LA Times article on PayPerPost

Friday's LA Times had an extensive article about PayPerPost in the Business section. It was on the front page of that section in the lower half and included two photos. Most of it featured the top earner on PayPerPost, Colleen. I don't think it was a balanced article. It was similar to the one I was part of a few months ago where you are interviewed and you provide examples and respond to questions, only to find that you are portrayed in a negative light in the article. I guess that's the way it goes, but in this article, there are quotes from two critics of PayPerPost, which is good to provide balance, but the writer has a biased slant against it also, and that comes through in the way he describes the two PayPerPost bloggers who are part of the story.

Some of their fellow bloggers are critical, saying the industry is polluting the blog world and misleading consumers by blurring the line between advertising and unbiased opinion.

"The problem is the advertisers are trying to buy a blogger's voice, and once they've bought it they own it," said Jeff Jarvis, a City University of New York journalism professor who writes about technology at BuzzMachine.com.

"PayPerPost versus authentic blogging is like comparing prostitution with making love to someone you care for deeply. No one with any level of ethics would get involved with these clowns," said Jason McCabe Calacanis, an entrepreneur who co-founded Weblogs Inc., a network of blogs that includes popular technology site Engadget.

The problem with this quote is that the "fellow bloggers" quoted aren't really the same kind of bloggers as the ones who participate in PayPerPost. Jason Calacanis started weblogs, inc., which consists of a bunch of sites which have paid bloggers writing about specific topics such as electronics, video games, Apple, and more. Each of these sites contains lots of ads -- under the header, in the sidebar and in between the posts. I like these sites and check them frequently, but there is no disclosure on these sites like Engadget about what kinds of relationships exist between the writers and the products they write about. Jason Calacanis has frequently criticised PayPerPost in regard to disclosure, and he also has ads and endorsements on his personal blog with no disclosure. In fact, he attacks PayPerPost based on the LA Times article on a post on his own blog. I have to agree with the idea that disclosure at the top of each post is the way to go. I have done this with most of my posts and have tried to go back and correct the others. I do need to develop a better system to make it easier to do that.

Jeff Jarvis is a former reporter, a professor and not the typical blogger. He does have a very extensive disclosure on his site though.

There is no disclosure I could find on Jason Calacanis' site, just a bio written in the third person.

NoCal knocking out SoCal

It looked like both of my schools, Cal and Stanford, were going to take out the LA schools, UCLA and USC in the Pac-10 tournament. Cal did well and Stanford was up big at halftime, but then faded in the second half and allowed USC to tie it. Overtime is not looking good for Stanford which seems to lack the court leadership they need in games like this. I say put both of those Lopez guys in there at the same time and take away the inside from USC. We'll see what happens, but if Stanford doesn't pull it out they probably are not going to get into the NCAA tournament.

Shopping for Brilliant Diamonds?

Buying diamonds requires some serious shopping. Diamonds have a special meaning associated with them, and in some cases, a special price, too. Brilliant Diamonds is a site where you can find Diamonds For Engagement Rings as well as wedding rings, earrings, and necklaces. Brilliant Diamonds can help you learn about diamonds before you spend your money -- check out their 10 part audiocast on the ten things you should know before buying a diamond. The audiocast has a nice casual style and hits the important points. They tell you up front that when you are about to invest thousands of dollars in a diamond, you need to be informed. Their Diamond Buying Guide is also a good place to start if you don't know where to start. Once you are informed about diamonds and are ready to start looking, take a look at what's available from Brilliant Diamonds. This site is a one stop shop for learning about and buying diamonds, so if you are looking for a diamond for a special gift, put Brilliant Diamonds at the top of your shopping list.

Photography assault

Last night was our final class in the night photography course. People had some nice images to share and discuss, but there was one disturbing story. One of the guys in the class had been taking photos yesterday of some buildings in downtown Riverside near the jail. He had his camera on a tripod and his backpack was nearby with a can of spray mount in the outside pocket. The way he described it, three sheriffs who work in the jail completed their shifts, exited the building, and walked past him on the sidewalk. They walked a little farther, then turned around and came back and tackled him and held him on the ground. They claimed that he had tagged a building and was taking pictures of it. The problem with that idea was that he didn't have any spray paint and what they thought was spray paint was the spray mount he had with him to mount his pictures for class. He yelled at them and they threatened to handcuff him but eventually let him go. Given Riverside's dismal record when it comes to policing problems, even though these guys were not police officers, it's a very scary incident. They gave no warning and had no evidence. The guy was a photography student, not a tagger and he had done nothing wrong. He seemed willing to let it go, but if there are members of law enforcement in Riverside going around assaulting citizens on the street, someone should know about it.

night photo class ends

Tonight is the last meeting of the night photography class. It was only 6 weeks and I was sick one week and missed that class, so it has gone by quickly. At first I wasn't sure what I was going to learn that might be useful, but it ended up being very interesting. I was happy with what I learned and the assignments were very useful. I think I got way more out of it than I expected.

Dick Vitale for Basketball Hall of Fame

Bob Knight is campaigning for Dick Vitale to be selected for the Basketball Hall of Fame. I didn't know those guys were buddies, but I think it's a good idea. Dick Vitale is Mr. Positive and has done his share to promote college basketball. He is a little over the top at times, maybe most of the time, but he seems like a good guy to be around. I'd vote for him!

CS3 will be good for Apple

Blogger is not treating me well. I had my whole post disappear when it caused Firefox to disappear. According to MacWorld, Apple may gain close to a billion dollars in profits from sales of high end Macs to people waiting for the release of Photoshop CS3 later this month. I am not sure if I'll be buying CS3. I don't use it much, but it sure is faster on my MacBook Pro than CS2 and maybe with my new interest in HDR photography, it will be worth the upgrade. The academic price for CS2 is around $289, so if CS3 is similar, it might be something I can afford. I don't like buying expensive software that I don't use much, though, so I'll have to think about it.

Night photo

This was one case where combining images to create an HDR image didn't improve things. I think it was too dark and there wasn't enough variation. This is the Fire Station in Old Town Temecula. It looks old, but I don't know how old it is. There are separate sleeping quarters in an adjacent building. I think it's worth going back and getting some shots during the day, although the traffic will be an issue.

HDR prints

I picked up my prints of the HDR images. They were accurate since I used the printer profiles at Costco, so I didn't have any surprises, but the sharpness and lightness that you get on screen isn't there on paper. Maybe I could get better results at home with my Epson printer where I can more easily adjustments.

Phoenix Glass Repair

Driving can be hazardous to your car's windshield. Little rocks fly up, hit your windshield and you've got a chip or a crack, just like that. Well, if that happens in Phoenix, give Phoenix Auto Glass Company a call. They know everything about auto glass repair in Phoenix and are certified by the National Glass Association. They can take care of chip repair or if that won't do it, they'll replace your windshield or door glass. They are approved by all major insurance companies and are available 24 hours a day. There's no extra charge for their mobile service, so they'll come to your home or workplace and do the job there so you don't lose any time waiting. They offer a lifetime guarantee on parts, labor and materials which is good as long as you own or lease your vehicle.

Who's going to PostieCon

There should be a big crowd at PostieCon in Orlando in June. I'd like to go but I think think that's going to happen. If you go, I recommend a side trip to Celebration. I spent about 3 months there doing research for Apple when it first opened.

HDR photos

I ended up with a small number of HDR photos that I liked. There were a few which didn't turn out to be anything special. It seems like a wider range of aperture settings produces a better HDR image, even if you are only using 3 images. In some cases, I had 7 - 9 pictures and there wasn't enough range in there to produce anything interesting. The fact that most of mine were shot at night didn't help. The ones that looked best were shot at twilight.

Ready for a day off on Monday

I don't think I've ever adjusted to the new work schedule my wife has. She works every weekend as well as other days during the week. So for me, the weekend isn't a time to relax. It's a never ending grind of washing clothes, yard work, cleaning the house and more. By the time Monday comes around, I'm ready for a break, but it's time for me to get back to work. It feels like more and more things are not getting done that should be getting done and there is less time to do them.

California STAR Writing test

One of my sons is in fourth grade and will be taking the STAR Writing test this week. They get a few hours to read and respond to a story in a chosen format -- summary, friendly letter, etc. I think the test is more important for the school than for an individual child, although there is certainly some importance for both. What surprises me is how much my son knows about constructing an essay and responding to literature. He knows things that I didn't learn until my last year of high school. Whether or not these things have been taught because of the test or not, I think it's good to have that internal structure of an essay or letter and to develop as a writer over time. He seems to be off to a good start.

Lakers fading fast

I didn't expect too much from the Lakers this year, but they got off to a very good start with all those home games and things were looking pretty good. Then the injuries started and although they hung in there, right before the all-star break, they really hit the skids. They lost too many of their big men, plus with Luke Walton out of the lineup, they didn't have as many good passers. I think the lack of an experienced point guard also hurt at that point. It looked better when Lamar Odom came back, as he slowly got to where he was, but now he's out again and even though the Lakers are in sixth place, I think they are going to continue to fade. If Luke Walton gets back in the lineup and plays well, they may pick it up a little bit, but otherwise I don't see them moving up.

Best Buy secret web site

This kind of thing makes me reconsider whether or not I should ever shop at Best Buy again. I don't go there much but if I ever wanted to bargain with them based on a price on their web site, this would not make me happy. Best Buy maintains a secret web site with higher prices than you find on their public site, so when a customer comes in and asks for a price reduction based on what they saw online, a Best Buy sales person accesses the hidden side and shows that the allegedly lower price doesn't really exist.

From the Hartford Courant (via BoingBoing):

Under pressure from state investigators, Best Buy is now confirming my reporting that its stores have a secret intranet site that has been used to block some consumers from getting cheaper prices advertised on BestBuy.com.

and

This is not the first time the giant electronic retailer has gotten into trouble misleading customers. The firm, based in Minneapolis, operates more than 1,100 electronic retail stores in the U.S., Canada and China. It has more than 125,000 full-time employees.

Attorneys general in New Jersey and Ohio have accused Best Buy of deceptive sales practices, repackaging used merchandise and selling it as new, and failing to pay rebates and refunds. It paid $135,000 in New Jersey three years ago to settle that state's suit, which was based on hundreds of consumer complaints. The Ohio case is ongoing.

More night photography

I went to Old Town Temecula to photograph some buildings at sunset. Old Town does have some historical significance, and there are some buildings which are actually old, but many of them are just made to look old for the sake of tourism. It was interesting to be there as it got dark. I was able to get some good shots of a new building which is the home of a law firm. I wasn't sure if someone was going to run out and threaten to sue me for taking pictures. Across the street is a building which actually is very old. It had no lights, so my pictures there may not be as interesting, but the building has been sold and is going to be moved. I tried to shoot enough shots for some high dynamic range images. We'll see how that turns out. I think I should be using a heavier tripod to insure that the camera does not move at all.

NBA MVP

Kelly Dwyer at CNNSI says Dirk Ｎowitzki is the clear choice for MVP. He's a great player on the team with the best record, and maybe he will win the award this year, but my choice is still Steve Nash. Phoenix is the most exciting team, and Nash is the reason they win. He might not be the best player on his own team, but Ｉ think he's still the most valuable player. In another poll I saw, Nash was number 1 and Dirk wasn't even in the top 4. We'll see.

Ｓaving disk space

Ｗhen your hard drive is close to full, performance suffers. Ａpplications like to have room for virtual memory as well as to store temporary files and when you get down to just a little free space, it's a bad deal. Ｉ was reading an article today on the ＭacＷorld site about ways to get back some disk space that isn't really being used. Ｔhe author suggested Ｍonolingual for removing the many languages which are installed as part of ＯＳ Ｘ but which may never be used. Ｉ figured that was a good place to start and Ｉ saved 5 ＧＢ on my laptop and about 9 on my iＭac. Ｓeemed great until Ｉ went to actually use my laptop and found that Ｉ may have done something wrong and deleted the key layout or something. Ｎow Ｉ can't type a dollar sign -- Ｉ get this： ¥ -- and my text entry is in a strange font where the spacing is not right when Ｉ use capital letters Ｌike Ｔhis. Ｈmmm. Ｉ hope Ｉ don't have to reinstall the ＯＳ...

Ｐhotographing buildings at sunset

Ｉ spent some time taking pictures of the Ｂell Ｔower at ＵＣ Ｒiverside this evening. Ｉt was interesting how quickly things changed as the sun went down. Ｔhe Ｂell Ｔower is a nice structure to photograph, especially from the side in front of Ｒivera library where you can include the scalloped roof segments which repeat along with the columns along the walkway leading to the library. Ａnsel Ａdams took the same shot when he photographed ＵＣＲ in the early 1960's. Ｈe did a better job, but Ｉ did my best to get some interesting shots.