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I've been using a compact Samsung flip-phone with my Cingular wireless service (formerly AT&T wireless) for the last two years. Service has been good, though I've encountered occasional billing calamities that I'm sure everyone has at some point. However, I need a new phone. Badly.

There is only one defect in my current phone worth mentioning. Here's the sequence of operations to produce the defect:

1. Power-on the phone
2. The display is lit and I can use the phone perfectly
3. Close the flip-phone
4. Open the flip-phone
5. The display is black. It shows evidence of being powered, but there is nothing displayed
6. Power-off the phone
7. repeat.....

As you can imagine, this is a big nuisance. I have to power-cycle my phone every time I make a call, and the only way for me to distinguish who's calling me is by assigning custom ringtones to each entry in my phonebook. "Ok, that's the electro-disco ringtone. Natalie must be calling me."

A couple of days ago, Natalie and I chose to purchase a new cell-phone plan and phones. Natalie went for a pink Motorola Razr ("Rays-her"). I went for the Nokia 6682. Both are camera-phones, Bluetooth-enabled, and support PC (or Mac) connectivity.

I am most excited about being able to set-up a mobile blog ("moblog") using Flickr and this site. Using the messaging service (text/IM/pictures) provided by Cingular, I can e-mail photos to an e-mail address. Flickr has provided me with an e-mail address that is specific to my blog, and any photos sent to that address will be posted to Flickr and, optionally, to my blog.

I love taking photos, but carrying my digital SLR slung over a shoulder isn't always an option. And posting photos that must be first be transfered from a camera to a computer and then uploaded using a desktop application can be time-consuming. It discourages me from uploading photos more frequently. I think that being able to capture and post photos from my cell-phone, regardless of my location, will be a lot of fun!

Posted by Scott at 8:23 AM | Permalink

I was looking at a few of my photos on Flickr this morning when I noticed the plethora of information revealed by the EXIF data associated with nearly all images taken using digital cameras. The most striking attributes were the camera serial number and image number. A unique serial number is associated with all of the images taken by a with a specific camera, and those images are voluntarily uploaded to a photo sharing site. Is it possible for a site like Flickr or Google Image Search to aggregate all of the photos taken with a specific camera during a particular time span? How about tracking down stolen photo equipment? What if your camera was stolen in January, but a photo taken with it in June was found on the Internet? Could you track down the thief using meta-data embedded in a digital image?

I recall hearing an interview on NPR with a digital imaging expert from Carnegie Mellon who said that it's possible to identify the specific model and, in some cases, the specific camera that produced a digital image without the assistance of EXIF data. This was done by analyzing the image for visual artifacts unique to specific digital cameras and image processors. I find this amazing and horrifying at the same time. I firmly believe in an individual's right to anonymously capture and share information. It seems like consumerism and technology conspiring to create a trackable population.

Posted by Scott at 9:54 AM | Permalink

I have used Gallery for hosting my photos on urlgrey.net in the past. However, it was a bit cumbersome to work with and didn't provide any interactive features for the rest of my website.

Enter Flickr, a wonderful, free (or subscription if you want more bandwidth) site for posting, commenting on, browsing, tagging and organizing photos. It has an enormous range of features that are unlike anything I've seen on any other commercial photo site.

I've included a Flickr photo bar on the side of my blog illustrating my most recent photos. This is something I could never have achieved with Gallery. But it only took a couple minutes with Flickr.

I highly recommend that anyone looking to post photos on the web consider using Flickr. And pay for the service, if you can. They certainly deserve it, in my opinion.

Posted by Scott at 3:58 PM | Permalink

For months, I've been agonizing over the decision to buy a digital single-lens reflex (SLR) camera. I have a traditional film SLR which I've been pleased with for years. However, I've never the liked the variable image results and the expense film processing.

So, I'm hoping to purchase the Canon Digital Rebel 300d soon. It's not the latest consumer-level SLR from Canon, but provides all of the features I need. It accomodates all of the Canon EOS lens' (I have two) and can produce 6.3 mega-pixel images. I can't justify the extra $300 for the 2 mega-pixels of additional detail in the Canon Digital Rebel 350d.

Expect some more digital photos soon!

Posted by Scott at 9:11 AM | Permalink