Continue reading »]]> She's been working on her latest project, Doggitude, and I got to tell you, she's got some very good stuff for this book. This link below is for the work she has done on the portrait of our dog Annie.

I can't want until her book comes out now!

#doggitude #Annie #paintings #DogArt

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Is It Done Yet? | Doggitude: The Book
Sometimes when I finish a painting, I KNOW beyond any doubt that it is done. Other times, not so much. That was the case with Annie's portrait. Annie is a fluffy white Papillon/Poodle mix. The pro…

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Continue reading »]]> This is a new album that I created for this wonderful park in Lithonia, Georgia. The pictures are a collection of some of the photos I have taken so far this year and am planning on adding more photos as I continue my visits.

For those who want the details, I used our old Olympus E300 Volt 8MP Digital SLR camera we bought back in 2005. I used the the lens kit that came with the camera which contains an Olympus 14-45mm f/1:3.5-5.6 Zuiko Digital Zoom Lens and a Olympus 40-150mm f/3.5-4.5 Zuiko Digital Zoom Lens.

Granted, it's an older digital camera but it does a much better job with color capture and control options versus my Nikon Coolpix S4100 point and shoot.

For post processing, I did everything on my generation 1 iPad mainly because I wanted to see if it could actually be done. I used Photogene app from Mobile Pond (http://www.mobile-pond.com/MobilePond/photogene/photogene-for-ipad/) for the image adjustment, SketchBook Pro app from Autodesk (http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/pc/item?siteID=123112&id=15119465&preview=1) to place the photos in their frames and add the copyright information and finally used the Web Albums app from Pixite (http://www.webalbumsapp.com/) to upload the photos prior to sharing the album.

I could have used other solutions that are available on a PC to do all this work, but I wanted to see what would be involved in doing everything on an iPad and what those results would be. To be honest, I like how these photos turned out save one minor wrinkle. Although the initial resolution of the images was 2048 x 1536 and this is easily handled in the Photogene app, SketchBook Pro seems to only output to a resolution of 1024×768. While this does not detract from how the images turned out, it would be nice to be able to make something a bit larger to make these really pop on my display on my desktop computer.

Anyway, as I said, there will be more to come over the year, so, for now, enjoy!

#hiking #davidsonarabianaturepreserve #naturephotography #landscape

In album Davidson-Arabia Nature Preserve 2012 (39 photos)

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Continue reading »]]> I saw this article on a few different websites this morning and thought I share it around from the original source. It's from back in August 2010, but it gave me a chuckle as this comparison of what is seen in the ads and what you actually get at the take away is very truthful.

#Humor #advertising

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Fast Food – Ads vs. Reality
Testing fast food ads from Burger King, McDonald's, Taco Bell, and Jack In The Box, to see what you you actually get (or don't get, for that matter). False advertising 101.

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Continue reading »]]> I tell ya, more and more the world is on the brink. So, what do we have here? We have an international trade agreement. Such agreements can do good things, but ACTA will attempt to do some of what SOPA and PIPA could have done.

While I support efforts against software and content piracy as well as counterfeit goods, governments need to stop attempting to pass laws and/or enact treaties/trade agreements that leave open loopholes where abuse could punish those who have not committed any crimes.

Come on, can we stop all this garbage and just write laws, treaties and trade agreements that make sense and do not contain language that is "specifically vague" when it comes to public expression of opinion?

#ACTA #BLACKMARCH #SOPA #PIPA #STOPACTA #STOPSOPA

Reshared post from +Stop SOPA

Spread the word | Read | Act | Fight | Learn | Tell

If you're a U.S. citizen, Sign this petition. By: +Desiaire Rickman https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/petitions#!/petition/end-acta-and-protect-our-right-privacy-internet/MwfSVNBK

What is ACTA? Learn more about it

What is ACTA? ACTA is the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement. A new intellectual property enforcement treaty being negotiated by the United States, the European Community, Switzerland, and Japan, with Australia, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Mexico, Jordan, Morocco, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, and Canada recently announcing that they will join in as well.

Why should you care about ACTA? Initial reports indicate that the treaty will have a very broad scope and will involve new tools targeting “Internet distribution and information technology.”

What is the goal of ACTA? Reportedly the goal is to create new legal standards of intellectual property enforcement, as well as increased international cooperation, an example of which would be an increase in information sharing between signatory countries’ law enforcement agencies.

Essential ACTA Resources:

- Read more about ACTA here: ACTA Fact Sheet https://www.eff.org/issues/acta

- Read the authentic version of the ACTA text as of 15 April 2011, as finalized by participating countries here: ACTA Finalized Text http://www.international.gc.ca/trade-agreements-accords-commerciaux/fo/acta-acrc.aspx?lang=eng&view=d

- Follow the history of the treaty’s formation here: ACTA history http://www.international.gc.ca/trade-agreements-accords-commerciaux/fo/intellect_property.aspx?view=d

- Read letters from U.S. Senator Ron Wyden where in he challenges the constitutionality of ACTA:
_ Letter 1 http://wyden.senate.gov/newsroom/press/release/?id=12a5b1cb-ccb8-4e14-bb84-a11b35b4ec53

_ Letter 2 http://infojustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Wyden-01052012.pdf

Read the Administration’s Response to Wyden’s First Letter here:
Response http://infojustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Kirk-12072011.pdf

Watch a short informative video on ACTA:
ACTA Video Say NO to ACTA

Watch a lulzy video on ACTA:
Lulzy Video Robocopyright ACTA

Say NO to ACTA. It is essential to spread awareness and get the word out on ACTA.

#ACTA #BLACKMARCH #SOPA #PIPA #STOPACTA #STOPSOPA

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Continue reading »]]> I missed this on Friday…funny, that I missed it for the very reason portrayed in this week's edition.

#humor #chuckandbeans

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Shoebox
» Chuck & Beans
Elise Mcc on January 20th, 2012 1:10 pm. I feel like that happens when my phone rings and then stops when I pick it up…..the……”nervermind” effect. Chuck & Beans – The Daily What on January 20th, 2…

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Continue reading »]]> I don't agree with pirating software or online content. I personally think it's wrong and I have had to deal with people doing such things with content I have created over the years. Yes, it's annoying and bothersome, however, the laws that exist today have allowed myself and others to protect and share what we create.

What I don't agree with are laws that provide for "a ton of prevention for an ounce of cure". These proposed acts in their current form may have an impact on addressing software and content piracy, but they will also create problems when such tools would be abused. To think that these acts would not be abused by those who would wield such power is, I am afraid, rather naive. One only has to explore human history to see that such abuses, regardless of honorable intentions, always occur and cause great harm.

We can create better language and tools for enforcing protections for content, software, intellectual property, etc. We need not be so lazy and blind. There is a happy middle ground that can be found here. Many people, like myself, who create online content, have found that middle ground, now it's time for those in power to realize it too. The current legal framework has accountability and due process for a reason, to prevent abuse and that needs to be preserved.

Power exists to provide people with freedom and justice, not to provide those with the power to potentially silence those of differing opinions and ideals. It's high time that everyone accept that reality and work to preserve something that we are on course to loose, human decency. Without it, we are lost.

#StopSOPA #StopPIPA #Protest #freespeechisallwehave

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End Piracy, Not Liberty – Google
Millions of Americans oppose SOPA and PIPA because these bills would censor the Internet and slow economic growth in the U.S.. Two bills before Congress, known as the Protect IP Act (PIPA) in the Sena…

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Continue reading »]]> #politics #USA #PoliceState

Reshared post from +Tim O’Reilly

Ten Reasons the U.S. is no longer the land of the free.

The Washington Post this morning has a sobering and courageous story: Ten Reasons the U.S. is no longer the land of the free. http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/is-the-united-states-still-the-land-of-the-free/2012/01/04/gIQAvcD1wP_print.html

"While each new national security power Washington has embraced was controversial when enacted, they are often discussed in isolation. But they don’t operate in isolation. They form a mosaic of powers under which our country could be considered, at least in part, authoritarian. Americans often proclaim our nation as a symbol of freedom to the world while dismissing nations such as Cuba and China as categorically unfree. Yet, objectively, we may be only half right. Those countries do lack basic individual rights such as due process, placing them outside any reasonable definition of “free,” but the United States now has much more in common with such regimes than anyone may like to admit.

"These countries also have constitutions that purport to guarantee freedoms and rights. But their governments have broad discretion in denying those rights and few real avenues for challenges by citizens — precisely the problem with the new laws in this country.

"The list of powers acquired by the U.S. government since 9/11 puts us in rather troubling company."

Here's a list of the issues discussed in the article:

Assassination of U.S. citizens
Indefinite detention
No right to a civilian trial
Warrantless searches
Secret Evidence
US officials have immunity from War Crimes prosecution
Secret courts with secret evidence
Immunity from Judicial review
Continuous monitoring of citizens
Extraordinary rendition

It was easy to blame Bush for introducing these new powers in the anti-terrorist mania after 9/11. What's inexcusable is the way that President Obama's administration has extended these powers. Change indeed. The first politician who really stands for restoring freedom would make me abandon Obama in a heartbeat. Give me a politician of any party who will make a serious commitment to restoring our nation's commitment to freedom, and he or she will have my vote.

The story ends with an appeal to our nation's storied history:

"The framers lived under autocratic rule and understood this danger better than we do. James Madison famously warned that we needed a system that did not depend on the good intentions or motivations of our rulers: 'If men were angels, no government would be necessary.'"

"Benjamin Franklin was more direct. In 1787, a Mrs. Powel confronted Franklin after the signing of the Constitution and asked, 'Well, Doctor, what have we got — a republic or a monarchy?' His response was a bit chilling: 'A republic, Madam, if you can keep it.'”

"Since 9/11, we have created the very government the framers feared: a government with sweeping and largely unchecked powers resting on the hope that they will be used wisely."

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10 reasons the U.S. is no longer the land of the free – The Washington Post
10 reasons the U.S. is no longer the land of the free. By Jonathan Turley,. Every year, the State Department issues reports on individual rights in other countries, monitoring the passage of restricti…

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Continue reading »]]> Yes, this is not a real product, it's a cool publicity stunt at CES, but this is a camera concept that can open the door for many applications.

#CES #Photography

Reshared post from +Jeremy Cowart

This is where it's headed, kids.

Holy crap.

WVIL unbelievable new camera at CES 2011

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