CompUSA Comes Back From the Dead — Now where did I put my silver bullets? To be honest I always did like shopping at CompUSA. Shopping, not buying. The prices were never competitive compared to online stores like Amazon or Newegg even if you bought the CompUSA branded stuff. Granted, it is always nice to have local competition for Best Buy.

“We have invented this idea of retail 2.0,” says Gilbert Fiorentino, chief executive of the Technology Products Group at Systemax, now parent company of CompUSA.

Retail 2.0 ehh? Look out it’s coming right for us!

Michael Arrington “accidently” posted an updated set of photos of the mysterous tablet to his Posterous account and then quickly removed them. Thankfully Gizmodo scooped them up and posted them for everyone to see. In an update on what happend Giz got this quote from Arrington:

fyi on the crunchpad buzz, photos were removed. apologies, they weren’t ready for publication yet. added to our posterous account in error

Bullshit. Can you say marketing scheme? That doesn’t mean that I don’t think that this is starting to look really freakin cool.

Good God, I want one of these cameras. The Canon EOS 5D Mark II. I won’t be getting one because, well, I don’t know, IT’S $2,700!

I have a Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi and I really like it. I only have two lenses though. The Nifty Fifty and the kit lens. I realize that my experience is limited just because of the selection of lenses I have. I don’t want to promote myself too much but feel free to check out some of my photographs via this handy link.

So anyway, the whole point of this was really to show you some of the crazy amazing videos that people are making with the 5D Mark II. Have a look.

Canon 5D Mark II HD Videos:

Timescapes Timelapse: Learning to Fly

Reverie

Canon, I would write a blog post or twitter (or both!) every day for a year about Canon if you see your way clear to let me have one of these beasts. Just sayin’.

Electricity Grid In U.S. Penetrated By Spies – The Wall Street Journal

Why should I be able to connect to the United States power grid from my house via the internet? I shouldn’t, and hackers shouldn’t be able to either. I don’t understand why some of the most important segments of the nations infrastructure is navigable via the  internet. I’m sure they are using VPN’s, firewalls, and Cisco’s latest technology but if there was ever a case for a point-to-point closed system, I think this would be it.

Via Wikipedia:

Remaster – Frequently advertised with regard to CD and DVD releases, remastering has become a powerful buzzword in multimedia industries, and it generally implies quality enhancement of sound and/or picture to a previously existing recording (frequently designed to encourage people to buy a new version of something they already own).

Now see the LA Times:

Nearly a quarter-century after the Beatles and digital technology came together at the dawn of the CD era, the Fab Four’s entire recorded legacy is getting a major sonic overhaul that is widely considered long overdue. All of the group’s studio recordings will be reissued Sept. 9 in remastered versions and are expected to generate renewed excitement about the Beatles’ blue-chip catalog and pump millions of dollars into a beleaguered music industry.

Sigh. McCartney’s divorce must have made his wallet a little thin and uncomfortable to sit on.

This link is via Thomas Hawk’s FriendFeed:

Check out this short video about photographer William Eggleston and some of the photos he has taken over the years. The video is narrated by one of his sons. A short excerpt:

“God Damn That’s A Good Looking Blue”: Winston Eggleston on William Eggleston

It’s difficult to impossible to get William Eggleston to talk about his work much less his working style. In 2004 while preparing a film for ICP’s Infinity Awards, I had the privilege to speak to Bill’s youngest son Winston. Winston suspended his own photography career to be his father’s photographic assistant. Winston and his brother took over running their father’s archive in 1992, attempting to organize and catalog the entire body of work. Negatives were in different cities and many things were missing; there are many stories of boxes of prints vanishing after a late night of partying. Bill’s generosity played a large role in giving away innumerable photographs.

During the interview, Winston provided a window into his father’s life and background: he loves guns, but does not hunt; likes stamps, likes old rugs, and loves Bach. Most importantly Winston was able to impart the feeling of being along side his father while he photographed. He provides us with a context for each image and expresses an adoration of the photographs as only a son can.

via pbump.net | Sorry just had to steal this.

The photography going on in this project is amazing. You should check this out: We’re All Gonna to Die

I would love to take pictures like this but I’m too uncomfortable to take pictures of strangers like that. I had to post a couple of screenshots.

PANAMA CITY, Fla. (AP) – A television station in the Florida Panhandle is not going to air a new variety show hosted by Ozzy Osbourne and his family because it contains profanity and adult content.

You know, I would be ok with this if they had just said that they didn’t show it because it was fucking terrible, but deciding for me that a show “contains profanity and adult content” is not acceptable. I would like to be the one to decide if something offends my delicate sensibilities, please. Not that I would watch that show anyway. Hell, I could have watched it since I’m pretty sure my local Fox affiliate did carry it. Thank you, move along.

Check out this really well done short film; Forever’s Not So Long. Not only is the storyline compelling but so is the videography. It was shot in HD and  is about an impending apocalyptic event. I tried embedding the video but it was too small and didn’t do it justice, so how about a screencap and link instead.

Amazing pictures of what is fast becoming the historic ruins of Detroit. Time.com has a photo essay of what it looks like in some parts of Detroit Michigan.