Ricardo's Blog

There is only one Internet, just one.

There is only one Internet.  It is the same for You Tube fans or MySpace teenagers. It is the same for you and your group of friends on facebook.  It is the same for cyberathletes.  It is the same for twitters, googlers and flickrites.  It is the same for bloggers and it is the same for on line artists.

It is exactly the same Internet that you would use to send an e-mail.  The same Internet you would use to call your mother via skype.  It is the same Internet a business tycoon uses to send an e-mail through his blackberry.  It is the same Internet a teenager will use to send a text message.  The same Internet a school kid will use to find the materials for today’s class.

It is the same Internet that today connects more than 1.5 billion people and is not stopping anytime soon.  The same Internet you can access from your mobile computer at the coffee shop.  The same Internet that people in a remote rural community will access through a community center.  The same Internet that gamers will access through a LAN House.

It is the same Internet that can be seen in a one inch cell phone display.  The same Internet that can be seen in a 3.5 inch iPhone.  The same Internet that can be seen in a five inch Mobile Internet Device. The same Internet that can be seen in a seven inch educational laptop.  The same Internet that can be seen in a 14 inch notebook or on a 62 inch LCD TV.

It is the same Internet that delivers the news in real time.  The same Internet that allows you to share photos of your new baby.  The same Internet that allows you to become a star with the silly video you and your friends recorded in the last party.  It is the same Internet that carries and delivers the whole mass of human knowledge faster than you can get a pizza at home.

It is the same Internet across operating systems, browsers and a large multiplicity of devices.

There is only one Internet for everybody.  It is the same Internet for your kids, for you and for me.  There is just one Internet, just one.

Posted by rcarreon at 02:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

This picture is from the bottom of a waterfall in the middle of a pool at the Termas de San Joaquin Hotel in Coahuila, Mexico.  It looks fantastic in LARGE or Original sizes, which are available on its flickr page.  Click on the picture for its flickr page.

Posted by rcarreon at 04:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

One interesting opportunity that is available for professional photographers and serious amateurs is to sell their pictures online at the Microstock sites.  Microstock sites are sites of stock photographies who are very popular for advertising and design agencies.  They usually charge a very small fee ($1-$5 dollars) for each picture that a customer downloads.  Beyond the small fee, microstock photos are usually royalty-free, which means that the photos purchased can be used many times and are not limited to just a period of time.  Traditionally, stock photos were "leased" for a fixed time and for a fixed use and usage beyond the limits was charged via a royalty fee.

But what is the business for the photographer, if the final cost for the agency buying the picture is let's say, $1 dollar?  Well, the interesting thing is that microstock, given its small prices becomes a strong incentive for agencies to buy and use more images.  A very good image can attract thousands of downloads and if each download is pay at let's say 50 cents that one image can make an income of thousands of dollars.

Posted by rcarreon at 10:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

A young man does yoga in this pleasant scene captured in Parque da Aclimacao in Sao Paulo, Brasil.  Click on the picture for its flickr page.

Posted by rcarreon at 09:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Here is a very nice photo of the skyline of Miami's Brickell Avenue, the heart of its financial district.  The photo was taking from the nearby Mandarin Hotel.  I will publich more photos of Brickell at night in the following days or you can go to my flickr stream and see for yourself.

Click on the photo to get its flickr page, you can find also many other nice pictures about Miami in my Miami set, accesible through that page.

Miami's Brickell at night.  The brige in the lower right connects an island called Brickell Key with the Avenue.

Posted by rcarreon at 06:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Well, it certainly seems that Flickr technical issues continue to pop up on a weekly basis.  Beside the all too common "Flickr has the hiccups" message, we have today another major problem: group pools seem to be empty.  This of course affects the many users who post their work to groups to reach a broader audience for their work.

There is no public announcement yet as to when this issue will be fixed. 

Posted by rcarreon at 06:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This is hot off the press.  Brasil's sovereign debt papers are being upgraded to the BBB- rating by Standard and Poor's.  This means that according to the institution, debt papers by the Brasilian Government are worthy of investment for a variety of personal and institutional investors.  This is likely to solidify even more the Brasilian economy, similar to what happened with Chile and Mexico, who have had that grading for a long time.

In the meantime, the BOVESPA stock exchange is rallying and the Brasilian real is winning against the USD.

Parabens!!!

Posted by rcarreon at 03:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I shot this picture recently at the World Economic Forum on Latin America opening dinner hosted by President Calderon.  This is an scupture of a Mayan Women with her kids, all lighted up under a very bright green.  Click on the picture for its flickr page.

Posted by rcarreon at 05:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

As I wrote yesterday, I got very interested on Pure Digital's Flip Video video camera.  The Flip Video is an inexpensive, extremely easy to use video camera.  The camera records on a very simple 640x480 resolution, which is great for YouTube use and can give you up to 1 hour of recording using an internal flash memory only.  You have to empty the memory every time it gets full using its embedded USB connector.

Well, I went to Circuit City yesterday and found a sister camera to the Flip, a camera that is actually manufactured by Pure Digital, but it is sold under the RCA Brand.  The RCA model is called Small Wonder and it packs a few enhancements to the Flip.  It has a swivel monitor, perfect for shooting yourself or shooting you and your loved ones. It also has an SD port, so you can extend its recording capabilities to up to 5 hours.  It is only $99, so it is a great deal with the same simplicity concept of the flip.  Maybe you can expect some videos out of my small wonder in the near future...

Posted by rcarreon at 10:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I visited Miami a couple of weeks ago (and today, but today I just have a very lenghty layover at the airport).  A couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity of shooting pictures, both of beautiful South Beach and its people as well as from the Brickell Avenue skyline.  You can find them all in my Miami flickr set.

Here are some of the pictures of South Beach and its people.  Click on any of the pictures for its flickr page.  Have a great weekend.

Posted by rcarreon at 06:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)