Despite having the ability to do so, I’ve never really had much use for camera raw. This was mostly because the version of Photoshop I purchased did not yet have the Camera Raw plugin, and it was simply too much of a pain in the ass to jump through hoops to modify or use otherwise. This all changed, however: I picked up a copy of Photoshop CS2 the other week, replete with the latest version of the Camera Raw plugin, plus the oh-so-handy DNG converter (DNG is an open standard raw format… DNG stands for Digital Negative). It’s given me the necessary motivation to dig out my camera again.
I’ve been focusing on portraiture the past few days, as it’s something I feel I need to work on. They’ve frankly been more “candid” than “portrait,” but that’s fine; I needed to work on candids as well. It’s also been a nice way to meet new people, though I doubt any of that will go anywhere (not that I’d mind, some of the girls have been really nice, I’m just being realistic is all). If I get responses back giving the okay, I may post some of them (and yes, I am a stickler about this), once I’ve sufficiently meddled (I never really saw much difference in handling raw versus jpeg until I was able to do so natively, damn some of those bells and whistles are neat).
In other news, UPS has decided to decline my damage claims on my monitors. I’ll be calling the claims company tomorrow, and if that doesn’t go well, I’ll be filing a complaint with the BBB. What’s the point of insuring your items if they’re not going to cover it if there’s damage? (For the record, out of 8 boxes, 6 were damaged. One was crushed in half; another was ripped open on two corners, and the others were partially crushed and dented. This is including the factory-packaging 22″ monitor that had large stickers on the outside of the box saying “Fragile”. The only two that were undamaged were the computer boxes, both of which were filled with ultra dense packing materials and covered in company graphics that screamed “HI, I’M A COMPUTER!”) I packed these boxes myself, I was there when they were picked up, and I can say with 100% certainty that these boxes were intact prior to being handled by UPS, and that they no longer were intact when they were received.
Dude, that sucks that UPS blows huge monkey goats. Welcome to the world of amazing customer service. Hi, I sure hope don’t mind while our company FUCKS YOU IN THE GOAT ASS. Put in a BBB claim. That usually gets results quick. But if they still don’t step up, just threaten legal action. Service with a smile!
If big corporations weren’t such notorious goat fuckers, then noone would have any reason to hate the USA, the country would flow more smoothly and fairly, we’d have a lot less to complain about and a lot more time on our hands for doing things like helping our neighbors and volunteering, not to mention a lot more urge to do so.
The problem with most big corporations is the same problem with government providing all our services– shitty service, lack of innovation, high costs, and most especially, LACK OF OVERSIGHT. What’s the solution?
Privatization, but with the caveat of OBNOXIOUSLY HIGH STANDARDS for all big corporations. You know, since they have so much power over our lives, make it hard for them to stay afloat in the face of nimble small businesses that can compete with the unfair anti-competitive practices of these behemoths. TOTAL disclosure for the entirety of the public. If that makes it hard to stay ahead, so be it. Keep business small, where it belongs. Those corporations that can stay afloat under such scrutiny and taxation and accountability DESERVE to stay afloat– they obviously serve a vital function.
NO RIGHTS FOR CORPORATIONS! TOTAL RIGHTS FOR INDIVIDUALS! POWER TO THE PEOPLE, BIATCH!
In other news, that kicks ass that you’re takin photos. Takey de pretty pictures. . .