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[
news archive 5: 10/03-08/04 ]
8/31: soon.
currently working on incorporating all this into
theduckpond.com. until then, i'm catching up with the
spring/summer pics i never posted - try here.
as for the burns of all my princeton pics - they're coming.
hopefully by the first or second week of school. and
they'll be cheaper than the page says. i'll update it
one of these days.
5/30: whoa baby.
bucketloads upon bucketloads of raw files just dumped
online. unedited, but cool.
5/18: the long
silence is over! i'm working like a banshee trying to
update my sites. most of my time is being siphoned
off, however into the Westerly photo shoot (hours of
retouching remain, plus a whole nother day of shooting) and
setting up my long-promised FULL-DATA-BURNS.
i had ~10 people express interest sight-unseen, which is
enough for me to go through the days worth of work it's
going to take. posting more pictures (from Easter to
Manna banquet) is on hold until that's ready - hopefully
they'll be up later this week.
do banshees work
hard?
5/6: new
galleries are so hot. so hot.
5/2: Yeah...so
this site is sorta languishing right now. sorry.
Easter is STILL pending...bah. all the action over at
the new site should keep you busy. once i'm finished
building it i'll get back in the habit of updating this
regularly, in the form of a personal subsection.
4/25: sorry for
the extra step to get in, but it's time to get serious about
rebuilding the duckpond from the ground up...which means
moving this aside for the time being. a better system
should appear by mid-may. meanwhile: Senior
Night at Triumph (hosted over at the official site).
4/22: so i've
figured out how to design contact forms on the bluehost
servers. and i've taken the first steps towards a
gallery/proof system - still haven't figured out a
convenient, efficient structure, though. but if you
want to see something sorta official looking (if you can
imagine title bars, borders and a shopping cart), go here.
4/19: almost
caught up. one more day for my work, two or three for
my life. and a funny page.
4/18:
after thesis. time to rebuild my life. sigh.
(some pics up...more
throughout the week)
4/15:
theduckpond.com is online! you'll see a blank
page for another 12-24 hours while the change propagates
across the internet, then BOOM. i'll be in
business.
| DNS
check results for www.theduckpond.com:
50.0% of queries will
end at 209.63.57.200 (ns1.bluehost.com)
50.0% of queries will
end at 208.186.172.60 (ns2.bluehost.com) |
4/14:
a long interesting day.
multiple postings planned.
1:00
AM: duckpond.com takeover
stage 1: purchasing space from bluehost (1 gig - perfect)
2:00
AM-7:30 AM:
working on thesis (formatting, bibliography, introduction)
8:00
AM: thesis
cover ordered. final title: "Sex, Heterodoxy and
Augustinian Allegorical Exegesis." this strangely
amuses me.
8:30
AM: duckpond.com takeover
stage 2: disrupting the DNS (domain name server) listings
for the old host (uplinkearth):
| DNS
check results for www.theduckpond.com:
50.0%
of queries will end at 65.211.123.67
(ns1.uplinkearth.com)
50.0%
of queries will end at 65.211.123.36
(ns2.uplinkearth.com) |
8:45+
AM: Thesis revision &
procrastination
12:45
PM: Preface in place, revisions half done.
Still no conclusion. Or sleep.
10:15
PM: don't
look a gift pizza in the mouth. back to work.
conclusion 1/2 done, 3 revisions left.
11:45
PM:
Print.
12:00
AM:
Bed.
| 4/13:
BIG
NEWS!!! i've
been emailing back and forth with the owner of
theduckpond.com for the past month, and he's just
agreed to transfer the URL. the duckpond will
live on!!!!!!! this makes me happy.
the
DNS servers should refresh by about thursday
afternoon...right when my thesis finishes...at which
time i'll be moving this whole site over there, to
test out my new (expensive) server -- bluehost.
come
midsummer i should also have a full redesign -
hopefully a sleek, white one which finally solves
the problem of sorting all my layered galleries.
sorting has gotten harder every year...i need a system.
i'll also need a new major branch of the site - for
freelancing. yay gigs! so add
"learning CSS and javascripting" to my
list. again. been putting that off for
far too long now. maybe PHP, too - although
that's a real language...ie, more than a saturday
afternoon sort of thing. would make me more
marketable, though. :-)
ok.
that's the most exclamations points this site has
seen in months. back to writing my thesis... |
4/12: so....close...
baptism pics delayed until i can retouch them...think friday.
4/11: 
thesis deadline looms. oh. and He is risen.
pause your procrastination and ponder how that unsettles
your every thought of how life and death work.
4/7: photography
is cathartic.
4/4: new side project: repairing my mother's
laptop. also called "every geek's least favorite
trivia game: hardware or software?" let's hope
software -- it would be cheaper to replace the old beast
than any one of its parts. but you don't care - you
just want more
pictures. *update*
looks like hardware, but i think i have a workaround.
so good to feel useful.
4/1: Nicaragua
gallery finished! And using Photoshop, no less.
I'm so proud of me.
3/31: PSP8 vs Photoshop:
-
ok, so photoshop's full-manual editing
is just vastly superior. not a surprise.
although the last time i played with photoshop and said
that, i promptly found that the PSP8 had the same
features, but i had never had to USE THEM because...
-
PSP8 has vastly superior semi-manual
editing - that is to say, the degree to which it allows
you to "tweak" its auto settings is
unbeatable; i only have to go full-manual on like every
third shot, which is a great time-saver, except...
-
photoshop's software architecture runs
at possibly TWICE the speed of PSP8's on my computer,
which makes its full-manual options usable in real-time
(sliding level adjustment bars and just watching the
image change) which brings photoshop on par for PSP8 for
total time working on the image, except...
-
photoshop's interface appears to have
been designed by a monkey, and doesn't appear to be
user-changeable. my PSP8 working environment has
been entirely designed by ME, meaning all the features i
use most have been given their own icons, in their own
palette, which drastically accelerates my workflow,
except...
-
the speed and power of the photoshop
level tool eliminates the need for about a half-dozen
operations i usually have to do on every image, which
swings the speed-bar back in the direction of photoshop,
except...
-
photoshop's interface really was
designed by a monkey, and it looks like until the cows
come home it's going to give me the same defaults on
every image -- like assuming i want to save in
photoshop's uncompressed format and whining at me when i
switch to jpg - as opposed to PSP8, which remembers
every dialog position (and gives a "default"
button when you want it to start over). AND, to
top it off, photoshop's browser is less full-featured -
meaning i can't do my mass file copies in-house, which
is annoying for the web-designer. meh. i
could be wrong about both of these - i'll keep playing.
after thesis, of course. GAH. definately
back-to-work-time.
conclusion: i find photoshop simultaneously
more powerful and more annoying. shot-to-shot time
seems equivalent, however, even now while i'm still fumbling
around - which makes me think that, once i memorize all the
keyboard shortcuts, it might be a much faster program.
hermph. i have to say, though, the little stinker is
growing on me....not a $650 sorta grow...but perhaps with an
academic discount......no, wait, that's still $250.
why is this @#$%&% program so expensive?!?!?!
| 3/30:
Wacky day. had my interview with the
Communications Office (sooooo want this job...).
highlight
(or lowlight) was the moment they asked why i
didn't use a Mac. whoo boy. not the
forum to scream "because i can build a faster
PC for half the price!!!"
and
while i'm on my soapbox: why in the WORLD is Photoshop
$650!?!? yeah, its levels editor is the best.
and...umm...the cool kids use it.
and...umm...umm...ok. yeah. that's about
it. i love it - but not a $650 sort of love.
fellow folks on a budget: try the other two pro
programs instead: PSP8
($100) & The
GIMP (free).
ahh
well. if i need OSX and Photoshop for this
kind of job, then OSX and Photoshop i will learn.
i'll
finish the Nicaragua gallery "real soon
now." on Photoshop. Gah.
|
Harold
3.0: Athlon 2500 (overclocked) with 1 gig RAM.
Built
last summer.
Fast.
Small. Cheap.
Aww
Yeah.
|
3/24: Nicaragua gallery up to
Wednesday; about 3/4 done. it's going more slowly than
planned, due to various distractions, like
"school" and "Lucy." five months
today, by the way.
3/21: i'm BACK! and all is well;
thesis LOOOMS, but i think i'll make it. worst comes
to worst i beg for an extension. worse things have happened.
but more importantly -- all my study breaks for the next
week will be spent working on the Nicaragua
MegaGallery.
3/13: love to everybody - i'm off to managua
nicaragua. pray for us. scheduled to
return early 3/21.
3/9: wuv? NOH!
3/4: erm. yeah. photographed
Raks Odalisque. paid gig; it was fun, but it
definitely tied with photographing Maia's (interesting) art
project for the hem and haw factor. oh - and my
beloved manna senior small group took a night off.
3/1: first
gig all done! and some manna froshies as well -- all
in the erstwhile #10.
2/28: rock ON.
i got FOUR gigs yesterday. if they go well i'll be
able to start charging more. :-) until then...i
went shopping! on the long road to going pro, my next
step was picking up a slave flash - so a little trip to NY
Photo in town yielded an old used Vivitar flash, a Wein
slave mount and another set of AA NiMH cells. next
step? backup lithium cell for my camera, flash
bracket...and maybe another slave and an umbrella.
such fun!
firestone
scaffolding & townie boarders poasted in gallery 10...and
results of my first gig by tomorrow!
. . |
2/25:
a little perspective: 15,000
pictures
over the course of the last 16
months
means an average of
935 pictures
per month, or 30
per day. had i not gone digital, that would
have cost $4,350.
break-even
point for my camera plus all of my equipment was
somewhere around 5,500
pictures, unless you include my
computer, in which case it was around 9,000
pictures.
either
way,
i need a day job.
|
2/23: my project
to overrun my twice-extended server allotment
continues...gallery 10.
2/19: meet
winter gallery 9.
get acquainted. stay a while.
man oh man - my thesis is breathing down my NECK.
sooooo much to read. sooooo much to write.
and a shout out to nick - he's been updating
frequently enough to get plugged.
jinha too.
2/12: 
i took some time off after the ski gallery project...needed
it! back at it now. this is a night shot taken
down by carnegie lake; half a dozen 15 second exposures
spliced together, taken around 11 pm.
2/3:
ski gallery COMPLETE!
one day ahead of schedule, and 3 megs
more data than expected - 4.4 total. largest duckpond
gallery ever.
i expect to cull it heavily in a couple months, but not
until i run out of server space.
1/31: back
from the ski trip...humming away at my
pictures...500something, plus contributions from several
other photographers...gallery is being assembled on the fly here.
1/22:
w00t! finished finals. passed them, even!
and rebuilt the dean's date gallery, upon request.
.
.
and i think you need to meet my little friend..... 
in other news, Lucy continues to improve.
1/19:
your moosey
fate.
1/10:
back at school, just in time for dean's date. fun fun
fun! but i know you...you don't really want to know
about that...you just want to know where i posted the (W)interlude
pics...well...here's a hint.
1/1:
Who's up for a clean
slate in '04? yay! (oh...and new
pictures...of course!)
12/22:
Stopped by school (needed more books)...so li'l update to winter
3.
12/13:
Homeward bound! and boy oh boy is this a welcome break. but
one last update for y'all:
Winter 1 expanded & Winter 2 launched.
12/6:
Still hand-coding. grr. Buuuuuuut...just launched the Winter
Galleries! Just purty snow pics for now...PEF
Christmas party and whatnot coming soon.
11/26:
Cheryl's cakealicious birthdayfest up.
11/22:
sophomore formal come & gone. hit the ferry house &
the pef pre-party...then put the lucester to bed...as
expected -- mono still taking a toll. pictures up.
11/21:
now coding by hand...meaning in Notepad. my last system
crash took out MS Frontpage, leaving me without a functional
HTML editor...not fun. but good practice - i'd been getting
lazy. tomorrow's the sophomore formal. should be fun.
.....ok..... that's an
understatement...i'm souped. :-)
oh! and g6
updated - sarahpics.
11/12:
We Love Kelly in g6.
11/4:
finally brought the news archives online! they're over
in the right-hand column...still many broken links and such,
but most of the text and pictures have (finally) been
reformatted and reposted. and it only took three
months! or rather, half an hour.....ahh well.
but that means Duckpond 4 is finally, fully and completely
online! huzzah! aren't you proud?
ooo!...and
just in time! manna
linked to one of my galleries this afternoon...hit counter
soooo happy!
11/2:
news? no news. break was good, a Much Needed
rest; now i have a whole lot of work to do.
life is good.
 10/30:
purty fall pictures in gallery 4.
enjoy.
10/29:
omigoodness i gotta get a LOT more work
done
this break......
and...umm...that's
just way too cute. heh. »»»
(courtesy
of lucy)
10/27:
just got back from the manna retreat...gallery being posted
as we speak. t'was a good time... speaker (Dr. Clouser)
is a professor emeritus from TCNJ...primarily involved with
the philosophy of religion...lots of real mind-bending
stuff. but, more importantly than that -- many good
conversations, many of us coming to understand some really
basic things about the faith that should have hit home years
ago (pride=bad)...better late than never. and now it's
break! time for catching up on thesis, catching up on
work, catching up with friends, catching up on sleep...
oh...and
i now know of 3 family members and a friend in the
near-region of the So.CA fires...not fun.
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