Civic Center (Los Angeles, CA)
Don't fear the shadows
1
Monthly Archives: February 2009
A warm, fuzzy feeling
I've got the chops to be a cinematographer
I got an email from Philip late last night, saying:
I just decided you will be my cinematographer if/when I ever decide to shoot some video.
Nice. 
P.S. Can my decent photography skills[1. Snicker snicker.] really carry over to video? *shrug*
Kickin back with his hair
Like a caged tiger
[TSP] Show at the Whisky – February 28, 2009
The Scarlet Paradigm at the Whisky (Photo by Michael Kang)
We (The Scarlet Paradigm) have another gig at the Whisky (West Hollywood). It’s a late one, but we’ll make it worth your time. People seem to love us, too, so come out!
Our set is next Saturday, February 28th, 2009 at 11pm, but bands start performing at 8pm. (More details and tickets)
***
Are you a photographer? First of all, the venue is camera friendly. We’d love to see any photos you take of us!
I could also use some company walking up and down Sunset for some street photography. (Hopefully some Flickr friends will join us.) We just have to be at sound check at 3:00pm, so we’ll probably be done around 4-4:30pm. That’s a lot of time to kill. Let me know if you can hang out, yeah?
Los Angeles Flickr Meetup – February 21, 2009
This Saturday, I’ll be attending a huge photowalk (meetup) with the Los Angeles Flickr Group.
- When: Saturday, February 21st, 2:00-6:00 PM
- Where: Union Station/Chinatown/Olvera Street
- Open to all Los Angeles Group members (join first and say hi in the discussion thread)
You don’t need the latest SLR camera. Any camera will do. Just come and hang out!
As a bonus, there’s going to be a few prizes:
- 1st Prize: 1-yr Flickr Pro Account
- 2nd Prize: Starbucks Gift Card
- 3rd Prize: Starbucks Gift Card
- Best in Film Category: A Holga Camera
See you there!
More details at the discussion thread, including the map, rules, and fine print
If you like breathing dirt, change nothing
This is what the cabin air filter of my 2003 Toyota Corolla looks like after ~94,000 miles. That’s way overdue!
The one on the right is a new Bosch cabin air filter. I bought it at Kragen for a little over $17 with tax, then took 5 minutes to swap it was the old, filthy cabin air filter.[1. How to Change the Cabin Air Filter in a Toyota (wikiHow)]
From now on, it goes every 10,000 miles.
Whoa, I was warned back in October 2007 by Clever Dude. Unbelievable!
[amtap amazon:asin=B00162AKB0]
Hiya Citrus
School started up yesterday. I’m taking a couple classes this semester at Citrus College, continuing my journey for a degree in Computer Information Systems. That means my workload goes up — a lot.
More later.
Facebook’s ridiculous new Terms Of Service and alternatives
I eased my stance on uploading photos to Facebook awhile ago because most of my friends there weren’t necessarily using Flickr.[1. I limited myself to uploading photos of my friends.] But, the recent change to their Terms of Service (TOS)[2. On their website, it's also called "Terms of Use."] is unacceptable.
From Consumerist:
Facebook’s terms of service (TOS) used to say that when you closed an account on their network, any rights they claimed to the original content you uploaded would expire. Not anymore.
Now, anything you upload to Facebook can be used by Facebook in any way they deem fit, forever, no matter what you do later. Want to close your account? Good for you, but Facebook still has the right to do whatever it wants with your old content. They can even [sub license] it if they want.
I feel that I have no choice but to close my account.
But where can you go without Facebook?
Try:
- Twitter for status updates – I’m @bryan
- FriendFeed to share web stuff and see things your friends and contacts are interested in – I’m bryanvillarin
- Flickr, Zenfolio[3. Use my referral code for a $5 discount: 8E1-4V5-FH4], or Smugmug for sharing photos – I’m bryanvillarin on Flickr and my Zenfolio-powered website is Bryan Villarin Photography.com
- E-mail for direct correspondence – see my contact page
Update 2/16/2009 10:25pm — Here’s more insight across the web:
- Facebook terms of service compared with MySpace, Flickr, Picasa, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Twitter (Amanda L. French, Ph.D.)
- Facebook Clarifies Terms Of Service: “We Do Not Own Your Stuff Forever” (Consumerist)
- Facebook Change of Policy: Why You Should Care (Pixel Bits)
- Word of advice: get your blog content off Facebook ASAP (The Inquisitr)
- Yet Another Reason Why I Don’t Trust Facebook (Webomatica)
Update 2/16/2009 11:54pm — A couple more?
- I’m Done With Facebook (Edward Champion’s Reluctant Habits)
- Facebook’s Terms of Use Go From Bad to Worse (Photo Attorney)
Update 2/17/2009 10:20am — Jim Goldstein analyzes Facebook’s new Terms of Use to explain why this affects you. He also gets interviewed by Joe Vazquez of KPIX (San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose). Definitely one of the most thorough.
I forgot to mention another service: WordPress.com (or WordPress if you have your own domain name and server). They won’t take your intellectual property.
My Facebook account is deactivated. (Why deactivated? Because they don’t let you delete your account.)
I do need to create a terms of use page here, which will tell anyone not to upload my photos to Facebook.
Update 2/17/2009 8:38pm — Oops. You can delete your account through this link. Just make sure you’re 100% positive because there’s no turning back. (via Jim Goldstein / PlagarismToday)
Also…
The backlash against Facebook’s updated privacy policies is about to expand. The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) is preparing to file a formal complaint with the Federal Trade Commission over the social network’s updated licenses, PC World has learned.
“We think that Facebook should go back to its original terms of service,” says EPIC Executive Director Marc Rotenberg.
EPIC expects to have its complaint submitted to the FTC by the end of Tuesday. [PC World / Yahoo News]
[via Jim Goldstein on Twitter]
