From what I can tell, it’s just an idea. There is a movement of supporters behind it, but it’s not official yet.

They do already have currency that you can buy, even if it never becomes legal tender, it will still be something interesting to show people.

I know why you do it. From that extreme of angle, people can’t tell from your Myspace profile picture that your nose is that big or your acne is that bad. But taking your profile picture from that angle just alerts us that something is wrong. Even if we can’t see it, we know there is something that you are trying to hide. Taking a Myspace profile picture like that isn’t fooling us – it’s just making us suspicious.

I saw a joke going around by email that had a similar theme, but it was just for humor’s sake. I like this one, because it’s actually written by a photographer for a photography blog.

It doesn’t have the ability to print, however you could screen capture it and print it by other means. Hey, it’s not bad for free.

The researchers show that “right-digit effect” influences consumer perception of sale prices. When the right digits are small, people perceive the discount to be larger than when the right digits are large. In other words, an item on sale for $211 from the original price of $222 is thought to be a better deal than an item on sale for $188 from an original price of $199, even though both discounts are $11.

When I considered that example, I found that my initial perception did indeed match the effect they reported. Crazy!

All religions teach (brainwash?) their followers to be “unselfish”. Christians are taught that by doing things for others they are storing up treasures in heaven. The Wiccans believe that any unselfish act will be returned three times over. Islam teaches that performing an act of unselfishness will be praised by Allah in the “record books” as many as 700 times!

It begs the question: Why does your God have to barter with you to get you to do good? And more importantly, doesn’t the knowledge that you will be rewarded for your “good deed”, by nature, make it cease to be an “unselfish act”?

It’s one of the logical paradoxes that really breaks down the foundation of religion as we know it. It’s a universal truth that is brilliant in its simplicity. It’s quite simple: there is no unselfish act.

If, and when, you give money or food to a homeless person, why did you do it? Yes, because that person was hungry, I know. But why does that matter to you? The truth is, you feel bad that the person is hungry, and giving something to them makes you feel better.

And likewise, when you stop on the way home to get flowers or a card or some little gift to bring home to the one you love, why did you do that? Yes, I know, you did it to make them happy. But why? Because it makes you feel good to make them feel good.

Do it in your head. Work the math. Pick any act that you commonly think of as “unselfish” and trace back through the motivation. In the end, it’s easy to see that everything we do is self-serving.

Also by way of Make Magazine, I found this top 10 list of mods for disposable cameras.

By way of Make Magazine I came across a schematic and instructions for building your own lightning-activated shutter release.

Chicago

At long last, here it is: the first photo in a very long time that doesn’t feature some sort of moisture.

It’s interesting how the lack of color in a black-and-white photo can give the subject a completely different feeling. In this case, it seems like the photo might have been taken 100 years ago.

Some events this weekend gave me a lot to think about. I’m not going to get into the details, but it helps the story if you understand that I woke up this morning with a lot on my mind. And that I sat up, wide awake, after 5 hours exactly. Add to this that I got just under 6 hours the night before, and I’d say I’m over the sleep troubles, albeit in trade for a different stress.

My morning was spent, mostly, responding to phone calls and emails from recruiters with positions they want me to fill. Most of them were the typical formal stuff — the candy-coated “getting to know you” experience that I hate — but three were very matter-of-fact, very positive conversations. All three are in different cities in the mid-west, and all three pay very well. However, none of the three is in Columbus.

So I know I can find work, but it seems like it’s everywhere except the place I wanted to be. However, it’s worth noting that I can get round-trip tickets all over the midwest for $99, and at my pay rate, I could do that every weekend without hesitation. That just makes these decisions all the more difficult…

Well, lunch rolls around and I decided to go check the mail. My passport is back, and this time it’s spelled right. And better yet, they returned my money order for expedited fees, so I can get a refund for that $60. That’s a welcome turn of events. Now if I start flying all over every weekend, I can rack up some frequent flyer miles and get out of the country. ¡America del Sur, ya me voy!

I wonder how hard it would be to live in Columbus and work in Chicago…

It’s amazing how much light there really is in the dark. After leaving the shutter open for nearly 30 seconds, I was able to gather enough light to make this almost look like a daytime shot.

Once again, the presence of water makes this photo interesting. I’m starting to wonder if a career could be made shooting only photos that contain some form of moisture.