And speaking of new stuff ...

My company Panl has launched its services. Here's the blurb:

The Panl monitoring service is now launched and available to everyone! 

Panl offers free website monitoring, and the ability to create custom monitors to track almost any IT metric. Our unique "overdue alert" capability lets you know about events that are supposed to happen but don't. You can track monitor status on the web or with our iPhone app, and receive alerts via email, SMS, or iPhone notifications. 

You can sign up for our commercial plans for as little as $10/month, or get additional free monitoring services by referring your friends and colleagues. 

Please visit http://panl.com to get started, or for more information. And please pass this email along to any of your IT contacts that might be interested.

The ALFEW arts cooperative has a brand-new Google+ Page now. Go ahead, check it out!

The Piano. .||.|.||.|.|.||. from Matthew Brown on Vimeo.

Jungle Beauty

Jungle Beauty, a photo by Bruce M Walker on Flickr.

Sadly, there aren't going to be any more of these gorgeous daylilies here this year. This shot is appropriate though as it's a very rainy day today in this, one of the final days of summer.

I hope your summer was as enjoyable as mine was.

Sandra

Sandra, a photo by Bruce M Walker on Flickr.

Strobist: shot outdoors in open shade. I added front fill with a bare AF-540FGZ lying on a table camera-right, remote triggered optically from the K20D.

Reflecting

Reflecting, a photo by Bruce M Walker on Flickr.

Another hat pic

Untitled, a photo by Bruce M Walker on Flickr.

Same girl, same hat, different focus.

Singularity

Singularity, a photo by Bruce M Walker on Flickr.

Le Chapeau Noir

Le Chapeau Noir, a photo by Bruce M Walker on Flickr.

Here's Iryna again, in the "studio" with a borrowed hat on. The studio, of course, is a room at home with all the furniture pushed to one end. :-)

Iryna 2

Iryna 2, a photo by Bruce M Walker on Flickr.

I've been concentrating on portraiture lately; setting up the shoot, directing the models, lighting, post-processing, retouching. Altogether, quite a challenge.

In this shoot I (somewhat) learned how to direct the human reflector stands ... somewhat. With 30Km/h gusts of wind, my reflector holders kept wandering out of place. Plus they couldn't see around the 40 inch opaque reflector so they didn't know when they'd gone out of alignment. Oh, and the long hair kept flying around and getting into eyes.

Everyone did their best and I got some decent shots, I think.

The Coppertone

The Coppertone, a photo by Bruce M Walker on Flickr.

I caught this blueswoman at the (sadly final) Rock the Coliseum in Mississauga. It was an excellent set, only slightly marred by insufficient vocal levels from the unfortunately undersized PA.

You should do yourself a favour and listen to her music here ...
http://www.myspace.com/thecoppertone
http://thecoppertone.com/

Rock The Coliseum, July 10, 2011
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=193226800725354

A tern for the worse

My tern, a photo by Bruce M Walker on Flickr.

Jezzie - In Memory of Jezebel

Jezzie - In Memory of Jezebel, a photo by Bruce M Walker on Flickr.

Sadly, Jezebel passed away yesterday (June 30th, 2011) at age 17. This is one of the last pictures we have of her.

Jezzie was a terrific cat, chock full of character. She was extremely chatty and had a comment about just about everything and let us know when anything needed adjusting, usually in aid of her comfort. She was also quite sociable, always following us around the house. She preferred to keep us company while we worked and even appeared to enjoy watching movies, perched up above us on the back of the sofa, purring.

So long, Jez. You'll be hugely missed.

Solar Fields | Cocoon Moon (Glastonbury Festival 2005 Mix )

A beautiful ambient piece ...

You can also get the MP3 (or OGG) here.

A quiet stream

A quiet stream, a photo by Bruce M Walker on Flickr.

Red Rover, Red Rover, we call God over

Red Rover, Red Rover, we call God over, a photo by Bruce M Walker on Flickr.

Seen at the Mississauga Art Gallery.

The Optometrist #5

The Optometrist 5, a photo by Bruce M Walker on Flickr.

An unidentified (non-flying) object I saw recently at the eye doctor's office.

The real UN logo

The real U.N. logo by ~JoniGodoy on deviantART

Joe Jackson - Steppin' Out

Ah, Joe Jackson. There's nobody else like him ...

Purple Sandcherry

Purple Sandcherry, a photo by Bruce M Walker on Flickr.

I haven't posted a photo for a while -- I've been pretty busy and it's been pouring rain here for about the last two weeks. I've been watching this bush outside my kitchen window coming into bloom and this afternoon the clouds finally cleared.

PDML Photo Annual 2011

The latest yearly photo book from the Pentax Discussion Mailing List is out. There is work from 73 photographers, including myself, in this one, and I think it looks pretty fine. :-)

PDML Photo Annual 2011 by Mark Roberts (editor) | BOOK INFO

Storm

A tour de force animated beat poem with words by Tim Minchin, direction and animation by DC Turner; produced by Tracy King.



Official site here.

The Unseen Sea

A rather beautiful timelapse, although it's best viewed large in HD so you should pop over to Vimeo.

The Unseen Sea from Simon Christen on Vimeo

Stop The Meter On Your Internet Use!

This is of particular concern to Canadians ...

Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are about to impose usage-based billing on YOU.

This means we're looking at a future where ISPs will charge per byte, the way they do with smart phones. If we allow this to happen Canadians will have no choice but to pay MUCH more for less Internet. Big Telecom companies are obviously trying to gouge consumers, control the Internet market, and ensure that consumers continue to subscribe to their television services.

These Big Telecom companies are forcing small competing ISPs to adopt the same pricing scheme, so that we have no choice but to pay these punitive fees.

This will crush innovative services, Canada's digital competitiveness, and your wallet.

We urgently need to send a clear message to Ottawa, saying that we won't stand by while some of the most profitable companies in the country indiscriminately add new fees to our Internet bills. Enough is enough.

Per: http://openmedia.ca/meter

Julie

Julie, originally uploaded by Bruce M Walker.

This is from a product shoot. Julie is modelling her line of custom hand-painted visors.

Grasses in January

Grasses in January, originally uploaded by Bruce M Walker.

We had an unexpected little snow dump this morning, and as it was about -20C it fell as the lightest, fluffiest stuff imaginable. The results on the plants in our garden were spectacular!