Orange Flowers Photo Variations with Franzis Projects Software

These are variations on a photo of orange flowers taken on the grounds of Boldt Castle along the St. Lawrence River with my Panasonic Lumix FZ300 camera, using Franzis Color Projects and Franzis Black & White Projects software.

The  Franzis Projects software is a collection of presets with variations on levels and sharpness, brightness and contrast as well as colour hue and saturation, etc., as well as some filter effects. Most of the presets are manually adjustable but I tend to just use use the extensive collection of presets.

You will notice I am not indicating which effect I used for each photo. That is because I am lazy and the intention of this post is not to teach you how to create these effects but to show you the wide range of final images you can create from one original photo. Just play with the software and see what you can create from your own original photos and a little imagination.

The variations are shown in the following slideshow (can be viewed full screen) with the Original Photo From Camera shown first followed by Franzis Color Projects Versions and Franzis Black & White Projects Versions.

Can Trump Save American Politics

No, not by winning but by losing.

If Trump and the MAGA nation suffer a massive defeat dragging the Republican party down with them perhaps it will lead to a reckoning among life long Republicans that something massive will be needed to save the party.

What about a search inward and a complete re-branding as a “progressive conservative” party, a party with conservative economic policies and progressive social policies that take from the individualism part of conservatism, a party that does not try to make everyone conform to their vision of the perfect American but accepts people as they see themselves with personal autonomy over their being and their bodies and one that welcomes newcomers.

Such a movement could encroach on economically conservative minded Democrats and rebuild the party.

And while perhaps a threat to the Democratic Party it could be the catalyst the Democrats need to move towards being a real social democratic party, a party that is no longer fighting to stop America from moving backwards but one that fights to move America forward.

Woke is Right.

So what does woke mean anyway ?

Accepting people for who they are.

Allowing people to love who they love and marry who they love.

Allowing women (and men) control over their own bodies.

Judging people by their deeds, not the colour of their skin or their religion.

Allowing people to practice their culture or religion as long as it does not harm others.

Not fearing or hating people because they are different than you.

Welcoming newcomers.

Giving everyone an equal opportunity by providing education and health care to everyone.

Practising conservation of the habitat we depend on to live.

Living within one’s means and as a society within the means of the planet’s resources.

Prioritizing people over property.

And sharing.

When you strip away the political ideology and look at these principles philosophically they are basic principles of conservatism.

Woke is Right.

Digital Photography Nostalgia – Sony Mavica FD-91 Photos

What is this about digital photography nostalgia. Are we not supposed to be nostalgic about film photography rather than digital photography. But early digital cameras were not the market dominaters today’s are. Indeed at that time there was debate over whether they would ever produce images of sufficient quality to replace film for professional use. Now of course it’s only hobbyists and fine art photographers that use film cameras.

I got my first digital camera in 1999, and I went for the big zoom. The Sony Mavica FD-91 was one impressive looking camera for it's time. The 14X zoom on the Mavica was huge, a 35 MM equivalent of 37-518 MM and with Sony's Steady Shot image stabilization system it could be hand held at the full zoom. The camera was unique in that it used 3.5 inch floppy disks for image storage and though it was under a megapixel (1024X768 pixels) it produced decent 8X10 prints, even though the experts claimed that was not possible. It was a large camera but I was used to the size and feel of an SLR and preferred it over smaller digital cameras.

It really was a fun camera to use, even if I had to carry a box of floppy discs with me and change them after every 10 shots, and the telephoto was great with a zoom over double my 200 MM Konica zoom lens. And it was a lot lighter than my Konica and its bag full of interchangeable lenses. Of course the quality of images was nowhere near that of my Konica SLR or my current Panasonic FZ300, but it was good enough for me as an amateur.

Here indeed are some examples of what the camera could do, a slideshow of Mavica photos chosen and edited for my Desktop PC wallpaper that I change weekly.

 

Thoughts on American Politics

First of all what is a non-American doing commenting on American politics in the middle of an American election. Do I hear people screaming foreign interference. Well so be it. As long as the United States is the world’s most militarily powerful nation and not reluctant to use that power overseas if it believes it’s interests are at stake, and as long as it calls itself the leader of the free world, the rest of the world, particularly it’s northern neighbour, has a legitimate interest and stake in it’s politics.

Elections are usually about political parties and candidates vying for power. This one is different, even with the most recent announcement. This election is more about what type of country America is or wants to be. Does it want to continue as a Democracy (albeit it a Neo-liberal one), no matter which party is in power, or does it want to go full on Fascist led by Christian Nationalists and White Supremacists.

How dangerous is this. When one of the candidates for President is spouting rhetoric that sounds like it was taken straight out of Mein Kampf we have to be concerned.

“All great cultures of the past perished only because the originally creative race died out from blood poisoning,”

Adolf Hitler- Mein Kampf

“That’s what they’ve done. They poison mental institutions and prisons all over the world, not just in South America, not just to three or four countries that we think about, but all over the world. They’re coming into our country from Africa, from Asia, all over the world.”

“illegal immigration is poisoning the blood of our nation. They’re coming from prisons, from mental institutions — from all over the world.”

Donald Trump – 2024 campaign

Source: NBC News

 

 

They tell us who they are and the people controlling and promoting Trump chose someone who expresses clearly the type of America they want. Trump may have created MAGA but it has been taken over by people much smarter, more sinister and dangerous than him. One of America’s major parties is now clearly under their control no matter what happens to Trump.

And who benefits from this most – the wealthy corporations and billionaire class who benefit from the current mainstream Neo-liberalism of American politics. They have created a situation where they have moved the perceived political centre artificially right so moderate centrists appear as radical leftists and Fascism appears as mainstream. The political struggle is no longer about the left fighting for a better society but instead fighting against moving backwards, and further to the right than America has ever been. And the left is being told if they want to save their country they have to fight to preserve the Neo-liberal status quo.

The corporate billionaire class is sitting pretty. If they win they get a Fascist regime that will fulfill their wildest dreams. If they lose they still win and get to keep the Neo-liberal status quo that has created historical levels of inequality and given them excessive wealth, as hopes for real progressive change is put on the back burner.

What remains to be seen is what the Democratic Party will do with the opportunity that is presented to them. Will they take the path of least resistance and defend the status quo or fight for real change and social democracy.

What America really needs, if there is hope for any real political change and social progress, is major changes to their political system starting with the end of the two party system. This would require some form of proportional representation to ensure all political viewpoints are represented in the nations legislatures proportional to their support among the population. It would require single person positions like the President and Governors be elected by some form of ranked ballot system so voters are not duped into believing they only have two choices. And it should require positions such as judges and prosecutors, which should be non-political, be taken out of the partisan political arena and made career public service positions.

In November we will see what America gets, at least in the short term. Only one result will provide hope, even if it is just hope for future change.

For a more comprehensive analysis of American politics see Is American Democracy Fucked.

What If The Next President Of The United States Is Not Mentally Competent For Office ?

My surprising take on that is that it won’t make much difference.

Many experts are already suggesting Trump is verging on dementia and his rambling nonsense seems to confirm that. However, who really believes Trump is in charge here. Call them the Alt-right, White supremacists, Christo-fascists, or whatever, they have done an excellent job of convincing Trump that they are following him while conning him into following them. Not only have they drafted his program for him but they have drawn up the list of who will run his administration. Trump is just a figurehead and showman that does an excellent job of pretending to be in charge. His mental competence is irrelevant, The only hope for America under Trump is that the deep state non-political apparatus has enough loyalty to the constitution to protect the people from the worst excesses of his handlers.

Biden, on the other hand, is slightly older and sometimes has communication issues but otherwise is an intelligent thoughtful leader. He will surround himself with like minded intelligent old school Democrats that will run his administration. Even if he turns out not to be mentally competent his administration will be an old school centrist Democratic administration, not great but not disastrous. The best chance for progressive change under Biden is if the Vice President was to, for whatever reason, take over.

Canadian Diversity and Right Wing Hate of Justin Trudeau

Yes, Justin Trudeau is a mediocre Prime Minister, but that is not why the right hates him. Nor is it because of carbon taxes or provincial vaccine mandates or lockdowns. It is because of perhaps the one thing he has excelled at and that is promoting Canadian diversity.

There are those that claim that Canada has no culture and others that claim that Canadian culture is a white European culture and anyone who was here before or came after the colonizers needs to adapt to that culture. But the truth is Canadian culture is a culture of diversity starting before anyone lived on this land and enhanced by everyone who came after.

Canadian diversity starts with it’s geography. We are a geographically diverse country (from sea to sea to sea to American border) and that is reflected in the diversity of our first peoples, from the peoples of the north, to the coastal peoples, the peoples of the prairies and the boreal forest and so on. All of these peoples had their own social systems and systems of government, including legal systems based on healing and restorative justice that were, and still are, centuries ahead of the European colonizers.

Then came the colonizers and immigrants who added to the diversity of the country adding traditions, languages and religions from all over the world. But it is not only ethnic and religious diversity that make us the country we are. We also have a diversity of physical and mental abilities, including neurodivergent people, as well as peoples of different sexual orientations and gender identity, first recognized by Canada’s first people through the concept of two spirit people.

The Prime Minister has recognized that our diversity is our strength and that is one of the main reasons he has become the target of the hate of right wing extremists and white supremacists.

Postscript.

None of this is to deny Canada’s historical mistreatment of our indigenous peoples or it’s discriminatory treatment of newcomers or other vulnerable peoples. That is a whole treatise on it’s own. This is meant to be focused on Canadian ideals and how we move forward in the future.

The Scourge of the Internet

No I am not writing about the fear and hate mongering taking over the Internet although they are the greatest evils of the Internet. And I am not taking about corporate social media with all it’s evils of turning the customer into the product, at least it can facilitate communication and community and even activism. I am talking about something much subtler and seemingly innocuous.

The Scourge of the Internet are so-called influencers and content creators.

When I think of influencers, The Kardashians are the first thing that come to mind, people famous for being famous. Influencers online are about being famous, and being charismatic or outrageous seems to be the way to go. But influencers are not really out to influence anyone, they are just looking for followers that can be monetized.

As for content providers, the word content says it. They are not about providing real information or knowledge, it’s just about creating something to stick in-between the advertising. That is why when you go researching online you keep finding multiple websites with exactly the same information, word for word (usually stolen from Wikipedia), Content providers are just sticking content they steal in-between the advertising. Again all for hits and advertising revenue.

These things may seem innocuous but they clutter up the Internet with meaningless pap making finding real information increasing more difficult, if not close to impossible. And AI is just going to make everything worse as the LLMs behind it feed on this mountain of garbage for the ultimate GIGO effect.

Can we have our old Internet back please – a place for information, communication and community.

Annual Report on Kanata South Pathways Deterioration, Spring 2024

Another year has gone by and it is time to report again on the deterioration of the Bridlewood and Glen Cairn pathways in Kanata.

Bridlewood

Glen Cairn

Previous Reports

Spring 2023 Bridlewood & Glen Cairn

Spring 2022 Bridlewood

Spring 2022 Glen Cairn

Spring 2021 Bridlewood

Doug Ford: Should we be thankful for small mercies ?

So is there anything good to say about Doug Ford.

Well he is not Pierre Poilievre or Danielle Smith. At least Ford does not seek votes by appealing to people’s fears and hatred. He is more of an old fashioned corporations know best, privatization will solve all our problems, capitalist conservative.

He doesn’t attack people for who they are or go after women’s right to bodily autonomy.

Yes, he wants to give the province to his business cronies, destroy the environment and dismantle our public health care and education systems, but no one is perfect.