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Tag Archives: Technology
Has Technology Killed Highly Consumed Art? Part 2 of 3: Music
Technology has brought tremendous advancements in the production of art and media throughout the years, but the most hyperbolic changes have taken place in the last ten. I want to share with you, my personal views and experiences in the realms of photography, music and motion pictures. In this segment, I’ll discuss music.
I can make the same correlation with music. Before streaming and cloud-based audio, there were mp3′s. Before mp3′s there were CD’s. Before those we had cassettes, and before cassettes there was 8-track, and vinyl. And before vinyl, we had to listen to music live, as it was being made by the artists themselves. From the consumer’s perspective, the technological progress in the music industry has done two things: 1) The navigating, acquiring and listening to a collection of music has become ridiculously efficient. 2) The physical space needed to store one’s music collection has been reduced from X to 0. Where X is a basement full of records, X/2 is a bookcase of cassettes, X/3 is a drawer full of CD’s, X/1000 is an iPod and X/infinity is the cloud. Oh, and 5X would be the concert hall. This is all great for business as the consumer’s level of convenience keeps escalating with each advancement, but what has it done to the music, or more importantly, our perception of it? And what has it done to the hopes and dreams of ambitious young musicians who thought they’d be the next Big Thing? Continue reading
Posted in Art, Lifestyle, Nostalgia, Random, Technology, Trends
Also tagged digital revolution, ED209, mp3, Music, Trends, walkman
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Has Technology Killed Highly Consumed Art? Part 1 of 3: Photography
Technology has brought tremendous advancements in the production of art and media throughout the years, but the most hyperbolic changes have taken place in the last ten. I want to share with you, my personal views and experiences in the realms of photography, music and motion pictures. In this segment, I’ll discuss picture taking.
There are many photography purists out there that look upon the digital revolution with contempt. They argue that film produced better pictures with more “soul” and other silly metaphors. They are mostly people in their 40s and above who become increasingly resistant to change. They are also angry that the same photographic process that took them a week can now be done in a day. Bah humbug! Photoshop? Lightroom? Aperture? They don’t want to learn all this new software. They just want to sit in the darkroom all day while sipping on grasshoppers and listening to Bing Crosby. While its wrong to simply dismiss digital photography altogether because it’s soul-less or whatever, there is something to be said about the aesthetic and sentimental quality of the photograph from the days of film. Continue reading
Posted in Art, Flickr, Lifestyle, Nostalgia, Photography, Technology, Trends
Also tagged Analog, Digital, Photography, Trends
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Exclusive: Building A Cockroach Army
The American cockroach (Periplaneta americana), also known as the Waterbug and Palmetto Bug. This pest is the largest species of common cockroach and considered one of the fastest running insects. At an experiment at the University of Berkley in 1991, a specimen registered a top speed of 3.4 miles per hour. This is the equivalent of about 50 body lengths per second. To acomplish the same feat, we humans would need to run just over 200 miles per hour. Cockroaches are also very great survivors as you might already know. The have omnivorous diets and can also resort to eating toothpaste, glue and even each other if times are tough. Now that’s what I call a cheap date! American cockroaches are perhaps the most bothersome and frightening to humans because of their size, agility and invasive nature. They make women scream with fear and turn 200-pound grown men into quivering babies. I know because I’m one of those dudes. Whenever I’ve been face to face with one that wanted to shack up in my house, it’s been like a showdown at the OK corral. Make no mistake, we are gunslingers. Continue reading
Posted in Fun Facts, New York, Photography, Technology, Thanassi
Also tagged new york, Photography
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The NYC Blizzard Might Win An Oscar
At least that’s what Robert Ebert thinks. Local photographer/videographer Jamie Stuart shot, edited and submitted this short to Ebert in less than a day using his Canon 7D and some Nikon Lenses. The title, “Idiot With a Tripod” is an homage to Dziga Vertov’s 1929 silent classic “Man With a Movie Camera.” Its nice to see someone from my home town get this kind of recognition. Check out the video and a clip from Vertov’s classic after the break. Continue reading
Posted in New York, Night, Photography, Technology, Thanassi, Winter
Also tagged new york, Photography, Video, Winter
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3 Easy Ways To Avoid Looking Like a Rookie With Your Shiny New Camera
So you got a fancy new compact camera for Christmas? Awww. Your mommy loves you. Maybe even a full fledged dSLR? Your baby’s Daddy really loves you. Perhaps you’ve even got a new cell phone that takes better pictures than your previous one and you’re just trigger happy. Your brother-in-law doesn’t really love you. He just got guilt tripped into getting you a present because you got him one last year and he didn’t, and it was all awkward at the dinner table. Kidding. In an case, you’re happy, grateful and enthusiastic about your new camera. And excited about annoying your loved ones for a month, or until the giddiness wears off. But you’ll be damned if you’re going to read an instruction manual. Pshh! You don’t even read your mail. You’d just like to fire that puppy up, dive right into automatic mode and hope for the best. That’s usually fine for most civilians. But if you want to act like you know a thing or two behind the viewfinder, this guide’s for you.
Posted in Lifestyle, Photography, Technology, Thanassi, Times Square
Also tagged Lifestyle, Photography, Times Square
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Off-Topic Tuesday: The Evolution of Tablets, According to Motorola
You gotta hand it to Motorola. They’re an outfit that has bounced back from dire circumstances over and over again. They have had long stretches of success, and periods of just horrible products, but since they scored big with the original Motorola Droid last November, the company has been setting its sights on complete mobile device domination. They’ve been able to do so with aggressive marketing campaigns like the one seen here that elevate their products to epic proportions. This teaser for Motorola’s upcoming Everest Tablet literally has it sitting on a pedestal. Of course we all remember the first Droid Teaser, which caused the biggest anti-iPhone uproar to date. Or how about this follow-up, which basically said “The iPhone is for girls, you ain’t a girl, are you?” Well, they’re doing it again, while blatantly targeting the iPad and even the innocent, recently released Samsung Galaxy Tab.
Posted in Cell Phones, Lifestyle, Technology, Thanassi, Trends
Also tagged cell phones, lifestlye, Trends
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Trigger Finger: Google Maps 5 for Android
Google Maps recently updated its app for Android to include faster, vector-based loading of maps. That’s the boring stuff. The cool stuff is the 3D views, and two finger guesture control to tilt, spin, etc. Its like Google Earth without the fat now.
While giving it a test run through the upper East Side this morning, I noticed something odd. The Guggenheim Museum doesn’t look like what it should, at least in my snobby architectural mind. It seems Google has chosen to simply extrude the footprints of individual lots instead of giving iconic buildings the true and accurate rendering they deserve. I want to see the spiral and the cantilevered entrance! C’mon Googs! Perhaps in 6.0. :/
Posted in Architecture, New York, Technology, Thanassi
Also tagged Architecture, new york, Thanassi
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Be A Better Vacation Photographer
We’ve all been there. You go on vacation armed with either your point-&-shoot or your shiny new DSLR and you shoot the crap out of anything you see that’s mildly interesting. But when you get home, you’ve got 3,000 pictures, and 2,500 of them are of the same 5 clouds. Photography blog Mostly Lisa discusses what steps you can take to minimize the stress during and after your vacation, so that you can actually enjoy it and come back with good photos. Continue reading
Posted in Lifestyle, Photography, Technology, Travel
Also tagged Lifestyle, Photography, Travel
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Primer: The 10 Typical Flickr Users
For those of you who have been living under a rock for the past decade, Flickr is perhaps the largest picture hosting and sharing community on the planet. As a user, your cumulative collection of uploaded images is called your Photostream. We’ll now examine who the typical users are, and what kind of pictures they take. Continue reading
Kuwait Puts Major Bans on DSLR Cameras: UPDATE: Not Really
Remember that scene in A Bronx Tale when Sonny thinks Calogero has planted a bomb under his car? He smacks him up a bit in a rage, only to later realize it was paranoia. That’s what’s kind of happening today in Kuwait with civilians toting Digital Single Lens Reflex cameras.
Photography in the middle eastern country has long been a touchy subject, with fears of ill intent constantly permeating the atmosphere. These recent guidlines have been put into effect by more Ministries than you can shake a stick at. The new strict laws state that DSLRs cannot be used in public, streets or malls except for purposes of journalism. Many photographers, both hobbyists and professionals have been forced to shift their interests and seek inanimate objects and landscapes as their new subjects.
Its stories like this that break my heart, but also make me feel fortunate that I live in a free(er) country. If I was ever told I couldn’t take pictures, or make any kind of art because the Gov’ment said so, I think I’d likely jump ship. On the other hand, some of the best art is produced with limited resources and the strictest of rules. I can see some incredible HDR photography developing in Kuwait soon.
UPDATE: The Kuwaiti Times issued the following retraction:
On Saturday, November 20, 2010 the Kuwait Times published an article titled ‘Multi ministry camera ban frustrates artists’ in which incorrect information was provided. The newspaper regrets failing to verify the information. The article wrongly stated that a ban on DSLR cameras was implemented by the Ministries of Information, Social Affairs and Finance. This information is false. In a follow up investigation, it was proved that no such ban has been issued. We regret this error and deeply apologize for any inconvenience caused.
Posted in Photography, Technology, Thanassi, Trends
Also tagged Photography, Travel, Trends
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