Microsoft have been getting lots of press recently because of their new Zune music player. One of its major features is its wireless interface that lets you share music; even most of the advertising talks about the social implications¹. But let’s have a quick look at that functionality in more detail.

If I decide that I want to expend an hour of battery life in order to see other Zunes in the area, what can I do? Most famously you can transfer songs. As I’m sure you’ve heard by now, there are limits. When I receive a song, I can play it three times or hang onto it for three days² but after that all I get is an electronic post-it note reminding me about it. Clearly a lot of thought and a lot of engineering effort has gone into these limitations.

This is the second (and final) post about the Printing-1 photo book printing service. Last month I wrote about the ordering process, here I discuss the finished product and draw an overall conclusion comparing it with the books I saw last year¹.

The time-line looks something like this: the order went out on the evening of the 17th April; the dispatch notice email arrived on the 25th April; and the finished item arrived at lunchtime on the 30th April. This, by the way, is with express (DHL) delivery. It looks like it was printed in and dispatched from Germany. I still find it slightly surprising that, of the four services I have tried so far, only one has a full operation in the UK.

This weeks PhotoFriday theme is Relaxation. You can’t get much more relaxed than this market trader in Hue, Vietnam. The eagle-eyed may note that I’ve used this image for PhotoFriday before. What can I say? It amuses me!

Please vote for my entry in last weeks PhotoFriday challenge.

Last year I performed a photo-book group test, comparing the results from three different suppliers, Apple, MyPublisher and PhotoBox. The good news for consumers is that there are always new entrants to the market. This time a company called Printing-1¹ contacted me and asked for my opinion on their wares. That’s to say, while last years books were paid for out of my own pocket this one was not.

This test follows a similar pattern to last time. This post documents the software and the ordering process; the next will talk about the quality of the finished product. The initial order was placed on the evening of 17th April.


This weeks PhotoFriday theme is “Blessing.” Here is my entry.

This was taken in Havana, Cuba. These slates can be found in a cemetery and are blessings for a woman thought to bring good luck and fertility. (If I remember correctly!)

Please also vote for my entry in last weeks “Growth” challenge.

This weeks PhotoFriday theme is “Addiction.” The above image was taken after a cigar making demonstration in Trinidad, Cuba.

Please also vote for my entry in last weeks contest. I’m entry number 333.

This weeks PhotoFriday theme is Sky. My entry was taken a couple of years ago on a walking holiday in Tuscany. I used my EOS300 and Fuji Sensia 100 slide film.

For those that got here via Google and those other people that don’t know me, I’ll start with a confession: I am not a wedding photographer. I am keen amateur photographer, mainly concentrating on travel and occasionally branching out into portraits. However having a reputation among friends as “the photographer” has resulted in a number of people asking me to take pictures at their wedding.

It’s something I have generally resisted. It struck me as just too high risk. Wedding pictures will, hopefully, last a life-time and I didn’t want the pressure of needing to get everything right on the day. Even if you discount all the variables around the camera, computers and memory cards, there are so many other things that could go wrong. The weather; missing shots¹; people blinking or looking on the wrong way; people inadvertently missing²; annoying things in the back-ground³. And then, since neither of these were commercial ventures, I would have to take all this into account as well as actually trying to enjoy the event as a guest, and, in one case, as a best man.

This weeks PhotoFriday theme is Brother and here is my entry. It was taken in Vietnam on a boat trip down the Perfume River. Ordinarily you’d be worried about two kids piloting a boat, but they seemed to know what they were doing…

Please vote for my entry in last weeks competition. I’m entry number 356.

This weeks PhotoFriday theme is Peaceful. This image was taken in Desenzano, Italy. It’s one of the first pictures I ever took on slide film, this time Fuji Velvia 50.