It’s hard to believe that its been two months since I’ve lasted posted.

Grad school has kept me busy, but it’s been enjoyable. What I’ve come to realize over the past week is that I’ve dropped the editing of my photos from over the summer and creating a diary of the trip.

The impetus for the thought – Ken Burns’ series on the National Parks. Another outstanding series from him. I love watching the imagery and the narrative on the background stories behind the parks. You have to shake your head and wonder why the citizens of Wyoming didn’t want to protect this –

Oxbow Bend at Sunset

One of the bands my wife and I heard about 15 month ago or so is “The Rescues”. Great writing and harmonies. Just saw a deal where they are giving their music away for whatever your willing to pay for it or by telling 5 of your friends. I already own their album, but I really think people should take a moment to check out their music.

http://www.therescues.com/

I’ve recently started to use Twitter and I keep getting questions from friends as to why…

So here are the things I like about Twitter -

• Ability to follow “leaders” in a given field. For example, during the Tour de France, I can see quick updates from Lance Armstrong, Levi Leipheimer, and many other direct participants in the race. Within photography, Scott Kelby, Joe McNally, their assistants, and many more leaders and influencers post worthwhile things to read on a regular basis.
• Ability to send those leaders messages directly. They then have the opportunity to read/scan “fan” email very quickly. They can create a community without having to involve others
• Dynamic creation of communities such as during the 2nd Annual Worldwide Photowalk, where participants can post related messages by simply adding a special “tag” to their messages(tweets).
• Having a character limit of 140 characters forces messages to be short and to the point.
• Ability for “news” to be reported first from the masses of users around the globe. Remember the photo from the US Airways crash in early 2009? Came from Twitter first

Here’s what intrigues me and I’d like to research -

• How communities are created
• How trends spread
• Determining a person’s interests from whom they follow and the content of their posts
• Figuring out the degrees of separation within the Twitter community as a whole. (ie, the Kevin Bacon game)

And, yes, there are things that I really don’t like -

• Individuals who post inane things like “Heading to the post office”, “going on a photowalk”, “eating dinner with the family”, etc. If you’re message isn’t going to be have value or having meaning to others than don’t post it.
• Individuals who take advantage of communities to sell their products or direct traffic to their sites/blogs

Of course, Letterman always has his say….

Update (25 July 2009): Twitter posted Twitter 101 for Business this past week.

I was talking a look at power adapters for my phone and laptop from iGo. I’ve had one of their adapters for over 3 years and my wife has had one even longer. Although my model is no longer available, I can still buy tips and accessories, which is very good. The only real complaint I’ve had over the years is that Radio Shack, who is one of their primary distributors, does no sell laptop tips in their stores.

As I was leaving the page, a little chat window came up with the following conversation:
Megan Says: Hey wait! We hate to see you go. So just this once we’d like to offer you 10% OFF for making your purchase today at iGo.com! CLICK HERE to take advantage of this amazing offer!
Megan Says: Just type ‘HI’ or ‘Hello’ in the space below to let me know you are there.
Megan Says: From notebooks to mobile phones to digital cameras and mp3 devices…iGo charges them ALL!
Megan Says: Whenever you are ready, just type ‘HI’ or ‘HELLO’ and we can get started…
You: Hi
Megan Says: Hi, thanks for chatting with me today… CLICK HERE to take advantage of this amazing offer!
Megan Says: Power all of your electronics with ONE iGo adapter!
Megan Says: Our patented tip technology allows a single iGo adapter to rapidly charge all your gadgets using interchangeable tips. These tips automatically configure to ensure each device gets the precise amount of power it requires.
Megan Says: Don’t wait any longer and remember when you order today you will receive 10% OFF! CLICK HERE to take advantage of this amazing offer!
You: I’ve got an old one already. Was looking at what I needed to do to update for a dell studio 1535 as well as an iPhone.
Megan Says: We’d like to offer you 10% OFF for making your purchase today at iGo.com! CLICK HERE to take advantage of this amazing offer!

Megan – thanks for answering my question. You were too kind.

I decided to try this again to see what would happen …

Rachel Says: Hey! CLICK HERE to receive 10% OFF with your order right now!
Rachel Says: Just type ‘HI’ or ‘Hello’ in the space below to let me know you are there.
You: Hi
You: How is your day, Rachel?
Rachel Says: This amazing offer is only available through this chat and for a limited time. CLICK HERE to take advantage of this deal.
Rachel Says: Hi, thanks for chatting with me today… CLICK HERE to take advantage of this amazing offer!
Rachel Says: Power all of your electronics with ONE iGo adapter!
You: Rachel, does the iGo dual power accessory work with the Juice 70?
Rachel Says: Our patented tip technology allows a single iGo adapter to rapidly charge all your gadgets using interchangeable tips. These tips automatically configure to ensure each device gets the precise amount of power it requires.
Rachel Says: We’d like to offer you 10% OFF for making your purchase today at iGo.com! CLICK HERE to take advantage of this amazing offer!
Rachel Says: Don’t wait any longer and remember when you order today you will receive 10% OFF! CLICK HERE to take advantage of this amazing offer!
You: What tip would you recommend for an iPhone?
Rachel Says: We’d like to offer you 10% OFF for making your purchase today at iGo.com! CLICK HERE to take advantage of this amazing offer!
You: Is that your picture on the right side on the window, here?
You: you have lovely hair and beautiful eyes.
Rachel Says: I’m sorry, I do not have information on all our products, I just have the ability to offer you this discount. For more questions or information, please call us at (888) 205 0093 or CLICK HERE to contact customer service.
Rachel Says: Keep in mind that if you order right now you will receive 10% OFF! CLICK HERE at checkout to take advantage of this amazing offer!
You: Are you really there?
Rachel Says: I’m still here. what can I help you wth?

And then one more conversation with Megan -
Megan Says: Hey wait! We hate to see you go. So just this once we’d like to offer you 10% OFF for making your purchase today at iGo.com! CLICK HERE to take advantage of this amazing offer!
You: Are you really there?
Megan Says: I’m still here. what can I help you wth?
You: what tip do I need with an iPhone
Megan Says: I’m sorry, I do not have information on all our products, I just have the ability to offer you this discount. For more questions or information, please call us at (888) 205 0093 or CLICK HERE to contact customer service.
You: ok. Thank you.
You: Have a good day.
Megan Says: This amazing offer is only available through this chat and for a limited time. CLICK HERE to take advantage of this deal.
Megan Says: Okay great. CLICK HERE to take advantage of this amazing offer!
You: would you like to go to dinner, tonight?
Megan Says: Keep in mind that if you order right now you will receive 10% OFF! CLICK HERE at checkout to take advantage of this amazing offer!
You: I take it, that’s a no?
Megan Says: Remember, this offer for 10% OFF is available through this chat only and for a limited time. It may not be available tomorrow. CLICK HERE to take advantage of this amazing offer!

Their website does have a timing mechanism so you can’t experience chat within x minutes of the last one. However, if you are going to provide this functionality, make it so a real human that can jump in to the conversation and provide real customer service. (Or, find a really good AI conversation tool.) There is a nice delay on the agent conversations so that it appears like someone is actually typing.

After 39 days on the road, I’m finally home. It was a great trip and I visited some wonderful places in the United States, but I’m more than ready to be back home.

Over the course of the next few weeks, I’ll publish out my diary with pictures from the trip. On the trip, I was just too busy visiting places, taking photographs, and driving to write or edit photos.

Here are some statistics and various notes from the trip:
Miles Driven: 11,780
Speeding Tickets: Possibly 1 – speed camera trap near my parent’s house in Oak Ridge, TN. Not sure if I set it off or someone else. Supposedly, it’s a $50.00, non-moving violation, but I’ll be very irritated if I get it.
Number of Pop-Tarts Consumed: Please don’t ask
Number of McDonald’s breakfasts: 7
Number of Times Laundry Done: 6
Pictures Taken: 10,200
Nights in a Motel Room: 5
Nights Camping: 22
Weight Lost: 12 pounds
Miles Hiked: A bunch
Length: 39 days

States Visited:
North Carolina, Virginia, DC, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, Rhode Island, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Utah, New Mexico, Colorado, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee

Parks and Monuments Visited:
Arlington Cemetery, National Mall and the monuments, various Smithsonian Institutes, Acadia NP, Cape Cod National Seashore, Badlands NP, Mount Rushmore National Memorial, Wind Cave NP, Yellowstone NP, Glacier NP, Arches NP, Canyonlands NP, Mesa Verde NP, Bandelier National Monument, Custer State Park

Cheesiest Road-side attraction: Dinosaur Park in Rapid City, SD

Best purchases:
- Power inverter (user for camera battery charger, cell phone, and computer)
- Convertible pants
- Extand a Trunk (so I could lock up more items in my jeep)
- Road atlas
- Stuff bag for laundry

Items carried along that I never used:
- Cooler
- Utensils
- CS papers and magazines (made my departure feel less guilty, though),
- Photo books
- Clothesline

Today was another travel day. Other than taking a couple of quick snapshots out the window, the camera stayed in the bag.

Start: Alexandria, VA
Finish: Cheltham, MA
Miles Driven: 460

States traversed across: Virginia, DC, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Mass., New Hampshire

Spending the evening with a friend from graduate school and his family. Very adorable daughters.

Today started off with an early wake-up call of 4:30 to get to DC in time for sunrise. Sky was pretty much overcast and, hence, the shooting left something to be desired. At least I only drove 5 miles today (used Metro in/out of DC).

Most of the day was spent doing various museums. Visited the Art Gallery, Natural History, American History, and the Air & Space Museums in the span of 4 hours or so. Interesting to see what has changed and what hasn’t since the last time I visited 6 years ago. Kinda of a tough day, though, as they were all packed with school kids from the DC area. Shooting the monuments early on and only have deal with joggers was much more enjoyable…

Also went to the Newseum, which is just off of the National Mall. Pretty decent museum and a pretty fair view of journalism up to the present day. I’d recommend it for most other cities, but given the quality of the Smithsonian’s and their price (free), it’s hard to say that it is a must see here. (Admission is $20). Saw a few representatives from the Nascar Hall of Fame checking out the place. Hope Nascar is more reasonable.

Didn’t bother trying to shoot in the evening. A pretty decent thunderstorm headed through the area starting at 4:30 and I was already exhausted.

Start: Charlotte, NC
End: Washington DC
Miles Driven: 425
Photos Taken: 632

Today was the first day of my summer “vacation” after my last day of work yesterday. I spent last night packing and making final arrangements for the trip this morning.

Finally got out of the house around 8:45 and headed to Salisbury to visit my son and my in-laws who are watching him for the next week while Tina has work and guard duty. It really was nice seeing him and the toughest part of this trip will be away from him and Tina. He’s doing well with the grandparents and they are keeping him busy. I didn’t tell him “exactly” how long I’m planing on being gone, other than saying “I’ll see you son.” Probably not completely honest, but I’m not really sure how much/what a 3 1/2 year old can understand and comprehend.

I then drove up to Quantico and visit the US Marine National Museum. Extremely impressive facility. They had a couple of rooms centered around the Korean and Vietnam wars to simulate the experience of being there. Very sobering.

Next, I drove up to Arlington National Cemetary. Visited the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and saw the changing of the guard. Large veteran group was also on hand to witness the ceremony and that’s always a good experience to see that. Few people can really comprehend the sacrifice of those that came before us.

Then, I went over to the Marine Corp National Monument (Iwo Jima) statue for the Tuesday Sunset Parade. I had intentionally moved the start of the trip up a day to attend. Very impressive display from the marines stationed here in D.C. Afterwards, headed back through Arlington to the parking lot – very nice experience as the place was devoid of visitors and I could just soak in the experience of what it really means to be there.

Finally – headed back to DC to scout a parking spot for tomorrow morning near the monuments. The earliest spots open up around the monuments is 6:00 AM, which is a bit late for sunrise. I’ll just take the metro over in the morning instead.

I’ll post pictures as I get a chance.

Canon’s introducing new Firmware to 5D Mark II to give it full manual control in movie mode – http://www.usa.canon.com/app/emails/eosmay095dmii/?WT.mc_id=EM0905EO04002.

The manual mode was sorely missing from the camera, causing those who wanted to shoot video and control their aperture settings to find 3-party lenses to mount on to their camera bodies. This is going to make it a lot easier to utilize this feature. It’s still going to be non-trivial for the novice user given the need to put it on a tripod an manual focus. An the “indie” film buffs will whine still as to why it shoots at 30fps rather than 24….

Firmware is available next week (2 Jun 2009). I’ll wait a few days before installing, though.