Brain Pickings!

You guys know I only recommend stuff if I think it’s awesome.  Life is too short not to focus on the awesome!

One of the accidental things I have found is called “Brain Pickings”, and you gotta see their end-of-the-year redux for 2010 — amazing stuff they found last yea!.  I found them because we were both featured on FlipBoard, and it looked kinda artsy.  And then I got in deeper, and saw that the woman that curates Brain Pickings is my kinda gal!

Besides the link above, also see their “10 Most Popular Articles” – it’s a good sushi sampler from the chef, Maria Popova.  Also, it’s one of those sites that lives off donations — so maybe you are feelin’ internet-generous.

iPhone App Updated

Our team cranked away and put in a ton of new features and updates, so thanks to everyone! You can download 100 Cameras in 1 pronto.

Here are some of the new features and updates:

? Option to disable sound & music
? Added option to dramatically increase resolution in cropping phase for each iPhone model (e.g. for iPhone 4, which is 2592×1936 pixels — the square is cropped to 1936×1936)
? Added ability to turn on/off cropping after you take the photo or select from Library
? Three new Achievements
? Upload to Flickr, Facebook, Twitpic at maximum resolution for your given iPhone (in square format)
? Even more features added! See all of them on our 100 Cameras in 1 page.
? (shhhh… and many more currently in super-secret development for next update… shhh)

New Video – My One Student Interview for the Year

Hehe… well… I explain the title of this early in the interview. Here are a few things that are discussed in the video:

• The business side of Stuck In Customs
• What my wife does (and other personal questions… *ahem*
• My thoughts on Getty licensing and what a RIP OFF model they have
• My thoughts on micro-stock photography (I’m sure people won’t like what I say)
• My thoughts on contests and judges and how silly contests can be
• My thoughts on using a lot of lights in your photos and what happens by accident
• And a bunch of other BS. But – well… all kinds of stuff… hehe.

Daily Photo – The New of Old China

I found this place near the one of the old Imperial rice barns that had been converted into an opera house.  It’s a hard-to-find but charming area of the city.  Not even my driver or assistant could find it, and they’ve lived in Beijing their entire lives!

To find out more about other things found amidst these hidden gems, see “Amazing Opera Discovery in Beijing“.