DWP - Futurist At Large

A Direction for Near Future Tech

With current technology there is a trend towards the combining of functions and technologies. Perhaps it is not a "Swiss Army Knife" of technology we are looking at, but when you look at all that is being included in some items like your typically carried Cell phones -- there is a lot there.

I believe that all Cell phones include a phone book in them to record the numbers of calls coming in or going out. This is of course more convenient when tied in with the service of call display which many if not most subscribe to or have included in their service. Most if not all the phones also have some sort of calendar function in addition to a watch function and at least rudimentary alarm function if not one that can be programmed in conjunction with the calendar. Combining these they often have a virtual appointment book ability which would have been the envy of any business executive 20 years ago.

Nearly everyone could if they wish, have access to voice mail as well for missed calls or be able to forward calls to or from a regular phone service to their mobile one. They also have options to send or receive text messages. The price for them of course varies depending on service contract and location. (Not to mention date, phase of the moon, tide, which direction the last dark bird flew past your gaze...)

Those are pretty well standard sorts of communication things you might expect.

A bit more than that are Internet capabilities including being able to access eMail, Internet Chat services, and actual World Wide Web access. You might pay a bit heftier dollar for that ability and even more if you would like to be able to plug your portable computer into your cell phone whether it is a Notebook or Net book computer.

Beyond that... many of not most cell phones have the ability to take digital photographs if not short digital videos. It seems to me that the 1 Megapixel resolution level is very common if not greater. That is a log greater than most people might need for use in digital images for the Internet. Of course we are not talking about the needs of photographers here.

The phones -- and we aren't talking about the expensive sort really -- very often include the ability to download and play games in addition to other things like "ring tones" and background art for the control screen that nearly all phones have. That is the same screen you screen your digital pictures and videos on as well as check your messages and everything on.

The phone as well can often be used to play music on and can do well as an mp3 player with only the addition of decent headphones or earbuds.

All those things on fairly normal cell phones.

Then we get to the "smart phones" which are virtually tiny computers with complete keyboards or alternate methods for data entry. Some have nearly gone away from keys completely opting for total touch screen control -- that allows for the entire top surface of the device to be used as the device screen. Those can act as total digital assistants... or PDA -- Pocket Digital Assistants -- like the Palm Pilots of all. They seem to have superceded the Palm Pilots if you ever try go shopping for them.

The mp3 player has expanded as well to include the abilities to record sound like a portable voice recorder. The mp players also routinely include FM radio recievers and have enough memory to allow them to carry digital computer files within -- thus acting as "pen drives" or "memory sticks". Of course the mp3 players themself can use memory cards which gets sorta circular. The mp3 player also expanded into playing video and being an mp4 player. This is where they overlapped or became or inspired or...(?) the portable video player. The really nice ones also forgo the buttons for touch screens... and are nearly identical to the cell phones with the same screens. They just don't have the cell phone function. Though the mp3/video player ones did gain the wireless networking capability tha allows them to comunicate wirelessly and hence the good ones can access the Internet and do everything else those cell phone ones can do. They even play the same games in the same ways... and I believe from the same sources. Did I mention the phones can download and play the same videos the video players can?

Then there are the portable game players -- they have gotten more and more powerful and gained the ability to network wirelessly as well, and you can access the Internet as well as computers with them. Many of them have touch screens and they can be used to play videos or watch pictures on -- much like the mp3/video playes I have mentioned and the cell phones.

There are also eBook players out there whose purpose is to hold and display eBooks in various formats. They connect either through networking cables or more commonly now through wireless networking.

I might finally mention the digital picture frames which are very limited and the PDAs that I think morphed into the "smart phones" and mostly disappeared.

Perhaps the edges between these things are very much blurring -- especially if you take into account the notebook/laptop computers and their slightly smaller cousin the net book. I do see a direction that things might take with this blurry tech fog.

I think that people will start thinking of what their primary focus is and then go for the device that handles that best. Then they will purchase a device that does that best -- meaning with all the features of that dedicated device -- and have that device fitted with all the other features that would be convenient not to have to carry as separate devices.

Here is an example of what I am speaking:

Let's say I have a hobby that is photography. I would go to a camera shop and purchase a nice camera. It would have the lenses or a lens system that I would want. (I am not a photographer, so please bear with me as I am not so conversant with the terms and stuff.) Having chosen the camera I would also have a camera that would have digital memory for digitally recording the images as well as recording them on film. (Providing it took film photographs as well as digital ones.) It would be able to record sound and some video as well. The camera would be able to play mp3 files as a music player through headphones or ear buds although they might be bluetooth wireless ones. I would also be able to watch video content on the display screen of the camera if I should so choose. The camera would also have wireless networking to connect with WiFi hotspots or my computer and if I should choose I should be able to activate it to a cell phone plan and use it as a cell phone with a handy blue tooth headset. Not to mention using the camera for "texting" messages or as an address or date book.

Conversely if my prime usage were as a student, perhaps all of these functions might take place through a portable computer -- probably a net book for portability -- that I would use for all those functions.

I guess the idea sort of falls apart if you don't want to carry the large item everywhere, like when you don't want to carry the net book to everything, or the camera, or the digital tape recorder, or the electric guitar (with the phone etc. built in...)... But for the photographer, videographer, reporter, author, or other person who always carries their tools around with them...

Hmm, I guess they aren't building them into paint brushes or pens quite yet... but how about those scientific or engineering calculators... they still make calculators don't they?

Later!
~ Darrell

158.

Electronic Coveralls

Why I Want a Cellphone

I have told many of my friends and my relatives in the past that I really do not need a cellphone. I still really do not need one, but I think I want one and I have my reasons. It isn't really to chatter with to friends, relatives, business contacts, or even enemies. I want one to reduce clutter. Just the way a pair of coveralls will cover and protect both your pants and shirt with one garment instead of a work smock and work pants, I want a cellphone to cover a few bases.

You see with my writing I like to have a camera at hand. I also want to have a source of radio-music and other audio at hand including a voice recorder. I use an mp3 player for voice recording, FM radio access, and for listening to audio books and music as well as for using as a USB flash drive. It would also be nice to carry a digital phone book, date book, and calculator. I could carry a digital camera, mp3 player, and some sort of PDA. But considering I would probably be content to be carrying around a digital camera that was 1 or 2 Megapixels, a halfway decent cellphone might cluster all those functions into one device.

I really don't want to make many calls... even a low minute regular plan is a bit extravagant to me so I am looking at pay-as-you-go or "no contract" cellphone plans. I don't need to web surf, though it would be nice to make the odd emergency call and to be able to text message the transit info for the schedule of the next 6 buses to come through at the stop I am standing at. I think it also would be neat to be able to read eBooks on.

I know I'll probably pay between $100 and $200 for the phone instead of getting it "free" on a 3 year plan, but I'll also probably only be paying $10-$15 per month if that... Hmm... now how soon 'til it balances out?

Later!
~ Darrell

141

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Unattributed images are from Image*After.

May I Have This Post?

Is Your Post Card Filled?

Value and Romance on a Small Bit of Paper

You see them around all over the place, now mostly in tourist travelled trading places, guest shops, souvenir shops, and landmarks and you might have heard people telling you to send in a card with your name, address and current phone number to various places. (image to right -- image from Image*After¹) Of course you have seen the business reply cards in magazines and as warranty registration cards. Of course I am talking about postcards -- something that has been with us for over a century now. They officially came into being in 1861 -- developed by John P. Charlton from Philadelphia who transferred his copyright to H.L. Lipman -- "Lipman's Postal Card, Patent Applied For". Governments took over, including exclusive right to call them "Postcards" in 1893.

What is the value of a postcard? They are a very simple way to send a message by post for one thing and often they can be sent at a lower price than a regular letter. Today the cost to mail one is not too much different from a letter and of course anyone can read what is written on them. My Mom used to say that the person on vacation sending you a postcard -- or post card -- most often already had returned home by the time it reaches its recipient because each person in the post office who handles it take a moment to read it.

(images above from A Brief History of Post Cards²)

I imagine there are no secrets in a post card... unless you put it into an envelope or parcel or deliver it by hand.

But postcards have something special to them, mailed or not. In picking out a postcard to send someone, you are in a foreign location perhaps, maybe on vacation, maybe on business, but taking a few moments out of your day to think of others. I am getting away from the business sorts, like business reply mail and warranty cards here. They also are something from that place although it is possible to order postcards of exotic locations from the comfort of your home. A person might take their own photographs and write something on the back of them as mementos to send or keep, but still there is an interesting feeling with postcards.

Postcards historically are of values in that they capture a bit of a time and place and sometimes sentiment and feeling of that time. They trace the progress of a community with their snapshots of buildings and roads. Even showing one thing they often show others. A shot of a building might also show cars and people in it and give a glimpse at how they lived. If you look at a postcard from two different periods you might see how telegraph wires were added to be replaced by telephone wires to be replaced by underground wiring.

Postcards could be "wishes" of places a person wanted to visit or things they wanted to purchase or they might be telling of where they finally got or what they got. Businesses have often created PR with postcards and often very artistic ones.

You can find Canada's official Postcard Barrel at the Port Moody Station Museum. Deposit or pick up unstamped postcards during Museum open hours for hand delivery around the world.

Some subjects of postcards: Distant places, Architecture, Vacation Destinations, Advertisements, Street Scenes, Artwork, Landmarks, Cities, Towns, Wars, Heroes, Events,  Politics, Celebrities, and probably other subjects.

Our museum -- The Port Moody Station Museum³ (image to right) -- has a "Postcard Barrel" which is Canada's Official Postcard Barrel! I know there is one on the Galapagos Islands as well. They are an odd sort of thing, you drop a post card into it that you want sent somewhere in the world and people visiting have a look through and pick out ones close to where they are going and hand-deliver them. (see inset left)

You can always send an email, or take a picture to share, or buy postcards to take with you and give to friends -- but to mail it from afar, where it takes on a postal cancellation stamp, and perhaps a local stamp as well, and travel through the postal system until it reaches a friend's home and hand -- that ads something special and romantic to the whole thing. It is a bit more than a photo or a letter. It is a special souvenir not only of a place, but a time and a person.

Later!
~ Darrell

136.

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¹ Image*After Unattributed images from Image*After.

² "A Brief History of Postcard Types" Stefano Neis - Yahoo! GeoCities/Heartland/Meadows.

³ "The Port Moody Station Museum" 2734 Murray Street, Port Moody, BC

"Why Use A Postcard" Anders Eriksson - Post Cards usinfo.info

"History of Postcards" Emotions Greeting Cards.

Live or Photoshop

Only the Photographer Knows for Sure

I have frustratingly discovered when surfing the web and finding interesting photographic images with places for comment that more and more frequently someone will make the comment, "It’s Photoshop!!!". They will do so showing conviction as if no more need be said and that by only saying so few words what they say will carry great weight.

There are a great many masterfully modified images on the world wide web. I know, I am versed in doing photo editing and modifications or "faking" as it is known in some circles. It can be as little as fixing the contrast and brightness on a photo to make up for bad exposure and lighting in the original. It can be as much as removing an offending telephone pole from an otherwise perfect picnic picture... or ex-boyfriend from a family photo. If you do it properly, nobody should know you did anything.

But, when people cry "It's Photoshop!!!" at the drop of a hat, it insults some great or very lucky photographers who have managed to catch something unusual enough that it is hard to believe or that someone doesn't want to believe... or that it isn't politcally appropriate to believe.

What brought me to bring this up was looking at this interesting photo on "8in.org". (image below -- image from 8in.org)

The image is a composition apparently from Beijing during the current 2008 Summer Olympic Games. The title of the image is "Beijing Olympics, One World, One Dream... This Is Sad [PIC]". There are a number of comments to the photo and I think perhaps I have seen it elsewhere. It was posted Saturday, August 9th 2008 -- a week ago.

Personally I do not think it is "Photoshopped". I could be wrong of course, but I think that it is just a good piece of photographic composition. I also think there is some sadness to it, but not necessarily the great sadness or travesty that some see -- at least not directly from the picture.

I watched some documentaries on Canadian News -- I believe on the CBC -- about preparations for the Olympics and the future. One of the things being done for the Olympics was the preparation of the routes to be taken by the long distance races -- the Marathons and Cycling events including Triathlon and the like. Businesses which were deemed unseemly were hidden behind screens which would hide them from view of cameras. In some places houses have been taken down and I recall that a buffer zone of freshly laid sod and shrubbery was laid down their on the now vacant lots with screening fencing behind to hide the now being renovated districts behind. I am assuming that this image was taken in one of those later districts. the grass on the left being some of that fresh turf and the bricks on the right left over from some of the demolition.

Part of the issues involved had to do with how fair the settlements were with the people being evicted. They were paid for their property -- or were supposed to. According to the news report there were some issues of corruption which made it difficult for some of the people to protest to low a settlement. The people were being relocated to apartments on the other side of the city. Often they felt they were being spread too far from their friends and extended families.

The image though is one that could be taken in very many cities in very many countries where older neighbourhoods are being demolished to put up higher density housing -- which is worth more and probably costs more to live in. East or West; First World or Third World -- facades are put up to hide what is deemed unseemly. How many scrapyards do you know without a 2 - 4 metre tall white fence surrounding it. True it is for security, but it is also a facade that hides the mess. It is done in other places too. I know that often for construction they put peepholes in for people to have a peep into the site to see what is going up... but the fencing around a major construction site also hides the mess.

Cities also put fences like this around things when there are major events... it isn't just some place like Beijing.

But that photo... it is just the words on the sign and the worlds apart it seems between the Olympic ideal clean road and the messy slightly run down look of the poor neighbourhood right beside.

Is the image "Photoshopped"? Click on it to go to 8in.org to see the original and decide for yourself. I think that if it was "Photoshopped" it was only to perhaps brighten the colours or something of that nature and adjust the size. I think it is just an example of a good photographer capturing the moment.

Later!
~ Darrell

119.

Benthic, I'm Sure

I Don't Think It's Pikachu?

They say that the surface area of either Mars or the Moon is greater than that of the Land-surface of the Earth. Whether it is Mars or the Moon is of little consequence here, but it points out something - the Earth is much bigger than the Moon or Mars in total surface area, but most of it is covered by the very thing we consider a prime requirement for life when we search for life out there in space.

The life we know most about clings to the skin of the surface of the world - even considering the tallest of trees or life creeping the deepest into caves or the earth. There is a vast amount of the earth that lays beneath the surface of the ocean even if we only consider the surface area. But consider this - the ocean is deep and creatures of the deep can live throughout the entire volume of the ocean, not just the top surface or the bottom.

Here is a quote from a collection of images from the dark depths of the oceans. The passage comes from "Animals in the depths of the sea (26 photo) / Biology / Science ReaDigg.COM":

On dry land, most organisms are confined to the surface, or at most to altitudes of a hundred meters—the height of the tallest trees. In the oceans, though, living space has both vertical and horizontal dimensions: with an average depth of 3800 meters, the oceans offer 99% of the space on Earth where life can develop. And the deep sea, which has been immersed in total darkness since the dawn of time, occupies 85% of ocean space, forming the planet’s largest habitat. Yet these depths abound with mystery. The deep sea is mostly uncharted—only about 5 percent of the seafloor has been mapped with any reasonable degree of detail—and we know very little about the creatures that call it home. Current estimates about the number of species yet to be found vary between ten and thirty million. The deep sea no longer has anything to prove; it is without doubt Earth’s largest reservoir of life.

It does make me wonder about the thin skin of life living on the surface of the Earth and what the total effect of rising oceans might be.

True changes might effect the deepest depths, but there is so very much variation of life in the depths that much might be survived even as it has in the past through total globe encompassing ice ages. (Not the less all inclusive ones most people know about which mankind survived and which todays shrinking glaciers are remnants of.) Of course that doesn't help mankind too much other than knowing life might survive in some form or another on the Earth even if we leave this mortal coil.

The life in this light-less world is pretty incredible and barely within our wildest dreams. Some seem to nearly mimic some dreams... or fiction in any case. Is it live or is it Pokemon? This one sure is reminiscent of Pikiachu. (image to right - image from Wikipedia) The critter in the picture to the left is a "Dumbo Octopus" - Grimpoteuthis (image to the left - image from science.readigg.com) and can be found in that collection of photos that the quotation above was from. There are a whole bunch of images on that site... they count 26 in their page title. I chose one of the cuter ones.

I do think we have to be better stewards of the environment and take care of our home, or our home might take care of us leaving others to come up from the depths to replenish the Earth. But I also think that with the weird and wonderful wildlife way below the waves we might have to really be careful on what we ascribe to habitable planets in our searches for life.

They say that at one time the earth - after life had developed already - had gone through an intense climatic change where there was runaway cooling and the whole of the surface of the earth was covered with a continuous sheet of ice. Yet, life survived in the oceans. The current theories are that Europa, (image to right - image from Wikipedia) the sixth moon of Jupiter, might have a water ocean beneath its icy crust kept liquid by tidal heating. Perhaps it is not unlike the ocean under the ice of that icy Earth of one time.

Of course life would have had to get its foothold and of course there would be less solar energy - though perhaps thermal and chemical energy might suffice... but it does leave room for thought and imagination.

Look at some of those undersea creatures of our own dark ocean environment and realize that even with our own technology we have hardly dabbled our toes into the depths. Look what we have seen so far and then use your imagination.

Later!
~ Darrell

70.

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Image of Moon used with permission from Image*After.

Clip clip here

Snip snip there

I enjoy working with images. I haven't gotten so sophisticated as to work with 3D images or Animated images yet and so mostly work with photos and similar images. I started working on fantasy images - meaning just putting together images to suit my fancy. I would add figures and subtract figures, change costumes and that sort of thing. I have gotten moderately good at it.

I try to make things look like they fit together and look as realistic as possible at times and sometimes it works better than others. One of the big things in how real it looks depends on what sorts of images I have to work from. The more I might have to modify lighting and shadow, the greater the chance that something will look like it just isn't right. Something just will seem odd about it. So having a library of images to use is quite important.

That is an issue because while I can find huge amounts of images I might use, there are issues of copyright involved. I know it is possible to use some bits here and there, but how much is okay? In the image of the Toucan Gryphon I am using four images at least in the construction of it. I imagine the person who took the photo of the horse might recognize it, though it wasn't a black horse with white boots. The person who took the picture of the eagle might recognize the image from which they were taken, but the wings in that shot were brown and were not nearly so up swept, nor of course did they have the green highlights. The Toucan head is probably more recognizable and the background as well.

I did do the composition of the image and altering of all the pieces and made them fit. I also had the idea for putting it all together and the work in finding the bits I needed. Even the background is altered. I did try to chose a background that wasn't too readily identifiable.

I have found some sources of images that are free for use by artists though they do have limits in scope, especially if you are seeking particular types of animals or scenes. One such source I use is Image * After which has a fairly large library.

For personal projects and those for friends where the image is only for their personal use I am not quite as particular. For a friend yesterday I took an image of God or an Angel standing on a bridge through the clouds and showing a little girl where they live and altered the image to make the little girl a little boy and I also added a poem that my Friend wrote. The project is for my Friend's Grandmother for her Grandfather's funeral. The skills I have gained made it so I could do a good job and create a beautiful card for them.

I will have to learn more about copyright and usage of photographic images. I have learned some from the Creative Commons and their section on derivative works, but I need to learn more if I want to go beyond images for personal enjoyment only. Still the techniques and skills are very useful in many different sorts of projects.

Later!
~ Darrell

43

Wonderful Weather Photography

Wonderful Weather Photography

I found a wonderful page with a little slide show of weather shots. "Jim Reed Photography - Severe & Unusual Weather" booThere are over a dozen artful photgraphs by Jim Reed of incredible severe and unsusual weather shots which incorporate in more than a few of them people and other objecgts to give a sense of scale.

It showcases shots from "Storm Chaser, A Phographer's Journey" a book by Jim Reed.

I love the various shots with clouds and the tornado shots are marvelous. He has a number from his work in National Geographic, I think judging by at least one magazine cover of theirs in the slide show.

I recommend a darkened room for looking at the site in... but I am a bit of a lover of watching slides in a darkened room.

Later!
~ Darrell