creeva's Xanga

The Great Photo Sharing Conundrum

Fri, 22 May 2009 19:03:39 GMT

(My Original Blog Post: http://ping.fm/Gy1i4)

My mother left me a comment the yesterday (yes the mother I don't talk to) about one of the baby pictures. Her comment asked if I could send her an email with all the baby pictures we have. Here is where we have the gap in the usage level between an older and the newer generation. I remember years ago when everyone used to mail pictures around, but this was also a time where the pictures were normally 100kb or less in size. Even then business environments were complaining about the pictures clogging up their email systems ( no matter that they were sending 300KB full HTML emails each time). Now we fast forward to today.

People still routinely email pictures, but they are more apt to go look at them on Flickr, Facebook, Myspace, (insert social network of the week here). We are more likely to send an URL link then to attach a photo. It makes sense. Now I could have just blown off my mother, but I gave her the first response that I have in over two years. This does not mean I want to open a communication channel with her, it means that I responded to her comment the same way I would to any other commenter on the site. The important part of this excerpt is this:

Unfortunately I can't - this isn't because I'm being mean, this isn't because we are not speaking and this is the only response you've gotten from me in two years. It's because it is too unwieldy and impractical.

The last photo session I uploaded over 200 photos that were over 1.5 GB of total space. To give a comparison with my gmail account I have over 35000 emails (that are not spam) saved, this email only takes up 2.4 GB of space, since I save ALL of my outgoing email also just sending you pictures a few times would completely fill up my email box. There is a reason I use a photo sharing site, I could spend hours resizing photos just send them out to people who may or may not be interested to different degrees, but I always use the original size at home - so if a family member wants smaller sizes they can go to my Flickr account - which by the way has over 10GB of images (will probably pass 7000 images in a few weeks). There is a reason I actually pay for this service.

If want to read the rest of the comment which was a brief explanation of different options she could do on her part herself to be proactive, it's on the comment section of this story.

What this means though is technology has fixed this issue, ironically the people that are most likely to use this technology to get pictures of their children or grandkids are still stuck in the old guard mentality of expecting things sent to them instead of going out and grabbing them. If my sister had a picture out there I liked of her, I would go out and download it and archive it. Most of the time I don't make these pictures public, I save them as an archive for my child and any children he may have. This is normal activity, for people my age and younger. We don't take dozens of prints at the Sears Studio and send it off to relatives still.

Some of us do, but that number is dwindling as you get to a younger and younger age of internet users.   How do I know they wouldn't prefer a different shot than I would, I don't.   That is the point they can take their own pictures they like and have them printed up - giving them back choice instead of forcing my tastes upon them.

So how do we move on from here?   I guess evolution will eventually take it's course and utilizing the cloud will become the norm.   Maybe it doesn't need a push in that direction. I did finish my comment by giving my mother fairly explicit instructions on where to go.........to handle getting the photos on her own, and on demand.

Now if only she would scan all of her photo albums (at a decent and high DPI level - ie should be 5-10mb per photo) so I could archive all those pictures I would be happy. Granted not happy enough to go talk to her and get the photos and do it myself, but happier.   It's tooth and nail to borrow pictures from my grandmother to scan in, but I've gotten some. I have managed to scan all of my father's photos from the pre-divorce of my parents era.   I need to get his after that images still.

I don't want with my siblings over who gets what photographs once my parents and grand parents ass away (which is still hopefully decades and decades away), I would prefer to just have the digital copies, that way we could all have each photograph in the family history.   Maybe someday. At least my grandkids won't have to fight over photo rights, and they will know how to share them with one another.

I'll end this with another staged studio image of myself for all of those readers out there:

(My Original Blog Post: http://ping.fm/cSetC)

When Did Good & Fruity Start to Suck?

Tue, 19 May 2009 14:50:44 GMT

(My Original Blog Post: http://ping.fm/CfBQb)

So about once a year I purchase a package of Good & Fruity, and the last few boxes are terrible. It is not like it was growing up, the texture wasn't jelly beanesque - it was more like the licorice texture used in Good & Plenty. They also don't taste one iota like they used to.

According to Wikipedia, this change happened sometime around 2008 (though I remember them being bad before that), so I would say the problem occurred between 2000 and now. The 1992 formula is the one it seem that I would love to see again.

It's like New Coke all over again, except the fan base isn't large enough to make them revert. (My Original Blog Post: http://ping.fm/VJfHC)

Latest Baby Pictures

Tue, 19 May 2009 02:25:18 GMT

(My Original Blog Post: http://ping.fm/C9iaS)

I haven't been doing the greatest job of posting baby pictures for everyone. Thought I would do a quick post of the ones I took today. Of course if you don't care you can just ignore this post. To the thumbnails -

(My Original Blog Post: http://ping.fm/OlKXY)

Wiki Visions

Sat, 16 May 2009 18:07:30 GMT

(My Original Blog Post: http://ping.fm/vkF3q)

I may not have been working much on my blog over the last couple months, but one thing I have been working is my own personal wiki. It's not publicly editable so don't bother trying. One thing I have found that it is useful for is an memory augmentation technique. I can keep notes or lists to myself in it that I can easily go back to.

I've gotten so used to wiki editing and syntax that I am now incorporating a stand alone wiki into my normal work flow.   Now some of you do know that I run the Stars of Intrepid wiki to keep the memory of the people that played a great game in a great time period alive.   I saw uses for a wiki in this scenario long ago, and it's gone OK.   It would be great if there was a greater participation, but it is what it is.   A moment trapped in time. There are modifications occasionally, but it's far from a vibrant community.

The best thing about a personal wiki is you are not dismayed when people are not contributing. It's all you.   It can be incomplete.   It can be riddled with problems. It mirrors your mind, thought process, and line of thinking.   It is more of what you are.   Whenever I need to write something the wiki is now a well of information I can go back to, at least htat is part of the intent.

One of the major things I wanted the wiki for (at first) was to keep a list of all of my online profiles and accounts.   This makes a central repository that I can call upon to remember if I signed up for such and such a service.   The other thing it's been useful is to map the flow information that I use for crossposting data across the internet.

When someone asks a question of how information is distributed I can give a very specific answer of the path it takes.   Others can look for themselves how I might produce a video in youtube and have it show up on vimeo. If you haven't tried keeping a wiki for your own information, I suggest that you do try it. It is a different animal from a blog and is used completely differently.   It's like comparing a book to an encyclopedia, both present information but in a completely different manner. (My Original Blog Post: http://ping.fm/TQ5EW)

Happy 21st Birthday Sis

Tue, 12 May 2009 15:11:24 GMT

(My Original Blog Post: http://ping.fm/UtH8W)

Today is my sister's 21st birthday. She is a couple months shy of being twelve years younger then me I don't think I'll ever accept that she made it past around 6-8 years old. Hopefully she enjoys her day today.

Here is what she looks like now:

But this is how she will always look like to me:

(My Original Blog Post: http://ping.fm/oBUwA)

Back To The Blog

Tue, 12 May 2009 15:03:06 GMT

(My Original Blog Post: http://creeva.com/2009/05/12/back-to-the-blog/)

Back to the blog.   It's been awhile since I've written anything (56 days since my last post), and that's quite a bit for someone that was doing multiple posts a day.   My lifestream shows I was doing something online, but nothing with the blog. I did apply for a blogging position with Geekdad (since I now qualify) when they had an open invitation for any and all to sign up. I did not make the cut, since it was a non paying position there wasn't much I really lost, but I did get my hopes up.

I still have to write about Lex's time in the hospital. I have other projects that I've done that I need to write about, so much writing to do and so little time.   My wife who only writes once in a blue moon beat me to writing about the birth experience. She was sure I was going to get it done first, but time and effort   One thing I have noticed is that the longer you go without writing the easier it is. You can say well I have written this long, what is one more day - then it's one more week.   What was planned to be two-three weeks turned into just about two months.   I have been doing emails, responding on Facebook and Twitter, and other low time (and creative) investment activities.   Being lazy is way too easy. It also makes me understand the other side of the coin.

Xie has asked me many times how I have so much to write about. I always responded that once you get in the forced habit of spending time and effort in putting something down it becomes routine and it's easy to do.    You can pick up stories that you remember or just inane chatter that gives you practice in writing. It's the practice that makes you better and gives you the stories that really stand out. It goes the other way too I've found out. Without getting deep into the habit ofregularly writing it becomes a struggle. Heck this post alone has been almost 3 weeks in the making and went through different revisions. In the end I scrapped everything I had written before and going through the grueling task of getting something out there. I never thought that taking a break would lead to this.    I have had a mountain of things to write about, concerning the baby, concerning politics, concerning technology, etc. etc.   The problem was taking the time to get it down on the screen.

The cop out answer for all of this is the birth of the baby.   That really isn't a good excuse since I learned I can pound out a 500 word essay in 12 minutes. I could have easily written something in that great span of 56 days, heck a good portion of my posts are not even 500 words long, so under a ten minute sneak here or there would have gotten the job done.   I am extremely busy because of the baby, both directly and indirectly but if I have time to watch a video - I have time to pound out a blog post. What is what it's going to be for awhile.

What does this mean though? Well first don't expect multiple posts a day for at least a couple months from me. I don't have the time to write drafts for future publishing, so I can't queue up enough to get a weeks straight of posts done.   I have some plans for that, and there is going to be some possibly uninteresting writing ahead.   One of the things that may turn out boring (or awesome) is that I'll work through all the Plinky prompts I've been ignoring. I subscribed to their feed for writing inspiration, but the questions never really felt like they fit in the tone of the blog, well they do now.   Motivation is weak and to get back in the swing of things, this what I have to do.

The most interesting thing I've noticed is that while my RSS feed has had a bit of a falling off of subscribers, my normal web hits are only down 20-30%. I guess I've written enough stuff that Google has indexed that has been deemed hit worthy.   That at least makes me happy, or you guys just miss me so much that you are reading my old stuff over and over again (I guess you like to torture yourself).

I'm getting into ramble mode now, while good for my writing - it's bad for a coherent post. I'll stop.   My toes are dipping back into the water and I'm sure I'll be swimming like a fish again in no time.

(My Original Blog Post: http://creeva.com/2009/05/12/back-to-the-blog/)

Taking A Net Break

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 11:46:57 GMT

(My Original Blog Post: http://ping.fm/WUPcp)

I took a week off after the baby, I worked a week from home, and now I'm back to work. You would think in that time I would have had time to write something. That I have so much going on that I should be sharing and contributing, giving you information - either the mundane, interesting, or where you think I am on crack. I do have ideas, just little effort right now. You could say that my energies are directed at other things, but it's not really that. It was only yesterday that I caught up on e-mail from over two weeks ago. I did manage in the last week to catch back up on my RSS feeds (that was a huge pain and some feeds I just did the blanket mark as read).

So right now I'm taking the rest of the month off. Yes you may see some twitter comments here or there, you may see me comment somewhere. This is me digesting information. Looking into the reflection pond of the interwebs and seeing what echos back. I do plan on next month gearing back up to speed. I do hope to do some writing in what is left in this month, but anything I do write will more then likely get put off from being published until next month. Of course if there is an "OMG WTF" event I may still do an article. Alone getting this out for now is just enough. It is enough effort so no one thinks I've vanished. It is enough effort to make it to completion. It is enough to reach out ot the community that follows and interacts with me.

I'll see you in two weeks.

(My Original Blog Post: http://ping.fm/x9Mav)

Baby Pictures Are Available Here

Wed, 04 Mar 2009 06:42:37 GMT

Been an extra day or so getting these pictures up, but here they are. I still have to do a write up of the whole experience that I hope to get to in the next few days, but hopefully these pictures will keep you tided over until then. If for some reason the pictures do not show up o this page for you, they are available here - http://ping.fm/GI3e2

(My Original Blog Post: http://creeva.com/2009/03/04/baby-pictures-are-available-here/)

We Are Having A Baby

Thu, 26 Feb 2009 21:56:49 GMT

When I say we are having a baby - I don't mean in the abstract sense that it's happening soon. Literally we are having a baby right now. This post like most of them I am writing ahead of time, so there will be some details missing. The one most important is what day is this going to publish? I'm not sure - the baby is due any day now, I have to be ready to rush out the door. I am hoping to run by the blog for five seconds to get this alert published. By the time you are reading this (depending on how quick you do) we should be either on the way to or at the hospital. When we get home I'll be putting up a new article with pictures and the whole nine yards.

The signs have started that we are going to be having our child in our arms very soon. I don't yet know the weight or length of him. I don't know what the time or day of his birth. He is very close to appearing. Some part of this since I'm writing this ahead of time reminds me of Linus telling Charlie Brown about the Great Pumpkin, in theory the Great Pumpkin is going to show up, but yet there is no proof. We are hoping everything goes well, that there is no complications. Wish us well.

I'll be giving updates on my twitter feed, so watch that for the latest information. (My Original Blog Post: http://creeva.com/2009/02/26/we-are-having-a-baby/)

LeVar Burton, The Internet's Latest Superstar

Thu, 26 Feb 2009 15:02:10 GMT

Image from here

Outside of Star Trek LeVar Burton has not done much acting in the last 10 years. One thing that he did keep going until the last couple years was Reading Rainbow, a show myself and my siblings all grew up with. I'm kind of disappointed hearing that it is gone, on the cusp of my child being born any day now, he won't be able ot the experience I had growing up with the show. Between Star Trek: The Next Generation and reading rainbow is where I (like most geeks) have had my exposure to LeVar Burton. He is the guy you recognize and want to see things from, but has kind of disappeared from the spotlight. Well he is back, he has embraced the internet revolution (is it really a revolution still??) and in the last few months has shown up everywhere.

Since I'm not sure where it started, I'll give my details as I noticed his latest new fame. It all started when he popped up on an episode of Diggnation:

When I saw this clip show up on Digg I just had to track it down later when I was at home and watch it. I would say it gave me chills, but that is the wrong word for it. It was exciting, refreshing and took me back to being an eight year old kid watching Reading Rainbow in the first few seasons. Then he popped up on Twitter and I immediately followed him. He is currently (among other things) covering his struggle to stay a non-smoker, something that I'm going to have to fight myself very soon when my child is born.

Most recently as I was catching up on my back episodes of This Week in Tech, behold LeVar shows up there. Wil Wheaton has managed to talk his friends over ot the medium he has done so well at in the recent years. LeVar has shown that this level of internet stardom is not unique to a single Star Trek star. Here is wishing you luck LeVar and I'll keep reading your blog. I'm hoping Brent Spiner manages to leverage this as well as you. (My Original Blog Post: http://creeva.com/2009/02/26/levar-burton-the-internets-latest-superstar/)