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

When I think “futuristic” I think “space travel” and “space men.” I’ve never been into space but I have been down Karl Johans Gate in Oslo, Norway.

Please also vote for my entry in last weeks challenge, Large. I’m entry number 193.

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.


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.

Some would say that it can only mean that I have far too much time on my hands. I claim that I’m merely interested. As is often the case, the truth maybe somewhere between the two. But the fact is, I do like to keep an eye how many people are visting ZX81.org.uk and what they’re looking at.

There are also some oddities, I think anyway. My most popular picture is just of a tea leaf! (From when I was in the tea growing region of Sri Lanka.) It’s basically just a standard record shot, and even has a horizontal line across the middle where the lab scratched the negative. Not my greatest photograph. Some day I’ll invest the time to clean it up in Photoshop.

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.

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.