Blog Marco

The Catholic church isn't ruling out alien life forms... The search for extraterrestrial life does not contradict belief in God, the Pope's chief astronomer said, adding that some aliens may even be innocent of the original sin. "As an astronomer I continue to believe that God is the creator of the universe," Jose Gabriel Funes said in an interview with the Vatican mouthpiece, the Osservatore Romano.

Even if "we don't currently have any proof... the hypothesis" of extraterrestrial life cannot be ruled out, said Funes, a Jesuit priest who directs the Vatican's observatory at Castel Gandolfo, near Rome. "Just as there are a plethora of creatures on Earth, there could be others, equally intelligent, created by God," he said.

Original sin, which by Christian tradition occurred in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit of a particular tree, refers to the fallen state from which humans can be saved only by God's grace. Asked about the difficult theological question, Funes said: "If other intelligent beings exist, it's not certain that they need redemption." They could "have remained in full friendship with their creator" without committing the original sin, he said.

Still looking at the job pages for photography related jobs. Why? I'm just interested in what kind of jobs are out there for photographers and people who are interested in photographic arts. Also, its also interesting to observe what the business of photography requires. They need: photographers, assistants, graphic designers and sales people. My previous posts about photography related employment are: Studio jobs, digital photographer for a studio, another photography job, freelance photographer, a junior photographer job and finally a Starshots studio photographer.

Watch the video as this Japanese cartoon shows how a kid tiger gets potty trained. Hilarious!

Video: Comedy; Japanese Anime; Made up Subtitles.

Jumping back for its last batch of episodes, "Battlestar Galactica" continues its improbable ascent from a mediocre 1970s footnote to one of the more intriguing episodic hours of the 21st century. Brimming with paranoia, the series picks up seamlessly from last season's jaw-dropping cliffhanger, where a handful of new Cylons-in-human's-clothing were revealed. Crisp and tense, this Sci Fi Channel staple looks destined to make a headlong plunge toward the finish line in pursuit of that elusive place called Earth.

For those who haven't been (or won't admit to having been) waiting breathlessly since the last voyage, suffice it to say that things are a little unsettled with the Colonial Fleets since several crew members heard strange music and suddenly realized they were, in fact, Cylons. Meanwhile, Starbuck (Katee Sackhoff) has returned from what appeared to be certain death, claiming she knows where Earth is, though Admiral Adama (Edward James Olmos) is perhaps to be forgiven for his skepticism as to whether she can be trusted.

It's always interesting to watch these slow motion videos... This one is a cigarette lighter being ignited. Watch as the many sparks ignite pockets of liquefied gas in slow motion video...

A controversy has erupted in the fashion and modelling world in Australia as a 16 year old model, Zippora Seven, has been published on an 18 page spread in Russh magazine. She models in the spread alongside 16-year-old male model Levi Clarke.

This controversy raises an interesting aspect about the modeling and fashion industry. Many models that walk up and down the world's fashion catwalks are young, and a high percentage of them are under 18. It's just a "normal" for the industry. Photographers shoot these models walking up and down, a few times with garments barely hanging on. Yes there is nudity in this Russh photoshoot with Zippora Seven. But you've got to take it within context. The images are not erotic. They aren't sexual. They just are. They aren't targetted to the pornographic market but the fashion industry where this sort of thing is the norm. But then again she is a minor and she isn't mature enough to make "proper" decisions even though she may feel like she can. So is this a case of "yep, its art, not porno" excuse or "she's underage full stop".

Still surfing the photography employment pages. This time I found some jobs in a Photography Studio which aren't photographer jobs. These are support staff positions that would get people in the door to the studio. One is for a telemarketer (Nooo!!! Not those annoying telemarketing callers!) and the other is a sales consultant. The photography business, is after all, a luxury item. No one needs photos - its a luxury to take photos, and its a luxury to charge hundreds of dollars for one studio photo. Sounds vain doesn't it? Here is a list of previous jobs I've previously recorded: part time digital photographer for a studio, another job here, freelance photographers job, a job for an assistant to a photographer job and finally a job at Starshots studio.

Another photography job - this time a part time digital photographer. I went to their company website, and I found it absolutely annoying. They have one of those "cleverly" (aka awkward and hard to navigate) website where you need to put your mouse over an arrow on the webpage to make the text scroll down. Talk about ANNOYING! Anyway, job sounds okay... doesn't say how much you'll earn but since you need experience and a diploma in photography I'm guessing the pay is around $40 to $60K? Anyway, if you want to scope out photography jobs you can look: here, this one, another job and finally here for other jobs I previously wanted to observe... and no, I'm not applying for any of these jobs.

Useless gadget of the day: Vacuum Dustbin. Instead of sweeping up the dust into a dustpan and throwing it into the bin, have a bin which as a vacuum inside it suck the dust into it? Sounds like a good idea but really, its a waste of electricity and a waste of space. Just use the good old dust pan and broom. OR why don't you just use a vacuum cleaner? They were trying to sell this crap on http://www.catchoftheday.com.au/ today. I've actually bought junk from that website - novelty items that aren't worth a penny. RRP $150 for the vacuum, but they're having a fire sale and are selling it at a bargain basement price of $20.

I was watching 'Sunrise' on Channel 7 this morning and they were interviewing Dominic McVey who was a teenage entrepreneur becoming a millionaire by 15 years old. He is 23 now and pursuing other entrepreneurial pursuits.

I love the Thinkpad line... MacBook Air may look sexy but on a practical level, perhaps its a little ahead of its time.

Video details: Viral Video parody of the MacBook AIR commercial sales pitch of having the whole laptop into a yellow envelope, but then having to contend with various USB connections - a little over the top, but nowadays USB connections are used for Mice, Keyboards, Printers, external Hard Drives, Cameras, Memory stock readers... Thinkpad 1 vs. Mac Air 0