Rants about digital arts, photography and university.

So, I’ve recently decided to start posting videos on youtube.  I’m not entirely sure why.  I think it may be a sort of exploration of self? But by choosing to post the videos to youtube, I feel like I have a responsibility to make them.  Otherwise I probably wouldn’t take the time.  I think it’s also an excuse to explore certain interests of mine, develop them and learn more about them in the process.

The first two entries are just rants about stuff.

The last one I posted was about one of the products I ranted about in the first video: the JJC flash triggers.  They’re really low cost flash triggers. They can work on 4 different channels, use two AAA batteries in the slaves, one of those funky small/fat batteries in the master and work at distances of up to 30 metres.  They don’t support TTL obviously, being such cheap triggers, but as long as you take the time to set up your flashes individually they work great.

Here’s the video:

In one of my classes last week, a few people began discussing the problems with packaging in stores.  They spoke of “clam-shell” packaging, amongst other forms and how the amount of plastic or other materials used, compared to the size of the actual product was ridiculous.  They were suggesting the use of more eco-friendly packaging solutions.  One of their solutions was to bags made of recycled paper, sized specifically for the product.

I, personally, think that wouldn’t work at all.  One of the reasons being that clam-shell packaging was designed not to be incredibly wasteful, but to be strongly discourage theft.  Unfortunately, I doubt small paper bags would have the same effect, and I don’t believe they will soften the conscience of any thieves.

It did get me thinking, though, about how it would be possible to create a system to limit packaging using technology.  Research would have to be done comparing the energy used/emissions/bio friendliness of used resources, but I think it would be very interesting if we could come up with systems to limit the amount of packaging, and potentially completely restructure the way a store functions.

Imagine walking into a store and NOT seeing a bunch of products stacked upon each other, filling aisle upon aisle of walkthrough storage space.  What if there were only one product in the place of each stack, with an identification number, or a card reader of some sort?  That’s how I imagine a store of the future.  It would be a sort of strange combination between shopping online and regular shopping.  You would find the products you like then, using some sort of interface, specify how many you would like then pay for them and pick them up (excessive packaging-free) as you leave.

It’s just a thought, but I’m thinking of turning this into a future project of mine.