Vivian Maier - Queen of the SELFIE????????????????????

A nanny for the rich has turned out  to be the real deal in street photography.

Vivian was a very secretive person and her life and her death was almost unnoticed if it was not for a an auction of photos.

I ask what would have someone who could shoot a ton of selfies in film back in the day. It was to record the moment that she existed in the world even if forgotten.

What is sensed is the intimacy and gaurded self of it all.

The brilliance of myself captured in a negative, a piece of film, for eternity.

Look at me as I am here for you and look to see me for what I am...a photographer!

Boost Your Sales by Telling a Compelling Story

Boost Your Sales by Telling a Compelling Story

Marketing is all about storytelling, bit many fail as they lack an emotional connection with the audience.

When making a presentation to a customer make sure you include a compelling story that may be in how your solution solves their business problems.

I like to use “A Day in the Life" stories that allows my audience to completely understand how my solution can help their employees dramatically boost their productivity.

Don't forget the last step is a call to action or asking for the next step in the sales process.

The Gold Nikon FA

The black version of the Nikon FA was my first real Nikon camera. It was a joy to behold with the pro motor drive.

Nikon FA, 1983-1989

Nikon has long been portrayed as having leadership in the professional camera market since the introduction of the Nikon F in 1959. When the Nikon FA was introduced in 1983,  it was truly a revolutionary camera. It will be most remembered for it's innovative metering system - an early testbed for the current and much copied 'Matrix Metering' system commonly found in many Nikon AF cameras. It was also the first Nikon camera body that had shutter priority and program automation exposure control.

This was in addition to the traditional favoured aperture priority AE and fully manual exposure control. Furthermore, TTL OTF flash metering enhanced the FA's flash capability and made the FA the most sophisticated multimode manual focus Nikon ever. To supplement the FA's immense capabilities, a host of other changes occured during the early part of the eighties. Firstly, a new line of Nikkor lenses called the AI-S (Automatic Indexing Shutter) and a new dedicated motor drive 
This was in addition to the traditional favoured aperture priority AE and fully manual exposure control. Furthermore, TTL OTF flash metering enhanced the FA's flash capability and made the FA the most sophisticated multimode manual focus Nikon ever. To supplement the FA's immense capabilities, a host of other changes occured during the early part of the eighties. Firstly, a new line of Nikkor lenses called the AI-S (Automatic Indexing Shutter) and a new dedicated motor drive MD-15 were introduced. Depite all these, the FA still retained its backward compatibilitiy with the huge Nikon system. The flash was the SB-16 model.
There is one on ebay for $3000 US


Note that the camera needs either two S-76 or the easier to find LR44 batteries.

Now drool on this..............

"In commemoration of winning the "Camera Grand Prix" prize, Nikon FA Gold was released in Japan (Nippon). This was based on the FA, and its silver color parts such as top and bottom covers are gold-plated and the lizard skin was used for leather cover.

It was a limited edition housed in the box of paulownia wood and priced at 500,000- Japanese Yen, even the coupling ring of the barrel of AI Nikkor 50 mmf/1.4 normal lens attached was gold-plated and Nikon logotype on its lens cap was also gold-plated ......such an elaborate work.

Nippon Kogaku had made so far gold-plated cameras in small quantity which were used for commemorative gifts to dealers, but the FA Gold was the first gold-plated model that was for sale.

Weekly Thoughts on Technology and a Better Life! #1

Random tidbits to ponder in making for a better life!


1. Smart Appliances

The Japanese are enjoying the benefits of smart appliances in the Internet of Everything world. A refrigerator that texts your dinner and sends you an inventory. A washing machine that is voice enabled or a wi-fi enabled rice cooker that pings you when its done. Do we need a app based toaster? yes we do

2. Mobilicity is Bankrupt

Enough already. Can the CRTC just let WIND or TELUS buy them so that they can continue with service to its customers and provide jobs. They have almost 200,000 customers and valuable spectrum so at this point in their business plan a buyout is needed. Ottawa should just let it happen.

3. 48 Hours in the Valley

Good luck to the lucky 17 of Canada's most promising startups looking to get VC funding. This just shows how pathetic the VC system is in Canada. I hope the next Canadian  FaceBook gets funding from the USA and makes another American rich. Having gone through this with a startup in 2003 looking for some VC it really speaks to how Canada sucks at being innovative and sparking new activities.

4. Google Corporate Cloud

Google Compute Engine  continues to compete against Amazon's AWS as they compete against Microsoft Azure. This whole cloud thing is getting interesting again. Stay Tuned

5. Music Motivates Shoppers

Reitman's stock is getting creamed and their Smart Set store is resorting to having music playlists create a better in store mood for shoppers to spend money. This never really hit me in the head until I was in several LOFT stores in New York. They had a really structured approach to their background music. It worked as my wife spent money. Now that they are at Yorkdale the mystery isn't that important anymore. Look at Target? who shops there?

6. BlackBerry BES is actually a Great Corporate Tool

I am not surprised that the BES 10 has gained 25% in market share for a software package that allows the corporate IT Manager to manage Blackberry, iOS and Android devices. IT needs to securely manage these smartphones and RIM has the right solution. Does this mean BB should focus on services more than devices? maybe but the BB is still the smartphone of choice in the African market so there is a market segment there worth selling into.

7. Canadian Black Friday or Cyber Monday

The dates meant nothing as there were deals before Friday and after Monday. This is just a big marketing game. I polled many of my friends and the response was the same " I have no interest in losing a finger in the riots to get a 99 cent 32GB USB stick that I really do not need" however  I will risk my life to obtain 99 cent lobster tails, 99 cent a  pound Angus steaks, 29 cents bags of milk, and a nickel for a dozen free range chicken eggs. Feeding my family has become of importance instead of fueling the electronics or disposable fashion industry. What I have noticed is a trend to purchasing local items, of high quality, with a long life cycle that are discounted but not to the 90% off level. You can get these deals on boxing day. North Face had a 70% sale and during the crazy sale week the deals were 50% for the same item. Who wins? not the consumer.

The scary thing is whatever stupid electronic gadget you buy will be discontinued soon anyways. The must have Jambox at $200 has better competition at the $29 level today so why lose a finger over a bluetooth speaker which is now a stocking stuffer and not a must have. Save gas, be green and buy your 72" LCD TV online. If you buy a Kobo remember the case costs more than the device.

Holy Crap Johnny Style

Holy Crap is an innovative Canadian health product that is a breakfast item. I decided one day that I would attempt to create my own version of this product to feed my voracious family that was featured on Dragons Den. This product is a great success story for the show and shows how television can increase brand recognition and sales. They also make a Skinny B version as well.

The base ingredients  of the cereal is pretty straight forward Both cereals contain the same mix of seeds; the organic superfood chia, organic fruit seed buckwheat and organic hulled hemp hearts.

Add organic cranberries, organic raisins, organic apple bits and organic cinnamon and the crap is ready to go.

Skinny B contains 50% more chia seeds in the seed blend than Holy Crap cereal.

My version is just as tasty but is a different blend of their ingredients to suit my tastes but whenever I travel the first stop in any town is to pick up a pack of Holy Crap or Skinny B to give satisfy my breakfast cravings. The CBS or TSA does not take lightly to this crap in your carry on bag.

The Johnny Crap version is as follows:

- 1.5 cup chia seeds

- 1.5 cup buckwheat- 1.5 cup hemp hearts

I blend these into a masonary jar and refrigerate.

then I add depending on the mood I am in and continue to fill the masonary jar with any of the following items:

- 1/3 cup dried cranberries 

- 1/3 cup Goji Berries

- 1/3 cup dried blueberries

- 1/4 cup raisins 

- 1/4 cup dried apples 

- 1 tsp cinnamon 

- 1/2 cup coconut flakes

- 1/3 cup banana chips or powder

 - 1/4 cup dehydrated pineapples

add some soy or almond or coconut milk and ENJOY!