Photography Links

Readers who come across this blog by chance may not know that I also have a photography blog called "Short Sights at Noon".   There is a link further down the page here directly to some past posts there.


I continue to send little pieces round to friends and now that Boards.ie seems to be back on an even keel, I'm happily posting some comments there as well.


Blogging continues to bemuse many of the over-fifties, but gradually the value of combining snappy pieces of writing with a photo is gaining popularity with my friends.   It would be excellent if they took to blog writing as well as it's such a painless way of keeping in contact with those living far away.




Not travelling abroad this year has turned out to have many benefits, notably the time available to organise photo archives and think about projects for Summer.   I continue to wish I could visit Italy more often, it is such a beautiful place.

http://shortsights.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2011-08-30T10:02:00-07:00&max-results=7

The World Continues...

... to spin on its axis and given the lack-lustre developments in much technology recently (do we really need yet another design in mobile 'phones?), I have stopped looking at the ways a blog could be improved.

However,thanks to the new range of templates offered by Blogspot, the Photographedublin pages are more pleasing to my eye. It is called "Awesome Inc" and has a sharper and more clean interface than the previous choice.

Current attitudes to learning new tricks can best be shown rather than spelled out in words...

Does It Matter If Nobody Reads a Blog?

People who measure success in terms of approval by others would be unhappy to run a blog like this. It turns out that most visitors don't stop at all, which makes me consider if the ips from which they come are merely part of the network mechanics.

All is not lost, however, as the Analytics can be used to learn about new places around the globe. Geographers would find this useful, I expect.

Also, the value of blogging is that of documentary. Unless the Internet is obliterated, all the people who have taken time to learn the skills required to blog will be available to newcomers and will, it is to be hoped, have quicker access than those of us who had the feeling of being present at some astonishing breakthrough in science and knowledge.

I continues to astonish me that such a system can operate thanks to mathematics. Anybody who finds the subject boring or mysterious can quickly find sites on logarithms everywhere these days. Thanks to being indoors more than usual at the moment, a bit of trigonometry could pass the time.

Le jeu continue...

The Way of the World

I've stopped tuning into the news.

I know that some people claim that laughter is a form of aggression, but for whatever reason, discussion about Europe makes me laugh out loud and I can't waste time at the moment. So much to catch up on in the blog, for instance.

Like any machine, once started it seems to have taken on a life of its own. While it is tiresome to explain what a blog is to the vast number of people who pour scorn on such self indulgence, gradually the value of being able to find like-minded contacts around the world is increasingly obvious even to professional writers.

Their distain for unedited ramblings is a source of amusement to me. Do they find that bloggers are not serious people? Are they concerned that their place in the world order may be threatened? Learning to read is still withheld in some societies as a way for elites to keep power over those who are unable to access information.

Learning to write is to find a voice in the ever increasing noise that our Planet is making.

Learning to blog is one step futher. It allows for documentary makers to upload their podcasts. Films that would never find a public forum are now top billing among fans and "Rudetube" is popular on TV, as the official media, which is almost always a follower rather than an innovator, catches up with the play.

There is a certain snobbism in distaining blogs, just as Flaubert made a song and dance about that new fangled machine, the train. However, they are increasingly more read than newspapers, especially among younger generations.

I have often been puzzled by those who feel that anything has to be given official validation before its value is recognised. Authority structures are being, finally and to my relief, being broken down by the ability of many people to maintain a coherent body of writing and visual material for sharing online. Showing it to another person for approval would not dawn on me, because their input would change the nature of what is being produced.

"Writing only leads to more writing"

My favourite (among many) writer, Colette, seems to have put her finger on the problem. You send an email... an answer comes back... the blasted things breed like rabbits... more writing, explanations, congratulations, counter-congratulations, mob hugs, Twitter campaigns. There's no end to the blabbering.

A friend recently told me of a web site that had over a million hits. I was horrified. That would crash the system, I felt. My idea of success to have nothing in my in-box and a gentle jog-trot of comments back and forth among an increasing number of friendly bloggers.

So far, this has been achieved.

I thought about writing a post about the Budget

for the Irish Republic for 2009...

and then thought better of it.

The roaring which surrounded its presentation yesterday
was quite enough to make me turn the TV off and wait to
read about what was actually being said.

Apparently callers to radio stations throughout the land
have been less restrained.
The general consensus seems to be that it is

"Not A Good Thing" and, if things go on as they are,
they are bound to get much worse.

Having been blessed with an up-beat an optimistic temperament
comes to the fore during such "Interesting Times".

I head out into the garden, study the lilies of the field
and wonder if they are edible.
The family of blackbirds that responded so well to Summer feeding
and to the shelter of dense hedging which hems in our garden
are now being eyed with a view to possible protein content.

We probably shall not go hungry.
However, it will be more than interesting to see
how things evolve...

Back To the Normal Daily Jog Trot

It's "Business As Usual" at the Flick Photography Coalface.
I learned so much by taking photos at the Blog Awards, that I must now
work harder than ever to learn how to capture light.

The French shall be my guides for the next year, I have decided.
It's impossible to study in France without developing an interest in
photography and the Fine Arts.

This Francophone Group is worth joining, if you feel like
honing visual skills:

Feedback Requested, Please

A request has been posted by Primalsneeze for feedback on Blogger and Wordpress.

Anybody who has an opinion or useful insight might like to post there, please.

The Year of The Widget

It looks as if my recent interest in
Widgets is shared by very many bloggers
and geeks.

The design quality of the buttons being
developed for downloading to Desktop
and Blog Interface is improving daily.

Let's keep an eye on these handy hold-alls.