December 24, 2013

I'm dreaming of a Black (and White) Christmas

I spent a few nights driving around in my motorized vehicle taking pics of Holiday Lights. Listening to one of those Radio Stations that plays Christmas Music 24 hours a day and the motorized vehicle's heater keeping me nice and warm made for an easy photo outing.

Ideally I would have stopped at each location, got out and setup a tripod and taken the pics all proper like. But that's too much work for photos that I may never print.

I set the ISO to 4000 and adjusted aperture to keep my shutter speeds around 1/125. Kept it simple. Less Brain Damage.



















And for those of you that absolutely positively have to have COLOR in your holiday light picture:::



Thanks so much for looking.

December 20, 2013

Olympus Bioscapes 2013 Gallery

This takes 'macro' to a whole new level.



More here...... http://www.olympusbioscapes.com/gallery/2013/index.html

December 10, 2013

How technology is changing our minds for the better

Blame it on the apps. When technology isn't distracting us from driving (causing accidents — or at least some unnerving swerving), it's pulling our attention away from work, making us less productive. Smartphone games steal time from our families, and apps suck our downtime into a black hole of "Wait, what time is it?"

We are getting dumber and less compassionate because we are using our phones more than our brains, right? So assert writers like Nick Carr, Jaron Lanier and others. In response, we are planning phone-free vacations and doing weekend tech detoxes. But what if all that thinking about the evils of tech is just wrong — or at least overblown?

In "Smarter Than You Think: How Technology is Changing our Minds for the Better," author Clive Thompson asserts that as technology gets smarter, so are we — it is a net gain. Not that our current tools are perfect: "The arguments about the dangers of tech are about consumption. Are we too distracted to be able to focus? I actually agree with some of [those arguments]. Our tools really have been pecking at us like ducks and we have to get away from that. But my book is looking at something different — what it means for the individual to express their thoughts and think socially with other people. To bounce ideas ideas off of other people more easily and to solve problems with other people. I found those trends to be very powerful and I was convinced that this was a net boon for most people's everyday thoughts," he says on the TechCrunch video below.

http://www.mnn.com/health/fitness-well-being/blogs/how-technology-is-changing-our-minds-for-the-better

I have mixed feelings about this contention. Being a bit of a Tree Hugger I enjoy walks/hikes without any 'wired' connection. Clears the head. I Day Dream, which for me is a good thing.

December 9, 2013

Sophie and a Small Town at Night

Thanks for takin' a looksie.