“The smaller compressed size [using Brotli] allows for better space utilization and faster page loads”, say Google.
HTTP compression is used by most web servers and web browsers to improve the transfer speed of core page assets like HTML, CSS and Javascript, helping to save on bandwidth.
Brotli can reduce the size of these assets, which in turn makes them transfer quicker. Net result: faster web.
Brotli Is Ready to Br-eak Out
The byte-crunching feature is nearing arrival in Google Chrome, says Google’s Ilya Grigori on Google+. The search giant is about almost ready to make Brotli “available as a Content-Encoding method, advertised via Accept-Encoding; br”.
Unlike the Google data saver extension launched last year Brotli works behind the scenes and not as a proxy. It currently only works over HTTPS connections, and only where web developers are supporting it (Google Web Fonts already does, for example).
Developer interest in the new format is said to be high, with ‘CDN vendors, tier1 web properties, third parties, and NGINX modules’ all cited by Google.
For desktop users that increase will translate into faster page loads. Mobile users with data plans or data caps will also save data, battery life and, potentially, money.
Opt In
If you’re running Google Chrome on beta, dev or canary channels on any platform, including Android and Linux, you can opt-in to the Brotli demo early by visiting:
chrome://flags#enable-brotli
Be aware that while the compression algorithm is designed for HTTP content encoding it currently only works over HTTPS.
Google hopes that other major browsers will join it and Mozilla in adopting the efficient format, reasoning: “[…] the smaller compressed size would give additional benefits to mobile users, such as lower data transfer fees and reduced battery use.”
Facilities Issue Reporting (FIR) is an application that allows LDS unit leaders to report issues to local facilities management. A leaky faucet, a damaged wall, and a malfunctioning heating or cooling system are just a few examples of the maintenance work performed by local facilities management.
FIR simplifies the interactions between facilities management offices and local ecclesiastical leaders. It enables leaders to submit, track progress of, and view details of facilities issues in their respective buildings. Facilities managers can easily and instantly provide updates to unit leaders through the application.
FIR has now released a mobile app to make reporting facility maintenance issues easier. The app is currently available in English for the USA and Canada. Download the app for Apple iOS and for Android. Throughout 2016, the mobile app will be released to more localities and in additional languages.
You can also report facilities issues online at lds.org/fir.
Here is a list of the leadership positions authorized to report facilities issues:
Stake/District: President, First Counselor, Second Counselor, Clerk, Executive Secretary, clerks, High Councilor, Stake PFR, Physical Facilities Representative.
Ward/Branch: Bishop/Branch President, First Counselor, Second Counselor, Executive Secretary, clerks, Elders Quorum President, ward council members, Ward Building Representative.
Other: Various positions in facilities management offices, area offices, Family History Centers, temples, missions, LDSFS offices, seminaries, institutes, bishops’ storehouses and other welfare locations, distribution services locations,
Please tell me that Bowser's heart is just a little lower than everyone else's and that's all it is. Also, did Princess Peach wet herself in the third panel?
Heart is an American rock band that first found success in Canada and later in the United States and worldwide. Over the group’s four-decade history it has had three primary lineups, with the constant center of the group since 1974 being sisters Ann Wilson and Nancy Wilson. Heart rose to fame in the mid-1970s with music influenced by hard rock and heavy metal as well as folk music. Their popularity declined in the early 1980s, but the band enjoyed a comeback starting in 1985 and experienced even greater success with album oriented rock hits and hard rock ballads into the 1990s. With Jupiter’s Darling, Red Velvet Car, and Fanatic, Heart made are turn to its hard rock and acoustic folk roots. To date, Heart has sold over 35 million records worldwide, including over 22.5 million in album sales in the U.S. The group was ranked number 57 on VH1’s “100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock”. With Top 10 albums on the Billboard Album Chart in the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and 2010s, Heart is among the most commercially enduring hard rock bands in history. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2013. Since 2002, the band has had six members.Description provided by Wikipedia under Creative Commons Attribution CC-BY-SA 4.0
Boston is an American rock band from Boston, Massachusetts achieved their most notable successes during the 1970s and 1980s. Centered on guitarist, keyboardist,songwriter, and producer Tom Scholz, the band is a staple of classic rock radio playlists. Boston’s best-known works include the songs “More Than a Feeling”, “Peace of Mind”, “Foreplay/Long Time”, “Rock and Roll Band”, “Smokin'”, “Don’t Look Back”, and “Amanda”. They have sold over 31 million albums in the United States, of which 17 million were from their self-titled debut album and seven million were for its second album, Don’t Look Back. Altogether, the band has released six studio albums. Description provided by Wikipedia under Creative Commons Attribution CC-BY-SA 4.0
Carlos Santana audio is a Mexican and American musician who first became famous in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band, Santana, which pioneered a fusion of rock and Latin American music. The band’s sound featured his melodic, blues-based guitar lines set against Latin and African rhythms featuring percussion instruments such as timbales and congas not generally heard in rock music. Santana continued to work in these forms over the following decades. He experienced a resurgence of popularity and critical acclaim in the late 1990s. In 2003 Rolling Stone magazine listed Santana at number 20 on their list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time. He has won 10 Grammy Awards and three Latin Grammy Awards. Description provided by Wikipedia under Creative Commons Attribution CC-BY-SA 4.0
Journey is an American rock band that formed in San Francisco in 1973, composed of former members of Santana and Frumious Bandersnatch. The band has gone through several phases; its strongest commercial success occurred between 1978 and 1987. During that period, the band released a series of hit songs, including 1981’s”Don’t Stop Believin'”, which in 2009 became the top-selling track in iTunes history amongst songs not released in the 21st century. Its parent studio album,Escape, the band’s eighth and most successful, reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and yielded another of their most popular singles, “Open Arms”.Its 1983 follow-up album, Frontiers, was almost as successful in the United States, reaching No. 2 and spawning several successful singles; it broadened the band’s appeal in the United Kingdom, where it reached No. 6 on the UK Albums Chart. Journey enjoyed a successful reunion in the mid-1990s and later regrouped with a series of lead singers. Sales have resulted in two gold albums, eight multi-platinum albums, and one diamond album. Description provided by Wikipedia under Creative Commons Attribution CC-BY-SA 4.0
They may ask for credit card information through Google Play, but it is 100% completely FREE and you will not be charged!
Looking for a deal to brighten up your Monday? Today only, Best Buy is offering Google’s Nexus Player for a mere $50, cutting the regular $100 price tag in half. In addition to the low sale price, it also comes with free standard shipping to your home, making it a breeze to purchase. The Nexus Player is hard to come by these days, so to find it for such a low price is a bit astonishing and should also be reason enough for buying it on an impulse.
The Nexus Player is Google’s first set-top box with Android TV, designed to hit off the launch of Android TV. The device is small, simple and round and comes with a remote to control it. It’s simple enough to set up, requiring only an HDMI port, a power outlet and an Internet connection. From there, you can use the Nexus Player to stream movies and TV shows, listen to music, play games and even cast content from your smartphone in the same way that you’d use a Chromecast.
While it may not pack as many bells and whistles as other set-top boxes, the Nexus Player serves its purpose well and is an absolute steal for $50. Follow the source link below to purchase one for yourself.
Star Wars / Winnie the Pooh Mashup Fan Art 'Wookiee the Chew'
Relentlessly cheerful artist James Hance recently expanded on his amazing "Wookiee the Chew" Star Wars / Winnie the Pooh mashup art series! Hance's adorable illustrations reimagine Chewbacca as Pooh Bear and Eeyore as an Imperial Walker, along with other crossovers. You can check out his website to see more of his work, and it can be purchsed as t-shisrt and prints in his TeePublic or Etsy stores!
Professionally, I develop both websites and mobile applications for various companies. While I do appreciate the potential opportunities of better speed from mobile applications, I do still prefer the flexibility of a responsive website design that can support any device size. Plus, you don't have to submit and wait in Apple's queue for a simple text change. For that Google isn't as bad, but their lax quality assurance has also contributed to Google Play being littered with crap apps.
On a side note, did you know that Apple trademarked the phrase "There's an App for That" back in December of 2009? It's true and expected, too.
I don't know why these two kids can't just get along. Buuuuut...since they can't...let's help them beat the crap out of each other. Some enterprising entity has created a duo of Rock Em Sock Em Robots to complement the upcoming Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice movie. It might be one of the best movie merchandising ideas ever.
Like the original game, 2 players duke it out in a battle of brute force backed by sweet punch, smash, and crash sound effects. But this 2016 Rock Em Sock Em Batman v. Superman shakeup makes a few changes, including trading out the boxing ring for a pair of broken earth platforms, and determining each round's winner by knocking one of the superheroes off his platform (as opposed to knocking his head off his neck--bummer).
Batman v. Superman Rock Em Sock Em Robots require superior thumb dexterity for success. Each player holds onto a pair of posts behind their superhero and thumbs the buttons on top to deliver right hooks, left jabs, and full-body shifts to the left and right.
I had this post planned for a year before we went to Disneyland. Here’s how it was going to work. I was going to start with the moment, the Disney Moment. Do you know which one I am talking about? After a full day in the Magic Kingdom, we would find ourselves standing in the center of the park, Duchess on my shoulders, the light parade passing by, and the fireworks lighting up her face with dancing, colorful shadows. Her giggles would be muffled by the music. In my periphery I would catch glimpses of her tiny fingers pointing at Aladdin, Rapunzel, Ariel, Sulley. Stevie would be holding my hand. My son, exhausted, would be sleeping in the stroller. Everything would be perfect. Perfectly perfect in every perfect way.
And then I would deconstruct the scene backwards. I would explain the cost of the “Disney Moment.” I would do some fancy math and show how much we had invested in Disney over the last four years to create that look in my daughter’s eyes as the fireworks behind the castle mimicked the path Tinkerbell takes in the Disney opening to every movie.
The numbers were pretty staggering. Every movie, every toy, every blanket and book adaptation we had purchased since Duchess was born… the park tickets and the plane tickets, the hotel (which was very kindly covered by my in-laws). It was a lot of money. We had, and continue to invest a lordly amount in our daughter’s love of all things Disney. And we’re not alone! Millions of parents are doing the same thing.
Going in, I was skeptical that it would be worth it. We have family members that are infatuated with all things Disney. Before the trip I had never really understood it. I liked Disney, but it wasn’t the be-all-end-all for me. Within a few hours of entering the park, I, like everyone else there, was sold. I teared up when I took Duchess on the Dumbo Ride, it started, and she screamed “WE’RE FLYING DADDY! LOOK! HI MOMMY! I’M FLYING!!” I’d have given all my dollars to see my daughter bury herself in Winnie the Pooh’s giant soft belly.
It was all perfect. Every corn dog, every song, every ride, every employee, everything at that park is designed to the square inch to be a magical experience. It wasn’t just magical, it was moving. Looking upon the joy that the park had created in my daughter’s face made me feel like a better dad. When we returned to our hotel that night I pulled out my laptop and deleted the spreadsheet where I had stored my snarky data. I didn’t care how much I had invested. It was worth it.
I carried her all the way back to the hotel like this.
And here we are, a little over a year later. Stevie and I are already talking about when we will be going back, because we want that feeling again. We want to see the look on our kids’ faces as they are fed the highest potency Grade-A joy money can buy. Captain is almost the same age Duchess was, and we want him to experience it all too. I don’t care if it is manufactured with the sole purpose of releasing endorphins in the brains of people young and old. I don’t care if the method of delivery is “fake" and that there are no ghosts in the Haunted Mansion. The happiness is real. That is some quality joy, and I want more of it.
Disneyland is the crystal meth of happiness. And not just your standard, crappy crystal meth that some junkie made in a bathtub in a trailer somewhere. Disneyland is the top shelf, scientifically proven, Walter White, 99% pure, blue crystal happiness. It is the good stuff.
There is no denying it. Disney knows what they are doing, and they are doing it better than anyone else. I don’t even think there is necessarily anything nefarious about it. Sure, they want to make money, but they want to do it by making kids happy. The employees have bought in just as much, if not more than everyone else. The people I know who have worked for Disney are the biggest Disney cheerleaders I know. We’re all addicted to the top shelf happiness, and we are willing to pay.
So what is the problem? Is there one? The title of the post seems to indicate that I am going to get to one. Well, here:
I spent the better part of my youth camping. I slept under the stars. I ran the edge of the river. I marveled at the way water would spin in an eddy, carrying the leafs or sticks I had thrown in back up the stream and then back down again. I hid in the branches of trees and watched how the light played with the shadows on the dirt below. Growing up, those were my fireworks.
In 1998 my best friend Ken and I hopped in his 96 Dodge Neon and drove to the Grand Canyon. As we entered the South Rim we pulled off to the side and walked to the canyons edge. I felt as if the earth had punched me in the stomach. When I saw the canyon I immediately felt changed. I had never felt so small and so big at the same time. We laid out a couple blankets and slept under the stars. The next morning we hiked the Bright Angel Trail down to the river. I swear to this day that there is a power in that canyon. There is something in my blood, in my genes that made me feel connected to a world much bigger than I am. I felt joy in that canyon.
I felt better at Disneyland.
I felt better at Disneyland, and that scares the hell out of me. Disneyland is manufactured happiness turned up to 11, and I am worried that if I keep the music that loud my kids won’t be able to hear the quieter joys in life. I am worried that in a few years when we pack up the kids in the car and drive them down to the South Rim, my daughter is going to look at me and say “That’s neat dad, can we go to Disneyland now?” I’m worried I will say yes.
By the way, our Disneyland trip didn’t end at the parade the way I had envisioned it. It ended in the gift shop. Duchess had been so good all day and we told her she could pick out a toy as a reward. After spending 20 minutes deliberating whether she wanted a stuffed baby Tinkerbell or a stuffed baby Dumbo she finally chose the fairy. And then she spent the entire drive home talking to it and playing with it. I kept watching her in the rear view mirror as she made her fly and yelled “zoom zoom!” In fact I was so busy feeling proud about what my money had bought that I failed to notice that she didn’t look out the window once.
I do love Disneyland. I really do. But this summer we’re going camping instead.
"Dad, can we go to Disneyland?" "Maybe next year."
After expanding to nearly ever country in the world, Netflix is already in danger of alienating its international audience.
Earlier this month, Netflix made its service available in 130 new countries—that is, almost everywhere around the globe with the notable exception of China. But fast on the heels of its expansion, the company last week shocked international users by announcing plans to crack down on the millions of people estimated who access Netflix via what’s known as a proxy server or virtual private network (VPN), which allow users to mask their locations.
The outcry was swift:
For users abroad, Netflix in, say, Portugal, Poland, or South America isn’t exactly Netflix as Americans know it. Even the offerings in the UK, Ireland, and Canada are significantly more limited than what we in the US have. Netflix has long known that the path to growing its global audience isn’t just making its streaming service available in a country—it also needs to offer the stuff that people in that country want to watch. But until now, this problem wasn’t a huge issue: International users have happily paid for Netflix and used VPNs to get access to Netflix’s content in the US despite Hollywood’s groans over its content licenses.
Now Netflix is saying, no longer. The company plans to begin blocking VPN proxies in the coming weeks in an effort to show studios and networks that it will, in fact, protect their content and abide by licensing deals. International Netflix users are furious, and proxy service providers are already preparing for the worst. (Some providers, in fact, blatantly advertise that their service is for watching Netflix’s U.S. version.) Netflix will likely be able to restrict some access, providers say. But motivated users may still find ways around the ban. And, for Netflix, it might not be worth fighting that hard anyway.
After all, Netflix’s international audience is the key to the company’s future growth. As investors scrutinize Netflix’s strategy after its quarterly earnings report next week, Netflix will likely facing questions about how expanding its service internationally will work on the ground. The real question isn’t whether Netflix is available in 190 countries. The question is when all 190 countries will get the same Netflix.
Cat and Mouse
Netflix’s upcoming strategy for blocking those who use proxies is not yet clear. “Some members use proxies or ‘unblockers’ to access titles available outside their territory. To address this, we employ the same or similar measures other firms do,” David Fullagar, the company’s vice president of content delivery architecture, said in a blog post. “This technology continues to evolve and we are evolving with it.”
A Netflix spokeswoman told WIRED she could not share further details “for obvious reasons.”
“People will always try and find ways to get the content they want no matter the technological barriers,” she said. “We recognize that, and that’s why we are trying to offer our content to members globally at the exact same time.”
But even if Netflix says it will be blocking VPN users, can it? “There’s some low hanging fruit they can get,” says Karl Kathuria, the CEO of Psiphon Inc, which runs proxy technologies for users in countries that censor the Internet like Iran and China. “If it’s a standard VPN with one or ten servers, then it can be pretty easy for them to see what the IP addresses are and block them.”
Netflix could also track whether individual users are regularly logging in from different locations, Kathuria says, which could signal they’re using a VPN.
“But once you get past the standard VPN, the ones that have a limited infrastructure, after that, it’s going to start to get a bit more difficult,” he says. And the question is whether it will be something they could enforce.
Netflix is also not the first company to try to restrict access to its content. “Back in 2014, Hulu tried to cut off access for people living outside the US by blocking VPNs and proxies,” says Faraz Ali, digital marketing manager for PureVPN. “But they did not succeed because many VPN providers found other ways to bypass the restrictions. Everyone knows that Hulu failed.”
Ali and other VPN providers were confident that workarounds could be set up within just a few weeks. “[If] Netflix blocks our server’s IP addresses, we are able to replace our server IPs just as readily,” Ali says. “And if they have a plan to block the entire network, we are able to replace it in matter of days to get around the blockage.”
If providers are able to build workarounds, Netflix will have to commit significant energy (and money) to fighting off users who try to keep using them. “It is more or less a game of cat and mouse,” says Andrew Lee, a digital rights activist and the founder of provider Private Internet Access. “The cat catches the mouse. The mouse, in order to get around this, creates 1,000,000 mice and becomes anonymous due to the sheer number of mice.”
“Go in the sewer in New York and you’ll see that you can’t tell one mouse from another,” he adds. “They all seem the same. However, they are all different.”
TV Without Borders
The Catch-22 is that international users do want Netflix, and they’re even willing to pay. “The irony is that we, and all the other proxy services, built up the international user base, and Netflix knowingly did not aggressively block us from doing it,” Robert Stone, a partner at unblocker MediaHint, says.
“The backlash is already growing and users are going to realize very fast that the service they pay 8 Euros for is nowhere as complete as the $8 in the U.S. service,” Stone adds. “Same price, lousy catalog.”
International users want Netflix the way it was intended to be—a mix of originals, Hollywood films, and TV shows. A splintered service doesn’t work. It needs all the stuff to be good—to be Netflix. “We have seen massive growth in VPN sales since right after the launch of Netflix across the globe because people are aware that VPN means access to the entire Netflix library,” Ali says. “In my opinion, blocking VPN services might affect Netflix regional profits because less content is available.”
The thing is, a truly global service is what Netflix wants, too. Its subscription model guarantees that its interests and the interests of its audience are aligned. The more Netflix is able to offer what viewers want, the more who will subscribe to Netflix.
But for now, even if we idealistically think of the Internet as border-free, the reality is that content isn’t free to roam. Movies and TV shows are still bound by licensing restrictions tied to deals inked years ago, creating a fragmented global landscape to serve studio and network distribution strategies.
“We think the only solution for them is to offer all of their content everywhere,” Ali says. That’s what everyone may want, including Netflix. But for now at least, even Netflix can’t always get what it wants.
Just last year, researchers were saying there was no end in sight for California's recent drought. During the past four years—the driest the state has been in a half-century— reservoirs and lake levels plummeted, leaves on giant trees grew brittle, plants shriveled and groundwater was depleted through excessive pumping for agricultural use.
But things are looking up. El Niño has swept into the Golden State and is breathing life back into the area. To many, it might seem that this storm front could end the drought and set California back on track. And it is making a difference, but like all things climate-related, it's complicated and hard to predict.
Berkeley News spoke with Berkeley professor B. Lynn Ingram, a geologist specializing in paleoclimatology, who studies past climate history by examining natural archives—trees, sediments, shells, microfossils—and takes a long-term perspective to predict what the climate could have in store for us.
Is this the most rain the state has seen since the drought began four years ago?
B. Lynn Ingram: Yes—some regions have gotten more rain this water year (which began Oct. 1) than they did for the entire water year of 2014-15. Lower than average precipitation in December, followed by much higher precipitation in January to March or April, is a common pattern with strong El Niños. In 1982-83 and 1997-98 [the other two wettest years in recent history], December had lower than average precipitation, but then starting in January, rainfall was much higher than average and continued for months. We're seeing the same pattern this year. Based on the 1997-98 event, we can expect to see precipitation levels around 170 percent of normal for the state. In northern California, it has already rained 20 inches, compared to an average of about 39 inches each year for the past four years.
Shasta Lake, a reservoir in Shasta County, had dropped to lower than 20 percent capacity by May 2015. But reservoirs are filling back up with this year’s El Niño. (Flickr photo by torroid
Will this season's El Niño end the drought?
No. We're in a water deficit of at least two years in most of California. This means we would need more than a year of precipitation like this. We'd probably need more like two years to restore it.
How likely is this to happen?
It's not likely we'll come out of this drought. With climate change, California and the Southwest are predicted to get drier overall with warmer weather and, subsequently, more evaporation. Even with a wetter season this year, even next year, the climate is very likely to continue to be drier. Some are predicting another La Niña next year, which could offset the positive effects of this year's El Niño.
Groundwater in the Central Valley has become extremely depleted from pumping for agricultural use. Credit: Don Barrett
How do meteorologists determine when we're out of a drought?
Being out of a drought means restoring water levels in all the places that water is stored—natural lakes, reservoirs and the ground—to the long-term average. The groundwater is another story because it's been pumped so much. There's no way we're going to replenish that in two years.
Although the drought won't end this season, what are some of the positive impacts of El Niño?
The rain itself is already filling the reservoirs. Statewide, the reservoirs had dropped to 45 percent of the historical average. It's hard to predict how much they'll fill up by the end of the season because it depends how much it rains and how much runoff goes into the reservoirs—in a drought, the rain doesn't produce as much runoff because it's first permeating into the dry ground. By the end of this season, reservoirs could be halfway there, maybe up to 70 percent.
The snowpack is already above average statewide, at about 105 percent, so going into spring and summer, the snow will melt and continue to fill up the reservoirs, so that'll carry over into the summer and fall.
During the flood of 1861-62, the biggest flood on record in California, Sacramento was underwater and the Legislature had to temporarily move to San Francisco. Credit: California State Library
El Niño will also help replenish some groundwater, even though levels won't go back to normal. That would take many, many years. In some places in Southern California and the Central Valley, they're diverting water into storage ponds to allow the water to sink back into the aquifers to recharge the groundwater.
Do you expect to see any flooding in the next few months?
When you get heavy rainfall, you definitely get more flooding, as well as landslides and mudflows. This is especially true in California, which has steep slopes that are generally pretty unstable. During droughts, soil and vegetation dry out, and there are more wildfires, so the land is more susceptible to erosion, landslides and mudflows. Another cause of flooding is atmospheric rivers.
What are atmospheric rivers?
Atmospheric rivers occur when corridors of water vapor come up from the tropics, traveling across the Pacific Ocean for thousands of miles to the West Coast. An atmospheric river storm brings really heavy rain and it's warm because it's coming from the tropics, so that means it falls more as rain in the mountains (as opposed to snow), so you actually get more runoff filling the Central Valley. That's why they cause more flooding than regular, colder storms. Most of our major floods in California correspond to these atmospheric river storms. But they're really important because, on average, they provide 30 to 50 percent of our water resources in just 10 days a year.
Micro-drip watering systems help to conserve water in agriculture. Credit: USDA
Will the state be hit by an atmospheric river this year?
We normally get several smaller atmospheric river storms every year. So we could get some small ones, which last just two or three days. Stronger atmospheric river storms don't necessarily correspond to El Niño years, however. But we're predicting bigger ones in the future. If we go back in time in geologic records, we see that a big storm (and "megafloods") recurred every 100 to 200 years. The only megaflood on record was in 1861-62, which was the biggest flood on record in California. It filled the entire Central Valley, which is 300 miles long and 20 miles wide, with 10 feet of water. It's been 160 years since that flood, so any given year now, it's a possibility that another will occur. Everyone knows about the big earthquake that might hit the San Andreas, but few people know about these megafloods.
What would the impact be if another big storm hits?
In 1861, the state had 43 straight days of rain. The USGS created a scenario based on this flood, but with only 23 days of flooding, and still the water filled the Central Valley and 25 percent of houses in the state were damaged and 1.5 million people would need to evacuate. It produced $400 billion in damage. It would be a major disaster.
How can people prepare for this disaster when it happens?
Don't buy a house in a flood plain. Already, more than 6 million people live in the Central Valley and that's where all of our future development is slated to take place. It's just crazy to me that they can even continue to build these developments in places that are so susceptible to flooding.
So can we relax our water conservation efforts?
No—right now, our water usage is greater than our water supply. We need to change how we're using water. Not just in conservation, but in water recycling and reusing grey water. We also need to increase efficiency in agriculture by revamping watering systems, and we need to start charging more for water and regulating groundwater. We're the only state that doesn't regulate groundwater. Our groundwater is our bank account and we've been depleting it.
In 2014, Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation to strengthen local management and monitoring of groundwater basins—the first time in California history—and in March 2015, he announced a billion-dollar drought relief plan. Although some say it could take up to a decade to implement, is this a step in the right direction?
Groundwater is an important reservoir of water, particularly in drought-prone regions like the American West. It is critical to monitor and regulate this critical water resource, so I am encouraged that the state will be doing this in the near future.
B. Lynn Ingram is a professor of earth and planetary science at UC Berkeley. She is the author of The West Without Water: What Past Floods, Droughts and Other Climatic Clues Tell Us About Tomorrow, co-written with geographer and environmental biologist and visiting scholar Frances Malamud-Roam.
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Just last year, researchers were saying there was no end in sight for California's recent drought. During the past four years—the driest the state has been in a half-century— reservoirs and lake levels plummeted, leaves on giant trees grew brittle, plants shriveled and groundwater was depleted through excessive pumping for agricultural use.
But things are looking up. El Niño has swept into the Golden State and is breathing life back into the area. To many, it might seem that this storm front could end the drought and set California back on track. And it is making a difference, but like all things climate-related, it's complicated and hard to predict.
Berkeley News spoke with Berkeley professor B. Lynn Ingram, a geologist specializing in paleoclimatology, who studies past climate history by examining natural archives—trees, sediments, shells, microfossils—and takes a long-term perspective to predict what the climate could have in store for us.
Is this the most rain the state has seen since the drought began four years ago?
B. Lynn Ingram: Yes—some regions have gotten more rain this water year (which began Oct. 1) than they did for the entire water year of 2014-15. Lower than average precipitation in December, followed by much higher precipitation in January to March or April, is a common pattern with strong El Niños. In 1982-83 and 1997-98 [the other two wettest years in recent history], December had lower than average precipitation, but then starting in January, rainfall was much higher than average and continued for months. We're seeing the same pattern this year. Based on the 1997-98 event, we can expect to see precipitation levels around 170 percent of normal for the state. In northern California, it has already rained 20 inches, compared to an average of about 39 inches each year for the past four years.
Shasta Lake, a reservoir in Shasta County, had dropped to lower than 20 percent capacity by May 2015. But reservoirs are filling back up with this year’s El Niño. (Flickr photo by torroid
Will this season's El Niño end the drought?
No. We're in a water deficit of at least two years in most of California. This means we would need more than a year of precipitation like this. We'd probably need more like two years to restore it.
How likely is this to happen?
It's not likely we'll come out of this drought. With climate change, California and the Southwest are predicted to get drier overall with warmer weather and, subsequently, more evaporation. Even with a wetter season this year, even next year, the climate is very likely to continue to be drier. Some are predicting another La Niña next year, which could offset the positive effects of this year's El Niño.
Groundwater in the Central Valley has become extremely depleted from pumping for agricultural use. Credit: Don Barrett
How do meteorologists determine when we're out of a drought?
Being out of a drought means restoring water levels in all the places that water is stored—natural lakes, reservoirs and the ground—to the long-term average. The groundwater is another story because it's been pumped so much. There's no way we're going to replenish that in two years.
Although the drought won't end this season, what are some of the positive impacts of El Niño?
The rain itself is already filling the reservoirs. Statewide, the reservoirs had dropped to 45 percent of the historical average. It's hard to predict how much they'll fill up by the end of the season because it depends how much it rains and how much runoff goes into the reservoirs—in a drought, the rain doesn't produce as much runoff because it's first permeating into the dry ground. By the end of this season, reservoirs could be halfway there, maybe up to 70 percent.
The snowpack is already above average statewide, at about 105 percent, so going into spring and summer, the snow will melt and continue to fill up the reservoirs, so that'll carry over into the summer and fall.
During the flood of 1861-62, the biggest flood on record in California, Sacramento was underwater and the Legislature had to temporarily move to San Francisco. Credit: California State Library
El Niño will also help replenish some groundwater, even though levels won't go back to normal. That would take many, many years. In some places in Southern California and the Central Valley, they're diverting water into storage ponds to allow the water to sink back into the aquifers to recharge the groundwater.
Do you expect to see any flooding in the next few months?
When you get heavy rainfall, you definitely get more flooding, as well as landslides and mudflows. This is especially true in California, which has steep slopes that are generally pretty unstable. During droughts, soil and vegetation dry out, and there are more wildfires, so the land is more susceptible to erosion, landslides and mudflows. Another cause of flooding is atmospheric rivers.
What are atmospheric rivers?
Atmospheric rivers occur when corridors of water vapor come up from the tropics, traveling across the Pacific Ocean for thousands of miles to the West Coast. An atmospheric river storm brings really heavy rain and it's warm because it's coming from the tropics, so that means it falls more as rain in the mountains (as opposed to snow), so you actually get more runoff filling the Central Valley. That's why they cause more flooding than regular, colder storms. Most of our major floods in California correspond to these atmospheric river storms. But they're really important because, on average, they provide 30 to 50 percent of our water resources in just 10 days a year.
Micro-drip watering systems help to conserve water in agriculture. Credit: USDA
Will the state be hit by an atmospheric river this year?
We normally get several smaller atmospheric river storms every year. So we could get some small ones, which last just two or three days. Stronger atmospheric river storms don't necessarily correspond to El Niño years, however. But we're predicting bigger ones in the future. If we go back in time in geologic records, we see that a big storm (and "megafloods") recurred every 100 to 200 years. The only megaflood on record was in 1861-62, which was the biggest flood on record in California. It filled the entire Central Valley, which is 300 miles long and 20 miles wide, with 10 feet of water. It's been 160 years since that flood, so any given year now, it's a possibility that another will occur. Everyone knows about the big earthquake that might hit the San Andreas, but few people know about these megafloods.
What would the impact be if another big storm hits?
In 1861, the state had 43 straight days of rain. The USGS created a scenario based on this flood, but with only 23 days of flooding, and still the water filled the Central Valley and 25 percent of houses in the state were damaged and 1.5 million people would need to evacuate. It produced $400 billion in damage. It would be a major disaster.
How can people prepare for this disaster when it happens?
Don't buy a house in a flood plain. Already, more than 6 million people live in the Central Valley and that's where all of our future development is slated to take place. It's just crazy to me that they can even continue to build these developments in places that are so susceptible to flooding.
So can we relax our water conservation efforts?
No—right now, our water usage is greater than our water supply. We need to change how we're using water. Not just in conservation, but in water recycling and reusing grey water. We also need to increase efficiency in agriculture by revamping watering systems, and we need to start charging more for water and regulating groundwater. We're the only state that doesn't regulate groundwater. Our groundwater is our bank account and we've been depleting it.
In 2014, Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation to strengthen local management and monitoring of groundwater basins—the first time in California history—and in March 2015, he announced a billion-dollar drought relief plan. Although some say it could take up to a decade to implement, is this a step in the right direction?
Groundwater is an important reservoir of water, particularly in drought-prone regions like the American West. It is critical to monitor and regulate this critical water resource, so I am encouraged that the state will be doing this in the near future.
B. Lynn Ingram is a professor of earth and planetary science at UC Berkeley. She is the author of The West Without Water: What Past Floods, Droughts and Other Climatic Clues Tell Us About Tomorrow, co-written with geographer and environmental biologist and visiting scholar Frances Malamud-Roam.
The El Nino weather phenomenon is likely to drench California for some time to come and trigger floods, but it still won't end the state's severe drought, experts say.
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Barely a few months old, and already caught his first pikachu. On his way to becoming a Pokémon master. #Pokemon #Pikachu #Pokemon20 http://ift.tt/1RLnRka
What you see is what you get or as the techies say: . I'm still surprised when I use the acronym WYSIWYG and people have no idea what I am talking about. I thought that term would have been a lot more common than it actually is.
I was informed about The Higher Lower Game yesterday. The concept of the game is simple: will search term B rank higher or lower than search term A. That's it!
Thing is, I caught myself playing it for a good 15-20 minutes throughout the day. And I thought to myself, if I enjoyed it enough to play it for that long then other people might, too.
So I am resharing what was initially shared with me yesterday. If you enough it too, great! And if you don't, well you still got your money's worth out of it.
8.3 is stupid, and no one should feel they need to stick to that. And I'm pretty sure that 256 character limit on Windows was only true on FAT32 and not NTFS.
Otherwise, I think this is all really good advice.
Good filenames and filing structures allow you to correctly and easily find each unique image when you need it, even if your photo management software fails. It sounds simple, and it is! In this tutorial you'll learn about what you need in a filename and filing structure, how to establish a system, and use the system unfailingly. You'll learn how to keep your digital images organized and avoid a lot of needless heartache.
Romeo, Romeo, WTF Romeo?, after William Powell Frith, by Mike Licht, CC BY 2.0
That Which We Call a Picture
Cameras and smartphones do a great job of providing unique identifiers to each photo taken. Unless you reset the counter in your device, each new image will be numbered sequentially: IMG_0001, IMG_0002, and so on to IMG_9999, and then the numbering starts over again. That’s a lot of photos before you begin to get conflicts, unless:
You use more than one camera. Each camera is on its own cycle for image numbering, so both cameras will, at some point, produce IMG_1234. Now you have two different images with the same file name.
You have your camera set to restart numbering with each newly formatted card. Now you’ve got the problem of the same numbering being used on two cards, both of which could be used in the same shoot if you’re a prolific shooter. In that case, you will not only have two different images with the same file name, you’ll also have two different images with the same file name and the same date.
You are a prolific shooter and always have your camera out. It won’t take long before you’ve accumulated 9999 images and your camera resets to IMG_0001. Once again, you will have two images with the same file name.
Now, imagine uploading those numbered images into your computer’s basic file manager or into photo management software. The files will certainly line up well by name, and depending upon the file or photo management software you’re using, the files may line up properly by date created, but do you remember if the pictures you took in Amsterdam are IMG_2345 to IMG_5432, or was that the shoot that you did for the newspaper? Was the Mad Hatter’s wedding the one you shot on April 1, 2011 or August 1, 2011?
You can create different folders on your computer for different sets of images: Amsterdam-March 2001, for example, or TheChronicle-StreetFair or Montague-Capulet-Wedding-2011. That works so long as the filing structure makes sense to you months later when you’re in a hurry and the images and folders haven’t become disconnected.
Does this look like your photo directory? I have these images buried in RAID:\ToBeIntegrated\OLD-STUFF\pics-ddo. The names are meaningless and so is the filing structure.
You’re getting my point, I’m sure. And that brings me to the raison d’être of filenames and filing structures: to allow you—and someone who may be taking over for you—to correctly and easily find each unique image when you need it, even if your photo management software fails. It sounds simple, and it is so long as you think about what you need in a filename and filing structure, establish a system, and use the system unfailingly.
Files and Folders as Part of a DAM System
This tutorial describes the guidelines you can use to establish your file naming system (nomenclature) and filing structure. This part of digital asset management must be software agnostic: whatever you set up and use has to work no matter which file or image management software you’re using. So, ideally, think about nomenclature and filing structures before building your DAM system. And once you have your DAM system active, apply filenames to new images before, or as part of, ingesting images into a DAM system.
As we go along, you may have questions about how to name files and how to do that as part of digital asset management. I’ve provided a list of suggested articles and courses for you at the end of the tutorial.
Roses by any other name would smell as sweet. PhotoDune.
A Picture by Any Other Name: Use Unique and Descriptive Filenames for Images
Before you think about filing structures and folders, establish the nomenclature you’ll use for naming your image files. It’s easiest if you start with that.
There are four rules for naming files:
The name should be descriptive enough that you can identify the file even without photo browsing software.
Every file must have a unique name.
The filename should follow conservative guidelines for naming computer files.
Record your nomenclature and use it.
1. Make Your Filenames Descriptive
Filenames must help you rapidly sort through a large collection of images from multiple shoots. While you don’t want to add job names or descriptions that are going to make a filename too long and unwieldy, you may want to add some basic information and codes that help to group related images and describe them.
Use the Date the Image was Created: YYYYMMDD
The most basic information you can use in a filename is the date the image was created. Assuming you’ve set the clocks correctly in your cameras, every digital image will have the date created stored in the metadata. Almost all file and photo management software will provide some means of using the date created to name a file. You want to express that date as YYYYMMDD. Use four digits for the year to be internet-friendly and to make it clear that the numbers are a date, not random coding. Build your date in year-month-day order so that your files will sort correctly by date.
Some people recommend using hyphens in the date (YYYY-MM-DD) to make the date easier to read, but I recommend not using hyphens in order to keep your filenames as short as possible. Also, it’s common practice in business and retail environments to express a date with hyphens; however, depending upon where you live, the order could be YYYY-MM-DD or YYYY-DD-MM. Avoid the potential for confusion by using the eight digit system; it has been standardized to express the date in one order. If you have been using hyphens, try it without. You’ll be surprised at how quickly you learn to read the date expressed only as eight digits.
Use the Photographer’s Initials: INI
A common descriptor to use in a filename is the photographer’s initials. If nothing else, by adding your initials to the filename, you are marking the source image as yours. You are also preventing any kind of confusion if anyone handling your image files is also managing photos taken by another photographer. This can happen in commercial environments and is often the case in families when one family member acts as record keeper, managing the photos taken by all family members.
Some photographers like to include their name, not just initials, in an image filename. It’s one way of communicating copyright and it can help with marketing and search engine optimization. If your name is in the image filename, your name goes everywhere the image does. However, using your name instead of initials adds more characters to the filename. So, as with any aspect of digital asset management, think about your end purpose and decide what method suits your purpose best.
Add Client or Shoot Information: CODE
Some photographers will add a short code to the filename to identify the client or shoot. For example, for Dick and Jane Smith’s wedding, you might add WEDDJS or SMIT to the filename. Location photos might get an abbreviated place name added to the filename—NL, for the Netherlands, for example. Some photographers will use more characters, opting for clarity over brevity. The point is not that there is a specific system for describing your images but that you should think about whether you need descriptors in image filenames and if so, what method of describing images works for you. And if you’re going to use descriptors, keep it short.
The wall full of messages, Verona, Italy. PhotoDune.
2. Create Unique Filenames
There are two easy methods of generating unique filenames: use the time a photo was taken or use sequential numbering.
Use the Time the Image was Taken: HHMMSS
Digital cameras make it easy to use time as a unique identifier because digital cameras record the time down to seconds. Use that precise time as a type of image file DNA—HHMMSS—that, in combination with the date, will be a unique code for each image.
There is one situation in which two or more image files may have the same timestamp and so using the timestamp to name files will fail. When you are burst shooting, you are taking more than one image per second. It often happens in sports photography and can inadvertently happen on the most ordinary of shoots if you were quick with the shutter release. All images taken within one second will have the same time stamp and the images will look remarkably similar with only the slightest variation. To distinguish one from another, you have to look for more subtle differences or find a different naming system.
If you are the type of photographer who only rarely has two images with the same time stamp—I took one pair of such images in fourteen years of digital photography—take advantage of the warning system built into all file and photo management software. If you try to give a second file the same name as another file, the software will ask you if you want to want to replace the existing file with the new one, or if you want to give each file a unique name. Choose the option of unique names and your file will be appended with -1, -2, and so on as needed to distinguish each file with the same time stamp. To make sure there is absolutely no confusion, manually go back to the first file with the common name. It will not be appended with a distinguishing number. Add -0 to the filename so all files with the same timestamp have a code that reminds you that the image is part of a collection of different images with the same core filename.
Use Sequential Numbering: 0123
If you regularly shoot in burst mode and so often have clusters of images with the same timestamp, you have two choices: append timestamp-based filenames with a unique identifier (-1, b, etc.) or instead of using HHMMSS in your filename, use sequential numbering: 0001, 0002, and so on. Be sure to use leading zeroes so that your images will be correctly organized in any file management software. Without leading zeroes, some programs will order files as 1, 10, 101, 2, 20, 201, and so on. Also, use enough placeholders in your sequence to ensure you will have unique identifiers throughout the whole shoot. If you’re burst shooting at a hockey game, for example, you’re going to need at least four digit numbering.
I’m not a fan of sequential numbering, but sometimes, it’s what works. If you will be using sequential numbering, keep the following in mind:
If you are shooting with more than one camera or you use more than one media card at a shoot, it’s easy to unintentionally restart sequencing at 0001 with each media card or as you upload from the second camera. If that happens, you’ve got the problem of either duplicate filenames or a need to append filenames with unique identifiers.
If you add an identifier to distinguish one camera or card from another, sequential numbering may not align images in the order they were taken. That may not be a problem for you, but it’s something to consider.
If you are shooting for a client and eliminate some images from the shoot before sharing the images with your client, you can bet that your client will ask about an image in the sequential gap.
When sequential numbering does not result in clean, sequential ordering of related files, it can be, oh, so tempting, to resolve the problem by renaming the files with new sequential numbering. If you do it, you can bet that you’ll end up duplicating filenames or worse.
Save yourself the hassle and just use HHMMSS as your unique identifier, if you can.
With good nomenclature, files sort easily and are also easily found.
Preserve the Original Image Number: ORIG
Many digital asset management specialists recommend preserving the original image number when naming files. Usually this means giving your image file a new name that precedes the original image number: [New Filename]-[Original Image Number]. There are times when this is a good idea, such as when you are not the only person working from the images out of the camera. Your nomenclature may be different than that used by the other person working with the original images. By preserving the original image number, you’ll have a common reference in addition to information about the date and time the image was captured.
Sometimes, you will want to preserve the original file name, not just the number, when you name files. This would be the case when you’re working with an established, chaotic collection of images that have been named in different ways. Those image names probably contain some useful information; JulietBday3-001, for example, probably means that the image was taken on Juliet’s third birthday. You’ll also want to keep original filenames when you know you or someone else at some time worked with the file under that original filename. Yes, you can elect to keep the original filename as information in the image’s metadata, but remember that your goal with names is to be software agnostic. Don’t take a chance on breaking the connection to a source image file; unless you are renaming the image file right out of the camera, keep the original filename in the new name.
Use Slugs to Distinguish Originals from Derivatives: -slug
If you do any kind of processing or publishing with your images, you’re going to end up with different versions of one image file. Not only might you have a PSD file in addition to your source RAW file, you might also have a file generated to certain pixel dimensions, converted to CMYK colour space, or watermarked for use on the web. Some photographers also save versions at various stages through processing. Avoid any kind of confusion and keep to the same filename but avoid the risk of potentially overwriting a file by adding a descriptive slug to the filename as the image moves through its life cycle. You could use -bw, for example, to mark an image that has been converted from its original to black and white; -CMYK for an image that’s been converted to that colour space; -web for an image that’s been sized for posting online; -wm for a watermarked image; and so on. When I prepare images for my Tuts+ articles, I know that I need to size them to 600px across, so I append the sized files with -600px.
3. Follow Basic Computer System Rules
Before you finalize the nomenclature you’ll use for your images, review your plan with a few basic rules in mind. Technology has evolved a great deal and filenames are no longer limited to eight characters and no spaces; however, not all file and photo management systems play by the same rules. What might work in your operating system may not work in another. This includes online file storage systems, which could operate on any of a number of computer platforms. Also, longer and more complex file and folder names must be coded or “aliased” by most systems, which exposes the filename to possible corruption, rendering the content of the file inaccessible. To avoid all of these problems, use the most conservative file naming conventions for digital assets.
Use only letters from the Latin alphabet (A-Z, a-z) and use only numerals (0-9) for numbers.
All characters are created by a computer code (unicode) telling a font family what character to express. Letters from the Latin alphabet and numerals have been coded and standardized since the dawn of computing, so those characters are safe to use. Systems are getting better at recognizing accented and non-Latin letters, but many of these codes have not yet been standardized and not all operating systems will recognize every unicode. For reliable filenames, stick to the Latin letters A-Z and a-z, and to use as few characters as possible to express a number, use numerals (0-9) rather than words (zero-nine).
With the exception of hyphens and underscores, do not use any other mark, code, or punctuation mark.
Many punctuation marks and codes fall into that extended category of unicodes I’ve already mentioned, but what is more critically relevant is that many punctuation marks and codes are read by operating systems as computing actions. The solidus (/), for example, is regularly used by operating systems to signal a change in directory. Hyphens (-) and underscores (_) are always safe in file names. And, if you really want to be user-friendly, even avoid using underscores: they require two keystrokes to create (SHIFT+HYPHEN).
Use hyphens or underscores instead of spaces in filenames. While most systems read a space in a filename, spaces are encoded or converted to characters in some situations, especially on the web. Avoid potential problems by replacing spaces with hyphens or underscores, or by creating what is sometimes called “CamelCase”—beginning each word or code in a name with an uppercase letter, AllWithoutAnySpaces.
Ensure all file names have a period and a three-letter extension identifying the file type; e.g., .JPG.
This is just good basic computer hygiene. A program can’t tell what it’s working with if the filename doesn’t provide the information. Don’t mess with it.
Restrict the length of filenames.
Some systems allow extraordinarily long filenames. Still, the safest length for filenames is what is referred to as the 8.3 pattern: eight letters in the filename plus a three-letter extension designating the file type. However, eight characters is usually not enough to effectively manage digital assets. The standard recommendation is to keep filenames as close to the 8.3 pattern as possible but long enough as is reasonable to accurately identify the file. To decide how many more characters you might add to a filename, consider the following:
General netiquette guidelines recommend keeping a filename to 15 characters or less if you plan to share the file by email or on the web.
In Windows, the maximum length of a pathname—the filename plus all parent directories—is 256 characters. In the pathname C:\Program Files\filename.txt, 17 characters are used even before reaching the filename and another four characters are used to identify the file type (.txt). Given that filing structures are commonly a few directories deep, you can see how a good number of the available character spaces may be used by the time you reach the filename.
File management software and image management software will truncate long filenames with ellipses (...). This means that you may not be able to read some of the information stored in the filename without taking extra steps to reveal the full filename.
Lock it up! Symbols of love in Juliet's courtyard, Verona, Italy. PhotoDune.
4. Record and Use Your Nomenclature
Once you’ve determined what you need in your image filenames, you need to decide in what order you’ll place that information. How you order the information depends upon your goals. If you need your images to fall into order, first, by time taken, regardless of the photographer, use the date (YYYYMMDD) first. If it’s more important to sort images by who took them, put the photographer’s initials (INI) first. If you need to keep wedding photos separate from your travel photography, put the descriptor (CODE) first. You get the idea. You do want your unique identifier (time or sequential number) at the end of the filename, followed by any slug you elect to use. And separate the key chunks of information with a hyphen or underscore.
A common rule of thumb for image filenames is to limit the length to 28 to 35 characters. I use that length with the following formula:
YYYYMMDD-INI-CODE-HHMMSS-slug
That’s 29 characters—a lot of characters in a filename, but it’s the balance between length and description that works for me. What’s most important is that the filename works for me, I have it written down in my business notebook, and I use it diligently.
There is one exception to this rule. When working for a client, always ask if the client needs a particular nomenclature. If you’re doing business-to-business work, you will find clients increasingly requesting that images be named in a way that works with their organization’s digital asset management system. If you run into a situation where the client wants a nomenclature that’s vastly different from yours, try, if you can, to name your files in a way that suits your client but still preserves the essential elements of your own system.
Because I’ve used a consistent nomenclature and applied it diligently, I can see at a glance what I’ve got in this archived folder. And even though derivative files (PSDs, for example) have a creation date that differs from the original image, the related files still cluster together because they share the same core filename. Coding that I use for slugs quickly gives me more information about related files.
Avoid the Fates of Star-cross'd Filing Structures
You could simply keep all of your images in one directory without any folders, but navigating thousands of images in one directory, even with photo management software, becomes a mammoth, resource-demanding, and time-consuming task. A hierarchy of folders is the standard way to break a collection of files down into manageable groups and avoid mixing up the latest Montague family portrait with pictures from the Capulet family gathering.
There’s nothing romantic about folders, but they do get the job done. Here are some
guidelines that will help you get the most out of your folder structure.
1. Build your filing structure to be software independent.
You need to build a filing structure that will help you easily find images even without photo management software. The easiest way to build the filing structure you need is to look at your priorities when you established your file naming pattern. How did you decide to think about your images: by date, client, photographer, event, or by something else? If you decided that you mentally sort your images first by when you took them, then your first level of folders will be by year (YYYY). If, on the other hand, you think about your images first by who took them, your first level of folders will be one for each photographer (INI). And so on.
2. Don’t use more folders or subdivide folders more than you need to reasonably manage your files.
It’s possible, even likely, that with your images divided into your first level of folders, you’ll still have too many files in each folder to easily navigate navigate your images. Subdivide your first level of folders in whatever makes sense to you, but avoid too many subdivisions. A complicated or deep folder structure will slow you down and create opportunity for error. A hierarchy of three levels of folders is probably the most you’ll need.
3. Use your folders for storage, not organization.
You should be able to pull an image out of a folder and still be able to identify it and know enough about it to figure out where the image slots back into your collection of images. Your folders should not be structured in such a way that you lose valuable information about an image once you remove it from a folder. For example, if your filename is YYYYMMDD-INI-HHMMSS, but you name your folder EVENT, you would not know where to return the image should it become separated from the folder. You would have to review the image and probably check the metadata before you knew where the image belonged.
4. Keep multiple versions of an image in the same folder.
There are different opinions about this guideline. Some sources recommend putting all of your DNGs in one folder and derivative files in another. The argument is that this reduces the odds that an original file will be overwritten by a derivative file. It can also be easier to automate some tasks if your images are sorted by function. For example, you may have an online gallery set up with a watched folder on your computer. When you add a file to the folder, the online service uploads the file into your gallery. In that case, you probably only want JPGs in the watched folder.
My experience with this kind of system is that I end up with multiple copies of an image and lose track of which versions are where and how many I have. And if the folder structure falls apart, will you know FILENAME-1.jpg came from a folder of files for the web and is an inferior version of FILENAME-1.jpg that came from a folder of files for the printer?
My preferred structure—and the system recommended by many digital asset management specialists—is to use slugs on the filename to distinguish versions of files and keep all versions in the same folder so you can easily see what you have, even without photo browsing software. That said, you may have reasons to sort images by type. If so, set up your system carefully so that you don’t lose track of what you have. A common solution I’ve seen is to use subfolders by type within a main folder for the shoot.
5. Record your structure and use it.
If there’s any magic to building an effective and user-friendly digital asset management system, it’s a result of taking the time to think about what you need, making decisions about how you can make that happen, then documenting those decisions and sticking with them. Always. Every time. Once you’ve decided how to name your files, write down your nomenclature. And once you’ve sorted out your filing structure, write it down too. Put your noted nomenclature and filing structure in an obvious place, and use them.
My filing structure isn’t complex, but then it doesn’t need to be. If an image were to become separated from the filing structure, I would know where it belonged, and if I need a file, I can find it quickly.
Keep Learning
Now that you have a nomenclature and filing structure, you need to put it to use. I promised to provide you with a list of references that can help you with that.
If you’re using Adobe Lightroom, our Lightroom course covers importing and storing image files.
The Lyn course has a great bonus lesson on using Automator for sorting. If you’re not familiar with Automator and use a Mac, take the time to view this bonus lesson. Automator is a great tool for all kinds of actions.
Sometimes the best way to wrangle and brand image files is not to use photo management software, but instead, to use a renaming app. (This is especially the case if you’re dealing with a disorganized collection of existing, older image files.) You’ll find two quick tutorials in Computer Skills that could be helpful:
Finally, to learn more about building and maintaining a reliable system for digital asset management, explore our series on Digital Asset Management Fundamentals.
That’s a lot of information about naming and storing image files! I can’t overstate, though, how important this stage of digital asset management is. If I can offer you any final bit of advice, it is to start small. Make a duplicate set of about 100 of your images and move them into a separate directory that becomes your testing lab. Play in that testing lab with the guidelines and suggestions in this tutorial and once you’ve decided what you need and how you’re going to do it, apply your practice on your real image collection.
I got married to the love of my life this past October, and our ceremony was super geektastic! He proposed to me on a trip to Norway, where he was born, at the folk museum which had a ton of amazing, beautiful historical architecture (You can see photos of it here).
We had a difficult time picking just 1 theme for the wedding, but finally settled on a small handful that tied together well in the end. He's a professional propmaker, welder/fabricator and blacksmith that makes armor and builds theme park and art installments for a living. I'm a video game and web developer by day as well as a cosplayer and model. We both do medieval re-enactment with the SCA, post-apocalyptic pre-enactment and love gamer and geek culture. We are also both polytheists - he's mainly Norse pagan and I am a Discordian, so we created our own ceremony based on historical traditions with our own influence.
We DIYed the majority of the wedding with the help of our family and friends. The centerpieces were all perler bead plant based video game sprites surrounded by Mario candy blocks and mushrooms and Zelda chests we stained and painted, and my mother in law had chocolate Mario coins printed up with our names on them. The cake was made by roommate/bridesmaid/friend Adriann with my help and was Godzilla themed on one side and Katamari themed on the other - super fun to make, lots of burning buildings, tiny toys and things being destroyed :) The ceremony itself was based mainly in viking tradition, although my husband walked down the aisle to the Godzilla theme and I walked down to the Katamari Damacy theme. We did a ceremonial handwashing, exchanged swords which were made in the weeks leading up to the wedding by my husband and were based on historical designs, and exchanged rings which were also made by my husband out of silver (he's rad). The wedding was presided over by a bard and Duke in the SCA, Tomuki, who gave details on the historical context of the exchanges. At the end of the ceremony, since we are silly, we did the ceremonial combining of our childhood LEGO sets - for once they are combined, they can never be parted again!
My husband was dressed in traditional Rus viking attire - his coat was made by the talented SCA laurel Whilja of Pimp Your Garb, who is the wife of my husband's knight. The trim was hand woven by my mother in law and was a surprise for my husband. Whilja, along with myself, Adriann, our family and friends sewed the men's viking tunics and pants. The women's outfits were all from Holy Clothing because they look nice and I didn't want to sew 3 more outfits, although all my bridesmaids are also wonderful seamstresses! My wedding party was a little more on the fantasy side of history, and my dress and flowered shoes were handmade by artisans on Etsy. I am absolutely in love with everything! They couldn't have been more perfect. My bouquet was made out of plush Katamari cousins that broke apart when I threw it so multiple people could bring one home.
Our menu consisted of modern twists on traditional Scandinavian and viking cuisine and even featured a delicious pancake bar with fruit and cream for dessert. I had a mix of video game and movie original soundtracks and eclectic Scandinavian folk, neofolk and folk metal during the meal and cocktail hour. Guests were encouraged to arrive in costume since we travel in so many costumed circles, and we had people in everything from medieval SCA garb, cosplay like Sarah and Jareth from Labyrinth and Number 6 from the Prisoner, to national folk clothing from Norway.
Oh, and I made the wedding invitations myself, which were NES cartridges and I sell on Etsy.
Article note: The hard part is finding a place that takes it. Around me, there's Walgreen's, Subway, and McDonald's and not much else.
By now, you’ve likely heard about Android Pay, Google’s tap-and-pay software for mobile payments. Google has been trying some different tactics to encourage usage of Android Pay, with a notable promotion last month in which the company gave $20 Best Buy gift cards to those that tried Android Pay. But now the company is giving customers another incentive to use Android Pay, with Android Pay Rewards.
Android Pay Rewards is a new feature within Android Pay that will reward customers for how often they use Android Pay. On their first tap, they’ll get a free song from Google Play Music. Users will get the same reward on their second and sixth taps. On their 10th tap, however, the rewards really ramp up, with users getting a free Chromecast. Yes, you read that right.
Users will receive a promo code to use in the Google Play Store that will allow them to get their free Chromecast. The promotion runs through February 29, so interested users have a bit of a time to get started with Android Pay. It should be noted that not everyone is seeing the promo yet. It’s arriving as part of the Android Pay update that’s currently rolling, so it may be a couple of days before you see it. When the promo info does appear, it should show up along with your payment, loyalty and gift cards.
I forgot that this song wasn't in the movie, because it's still on the soundtrack, and it's my favorite song from the soundtrack.
Deleted Disney: 'Someday' Hunchback of Notre Dame Cover
Ginny, who is the co-founder of Geekiarchy, a collaborative production company for nerdy web content, sent us this amazing music video! Here's what it's all about...
""Someday" is the fourth release in our series "Deleted Disney", which takes songs that were written for Disney movies but cut before release, and recreates them, live-action, as they might have appeared in the movie. "Someday" is from The Hunchback of Notre Dame (an early precursor to "God Help the Outcasts"), and was cut during storyboarding because composers Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz wanted a softer song in its place.
This video was shot at Bishop Castle in Rye, CO in one day. It stars Ginny DiGuiseppi (me!), cosplayer and YouTuber. The single will be coming soon to iTunes for purchase."
The IllumiBowl is a toilet night light that gives you: A) an alternative to blasting your eyes with the overhead light in the bathroom; B) a fun way to help potty train your kids; and C) a better chance of not whizzing on the side of the bowl, the floor, or your bare foot. It also makes your Porcelain God look like the Porcelain God of Disco.
The IllumiBowl apparatus is a palm-sized device that suction cups to the outside rim of your bowl, and then directs its LED color-changing magic inside. The light is motion-activated, so it turns on and off automatically, and each IllumiBowl has 8 light colors, plus a few patterned illuminations to choose from. The pack requires 3 x AAA batteries for operation.
Light up your john with an IllumiBowl Toilet Night Light for 15% off for a limited time from Dude Exclusives.
I bet my girlfriend will be my Valentine if I get this sick black jacuzzi bathtub. In fact, I bet all of my girlfriend's girlfriends will also be my Valentine if I get it. Six adjustable massage jets. Eight powerful back jets. Underwater color-changing LED lighting. But I'm afraid this indoor hot tub has only enough space for one special lady alongside me. Just like my heart.
In addition to a bevy of jets and a wash of jet blackness, the 2-person jacuzzi has the following features:
Air bubble pump and switch controlling 13 air jets
Heat pump to keep filled tub hot without adding more water
Computerized LCD screen control panel
FM Radio with 1 speaker
Remote control for adjusting jets, radio, and other functions
Waterfall faucet
Handheld shower want
2 x removable padded waterproof pillows
An ozone water cleaner to kill any mold, viruses, and bacteria
Water level sensor
Thermostatic faucet to ensure precise water temperature
Also comes in unsexy white
The 2-person black jacuzzi is made of acrylic and an ABS compound material, with 3 layers of glass fiber reinforcement over a stainless steel frame. Dimensions are 72" long x 47" wide x 26" high.
Facilities Issue Reporting (FIR) is an application that allows LDS unit leaders to report issues to local facilities management. A leaky faucet, a damaged wall, and a malfunctioning heating or cooling system are just a few examples of the maintenance work performed by local facilities management.
Please tell me that Bowser's heart is just a little lower than everyone else's and that's all it is. Also, did Princess Peach wet herself in the third panel?
Professionally, I develop both websites and mobile applications for various companies. While I do appreciate the potential opportunities of better speed from mobile applications, I do still prefer the flexibility of a responsive website design that can support any device size. Plus, you don't have to submit and wait in Apple's queue for a simple text change. For that Google isn't as bad, but their lax quality assurance has also contributed to Google Play being littered with crap apps.
!['--> [ Well, this is embarrassing. ] <--'](http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/longer_than_usual.png "'--> [ Well, this is embarrassing. ] <--'")
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JOHN G. MABANGLO/epa/Corbis
I've seen this premise before. Good comic, nonetheless.
With the IOgrapher Filmmaking case there’s no need for expensive camera equipment, just pop in your phone and you’re good to go!
Credit: Kevin Ho Nguyen
August 13, 2015
What you see is what you get or as the techies say: . I'm still surprised when I use the acronym WYSIWYG and people have no idea what I am talking about. I thought that term would have been a lot more common than it actually is.
I was informed about The Higher Lower Game yesterday. The concept of the game is simple: will search term B rank higher or lower than search term A. That's it!
