Rob's Blog
Reinventing the wheel
21st Sep 2006 11:09
Am I really alone? Am I the only stupid sucker that still doesn't listen to heartfelt recommendations and open his eyes to what everyone else is doing around him? I don't think I am, but that doesn't make me feel any less silly.
People 'in the know' use Flickr. Eric Meyer, Jeffery Zeldman, heck I reckon if anybody showed Jakob Nielsen what a 'photograph' was he'd probably use Flickr. Although admittedly Nielsen would subsequently explain that the 'perfect' photograph would either be pure black or plain white. How else could the medium communicate effectively to everyone? He'd also no-doubt hypothesise that the ink used to attain pure black should be made from black-holes and that the white should be gleaned from virgin Angel wings. Otherwise you're not really attaining the 'perfect' shade of black or white and the whole concept of a photograph is thus null, void, and should be replaced with a 1000-word description written in a manner befitting an 8 year old child.
Where was I? Oh yes. Flickr. Can't believe I've ignored it this long. Brilliant isn't it? Please do have a look at the newly revised 'snaps' or 'art' sections at the top of the page. Gone are my carefully crafted PHP scripts. Hello Flickr API. Right click on a folder in Windows and select 'Upload to Flickr'. It really is that easy. In four clicks from my mobile phone I can upload a photo to Flickr, and have Flickr set that photo as a Wordpress post. That's not a wheel, that's a frigging Ferrari!
(All those using Blogs that I have set up should probably start using Flickr. Just go to Flickr.com. Sign up for a free account. Upload your photos using the 'Flickr Uploader' which literally means you can drag and drop them from your desktop, and then drop me a mail and I'll add the plugin to your site for you.)
