Prof. Boerner's Explorations

The digital book war goes on… Microsoft, Amazon and Yahoo have joined a number of library associations in opposing Google’s attempt to create a ubiquitous digital archive of books, under copyright or out of copyright. This is a battle that needs to be watched closely. What do you think? Let me know…

BOOK BATTLE: Microsoft, Amazon, and Yahoo Challenge Google Over Book Settlement

Google Book Search is a GoogleGoogle project that has promised to offer millions of books and published material to the masses in an archived and online format…
Source: mashable.com

Enhancing your Gmail ‘signature’ – 5 Suggestions… You might want to try some of these if you are using Gmail. If you try them out, let me know, one way or another…

5 Ways to Spice Up Your Gmail Signature

If you’re a Gmail user looking for some ways to mix it up a bit, you’ve come to the right place. Here are five ways to spice up your Gmail signature.
Source: mashable.com

Is Germany doing a better job with their stimulus money than the US? It would seem so. If the fights over the use of these money in SoCal is any indication, then Germany IS DOING better with their stimulus package. It seems that our unions are wanting to ‘gobble up’ the funds to protect their people instead of letting it be spent on infrastructure development. If the unions win out, then those monies are going to be sucked into a BIG, BLACK HOLE! What do you think? Let me know…

Financial Crisis Fairytale: German Castles Cash in on Stimulus Programs – SPIEGEL ONLINE – News – In

Germany’s biggest slump since the 1930s is good news for its historic palaces and castles — they’re receiving more than 320 million euros in government cash for a wave of refurbishment aimed partly at boosting the construction sector. Visitor numbers are up too as Germans shun foreign vacations.
Source: www.spiegel.de

Back-to-School Safety Tips for Parents… Here are some good ‘heads-up’ on the types of dangers your kids can encounter when they return to school this fall. Take a look and let me know what you think…

User post: School Days… Back-to-School Safety Tips Help Reduce Accidents & Injuries – Parenting on S

Safety concernscan easilytake a backseat amid the rush to stock up on fresh school supplies and fall’s hottest elementary-school fashions. But most parentsare surprised to know that school-relatedaccidents account for about…
Source: shine.yahoo.com

The controversy continues over looted Nazi artwork… An appeals court has recently ruled against an heir of the owner of some art treasures looted by the Nazi’s during WWII. The California law that permitted a longer period in which the heirs could claim ownership was overturned a few years ago. This still leaves museums, that purchased those art treasures in good faith, in a never-never land still. This controversy will continue for some time to come. What would be fair?

Appeals court overturns Holocaust looted-art law, but Norton Simon suit continues | Culture Monster

A federal appeals court today struck down as unconstitutional a 2002 California law giving owners and heirs to artworks looted by the Nazis extra time — until the end of 2010 — to sue for their return. But the 2-1…
Source: latimesblogs.latimes.com

Can you judge a book by its cover? That old question has become a cliché and been swept aside as a critical factor, by everyone but the publishers. This article seems to be indicating that, based on the Kindle book buying experience, it is true. Because the cover graphics in the order area of the Kindle are 16-bit, monochrome graphics, people seem to be making their book choices more on title and content description rather than on the attractiveness of the cover which may be unrelated to content. What do you think about this? Let us know…

Does Kindle stop you buying a book by its cover? | Technically Incorrect – CNET News

Perhaps one of the unsung influences of Kindle is the way that it has reduced, or, some say, even eliminated, the influence of book cover design. Read this blog post by Chris Matyszczyk on Technically Incorrect.
Source: news.cnet.com

Ready to update your Windows Mobile device again and again? That’s what will be required to reach the ‘real’ version in ?February, 2010?… So what will you do? Upgrade twice or just stay with what you have. And, more importantly, will the 2010 version compete with the iPhone OS or the Android OS… What do you think?

Microsoft’s Windows Mobile Strategy: Too Much, Too Late?

Digitimes has a report on an alleged roadmap for Microsoft’s Windows Mobile platform. It seems that the Redmond giant has opted for a dual approach: they will…
Source: mashable.com

by Gerald Boerner

"Think of a photograph as a conversation among the photographer, the subject, and the viewer. During such a conversation, participants not only exchange words but also formulate meaning based on content… of how words are spoken, to whom they are spoken, the body language of participants, and the environment in which the conversation takes place" — Robert Hirsch, Photographer and Educator

Bonus Photographer’s Thought for the Day… “This puts process in service of concept to create meaningful content [in your photographs]. This can occur when the heart and the mind combine to form an idea from the imagination and find the most suitable technical means of bringing it into existence.” — Robert Hirsch, Photographer and Educator

Robert Hirsch is an acclaimed photographer and writer. His current series World in a Jar: War and Trauma has been exhibited at such places as Parsons School of Design, South East Center of Contemporary Art and Light Work in Syracuse, New York. In addition to contributing to such publications as Afterimage, exposure, and The Photo Review, Hirsch has published several important books on photography that include: Seizing the Light: A Social History of Photography and Light and Lens: Photography in the Digital Age. Hirsch is an former Associate Editor for Digital Camera(UK) and Photovision Magazine, and a contributor to Afterimage, exposure, Buffalo Spree, Fotophile, FYI, History of Photography, Ilford Photo Instructor Newsletter, and The Photo Review.

[Biographical information is from the Wikipedia article on Robert Hirsch that can be found at: http://lightresearch.net/contact.html ]

by Gerald Boerner

"War is an invention of the human mind. The human mind can invent peace with justice." — Norman Cousins, Editor and Writer

Bonus Thought for the Day… “The essential lesson most people still resist is that they are members of one species. It is this that we all share—the emergence of a common destiny and the beginning of the perception, however misty, that something beyond the nation will have to be brought into being if the human race is to have any meaning.” — Norman Cousins, Editor and Writer

Norman Cousins was a vocal opponent of the nuclear arms race and the Vietnam War. He was the long-time editor of the Saturday Review and wrote the now-famous editorial “Modern Man is Obsolete” in which he explored the implications of the atomic age following Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This editorial appeared mere days following the bombing of those Japanese cities.

Cousins also wrote a collection of non-fiction books on the same subjects, such as the 1953 Who Speaks for Man? , which advocated a World Federation and nuclear disarmament. Cousins was also awarded the Eleanor Roosevelt Peace Award in 1963, the Family Man of the Year Award in 1968, the United Nations Peace Medal in 1971, and the Niwano Peace Prize in 1990. His proudest moment by his own reckoning, however, was when Albert Einstein called him to Princeton University to discuss issues of nuclear disarmament and world federalism.

[Biographical information is from the Wikipedia article on Norman Cousins that can be found at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Cousins ]

Photo of a Metrolink engine passing by me at about 25 mph through Riverside (by the Riverside Plaza).
[Photo by Gerald Boerner]

I caught this Metrolink train one morning after an night of rain showers. The sun was just starting to peak through the remaining cloud cover. I caught an angle that allowed me to obtain the reflection of the signals in the side of the train. Love this one…
[Photo by Gerald Boerner]

I was on the elevated walkway between the two sides of the Metrolink station in La Sierra (Riverside, CA) one spring morning shortly after sunrise. It was foggy (see background) along came this freight train pulling a line of similar tank cars moving about 40 mph; in my many days of observing the BNSF trains, seldom had I seen one that had only one type of cars. I loved the image of this train receding into the distance around the bend in the tracts (distance).
[Photo by Gerald Boerner]

Another train caught this BNSF freight train coming through the La Sierra (Riverside, CA) station at 40 mph. I loved the blend of colors that are caught in this image. For this one, I was on the platform at ground level about 9 am. Another of my favorites!
[Photo by Gerald Boerner]

I caught this image on a cool November morning at the Inland Empire Railway Museum in Perris, CA. They run this steam engine one weekend each month. The cool morning and the hot steam combined to produce rain-like droplets of water that showered me as it passed by me. The sun flare was not intentional but does enhance the image.
[Photo by Gerald Boerner on B/W film and then scanned]

All photos are Copyright©2007-2009 by GLB-Photo
— All Rights Reserved —