I have done all of the above. Depends on the circumstances. Latest purchase is a couple of generations back D7000 camera to compliment my D750. Weird mix? Yes. The D750 for high quality photos, the D7000 for underwater, just in case it gets wet. Lose of the D7000 won't hurt too bad and yet it has good enough image quality for what I do. There are lots of other factors affecting underwater photos and pixels isn't the major one.

Years ago I did some photo work for Kodak Canada. They wanted 100 prints of a photo I took. I made 100 prints for them and they then noticed that they were not back printed with the Kodak logo. I had to explain to them that the paper I used was Kodak, in fact they had supplied me with the paper. They didn't even know their own products.

When I was doing freelance photography I made the decision to only look for clients that had money. Why spend my time chasing clients who could not pay, even if they appreciated my work. That worked out well for a number of years until I left professional photography. The best excuse I received was from a non profit (I already gave them a discounted price) for slowness in paying. They said that they were 'managing their money'. My response was that I was trying to manage my money and that it was hard to pay bills if my clients did not pay theirs. The cheque came quickly.

It is a shame about Rollei, one of the great camera makers of the mid 20th century. At least in North America, Rollei lost its way in the 70's never advancing, never producing popular products worthy of the name. Some truly low quality 35 mm SLR cameras, never really catching on in the 120 SLR market, less popular slide projectors, the list could go on. But in the end, Rollei died of lack of innovation, died of producing a quality product for an ever shrinking market, died of an unwillingness to make the big jump into new technologies and ideas. [Well, I don't know. I have a 6008AF that was pretty cutting-edge for its day and is still pretty magnificent, in a panzer tank kind of way. I think it's more that the pro market which Rollei and Hasselblad depended on, in Europe and the USA respectively, just had to switch early and hard to digital. --Mike]

You're a mean one, mr grinch. The open carry American way of assassinating the being of Burl Ives. The rest of the world would rather boil him in treacle for his festive tunes. I screamed with laughter at today's missive, it so deservably disembowls the current essence of commercial Christmas that it should be mandatory reading for all of us Bah Bumbug Scrooge wannabes.

The two photos show what stepping a couple of feet either side can really change the image. A good teaching lesson. But as a former news photographer, we often saw this. What I shot versus the competition.

I could just imagine the kids trying to figure out a 1920's folding Kodak with 616 film. Or trying to load a Leica 111c Or getting the film on a Nikkor reel, in the dark. What joys they have missed.

A friend of mine bought a Porsche by rationalizing to his wife,' it's cheaper than a mistress'! Maybe you can work that sort of logic, somehow.

You are so absolutely correct about corporate radio and it's homogeneous character. Video did not kill the radio star, corporate radio fired him!

I went through that a year ago. Cleaned out lots of obsolete stuff gone but not forgotten. Like memories they will soon fade. Or be replaced by a new object dog desire.

Bypass the whole poop and scoop process, duck tape a plastic bag to the dogs nether regions and then attach the cone of shame. That way it won't be able to chew the bag off You could even create a bag harness to hold the bag, much like a woman's hosiery hanger from the forties.. Hey, a business idea for you. Maybe you will become rich and famous for the selling the TOP Doggie Poop Catcher.

Now that you read 1491 absolutely read the follow up book 1493, it gives a very sobering view of how the world changed since Columbus discovered people living in the 'New World'. And the iPad is very good for magazine reading, though it gets a bit bevy towards the end of the day. Just don't drop it when you nod off.

In Canada we are quite properly caught on the middle of the fence. We have an amalgam of English spelling and grammar clashing with what passes as English south of the border. It gets very frustrating trying to figure out what is the correct spelling of some words depending on the situation. Writing for newspapers was a good example of this. But, then again we also have to deal with Quebec style French which is just as bi-polar.

One way around all this too many hours per week and we have to pay benefits nonsense is instead to institute a flat rate payroll tax. Every dollar that gets paid to employees is taxed and those funds go to pay for benefits such as health insurance. Two benefits, no excuses to not have full time employees because there would be no downsides, financially to having them. Second, even Mr Big Shot manager/ owner gets to pay and gets to pay according to earnings, fat pay check means paying in more to pay for the benefits of the lower paid workers. The laws would have to be written in a way that special employees also pay. That would include contractors, commission only, short term hires, casual labour, cash only, etc.

Soon, only the logo will be left for sale.

A number of thoughts flew through my head on this one. The Che photo, the Gene Smith Minimata photo, Barak Obama, Jimi Hendrix and Bob Marley images. And the ironic twist of an Israeli photogrpahers photo being used as an anti-Iranian government poster. I guess the Zionists are behind all of the protests. Just joking on the last point, before someone goes off the deep end.