Thursday, April 30, 2009
Ryanair and common sense
According to The Telegraph (April 30) Michael O'Leary, the CEO of Ryanair (a cheap European airline) said that the swine flu is only a threat to "Asian and Mexican slumdewllers" and added that "any Britons who contract it could cure themselves by taking cough sweets." Yes siree Bob!
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
First 100 days of Mr. Obama
Media feeding frenzy: pundits, experts, nitwits, halfwits, nowits come out of the woodwork and talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, without actually saying anything intelligible, especially on various faux news networks. And speaking of networks, Fox TV opted not to carry the President's "100 days" news conference...
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Finanzmarktstabilisierungsergänzungsgesetz
New German legislation... Something about financial markets stabilization program (Das Gesetz zur weiteren Stabilisierung des Finanzmarktes, apparently Financial Market Stabilization Supplementary Act in English.)
Finanzmarktstabilisierungsergänzungsgesetz how sweet the sound...
Finanzmarktstabilisierungsergänzungsgesetz how sweet the sound...
Saturday, April 25, 2009
A really big thing!
Place: N 39 deg 4.7125 min - W 75 deg 52.58075 min
Time: April 25 2009, 12:55:26 PM EDT
Who: Steve Eves and Maryland Delaware Rocketry
Association (MDRA.)
What: Launch of the 36 feet tall 1:10 scale model of the Saturn V rocket.
Went up without a hitch. Very, very impressive. This is exactly my kind of lunacy! Congratulations to all involved!
Photo Copyright © 2009 Michael Liczbanski
Time: April 25 2009, 12:55:26 PM EDT
Who: Steve Eves and Maryland Delaware Rocketry
Association (MDRA.)
What: Launch of the 36 feet tall 1:10 scale model of the Saturn V rocket.
Went up without a hitch. Very, very impressive. This is exactly my kind of lunacy! Congratulations to all involved!
Photo Copyright © 2009 Michael Liczbanski
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Oprah, Oprah, Oprah, Oprah...
From The Oprah Winfrey web site: Send us your beautiful nature images! Are you a great photographer? We want to see! Share your beautiful and inspiring images of nature to help create the Breathing Space Gallery on Oprah.com.
Now, before participate, be aware that Oprah (whatever legel entiry she is hiding behind) shall exclusively own all known or later existing rights to the Submissions worldwide and shall be entitled to the unrestricted use of the Submissions for any purpose in all media now known or hereafter discovered without compensation to the provider of such Submissions. End quote.
So, in a word, if you submit your pictures Oprah can do whatever she wants with your submissions without paying you a penny or even acknowledging you as an author. And she can do it in perpetuity even after converting your work to fartography (a medium not known yet, but...) I consider this a roadside robbery in the worst way. You know, Woody Guthrie sung once
"Some will rob you with a six-gun,
And some with a fountain pen"
Never, ever relinquish any rights to your pictures, or any intellectual property, even if you are a rank amateur, without just compensation. Better yet, stick to the specific use and one-time or time-limited licensing.
My hypothetical submission? A picture of a nicely extended middle finger...
Now, before participate, be aware that Oprah (whatever legel entiry she is hiding behind) shall exclusively own all known or later existing rights to the Submissions worldwide and shall be entitled to the unrestricted use of the Submissions for any purpose in all media now known or hereafter discovered without compensation to the provider of such Submissions. End quote.
So, in a word, if you submit your pictures Oprah can do whatever she wants with your submissions without paying you a penny or even acknowledging you as an author. And she can do it in perpetuity even after converting your work to fartography (a medium not known yet, but...) I consider this a roadside robbery in the worst way. You know, Woody Guthrie sung once
"Some will rob you with a six-gun,
And some with a fountain pen"
Never, ever relinquish any rights to your pictures, or any intellectual property, even if you are a rank amateur, without just compensation. Better yet, stick to the specific use and one-time or time-limited licensing.
My hypothetical submission? A picture of a nicely extended middle finger...
Friday, April 3, 2009
Can you hear me now?
April 3, 1973: Martin Cooper of Motorola Communications Systems Division placed the very first call on a portable cellular phone while walking on the streets of New York City. He called his rivals at Bell Labs. No idea what he said but I guess it might have been “Hey guys, you won’t believe where I’m calling from.” And so it goes…
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
April 1
April 1 marks the beginning of National Grilled Cheese Month. (No 't ain't no "April first" joke...) Avoid this stuff like a plague: nothing short of chugging saturated fat straight from the bottle adds inches to your ass and clogs your arteries faster than a good ole' grilled cheese sandwich!
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