General | The Java Jive

Bali for 5 weeks

Posted on 14. Jul, 2012 by Brandon.

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I haven’t fallen off the face of the earth – I’ve just been much less disconnected in Bali for the past 5 weeks. I’ll update more appropriately soon. This poor blog turns 10 years old in a couple of months – need to breathe some life back into it!

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India, Thailand and all between

Posted on 12. Apr, 2012 by Brandon.

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Man it’s been a busy 6 weeks. I’ve been in Bombay/Mumbai, India, Bangkok and Koh Samet (Samed) Thailand, all whilst working on a Master’s degree. Photos to come soon. Just a quick update to acknowledge that I’m still vertical.

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Site has been down due to Dreamhost problems

Posted on 29. Feb, 2012 by Brandon.

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Just a quick note – this blog has been down 4 times in the past three weeks due to my webhost, Dreamhost, encountering problems.

This past downtime has been over 48 hours – which is quite alarming.

I’ll be investigating other webhosts as coincidentally my renewal with Dreamhost is up in two weeks. I’ve been using their services since 2006 with mostly positive support but this is simply not acceptable. If you have recommendations for other hosts, please drop me a line so I can consider them.

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Google does Valentine’s Day.

Posted on 13. Feb, 2012 by Brandon.

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Google does Valentine’s Day. Search for:

sqrt(cos(x))*cos(300x)+sqrt(abs(x))-0.7)*(4-x*x)^0.01, sqrt(6-x^2), -sqrt(6-x^2) from -4.5 to 4.5

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5GB Free Dropbox Space For Helping to Beta Test Camera Upload Feature

Posted on 03. Feb, 2012 by Brandon.

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Dropbox is currently offering 5GB of free space for beta testers to test their new camera upload feature.

I tried it this morning at home and am letting it run all day and
confirm that it’s working properly. For every 500mb of pics / videos
uploaded, you’ll get 500mb free up to 5GB. Not a bad deal if you’re a Dropbox user.

Here’s the link – not sure how long it’ll be available.

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Social media vs blogging (Google+, 500px, Twitter, Facebook, etc)

Posted on 19. Dec, 2011 by Brandon.

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I’ve been slacking on the blogging front, mostly due to my workload and recent travels to Indonesia and Puerto Galera, but also due to the fact that I’ve been posting in various other places (Google+, Twitter, Facebook, 500px, etc). I realize many bloggers have jumped ship for an easier, micro-blogging style of presenting a lifestream, but I have no desire to abandon this blog no matter how busy I get.

Here are some of the other ways to keep track of my photography and travels (the links are directed to my various profiles):

Google+

I find Google+ to be a great place to discover new photographers. I’ve been seeking a viable alternative to Flickr for quite sometime. I think Google needs to figure out where this is going, but it seems to have far more more traction than Buzz. It’s also grown much more quickly than I had expected. In only two months of being active, I’ve developed over 5,600 followers. I’ve been using Twitter for nearly 5 years and have only about 1,400 followers. Not that the number of followers necessary reflects any significance.

500px

500px is an interesting development. I receive far far less “views” on photos there and have almost no social contact or feedback – and that’s ok – cause the minimalistic design and clean portfolio options trump the cluttered feeling one gets when viewing Flickr. I’ll be uploading less work here but more of my culled photos.

Twitter

Even after nearly 5 years, Twitter still has a purpose. I’ve gone through many phases with its use, but it’s still unbeatable in terms of reaching certain groups, colleagues, resources and perspectives.

What are your preferred social media tools? Do you still see a place for blogs?

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Christmas in Manila

Posted on 19. Dec, 2011 by Brandon.

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We’ve decided to hang out in Manila for at least part of the 24 day break I’m currently enjoying. We debated heading to the island of Palawan but considering we were just in Jakarta and Bali last month, sticking around home sounds appealing. We may head down to the island south of Luzon, to Puerto Galera, but I was also just there two weeks ago so not sure if that’s a go. In all of Asia, I’d wager that the Philippines is the most active in terms of Christmas celebrations. There’s a definite energy and excitement flowing throughout the city. Sure I’d love to be chilling on an exotic beach, but it’s not so bad hanging around home for once.