Dance in D Minor

There's just no end to the amazement:

Girls Rock A Giant Piano

(Via Boing Boing.)

Twitter reaction time

Cool changes coming to Twitter Search | Webware - CNET:

"Finally, a real-time search story from Jayaram, which he used to illustrate the immediacy of Twitter Search during the panel discussion: he told of being in the Twitter offices in San Francisco on March 30, when the Twitter engineers noticed that the word 'earthquake' had suddenly started trending up. They didn't know where the earthquake was. Several seconds later, their building started to shake. The earthquake had been in Morgan Hill, 60 miles south of San Francisco, and the tweets about the shaker reached the office faster than the seismic waves themselves."

(Via @PragueBob.)

Op-Ed Contributor - End the University as We Know It - NYTimes.com

Op-Ed Contributor - End the University as We Know It - NYTimes.com: ""

(Via .)

Cabinetry and Locksmithing

A truly thought-provoking conceptual artist:

Lucas Murgida at 667 Shotwell from Chris Sollars.

More at lucasmurgida.com.

(Via @frauenfelder.)

Pandemic Influenza

Terry Jones offers a very level-headed, knowledgeable look at what we might be facing:

"I also feel it’s good for someone like me to comment because I’m outside the flu world and the people inside it will be unlikely to say much. Flu is a highly political issue, to put it mildly. People working in the flu research community will be reluctant to speak up. So I should make it very clear that the comments below are just my opinions, and don’t represent anyone else’s thoughts.

I’ll try to just make a few points that I think are fairly sober - neither alarmist, nor dismissive - and to keep speculation out of it."

fluidinfo » Blog Archive » A few comments on pandemic influenza

A different look at small business in crisis

The creative ideas here go far, far beyond photography.

David Hobby on Stepping Outside the Box of the Business of Photography:

"Granted, there are a lot of things to be depressed about in the current photography environment, when it comes to the business side. But more and more, I am starting to believe that as each of the old business models seems to evaporate, a new one emerges to take its place. Even if it may seem like you have to stand out in left field to see it."

David Hobby is renowned in photography circles for teaching (some would say inventing) off-camera lighting techniques and effects based on small flashes rather than large studio strobes. In this long post he talks about using the free time from diminished commercial assignments to do self-assigned pro bono projects which benefit both the subjects and the photographer. The subjects (NGOs, small businesses, or student actors for example) get free or low-cost professional level photos while the photographer gets creative freedom, technical stretching, and portfolio photos which often lead to new kinds of professional assignments.

Established professional photographers often see such projects as beneath them, suitable only for newbees just breaking into the field. Hobby argues that there are huge benefits even for the old pros.

I will certainly be thinking about how these ideas can apply to my situation.

(Via Strobist.)

Dolphins with new toys

Dolphins blowing rings:

(Via Boing Boing.)