Contest Reminder

I haven't seen the big run-up of contest entries that I normally see at the end of the month. With that in mind, it's a really great time to submit your entry for this month's theme, "Faces".

For more information, check out the details here.

StumbleUpon

I've never claimed that I don't have a nerdy side. I've also never claimed to be on the cutting edge of what's new and hip on the 'net. Keeping those two statements in mind, I want to share a sweet "new" site I've run across. "New" is in quotes, because I'm sure everyone, but me, has been using StumbleUpon since the late-90s. If, however, you haven't heard of it, let me tell you... it's fun and very addictive.

 

First of all, I can't make any claims about the site's security. So use it at your own risk. Like many social networking sites, it's full of good and bad stuff. Use good surfing habits while visiting. From a technical perspective (and security perspective) I would suggest that you just use the web version and don't download the toolbar.

With that said, let me tell you a little bit about the site. StumbleUpon is a much less formal method for finding the kinds of things you enjoy surfing on the web. Instead of having to enter keywords, sites related to a particular subject (photos for example) are presented to the user. After visiting a site, you use the web toolbar to "rate" it. From these ratings, and the ratings coming from other users, StumbleUpon builds a profile of your likes and dislikes and picks out other sites that you might enjoy. The more you use it, the more accurate its predictions become. Each time you visit, you get a new list of cool stuff to enjoy.

Right now, the site is free to use. Again, use your good internet surfing safety, and have fun. StumbleUpon is quickly becoming one of my new favorite time wasters!

From Thirty-Thousand Feet

Sometimes air travel can actually be a great experience. Sometimes, you can carry all the camera gear you want, without getting hassled by TSA. Sometimes you can even pull your camera out mid-flight, have a conversation about photography with fellow passengers, and answer the flight attendant's photography questions while shooting some shots out the windows. 

Believe it or not, all of the above came true for me today. Don't ask me why I chose to share the shot I did today... it was something about the lines and the bright blue sky that just struck me, but I loved it. Thanks everybody for an great experience at thirty-thousand feet.

McKinley's Baptism

So the last couple weeks have been pretty hectic at work. My sincere apologies for that showing up as slow couple weeks in terms of content. However, I would like to take a proud papa moment and share a shot of my littlest from just after we got home from her baptism this past Sunday.

Hopefully things will slow down soon, and I'll be able to get back to working on one of my favorite jobs, this blog. Until then, thanks for coming by!

Clouds

Good Monday to you, and thanks for stopping by. This Sunday, my littlest, McKinley, was baptized at church, so we spent the day celebrating with family. Didn't get to make the updates for our normal Monday Morning feature, but I didn't want to leave everybody high and dry. So I have a few photos for you... and a question.

I was at work a couple days ago when we noticed a really interesting phenomena on the clouds out our window. All the clouds appeared to trimmed with rainbows. I had never seen anything like it before, so not having my camera with me, I grabbed a colleague's point-and-shoot and took some snapshots. (I know, shame on me for not following my own new years resolution about having my camera with me at all times.)

Anybody have any idea what causes this, or have any of you seen it before?

I thought they looked pretty cool. Hope you enjoyed them as well.