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Despot
OK, So I’m posting photos on my favorite photo sharing site,
flickr.com, and posting in a number of groups to try & give my shots some
degree of exposure. Several of the groups are “interactive”, requiring you to
comment on other photos when you post one of yours. Fair enough, I always
followed the rules and made comments on worthy photos. Several of these groups
that were interactive were run by the same administrator, this person who’s on
line moniker is “Air Milikay” (yes I’m naming names!) decides that as the
supreme overlord god king emperor of the groups, he’s going to kick anyone out
who has tags that are specific to other groups. In other words, if you have
your shots in any other groups than his, and have that groups tags on your
photos, you will get kicked out of his groups. He posted some sort of
reasoning, but it was unintelligible and didn’t make any sense whatsoever. Now a bit of background, this “person” is absolutely
OBSESSED with Explore, one of the most stupid things Flickr ever did. If you
don’t know what Explore is, read some of my previous venom filled rants on the
subject. Anyway, this is a ploy by this fucking asshole (oh, did I write that
out loud?) to make his groups more “explore” friendly. Well, a bunch of people
got the boot from his groups because their photos were actually in other
groups. Some folks started a thread (discussion) of how this was unfair &
what the heck was going on & that the administrator was a despot. Well, I
agreed with the comments and quit the group that this was posted in. The next
morning, I find myself BANNED from his other groups, and any dissenting threads
to his magnificent omnipotent excellence deleted. SO, I’m banned for agreeing
with an opinion. Not even for offering an opinion, but for agreeing with
someone else’s. Free speech my fucking ass. This despotic asshole is a scourge
that should be banned not only from all other groups, but also from flickr
itself. Any threads disagreeing with his narrow minded opinions are summarily
deleted, and the contributors banned. Fortunately other groups have been formed as a reaction to
this morons policies, in a few short days hundreds of people have flocked to
the banner of freedom and reason, myself among them. The overwhelming consensus
is that this piece of shit shouldn’t even be allowed on flickr. My point is, how can stuff like this happen in an open &
free society? The behaviour of this person is reprehensible and disgusting.
Repugnant censorship and dictatorial despotism. This guys picture belongs next
to Hitler, Stalin, Idi Amin, and all other despots in history. I personally
hope that if there is a hell, this cocksucker burns in it. He deserves it. Filed under General, Feb 28, 2007
 Pat on the Back
You know, I?ve been paying a lot of attention to camera settings
lately. More than I used to. You know what? I?ve taken some shots I?m very
proud of. Is anyone going to care? Probably not, but I?m getting more & more
into the sub culture of the photographer. Understanding the allure to a deeper
level. I posted a picture the other day on flickr, and some asshole
left a comment that so much expensive equipment was a waste; you could get the
same result with a $200 camera. What a fucking moron. Is he BLIND? The
difference is night & day. Dink. Anyway, this is just a pat on the back from me to me, because
I think I?ve taken some pretty damn good stuff lately! Filed under General, Nov 6, 2006
Detroit
Detroit. Detroit Michigan. Detroit, Michigan, U.S.A. Ever been there? I have. I live in Canada. Been to ?The States? on many, many
occasions. Florida on vacation quite a few
times, (hell, my folks used to live there) up & down the Eastern seaboard as a kid, D.C. to see the seat of
power and the monuments, N.Y City a couple of times, South Carolina to golf. I
haven?t been lately though. It?s the whole Bush terrorism thing. Scary shit. Anyway, the past few days, I?ve had occasion to visit
Detroit twice, once today, and once yesterday. It?s a fair drive from where I
live, about 3 hours each way, but it was work, I was paid to go. Which quite
frankly, is the only way you would ever get me there. The city itself has quite a few impressive edifices, but as
a whole, is very depressed with a lot of empty buildings and a depressing
oppressive atmosphere. The first thing that greeted me was a guy in a dark
uniform with a gun. They were in the custom booths at the border. They directed
me to an area where my car was examined, where there were more guys in dark
uniforms with guns. Jesus fucking Christ on a fucking rubber crutch!
GUYS WITH FUCKING GUNS! This, apparently, is the United States of America. Guys with
guns. I must say, if I lived in Detroit, I?d feel much safer with
a gun too. I was uncomfortable being there. I felt I was at risk. I
mean, there were guys with guns there, presumably to protect the public. Lots
of guys with guns. EVERYONE with a uniform, and there were LOTS of them, had a
GUN. But one never knows. They all had patches?.?Homeland Security?. The signs
were in English, Spanish, and Arabic. Fucking wild! I get pissed off when I
pick up a package & have to read the French side first! I can?t imagine a
package in Arabic. I think it must just be a border thing. ARABIC????? Gimme a
break! It?s DETROIT! You know, when I crossed the border & got back in to
Canada?..sweet safe Canada??.I felt an immediate sense of relief. I couldn?t
get out of Detroit fast enough. I feel the same way about Detroit as I feel about NYC. I?m
scared to go there. If I have to go to either place again in my lifetime, it
will be too soon. Guys with guns place???you can keep it! Filed under General, Nov 3, 2006
The Stupidness pool
So ya know?..I?ve been kinda pissed off lately about the
whole ?Interestingness? thing on flickr, oops, sorry, ?Explore? as it?s called
now. I?ve had a ton of my shots featured, but none lately, and I
do not expect with the current rules to have any more featured??.ever. They
recently changed the logarithm for the 4th or 5th time
over the past several months and it seems that there are several important
changes, which A LOT of people just don?t agree with. OK?so a bit of background?.. As you know if you?ve read my previous rants Flickr used to
be Canadian. It was GREAT, Awesome in fact. Then because it was so great Yahoo
bought it. The Yahoo people (lets call them morons for now) instituted this
entire ?Interestingness? ?Explore? thing where the 500 most ?interesting? shots
every day (about.01%) are featured in this pool called
?Interestingness/Explore? OK, so basic human nature makes this, to the average person,
a contest. I mean, most normal people would think that if you can make the
?top? 500 photos of the day?damn you?re good! Over time the same photographers
were featured time & time again (I?m sort of sad to say I was fairly regularly featured)
which sort of screwed things up, so the morons (see above) started applying
rules in a more and more obscure fashion. This of course started people
weaseling ways that they could make the elusive ?Interestingness/Explore? (lets
call it the ?This has Become Stupid? pool shall we?) daily list, because, lets
face it, they are humans and are subject to basic human nature. Hence, this
naturally spawned the birth of ?you must make so many comments? groups, and the
like. So, the morons (see above) are now saying??OH?it?s not a
contest?, ?It?s not about good or bad?. Reading several threads in several
different groups today, I was amused to see that many people, some of whom are
included in my original contacts and very active on flickr, still think that
this is indeed a benchmark of quality. They are sadly deluded. So, the morons (see above) applied some rules, which after
some research today became crystal clear. It seems that to combat the same
people being in the ?This has Become Stupid? pool (see above), the morons (see
above) are punishing multi group posting. Not only that, they are punishing
posting in selected groups. i.e. groups where you are required to leave
comments on others photos. They even actively discourage multi group posting,
while at the same time giving tutorials on why you should post to groups, how
to post to groups, and how to make your own group! Without posting to a group or forum where you can expose
your efforts to a wide audience, how are you going to be seen? Sure after time,
you?ll develop a bit of a ?clique? (don?t get me started on this, flickr is one
fucking clique spot & this pisses me off even more! There are plenty of
groups that you won?t get to post in unless you?re part of the favored inner
circle) of people who regularly view your work. Hence the ?family/friends and
Contacts? concept. BTW?the morons(see above) are now even figuring into the
formula for the ?This has Become Stupid? pool (see above) on how many contacts
you have! NOW?..I post on flickr to expose my shots to a wide
audience. To let people see what I am doing with my camera. It has expanded my
artistic ability and broadened my horizons immeasurably. I have made many
friends. NOW, the morons (see above) are restricting my outlet for creativity
by PUNISHING me for multi group posting, particularly in groups where I KNOW
people have an opportunity to look at my shots because they are required to
comment or view. So, it boils down to this. The morons(see above) have set up
a system whereby people naturally compete to be in it. It?s called human
nature. They now say?"We just want to show a cross section of "interesting" photos" and ?Oh it?s not a contest?, but they set it up that way. YOU STUPID FUCKING MORONS THESE ARE HUMAN BEINGS YOU?RE
DEALING WITH. THIS IS HOW THE THING WAS SET UP. EVER HEAR OF HUMAN NATURE?
FUCKING IDIOTS!!!! Ahem OK, they should abolish the ?This has Become Stupid? pool
(see above) and make it a completely RANDOM viewing of shots from the day. That
would solve ALL the animosity, competitive bullshit, hundreds of discussions, and myriad of problems. Now that I've spewed as much venom as possible and have that off my chest I feel marginally better. After all, it's my blog!
Just my 2 cents worth! Filed under General, Oct 31, 2006
Photography
Ok, so it?s been a while since I?ve posted. Been busy. Life
shit you know? Anyway, I?ve been exploring the limitations & boundaries
of my camera, an advanced amateur DSLR. Lately, I?ve posted on flickr (www.flickr.com/photos/redmann)
some pics I?m quite proud of, as I?ve used the cameras capability to make them.
I haven?t post processed much other than basic cropping & balance. I?ve
been able to take macros with a zoom lens, with quite a nice depth of field,
and make a shot look like an oil painting, just with camera settings &
focus etc. You know what? NO ONE IS LOOKING AT THEM!!!!!!!! Well, not anyone, some people are, but not nearly as many as
look at my other stuff. Go figure. Real photography sucks, post-processing
rules.
FUCK The pics people look at are the pretty glam shot, post
processed to the max. Screw actually taking a real photograph with a camera.
All you need is a point & shoot & Photoshop. I AM depressed! What a sorry state of affairs. Real
photography takes a back seat to digital manipulation. Oh well?I guess I should
roll with the changes & just post process the shit out of everything! Filed under General, Jul 20, 2006
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