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Autumn = Easy Color Photos

scaredpoet

autumn

Name: “Collegetown Autumn Evening”

Subject: This Old House, and a lot of leaves

Medium: Lumix DSC-FZ30K, Leica OC Vario-Elmarit Lens (1:2.8-3.7/7.4-88.8 Asph.)
– Exposure program: Normal
– 1/1.8″CCD
– f/2.8
– ISO 80
– focal length 7.4 mm (35mm equivalent: 35mm)
– Flash: Off
– OIS Mode 2

Date: November 18, 2005

This is primarily an inaugural test shot from a new camera. The general area in which this shot was taken is in such a state that any real beauty is becoming fast extinct, primarily because it is a town that has become rather schizophrenic. It tries hard to maintain a sleepy college town type of appearance, and yet wants badly to reap the benefits of urbanization, urban revitalization, and gentrification. But with creative framing, it’s mostly possible to eek out the last vestiges of organic beauty here, even though heavy construction and ghastly postmodern art is rudely intruding upon the scene.

I might attempt to take more pictures of this area before the place gets “redeveloped,” which I hear is slated to happen soon. It seems like the last time anyone though of taking photos of the place was back in the day, and no one bothered to really revisit the place when the age of color made it big in photography. It would be nice to catpure what’s left in all its beauty before it’s all gone, and battleship-grey highrises take its place.

Idiot bank robbers on cell phones

scaredpoet

cell phone

There’s one thing I never quiet understood about some serial criminals. What IS with the purposeful M.O.? So many well-known criminals have become well-known because they feel the need to mark their crimes with some sort of signature chracteristic or trademark. And I suppose that’s fine if the criminal does what they do for the notoriety, but the problem with that is they always seem to get caught!

Meanwhile, the criminals who get away with the big hiests are the ones who fade into obscurity. And that’s logical enough; to enjoy the ill-gotten gains in obscurity means less chance of being caught, or at least, avoid having your face plastered on every news site and TV station in existence.

The cell phone bank bandit hasn’t figured this out, apparently. And now, she’s been identified and police are looking for her:

WASHINGTON – The woman dubbed the “cell phone bandit�? because she robs banks while using a cell phone has been identified as Candice Rose Martinez, 19, and warrants for her arrest have been issued, the Loudoun County sheriff’s office announced Monday.

“Ms. Martinez is considered to be armed and dangerous and is wanted on robbery charges for the bank robbery of a Wachovia Bank in Fairfax County on October 22nd and another bank robbery of a Wachovia in Loudoun County on November 4th,” the office said in a statement. “Two other bank robberies that occurred in Prince William County and the Town of Vienna remain under investigation.”

So there it is. Don’t talk on your cell phone while:

1. Driving
2. In the restroom (it’s just not polite), and
3. While holding up a series of banks in a very predictable fashion

Sony’s DRM goes 00BAR l33t L0LZ!

scaredpoet

So, after Sony insisted that its DRM rootkit technology, used as a copy protection scheme in its CDs was “not a threat,” trojans exploiting the software’s inherent introduction of vulnerabilities are now beginning to appear in the wild. Way to go Sony! After all, who needs security when copying music is at stake? The musicians need to be protected! The musicians, man!

To make matters worse, after Sony agreed to make a “patch” available so that users can “remove” the DRM software, experts who analyzed the “patch” consider it to be even worse than the rookit it purports to remove.

Again, way to go Sony!

And yet, the record companies wonder why people like me have stopped buying CDs altogether.

While it may be difficult to determine for sure if your computer is affected (unless of course, you’ve never, ever played a Sony Music CD on it, ever), there is a way to easily innoculate against the software it installs if it’s not already there. This link is recommended reading, and a recommended course of action.