By Ian Hollidae, 2026/03/30

A recent video of Steve Jobs from 1999 talking about the iBook got me thinking about the one I bought in 2004. It was the first Apple product I ever bought. I didn't care so much about the colors (I wound up getting the white model) but there was one feature I found compelling that triggered a purchase. A friend of mine, who was a huge Apple fan, had shown me a beta copy of OS X a few years earlier where he pointed out the unix subsystem underneath the UI. Two systems in one without rebooting? That stuck with me. And it was certainly a big deal at the turn of the millennium. So when I needed a laptop for an upcoming conference, iBook was the choice.

Now I'm not really the nostalgic type, but I have to admit I look back at the purchase in favorable light. I had only one real problem with that iBook (hard drive issue) and Apple Care took care of it pretty quickly. After that, I got a solid twelve years out of that machine before moving on. Last summer, when I needed to jump back into mobile computing (not counting iPhone), I went with a MacBook Pro.

I don't know if I'll get twelve years out of this purchase but it's been a good start. And you have to wonder what impact the new MacBook Neo will have.

I guess if a need a second laptop, I'll find out.

Tags: General

By Ian Hollidae, 2026/03/03

This was one time, after checking my weather app, where I found myself unable to get in front of an incoming storm. Since finding a suitable position seemed pointless, I decided to abandon the effort and head home. But as I got closer to my house, I realized there may be some good shot opportunities at the trail end of the storm.

I found a large empty lot that provided a decent view. No nearby trees or homes. It was also fortunate the storm was moving relatively slow, which helped things a lot.

I guess the lesson here is despite having a "plan", flexibility and the ability to improvise are useful when trying to find shots.

Photo Only

This post is a continuation of the Beginners Photography Project.

Tags: Feature Photos

By Ian Hollidae, 2026/02/21

When I think of the beginnings of television, my first thought is to some of the early shows (reruns when I first saw them) such as "I Love Lucy" and "The Honeymooners" that ran during the 1950's. So when American Institute of Physics published the news that television had turned 100, it was sort of surprising. I realized that what I viewed as the history of television was more a history of TV shows. The technology of television and broadcasting, however, has been around since the mid-twenties.

For someone who was involved in a number of streaming video projects during the mid-aughts, this was a great post. What was really interesting was the note about the Image Orthicon (RCA) breakthrough in efficient storage of images and picking up pictures in low light. Sound familiar?

I guess we should be amazed how much things haven't changed. Given the ongoing transition to all things streaming, the current advancements are simply the modern day equivalent of what was happening a century ago.

We all know how TV turned out. I'll go out on a limb and say streaming, despite whatever troubles it's encountering, will turn out just fine as well.

Tags: Streaming

By Ian Hollidae, 2026/02/10

So YouTube has finally released prices for their skinny bundles and my initial reaction is ambivalence. They're somewhat cheaper than cable, and you certainly know what you're getting, but will the price still be off-putting. My biggest question is how will cable companies respond now that they know what they are up against.

Tags: Streaming

By Ian Hollidae, 2026/02/06

I admit to being someone who had no idea that Flash (Adobe Animate) was still around. I remember working on a few Flash/gaming projects in the mid-aughts, mainly as back-end web support. I thought the whole thing was wasted on creating terrible ads when it had the potential to be a successful embedded application container. We know how it all turned out.

Nowadays, HTML5 Canvas, along with SVG and Javascript, can do a lot of what Flash/Animate did on the web back in its heyday. When you add in Three.js and X3D, you have to wonder what all the noise was about. Still, we should tip our hat to the fact it lasted this long with plenty of passionate support. A lot of other technologies can only wish they had it so good.

Tags: Graphics

By Ian Hollidae, 2026/01/31

As someone who uses open-source software whenever feasible, this looks like good news for the FOSS world:

"This membership is a significant acknowledgement of Blender becoming more embedded in high-end animation studios' workflows. I deeply appreciate this strategic initiative from Netflix Animation Studios as an investment in a diverse, public, and open-source friendly ecosystem of creative tools that will benefit the global community of content creators."

-- Francesco Siddi, CEO Blender

What Blender is doing should be considered a big achievement. No one will credibly claim GIMP is challenging Photoshop or Inkscape is challenging Illustrator. And yet, Blender seems to be a viable alternative to major players like Maya.

If only I could find more time to dive deeper into Blender usage.

Tags: Graphics

By Ian Hollidae, 2026/01/20

This is a new-ish sidewalk with some uneven brushing. There's also traces of a boot print. Since the rest of the sidewalk looked normal, I can only assume whoever did the brushing was in a hurry to finish. I tried to catch the more interesting sections which I thought could make a good flooring texture.

Select a thumbnail to see a preview.

Download the Brushed Concrete texture set under Creative Commons (CC BY 4.0).

Tags: Textures

By Ian Hollidae, 2026/01/04

It's safe to say that copyright reform in the digital age has been underwhelming. So when I saw the news regarding the Visual Artists Copyright Reform Act of 2025 (VACRA) that is being considered, I took it as a positive step. It also appears the bill has substantial support, including the ASMP:

"VACRA breaks down the barriers that prevent so many creators and photographers across the country from being able to protect the fruits of their life's work and passion...These sorely needed and common-sense reforms are long overdue and are a first step in bringing so many artists back into the very copyright system that is designed to support their efforts in the creative economy. ASMP applauds Senator Blackburn and Senator Welch for their leadership and support of VACRA, and the far-reaching effects this bill will have on photographers and all visual creators in this country."

-- Thomas Maddrey, ASMP CEO

The main goals of VACRA is it increases limits for group registration submissions, allows for deferred registrations, and introduces subscription models and third-party registries.

I'm sure there will be the usual "will this be effective" or "it doesn't do enough debate". But at this point, even small steps forward is probably good news. I'll take it.

Tags: Photography

By Ian Hollidae, 2025/12/17

This is the lone window in what is otherwise a long, ordinary stone wall. It appears to be an abandoned shed or storage spot. Why the structure is embedded like this, as opposed to being separate, is unknown. It was also unimportant. This was an object of curiosity, so it got added to my to-do list.

Additionally, this picture provided an interesting lesson from a beginners point of view. It was the first photo where the "rules" of photography didn't seem to improve my shot. A straight forward take always produced the most satisfying result. From this photo on, my focus was more on the result as opposed to the process.

Photo Only

This post is a continuation of the Beginners Photography Project.

Tags: Feature Photos

By Ian Hollidae, 2025/12/12

Let me say this up front: the only reason I have cable is sports. I do watch a few of the basic movie channels (TCM, Flix, Sundance) but they aren't actually needed. If I could get a sports-only subscription, that's the route I would take. Since I can't, my only options are to continue on as I've been doing or sign up for multiple sports streaming services. Neither path is optimal.

However, this all could be changing with the news that YouTube will start offering genre-specific subscriptions. The details haven't been released and the specific offerings will probably determine each bundles success. What's really important though is if YouTube is willing to bundle up specific packages, all the other streaming services might have to follow suit. Will this finally be the start of true a la carte TV?

I certainly hope so.

Tags: Streaming