Thursday, February 24, 2011
Audio search?
Does anybody know if there's a way to do a Search in an audio file? Say a long interview, and you want to find the place the speaker mentioned, uh, Betty Boob's affair with Donald Duck, without having to re-listen to the whole thing?
Looks --> self-confidence --> money?
This article shows the perceived links between looks and earning power. If you are tall, slim, and gorgeous, you are likely to earn more, yeah? Seems so.
However, I had a suspicion that if I read through to the end they would come to the real crux of the matter, and they did: self-confidence. I think the most important factor is not the looks themselves, but the self-confidence they inspire. And while outer factor can make it easier for you to have and project self-confidence, it's really a mental thing which can be built up, not the least by simply getting your job training and doing really good work over time.
However, I had a suspicion that if I read through to the end they would come to the real crux of the matter, and they did: self-confidence. I think the most important factor is not the looks themselves, but the self-confidence they inspire. And while outer factor can make it easier for you to have and project self-confidence, it's really a mental thing which can be built up, not the least by simply getting your job training and doing really good work over time.
Cyndi lauper - Girls just wanna have fun
(Who spells their little girl's name "Cyndi"? That's just sadism.)
(Official TV video.)
I love Cyndi's stage presence and the way she moves.
(Official TV video.)
I love Cyndi's stage presence and the way she moves.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
The one big reason why iPad rivals can’t compete on price
The one big reason why iPad rivals can’t compete on price, article.
More and more reasons are coming in about why it's nearly impossible for Apple's competitors to compete with Apple in the tablet market. This guy says it's the high profits of direct sales through the Apple Stores. Fascinating stuff anyhow.
I have a Samsung Galaxy Tab 7-inch, and it's a very good device. But it costs the same as the iPad, and it really is not worth that, it should be around 70% of that.
By the way, I wonder why Apple started off with such a low price ($500 entry price) on the iPad? They had the market to themselves, and it would still have sold like hot cakes at $700 or even $800, and they could just have lowered the price later, like they did with the iPhone. (Though perhaps not as soon and dramatically as they did with the iPhone, which ticked off early customers fiercely.)
More and more reasons are coming in about why it's nearly impossible for Apple's competitors to compete with Apple in the tablet market. This guy says it's the high profits of direct sales through the Apple Stores. Fascinating stuff anyhow.
I have a Samsung Galaxy Tab 7-inch, and it's a very good device. But it costs the same as the iPad, and it really is not worth that, it should be around 70% of that.
By the way, I wonder why Apple started off with such a low price ($500 entry price) on the iPad? They had the market to themselves, and it would still have sold like hot cakes at $700 or even $800, and they could just have lowered the price later, like they did with the iPhone. (Though perhaps not as soon and dramatically as they did with the iPhone, which ticked off early customers fiercely.)
Ch-ch-changes
TTL found this cool talk about lifestyle experiments.
Listening to intuition and making small changes can sometimes turn out to mean a lot.
Probably many people will listen to him and say "hell, that's all very well for you, but I have responsibilities here, I can't just up and flit to New Zealand and Iceland". But I think that for one thing, one of those "experiments" does not have to look extreme to other people. The change can be anything. And for another thing, the willingness to change very often opens up a lot of possibilities one had no idea were there.
The change in mind always comes first.
Listening to intuition and making small changes can sometimes turn out to mean a lot.
Probably many people will listen to him and say "hell, that's all very well for you, but I have responsibilities here, I can't just up and flit to New Zealand and Iceland". But I think that for one thing, one of those "experiments" does not have to look extreme to other people. The change can be anything. And for another thing, the willingness to change very often opens up a lot of possibilities one had no idea were there.
The change in mind always comes first.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Alabama sex toy shop to trade guns off streets for fun between sheets
Alabama sex toy shop to trade guns off streets for fun between sheets, article.
Trade your guns for "romance-inspiring gifts," aka vibrators and other intimate items.
More power to them. I still don't get areas where they give guns away when you open a bank account, but where you might be arrested for owning a dildo. Talk about twisted thinking.
Trade your guns for "romance-inspiring gifts," aka vibrators and other intimate items.
More power to them. I still don't get areas where they give guns away when you open a bank account, but where you might be arrested for owning a dildo. Talk about twisted thinking.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Twin cameras... (updated)
I have sometimes thought, like when looking at the new Fujifilm X100, that somebody like Fuji, instead of making a possible exchangeable-lens camera with all the compromises that involves, or the size it would need for a zoom camera with a large sensor, to make just two cameras.
Many enthusiast photographers, the only thing they really miss when they have a good street camera with a moderate wide-angle lens like the Fuji's 35mm-equivalent, is a lens for portraits and moderate tele work. To get the soft backgrounds, and the better perspective for portrait work.
Thus you could have your wide scenes in the upcoming X100, and you might have an X101 or whatever, with a 90mm-equivalent lens, hopefully a fast lens and hopefully also quite compact. This can be done, as seen for example with Pentax's excellent and very compact 70mm F:2.4 lens.
Admittedly it would be ridiculous to most people to buy two cameras, when zoom lenses and smaller sensors make really fine pictures, but for hardcore enthusiasts, there really is a difference in quality, and and the strong interest in the X100 demonstrates that this group may not be so small as one might think.
... You know, come to think of it, I don't think I've ever heard of any dedicated portrait/short-tele camera. I'd really like to see one, it could be very cool.
Update:
Mike Johnston of tOP educates me:
I think we'll actually see this if the X100 does well.
The best-known camera that took this approach was the Rolleiflex; aside from the ubiquitous normal-lensed Rolleis there was the Rollei Wide and the Tele-Rollei, with 55mm and 135mm lenses respectively.
Many enthusiast photographers, the only thing they really miss when they have a good street camera with a moderate wide-angle lens like the Fuji's 35mm-equivalent, is a lens for portraits and moderate tele work. To get the soft backgrounds, and the better perspective for portrait work.
Thus you could have your wide scenes in the upcoming X100, and you might have an X101 or whatever, with a 90mm-equivalent lens, hopefully a fast lens and hopefully also quite compact. This can be done, as seen for example with Pentax's excellent and very compact 70mm F:2.4 lens.
Admittedly it would be ridiculous to most people to buy two cameras, when zoom lenses and smaller sensors make really fine pictures, but for hardcore enthusiasts, there really is a difference in quality, and and the strong interest in the X100 demonstrates that this group may not be so small as one might think.
... You know, come to think of it, I don't think I've ever heard of any dedicated portrait/short-tele camera. I'd really like to see one, it could be very cool.
Update:
Mike Johnston of tOP educates me:
I think we'll actually see this if the X100 does well.
The best-known camera that took this approach was the Rolleiflex; aside from the ubiquitous normal-lensed Rolleis there was the Rollei Wide and the Tele-Rollei, with 55mm and 135mm lenses respectively.
There was a Minolta point-and-shoot (I think--maybe a Konica?) that had a two-position-only lens--you had a choice of 40mm or 80mm, but nothing in between.
For years I photographed with a Contax and two lenses, a 35mm and an 85mm....
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A dying industry?
Despite all the hand-wringing, I was sort of feeling that an industry as popular as the music industry could never really suffer. Music is always popular after all. But heck, look at this:
Holy mama.
OK, it's worth keeping in mind that there is a difference between the music industry and music. I've no doubt music is alive and well, and will be so for as long as humans breathe.
Whether musicians can earn money is a third thing yet, and might fall somewhere in between these other two. The "music industry" after all consists mostly of middle-men making money on the work of musicians, and then a handful of very successful stars. But without that industry, how many musicians can monetize their work on their own? I'd like to know.
Update:
There was some protests about it not being inflation adjusted. I found one which is:
Holy mama.
OK, it's worth keeping in mind that there is a difference between the music industry and music. I've no doubt music is alive and well, and will be so for as long as humans breathe.
Whether musicians can earn money is a third thing yet, and might fall somewhere in between these other two. The "music industry" after all consists mostly of middle-men making money on the work of musicians, and then a handful of very successful stars. But without that industry, how many musicians can monetize their work on their own? I'd like to know.
Update:
There was some protests about it not being inflation adjusted. I found one which is:
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