a blog by Ian Kennedy
Here’s a shot of Tyler that will come in handy should he ever want to run for political office. Think of all the wonderful digital photos of everyone that are out floating around out there. Being a gossip columnist in 2020 is going to be great fun. A few image searches and follow-up emails and it’ll be possible to get childhood photos of anyone.
Thanks to Alex for the photo.
So those of us on the bleeding edge have all seen Google Maps and have commented upon the clever use of XML datasets to create a seamless browsing experience. Just when you thought it couldn’t get any better, BLAM! Google took the wraps of an overlay which provides a satellite image of any map you bring up.
This includes driving directions so you can zoom in and “fly along” your commute to work. Nice touch is that the speech bubbles that are used to annotate the addresses generate a shadow on the satellite image.
Today is our 7th wedding anniversary. The way it’s been lately with our two kids and work, we’re lucky to catch a dinner at Applebee’s and call it a night out. Here are some old photos from simpler time before all that, when we were able to get all our friends and family into a room for a day of unfettered celebration.
She looks just as dazzling today as she does in this photo but she stopped wearing the veil years ago.
Steve Rubel over at Micro Persuasion notices that a recent article about Podcasting carried on the BBC website included photos that were taken by a Flickr user. It is not clear if they had gotten permission to do so from the user but they clearly were not credited as a source.
This is the first time I can think of that an established media site included material without attribution and also brings up an interesting point about using RSS feeds and Search Engines as an alternative to the traditional newswires (AP, Reuters, PR Newswire) for sources of republished material.
The article did not credit the photographer, camoby, so it’s unclear if the BBC purchased these images or if he works on staff or he simply let them use the photos gratis. His web site, however, does feature a BBC ticker. What’s known is that these images were not published under a Creative Commons license.
As a friend of mine noted when the news of Flickr’s purchase by Yahoo was announced, “Who owns the photos on Flickr and is Yahoo or anyone else going to profit from the sale of images of my family without my knowledge?” Ads around Flickr images on either Flickr or Yahoo are one thing but distribution to other sites is another thing entirely. Let alone, did Adam Curry release these images as well?
Joshua Schachter, the creator of the social tagging system that has taken the blogging community by storm and is often pointed to as a prime example of "folksonomy" in action, announced that he’s quitting his job, taking on investment, and devoting himself full time to del.icio.us.
Hooray, another one leaves the nest to pursue his dream!
A popular topic in the Bay Area is real estate. With home prices reaching obcene levels, all the talk in the carpool is about which homes are on the market, what we think they’re worth, and, suprise, at what price they eventually close. This speculative topic has spilled over into the office as some of my work mates are thinking about a place to live. Overhearing two folks talking about home prices, I passed on the real estate section of my local paper which I was reading on the ride in. There is a laughable listing which not only raises the eyebrow but also got me checking the date just to be sure it wasn’t an April Fool’s gag. Byrne scanned it in and blogged about it.
The kicker is that this was a headline listing. Paid advertisement with a 1/4 page photo on the front page of the real estate section. They obviously thought this was a premier listing, and one to bank the reputation of the real estate companies name upon!
After some fun with Mie on Saturday, we stayed home on Easter Sunday to take part in the annual neighborhood easter egg hunt. We were told to leave a dozen eggs for every child under seven in the morning and the older kids on the block would hid them on the grass median in front of our house. At noon exactly, the elders of the block (second photo from the left) blew a whistle and all the kids ran across the street which had been blocked to traffic by two pickup trucks. For the next 30 minutes it was complete mayhem until all the eggs had been gathered up.
Had the great debate between George Bush and Saddam Hussein actually taken place in 2003 here’s how it would have gone down:
Tuesday February 25, 2003 – The United Nations
Tony Blair, moderator: Welcome to the first televised debate between George W. Bush and Saddam Hussein, live from United Nations headquarters in New York. We will begin with a brief opening statement from each of you.
Bush: First of all I would just like to welcome my evil friend to the UN, one of the great American institutions for the propulsion and impregnification of freedom throughout the world.
Saddam: Thank you, Satan. I hope that in today’s debate we may find some common ground between the Iraqi people’s commitment to harmony, peace and human progress and America’s desire to destroy the Middle East.
Bush: Do I answer that? Should I answer that? I’m just a good ‘ole boy an’ I don’t know how these things go, but from where I come from that’s just a gross misrepresentationalism and exasperation of the truth…
Blair: Excuse me, Mr. President, but “these things” go like this – I ask the questions. The first question is quite simply this: do you have any links with al-Qaida?
Bush: No I do not.
Blair: The question is for Mr. Hussein.
Saddam: As I told Mr. Tony Blaine clearly and simply, if I had links with al-Qaida and I enjoyed those links and I was profiting in some way from those links then I would not be ashamed to tell the world of these links, but since I am ashamed to tell the world of this, it follows that I have no such links.
Bush: Neither do I!
Blair: The second question is for President Bush.
President Bush, if America and Iraq were to go to war tomorrow, who would win?
Bush: That’s easy. America…
Saddam: Yes, America. Even I knew that one.
Bush: Because America sits in the path of rightiousness and we stand for freedom. We are a diverse nation because we can sit and stand at the same time. And our ability to stand alone, and sit, comes from the hearts and souls of too blue American people, Americans like Mr. Blair here, people who are willing to love their neighbor, just like they would like to love themselves…
Blair: Your two minutes are up.
Bush: Well that may be but this great United American States of Americans are on the side of rightliness and Americanity, against a… a… malodorous Axis of Evil made up of Iraq, North Korea and… how many are in a axis?
Blair: I think you’re allowed as many as you like.
Bush: OK, Iraq, North Korea and France!
Saddam: France?
Blair: France?
Bush: Who am I thinking of then? Irania?
Blair: Let’s move on. Saddam, are you willing to destroy your stockpile of Samoud 2 missiles in accordance with UN weapons inspectors’ orders?
Saddam: I explain to you now that if Iraq possessed these so-called weapons, we would never destroy them, but since we do not have any such weapons and we never have, we are happy to comply, even though these non-existent weapons certainly do not exceed the prescribed range of 150 kms. I’ve even tested them myself, and we don’t have any.
Blair: The final question is for George Bush. Mr President, is there any way that Saddam Hussein can avoid war, and what steps must he now take in order to reach a negotiated solution?
Bush: Now listen to me. It’s very simple. First Saddam must compile 200% with the UN inspectorers, and I mean activated compilation, not passivist negridation.
Second, he must disarm fully, in keeping with UN revelation 1441 and the next one, I believe its 1442, which will require him to disarm even more fully than what I have just stated. Then he must destroy all Samoud missiles and any other weapons of mass destruction he has found, or not found, to be in possessive of, without being asked, even though I’m telling you. Finally, there is one more task he must perform, which I am not at liberty to indulge. And even that will not be enough.
Blair: Thank you, Mr. President. The translator would like to take your answer home with him and work on it over the weekend.
Bush: Fine, but we require nothing less than total disarmature.
Saddam: Yes, Disarmature!
Blair: I’m sorry, but I’m not sure that "disarmature" is a word.
Bush: Well, by “disarmature” I don’t mean he must cut off his own arms. But this here is an evil man. He has cut the arms off many of his own Iraqiian citizens. But I will tell you now that I would be proud to shake the hand of any brave Iraqiian citizen who had his arms cut off.
Saddam: Disarmature, Yes! We will take down all our armatures! We are a peaceful people…
Bush: You know, you remind me of a cowardly hunter who shoots the pigeon of peace, or is it the dove of peace? Well, you know, there’s a saying where I come from, ‘a bird in the stone is worth two…hunters…hunting and it’s the birds that’s supposed to suffer, not the hunter.’
Saddam: Mr. Blair, What is he talking about? Mr. Blair?
Blair: Hmmm… Did you know that an anagram for ‘Saddam Hussein’ is ‘I demand Sushi’?
Saddam: What is this ‘Sushi’?
Forwarded by Perry Burns