the pod bay door

¦¦ My brother Chris advised me of an incredible story about what happened when it was discovered that Brian Walski, an award-winning photographer for the LA Times, submitted a photo for publication on the front page of the 31 March 2003 LA Times that was actually a composite of two pictures. Covering the war in Iraq, he shot two photos moments apart, then merged them to improve the composition. The subject was the use of human shields. Check this fascinating photo ethics case study (requires Flash), which highlights the flaw in the composite photo, and then shows you where the two photos were cropped. The Times has printed a retraction of sorts.

¦¦ Did you hear about the giant Antarctic squid?

¦¦ The 30 March 2003 Herald published a brilliant rebuttal by Silver Donald Cameron to the national spanking US Ambassador Paul Cellucci gave Canadians recently about our lack of support in the war on Iraq. I think we need to be reminded often of the points made in Cameron’s letter, and Americans need to know more about the history between our two nations. The again, all that matters in the States these days is the now. It’s as if Canada is only as good as the last war it supported. After reading Cameron’s letter, with its historical detail, I’m prouder today to be a Canadian.

¦¦ On a more serious note, Warner Bros is asking fans of the classic Looney Tunes to complete a survey on upcoming LT home video and DVD products. Check out some of the packaging options being considered by WB for the LT DVDs.

¦¦ For Reasons Unknown, the problem I’ve had all week connecting from home to my website has dissipated for now. I’ll leave well enough alone and end talk of it here.

¦¦ We have war, a new disease, airlines in bankruptcy, really cold and unseasonable weather, and in the midst of all that, this.

We’re in a time when being publicly critical is not in vogue. Kathleen Parker is an American journalist whose nationally syndicated column runs in >300 papers, including the Salt Lake City Tribune. When Tribune staffers learned that her 19 March 2003 column was an unflattering piece about Ed Smart, father of Elizabeth Smart, they petitioned the editorial page editor not to run her column, which is what happened. In the eyes of other Tribune editors and columnists, it amounted to censorship. Parker contends that since the return of Elizabeth Smart to her family, Ed Smart has been mugging before the cameras non-stop, and that he’s, well, kinda creepy. Do you agree? (Do you care?)

¦¦ I know I said I wouldn’t post anything else until I switch providers, but…

As if free speech isn’t under enough attack in the USA, Warner Bros has decided to remove the peace sign being flashed by Amanda Bynes on the poster for the movie, What A Girl Wants. WB fears that the “peace sign would be viewed as a political message.” Well, gosh, yes, the message being that peace is a good thing. It’s not surprising that the poster, revised or otherwise, is nowhere to be found on the movie’s official site.

Hollywood has lost its balls. A peace sign will offend someone? How much more ridiculous is it going to get in the USA?????

¦¦ The problems mentioned in the previous post are continuing. I am unable to connect to my site from my home computer, due to a router problem. When I do a “tracert” from the DOS prompt, it hits a wall at the fourth or fifth node and times out. Oddly enough, I can get my site from my work computer (which I’m doing now), and other visitors are connecting without a problem from their machines.

As such, don’t expect another entry for a couple of days, or more, and the site itself might disappear temporarily. It will return (I own the domain name through to Sept 2004), and may look different for a while. Thanks for your patience.

¦¦ I have been experiencing major problems with my web server host for the past 48 hours or so. My apologies in advance if this continues. I am very frustrated at this time. I am investigating other options.