And, I heart Gmail. I really do. I would never go back to any other service. The threading of messages, the quick and easy search results and labeling, it’s top notch. Hell, setting it up as IMAP on my iPhone was even a breeze, and lets me clear crap out of my inbox when I’m not in front of my laptop. It’s great.

But when it comes to contacts, ya’ll really need to start getting along.

A while back, Google introduced a way of syncing your bookmarks between your Apple Address Book and your Google Contacts in Gmail, but only if you had an iPhone (or iPod touch). Great! Now when someone emails me, their email is automatically added to my Google Contacts and, by syncing, my Apple Address Book and my iPhone!

…only, not so much. For some contacts, it just can handle shortened names (Pete vs Peter, Dom vs Dominic) and creates duplicate entries. For some, even if the email is already in my address book, it goes ahead and creates a new entry with JUST the person’s email address.

And while the whole “adding anyone who’s emailed you” think sounds like a great idea, it gets old very fast. Ever emailed back and forth with someone on Craigslist trying to buy or sell something? Yeah, I don’t need a permanent record of the person who bought my old desk lamp. We’re not buddies. I’m not hanging out with them at Murky Coffee anytime soon.

(Conversely, if my roommate of a year and a half sends me a text message, don’t delete his number. Tell me it’s him. Don’t make me hunt down who’s phone number I’m looking at. He’s a person, not a number.)

So seriously, Google, Apple, get together, make this actually work. Sergey Brin is on Apple’s Board of Directors, I’d think y’all would be chatting here and there!

(* - I assume that the correct way of saying this is “Why does Google Contacts suck…” and not “Why do Google Contacts suck.” It’s a single product, just named after something that’s inheriently multiple…I guess…any help Grammer Girl?)

His latest review covers Twin Lotus Herbal Toothpaste, a Thai herbal toothpaste that looks like just about the grossest thing I’ve ever seen. You can read the full review here, but he also includes the following actual ad for the stuff:

What the f*&% is that racist bull$h#t?!?! Seriously?!?!

Far and away, my favorite has to be Zero Punctuation, which lives up to it’s name. Yahtzee Croshaw delivers often scathing and always hilarious reviews of recent releases speaking faster than the Micro Machines guy from the 1980s, but with the sarcasm of Dennis Leary on a caffeine and cigarette binge.

The first video is an older wrap up of the so-called “console wars” between Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft.

After an attempt to take it to the Commerce Bank up the street (which we then discovered wasn’t actually…ya know…open…yet…), we took it over the Harris Teeter, which has one of those Coinstar machines. Normally, I’d never recommend this: 8% fee to get the money I already have? Seriously?

BUT: They now have a new feature! If you turn in the cash as a gift card for things like Amazon.com, iTunes, or Starbucks, they waive the fee. Epic.

We were making bets about how much it’d be worth. I think my original bet was $250.

Results:

Yep. $494.25. So, Jordan’s 40 inch Samsung just got upgraded to a 46 inch

Lets go.

Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader said Clinton is the smart choice because she is the only person who would help Obama get more votes.

“And if he’s going to say, ‘One people, one nation,’ he can raise the banner of unity with her as his vice presidential running mate,” he said Thursday on “American Morning.”

Nader also told the Politico Web site that Obama wouldn’t be “that dumb” to pick Bayh or Biden to be vice president.

….could someone explain to me how RALPH NADER is suddenly an expert on choosing Democratic Vice-Presidential candidates?!?! Seriously? Paul Begala, James Carville, Al Gore, how many people would be infinitely more qualified for a quote on this? Was Bobcat Golthwait not available for comment? Cause I’d of even appreciated his take on the race more than Ralph Nader.

PS: Ralph…listen…

PPS: Obama totally makes me cry sometimes…

This somewhat HILARIOUS article from CNET describes how “The Daily Show” gets their footage for each show from various news outlets and entertainment programs: 15 rack-mounted Tivos, many of whom are the old school ones that go wayyyyyyyy back before the fancy stuff you can get now. One classic quote from the article:

…because there’s a limited number of remote codes, when a staffer operates one, he has to hold the remote directly against that box’s IR receiver so that the beam doesn’t hit any of the other boxes (i.e., so he’s not inadvertently controlling multiple boxes at once).

Seriously guys? Wow.

Then to actually use the footage, they dub it onto Beta and carry it by hand to the editing room. That’s old school Sneakernet action. Nice.

Veronica Belmont posted this photo on her Flickr account of her and Felicia Day, commenting on how people think they look alike. One commenter posted “My Geek Dreamgirls!”

And I couldn’t resisit:

Geek Dreamgirls

Yessir, it’s a little rough around the edges, but it’s getting there..

…what I CAN’T do now is something demonstrated in the article: wireless external monitor. The article shows a large external screen being used with a MacBook Air as a secondary monitor. SUH-WEET!

One of the things I’ve disliked about my MacBook Pro was that, despite how portible it generally is, every time I sit down at my desk, I find myself plugging in a million things. USB for the iPhone and keyboard, FireWire for my backup drives, Ethernet for a faster connection than WiFi (when you’re uploading high res photos, it really does make a difference), and a big clunky pain-in-the-ass DVI port for my external monitor. Make a couple of those wireless for me and you’ve got a happy Jagalicious.

I stumbled upon a site called WikiMapia, which appears to be a sort of Wikipedia for mapping (and by stumbled upon, I literally mean StumbleUpon…it’s a service you can sign up for and hit a button to find random sites online).

So they use satellite imagery and let you map places online. It’s helpful for things like Tysons Corner, which only sort of exist in terms of mapping: there’s no town called Tysons Corner, it’s just sort of an area…so just for fun, I clicked Arlington, and apparently you can comment on areas too. One comment for Arlington:

ARLINGTON FUCKING RULES!

ITS THE SMARTEST COUNTY IN THE U.S.

GOOGLE IT, BITCH

–by “notgivingafuck”, 7 days ago

Just, wow.

That is high-freaking-larious.

I’m going to have to work on my reaction; if any of my roommates were home, they would have been awoken with me shouting “DUDE! Fuckin yeah!” as I scrolled down the post.

Behind me, at the Apple Store, from my iSight…and the line I’m in! I’m getting an iPhone, baby! ;-D

UPDATE:

W00t!

Gus is an older Arabian pony, jet black with a mane longer than you’d believe (or can see in most of these since they’re in black and white). Difficult to shoot some of these cause it was mid-day, and Gus’ dark coat really messes with the metering, but had some fun with the post-processing to give them an older look…

–Shooting indoors is HARD! - Yes, horses may be temperamental, and the security guards at the monuments may shoo you away if you pull out a tripod, but shooting people, inside, in a not-so-well lit room, is the hardest thing I’ve done. A speedlight helps, but only if you have a diffuser…which, I didn’t…so, yeah. There’s going to be a lot of post-processing going on…

–Size Matters. - Yeah, camera envy is very real. Even the guy working on the Browerbank campaign had a bigger lens and better flash than me. Seriously need to start winning some lottery money to beef up the equipment.

–Be a dick. - Sometimes, you have to take 429 photos to get 20 good shots. And sometimes you’ve gotta be that guy camped out near the stage taking shot after shot hoping you get one that’s decent.

–People look goofy when they’re talking. - And that’s not aimed at anyone as a cutdown…it’s just a general fact. Ya’ll make goofy faces when you’re in the middle of talking. We just don’t notice it cause you never hold them.

–Write down the words to the National Anthem. - OK, that one has nothing to do with photography, but let me tell you, no matter how many times you’ve heard it or sung it, you still get nervous and freak out thinking “Oh my god what’s the next line” when Tim Kaine is staring up at you from the front.

–Hire an assistant. - Mad props to both to the JJ committee for lending me a volunteer during the VIP reception. Having someone who could carry my stuff was a huge help when I needed to switch lenses.

Overall, that was a lot of fun. Photos are still in post-processing stage (read: it’s midnight and I don’t have the energy to go all of them to adjust lighting juuuuuuust yet), but I’ll post a few when they’re done.

(EDIT: Having now gone through the first round of cutting the “WOW that’s an awful picture” shots, we’re down to 360. Woo hoo!)

While this is pretty neat, it’s a little kitschy. You hold two iPhones together and shake them, as if you were shaking hands, and it transfers the owner’s contact information between the two phones.

Really?

iTunes is giving away an audiobook copy of “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coehlo. For those of you who haven’t read it, you’re truly missing you: the story centers on an Andalusian shepherd boy, Santiago, who dreams of a vast treasure in Egypt and sets off on a quest after meeting a man who claims to be an Alchemist. What starts off as your simple “go find the treasure and be rich” story turns into something much deeper and more spiritual, and it’s truly outstanding.

It’s free through July 14th, so be sure to grab it now!!!

Are ya kidding me guys? Seriously? Look, I want one too. I want one BADLY. I want one so much I’m willing to ditch Verizon, whom I’ve had for SIX YEARS now, and switch to a GSM technology that I don’t exactly have a ton of faith in.

But a week out? Seriously? Seriously.

Coverage from: News.com, Engadget.

“The Future” at the National Archives

Our military, past and present.

“Images of the Fallen” is a part of the Freedom Forum Journalists Memorial at the Newseum. These are the images of the reporters, photographers and broadcasters who died reporting the news in 2006 and 2007.

“Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost.” ~~Thomas Jefferson

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