Hurts My Eyes Too

I'm another year older, Saturday was my birthday. Nice - some new camera gear is headed my way too. More from the day on Flickr and then the large shot of the day.

MSE seems better than AVG

Decided to check out the new Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) and so far I like it better than AVG. Under the settings menu was something unexpected and useful: "Start the scheduled scan only when my computer is on but not in use." I can't tell you how many virus scans I've terminated but this setting is long over due in virus scans.

Now I'm not too sure what Microsoft thinks my computer can do when it's turned off since it's it's currently connected to a power strip. For me, "off" means no power going to the unit. Funny how something as simple as "off" can have alternate meanings. Standby or hibernate is probably what "off" means for Microsoft. I'm not happy with appliances that draw electric juice when I'm not actually basking in the monitor glow so I don't use hibernate or standby.

MSE is supposedly a light load on the system processes. Booting on XP is a little quicker. I'll try my Vista systems later on tonight. I've already attempted to replace AVG on those but found no improvement over AVG until now.

My one concern about MSE is will it go the way of Windows Defender. Time will tell.

Happy Monday

A pleasant surprise this morning while scanning my feeds as I spotted a photo of mine on the Phillyist blog! Cool, nice.

The view I usually see is the reverse angle where the LOVE is. I skipped that and went for the monstrous column of water. Way too hard to ignore that. I'll have to go back and make some LOVE photos.

Definitely lifts my mood when it comes to my city shots.

I Have Seen The Mantis

And the Mantis was out of range. I was just happy to finally see one of these things! Now I know what to look for. Maybe. Spotting is so critical and the Preying Mantis is something new to me. In Houston, insects like this were lizard food so I really don't look as I should. I was shooting bumble bees on a large planter outside of Longwood Gardens when the Mantis charged something so I was attracted to the movement. I'd been all over the planter with my eyes and this guy eluded me until it moved. Nice.

My mother joined me at Longwood. We walked for an hour. Surprised me when she called as I was just about to walk inside. She drove over! It's been a month plus five days since she had a quadruple bypass. Nuts, I was happy though. I was going to to do fall color on the other side of Longwood but with Mom's arrival we did the flower routes instead. Fewer photos for the day.

I've uploaded some city shots from the summer to Flickr. I have trouble seeing stuff in the city too. Then again I'm not sure what I'm after when shooting. I'm just snapping. Good to review and look again.

Build A Better Yahoo Ad

Yahoo will spend a 100 million on a new advertising campaign and the first images are out. The images do look a bit like the old ipod adverts sans silhouette. I see live photographed people!

I guess Yahoo's new line is to be:

"Now the internet has a personality
Yours
or
It's Y!ou"

Looking over the images I see the word "YOURS" emphasized and I just want to add "UP" to the image. That will be an issue if the images appear as posters on transit systems. Too easy and quick. *heh. OMG.

Anyhow, these guys are having a "contest" which involves photoshop, email, a review with the results posted on friday. Nothing like the speed of the internets.

Sheesh - Just Do It.

Some Sunday Skippers

Thank goodness for the Skippers as larger butterflies have been somewhat scarce this year. I saw two monarchs and photographed one at a distance though. Could have easily closed by using my S5 today but I wanted to shoot with my XSi. Skippers are tolerant when it comes to moving in close although my patience is useful too. Some folk call Skippers "whirl abouts" and that they do.

My mother starts cardiac rehab this coming week having been discharged from the care of the surgeon last week. Good news as it means her surgical wounds are healing up as they should. Not such a good weekend for her though. Normal up and downs. The cardiac rehab is a program and the family is encouraged to attend the first session. Hopefully their consult room is bigger than the closet consult rooms I've enjoyed these past weeks.

Day 24

Twenty-four days have passed since Mom underwent a quadruple bypass. Her incision is barely visible in this shot but I've got some whoppers from day 9. She's still very uncomfortable and requires a fair bit of attention, but she's very much on the mend. My father and I have a routine worked out. Some days are a bit tense but we've not had one of those in a while. More doctors visits this week for Mom and hopefully the surgeon will release her from his care this week.

A few shots on my way home this evening. A portrait of my truck below.

The golden rod blooms I've been attempting to capture for a week now, posted on the other blog.

A Football Sunday

A day of rest was just what I needed. Watched football and both my teams played. Almost went out to shoot but I figured it'll be a while before I get to see a Texans football game again.

The Jets slaughtered the Texans. No big surprise there. The Eagles won and the chances of Micheal Vick starting a few games increased as starting Eagle QB McNabb cracked a rib. The Redskins lost to the Giants. The evening game is on. Zzzzzzz.

I'd forgotten how dull watching football all day can be. Next Sunday I'll choose the camera.

This morning we....

Got up and did not glance at the places where I used to feed Pickle cat! Of course the "missing cat chorus" still shows up at some point during the day. Like now. I have, in fact, decided to get another cat as it will speed up the process of removing all traces of the previous cat. I will never be rid of cat hair and bits of litter. A new cat would give me a legit lack of house cleaning excuse!

Some weby items that have caught my eye.

A new Charles Darwin film won't be coming to a theater near me. I'm not upset. We've defeated "teach the controversy" for the most part so a "market the controversy" is not unexpected when it comes to evolutionary films. Darwin was a proper Victorian gentleman and as a film that translates into a drama set in a house with squeaky floors surrounded by an overly manicured formal garden. I'll wait for this one to appear on PBS in a few years.

Who took the picture of Joe Wilson? And how? Spotted on Reddit and the famous frame in question was not a see, point and shoot moment. Rep. Wilson made other lens attracting noises before the main out burst. The photographer simply responded to a moment and then the moment repeated more dramatically. Neat how that works.

Animal rescue group pledges donations for tackling Michael Vick. These people are saints with the most appropriate response I've seen so far about Vick coming to town.

AOL in teh Newz

I've seen AOL in the news lately! Actually not but reading about AOL's email advertisement lawsuit settlement has prompted me to point out a few items I've run across.

Apparently someone actually sued over the inclusion of advertisements into paid accounts email. I'll have to check Mom and Dad's email to see if they got the notice. It's the sorta overly complicated email with official looking hyperlinks that I've schooled them for years to recognize as phishing. Anyhow, it's an interesting development given how hard AOL pushed advertising at users. There are limits.

AOL is going to get rebranded (via Silicon Ally Insider) My prediction is the whole AOL brand disappears and some "new" name arrives along with a new logo. Then AOL gets spun off from Time Warner. I'm curious to see if AOL minus Time Warner will result in something interesting happening other than a speedy buy out by company XYZ.

Wonder what the new AOL name and logo will look like? Could have some fun with this one.

Skipper Butterfly

Went shooting at Longwood on Sunday. Nice. Botched way too many shots at Longwood but my reaction time was good. Shot with my s5is and I was rusty with the camera controls. A monarch too. Lots of golden rod blooming but I never did get a shot that summed up the ground color I saw. I'll try again with my XSi.

My mother continues to improve. It'll be a while, probably November before she's independent again. So far nothing too stressful with her recovery. I'm holding up well. I'll be back out to see her tomorrow. Give my father a chance to get away and run his errands. That is the routine.

Except for today. I lounged today. Needed that.

Missing the Cat

For the most part I'm fine with Pickle's death. I've almost been too busy with Mom's surgery to think much on the loss. There are times though when Pickle's memory jumps into my thoughts.

Late in the night, when I'm half asleep, I swear I can feel him sitting on me just for a second. I think I can't move my leg so not to disturb him. Then he's gone as I know he's gone. I call that one the phantom cat. Like a part of me is missing.

In the morning I awake and I still think I've got to check the cat's food and water. I still glance to the now empty feeding stations I kept for Pickle. The cat bowls are packed away and I know this but I still gaze at the spots. Every morning.

Still turning up cat litter. A grain here and dust from the box. Pickle cat was a great litter box cat. He rarely missed and his digging was not erratic. Even when he was failing he always made the box. I'm truly thankful for that. I don't miss emptying the litter or scooping it, but each time I see a grain of clay, I drift off into a cat thought.

When I get out of the shower Pickle cat is not there waiting to lick the water off my feet. Yeah, that was one of his things. Drove me nuts at first but after years of this I was able to shave while the cat licked away on my feet. Pickle cat had a thing for feet, shoes, socks. Not sure where he picked that up but I hope my next cat does not come with a foot fetish. It was odd.

There are times I glance around to make sure I don't step on the cat. Pickle cat in his later years would often position himself directly in my way. Usually he wanted something but tripping me was not appreciated. I stepped on him a few times and he let me know. Scared the hell out of me too. Don't miss that but I still walk a little cautiously at times until I realize there is no chance of a cat obstacle in my way.

I seriously doubt I'll ever be rid of cat hair. Orange cat hair. White cat hair. It's everywhere!

I'm starting to think back to when Pickle cat was young and healthy. The last years were a struggle with kidney failure. So many stages to a cat's life. I don't want to dwell on the final chapter too long as I know my next cat will be healthy. No idea when that will be.

Being cat-less has certain advantages too but that is another post.

Reddit - Reddit - Reddit

Also the sound a happy frog makes. Reddit is one of the older submit articles and rate websites. I think it's older than Digg and I've browsed it, on and off, for a few years now. Last couple of months more intensely as it's not bad for nailing the news of the day.

Discovered this cartoon on Reddit. Sums up this afternoon's political wind nicely.

I finally joined Reddit the other day although it's a troll fest in terms of comments. There are sub-topics (sub-reddits) on photography. Another called i took a picture. Of course the topic that drew me early on was PICS topic. Lots of good stuff and the science and world news reddits hold my attention. RSS feeds for all but I'm actually browsing Reddit.

Not replacement for my Google Reader feeds, Reddit is just content discovery. There is a lot of confusion about RSS these days with people using twitter and such. RSS is delivery. Discovery of content is something else. When I subscribe to an RSS feed I know what I'm getting or at least have an expectation of future similar content. With discovery I'm simply looking for something new.

When you get right down to it, I have no idea what "new" is until I see it. RSS does provide new content but it's always limited by my own subscription selections. My viewpoint. Reddit provides "new" or unexpected content. If the new content has an RSS feed, I can subscribe to have expected similar content delivered. Simple enough.

No need to subscribe to the source of the cartoon. Discovery is good enough.

Oh yea, Reddit's got blog. Featured today as a Blog of Note in fact.

Lingerie Football League

OMG - It's real and not a joke. Of course it took a firefox theme to convince me that the Lingerie Football League actually was real. I have a new "sports" team to follow.

The LFL website is exceptionally horrid if you block flash. God help you if you don't. I had to visit Wikipedia to find out I had a local team.

The Philadelphia Passion does not appear to have a stand alone website and I'm not visiting the main LFL website ever again. That was fast.