Category: Photos

July 22, 2008

LifeSpoke is a New Startup with a Familiar Goal

A week-and-a-half ago, I spent all weekend (well, about 34 hours of it) in a habitrail of meeting rooms with about 100 other people trying to do something pretty incredible: invent, build, and launch a new Internet startup in less than three days.

The event, InOneWeekend 2008, was the inaugural entrepreneurial exercise by this new Cincinnati organization, which hopes to jump-start new-venture creation in the technology-based services space (i.e., dot-coms).

After lots of thinking and working and coding and sweating (not to mention eating fast food and swilling highly caffeinated beverages), our concept was outlined and mocked up to a degree that we thought the world should be invited to share in its evolution from beta concept to fully operational service.

I, er, we give you...LifeSpoke.

Go on...click the link and check it out...it won't hurt, I promise.

LifeSpoke is, and soon will be more of, a place to save, organize, and share all your personal memorabilia and life's memories (assuming they come in handy digital format, of course). With an innovative, patent-pending interface (that we're not quite ready to share yet) and a family-oriented content model (that includes loads of privacy, security, and convenience), we're pretty stoked at the idea that moms, dads, kids, grandparents, and close friends will finally have a place to share their intimate memories and most precious media in a rich new environment.

Now, I know what you're thinking. Actually, you're thinking "I'm hungry...I wonder what's in the fridge." Hey, focus...there's just a little more to read here. You were also thinking "But aren't there a bazillion other media-sharing websites out there, like YouTube, most with sharing features?" To that I say of course! But LifeSpoke is different and will be the best solution for families and close-knit groups of friends to share their memories. While those other sites are great for stuff like watching someone's dog ride a skateboard or having anonymous 15-year-olds "friend" you, LifeSpoke focuses on the relationships in your life that mean the most.

So...go sign up for one of the limited beta invitations at LifeSpoke.com and join us as we ride this idea to wherever it takes us. Should be a fun trip.

If you're interested in reading more about the InOneWeekend adventure we had, check out these stories:
• Official LifeSpoke press release (Marketwatch.com)
• Cincinnati Business Courier article (bizjournals.com)

Posted by Craig in Family and Industry and Internet and Movies & Books and Music & Audio and Other and Photography and Photos and Popular Media
Permanent link to this entry | Comments (0)

March 23, 2008

Life's Funnies

I was going through my phone's photos and uncovered a few that I meant to post but just never got around to it. So here they are:

What time is it?

Time to get a new clock.

In the absence of correct punctuation, maximize redundancy.

Pigeon Forge, TN (shocking, I know)

When Mother Nature just isn't enough

Best "mind your child" sign ever

The Blue Manatee bookstore, Oakley Square (Cincinnati, OH)

Posted by Craig in Photos
Permanent link to this entry | Comments (0)

November 20, 2007

Sam at the Park, April 2006

Recently retouched...looks OK as B&W, I think.

Posted by Craig in Family and Photos
Permanent link to this entry | Comments (0)

October 19, 2007

iStumped: Can't iPhoto Simply Display Photos?

A few months ago, I upgraded our family room's HTPC by replacing the old Shuttle box with a nice Intel-powered Mac Mini. So far, nearly everything has been hunky dory. Front Row pretty much works as advertised, and that's the computer's main use.

But one sore point with me has been an inability to wrangle iPhoto to display my photos I have on an external drive attached to the Mac so that we can view them through Front Row (which only talks to iPhoto for photo-viewing purposes).

Basically, what I want iPhoto to do is simply index and display photos stored on an external hard drive, in much the same fashion that iTunes handles MP3 files stored externally. You see, I keep all my "original" photos on a machine elsewhere on our network -- the files on the Mini's external drive are merely copies, updated as needed via network backup. So, when I add some new photos to the collection, all I want iPhoto to do is realize I've done so and make the new folder available via Front Row. Isn't that easy?

Yet there's apparently no way to do that. iPhoto wants to be the sole photo-management app and really makes it difficult to interact with photos that aren't "imported" directly through it. In that sense, iPhoto is really an overly egocentric, yet very lame, program.

Anybody have a suggestion as to how to view our photos via Front Row? Anyone? Bueller?

Posted by Craig in Computing and Photography and Photos
Permanent link to this entry | Comments (0)

March 3, 2007

What Is This Picture?

I came across this photo and found it very curious.

What do you think it is? A close-up of a hairy guy with bad skin? To find out, click the "continue reading" link...

According to the MSNBC Picture Stories page I found this on, it's a close-up of Mars' surface.

The high-resolution camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter sent back this image of Vastitas Borealis, part of Mars' Northern Plains. The crisscrossing dark tracks are caused by dust devils - mini-tornadoes that stir up the lighter dust and reveal the darker soil beneath. The picture was taken last Nov. 19 and released Feb. 21.

I really did think it was hairy skin at first.

Posted by Craig in Photography and Photos and Science & Nature
Permanent link to this entry | Comments (0)

March 2, 2005

Sam & Lori

Posted by Craig in Family and Photos
Permanent link to this entry | Comments (2)

February 17, 2005

More Treo 650/600 Comparison Photos

Here are 4 more pairs of photos taken recently with the Treo 600 (top) and Treo 650 (bottom):

Two things are obvious:
1) Focus and resolution (not in terms of pixels, but in distinguishing detail) is generally better on the Treo 650 (the blurriness on the one shot is likely due to me -- it was cold and my hand was freezing). It seems that the JPG compression is higher on the 600, which may explain part of this.
2) Saturation and contrast are much higher on the 600 (too high, IMO) than the 650, which may be a tad low. Why don't they add settings in software for this stuff just like they do on $59 digital cameras?

Also, take a look at another website (PhoneCamPhotographer.com) that has some good Treo 600/650 comparison shots.

Posted by Craig in Mobile & PDAs and Photography and Photos
Permanent link to this entry | Comments (1)

February 10, 2005

The Desk Says It All

"Warning: Geek Works Here"

This is the desk of my colleague, Scott Sampson at BYU. Scott takes his
tech very seriously (e.g., check out SNewMail)

Posted by Craig in Photos
Permanent link to this entry | Comments (0)

February 3, 2005

Need help? Pfft.

Sorry we can't help, but check out our bitchin' WordArt while you're getting mugged/burning alive/having a heart-attack.

Posted by Craig in Photos
Permanent link to this entry | Comments (0)

January 30, 2005

Photo Re-Caption #1

I found this photo today and it just cries out for some funny caption/quote/whatever, so leave a comment with your best shot.

Posted by Craig in Photos
Permanent link to this entry | Comments (3)

January 26, 2005

Hi, Anna!

As promised, a big hello to ya. :-)

Posted by Craig in Photos
Permanent link to this entry | Comments (1)

January 25, 2005

Sam, close and unfocused

Posted by Craig in Family and Photos
Permanent link to this entry | Comments (0)

January 20, 2005

Cool car photo

Saw this in the Photos section of Weather Underground

Source

Posted by Craig in Photos
Permanent link to this entry | Comments (0)

January 14, 2005

Ken rebooting his Blackberry

And he says its better than a Treo...whatever.

Posted by Craig in Photos and Technology
Permanent link to this entry | Comments (0)

January 9, 2005

hideous winter coat @ Gap Kid's

Guess why it's on sale

Posted by Craig in Photos
Permanent link to this entry | Comments (2)

December 25, 2004

Essence of my father

the essence of my dad is as pictured (according to my sister): pork, bread, and a root beer

Posted by Craig in Family and Photos
Permanent link to this entry | Comments (0)

Bailey's stocking

Posted by Craig in Family and Photos
Permanent link to this entry | Comments (0)

December 24, 2004

Lori and Bailey in the sun

Posted by Craig in Family and Photos
Permanent link to this entry | Comments (1)

December 19, 2004

New Sam Photo

One month old today. And yes, that's my arm.

Posted by Craig in Family and Photos
Permanent link to this entry | Comments (2)

December 18, 2004

bumper sticker of the day

I do not think it means what you think it means

Posted by Craig in Photos
Permanent link to this entry | Comments (1)

December 14, 2004

Hey, I'm a Published Photographer!

Le Petit Journal asked if they could use a photo I took, most likely because I didn't ask for royalties.

Interestingly, they used the picture to accompany a story about a new windfarm in St. John's, Newfoundland, yet the photo is actually of an abandoned wind farm on the South tip of the Big Island of Hawaii. Yes, that's Mauna Loa in the background.

Check out the original image in my collection of Hawaii photos.