November, 2005:

Growing ever frustrated with the technical difficulties presented by Linux and its various sound systems (OSS, ALSA) and subsystems (esound, arts, polypaudio, jack), lacking audio editing tools, limited image management utilities, buggy accounting software, and the lack of software available to interface with various websites and webservices, I find a need for Windows growing everyday.

(Before I go any further, don’t suggest the Mac. Just don’t do it. I have nothing again Mac hardware, software, the OS, or the underlying architecture. I like Macs. But they are too expensive, require that I buy all new hardware and software, and still have some areas where software is either non-existent, buggy, or lacks variety. Thanks.)

I made this “exact same proclamation”:http://revjim.dreamhosters.com/articles/2005/06/03/giving-in almost six months ago and I still haven’t made the switch so you’re probably wondering what difference there is now. Well, a few things have changed since then. I’m using windows daily at work now. I have Linux on all of my servers, of course, and I access them with Putty and it works flawlessly. I reboot every night before I go home from work, just in case, and I never have any problems. Software isn’t as easy to install and upgrade as it is with Debian’s apt-get but, since most of the software I’m installing isn’t available via apt-get, it’s a pretty moot point.

I figure that if I put a couple hundred bucks into a Linux box to act as a FileServer and local shell service and couple that with a Windows box, I’ll have the best of both worlds.

Of course I’d love to be corrected. I’d love to be shown that Linux can do what I want it to do just as good, if not better, than windows. So I’ll tell you what I’m missing in the hopes that you’ll be able to point me in the right direction:

* I need all applications that use the audio device to get along without any trouble. I don’t care what audio system or subsystem I have to use to make that happen as long as it sounds right and all of the applications that need the audio device can use it all at the same time. I want to to have MP3s playing, and music from a Flash Animation in my browser, while watching a movie in Totem, and hearing the rings and clicks of “Gizmo”:http://gizmoproject.com/. I want to be able to use any random application that I might find that wishes to play or record sound and have it just work without me having to fiddle with anything.

* I need an accounting package. I run a business and I need to keep track of my expenses. “GnuCash”:http://www.gnucash.org/ is fantastic, when it works. But, it doesn’t let me get too far these days without crashing. And it looks so ugly I feel like I’m trapped in the world of Windows 3.1. I need something like “QuickBooks”:http://quickbooks.intuit.com/.

* I need good image management software. I’m a photographer, damnit. I need to be able to find images by date, by keyword, by model, by location, and by any other random factoid I choose to connect with an image. I need to keep track of multiple revisions to a particular image. Don’t suggest “F-Spot”:http://www.gnome.org/projects/f-spot/. I’ve tried it and it has promise, but it’s way too buggy for me to use seriously right now. I need something like “Picasa”:http://www.picasa.com/, or “ACDSee”:http://www.acdsystems.com/.

* I need an audio editor and recorder. “Audacity”:http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ might be decent. I can’t seem to get enough applications to play nicely with sound to give it a fair try.

Show me those four things and we’ll be off to a very good start.

Interested in a better solution for selling photographs online, I decided to try integrating “Gallery2″:http://gallery.menalto.com/ and “ZenCart”:http://www.zen-cart.com/ using “ZCG2″:http://cvs.sourceforge.net/viewcvs.py/gallery-contrib/zcg2/.

Don’t bother.

I have never used ZenCart nor have I looked at its code, so I can really offer much comment there.

As “I’ve mentioned before”:http://revjim.dreamhosters.com/articles/2005/11/02/gallery-v2-i-waited-for-this, Gallery2 isn’t exactly the most exciting, flexible, or well written piece of software I’ve ever seen, but, now that I’ve used it a bit, I’m getting used to it. I still don’t like it, but I’m getting used to it and I can usually make it do what I want relatively easily.

This ZCG2 software is horrible. First of all, it doesn’t work. You follow the simple installation instructions and it throws up an error message. The code is so unreadable that I’m not even about to try to troubleshoot it. The code detected the fact that there was an error, and provided stack trace information on screen, but didn’t bother to tell me why there was an error, or what needed to be done to fix it. If it can trap a specific error, as this did, then it can surely explain it along with the stack trace.

Even if the software did work, based on the installation instructions I can tell how horribly written it is. For instance, it requires that ZenCart use the same database that Gallery2 uses. Why? Isn’t there an API? Even if there isn’t, why not just connect to two different databases? Why make some silly requirement like this when it is so easily avoided?

I’m not going to bother repairing a terrible chunk of code (ZCG2) so that it can integrate with another piece of terrible code (Gallery2) when I could make myself a lot more sane by just starting from scratch.

Don’t forget to listen to “The Gentle News (NOT) Podcast”:http://gentlenews.com/theshow/ again tonight at 8:31pm CST.

We have a few surprised in store, so don’t miss it. We’ll still upload an archive of the show for those of you that can’t listen live, but, believe me, live is much more fun. We’ve got a few new ways for you to participate in the fun, so check out the “show website”:http://gentlenews.com/theshow/ for all of the details.

We generally start broadcasting pre-show music and bantering on during our sound check around 8pm, so it’s okay if you’re a little early. Just kick off your shoes, take off your shirt, pour yourself some whiskey and enjoy.

Did anyone else see the domain name “MarketingPilgrim”:http://marketingpilgrim.com/ and wonder if this was another “Mark Pilgrim”:http://diveintomark.com/ endeavor. For the record, it isn’t. But that would have been a clever name.

I wont be using Flickr any more.

Dear Flickr,

I am a paying customer and was an avid Flickr fan. I turned many people on to your service and sung the praises of the community you’ve built and the flexibility of your platform only to find that *my account has been marked with some magical flag that keeps any of my images out of the public site areas*. Why? I’m not sure. Nudity, I imagine, despite the fact that my photostream is 90% nude free, if even that low.

Was I informed that nudity was allowed but would render me with severely reduced exposure? No. Was I given an opportunity to correct the situation when my account was flagged? No. Was I even told that my account had been flagged? No.

I will not be renewing my Flickr account next year, I will no longer use your service, and I will no longer direct friends and family to your site for their own needs. However, before I go, I’d like to offer you a suggestion…

Instead of playing daddy and censoring the content on this site for all of its users, perhaps you should consider allowing your users to censor themselves.

If you’re going to censor, at least be even about it. I recommend reviewing all of these accounts as well as filth like this.

Yours,

Jim

I don’t intend to allow my images to be censored like this. In an effort, not to correct the situation, but to understand what I “should” have done, I’ve scoured the Flickr forums and, by reading a lot, I’ve started to put together a vague idea of how this works in Flickr’s very confused head.

There is a little link on every photo that reads “may offend”. When you upload a potentially offensive photograph, you should read the minds of the Flickr censors as well as the entire Flickr community and click that link yourself if it’s possible the image you’ve uploaded will offend anyone. If you do not click that link then, when people other than you click it when viewing your photo, it marks your entire account for review and pulls all of your images from any public site areas.

Now that I’ve been flagged in order to see my images you have to be viewing my photostream directly, or you have to be viewing a group photostream that you are a member of. If one of those two things isn’t happening, my photos will not show up.

Maybe they’re right. Maybe it’s all for the children.

If all it takes is for a few people to click that little link and an account will be flagged, then I can help Flickr censor photographs too.

I hope that you’ll join me in my effort to make a cleaner, safer, less offensive Flickr for the children. The next time you see a bare ankle, a thick juicy steak, or that hot new Corvette on Flickr, do the children a favor and click that little button. I’m serious.

Here are a few guidelines.

* Recent Images are better than older images
* Images with lots of views, favorites, and comments are generally prominent Flickr users and tend to be where a lot of the filth comes from.
* A good place to start is the “Most Interesting Photos of the last 7 days”:http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days/.
* You may also just want to tackle the “Most Recent Uploads”:http://flickr.com/photos/ page. People are offensive all the time and there are lots of ways to offend people. Be sensitive to all of those cases. If in doubt, FLAG IT.
* Remember, if anyone might take offense to an image, you should click the link to save them from the trouble and pain it would cause.

I hope that you’ll join me in my quest to improve Flickr. And please, spread the word.

(Catchy Title Still Being Researched)

“Farris”:http://gentlenews.com/ said it “better than I can”:http://gentlenews.com/archives/2005/11/22/breaking-news-the-gentle-news-streamin-screamin-intarweb-show-debuts-tonight/ so I’m mostly just going to copy him.

Enough with the spectating and enough with the “some day I will” talk. “The Gentle News Streamin’, Screamin’ Intarweb Show”:http://gentlenews.com/theshow/ debuts tonight.

Visit “the show’s”:http://gentlenews.com/theshow/ official site (classy, huh?) tonight at 8:31PM CST, for best damn Internet Radio show you will have ever witnessed on a weeknight.

If you call it a podcast, Farris will make you pay, make your family pay, and I will personally make your pets pay. This is not a *podcast*. “Podcast” is just about the stupidest name for anything ever. It’s like calling a pot a “spaghetti cooker” or a toaster a “pop-tart heater”. Internet Radio is a stupid name, too, but it makes more damn sense than “podcast”.

Join us and listen. There will be drama, laughter, and tears. If I’m lucky, I might even get a little side action. Expect to lose about an hour of your life listening to me, “The Jew”:http://gentlenews.com/, the “Hot Chick”:http://livejournal.com/users/sivatonight/ and a whole gang of special guests discuss in great detail the important topics of the day.

Recorded transcripts will be available, but you’re be a loser if you just wait for them. Listen live!

If we need more -hot chicks- participants for various -sexual activities- intellectual conversations, we’ll be contacting people by telephone. Send me an email with your telephone number and we’ll -see if you have any nekkid pictures online- add you to the list.

I don’t usually bother to make note of the portraiture that I do that isn’t at least a bit artsy or in some way of interest to those other than the people in the photograph. But I’ve decided to make an exception to that rule today.

The first reason for the exception is to give you, my dear reader, potential customer, loyal patron, and adamant word-of-mouther, an idea of the kind of work I do. The style of this photograph is pretty much par for the course in regard to my portrait work. I try to be a little artsy and a little edgy while still producing an image of smiling faces and happiness that any parent, grandparent or close friend would smile in return to see. I tailor the images to the subject and try represent them in a way that I feel they will appreciate and enjoy.

The second reason for today’s exception is that this couple is absolutely beautiful, and I don’t just mean their faces and bodies, though that is true as well. I mean that, as a couple, together, they are beautiful. The way that she looks at him, the way they held each other, the happiness in their eyes, the closeness that was contagious just to be around: all of these things make them so beautiful. Young, loyal, powerful love like theirs is an amazing thing to look at, and even more inspiring to feel radiating from them. Maybe they’ll part ways in a few months, or maybe they’ll see each other well into their 80s. Either way, what they are right this minute is nothing short of incredible.

Seeing such a pure, raw, love reminds me so much of all of the reasons I fell in love with my wife, and all of the reasons that seeing her beautiful face every morning makes me fall in love all over again.

( Enlarge | FOR SALE )

This sunset in Oklahoma was one of the most breathtaking I’ve ever seen. I’m not sure if it was because of the mountains or the clouds, or because it was shared with so many other people. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Even though I have stacks and stacks of more nude work to display, I feel like departing from that for a bit today. I hope you enjoy this landscape as well.

(Enlarge)

Model: Gloria (more…)

Session: 2005-11-10 Gloria (more…)

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Gloria really let loose and allowed herself to be pliable in this session. The results really show that, I think.

Your comments and criticisms are appreciated, as always. Feel free to comment on the individual images directly within Flickr (an account is free, if you don’t already have one).