Mama, they took it away! :(

Suddenly, the skies seem a bit less blue... the grass less green. It is now official. Eastman Kodak has produced their last run of Kodachrome film. It's a line that has been the staple in nearly every photographer's bag from amateurs to professionals alike, for the last 74 years.

I am very sad. As a photographer of 22 years, I still shoot exclusively on film. Kodachrome has always been known for its beautiful hue productions. Unlike most of the other film types, the roll contained only silver in the emulsion and developed as black & white. It then went through a 3 color process that just made everything pop! It was always so crisp and bright, almost like magic! It was used for everything from home slides to pro ads, to all kinds of movies. It was what was in the camera of the Zapruder Film and virtually every other home movie enthusiast.

Remaining supplies are estimated to be expended by fall of this year. There is only one lab in the entire world that continues to develop Kodachrome and that is Dwayne's Photo in Kansas. It is a sad farewell to such a beloved medium and it will be missed by many. I leave you with what is probably the finest tribute such an icon deserves...

Atrocious Tyrannical & Tight-fisted

Well, as most people now know, the new iPhone firmware releases tomorrow and the new hardware releases on Friday. During the Developers' Conference, it was revealed that the new hardware/firmware addressed many of the issues that have been lacking thus far. Sadly, some of the features that come with the new iPhone 3GS, are not compatible and hence unavailable to the 3G iPhone. :(

That aside, finally after 2 years, the iPhone finally has MMS capability. Normally I would be quite happy. I am greatly dismayed, however, with AT&T. With 2 new features of the 3.0 firmware, AT&T is the only world wide provider not offering them: MMS and Tethering. Now, I don't have a laptop and therefore tethering does not apply to me, (I do sympathize with all who use it) but no MMS?! I'm sorry, Apple devotees have just waited 2 entire years for this. Apple has received so much backlash about not having it on what is one of the greatest telecom technologies to date, has finally addressed it, and AT&T is not allowing use of MMS until "later this summer". Are you kidding me?! A serious pile of BS!

There is no way in the Universe that it's a technical issue. Think about it; Att boasts to be the "best" network with the "best" coverage, which we all know is bologna. They 're going to tell me that they're not prepared for MMS? Please! Phones that are 5+ years old have been using MMS without issue. All of Att's other phones/smart-phones have it. It's not like Apple, in secret, developed MMS capability then sprung it on Att saying, "Figure it out." They knew this was coming, and for some time. I have no doubts that they are delaying MMS in order to find some way that they can charge for it. People are paying over 100$/month, have unlimited data, are paying for texts and yet may have to pay for MMS? Preposterous! Obscene! Ludacrous! Deplorable! Now I could be wrong, but even Apple blasted them in the keynote by purposely advertising all of the world providers that will enable MMS except for Att...

Shame on Att! This is awful business practice and they should be embarassed! I personally expressed to them how displeased I and several of my fellow iPhone owners are. Hopefully, if more unsatisfied customers voice their concerns, Att's CEO will actually do something rather than simply acknowledge the problems and ignore it with comments like, "Well, the majority seems satisfied and that's good enough for me." With any luck, something beneficial will come. I am not counting my chicks, however. I have another year on my contract. By that time a new Apple device should be out and with the bandwidth upgrades, Verizon's network should be compatible with GSM and the iPhone. After that, it's so long Att and hello to the real best network!