Lightleaks, a magazine for toy camera users is now out. Priced at $16.99, though, it is a tad bit on the high side. But hey, I will try anything (well almost) once.

Polanoid: “Hungry for real analog, good smelling pictures in a digital world, we decided to swim against the stream and to reset our focus and start the biggest, best and most instant online photo community ever. Stuffed with millions of Polaroids, collected and uploaded by Polaroid addicts all over the planet.”

“I don't do blinking!“

Apple launches Aperture, a new software product that makes non-destructive, advanced RAW workflow a real walk in the park. It will be released to the public in November for about $500. Anyone want to buy a Christmas gift? I swear I have been good.

Re-take of Amrita, Vivan Sundaram's show of photomontages are on display at Gallery 44, in Toronto. The exact address is: 401 Richmond, Suite 120. The show is co-presented by SAVAC (South Asian Visual Arts Collective) through October 29. Call 416-979-3941 for more details.

Hiding In Plain Sight

The Hidden Cost of Documentaries

Pixelfest, a group artwork project

Camera Toss: “It is about trading risk for reward in the pursuit of art. It is not about being a photographer, it is about enabling the photography that happens naturally when you let go of the process, give up control, and add a hell of alot more variables.” Check out also the Camera Toss Blog

Comic Life Take your photos to a new level. After a quick download, I played around with this software and thought it was a a lot of fun. The possibilities are of course endless if you have a real story to tell.

It's a Fall cleanup of sorts. I need to get rid of a few things – computer equipment and camera gear. If you are interested, check out these links to my recent EBay auctions. If you bid and win the item(s), I'll send you an official TIFFINBOX t-shirt as well. Here ya go:

Nikon 300 f/4.0[Update: SOLD!] Apple G4 PowerBook [Update: SOLD!] Apple iPod 3rd Generation[Update: SOLD!] Rolleiflex 2.8 GX
F100, #1
F100, #2

The Indian Institute of Planning and Management must have the cajones of an elephant to go after a few prominent bloggers because of what was published. Their PR department must be going stir crazy with all the negative press they are getting now. The IIPM (every organization in India has long, technical names which inefficiently gets truncated to a few letters) is a business school that claims a vast number of things, including being ranked in the top-25 nationally (which they are not) and being “better” than the well-regarded world famous Indian Institute of Management, or, IIM (which is really an inside joke, I am sure).

In a nutshell, here is what happened – Rashmi Bansal, a blogger and editor of JAM, an online magazine wrote this article, calling the IIPM on their tall claims. The IIPM and some of their alumni retaliated, calling Rashmi names and issuing legal notices to whomever linked to the story. Gaurav Sabnis, who worked for IBM lost his job there as the IIPM pulled some strings or played out their drama card of “we'll burn our IBM laptops, if you don't sack Sabnis.” Arrrgh!

IBM, did nothing. Sabnis resigned. IIPM, 1. Bloggers, freedom & logic, 0.

Now, if the JAM article was full of crap, that would be one thing. It apparently hit a nerve. Truth does hurt don't it? The way IIPM handled this certainly smacks of a very defensive maneuver. What are they hiding and why? The vitriolic attacks against bloggers only exposes them to necessary criticism and more probing questions, which as experience has shown they are unwilling to answer in a civilized manner.

DesiPundit has the goods on this whole issue. Om Malik‘s quick take on it for those of you with little time.

Humor: Finding The Right Girl

Navarathri Festival – If you are in Connecticut, this gathering at Wesleyan University is a real treat every year. Don't forget the “bhojanam.”

Home Ground: Asians In Britain, at the National Theatre in London is an exhibit by Tim Smith, “which explores Asian society in Britain and traces the growth from the small post-war communities of those who emigrated from the Asian sub-continent.” [Thanks for this tip Tahir]

Sikhs Brave New Orleans Floods To Rescue Holy Book

Up Front NCM Radio's Salman Rushdie interview. Mr. Rushdie is pitching his new book, Shalimar the Clown, but it is always a pleasure to hear him speak.

Some photographers you should check out [thanks to aphotoaday.org]: Amy Toensing, Michael Brown and Matt Eich

57th Missouri Photo Workshop

First Scoopt, now Spy Media. Citizen photojournalism is set to take off, but that does not guarantee credibility or quality; my two main points of contention for both these interesting experiments.

Don't let go of your Lego.

Blog of the day: Found Photography

Lives in Focus: A Multimedia Weblog – The Ramifications of India's New Patent Law on the Treatment of AIDS Patients Worldwide [by journalist friends Sandeep Junnarkar and Srinivas Kuruganti]

Pogue's Posts – For closeted tech geeks like me

How to walk through a museum

The 10 Show is a groundbreaking photography exhibit that unites ten of the world¹s finest photojournalists into one incredible show. New York Times, National Geographic, Polaris and Magnum photographers will show extraordinary work from Hurricane Katrina, Sudan, Afghanistan, India, Columbia and more. The show runs from October 6th to November 27th. The opening reception is October 6th from 6 to 9PM.

Go to elfURL, TinyURL or SnipURL, to shorten those long, pesky URL's [SnipURL also can be accessed by clicking on this link: http://snurl.com/]

Images from the All Roads Project: National Geographic Society photographer Chris Rainier and NPR's Alex Chadwick “focus on the photos of three young artists: Brazil native André Cypriano, Sudharak Olwe of India and Neo Ntsoma of South Africa.”

Revolution in Digital, Film South Asia 2005 kicks off

fotovision's weekend workshops in November includes one with Donna Ferrato, on November 19 & 20. “Donna will explore this theme of risking something of yourself in order to create a space in which people will want to show you what their lives are about – to show you their risky behavior.” Ferrato's seminal and powerful documentary work about domestic violence in “Living With The Enemy,” has inspired scores of photojournalists to use their cameras for social justice issues. Her work on that project was the stepping stone for the Domestic Abuse Awareness Inc. foundation.

Writeboard is a web application brought to us by 37Signals, the same folks who host Ta-daLists, Backpack and Basecamp. I am a die-hard Ta-daLists user. Can't wait to see what Writeboard can do for me. Hey, it's free. So check it out.

Nikon cameras through the ages

Dev Benegal, Anuradha Parikh and Sopan Muller are bringing us 24x7makingmovies. The rules: “You get 24 hours to make a film.
You have to be 24 years or younger. Your film can be from 24 seconds to 24 minutes.” Nifty.

Autumn Moon: Astronomers at Texas State University studied the stars, lighting and position and phase of the moon, then wrote a special program to determine the exact date, time and spot where the photo was taken [by Ansel Adams].