» The Stagg Party. NOT SAFE FOR WORK.

The Stagg Party is a documentary web series about Ellen Stagg, a professional photographer in Brooklyn, New York, whose love of photography extends from commercial jobs to more personal erotic work. The series covers topics including how she got interested in photography, how she started shooting nudes, how her work affects her dating life and relationships, what her family thinks about it, how she balances the erotic work with her more mainstream jobs and clients and what it's like being a woman in a field that people usually associate with men.

» Power Meter Plus provides constant laptop battery updates     #

» The Worst Photograph Ever Made. It's not what you know, it's who you know.     #

» The Beer Gauge. I picked one of these up not long ago and for the life of me I can't remember where (nor does it have a logo on it.) Still, I don't drink much so it's going into the recycle bin (it's a fairly heavy card stock, not flimsy at all...)     #

» Survival Technique. Not a bad idea, keeping installers and serial numbers with you on a thumbdrive (just don't lose it!)     #

» A fellow named Phil Price has put his workflow on-line in a 7-part series. Worth reading through, each bit is fairly short (and he uses an iPhone and Mac, so some things may be different for you.)

1. My Workflow | Part 1: GeoTagging
2. My Workflow | Part 2: The Import
3. My Workflow | Part 3: First Sweep and Smart Collections
4. My Workflow | Part 4: Processing
5. My Workflow | Part 5: Extra-Metadata
6. My Workflow | Part 6: Export
7. My Workflow | Part 7: Backup

I do things considerably different than he does, but it's always worth checking out someone else's workflow (much like the desktops listed below it's worth snagging good ideas to make your own.)     #

» Dynamic Templates v2.0: The Next Generation. Nice, if you still use a paper organizer this is worth checking into.     #

» Pixel Rigs Photo Pool. Pictures of how people have setup their physical computer desktops. Maybe I'll get mine cleaned up enough to post in there as well, I'm always interested in how others do things like this (so I can snag the good ideas.)     #

» If you don't always carry a GPS but you want to geotag your photos with a specific location (like I did with the Moon and planets photo set) then you can still use gpsPhoto.pl to do it. You just need to set two flags, the --geotag-source=list and then --geotag=39.691048,-105.1542 (optionally you can add a ,altitude in meters to the end of that.)

Full sample from tagging those photos:

gpsPhoto.pl --geotag-source=option --geotag="39.691048,-105.154202,1609.3" --overwrite-geotagged --credit "Curtis Bullock" --country "US" --state "CO" --city "Lakewood" --copyright "© Curtis Bullock" --dir "C:/temp/moon/"     #

» Tools to delete files securely in ubuntu Linux. I have a new 1 TB hard drive sitting on my desk that needs to be installed and my current photo drive copied over. After that copy I need to wipe everything on the existing drive to prep it for resale, so this came in at exactly the right time.     #

» Light Shaper Comparison. Pick your tool from the drop-down (I've recently become very fond of grids on my small flashes) and it will show you the results of using that tool.     #

» Converting to Metric. Like it says, it's helpful to have some points of reference.     #

» On the proof of the supposed evilness of girls. Ohhh, absolute evil, that makes more sense.     #

» Wingsuit Flying. I love the part about 2:03 when he tucks & rolls, he's got some serious horizontal momentum going on for that.     #

» TopOCR, takes a digital photo and turns it into a text file. Very handy for travel. See also: Snapter: Scan Your Documents Without A Scanner     #

» It’s Survival of the Weak and Scrawny     #

» Programming Language Creators. There's a surprisingly small number of beards in there.     #

» New Doctor actor is youngest ever. Kills me we have to wait until 2010 for new Doctor Who episodes.     #

» A freeware CD emulator for Windows. Mount ISOs directly in Windows, without needing to burn to disc first.     #

» Sense of Colorado CSA. We've been thinking about joining a CSA program for a while now, it's about time to put in an application for the spring.     #

» PicClick: Visual browser for ebay and Amazon. Sometimes it's way faster to just scan photos to find what you are looking for, especially with the way some text descriptions are padded with extra words.     #

» Make a DIY Camera L-Bracket. Interesting (I say as I priced out tripods and monopods yesterday and my jaw was dragging the floor...)     #

» It's official, as of January 1 I am now a member of the North Denver Photographers Studio. This gives me quite a lot of studio space on a weekly basis, as well as access to some very nice studio lights (White Lightening X1600s and accessories, including a massive 7' umbrella dubbed "the Sun".) Paying for studio time on a regular basis should push me into shooting a bit more regular.     #

» After reading this MeFi post: JPG magazine folds and looking through the comments where someone asked what good photo sites are out there (besides Flickr) I realized I still have accounts at a few places, some that I haven't touched in years. Here's the link to places you may find my photos online:

• Knick-Knack galleries (this was the original place I put all of my photos, going back to around 1998).
• Flickr galleries, probably my most active place right now.
• TrekEarth. I still love TE for the fact it's entirely location-based, if I'm going to a new city for work I frequently research what kind of place it is here.
• PhotoSIG. At one point I was a paying member of theirs but that ended some years back, looks like the last time I uploaded a photo was in 2006 after going to Hawaii on holiday. At one point on PhotoSIG I was chastised for "uploading too many photos without critiquing enough", that was a bit of a kill-joy.
• Photographica, this may have been the very first photo site I ever joined. I just went into my account details and noticed I signed up using an email account I haven't used since 2002, so I'm a bit behind with it.

The MeFi link also mentioned Photo.net and while I remember when it started up (at the time I was a big Philip Greenspun fan), I never signed up for an account, instead I just browsed the articles on occasion.

If you look at some of my original image postings to what I'm capturing today it's been one heck of a change, or at least I'd like to think so. I've come a long way from that Canon Powershot G1 in 2001 (bought for a trip to Beijing, China) in both equipment and skill.     #

» Special Perl Tools, only for experienced Unix admins. I especially like allslow (equality for all processes!) and xmanagerstat (too bad I don't work for a guy who'd buy into that anymore, my latest manager is smarter than I am...)     #

» GlassMat floormat. I was at a friend's house yesterday and he had one of these. I've been burning through the Costco mats at around one a year. This looks and feels like actual glass but has a flex to it that shows it's not. Not particularly cheap at $240 for their smallest "standard" model, but this may be one of those life-upgrades that's worth laying the cash out for. Apparently manufactured in Broomfield, CO (wonder if that'll make the shipping cheaper?)     #

» It's that time of year again: Best of Bootie 2008. I haven't listened to this year's album yet but I did just download it. In years past (Bootie 2007, Bootie 2006, Bootie 2005) every time I gave a copy of this to someone it was copied at least 10 more times and distributed, I know I'm responsible for copies making it to Europe...     #

» Turning Ghetto in .435 seconds. In his defense if you watch the video closely you can see the size of that thing that flies into his mouth, I'd be cussing up a storm too.     #

» Holy crap, I just noticed this. From Dealzmodo Hack: Outfit Your Camera Like a Pro (Hobo) they linked to my HOWTO: Cheap Color Balance Card. Bit of a surprise there when I opened that article up and scanned down (I recognized my photo of the laminate cards on the white balance target.)     #

» Linux Audio Streaming (live!) using Ices and Icecast. I'm using one of my virtual servers to setup a temporary streaming audio station for a small group of friends, I was initially confused on the configuration of everything since I thought icecast actually did the audio streaming (it doesn't, ices does). This is a very quick setup, easy to modify for my particular situation.     #

» Based on this: Celestial Show Set for New Year's Eve Jane and I took the camera and her telescope up to Green Mountain on New Years Eve. We did get some shots of the planets, but I thought this one was a keeper as well:

Her telescope gave some very cool views of the moon but holy moley was that thing tough to aim. It didn't help we put it up on my camera tripod, which isn't the most stable thing ever. We did get it in the end though (and we even spent a little time checking out downtown and such with it for fun.)     #

» Westword Ad Index. Sometimes I do thumb through a Westword just to look at the ads, so this is nice to see.     #

» Ear Canal Headphones. With the amount of time I spent on airplanes this was one of my smartest purchases (still loving my Shure SE210 headphones but happy to see so many options out there.)     #

» FirstBook, a charity dedicated to giving kids reading material (something I am all for.)     #

» Beginners Guide to Winter Camping. I like going outside but during the winter I'm more of a day-tripper.     #

» I went looking for a new battery for my garage door opener when I noticed something interesting from the 23AE battery page on Amazon.com. Look closely at the right hand side, under More Buying Choices: "6 used & new from $0.01". New and used? Who the hell buys used batteries from anyone, much less online where you have to pay shipping on top of it? Screenshot below in case they suddenly update it.

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» For years now whenever I've traveled (inside and out of the US) and I've told people I live in Denver, CO the typical response is "oh, you get a lot of snow there!" For years I resisted that, explaining that while the MOUNTAINS get a lot of snow, Denver itself is a high-plains desert and while we do get snow it's usually gone a day or two later. I've also explained that quite often I'd find myself climbing outside on January 1st in just a light jacket.

Then I moved away and came back. Then we had 6 feet of snow in December that didn't leave my front yard until March. Freezing temps for weeks at a time. The temperate town I lived in turned on me, making me a liar.

Then this year. Yesterday (January 1) was 55°F. Today is predicted to be 63°F. I'm taking the mountain bike out to Green Mountain for a lunch-time ride (on January 2!) Yesterday Jane and I went snowshoeing up at Butler Gulch and there was plenty of snow up there (and howling winds). Then we got home and I spent some time cleaning out my truck and puttering around outside, with just a long-sleeved shirt on.     #

» Celestial Show Set for New Year's Eve. Time to put on my warm clothes and go hang out on Green Mountain around dusk?     #

» Snow Cover Maps. Interesting, wonder how I could work this into Snowshoe Trail Conditions...     #

» Amtrak- police-arrest- photographer. That's pretty brilliant, put out a photo contest then arrest people trying to actually win. Morons (amtrak and their so-called "police").     #

» Take Nancy Pelosi off the table as Speaker of the House. Agreed.     #

» Mortgage rates hit fresh 37-year low. I've been lucky, my two mortgages (primary and rental) are about as low as they could get, refinancing either wouldn't get much me right now besides a closing cost payment.     #

» Adam, a guy who I've worked closely with over the years, send me this: Mt. Fuji from a plane. He was on his way back from Singapore and "just happened to look out the window, and there it was". Good timing I'd say.     #

» Downing Street Garage. If you are going to get your car worked on anyway you could do much worse than this place.     #

» Last night's sunset was fantastic. It started looking good when we came out of Whole Foods and got better. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to get a shot of it by the time traffic let me back home but it worked out ok (I do wish I'd been able to get some lenticular clouds over Green Mountain, or the wall of clouds to the north, but at least I got the moon sliver!) This image is sized large for anyone who'd like it as their desktop wallpaper. I've also put together a set of wallpaper sized photos in Flickr that I've uploaded. Yes, I know it's heavy on the flowers but they make excellent macro subjects.

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» Go Ahead, Underestimate the Power of Soup. Old (from 2002) but worth a read.

"When you're making a soup, you might buy young, fragile carrots. You put those in a canned soup, they won't last. They'll disintegrate. So companies grow special carrots for soups. They look like tree limbs—they're like baseball bats. But once they go through the cooking process, they come out looking like the small young ones that you'd put into your soup."

» If you are a Frontier Airlines frequent flier mile member take a look at your email. You may very well be in danger of losing your miles. Sure, they have a 2-year expiration date, but that time can fly by if you aren't watching (I know it did for me.) Two weeks ago they sent me an email explaining that I had to accrue one mile, one single mile, in my account by tonight, December 31st, to keep the miles I had (I have enough miles for a free ticket.)

Since I didn't have any up-coming flights I followed their link to the Partner merchandise and services. I ended up buying Jane some flowers from 800-Flowers, the least expensive set was $50. So I figured it was $50 well-spent, I got Jane some flowers and I saved my free ticket. What they didn't tell you (at the time, it's up there now) is that this purchase takes 6-8 WEEKS to post in your account. Seriously, a simple database update and it takes them TWO MONTHS to get around to it. Oh, and the flowers started dying within a couple days (this is why I didn't just link to their website, they are crap.)

So I called their customer service number today (866-263-2759) to ask what I could do. Since it is the last day possible here's what I was told:

1. Go to their merchandise and service partners link.
2. Click through to the Points.com link.
3. Buy 1,000 miles for $28.
4. KEEP the confirmation number in case the miles do not post by midnight.
5. If the miles post all is well for 2 more years, if not then contact the service center tomorrow or the 2nd and they will help get it resolved.

I just performed the above steps, but here's the kicker. The asshats at Points.com charge a $15 transaction fee (plus tax). On a $28 mileage purchase. That's more than 50% just for the priviledge of using their service. This is the kind of margin that makes even Ticketmaster jealous. This single purchase of 1,000 miles ended up costing $45.10, which, when combined with the wasted 800-Flowers purchase means I've now spent $100 just to keep that "free" ticket.

Next step, finding the most expensive route available and flying it, just to recoup my lost value. I used to really love Frontier, but they are acting very much like one of the big airlines these days (sending an email just a couple weeks before, taking 8 weeks to post from a partner purchase, not giving any grace period even when purchased from a partner, etc). This has very much soured my experience with them.     #

» atool: handling archives without headaches     #

» Woo-hoo Wind! It was strong enough in the early hours of this morning to wake me up and make me think my elm tree was going to come down onto the garage...     #

» Dodge and Burn with Curves. Or just use the dodge & burn tools...     #

» One of the things I gave to Jane for Christmas was a small kit to make a home-etched glass vase. Even better than just a normal vase though was a blue sake bottle (same size as a wine bottle). I had the top of the bottle cut off at Accent Art Glass and then put the bottle, plus a small Armour Etch glass etching cream, as well as a couple packages of vinyl letter/number stickers into the package. Now she can use the letter stickers to mask out some word or phrase and create her own personalized vase. The cut of the bottle from Accent Art Glass was fantastic, they did a way better job than I ever could (I spent a lot of time looking up how to cut wine bottles online and wasn't comfortable with any of the suggestions.)     #

» Not Safe for Work, but pretty funny: Show them to me...     #

» Another couple of emails I received. In my opinion neither of these people should be on the net.

"Can you please provide details on your next rustic bread making class? Than you". That's it. The entire email. No reply address (it was sent via my contact form and they chose to leave that part blank.) No subject. Just that single line. This ranks right up there with the people who believe I have the sugar cane harvester for sale simply because I have a photo of it. Seriously though, how am I supposed to reply if you can't be bothered to put your email address in?

"I am a college student. I thought I'd let you know that first. this is to the guy that says Portland Oregon sucks. I hope you left cause your probably a meth-head or a little cry baby, boo-fucking-woo. In my opinion every state sucks and so does the government, but I would rather be in the United States than any other country cause for the most part I can do what I want when I want. I like Oregon cause its one of the few green states that haven't been robbed of its trees. I can actually breathe here, so to the meth-head that says Oregon sucks, FUCK YOU!"

This one is a favorite. He basically proves my point that people in Portland are jackasses. The fact his email address is satanic_jesus_christ@yahoo.com only cements his awesomeness in my mind. Both the professional email address and the language used have persuaded me, I now renounce all the bad things I said about Portland.

» Looks like This American Life is seeking year-end donations (you can donate here: This American Life donations.) I fully support them and RadioLab. While I don't get a chance to listen every weekend I've subscribed to both podcasts and they were a life-saver during my time in Amsterdam. Each way to and from work was just long enough for one episode of either show. Oh, and your donation is tax-deductible so if you are looking to escape a little bit of your burden to the tax man give a bunch!     #

» Coco Rocha Makes Love to the Camera. I need to assemble a list of videos for new models to watch, some of the ones I've shot had no idea how to pose or deal with the camera at all.

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» Sun Help, bookmarked for work...     #

» How To Back Up MySQL Databases With mylvmbackup On Ubuntu 8.10     #

» I don't often talk about music here (since I know my tastes are unlike most people in this world) but I've really been digging Jem lately. Have a listen and get an album or two if you enjoy.     #

» Digital Enhancement Class. A web-based class on processing photos.     #

» 5 Helpful Tips for Creating Secure PHP Applications     #

» Anchor Optics, in case you need something specific (been thinking about some fresnel lenses for some photo projects...)     #

» Scouting NY. Interesting places around The City by someone who works as a film location scout.     #

» Using Google App Engine as Your Own Content Delivery Network. Interesting.     #

» Stainless Steel Peanut Lighter. Nice to have in an emergency kit, small and solid.     #

» Banish your daemons for a faster Linux PC. Helps you trim down what automatically starts at boot.     #

» American Banking's Shameful Double Standard     #

» The Top 500 Worst Passwords of All Time. I didn't see any of mine on the list which is something of a relief.     #

» How to emulate every Nintendo system in Windows     #

» Carrying Gunpowder through Airport Security     #

» MythBusters Co-Host Adam Savage on Obsession, a 17-minute video that's worth watching.     #

» Race to Witch Mountain: Trailer #1. Wow, talk about resurrecting an old franchise.     #

» Where to recycle your Christmas tree. Apparently there's a website for it now, listing places in Colorado.     #

» It's that time of year again, when Rooney Road Recycling accepts Christmas trees. They are charging a buck per tree, which is pretty fair. The county will mulch the trees and re-use them in projects around the area.     #

» Cash Can. Not a bad idea, especially for those times you don't want to carry a full wallet (I'm thinking times like when I go for long bike rides and grab my keys on the way out but forget to take cash sometimes.)     #

» millions of monkeys. The bail-out explained. Except for the fact we don't even have monkeys to show for it, we've got nothing.     #

» Keeping Conventions : When Being Unique is a Bad Thing. Only a couple things on the list but not a bad start. Nothing more annoying than someone thinking they are special and breaking common user interface elements.     #

» Yesterday Jane and I spent a couple hours at the studio. She's been wanting to see how her yoga poses have progressed (without having to constantly check out the mirror) and I wanted to play with some of the big White Lightening X1600 studio lamps, trying for that super clean and crisp look. The yoga poses set on Flickr is the result. Below Jane demonstrates and extended Warrior I pose:

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» Image-Space Lightroom eBooks. Donation-ware, if you find the books helpful drop him some cash via PayPal.     #

» Your first day with a new Mac: the get-started guide for Windows users. In case you got one for Christmas...     #

» Time to Reboot America.

Landing at Kennedy Airport from Hong Kong was, as I’ve argued before, like going from the Jetsons to the Flintstones. The ugly, low-ceilinged arrival hall was cramped, and using a luggage cart cost $3. (Couldn’t we at least supply foreign visitors with a free luggage cart, like other major airports in the world?) As I looked around at this dingy room, it reminded of somewhere I had been before. Then I remembered: It was the luggage hall in the old Hong Kong Kai Tak Airport. It closed in 1998.

» Changes likely in Greece as riots, protests continue. Amazing to me this is still going on, I thought Greece was one of the more stable nations.     #

» Lies and Delusions: The incredible exposé of serial photography liar Joseph Nicholas Spina. In case you come across any of this idiot's YouTube videos where he claims to be an expert (while feeding you wrong information.)     #

» cwrsync - Rsync for Windows. Self-contained, no need to install Cygwin to use rsync.     #

» One of the short-comings of Adobe Lightroom is that it cannot use network catalogs. This is bad for me because sometimes I like to work on my photos from my laptop and sometimes from my desktop. There is a "fix" for this, however it's more of a hack than anything, it can be seen in post #6 here: Lightroom 2.0 and catalogs on network drives.     #

» How to Scan 35 mm Slides On a Flatbed Scanner. Use a little poster board to make a reflector for the scanner lamp.     #

» A category from ThinkGeek: Digital Conversion devices. I'm considering the ImageLab Instant Slide Scanner. I do still have some 35mm negatives I'd like to import into digital but I don't want to spend the kind of money a Nikon CoolScan runs.     #

» Following Your Passion. His newsletters are worth reading, this is an excerpt from the last one.     #

» Les Stroud’s New Book: Survive!. I'm a big fan of Les, he's full of good information and really lives his survival stories (unlike that faux survivalist "Bear".) If you wanted to pick if up from Amazon I get a kickback if you use this link: Survive!: Essential Skills and Tactics to Get You Out of Anywhere - Alive.     #

» Awesome: Friday I'm In Love. Helps the context if you are a Cure fan.     #

» Why the Movie Version of Your Favorite SciFi Book Stinks, Part I     #

» 12 Creative and Cool Uses for the CSS Border Property     #

» The Chemistry of a Photoshoot and The Chemistry of a Photoshoot (part 2)     #

» Great things afoot in the MySQL community.     #

» With gas falling, trucks come back. You have got to be kidding me. It does make me wonder though if I could get a good deal on a hybrid now?     #

» PowPowPlatter, three days of skiing (one at each Copper Mountain, Winter Park, and Steamboat) for $99. Hell of a deal. If I didn't despise the traffic so much I might go for it, but every time I get on I-70 I get road rage anymore so it's not a good idea for me.     #

» My mom brought my niece Natalie over today so we could give her the Christmas gifts we got for her. She scored an awesome pink kitty cat knit hat that Jane made, a Viewmaster from our trip to Yellowstone in August and a Play-Doh "Ice Cream Shoppe" set. I think she will be very surprised if she tries to eat the Play-Doh, she thought it was an ice-cream maker. Here she tries out two of the three items:

» How To Update Your BlackBerry. Careful, the upgrade file is a pretty hefty download (more than 20mb) and will not work if your Blackberry is tied to an Enterprise Server (for work).     #

» Unasked-For Advice to New Writers About Money. This could easily be translated to photography business advice as well.     #

» A couple months ago I was contacted by someone from Owl Kids Magazine, asking about usage fees for a photo I had on Flickr. They were specifically inquiring about a unicycle hockey photo from my Telluride series (something I had taken while down for the Mountain Film Fest.) I explained I had a LOT more photos than what was online, so I whipped up a quick proofing gallery for them and let them pick. They did choose a photo to illustrate a short article on alternative sports from around the world, my shot shows up on page 9 of the December 2008 issue (tear sheet scan below). I'm psyched to have sold my first photo to a magazine, especially from a series I shot so long ago just because I thought it was fun.

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» Speak and Spell. Wow, talk about going back to my youth.     #

» 95 Old School Games You Can Play Online. As much as I despise the use of Flash to build an entire website (photographers are notoriously bad about this), I love that so many games have been translated.     #

» Recap Of "Google Earth Plus For Free" Series. Especially handy since they are killing off Google Earth Plus.     #

» From the Department of Badly Chosen Defaults. Yet another dumb-ass move by the Internet Explorer team at Microsoft (seriously, why do people use that terrible web browser?)     #

» NPPA Cost of Doing Business (CDB) Calculator     #

» Flickr Resizer Photoshop Actions. Back in the dark days before Adobe Lightroom I used to have two actions, a resize-portrait and a resize-landscape for adjusting photos to put into my photo galleries. Now it's so much simpler. The hard part was never the resizing for me, it was getting the proper titles and descriptions in there.     #

» 20 Amazing and Essential Non-fiction Books to Enrich Your Library. I have a few, others I've heard of. Some I didn't know existed.     #

» Grab your BFG and play Doom in your browser - Time Waster. I simply cannot count the hours lost to Doom and Doom II when I was in college. Back in the days before Internet play, I used to use my modem to direct dial my buddy Steven's modem and we'd play until 3am quite often. Sucked those days I had to be at work at 7am (Monday-Friday...)     #

» Diary of a Self-Help Dropout: Flirting With the 4-Hour Workweek     #