Category Archives: Internet & Technology

Air disasters and pranks

Somewhere along the way the promising information superhighway became a whirlpool of misinformation and even mischief.

Previously news media were the gatekeepers who checked the facts before publishing a story.

Nowadays the pressure of immediacy and who’s first takes precedence over the facts.

Case in point:  the now infamous case of the prank names for Asiana  flight 214 pilots’ names.

Coverage of the Malaysian Airlines MH370 story has been nuts.

Continue reading Air disasters and pranks

Getting started with photography for under $600

What I would get if I wanted to get started in digital photography. Any used DSLR camera (right) with its kit lens, a 50mm lens (the one in the picture has a maximum aperture of f 1.8 and Adobe Lightroom (latest version is #4). Add your computer whatever platform it is . If your computer is too old to run version 4, get the one which will meet Adobe’s minimum specs.

The average camera owner tends to buy more camera than they need.

It’s only natural.

Who can pass up on a good deal?

So what if they don’t know what built-in HDR, Live View or Automatic White Balance bracketing means?

Those cameras look impressive especially if they spring for those white lenses or ones with a gold ring around the barrel.

Here are my suggestions if you’re toying with the idea of picking up photography as a hobby.

These suggestions also apply if you’ve bought a DSLR and are unhappy with your pictures.

 

Continue reading Getting started with photography for under $600

Be careful of hyperlinks in FB’s chat windows

That chat window in Facebook is targeted more these days.

I get awfully leery when I get an chat message from a “friend” out of the blue especially if they have had no contact with me say in months since we’ve been friends.

I saw the following pop up in the little chat window:

Here’s a screen shot of what I saw in my chat window. I copied the hyperlink logged out of my FB account before I clicked on the link.

Continue reading Be careful of hyperlinks in FB’s chat windows

Does anonymity affect how you behave online?

Absolutely.

I know this first hand.

Just read the comments on this satirical post on “21 Signs You’re a Real Photographer.”

Best example I can think of is when camera owners who fancy themselves as photographers criticize a working photographer’s pictures.

Some background: Joe Klamar, a freelance photographer for AFP (Agence France-Presse) flubbed on an assignment where he had to photograph US Olympians.

His pictures and the accompanying stories went viral understandably due to the current sense of patriotism sweeping the country during this summer’s London Olympics.

Afterwards, a gallery offered to showcase his photos in an exhibit.

If you look over the comments in the Peta Pixel website, you can see many of the commenters don’t include much information of themselves.

Whenever I want to respond to a comment, I usually try and find a back link to research a little about that person.

I feel it’s important to get a sense of whether that person has the credentials or just the know how to be taken seriously.

I can sympathize with Joe Klamar.

I’ve been there and I’ve done that. Continue reading Does anonymity affect how you behave online?