In a blog tabbed as “Getting Smart About Personal Technology” the writer Sonia Zjawinski offers:

I sift through Flickr on a regular basis for images to use as visuals for my blog posts. As with most things related to the Web, it’s easy to get sidetracked with not-so-work-related search terms like, “kittens” and “vintage bicycles”. Through these bouts of procrastination I’ve often found stunning photographs, so much so I’ve gotten in the habit of printing faves out and framing them. If a user offers the original resolution for download don’t let that go to waste. Download, print, frame!

Oh, and if you’re wondering about copyright issues (after all, these aren’t my photos), the photos are being used by me for my own, private, non-commercial use. I’m not selling these things and not charging admission to my apartment, so I think I’m in the clear. (Any lawyers out there who want to weigh in on this?)

Luckily, most of the commenters point out that this is absurd, especially from the New York Freakin’ Times. She got paid for that clueless blog. My own sarcastic take went like this:

I sift through the NYT for articles to repost in my blog. As with a lot of things on the Web it’s easy to get lost in all the searches for “Krugmans” and “Dowds” I’ve found that it’s awesome to just print out these articles for visitors to my house to read. Of course, I don’t include any credits along with the articles. And people who come to my house never have to visit NYT.com or buy a newspaper. And if you’re worried about copyright, don’t worry! I’m not charging admission to my house or anything, so it’s totally cool. Just ask Sonia Zjawinski.

Some people would be cool with you making posters for your house. Some wouldn’t. The thing is, Flickr makes it so easy to engage with photographers whose work you enjoy. Maybe they’d be thrilled to let you use a photo. The truly interesting part about the internet, social media, and “getting smart about personal technology” is that it’s easy to start that conversation with the content creators. That’s the revolution, and a point that this paid blogger for the New York Times completely fails to understand about technology.

(Hat tip to Chaparral[Kendra] for pointing out that blog to me)

Listen to this while reading: “This Is Not A Photograph” – Mission of Burma

Here’s a must-read piece in the NY Times. It has it all: It’s a blog by Errol Morris (Documentary filmmaker responsible for The Thin Blue Line and A Brief History of Time among others – IMDB link.) It touches on all the big topics: Mainstream media, Photoshop, Wittgenstein, Dada,  Godzilla, et. al. I respected and enjoyed Errol Morris  before reading this. I do so even more thoroughly now.

Photography as a Weapon – Errol Morris – Zoom – New York Times Blog.

It’s primarily a look at the situation surrounding the faked Iranian missile photo. But, it reaches well beyond that — as Morris is so good a doing.

People often trust low-res images because they look more real. But of course they are not more real, just easier to fake. We look at picture of Nessie (the Loch Ness Monster). It’s grainy, fuzzy. It’s hard to make anything out. You never see a 10-megapixel photograph of Big Foot or the Abominable Snowman or the Loch Ness Monster.

Now that’s a blog. It’s researched. It has interviews, It has footnotes!