By Tecca

Just how tough is your average DSLR memory card? Apparently tough enough to survive a year at the bottom of the ocean. Naturalist and aspiring photographer Markus Thompson was scuba diving in Deep Bay near Vancouver, British Columbia, when he found a Canon EOS 1000D. Curious, he brought it to the surface and took ut the SD card, and was actually able to recover about 50 photos.

With a bounty of pictures and a desire to find the camera's owner, Thompson took to social networking for help. He posted his find to Google+, including pictures of the camera itself as well as the photos he was able to recover from the SD card. "Approximately 50 pictures on the card from a family vacation. If you know a fire fighter from British Columbia whose team won the Pacific Regional Firefit competition, has a lovely wife and (now) 2 year old daughter - let me know. I would love to get them their vacation photos," he posted.

The social network's hive mind then went to work. Details on just who the camera belonged to were slim at first, but after social network sleuths began scouring the photos, more information began to surface. The camera contained images that were shot at a region firefighting competition, and appeared to suggest that the camera's owner was on the winning team. After comparing faces to those on various websites that covered the event, the possibilities were narrowed down.

The owner, a firefighter from British Columbia, was finally identified. His station was then contacted, bringing an end to the pricey camera's unlikely journey. The waterlogged Canon - which can cost upwards of $500 in new condition - made its splash in August of 2010, and had been soaking ever since. Unfortunately, not further details are available on just how the device managed to find a home on the ocean floor, but we imagine a bump off the side of a leisure boat is a likely explanation.

We've seen the power of social media to spread information about important events and natural disasters, and it's nice to see it work on a much smaller and more personal scale. And while obviously the camera is a total loss, the family was able to secure their vacation photos, not to mention a story they'll be able to share for a lifetime.

Concert photo's by Ray Tharsldson
all rights reserved 2011

By Brian Mansfield
Kenny Rogers likes his Christmas & Hits tour because it draws a completely different crowd than his concerts do the rest of the year. "Everybody's looking to remember what Christmas was like when they were kids," says the singer of country crossover hits like Lucille and The Gambler.

The 20-city music tour, which also features Billy Dean, kicks off tonight in Columbus, Ohio, and runs through Dec. 23 in Westbury, N.Y. "We try to do a lot of it up North, so we usually run into some snow."

Once upon a Christmas: The Christmas & Hits tour celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. It all started with some guy in the back of Atlanta's Fox Theatre during a mid-December show. "I was singing along, and he yells, 'Are you going to do any Christmas music?' " Rogers says. "I said, 'Well, wait a minute, I think I can.' So without even rehearsing, we did some Christmas piece. And the next year, we did four or five songs. It got bigger and bigger."

A Scholar-ly pursuit: Rogers, 73, got his start in a band called The Scholars. "That name was such a misnomer — we were D students," he says. "But we'd all seen the Four Freshmen and thought, 'Well, that's a cool name.' " The Scholars traveled the region around Houston, playing places like Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio. "As 19-year-old kids, you'd sing to your grandmother and be happy about it. We were thrilled we were able to perform as professionals, even though our first job, which I think was a hundred miles away, we made 20 dollars each on."

A Showman's life — and near death: During the late '60s, Rogers joined the New Christy Minstrels, a popular folk group whose skills didn't extend to an understanding of physics. Which is why it made perfect sense for Rogers and drummer Mickey Jones to put the big Fender Dual Showman amplifier on top of the station-wagon rack. "We thought, that's heavy enough," Rogers says. And it was, at 30 miles an hour. It was even OK at 40 miles an hour. "Once you hit 50, it's not OK anymore," he says. "That thing lifted up — thank God there was nobody behind us — and we looked in the rearview mirror and there were sparks flying for half a mile behind us. We hooked it up that night and it played, but it was a little bit scarred up."

A bridge too far: Rogers played upright bass during his year and a half with the New Christy Minstrels. On one tour, the constant shipping and jostling caused the wooden bridge that holds the strings away from the instrument's body to work loose. One night, "that sucker popped off and went flying out into the audience," Rogers recalls. "Then I couldn't play bass. Aside from the fact that we had no bass in the sound, I stood there like an idiot and held this bass that couldn't be played, with four loose strings on it."

Rogers has a theory: "The audience expects 100% entertainment," he says. "If the opening act only gives them 10, I've got to give them 90. But if the opening act gives them 90, I've only got to give them 10!" The audience got a few bonus percentage points during one early-'80s show in Chicago, when Rogers headlined a show that also featured comedian George Burns and R&B great Ray Charles. "It was one of the coolest things, that cross-section of humor and music, and it really worked somehow."

Traveling in style: The days of station wagons and Greyhounds are far behind Rogers, who now travels in a customized Prevost tour bus. "I have a flat-screen, I have a chaise lounge, I have a refrigerator," he says. "What else does a man need?"

For more information visit:

http://www.kennyrogers.com/

Follow Focus Technique w/ Mike Fisher

Golden Eagle Attacks Cameraman!

by Shamil Zhumatov
OUCH! Sometimes being a cameraman is dangerous work!

Here a Golden Eagle attacks a cameraman during an annual hunting competition in Chengelsy Gorge, Kazakhstan.

When it snows on the steppes of eastern Kazakhstan, hunters saddle up and gallop off with eagles on their arms in search of prey. Many in Kazakhstan see eagle hunting as a symbol of their nation’s nomadic past and a throwback to an oft-romanticised era before these steppes turned into a geopolitical battleground between competing regional powers Russia and China.

You can see the rest of the pictures from the Kazakhstan Eagle Hunt on Stuff.co.nz. Just to let you know, there are a few photos of the eagle capturing a rabbit.

Golden Eagle Attacks Cameraman

by Shamil Zhumatov

OUCH! Sometimes being a cameraman is dangerous work!

Here a Golden Eagle attacks a cameraman during an annual hunting competition in Chengelsy Gorge, Kazakhstan.

When it snows on the steppes of eastern Kazakhstan, hunters saddle up and gallop off with eagles on their arms in search of prey. Many in Kazakhstan see eagle hunting as a symbol of their nation’s nomadic past and a throwback to an oft-romanticised era before these steppes turned into a geopolitical battleground between competing regional powers Russia and China.

You can see the rest of the pictures from the Kazakhstan Eagle Hunt on Stuff.co.nz. Just to let you know, there are a few photos of the eagle capturing a rabbit.

Probably the best pic of a flower you'll ever see!

BY PETER FARQUHAR

MMM, ladybird.

But although this one looks tasty, it's not recommended you eat it because it's full of "reflex blood".

Which isn't actually blood at all, just a foul-smelling and even worse-tasting slime to put you off eating ladybirds.

In fact, ladybirds are totally deceptive. You can't actually tell how old they are from the spots on their back, despite what your grandmother told you.

Anyway, back to this ladybird, which, to tell the truth, is a bit lazy, allowing itself to get covered in dew and all.

German photographer Jens Kolk caught it napping just the other day and used a macro lens to get the amazing shot.

"I went out into the garden with my camera on a cold Sunday morning," he said.

"The very special light this morning, shining just the right way, led to dozens of little sunstars, which in my opinion makes this a really nice shot."

And that's it, really. Just a nice picture we thought you'd like to see.

If you're one of those people who really need some ladybird news to justify it, check out this alarming report from the BBC, which claims a ladybird war has broken out in Jersey, UK, due to unseasonal warmth.

Five Amazing Ladybird Facts

• In A Bug's Life, the ladybird isn't a ladybird at all. It's Dennis Leary.
• The Finnish word for ladybird translates to Blood Gertrude.
• The 13-spot ladybird is extinct. Except it isn't, because it turned up again in Cornwall in the 2011 UK Ladybird Survey.
• "Ladybird taint" can ruin your wine.
• In 1976, a long hot summer saw "many reports of people being bitten" by ladybirds, which got hungry because all the aphids died.

Lost JFK Assassination Tape For Sale

Recordings Made On Air Force One Following Shooting

By Jackie Damico 

CNN) -- A newly discovered version of recordings made aboard Air Force One in the wake of President John F. Kennedy's assassination is being offered for sale at $500,000, the dealer selling the tape said Tuesday.

This version has never before been heard by the public, Raab Collection Vice President Nathan Raab told CNN.

"It's exciting when you find something that's not only an antique but contributes to the historical record," Raab said.

The Raab Collection, a historic documents dealer in Philadelphia, said in a statement the recording is more than 30 minutes longer than the version at the National Archives and contains the names of people never before heard from in the aftermath of Kennedy's assassination on Nov. 22, 1963.

The Raab Collection is selling the reel-to-reel recording for $500,000, but is providing a digital file at no cost to the National Archives and the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston.

The tape was purchased by the Raab Collection in the public sale of the estate of Army Gen. Chester "Ted" Clifton, Jr., who served as the senior military aide to Kennedy and then to President Lyndon B. Johnson. An image of the label on the tape's box, shown on the Raab Collection website, says "Radio Traffic involving AF-1 in flight from Dallas, Texas to Andrews AFB on Nov. 22, 1963."

"For General Clifton," the label says. It says it was made by the White House Communications Agency.

At the time it was purchased, it was just a tape in a box, Nathan Raab said, but employees felt there was something more to it.

They had the tape digitized and analyzed and compared it to transcripts from the time of assassination.

"This is a subject that has been extensively studied and there's no shortage of information on this tape," Raab said.

A comparison of published works about the day of the assassination and previously known audio recordings from that day helped the company determine the true identity of the recording.

Copyright CNN 2011

Kodak sells its image sensor unit

The Associated Press, November 7, 2011

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Eastman Kodak Co. says it has completed the sale of an image sensor business to a private equity firm in Beverly Hills, Calif.

The photography pioneer is offloading what it calls "non-strategic assets" in a scramble to reinvent itself as a profitable player in digital imaging and printing.

Financial terms of the sale to Platinum Equity were not disclosed Monday.

But CEO Antonio Perez said last week that Kodak has already booked $120 million in asset sales this year and expects to reach $200 million by year-end.

The business, which employs 200 people, makes solid-state image sensors for digital-imaging devices at a factory in Rochester that's included in the sale.

In April, Kodak sold 850 image-sensor patents and patent applications for $65 million to image-sensor maker OmniVision Technologies.

For more information visit: http://www.kodak.com

Mark Chesnutt brings his hits to Sturges, CA.

Michel Nolan, Staff Writer
photo's by Ray Tharaldson all rights reserved 2011

Country music fans are in for a good time. Hitmaking country singer-songwriter Mark Chesnutt performs in concert Saturday at San Bernardino's historic Sturges Center for the Fine Arts.

The Texas native, known for his traditional country music style, will perform popular songs such as "Too Cold at Home," "Brother Jukebox," and "I'll Think of Something."

The 8 p.m. concert is a presentation of the City of San Bernardino Economic Development Agency.
Chesnutt, who received the Country Music Association Horizon Award and was named to Billboard's Top 10 Most Played Artists in the '90s, has had four platinum albums, five gold albums, more than 30 charted singles on the Billboard Hot Country chart, 23 Top 10 singles and 14 No. 1 hits.

 His other hit singles include "Blame it on Texas," "Your Love is a Miracle," "It Sure is Monday," "Almost Goodbye," "I Just Wanted You to Know," "She Dreams," "Gonna Get a Life," "It's a Little Too Late," "Thank God for Believers" and the Aerosmith remake "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing."

Jason James, producing director at the Sturges, said the theater is thrilled to be welcoming the icon to the stage.

"We are always excited to have such quality performers here at the Sturges Center. Mark Chesnutt is an all-star country singer and we cannot wait to see him," James said.

Known as one of country music's hardest-working concert performers, Chesnutt has always maintained a heavy tour schedule, whether playing in clubs, honky tonks or concert venues.

He has performed throughout the world, including Germany, France, Sweden, Switzerland, Japan and the Middle East.

MARK CHESNUTT
When: 8 p.m. Saturday
Where: Sturges Center for the Fine Arts, 780 N. E St., San Bernardino
Tickets: $19-$45, available through www.ticketmaster.com, www.livenation.com or theater box office

For more information call: 909-885-5152 

or visit:

www.sturgescenter.org

http://www.markchesnutt.com/