I love Souza’s deeply personal style of photography. I have no doubt he’d take similar photos of every other president – regardless of your feelings towards any of them, they are human beings after all – but there’s something just a touch more poignant about the shots he’s shown us of President Obama.

Everyone should have a copy of GraphicConverter on their Mac. It not only can open an incredible array of file formats, it has a feature set useful to many users of all skill levels. It’s a bonus that you’d be supporting a small Mac developer who has been around and creating great software for a very, very long time.

If William Gibson wrote a phone book, I’d read it from cover to cover. His is a seminal voice in fiction and someone who’s work I devour whenever he has anything published. This will be no exception.

Us old timers remember QT VR and how cool it was for its time. Sadly, another “cool” technology Apple either killed off or let die on the vine.

“Wipes the floor” remains to be proven and we’ll likely see something announced at WWDC in a couple of weeks but this article points out that Apple develops “in private” for the most part. Those who doubt Apple’s AI efforts seem to forget that fact.

If you or someone you know wants a beginner DLSR, you can’t go too far wrong with many of the cameras on this list. The important thing is to not assume the camera automatically takes good pictures. That’s the responsibility of the photographer. Learn how to shoot, learn how to use your camera and practice, practice, practice. That’s how you become a better photographer.

You know that old cliche you’ve heard about having to “walk to school in the snow, 5 miles uphill both ways…”? Next time you hear that, point the speaker to these kids. He’ll shut up quick.

Calling these “Ninja tips” is silly but there’s a lot of good info in this video. Next time you go out shooting, pick one or two of them and focus on getting that particular shot.

Interesting attitude. If I had a real job, I think I would appreciate this policy.

Someone please hand me a tissue. I think there’s something in my eye.

For some reason, elevators have always fascinated me. On the surface, they are just a box going up and down but there is so much science, engineering, technology, and sociology that goes on with that box.

The Hip are one of the greatest Canadian bands ever and the news that their lead singer, the charismatic Gord Downie, has terminal cancer, is a huge blow to Canadian music. I hope to be able to see The Hip on their last tour and show my appreciation for all the joy they’ve given me over the years.

I miss the lightning storms we had on a regular basis in Nashville when I lived there. It’s rare to get them here in the Vancouver area. This video of lightning shot at 7K frames per second shows us what the naked eye misses.

This is utterly brilliant and insane.

These are always fun lists. I’ve seen 47 of these films. It’s going to rain all weekend here so it looks like I’ll have plenty of great movies to watch.

This is a really interesting thought experiment. Who do you think will be the single most remembered “rock star” 300 years from now? Chuck Klosterman’s guess might surprise you.

While I’ll miss the previous hosts, I’m very interested to see if the BBC manages to capture at least the spirit of the previous version or whether they will go in a completely new, different, better direction.

This is a really interesting read. I still won’t give up my motorcycle for a (semi) autonomous car but this description of a long trip while letting the Tesla take care of a lot of the driving shows you what the future will hold.

These are some very strange lenses but, if you are a victim of Lens Envy, they might scratch that itch. If nothing else, you’ll have some interesting photographic conversation pieces.

I’m sorry but I’d park the car, sell it and move to France.

Someone hand me a tissue. I think I’ve got something in my eye.

First of all, I’m embarrassed that the idiots who did this were Canadian. Secondly, if you have to go out in the woods (and I don’t recommend it), please be aware you are the visitor/intruder and leave it the same way you found it. That includes not physically interacting with the animals you come across.

This is insanely cool. Not cool enough that I’d want to try it but still pretty cool.

While I’m not as afflicted as the story’s writer, I have many of the same issues. When I say/type the word “cube”, the vast majority of you will see a three-dimensional cube in your mind’s eye. I don’t have a mind’s eye. I see the actual word “cube”. It’s the only way I can visualize it. It’s probably why I have such an incredibly bad sense of direction. I can’t visualize the three-dimensionality of geography and place myself spatially. Maps mean nothing to me because I can’t imagine my place in the in the 3D space.

First spotted in a tweet by Arik Hesseldahl, this story, while not unexpected, still makes me sad. Tekserve is one of the few remaining cool, old school, Mac retail stores. They had a fabulous vibe, true nerds behind the counter, a great location and wonderful staff and ownership. While they will stick around, their retail location will be missed.

I love this kind of photography and would love to attempt it someday myself but it can be quite an involved and sometimes complicated process. Thanks very much to @varunorcv for the link.

Good to see Fleishman getting to the bottom of this but very annoying that Apple instituted this new procedure without letting the user know. Many of us have been confused and/or annoyed by this for months.

From the user point of view, Apple’s attempts at these kinds of services can be very frustrating. But there may be a deeper, “corporate DNA” reason for the issues Apple has.

As more of us trust “crowd-sourced” reviews over individual writers, there’s value in gaming those reviews. Here’s a good primer on how to spot the fakes.

I’ve always had a fascination with maps and globes, even though I can’t read a roadmap to save my life. I’d love to own one of these art objects.