Today I had the honor of meeting Matt Mullenweg (Check his blog) and got a chance to talk to him for about an hour and listen to him talk to others. He’s a cool guy definitely. I really learned a lot about his business model for wordpress.com and how he envisions his company and where he sees it going and where he wants it to go.
and me sporting my new wordpress stickers, because Carlos forgot to get me some and SXSW.
He talked about some cool things that are going to be put into place soon with wordpress. The coolest being monotone. Monotone is a wordpress theme specifically geared for photographers. You can bring in any photo into this theme and it will resize the photo to fit the layout, even if you change themes later the photo will be sized to fit the theme. Also, each photo is analyzed and examined so that the photo can be complimented by an impressive color scheme. Very nice. You can check out a demo of monotone here. He said that it may go live monday or tuesday (April 28th-29th) I can’t wait for this feature because as some of you know I have been put on Guy Kawasaki’s photography.alltop.com page and because I lack a "proper" photo blog they are linking to my flickr site. Yuck, so unprofessional eh? I can not tell you what an honor it is to have my photos up there with some of the worlds most influential photography bloggers out there. Seriously. I am freaking out, just below me is flickr’s blog. Yeah I know.
What a fun day, I picked up a new camera. Kodak Stereo Photo thing. Here’s a pic of it:
Also, I’ve added another photography set to my wedding section on my professional site (Philipsonphotography.com) You can check it out here, I have one more set to do and I’ll be done ’till the weddings this summer.
Well, it’s 1:30am and I have to be at church tomorrow morning then off to shoot models at the beach…
I handed out a science magazine to be passed around the class. I noticed one of my students who has family problems at home and doesn’t really care about school… She’s a sweet girl, good attitude just very apathetic.
She grabbed a hold of one of the magazines and was just devouring it. About 20 minutes later she walked up to my desk and asked,
“What’s a marine biologist?”
I responded, “A scientist who studies marine life”
She was turning around to walk away and I said, “Why do you ask? Do you want to be one one day?”
And she turned around with a big smile and nodded her head and went back to her desk…
So flickr video is up and a lot of people are not to happy about it… they think it’s going to turn into YouTube… I’m just going to kick back and see… Youtube is open to the masses and people are stupid. Flickr you actually have to pay for so that in and of itself filters out 99% of the idiots out there… I saw this with Merlin Mann from 43 folders and thought it hilarious:
There are things I’m toying with. Decisions that need to be made. First off what to do? Right now I’m a teacher in Hawaii, it is ok but it really is not me. Just not feeling it. I mean, don’t get me wrong you get great time off and there are a lot of things that just don’t jive with me. So what to do? Couple options.
1. I interviewed for a job with Oceanit. They are an engineering company with a great vision and outlook for world change. I really like the office environment and they really like my ideas and my vision for world change. It’s not guaranteed or anything so not trying to get my hopes up. I’m due in for a second interview, I’m just waiting for a date.
If I get the job it would be awesome. A company that could actually use my ideas, use me! I can apply everything that I’ve learned to make a difference and I would be supported and appreciated. Those are big things for me. This seems like a place where I can grow and learn, two other really big things for me. If you know me, when I stop learning I start getting bored. If I start getting bored I have to move on. Oceanit seems like a place that would let me dip into any part of the company and not only will they allow me to explore with different tools or experiences but that they would encourage it. Bonus, I would get to stay in Hawaii. YAY!
2. Travel for a year. Yes, I would. Goal is simple, make it around the world and take pictures along the way. Do it now while I’m young right? I would love more than anything to take my photography skills around the world.
3. Join the Peace Corps. I really think I would enjoy this. I would definitely learn a lot about different cultures, I wonder if they need a photographer?
So that covers my work areas.
Photography has always been my passion. I’ve always wanted to incorporate that into almost everything I do. I got a phone call yesterday from a man who is starting an online travel magazine for Hawaii. He wants me to be his main photographer. How awesome is that? I’m meeting with him on Monday and I will blog what happens or you can follow me on twitter.
Last night I was interviewed by Hawaii blog GoVisitHawaii.com on photography tips. So if you’re my friend and you always ask me how you can improve your photos here you go. Someone wrote it down this time! Sweet!
Ok so in other news. Almost three weeks ago I started a social network for my College. I was wondering how they would view it. The college is very concerned about their image and how they are viewed which is very important so they tend to be a bit leery about new technologies. I’m really glad that they like it and think that this would be a great tool for keeping people connected. I really see the value in social networking and what it can do not just as a whole but even in very specific instances such as corporations or organizations.
Anyways, I’m going to do a video podcast on net philosophy and openness and all that stuff sometime. I promise. As for right now I leave you with one of the songs that I will be playing with my orchestra. Beethoven’s Egmont Overture:
