Burningbird

Photos and Weblogging tools

Post author By Shelley Powers
Post date July 21, 2003

I spent the weekend organizing my photo collection I picked up in San Francisco my last trip – reviewing, grouping into categories and then putting the slides/prints/negatives into their special sleeves in photo notebooks. My goal is to digitalize all of the photos in order to preserve them because most modern film types can start to deteriorate over time, especially the negatives. Plus, I want to start building up a digital library – just for fun.

Unfortunately, I have two scanners that I can’t use at the moment: the Polaroid because it stopped working – never again will I buy a Polaroid – and the Nikon, because I don’t have a SCSI device for my laptop that will work with the scanner. However, I was able to scan some prints using my Office Jet, and most of these turned out quite well. For instance the following photo is one I took in the dead of night during one of the worst wind storms in Seattle. All power was off in the city, and I opened the exposure for a considerable length of time, culminating with a flash on some of the trees around our house (the ones still standing, that is). The effect was interesting.

The odd yellow color in the sky is due to a color shift in the film from the over long exposure. I could compensate for the color, but that’s the best thing about the photo. Sometimes, the best results are based on errors, mistakes, and the unexpected. That’s when you keep your mouth shut and take credit for being innovative, rather than being honest and saying, “Well, there wasn’t any TV, and no power for the computer, so I thought I would screw around with some night photography.”

As for the slides, I have an attachment for my Nikon digital camera that allows me to take photos of slides. However, it lacks the quality of a regular scanner, and adds an odd ‘echo’ quality to the photo, is the only way I can think of it. For most of the shots, this didn’t work. However, for some of my slides, the effect actually added to the shot.

For instance, take a look at the following photo of two crows in a dead tree, taken at Canon Beach, Oregon.

I love the photo – surreal and even a little sinister. Shades of Edgar Allan Poe:

But the raven, sitting lonely on that placid bust, spoke only
That one word, as if his soul in that one word he did outpour.
Nothing further then he uttered; not a feather then he fluttered;
Till I scarcely more than muttered, “Other friends have flown before;
On the morrow he will leave me, as my hopes have flown before.”
Then the bird said, “Nevermore.”

From “The Raven”, Edgar Allan Poe

In fact, my site design for the forpoets.org weblogs is inspired by this photo and the other seaside photos I digitalized using the camera attachment. See? The best laid plans are based on mistakes.

Once I get the Wayward Webloggers feedback on the design, and then port it to all the weblogging tools I’m using, then we’ll be ready to rock and roll.

Speaking of forpoets.org and tools, I also spent a considerable amount of time this weekend tweaking weblogging tools. In fact, tweaking, tweaking, and tweaking. And tweaking, tweaking, and more tweaking. Geez, I can’t tell you how tired I am of tweaking at this point in time!

The WordPress and PMachine weblogs installed with no problems. In fact, pMachine installs more easily than Movable Type in my opinion. However, that was the last easy install. We’re into murky waters from this point on.

I tried Nucleus, but it doesn’t work with MySQL 4.x. I also tried PostNuke, and you can see the installation at Weblogging for Poets. Haven’t a clue how to work it and no matter how I tweaked it, I still can’t figure out exactly what it is. I tried a couple of other weblogging tools, none of which had enough to even comment on.

I also installed, removed, and re-installed Blosxom. Since I want support for comments, I’m using the new beta 2.x release of the product, which supports a plugin concept – writeback is a plugin – and all I can say is: tweak, tweak, tweak. This isn’t a weblogging tool to use ‘right out of the box’. There is no box. I’m about ready to throw in the hat, and go begging at Larry’s door for help at this point.

You can see the current state of the installation at RDF for Poets, and no, it’s not working. I’m still trying to figure out how to incorporate writebacks, which are both comments and trackbacks. The documentation can be read using Perldoc on the source, but there’s still a lot of fragments that have to come together – most of them by guesswork. However, I shall persevere. And beg for help.

I thought about using pyBlosxom for the weblogging subsection, but I’m getting tired of the tweaks. So no go with pyBloxsom, and this also includes foregoing the Zope weblogging tools, though I know I’ll disappoint Rev Matt with this one. No, we’ve reached our tweak quota for the week. Seriously.

I’ll most likely either use Movable Type, or a second installation of pMachine for the remainder of the forpoets.org site. Besides – time to get this show on the road. I want to actually do some writing.

outdoors Photography

Time warp

Post author By Shelley Powers
Post date July 20, 2003

With all good intentions I go on these walks along the Katy Trail determined that I’m going to walk to a specific point, turn around and head back to the car and get home at a reasonable time.

But then I end up going farther on the drive then planned – those country roads – until I remind myself that I’m out to walk, not drive, and then look for the closest entrance to the Katy Trail. Passing some pretty hot speedsters along the way.

Today’s portion of the trail was between two small farming towns, amidst fields of newly mown hay and corn. However, the encroachment of civilization is feeble at best, and the trail is surrounded by the usual flora and fauna. There’s no better smell than freshly cut hay mixed in with Missouri Green.

Today’s trip wasn’t in my usual isolation, and I met honest to goodness walkers as well as several bike riders. Regardless of the people and the crops and the roads, though, there’s something about walking a trail in the country of Missouri that brings to mind your favorite old stories. Huckleberry Finn. To Kill a Mockingbird. Alice in Wonderland.

Thoughts of fancy that last until a herd of bike riders heads your way, all of them giving the biker’s greeting: saying hello when they pass, right hand up, nod, small wave. In unison.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

One woman I walked past was quiet and just smiled in passing, but once she was behind me, I could hear a melody, rather lovely and sounding of a church choir breaking out behind me, rising above the usual birds. On the way back, I again had the trail to myself, and even considered breaking out into a tune, but I know I couldn’t do justice to the surroundings. I’m also sure there’s laws about scaring the wildlife unnecessarily.

However, I will admit that I talk to the creatures I meet in passing. Yes, even to the spiders and butterflies, though I prefer conversations with birds and squirrels. And rabbits! One field had several wild rabbits about and at a farm road that crossed the trail, several very young rabbits froze, trying to remain hidden from me, the hunter. The predator. Poor things didn’t know that I’m unlike the eagles and hawks, their usual nemesis, because they stood out quite clearly in the light dirt. I carefully took a photo of them, trying not to show that I could see them so that I wouldn’t frighten them. I don’t see you, cute little bunny – I’m just taking a picture of the dirt.

(And here my regular readers are going, “Why not? She’s taken pictures of everything else.”)

Watership Down. That’s what I ended my trip thinking about – the book Watership Down. That was a great book, and I realized looking at the field I passed that it could easily be the setting of Watership Down.

You can’t sit in a room looking at a computer and get stories and ideas of things to write about. You have to go out, explore, look around and then the words come to your mind as you wander about, and it’s all you can do to grab paper journal and pen and jot down your notes. That’s writing. Me putting it into a form for you to read using my computer and this weblog is nothing more than a translation – putting the images and thoughts in my mind into a form you can read.

Congratulations, You’re now multilingual – you can speak Shelley.

Photography Places

Way of the butterfly

Post author By Shelley Powers
Post date July 20, 2003

Recovered from the Wayback Machine.

It wasn’t all work and no play this weekend. I also explored two new conservation areas: Weldon Springs and the new Columbia Bottom. I found both of these through the Missouri Conservation connection, which is probably the best online nature site I know of — check out the interactive maps.

The new Columbia Bottom conservation area is quite large, and borders the Missouri on one side, and the Mississippi on the other, and meets at the confluence of both rivers. The confluence isn’t that impressive a sight: two big old muddy brown rivers meet, becoming one bigger old muddy river — Old Muddy itself, the ‘sip.

However, too hot to hike at the Bottom so I went over to the Riverfront park area, and crawled among the weeds and the insects to grab some photos of herons.

I did manage to get out for a walk along the Chain of Rocks Bridge. One nice thing about a bridge spanning the ‘sip, there’s usually a breeze blowing. And when you’re covered in sweat, even a warm breeze can cool you down.

It was close to sunset out at the bridge, and as usual for Missouri, the colors of the sunset here are a photographer’s best friend. Check out this photo of the water intake castle — pretty colors, eh?

Weldon Springs was hot and very humid, walking among the trees just after heavy rains last week. My three mile hike was cut short at about 1 1/2, because the weather saps your energy. However, I was able to spend some time watching two butterflies as they worked in and around some flowers.

Whenever the butterflies tried to occupy the same bud, they’d flutter around each other a moment, in a rather pretty ballet of wings, and then they’d move on, one to the flower, the other to another flower. No intervention required on my part.

Tags Missouri

Burningbird Technology Weblogging

Two down, three to go

Post author By Shelley Powers
Post date July 18, 2003

Recovered from the Wayback Machine.

I’ve installed two weblogs in the For Poets site:

Linux for Poets – maintained by the freebie pMachine installation.

Internet for Poets – maintained by WordPress an open source weblogging tool.

Both support comments and trackbacks, and both weblogs feature the look and feel straight out of the box.

I couldn’t install Blojsom, based on RDF and Jena because it requires a Java servlet container and I don’t want to install Tomcat. In addition bBlog was a little too beta, and Bloxsom a little too simplified, especially since I’m reviewing tools for non-techs. However, may change my mind and go with Bloxsom.

To look for other weblogging tools to use, I spent some time randomly clicking on weblogs in weblogs.com. Interesting results:

There are a lot of people using Movable Type. A lot. And there’s something about many of the MT sites that look similar – I could tell a MT site as soon as it opened, without looking for the MT banner. Regardless, I can see why Six Apart got VC funding – there are a lot of people that use MT.
Still lots of Blogger and BloggerPro sites – but no where near the number of MT users.
Light grey text and a slightly darker grey background is not elegant – it’s unreadable
Please don’t show pictures of your rash
Is that legal?
Where are the Radio weblogs?
No AOL or LiveJournal – they don’t ping weblogs.com?
Some people are just plain tacky, especially in what they allow advertised at their weblogs. Dirt cheap ammo? Now guess what type of weblog I found this one one.
Is this photo for real? Looks retouched. Still kinda cool.
Ve are Movable Type and all your weblogs belonga us!
Larry using Bloxsom – I think I’ll give this another shot. At least it’s not MT.
What the world needs more of – diagonal weblogs
Why do people stick these things all over their weblogs? Weblog after weblog with very little text, but lots of empty space and little buttons and tiny people and graphics and hearts and flowers and quizzes and mood indicators and other things that are anything but writing. It’s as if their weblogs are only wire frames on which to poke bits of string and tinsel and colored ribbon. Do they weblog only as a placeholder? A way of saying, “I stake this space?”
Oh, there’s a LiveJournal.
Great come back for a complaint on style – cement canoes
0xDECAFBAD also uses Bloxsom – okay, I’m convinced. Dorothea, he’s quoting your weblog.
Hey! Bloomington, Indiana library won’t install porn filters. Good on you Bloomington.
There was a war of the weblogging tools, and the squirrels won
There’s Tinderbox – nope, not at 145.00
Ohmigod! Pink! With little sprinkly, glittery things all over. I’ll take the grey on grey
Finally! here’s a Radio weblog! It’s called “Blogging Alone”. No shit.
What is Blogstreet? Am I on the list? No? Then who cares. I found this at the Agonist – wasn’t this the weblog that was accused of plagiarism? Yup, that’s what it takes to be a top weblog.
That’s a great name for a weblog Opinions you should have
I’m dying to know what this weblog is talking about – but scroll down – isn’t the flower photo nice?
From Ozark Rambler:

For those I haven’t spoken to lately, “herself” is doing very well and “on the mend” following her surgery a month ago. Your prayers and support during the past month has been very much appreciated.

She’s not quite up to doing any “plowing or mowing” yet, but then, those of you who know her realize that she wasn’t to excited about participating in those activities anyway. come to think of it, they don’t excite me much either.

Thank you Ozark Rambler for you simple tales of berrying in chigger filled woods, for your sharing, your humor, your interesting political views and Orwellian quotes, and for reminding me that there is more to weblogging than Echo/Atom/RSS and fights between silly boys.

A productive exercise, one I recommend people do weekly. I didn’t find all the weblogging tools I needed, but I found something more important: perspective.

Social Media

Value Judgements

Post author By Shelley Powers
Post date July 18, 2003

Just found another weblog where my comments were ‘altered’ due to weblogging comment policy.

I guess I just lost my sense of perspective — maybe I should have quit reading for the day after my last post. But I don’t understand how people can criticize me for editing my writing, and then turn around and edit my comments. Excuse me? But does anyone else see that this might be wrong?

I don’t edit out material that is critical of other folks, and I apologize when I’m off-base or too harsh. I have taken my hits for being critical of others. I’ve not run from a fight.

Do you know where most of my edits have come from lately? I have exposed something happening in my personal life that shouldn’t have been exposed because I don’t want to make my readers uncomfortable. And because there are certain things I’m just not sure about exposing online. Not yet.

But I also don’t want to make a production of the edit with strike-throughs and hugely bolded comments saying:

I’ve been edited. I’ve been edited. Neener neener, you don’t know what was edited. Too bad, jack. A dollar short and an hour too late because I’ve been edited!

People criticize my editing without proper annotation, but will strike through what I write on their weblogs, or bold it, or otherwise make a point of demeaning what I say in “their” space.

You want to control what I say in my space and you want to control what I say in your space. It’s all about control, isn’t it?

Well fuck it — I’m tired of the hypocrisy, the legions of blind fans, the complacency of the people who feel that they have a right to control what I say! And how I say it! Keep your goddamn morals and your oh so righteous ways of doing things the proper way to yourself — I would rather have an honest argument then bland conformity any day.

Any day.

You all don’t want to read me. Why don’t you go read someone who has both a comment policy — to prevent flames, you see — and a policy about editing — for accountability, you know. If you look hard enough, search through all of the blancmanges that’s left when all of the rules and restrictions have been applied, you might even find someone who might, just might know how to write, too.

But god help them if they don’t tell the truth. Oh, and they can’t bad mouth certain people. By the way, they should be using the right weblogging tool. Oh, and are they providing the appropriate feeds…

Edited for spelling corrections There. You happy?

Archive and comments at Wayback Machine

Tags Weblogging