my blog

haiti

Fri, 15 Jan 2010 16:06:38 -0500

Technorati Tags: Haiti, Earthquake, Red Cross, Aid
Gather Tags: Haiti, Earthquake, Red Cross, Aid

In watching the horror of the Haiti earthquake, it is amazing at the relative calm that everyone seems to be in. Could it be shock? I think so. We are now 72 hours into the event, and I think more will be dying now from disease and the after effects of this horrific event.

Please donate to the Red Cross to help those in need.

tiger’s digital mess-up

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 10:46:41 -0500

Technorati Tags: Technology, Tiger Woods, Social Media
Gather Tags: Technology, Tiger Woods, Social Media

It is a fact. Every e-mail you write, every phone message, every text message is kept forever. The recent evidence that has come up regarding his communications to all of his mistresses proves that fact. It is very damning when you can read about his e-mail conversations, or his texts - but to also hear his voice messages - it makes one think that maintaining your privacy is a full-time job.

Technology will need to come up with ways to tagging and authorizing the release of your information. There are technologies out there that are moving in this direction. You will be able to tag your information as private, and without your consent, it cannot be shared outside of the intended purpose you originally had. Of course this brings up a host of other issues, but a market is being created now for this technology in the light of these recent privacy exposures. Corporate America has been dealing with this problem for a long time. The digital content of a company and its people are the only two real assets they need to be concerned about. Both of them have privacy issues - or for lack of a better word - protection.

photography

Tue, 1 Dec 2009 00:48:49 -0500

Technorati Tags: Photography, Politics, Technology, Internet
Gather Tags: Photography, Politics, Technology, Internet

Photography has the ability to change society. It is an explosion into the permanent record of a situation, an event or memory. People are most familiar with the use of photography to document their memories. Today, the digital world leverages photography to put forward a perception (not necessarily the truth) to be consumed immediately on the web. The impact of camera phones over the last few years has had a great impact. The man who stood in front of a tank in Tiananmen Square, the Death of Neda Agha-Soltan in Iran on June 20th of this year as well as Phan Thị Kim Phúc, the girl captured in a photograph running naked down a road in Vietnam - burned by napalm crystalized societies into action. Their images moved people, immediately, and they reacted at the speed of their current technologies. The image of that girl burned by napalm moved the American public to push their leaders to close down the Vietnam War. Photography is a wonderful technology in documenting us, the habitats of planet earth.

excellent TED talk - Rory Sutherland

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 21:45:12 -0500

Technorati Tags: TED, Blog, Design, Technology, Entertainment
Gather Tags: TED, Blog, Design, Technology, Entertainment

Enjoy the T.E.D. (Technology, Entertainment, Design) talk above. It was excellent. Rory Sutherland gives an good discussion as an ad man, and his perceptions of advertisement and the intangible value it can be used to create.

couple crashes white house party

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 13:19:31 -0500

Technorati Tags: Social, Blog, White House, Fraud, Politics, Obama
Gather Tags: Social, Blog, White House, Fraud, Politics, Obama

It is amazing how some people feel that they can get away with anything. It is not surprising considering the things that Wall Street and corporate America have done as well. So when Michaele Salahi and her husband Tareq crashed the first Presidential dinner hosted for the Prime Minister of India - Dr. Manmohan Singh, it was probably in the same spirit - a dare that they tried to get away with, and get the most exposure they can. Michaele is hoping she can succeed with a spot on the TV show “Wives of Washington”, but maybe she will get to make an appearance on “Cops”. The couple may have some additional problems (than just making a TV show) in the very near future if they said any lies to the Secret Service in the attempt to gain access to the party. It is a felony with jail time to lie to an agent of the Secret Service, as well as trespassing charges. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the next little while.

photographs on first page

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 09:35:10 -0500

We recently went on a trip to Norfolk which I always wanted to visit. Technology use in the Navy is most important - otherwise there would be no Navy. Everything is technology based. The photographs you see on the front page are of the Battleship Wisconsin, which sits “in reserve” at the City of Norfolk’s dock. It is an impressive 45,000 tons of technology, with an impressive history. It stands ready to be called back into service, as the interior sections of the ship are sealed and maintained at a constant humidity to prevent corrosion or deterioration. As one can see the lines of the battleship are exquisite, and remind one of a sleek, fast, vehicle - even though this vehicle is extremely large.

Please do take a look at my photograph albums on this site for more pictures of our trip and tour of Norfolk!

my photography

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 09:01:35 -0500

A lot of my subjects are landscape and real life photography. There is not a lot of portrait work, as the true essence of real life is missed with posing and manufacturing a situation. Portrait work is important, and it does serve a purpose of documenting in an instant a particular message.

The equipment used is a Canon D40, with a Canon 28-135 lens, a Canon Speedlite 580EX main flash with a Gary Fong lightsphere and a second hand held Canon Speedlite 430EX flash. The use of 2 flashes really fills in the areas that are missing light, and provides a more robust and fuller picture - than that of a single light source.

The photography you will see on this site is done in the spur of the moment, with little to no scene manufacture, or manipulation of the environment.

The four pictures included here are simple flora shots. Please do delve further into my picture galleries for many others.

laughter - is the best medicine!

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 21:59:02 -0500

There is so much sadness in the world, and so much hate. Unfortunately, we sometimes forget to laugh. Did you know that laughter is contagious? It can actually be infectious? Humans are not the only ones that laugh, other animals do as well, orangutans, etc. From the book “Laugh Your Way to Health” by Cindie Leonard, laughing lowers blood pressure, strengthens cardiovascular functions, reduces stress hormones, boosts immune function by raising levels of infection-fighting T-cells, disease-fighting proteins called Gammainterferon and B-cells, which produce disease-destroying antibodies, and many other benefits as well. Laughing should be prescribed by physicians regularly to their patients, and humans in general should seek comedic releases for all-purpose general health maintenance.

It was interesting to read recently that new terms are entering our culture related to laughter. “Humor Therapy”, “Clown Therapy”, Laughter Therapy”, Laughter Meditation”, “Laughter Yoga” and “Laughter Clubs” exist now, and are practiced.

leadership - information technology

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 20:59:43 -0500

Leadership in information technology (IT) has always taken a back seat to operations or immediate business needs. Usually, IT leadership does not partner effectively with the business, and tries to look after its own (perceived) needs first - instead of charting the course of their IT vision. It is a cascading failure of leadership from that point. The inevitable happens - IT becomes directionless, and moves according to demands instead of a methodological plan. Empires are built, strategy fails, capital is wasted. Carl Sagan is right (in the quote above) to describe the end result of so much dependence on technology, known by so few is a prescription for disaster. It has been seen so many times before in so many IT groups. Usually, someone has an idea to catch the next catch phrase/method (i.e. ITIL, COBIT, etc.) but only implement few aspects, due to the lack of IT being able to “stomach” the complete change.

Technology plan management is a logical result of a good IT vision or leadership, of which many corporations lack. Yet another topic for another day...