A few nice how to send large files for free images I found:
AZUL-TRADING RIPS-OFF OKINAWA_SOBA (And MANY OTHERS) on eBay
Image by Okinawa Soba
IT IS NOW MID-JUNE, 2009. I NOTICE THAT THE AZUL-TRADING COMPANY IS INACTIVE UNDER THAT NAME, AND HAS NO ITEMS UP FOR SALE. THEREFORE, AS AN "ACTIVE CASE", THE BELOW CAPTION IS NOW A "MOOT ITEM". HOWEVER, FOR HISTORICAL DOCUMENTATION OF A SOCIAL MISFIT AND UNREPENTANT PHOTO PIRATE, I LEAVE THE BELOW CAPTION AND COMMENTS UNTOUCHED FOR YOUR ENTERTAINMENT AND RESEARCH PURPOSES. THANK YOU.
BE CAREFUL TO NOTE THAT NO PRIVATE INFORMATION OF A CORPORATE OR PERSONAL NATURE IS EVER GIVEN, AND THAT THE REAL NAMES AND LOCATIONS OF THOSE PIRATES WHO VIOLATED FLICKr POLICY ARE NEVER GIVEN, AS WELL.
FRUSTRATIONS AND MOCK "HARASSMENT" VENTED IN THE CAPTIONS AND COMMENTS BY SEVERAL POSTERS IS DIRECTED AT COPYRIGHT VIOLATORS AND FLICKr ABUSERS WHO REMAIN ANONYMOUS CYBERSPACE ENTITIES WITH NO LEGALLY KNOWN OR ESTABLISHED NAMES OR CORPORATE LOCALES.
OKINAWA_SOBA TAKES FLICKr’S RULES AGAINST INTIMIDATING OR HARASSING OTHER MEMBERS SERIOUSLY, AND YOU WILL NOT FIND THAT HERE.
PLEASE DO NOT CONFUSE A FEW "TESTY" EXCHANGES IN THE COMMENTS SECTION WITH WHAT FLICKr COMMUNITY GUIDELINES CALL "THREATS, INTIMIDATION, OR HARASSMENT" OF ANOTHER MEMBER.
THANK YOU.
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[The following link which had an image posted in violation of flickr policy has since been removed from eBay]:
cgi.ebay.com/JAPAN-japon-photograph-JAPANESE-SAMURAI_W0QQ…
The following post mocks an un-repentant company on eBay that continues to flagrantly violate flickr guidelines and terms of service, as well as the copyrights of both private individuals and incorporated publishing entities.
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HELLO AZUL-TRADING on eBay ! STILL LOCATED IN YOUR MOTHER’S BASEMENT ???
Yeah. I thought so.
Let me just say, on a positive note, I’m glad you like my photos so much.
Not to mention how much you seem to like the modern photographs taken by others, whose copyright ownership is beyond dispute.
With that ray of sunshine out of the way, allow me to rain on your parade…..
STOP SQUEALING ABOUT "PUBLIC DOMAIN". YOU HAVE OTHER PROBLEMS TO WORRY ABOUT, AZUL !!!
BESIDE THE FACT THAT YOU HAVE RIPPED A HUGE AMOUNT OF MY MODIFIED AND CROPPED SCANS DIRECTLY FROM MY FLICKr POSTS WITHOUT LINKING BACK TO FLICKr, YOU ALSO ARE FACED WITH THE TOKYOBALONEY MULTIPLE-COMMENT THREAD CONTAINING VIABLE LINKS TO YOUR THEFT FILES AND COPYRIGHT VIOLATIONS OF MODERN IMAGES.
YOUR SORRY LITTLE ASS GETS THE DIAPERS PULLED OFF STARTING RIGHT HERE, AND CONTINUES DOWN FOR SEVERAL ENTRIES : www.flickr.com/photos/24443965@N08/3344776539/#comment721…
ORDER IN THE COURT….. ALL OF YOU PHOTO PIRATES LISTEN UP !
THIS POST CONTAINS NEITHER LIBEL, NOR PERSONAL ATTACK, NOR DEFAMATION OF ANYONE’S PERSONAL CHARACTER. I AM DEBUNKING A NEBULOUS OUTFIT CALLED "AZUL-TRADING" — A CYBERSPACE ENTITY CONTROLLED BY UNKNOWN PERSONS IN AN UNVERIFIED LOCATION USING A "CORPORATE-SOUNDING" HANDLE ON eBay.
Of course, by implication I am talking directly about the TREE STUMP who runs "AZUL-TRADING" — and all others like them (with apologies to all other tree stumps who play by the rules) .
"TREE STUMP" ? He should be happy that’s all I call him ! Other posters have called him a JOKER, a MORON, an IDIOT, a DAMN THIEF, a BASTARD, a BOTTOM FEEDER, a PIECE OF POND LIFE, a THIEVING TOAD, and DOG CRAP ON A SHOE.
However, even though others have used those words, I would NEVER say such things.
In fact, Okinawa_Soba (formerly known as Mr_Cream_Puff) is too kind and gentle to resort to such inflammatory monikers and incendiary name calling against these eBay-using, UN-CIVILIZED, CRETIN PIN-HEADS, and un-evolved PRIMATES who live by the dictates of their OXYGEN-STARVED, lower CROCADILLIAN brain stems, formed from the DNA of a JELLY-FISH, and having an IQ less than a TOMATO. Not to mention being SOCIAL MISFITS functioning on HALF A BRAIN CELL.
Like I said, I would never say such things.
Therefore, I think I’ll stick with TREE STUMP to describe this little eBay perp.
Or…….BLACK BEARD THE PIRATE…….on his RUBBER DUCKY POOP DECK ???
Whatever.
IF A GUY ROBS A BANK, AND YOU CALL HIM A BANK ROBBER, CAN HE SUE YOU FOR DEFAMATION OF CHARACTER? LET HIM TRY ! IF A GUY BREAKS FLICKr RULES WHILE PUBLICLY FLAUNTING HIMSELF ON eBAY, AND YOU PUBLICLY CALL HIM OUT ON IT, CAN HE SUE FOR LIBEL ?
Yeah. If you live on the MOON ! (Or, he can meet me in JAPAN…..SAME THING !)
"AZUL-TRADING" trying to sue me for posting this would be like the BOOGIE MAN trying to sue my CAT. And I don’t even have a cat !!!
Even if he tried, he’d have to make it a reverse CLASS ACTION SUIT against his detractors, as there are more than just one who have a bone to pick with this eBay seller. See what another photographer has to say — after his copyright photos were also ripped off by AZUL-TRADING (whom he calls a "Bottom Feeder") : sushicam.com/2009/03/09/bottom-feeders-need-love-too/
Note that the legal terms "he" and "him" used throughout this post represent the nebulous cyberspace entity known as "AZUL-TRADING" on eBay, and by inescapable implication, the INVISIBLE piece of DRIFT WOOD (formerly known as TREE STUMP) who is hiding behind the eBay operation of the same name.
And further….. is this entity a "HE", a "SHE"..or an "IT" ??? NOBODY KNOWS. So of course, NO ACTUAL PERSON is named in the below complaint. eBay gives the "company’s" location as SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA. Did AZUL-TRADING even pirate their eBay name ? A Web search shows a "namesake company" based in CANADA…. and also one in CHINA. As far as the eBay version is concerned, they’re way out in LEFT FIELD.
LIBEL : "….. a statement or representation published without just cause and tending to expose another to public contempt….."
Refer to this link : en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defamation and make your own legal judgment in the tentative case of AZUL-TRADING vs OKINAWA_SOBA !!!
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"……YOUR HONOR, MAY I APPROACH THE BENCH….."
Beside the above eBay seller ripping off almost 50 images from my photostream that are personally modified, corrected, marked, and cropped specifically for flickr use from original "public domain" images in my posession, AZUL-TRADING has also flagrantly stolen the modern copyright images of others here on flickr, as well as from copyright image sources outside of flickr ! [Actually, as I post this, from 30 to 50 of my own flickr posts appear on any given day as the seller's auctions recycle]
As some have pointed out in the viewer comments below, this type of thing is widespread in the world at large. Okinawa_Soba is under no illusion that this post will change the world, or even bring a halt to the eBay seller who I am hanging out to dry. I simply post it as a graphic demonstration, using a real-time screen grab (of which I have many more), and concrete links for those that want to make a quick "study" of this incurable disease. I have no plans to devote any new time to becoming a "Pirate Hunter".
PLEASE…..DON’T immediately jump down and leave a comment below telling me that Azul owns all rights to my photos since they are supposedly "in the Public Domain", and that he can do what he wants, when he wants, and as he pleases. That argument has been worn out on many other of my posts.
THIS IS NOT ABOUT PUBLIC DOMAIN.
Read the 5 points below, and THEN make your comments. Thanks.
NOTICE THE FOLLOWING :
(1) Azul-Trading doesn’t tell the buyer that his so-called "photo" for sale is actually just a copy reprint. The descriptive text (not shown here) tells the buyer that it’s a REAL 8 x 10 PHOTO on PHOTOGRAPHIC PAPER. (Note to Azul : A printout of a scan copied from a flickr post is not a "real photo" — no matter what resolution you print it out as. I happen to have the "real photo" in my possession !)
(2) He has placed a COPYRIGHT "C" in a circle, and added his own watermark claiming personal copyright on my flickr SCAN — and by extension, on the ORIGINAL IMAGE which I have in my possession !!! (Note to Azul : If you want to claim that my posted scans are in the "Public Domain", and that you have the right to copy and sell them, then why are you watermarking and copyrighting the eBay scans you copied from my posts? Are you saying these are NOT in the public domain ? Why are you trying to prevent others from copying "your own" scans — after you freely copied them from my flickr photostream ? NOTE TO SELF : Send Azul a copy of the book HOW TO BE A PIRATE AND A HYPOCRITE ALL AT THE SAME TIME )
(3) He’s charging 18 bucks for a cheap quality, pixelated injet copy, when anyone here can download CC version for free right here — or ask me for a larger file if needed. (A French buyer gave Azul-Trading NEGATIVE FEEDBACK, complaining about the pixels !)
(4) Flickr policy dictates that if anyone uses a flickr scan on another website (like eBay), the user of the image MUST PROVIDE A LINK FOR THAT IMAGE BACK TO FLICKr. The seller has failed to do this, thus violating flickr’s terms of image use. (Note to Azul : Do you know how to read English?)
(5) He has changed the actual description of the image content, claiming that the dressed up photographer in the photo (T. ENAMI) is an ACTUAL SAMURAI (which T. Enami is not), thus defrauding the buyer by knowingly selling a miss-labeled item, and not telling the buyers the true story behind the image, and the man modeling the armor. (Note to Azul : Look up the phrase "Scam Artist" in the Dictionary…..if you can read English, that is…) Of course, if Azul cannot read English, I suppose he did not "knowingly" misrepresent his knowingly-pirated merchandise !
The seller has also sent e-mails to a photographer friend of mine, threatening him with legal action if my friend attempts to stop his piracy activities on eBay !
(Obviously, this eBay seller can write English — even if he can’t read it !)
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AZUL-TRADING’S PROBABLY DEFENSE STRATEGY :
"………Your Honor, if it please the court, I thought all of these photos were like POTATO CHIPS, and since none of them were ‘REGISTERED, PENNA. DEPT. of AGRICULTURE’……Well, I just thought if I sprinkled a little bit of garlic salt on them it would be OK to put them on eBay and….. blah blah blah…….."
Holy Mother of God.
PLEASE NOTE THAT, IN SPITE OF THE NEGATIVE FEEDBACK FROM FRANCE LAMENTING THE POOR QUALITY OF HIS COPY-PRINTS, MOST OF HIS BUYERS GAVE HIM POSITIVE FEEDBACK FOR SPEEDY SERVICE, WITH A FEW COMPLIMENTING HIM ON THE HIGH QUALITY OF HIS IMAGES. Commentor PBY gives some interesting links in the comment section below concerning feedback scams. Check them out, you might be surprised. Thanks, PBY.
In any case, a Pirate is still a Pirate, even if he does have a mouth full of gold teeth.
(And yes, I have complained to eBay. I suppose they are investigating…..)
For those PUBLIC DOMAIN advocates who feel that you have all the answers, and for those who would defend AZUL-TRADING’S alleged "right" to rip any and all pre-1923 original photos and works of art from anywhere he can find them, please read my comments at these two links below, then get back to me with your honest, well-though-out opinions on the matter :
www.flickr.com/photos/24443965@N08/3344776539/#comment721…
and
www.flickr.com/photos/24443965@N08/3344776539/#comment721…
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ORIGINAL FLICKr SCAN POSTED BY ME, THE OWNER OF THE ORIGINAL IMAGE : www.flickr.com/photos/24443965@N08/2383039735/ (includes eBay links)
For a clear cut case of modern day photography copyright violation by this eBay seller, please see this link, where some of AZUL-TRADING’s alleged replies to complainers are posted in the COMMENTS section : www.flickr.com/photos/sushicam/3321736003/in/set-72157614…
NOTE TO AZUL-TRADING : Does the above post piss you off ? Good ! Now you know how the rest of us feel when we see you ripping off our photostreams. REPENT !!!
MARCH 10TH, 2009 SCREEN SHOT FROM MY MONITOR. All Logo Marks and Design content copyright eBay and PayPal. Posted for non-profit, instructional use only.
My History with Apple (Computer) Inc.
Image by Adam Kuban
Edwin Tofslie created this visual. On his site, he says, "A visual I created to show the evolution of most all Apple products created over the past 30 years. This was created to show the evolution of the form factor and industrial design of the products, not to show every single model or upgrade Apple has launched."
I grabbed it and thought I’d use it to make a history of my Apple purchases. From left to right, top to bottom:
The Apple ][c I must have gotten this in 1985 or '85 (when I was 10 or 11). I remember wanting this computer *so bad* after using the Apple ][e in grade school. I remember going to the Apple dealer (er, excuse me, the Apple authorized reseller) in Olathe—The Bottom Line—and drooling over the computers there. I was an overweight kid, so my parents made me a deal: Lose X many pounds, and they would buy the computer. I lost a little weight, but not the specified amount. Still, I think my parents were swayed by my argument that it was an educational tool and an investment in my future. I learned to type on this machine, using a program with a little wizard who did magic according to how well you did. I also discovered Zork (never did finish) and Wishbringer (finished, 'cause it was easier). A couple years later, I got into the Bard's Tale series. This was supposed to be a "portable" computer, hence the "c" for "compact." The machine itself had a handle on the back that folded down to prop up the computer or folded away into the body. You could carry the computer around, but the monitor was one heavy summbitch. Consequently, it never left the living room, where it sat on the desk toward the back of the room. I loved this little machine! I used it until about 9th grade (1989) and then didn't do much with computers at all in high school. By the time I got another computer, see below, they had (OMG!) something new called a hard drive. Hmm...
Macintosh Performa 6220CD: OK, the one pictured here is from the Performa series. I had a 6220CD, which was a pizza-box configuration. My parents helped me buy it, and we got it from Best Buy, of all places. Best Buy! Can you believe that? That was in, oh, 1995, maybe '96, during the dark Gil Amelio years. Anyway, at that time, I think Apple had a glut of products, and the 6220CD was one of the machines Apple made for the casual market—hence the Best Buy thing. It had a 75 MHz PowerPC 603 processor, 16 MB of RAM, a 1 GB hard drive, and a TV/Video card. It came with a little remote, and you could run cable or a broadcast antenna into the thing.
I got this either during my junior year or first senior year of college (I had two senior years because I switched majors), after I discovered the internet in the auxiliary computer center in Strong Hall at KU. I remember bringing this thing home and having one of my roommates kinda freak out a little bit—"Oh man, Adam. I can't believe there's a computer in our house." He wasn't excited; he was a bit disdainful. At the time, he was kind of a hippie in a very minor way, and I think he saw computers as something evil. Sometimes, I think he was right; but mostly, I love computers. That roommate now is totally into computers and has a pretty nice top-of-the-line Powerbook.
Anyway, I got on the internet and thought it was the coolest thing ever! "Oh my god! You can look up Beastie Boys trivia on the web! This is *so* cool!" I discovered MUDs and MOOs with this machine and made my first webpage that probably had a URL like cc.ukans.edu/falcon/~tomodell. Tomodell was my username (self-chosen) and was after my old high-school history teacher, Tom O'Dell.
In May 1997, I brought this machine with me to Oregon, where I used it to keep in touch with friends back in Kansas and in Japan. It was on this machine that I created a short-lived collaborative humor site (now defunct) called lusciousjackass.com and also had a sort of short-lived group blog that some friends and I did. They'd send me emails, and I'd sit there in the common space of our loft, drinking PBR, and post them in reverse chronological order. I also took out the domain www.hatchback.net/ in '98 and have had it since.
This was also the machine that I created the proto version of Slice on. It was originally going to be a photocopied 'zine, and I laid out the mock-up pages in QuarkXPress on this computer.
iMac Rev B: After convincing my parents to buy an iMac Rev A, I liked theirs so much I bought the Rev B. This must have been in late '98 or so. I don't remember doing anything remarkable on this machine. I replaced it rather quickly with an ...
iBook (clamshell, in Tangerine): I bought this one in 2000, shortly before moving to New York City. I didn't want to lug the iMac cross-country, and I left it with my girlfriend at the time, who didn't have a computer. She used it so we could keep in touch as we tried the whole long-distance dating thing. That didn't work out, and the iMac made its way out east. I sold the iMac on eBay and continued to use the iBook. I remember doing freelance copy-editing on it in my Bay Ridge apartment, sitting on an inflatable mattress because I had no furniture and couldn't afford to buy any. Later, when I got a crappy chair from IKEA, I would sit and work at this lame console table–cum-desk that the previous tenant left in the apartment. I kept this this machine until 2003, when I bought my ...
iBook G3: I bought this one in late August or early September of 2003, shortly before creating Slice. I didn't buy it to build Slice, though. I bought it because I had recently gotten cable broadband and wanted a new machine that took full advantage of the fast connection! Little did I know I was getting a piece of shit. I got the last of the G3 Dual USB iBooks, the ones with the faulty logic board problem. I still own it, and it's on its fourth logic board(!!!!) and second hard drive. Apple was good enough to replace all my logic boards for free under a special program, but I had to eat the cost of a new HD for it. I'm letting a friend borrow this computer right now.
I have a certain fondness for this machine, as it fostered the creation of Slice and A Hamburger Today. It's been to San Francisco, where it left its cold machine heart; Kansas; Florida; the Jersey Shore; and Amsterdam, where it visited the Red Light District and picked up a virus (just kidding). It also has a cool In-N-Out sticker on it. I used it until February 2005, when its first hard drive crashed. After four logic boards, I gave up and bought an ...
iMac G5 (17-inch): Unfortunately, this was the first generation of the flat-screen stand iMacs, and it had a problem: excessive fan noise. This machine worked like a dream at first, but after a firmware update pretty early on, the HD cooling fan started running at top speed under the lightest of processor loads. Because of a lame fan design, the thing sounds like a DustBuster. It is highly unpleasant to work in front of for any length of time. I appreciated the large screen and the speed, but when it came time for me to visit Kansas for Christmas 2005, I had the iBook G3's HD repaired and went back to using it. But the iBook G3 was getting mighty sluggish, so it was great when I joined Serious Eats in October 2006 and the company provided me with a ...
MacBook 1.83 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo: I'm typing this history on this machine now. It's loaded with 2GB of RAM and a 160GB hard drive—basically, it's maxed out. It's been a good little machine, except the white keyboard and casing get dirty. I would have liked the black MacBook, but the advisers setting us up with machines said they cost extra, so my boss, Ed, and I both got white machines. This one is missing the cool In-N-Out sticker, mostly because I don't want to gum up company property.
That's it for the Apple computers. But I also purchased ...
iPod 3rd Generation: Actually, my dad bought this one for me when he came to visit. (Thanks, Dad!) This is the one with the four buttons at top and fixed touch wheel. It worked well and I even developed "piPod" for it, a little set of files that rested in the Notes folder that told you where to get good pizza in NYC. That little "app" brought Slice a lot of attention. This iPod served me well until the day I was visiting my friend Janice, sitting up on her apartment rooftop on a weak chair. The leg broke, and I fell, cracking the LCD display. The pod still worked—I just couldn't see what it was playing. I got by for a while, then did without, then bought a ...
iPod Photo (60GB): This was the top-of-the-line iPod for, oh, about 2 months. Then the damn iPod video model came out. Ugh! Apple made such a big deal about how, with mine, they were all going to have color screens!!! Woo-dee-fucking-doo. They were probably just trying to get rid of all their small color screens before switching to the video iPod. Anyway, this is my iPod today. I haven't upgraded to video iPod or the iPhone—yet. I'm sure I'll move to the iPhone one day, but not until after the first generation. I've learned my lesson.
And, I forgot the peripherals! ...
Pro Mouse (White): Purchased pretty soon after it became available, to make laptop computing easier when using my iBook G3 at home. This mouse served me fine until the Mighty Mouse came out.
Mighty Mouse: I was lured by the 360° scroll wheel. The scroll wheel worked like a charm while it lasted. Unfortunately, it gums up with dirt pretty easily, and despite the suggested cleaning routine, mine never started working again. I liked the added two-button feature (finally, Apple! Took you fucking long enough to bow your head and admit that MS had something here). But it didn't work well. It never really did sense when I was applying pressure to the left or right sides of the mouse. I replaced it with a non-Apple product. A Microsoft Intellimouse. My MS mouse is AWESOME.
Airport Express: Works like magic! I love being wireless anywhere in my apartment and out in my garden on nice days. I like that I can stream music to my stereo. I only wish it could stream regular non-iTunes sound to the stereo as well.
Claire says I should now "add up all the money [I've] given to Steve Jobs throughout the years," but I just can’t. I don’t remember the retail price of some of these machines, plus, I’d be too depressed 
[July 19]
