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I get asked this question a lot; so often, I will write a general response. This doesn’t replace the personalized advice that I have given and will continue to give, but it will add to it. For whom is this article intended? I’m thinking of someone who already owns an interchangeable lens full frame (FF, […]

In his epic “El Norte,” award-winning filmmaker Gregory Nava charted the tragic journey of siblings Enrique and Rosa from Guatemala to Los Angeles in pursuit of the American dream. The film’s themes still resonate in this Hispanic Heritage Month four decades later. “El Norte,” released in 1983, was inducted into the Library’s National Film Registry in 1995. It offers a heart-wrenching portrayal of the immigrant experience; today, it is considered …

News came out that Ireland fined Meta (formerly Facebook) $100 million for storing user passwords in plain text (link). The mystery is why they did it. Why even a big tech firm is putting its users at risk by not securing their passwords. Storing passwords in plain text is in itself not harmful to users; the harm appears when bad actors steal these passwords. The lack of password security is …

by Gertrud U. Rey This post was written in honor of Virus Appreciation Day, which occurs annually on October 3. Public awareness of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) began in the early 1980s when separate clusters of infected individuals were identified in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York. These individuals all shared a group of … Why Don’t We Have an HIV Vaccine? Read More »

A seemingly modern moment of abstraction in a medieval manuscript, representing silence as a yellow rectangle.

S alty air. The ocean. Sea birds, Shimmering water, blue skies, and dreams. Above me, Before me. All around me. There’s an ancient saying in Japan, that life is like walking from one side of infinite darkness to another, … 🐞 Read more about it ➞ ➞ ➞

Here are ten new literary agents actively seeking clients. New agents are a boon to writers. They are actively building their lists, and will go the extra mile for their clients.All of these agents work for established agencies with good track records. They are looking for all genres.Always check the agency website and agent bio before submitting. Agents can switch agencies or close their lists, and submission requirements can change. …

After the near-fatal events of Grave Expectations, medium Claire Strange finds herself in the unusual position of being an adult with actual friends who want to spend time and do things with her. For the first time since her late teens—when she became haunted by the ghost of her dead best friend Sophie, and subsequently…

I once thought shitlord planning far more micro than Disaster Capitalism but was wrong, as a macro Disaster Capitalism, a primary requisite requirement for Vulture Capitalism's success, genocidally and sloppily brutally efficient by deliberately reckless design, shouldn't the planning for enshittification be shitty?No one, and by no one I mean the .0000000000000000001% of people in this world (including those blocs opposing the United States of Assholes bloc) who make decisions …

We’ve all been there—rushing to meet a deadline, we throw together a dropdown menu or modal without fully considering its accessibility. But what if making a few small changes could drastically improve the experience for a broader range of users? Accessibility doesn’t have to be a daunting task or a compliance box to tick. It’s about creating products that are usable by everyone, no matter their ability, technical literacy, operating …

Premise One of the things that every leader is expected to do is to find ways to drive significant value from their teams. Good leaders are always trying to look for opportunities that can unlock significant value creation. If you know me at all, you know that I am a big fan of the work done by Dr. Eliyahu Goldratt, the creator of the “Theory of Constraints“. He had this …

Not really a 'question time' per se, as I know they are converted key-rings, and from the sculpting style, from the same stable as the PVC footballers we've seen here once or twice now, so Hong Kong originally, but these are actually solids in a dense polyethylene, so possibly a little earlier? I just wondered if - given the faces - they aren't trying, despite the garish space-suits, to be

Note: this bag was provided for review by Bleu de Chauffe. Bleu de Chauffe is a relatively new brand, having started 2009, but they are doing something rather unique. They are hand making heritage-level bags in France with a focus on sustainability and quality. They sent over their ‘Business Woody’ bag for me to check out, and I’ve fallen in love this bag. It’s unlike anything else I’ve used before, …

Caitie Karasik’s story “Rob Bumble” contains a fabulous first date, roly-poly bugs, a favorite onion, and some deep longing .Here she shares just one thing about the piece:“More than one early reader thought ‘Rob Bumble’ was a memoir piece! It’s pulling from snippets of moments and feelings I’ve known, and I like using a very confessional style of writing, but I've never crashed a funeral. Yet. We’ll see how the …

I was thinking about these weekly things I write and whether there are themes are not. Mainly because I thought last week’s was pretty theme-y. Thematic perhaps. All about ones relationship with the ancillaries surrounding beer. Sorta. I tell myself that by writing these summaries I am tracing, following patterns. But I rarely go back and look. Behind the scenes, there are no graphs being added to every seven days. …