They’re cheap – RM0.30/4R print. They’re even trying the viral marketing thing – get bloggers to write about them (no, I am not participating) in exchange for free photos.

I might try there services at some stage, but not today. Why? Because I have to upload photos through my browser. Their “Easy Upload” app displays a silly message saying they don’t support Firefox (so I don’t get the fancy pants editing of images, et al.).

<free advice>If they want to be a smarter Malaysian company, they would partner with Flickr, and harness the Flickr API, so that people can make easy prints from Flickr. After all, advertising for Flickr is already done for free, thanks to Maxis (they love advertising Flickr and how easy it is to use on their phone network). Printing images that are already there, rather than re-uploading (with slow, unreliable Streamyx) will make a whole lot more sense. Besides, each photo coming out of my camera, is probably 5MB in size — so I’ll pass.</free advice>

Here’s wishing Eoe much success, and hope they partner with the likes of Flickr, or just harness their darned API, for easy printing.

Yes, its taken a while for me to go the GPS-phone route… Nokia has had a bunch for a year-18 months already I’m sure (their Navigator phones, the N95, etc.), but for me it all came with the E71 purchase.

I like photos. Its quite natural, that I like Flickr. Its also nice to know that EXIF has so many unused fields, that you can embed location data. Flickr takes the embedded location data and then pairs it with a map. Just look at the following photo of a garden.

The meta information includes Latitude, Longitude, Altitude, as well as GPS Time/GPS Date. The Time/Date fields seem inaccurate (or non-parsed), but the Latitude, Longitude and possibly the Altitude are very correct.

Unfortunately, when I click “map”, I am disappointed. “We’re sorry, the data you have requested is unavailable. Please zoom out to see more map information or refresh your browser to try again” is the sad message I see. Yahoo! Maps doesn’t work too well… but…. Google Maps does! I enter the latitude/longitude combination, and it shows me street level accuracy. In fact, the phone’s GPS picked up the data almost as accurately as a device from Garmin did.

Flickr (and by this I mean, Yahoo!) should tear down the walled garden, and allow people to let the “map” link point to Google Maps.

How does all this work?
In Flickr, make sure you allow it to Import EXIF location data.

On the E71, I installed Nokia Location Tagger. I run this application, allow it to auto-hide, and the camera does its thing. The only way I know Location Tagger is running, is when taking a photo, has a significant lag, as the GPS data is being written. This software can start in the background – just make sure you have a fairly sensible data plan.

I upload images either via Share Online (direct to Flickr from the camera) or via transferring the images to my laptop and then uploading them. The way it gets to Flickr is immaterial – the location data is embedded in the EXIF tags.

Other thoughts
Some say this is a violation of one’s privacy. Because now, people may know where you live, and stalkers may show up. Sure.

I’ve seen examples of this on Picasa (which integrates with Google Maps, and is cool), but I haven’t used the service myself.

Searching for Creative Commons photos, by location, can be a really useful technology for stock photography. Might this disrupt the industry? Might this help, enhance the industry for someone who harnesses it?

spotted in riga, latvia, at the university, during software freedom day 2008.

Truly fitting image about the ISA, in the wake of recent happenings. Feel free to use the image, its CC-BY-NC-SA.

(for those international readers, Kamunting is where the ISA detainees are held [sat view]. This photo however, was taken in the middle of Kuala Lumpur)

I had a media pass – all thanks to Talents Magazine – not that it really mattered, as there were lots of amateur photographers there, crowding the area, looking to capture the moment. Want to know what successfully separated the wheat from the chaff?

The rain. It came, and it poured. Some scurried under tents (and tried to get people to move out of the way). Some managed to scurry under an umbrella. Most ran away, to protect their precious gear. I, I stayed. And shot through the rain. Much to everyone’s surprise.

The highlights, from me?

Suki, a singer, who ate at Mr. Teppanyaki before performing, because I ate there too

The Balloon Competition Winners

The Balloon Competition Winners pt. II

How quickly can you take off a bra?

The models, with body paint

The models, with body paint

I’m too lazy to wade through the entire set of photos again… You go ahead and enjoy the set. Sloggi: Art for Humanity is where its at.

There, that wasn’t so bad. August 23rd 2008 was when the event was at… Its only September 9th 2008 now :)

Anne and Serhan. Cute, aren’t they? Anne’s a really smart cookie, doing a biotech degree, and considering furthering her studies. She seems to always be stressed about weekly tests, but we’ve assured her they don’t last forever.

Don’t hesitate, to see the rest of the gang, attempting to inhale shisha (apparently, also known as hookah). Originated in India, but popular in the Arab world. Impressive. Oh, the rest of the gang – clicky clicky.

I’ve been getting closer and closer to her, and I can now say, that she really does light up my life!

I notice I drive really slowly when she’s in the car. I even turn the headlights on, in broad daylight. Playing with her, I truly get the meaning of a bundle of joy.

Today, she was on my lap, while I was reading a magazine, and attempting to proof-read it. It was serene.

P/S: More and more pictures to be uploaded in due time… My backlog from November 2007, is still around… iFail

I missed the actual birthday, as I was in Sydney for work (conference joy), but a party two days before, definitely made up for it. Don’t hesitate to check the set out.

I’m excited about One Buck Short. Its a band I tend to track, and photograph when the opportunity arises. I have sets, from 2005 when there were at Celcom/8TV Homegrown, and in 2007 when they were at JamAsia’s re-opening. I have photos from their launch that still require processing, so expect them to arrive online soon enough.

luna:toblog ccharles$ ls |wc -l
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For a comeback…

I have been checking in my photographic equipment. I already carry a backpack with 2 laptops and various other tech gear (it probably weighs in at around 10KG, which airlines can frown at). Of late, I’ve also started carrying a briefcase. Where does my camera gear fit? In checked-in luggage of course!

This can be anywhere in the reigns of 3 Canon bodies, a 30/1.4, 50/1.4, 24-70/2.8, 70-200/2.8, 17-40/4, and a couple of flash units. Not exactly the cheapest of equipment, as I’m into good glass (read: L).

However, the one place I don’t tend to check equipment in, is when I fly to and from the US. The TSA have a silly rule that says your bags must be unlocked, or else they will break the lock for you. This has naturally led the paranoid me, not want to carry any professional camera gear into the US.

And today, my paranoia proves right. I found out that Matt (Wordpress fame) lost his camera gear, as did another blogger.

Yes, this is on a certain particular American airline, but I wonder if its just baggage handlers that are dishonest with them, or baggage handlers that are dishonest in general? Also note that insurance tends not to pay (afaik, anyway) if your camera equipment or laptop gear is checked-in.

What are options for the technophiles in us, that fly a lot?