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Blogging About Blogging

Manuel Moreale, an Italian freelance developer and designer, has a weekly newsletter entitled People and Blogs. In each issue of his newsletter, he invites one blogger to describe his or her blog. I’m enjoying learning what motivates other bloggers.

Previous editions include :

You can subscribe here.

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Are Social Media Worth the Time and Effort?

Jehtan Mehta:

I don’t want to wake up to a social media timeline of any sort

No, not even the ethical ones like Mastodon or Micro.blog. Heck, I don’t want a separate timeline for videos (YouTube) or podcasts either. Or one for news or newsletters. Everything, and I mean everything, that I want to follow or subscribe to from anywhere on the Internet goes into my organized RSS reader because of its unmatched efficiency and control. Now I have a single feed to check, which I do when I want to or need to. It doesn’t notify or nag me, doesn’t screw up the order of posts, and doesn’t recommend things. It can be trusted to do nothing on its own.

No posting on social media, or even my microblog

Most people don’t blog, sadly, but tend to have three places to post: a Twitter-like network, an Instagram-like visual space, and LinkedIn. But microblogging is a terribly contextually deprived way to create and consume things, one hiding behind a gratification trap. It often felt like I’m sharing purposeful things there but had the interface not artificially limited me to 300 or 500 characters—and had I not been writing for (algorithmic) reader reactions—I often had more nuance and references to share. And so I’ll not post on any social media. I shall only blog now, a slower but more thoughtful way to communicate publicly. This way I also own the connection to my readers based on open technologies that have stood the test of time: Email and RSS.

I found this interesting but I would not personally go this route. For exampIe, I enjoy those I follow on YouTube and Micro.blog. I have an Instagram account but spend far less time there than before. The primary place I share my photography is Flickr, which I value.

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Om’s first impressions of the new Leica SL3 are mixed. He has yet to order one.

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Visiting Paris

I suggest places to visit in Paris and resources for learning about the city of light here. This list is updated as I learn more about Paris.

Suggestions are weloome.

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Wikipedia: List of photographs considered the most important

This is a list of photographs considered the most important in surveys where authoritative sources review the history of the medium not limited by time period, region, genre, topic, or other specific criteria. They are all considered key images in the history of photography.

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Dorothea Lange at the National Gallery of Art, Washington

During her long, prolific, and groundbreaking career, the American photographer Dorothea Lange made some of the most iconic portraits of the 20th century. _Dorothea Lange: Seeing People _reframes Lange’s work through the lens of portraiture, highlighting her unique ability to discover and reveal the character and resilience of those she photographed.

Featuring some 100 photographs, the exhibition addresses her innovative approaches to picturing people, emphasizing her work on social issues including economic disparity, migration, poverty, and racism.

November 5, 2023 – March 31, 2024 - West Building, Ground Floor, National Gallery of Art

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Star Power: Photographs from Hollywood’s Golden Age by George Hurrell at the National Portrait Gallery - March 1, 2024 - January 5, 2025

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Updated Guide to Visiting Washington, DC

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Everything you need to know about the National Cherry Blossom Festival

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Results of the 2023 Ricoh GR Photo Contest

GR Photo Festival 2023: Three photos were selected by each of Ricoh’s ten judges from all over the world. There were about 7,000 total entries. This shows what a small camera can do in everyday life. There is no need to go to Mount Everest to make compelling photographs. The images are worth reviewing along with the comments of the judges.

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Watching Audrey before it leaves Netflix. Totally charming. Why did I wait so long?

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Read the Fine Print Before Buying Travel Insurance

If you buy travel insurance for a group tour make sure the payment of any claim from the insurer goes to you and not the tour company. Christopher Elliot explains that with some travel companies (e.g., Overseas Adventure Travel), “when you buy travel insurance with your trip, the insurance payment goes to the company, which then pays you.” And even then the tour company may be slow in paying the money or may never pay. If you choose to buy travel insurance, it’s better to buy it from the insurance company rather than the tour operator. That way if the insurer pays a claim they will pay it to you and not the tour company.

What’s more, the insurance company will have a claims procedure that will take time and effort. Without proper documentation, your claim may be denied. Be prepared to fill out forms and wait.

In addition, I suggest you consider buying cancel for any reason coverage, especially in current times. There may be political unrest, the risk of illness or other reasons that make you uncomfortable with the trip that won’t be covered by travel insurance. For an additional premium you can get cancel for any reason coverage which generally will pay 75% of what you paid for the trip. You will still lose money but a lot less than the full amount of the trip.

If you file a claim it may take the insurer a long time even to review it. You can expect to receive emails like this:

Thank You For Your Patience!

We are checking in to let you know we received your documents and we are still working to complete your claim. We sincerely apologize that our review process is taking longer than usual. We’ll provide you an update when your claim has been reviewed. You can check the status of your claim by logging into your profile or by visiting the link below.

If you have received more than one of these letters from us, please disregard the others.

On the other hand, if you travel a lot you may be willing to accept the risk of losing everything you paid the tour operator. Just don’t count on the tour operator to care about your level of fear or discomfort.

Buyer beware.

See also,  Should Overseas Adventure Travel cover my airfare for a canceled pretrip excursion?

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United States Supreme Court

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A Nice WordPress Gallery Plugin

My hobby is photography and I’ve been looking for a WordPress gallery plugin I like to display image galleries in blog posts. I’ve tried many but they would not do everything I want or were cumbersome to use.

I just found GT3 Photo and Video Gallery Pro and it does everything I want it to do. It’s also easy to use. The free version does a nice job but the Pro version adds a lot of nice features and cost $19 for a one year license. This is an example of a gallery I created with the plugin. And I think the gallery looks great on mobile as well. All the settings are available in the block editor which I find ideal for me. This post includes another example a GT3 gallery.

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A complete guide to Bluesky 🦋 – mackuba.eu

A complete guide to Bluesky 🦋 – mackuba.eu

I want to thank Kuba Suder of Poland for this well written and detailed guide to Bluesky, which he periodically updates. I have a much better understanding of what Bluesky is all about because of it. I learned about it by reading Michael Tsai’s excellent tech blog.

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Lake Needwood, Derwood, Maryland

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Friendship Heights Village, Maryland

Population: 5,360

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’Photography is a way to be in life’


I have long admired the work of Sam Abell. This video is not just about promoting a new camera. It’s about life.

Abell is on Canon’s website as a Canon Explorer of Light so I was surprised to see him promote another brand of camera.

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Books About Paris

Gregg Rutter, a photographer from Minnesota, recommends these books about Paris on episode 478 of the Join Us in France podcast:

Gregg later recommended the following books:

  • Dawn of the Belle Epoque - The Paris of Monet, Zola, Bernhardt, Eiffel, Debussy, Clemenceau, and Their Friends by Mary McAuliffe
  • Paris, City of Dreams - Napoleon III, Baron Haussmann, and the Creation of Paris by Mary McAuliffe
  • Twilight of the Belle Epoque - The Paris of Picasso, Stravinsky, Proust, Renault, Marie Curie, Gertrude Stein, and Their Friends Through the Great War by Mary McAuliffe
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Harvard Antisemitic Cartoon

Harvard University Interim President Alan M. Garber:

A few groups purporting to speak on behalf of Harvard affiliates recently circulated a flagrantly antisemitic cartoon in a post on social media channels. The cartoon, included in a longer post, depicted what appeared to be an Arab man and a Black man with nooses around their necks. The nooses are held by a hand imprinted with the Star of David, and a dollar sign appears in the middle of the star. Online condemnation of this trope-filled image was swift, and Harvard promptly issued a statement condemning the posted cartoon. While the groups associated with the posting or sharing of the cartoon have since sought to distance themselves from it in various ways, the damage remains, and our condemnation stands.

Alan Garber, assumed the office on January 2, 2024, following the resignation of Claudine Gay.

David Wolpe, from Sinai Temple in Los Angeles, is a visiting scholar at the Harvard Divinity School. Rabbi Wolpe shared the post in question. It’s clearly antisemitic.

A group of pro-Palestinian faculty and staff at Harvard University later apologized. But The Times of Israel reported that the group:

then republished the post but replaced the antisemitic image with one of radical civil rights activist Kwame Ture — formally known as Stokely Carmichael — famous for saying the “only good Zionist is a dead Zionist.”

See also, WSJ.