Just one of the over 300 photos I took today, not counting those I deleted in-camera because they weren’t going to work!

I took 50 photos in the early afternoon, just testing my lens filters and getting some nice outdoor, spring-time shots. Okay, I took a lot of pictures of dandelions, plus some budding leaves and assorted other picts.

This afternoon, I took 272 photos for a client.

On the way back from the location shoot, I tried to get a shot of a water tower that was under construction. It was interesting seeing one half-done, which isn’t something you get to see that often. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a real clear image. I got a couple distance shots and two blurry shots as we drove past.

I suppose we could have stopped somewhere for a better view but (a) it wasn’t necessary to get a picture (just something neat to have) and (b) it was suppertime and I hadn’t eaten since breakfast.

After that, it was a brief photo shoot of the sleeping puppy.

So, I apologize for not reading many blogs this weekend. Been busy!

As in steampunk, not Steampunk.

At any rate, I’ve heard of steampunk before, but not paid much attention to it. I did like The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. when it was on the air. But, beyond the works of fiction, what caught my eye was the design aspects. Perhaps you’ll see something partially steampunk-inspired in the future. It’s not terribly unlike designing retro future technology for my Lemurian Dawn series.

First, let’s take a look at the Apple IIgs laptop modification done by Benjamin J. Heckendorn. Okay, so it’s not steampunk, but he did try to make it look as though it was a laptop that was actually made in the 1980’s (even though it does have design elements not used by Apple until more recent laptops), so it’s only off by about 100 years for steampunk. (The original PowerBooks looked nothing like the clam-shell era iBooks.)

That brings us to (like my segues?) Dave Veloz’s Mac Mini Mod, Monitor and Keyboard, which is definitely steampunk in design. You can read more details on the keyboard mod here.

I didn’t see a mouse in that setup, but I imagine it may have looked something like this.

Even the Russians enjoy steampunk, as you can tell from this Russian-built steampunk computer.

Of course, in the good ol’ USA, we built the real thing for the 1890 census.

If you enjoy steampunk design, you can search Google for different things, or checkout Steampunk Magazine.

And, too, keep your browser pointed at my blog, ’cause you never know what might show up…

Last year, around this time (actually seven days from now…), the butterflies were already outside. That’s when I took this photo of a Western Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly, also called the Yellow Swallowtail Butterfly.

One of the trees the caterpillars feed on is the Willow. There used to be a number of willow trees in our neighborhood, but not so much anymore. But, the swallowtails still seem to be around. Last year, I also took a photo with both a yellow swallowtail and also a monarch butterfly on a butterfly bush.

In the local park, there is an area way back in the middle of the park (or, at least, there used to be–I haven’t been there in several years) that I dubbed “Butterfly Alley” because it was just filled (relatively) with butterflies. Perhaps this summer, I should go into the park with my camera and see if I can get some pictures. If Butterfly Alley is still around!

For more about butterflies, check out “The Birth of the Butterflies.”

I’m not going to do a whole bunch of links, as these handful are somewhat lengthy, but all well worth the read.

“How to Be Successful, Uniquely Yours”
Robert of Reason4Smile.com clearly spent some time putting this post together. It’s a great post and definitely worth reading.

“Winning Attitude Comes From Within”
Bobby of Revellian.com posted this one the other day. It’s an excellent read on how our success is tied to our attitude, and not other things that seem like they may be the reason.

“Why There Aren’t More Googles”
An interesting article on why there aren’t many new Googles (not necessarily in the search marketplace either) in the world.

“The Hypocrisy of Alcohol Versus Drugs”
Bobby also had this thought-provoking piece yesterday. (Guys, don’t stop at the photo. Keep reading…) It’s always something I’ve been curious about since high school. Doesn’t make sense that some drugs are okay and others are considered bad, when the “okay” drugs are often seen doing more damage (and causing injury and death) than some of the bad drugs. For the record, I certainly don’t advocate drug use and I’ve never used any. And, I’ve only had two drinks since turning 21. And the second one was because the glass was free if you took the drink, so how could I turn down a bargain? I always liked Thoreau’s (or was it Emerson’s?) statement that the “drug” of choice for the writer should be water, as creative types shouldn’t desire to have their minds altered.

“27 Thoughts on Blogging for the Artist”
How about that for a segue? Anyway, Problogger.net had this great piece on artist’s blogs. But, much of the advice is applicable to any type of blogger. We probably shouldn’t spend more time surfing than creating (whether it’s art or our next blog post!).

So, there you go. Have a mind-expanding experience reading these excellent posts!

Oh, yes, the title almost flows, but not quite. And, I’m slow on the trigger today.

Anyway, today, Joel Comm released the 4th Edition of Google AdSense Secrets. John Chow had a pretty good write-up of it, so I’ll just send you there to read up.

Pop on over to John Chow’s site, and read his glowing recommendation. But, if you’d rather me get the commission than him, come back here and buy the eBook through my link here for just $9.95.

I think that’s only slightly evil, by John Chow’s general definition.

Why the creepy man in his underwear and the bikini babe again? Well, I seem to be doing fairly well for Google searches for pictures of men in their underwear, so I figured I’d give Google some more fodder.

And, why yes, the picture is relevant to this post. How about that?

Well, this post is about how to avoid copyright infringement. More and more bloggers are using in their posts (after the a-list bloggers said this helps retain or attract readers or whatever), and there are some guidelines that should be followed.

The Basics

First of all, not everything on the Internet is in the public domain. There is a common misperception that if something is online, it is free for the taking. This is not the case. And, since 1987 (or thereabouts), a copyright notice is not required for copyright protection. So, even if you see something without a copyright notice, that does not mean it is not copyrighted!

Second, while there are photo sharing sites that may encourage sharing photos, you still must be careful how you use those photos. Check the restrictions very carefully; some restrictions may vary by the photographer (or photo) while other restrictions may be common to all photos on a site. That will depend upon the site, so always check the terms of use very carefully.

Be mindful too of images that are marked for non-commercial usage only. Different people may have different definitions of what that entails. In many cases, it is intended to prohibit people from doing something like selling a bunch of t-shirts with that photo on it. For some sites, that type of commercial usage may be completely prohibited, while on other sites, it may require a special licensing and higher fee or royalties. In other cases, non-commercial may be much more restrictive than direct sales of the photo or image. They may mean to define any blog or website making money in any way (such as AdSense) as “commercial.” It doesn’t matter how much you are making, even if it’s pennies a month, you could still be considered a “commercial” site.

When in doubt, assume that your site is commercial, and ask permission to use the image, or don’t use it at all.

If your site is a news-type site, you may have greater leeway in using images for newsworthy purposes. But, for the purposes of this post, I am going to deal with commercial sites, and by that I mean any type of commercial site, whether you have AdSense or are selling an actual product.

The Safest Way

Of course, by far the safest way of avoiding any instances of copyright infringement is to create your own content. You can also hire someone, such as an illustrator or photographer, to create content for you, but be sure to have a contract that specifically covers what rights are being transferred and how you can use the content. That is, however, beyond the scope of this post. Here I will be focusing on creating your own content.

If you are artistically inclined, you can draw your own illustrations and designs to be used on your blog. However, if your drawing skills are not that advanced, there are several easier options.

Be Your Own Photographer

Being your own photographer is pretty easy these days. Decent digital cameras are readily affordable. You don’t even need the latest model; you could buy an older one on eBay. Most digital cameras make taking good pictures relatively easy. Get a model with a viewscreen and you can preview your photos before leaving the scene to make sure you’ve got a decent shot.

Be mindful, however, of how you use the photos you take. Just because you took the photograph yourself doesn’t mean that you will be able to use it on your commercial site.

Huh?

You see, there are some “gotchas” to be wary of when taking photos. For example, you may not be able to use a photo of a commercial building on your commercial site, without the owner’s (or in some cases, the architect’s) permission. Certain architecture may be protected by copyright. And, that copyright will likely belong to the architect and not the building’s owner. In such a case, you will need permission from both to take and use the photo on your blog.

Sculptures, statues and monuments may also be protected by copyright, and permission will need to be secured before using photographs of them. Here, you may have some leeway. If the statue (for example) is not the focus of your photo, you may be okay. Say, for example, you take a photo of your local park, and there is a monument in the park. If your photo is of the park and the monument is in the photo but not the central focus, you are probably going to be okay, but if the focus of your photo is the monument, you may have issues.

Mind you, that such architecture created before 1923 is likely in the public domain.

Some useful information on the rights of photographers is available here. Look for the PDF download.

Be Your Own Artist

If you’re drawing skills are not up to par, you could try 3D software. A variety of packages are available that will allow you to create your own scenes and set things up however you would like. Some software even allows you to pose your models and dress them in different outfits, create different backgrounds and so on.

If you aren’t up to the task of creating your own 3D models, you can buy models for different software packages. Again, just be sure the models you buy can be used for commercial purposes.

Plus, it’s generally less expensive than hiring real life models and making sure you have the appropriate model releases and so on.

Combinations

You can even combine the different methods to create unique artwork for your site. You could take an outdoor photo with your digital camera, and then render 3D models as if they were in that scene. Alternatively, with either your 3D renders or actual photos, you can run them through some Adobe Photoshop filters to create different looks, anything from a hand-drawn sketch to something more cartoony. And, add-on filters will add more possibilities.

The guy in his underwear and the bikini babe are a rendered 3D image that was run through a Photoshop filter to give it the appearance of something that might have been drawn by hand.

Summary

I am not a lawyer, so you should be sure to read carefully any licenses related to any images or models that you use. And, also check any local laws regarding photography, as certain jurisdictions may have special restrictions.

Whether you use any social networking sites, or just confine your “social networking” to interacting with other bloggers, certainly you’ve developed your own list of pet peeves. Here are some of mine:

1. Cursing. For whatever reason, many people seem to think that having a blog is a license to swear. Mind you, this was true before anyone ever heard of a “blog” and teenagers were building Geocities websites with black backgrounds, red lettering, skulls and teenage angst which was expressed using words even adults were loathe to use when I was a teen. Now, way too many people use language that was once reserved for the stereotypical “drunken sailor.” I’d bet some drunken sailors would be taken aback by some of the blogs around these days. And, even the purportedly respectable bloggers can’t seem to help but throw in the occasional f-word, maybe to show the youngsters they’re still “hip” and “in the game” or whatever. Maybe we need to return to the days when adults actually worried about setting a good example for the younger set.

   On top of that, with this overuse of curse words, they have mostly lost their shock value, which is what gave them their value as a “dirty” word to begin with. In days past, when someone started unleashing curse words, you knew they were really upset. Nowadays, they might be upset, they might be happy, they might be accepting an award. Who knows.

2. Scantily-Clad Women and S-x. I’ll combine these two into one. It is understandable that people have an interest in such things, but why does it seem that not a day goes by when one (or both) of these don’t make the front page on digg? And, just what is it with women (and especially teenage girls) posting pictures of themselves in as little clothing as possible? From blogs to MySpace, you find revealing photos everywhere. You don’t have to go looking for them. Usually, you have to try not to find them and, even then, you can’t help but accidentally stumble upon a page. Have times changed so much? It used to be that girls liked to play dress up and have their pictures taken; now they want to play undress and take their own pictures. I guess it may be a good thing if you’re a teenage boy, but a cause for concern for society in general.
3. News That Isn’t News. Sorry, but a sale is not news. It’s a promotion. The mainstream media has its flaws, but the new media is developing it’s own. “Breaking News” implies something of importance has happened. A sale on your magazine or a new book is not something I would consider noteworthy news. “Breaking News” implies that someone has been shot, or robbed, or there’s been a plane crash, or a major storm causing lots of damage, or something along those lines, where there may be a vital interest in getting people’s attention and making them aware of the situation. A sales special is not among those things.
4. Posts That Are Sales Pitches. An occasional pitch for a product may be tolerable, especially if it’s something that may be of interest and use to your readers, but a steady stream of pitches is not welcome. Some pitches will still offer something of value, even to people that don’t buy anything, by offering some useful tips and ideas that will have made the time spent reading the post worthwhile. But, if the post offers nothing but promises of information once you have made the purchase, it’s a waste of time.

Those are some of my social networking pet peeves. What are yours?

Previously, the aliens had opted not to visit Earth. That was just a very basic GIF animation, since I’m not sure that anyone else (besides me) can view a MOV file. And, thus far, I have completely failed at making this video in Flash and uploading it directly to my blog. One would think there would be a very simple way of implementing such a thing, but apparently not. And, the Flash experts seem to be tight-lipped about that sort of thing, hoping instead to sell you software or contract with them to do it for you.

Thus, I have had to resort to YouTube. Why not Revver, you ask, which I have encouraged people to use? I am saving my quality content for Revver, is the answer. I don’t want to build a profile over there of low quality, test stuff that no one will care about and, thus, (potentially) kill any potential audience I may have over there.

Anyway, so here it is:

Note that it’s pretty low quality and that’s because my original animation is a lower resolution than what YouTube uses, so it looks a little fuzzy blown up. Also, I do have a sound track that goes with it, but I didn’t include that in my upload because I wasn’t going to put together a string of credits for a 7 second test video.

I actually made this animation last Christmas-time, so that’s how long it’s been sitting on my hard drive. I made some attempts back then to get it into Flash, but with the same results as today’s attempts. Though, I did fare better today, as I did have player controls embedded this time around. Unfortunately, I can’t seem to get it to obey the command not to autoplay. Play=false is not doing the trick. And, besides that, I can’t get it in a format such that I can post it here in WordPress.

On top of that, I can’t seem to get the encoding right so that it displays nicely in a web browser without a lot of interlacing. And, no, the various interlacing options didn’t seem to do the trick. So, that’ll all be a lesson for a future date.

In the meantime, at least I’ve demonstrated (to myself, at least) that I can make a video and upload it to another site for viewing.

Oh, you wanted to know more about the video? Okay, it’s just a basic animation of what might be a spaceship’s outside view when passing around the Earth. They are probably going a little too fast, but I’m sure they have inertial dampeners. In this one, the spinning of the Earth is more noticeable than in the last one. Perhaps too fast, but this is a test video, so cut me some slack.

Playing Catch-Up

So, I am trying to catch-up with stuff from my two week (or thereabouts) sojourn from blogging.

In my feed reader, I am finally down to under 200 blog posts to read. 199 to be exact, though that will shoot upward later this evening when a couple blogs post another half dozen posts each. I’m seriously considering removing some of these wordy blogs from my feed reader. I don’t even read most of the posts anymore.

To tell the truth, I “caught up” mainly by just marking as read scores of posts from a handful of sites that post a half dozen or more posts per day. I have pretty much lost interest in many of those blogs. It used to be that they had some useful stuff, but more and more it’s just stuff I don’t want to read.

I am still reading (and skimming) old posts. For the most part, I’m not going to leave comments on old posts, and just focus on commenting on newer posts.

I am also trying to “catch up” on social networking sites. It used to be that I logged on to MyBlogLog nearly every night, but I logged in this evening for what is, I think, the first time since mid-March. After an absence, even a relatively brief one, it can be difficult to catch up. The main difficulty is just getting back into the feel of things. Sometimes, something can change your perspective, and the things that seemed so necessary only a few weeks ago, somehow can wait until tomorrow, or the next day, or the day after that.

Instead, sometimes you just sit there knowing you should be visiting some site, but you just can’t remember which one, because they don’t hold the importance in your mind that they did before.

So, it’s not procrastination alone that is the issue, but the lack of urgency which makes you forget completely about those sites.

Blog Update

I also worked on my “new” blog, Find the Best Credit Card, this evening, making changes to the stylesheet until I got it looking more the way I want it. I also took the liberty of commenting the stylesheet code so I better know what does what!

Not the prettiest blog around, but it looks better and I’ll just leave it alone for a while, until some sort of inspiration hits me whereby I feel the need to make some changes.

I also added the site to MyBlogLog while I was on this evening (and still). If you’re on MBL, please join some of my other communities, just so they don’t look so lame where dcrBlogs has 100+ and the rest have scant handfuls.

Of course, if you have additional MBL communities you’d like me to join, let me know about them!

Making It to the Top Spots

Practical Points in Nursing was a blog I started near the end of February. While checking my stats this evening, I discovered it is ranking #2 in Google for a particular search term. Probably not the most popular of search terms, but it’s a start anyway.

I also plan on adding some more modern information, so I am hopeful that will help too.

Also did some work on its stylesheet, and I now have it looking the way I want.

Now, back to work…

Is video blogging the next “in” thing in blogging?

I sure hope not.

While I may watch the occasional blog video, for the most part, I just skip them. Last year, I started watching a video news blog, but soon got bored with it and stopped visiting the site all together after about two weeks or less.

And, today I learn that one of the blogs in my feed reader was recently sold, and the new owner plans to do mostly video blogs. So, that’ll be one less blog for me to visit.

Here’s the thing with video… It’s good for tutorials, especially for those types of things that are easier to understand when you see someone else going through the steps, rather than reading about them. Sometimes, the written word just doesn’t get things across properly–and typically it’s because of human error on the part of the writer (or the reader) and not a flaw with the language itself.

Video is also good for funny clips, entertainment, and the standard TV type fare.

But, in my opinion, video is not real good for general blogging. It seems less personal, funny though it may seem, when someone is speaking to a camera than it is reading their words on a page.

There’s also an old adage that the content of a half hour of TV news would take but a couple columns in the newspaper. You can read those columns faster than you can watch a half hour newscast. The same goes for blogging. Video blogging is largely a waste of your readers’ (er, viewers’) time. It may be quicker for you to do a video blog than to sit and type an actual post, but I guarantee that people will be able to read your textual post faster than they can watch your video. So, you may be saving yourself time, but then you’re putting your own needs ahead of those of your audience.

Beyond that, there is also the issue that so many videos are so poorly done. People may not be professional speakers, and it can be difficult to understand what is being said, plus you have people that will ah, um, er, uh, um, um, um, you know, and, ah, um, take, um, you know, ah, um, a while to actually say what they are, um, you know, trying to say.

Who knows? Maybe one day I’ll have to get into video blogging too. Maybe that’s what everyone will be into.

But, I think I’ll make a transcript also available so that people can read instead of watch, if that is their preference.

Keeps everyone happy that way.