Operation: Chicken Scratch

Recently the gang at OCS have gotten into photography and crawled the web for all the information we can find. We’ve put together a list of blogs and sites that cover everything from the latest gear reviews to professional lighting techniques. Check them out:

RoslundMedia.com - Great (newer) site run by a Master Photographer and his whole friggin family of pros. Perhaps a little short on content right now, but keep an eye on this one . . . these guys are sharp!

ScottKelby.com - The Photoshop master (and President of NAPP)! Scott has over 42 books on digital imaging and photography. This is his daily blog. He also runs our next link.

KelbyTraining.com - A great source for tutorials and training from the world’s best in the business.

LightroomKillerTips.com - Matt Kloskowski’s blog for everything Adobe Lightroom. Matt is co-host of Photoshop USER TV with Scott Kelby.

KenRockwell.com - Some of the best gear reviews on the net.

PPA - Professional Photographers of America, a must for any professional or aspiring photographer. This is where photographers earn their Master Photographer degree.

1001NoisyCameras.com - Blog of everything happening in the industry.

That’s about it for now. We’ll update the list as we go. Most of these sites have links to other sites and you’ll probably get lost for hours with all the information available out there. If you know of another site that should be on our list, drop us a comment on this post and we’ll get it added. This is your opportunity for shameless plugs!

There are tons of sites out there on the web that can save you a lot of loot.

One of our favorites is:

journeyed.com

A great site for software discounts, like Adobe Lightroom for only $99 (versus $299).

This site was designed for students and educators, who receive (in some cases) HUGE discounts on software and books from the manufacturer. Sometime the manufacturer labels the software as “educational version”, although there is normally no difference between this version and the “full” version.

One catch is that you have to provide a transcript, student ID, or paystub from the school in order to qualify.

While uncommon, this staple-less stapler is actually quite old. It was first patented in America in 1910 and remains largely unpopular. We’d like to change that!

Here’s a look at this device:

Here’s the result of it’s use: after inserting the sheets and pressing down, a section of paper is punched and woven back through itself.

The Pros :

• No more buying staples
• No more staples removers
• Seeing strange looks on peoples faces when you use it
• Sending documents straight to the shredder - this type of staple doesn’t jam the shredder

The Cons :

• The manufacturer says it can only handle five pages at a time. (Note: In typical OCS fashion, we pushed it to the limits and got it to “staple” seven !)

We are going to let you in on a little technique called “bid withdrawal” . . . a loophole those in-the-know have been exploiting since eBay’s beginning. Here’s how it works:

1. Choose an item to bid on that has no bids and no reserve price. Make your first bid $1000 (it will only show at whatever the opening bid is, which could be as little as $0.01)
2. Use a friend’s account (or a fodder account) to make a second bid for $990. You will automatically become the highest bidder at $995
3. Seconds before the end of the auction, withdraw your friend’s bid, and the final selling price will revert to the opening bid. When the auction ends, as long as nobody has sniped you, the seller will be obligated to sell to you at this lower price . . . Sucker!

Obviously you’ll want to adjust these figures to just slightly above fair-market-value for the item you are bidding on, or just high enough to keep others from bidding. If you drive an item’s price up to $995 that is only worth $50, the seller is likely to cancel your bid or the auction entirely.

WiFi networks are popping up all over the place making internet access commonplace at coffee shops and book stores. The problem with places like Starbucks and Barnes & Noble, is that you normally have to pay to access their network. There are exceptions, such as some of the smaller coffee shops, but you don’t have to limit yourself to these places either. If you only knew where there was an open network of some citizen who either doesn’t mind sharing their bandwidth, or doesn’t realize that they’ve left their network unsecured . . .

“Warchalking” is the drawing of symbols in public places to advertise an open Wi-Fi network. Inspired by hobo symbols, the warchalking marks are drawn on an object, such as a wall, the pavement, or a lamp post to signify the type of network nearby. The most common symbol, used to indicate a freely accessible ‘open’ WiFi network, is two reversed parentheses, placed back to back. These are mainly what you’re looking for, being an easy access point to the cyber world. Less common are two variations of symbols for ‘closed’ networks, both use a circle; empty for closed with an unknown access method, or with a W inside to indicate the node is protected with WEP (password). In this case the warchalker will list the SSID for the network and contact information for the person or business that can grant access.

Most commonly these symbols are seen in major cities around the world, San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles and London, however most of the time they are a result of a local business owner advertising the fact that they offer free and open WiFi access to those in-the-know (like you).

You could just look up nearby WiFi access points on the internet, provided by sites like JiWire, but if you could access the internet to find this information, then you already have internet access don’t you? (think about it)