general hysteria about “security”. But compared with US health care, it’s not so bad, is it? Here’s If Air Travel Worked Like Health Care
Teleprompter in a classroom
Today's "Oh, f***!!!" moment
This past weekend, I went to the nearest book store to look for art magazines, and I concluded, yet again, that Art on Paper was basically the only art magazine I would happily buy (in fact, I just got a subscription). All the other ones are basically filled with unreadable drivel (aka “postmodern” art speak). And now comes this: “Forty years after the founding of the Print...
Natasha Walter: 'I believed sexism in our culture...
“In Living Dolls, Walter takes on the notion that, for example, stripping and pole dancing are empowering, liberating choices; instead, she suggests, it has become increasingly difficult for young women to opt out of this culture, to take any path other than that which leads inexorably to fake nails, fake tan and, finally, fake breasts. And, if they do, there are serious social...
"Images without Borders"
“Images without Borders provides limited edtion photographic prints from fine art photographers; all proceeds go directly to Doctors without Borders in support their relief efforts in Haiti and around the world. There is no overhead other than the price of printing.”
"Woman Collides With a Picasso"
Collides? That’s the word they used? I propelled my hands up into the air, and then one of them collided with my head when I read that.
You gotta give it to the New York Times, their headlines often are ludicrous. If this was a NY Times article, its headline would be “Problems with headline of New York newspaper seen” or something like that.
There's more than just context
Here’s a response (the only one I’ve seen) to my post about the perfect storm for photography. The idea of a “mental mode” is pointing at something, but then unfortunately, Matt gets bogged down with the “real” again, and there’s the almost obligatory link to Morris’ writing (which covers only one aspect, albeit in more than enough detail - and...
Ah, Facebook
First I disabled my account. Then I deleted it. They made a big production out of it. Now, I’m still getting emails about messages that people send me. Gotta love Facebook. It’s like one of those diseases that, once you have it, you’ll never ever be able to get rid off it again.
How not to write a PR email
Having it start with Hi “firstname”
Just a thought.
John Stezaker Interview
(via)
Meet the creatures that live beyond the abyss
“It is pitch black, icy cold and the pressure is phenomenal.” No, this is not the intro to yet another article about the US Congress after the election, it’s a very, very cool presentation about fish and other life forms in the depths of the planet’s oceans.
Exhausted Aid Workers Among those Leaving Haiti
“While the inflow of aid into Haiti is getting more organized, thousands are trying to flee the country. They include tourists, diplomats and reporters. And, increasingly, aid workers who are worn out by what they have experienced.” - story
Obama after one year
Well, well, well. Seems like Obama should have run for president in a country where the president doesn’t have any real power and only gives speeches and cuts ribbons. Obama would be a great German president (the current one doesn’t only have the charisma of a savings-bank director, he actually is a former one). That way, Obama could give those grandiose speeches he loves so much all...
Fun at Target
Here’s something fun to look out for: When you go to a place like Target where they sell clothes for pregnant women, have a look at the models’ hands. What you’ll find is that the “pregnant” section is pretty much the only one where all the models wear wedding bands! Ever noticed that? I bet you didn’t. Yeah, “family values” come down to details like...
Political math: 37 > 63
“Counting the new Republican Senator Scott Brown from Massachusetts, the 41 Republicans in the Senate come from states representing just over 36.5 percent of the total US population. The 59 others (Democratic plus 2 Independent) represent just under 63.5 percent. […] Let’s round the figures to 63/37 and apply them to the health care debate. Senators representing 63 percent of the...