A lot of people wonder about the value of Twitter. I don’t blame them. I’m not one who wants to learn about every minutia of someone’s life via the machine-gunning of Tweets.

For me, Twitter continues to be a great way for me to share links and resources about photography. As you can see, that’s about all I use it for. Occasionally, I’ll send a quick howdy or a jab out to a friend. The bit.ly links listed below will lead you to the article or site that I’m Tweeting. The @name will take you to that person’s Twitter page.

If you’d like to follow me on Twitter (or learn more about Twitter), click here.

Given that I did not publish a synopsis over the holidays, here’s a listing of my Tweets along with a few Tweets that mention me from the past three weeks.

Twitter is a way to quickly share resources and ideas. Here are the Tweets by and about me for the week ending December 20, 2009. Click on the bit.ly links to go to the sites I mention. If you’d like to follow me on Twitter, click here.

Twitter, for me, has become a very convenient way to share resources with other photographers. In case you’ve wondered about the Twitter phenomenon, think of it as a way to send a 140-character message out to a list of subscribers (aka: followers). In contrast to the legions who Tweet incessantly about the minutia of their lives, I’ve embraced Twitter as a micro-blogging platform—a way to continue the PixSylated stream of info with short bits about events and resources that I find interesting. The problem with Twitter, like listening to the radio, is that you can miss the message if you are not tuned-in at the exact moment. So I’ve decided to create a weekly digest of my Tweets—making them a permanent part of PixSylated’s archives. If you want to follow me on Twitter, click here. If you want to follow a lot of Tweeters, I recommend that you check out Tweetdeck as a browser for Tweets.

Here are my 24 Tweets for the week ending December 12, 2009.

OK. I’m tired of guys trying to steal the great fortunes I earn as a photographer from my PayPal account – which is precisely where I’d keep my fortune if I had one @;–). The latest attempt is shown above. Perhaps coincidence. Perhaps not. This came from “PayPal UK” the day after I signed up with a vendor in London. I read it early this morning… before my first cup of coffee. Nice strategy.

This is an example of Phishing — where someone tries to get me to give up my PalPal password so that they can gain access to my account. After all, the only two things you need to know to get into someone’s PayPal account is an email address and password. So, if you send an email out to a huge group of people and trick a few of them into handing over their PP passwords, then you’ve just opened the gates to raiding their accounts. It’s likely to be thin pickings for you if your email list was mostly photographers. But, perhaps one of the victims just got payment for a load of gear sold on eBay. You know those 4×5 film holders you have up on the closest shelf? They’re actually worth something in Thailand. I know that from experience, but that’s a different story.

Three quick ways to ID a FakePal message

1. PayPal knows who I am. They are very polite and always start emails with “Dear Syl Arena”. The FakePal message did not address me personally. How rude.

2. Check where the message wants to return to. When I hit the “Reply To” button, there was no address in the “To” box on the email. Normally there would be “PayPal@PayPal.com”.

3. Check where the link points to – without clicking on it. Right click on the “Click to verify your account link” and copy the address. Then paste it directly into another browser window. Funny… “http://www.trailero.com/apps/index.php” doesn’t look like a PayPal address to me.

The fact that the layout is poor is also a clue. The fact that the the ‘Fight fake emails” link to “spoof@paypal.com” actually points to a legitimate address at PayPal was not.

A bit of protection for the confused and weary (like me)

I’m a huge fan of Firefox. Even if I had clicked on the “Verify” link, the above screen would have told me something was up. Thanks to the reports of others, the linked address has been flagged.

So, whenever you find a bit of FakePal floating around, be sure to spread the word.

More info on fighting FakePal

PayPal Phising Guide – Part 1

PayPal Phising Guide – Part 2

Traditional silver-based, fine art photography is also alive and well in the digital era. John Sexton continues to be a beacon of information through his lectures and workshops. John infuses the best that his mentor, Ansel Adams, had to offer with his own lifetime of work as a large-format, black & white photographer. Visit John’s site here.

‘Tell Us A Story 2009′ is the annual photo competition held by the New York chapter of the Advertising Photographers of America. If your world revolves around creating photos that sell things, you should check it out. Deadline for entries is April 16th, 2009. Read about the contest here. Visit the APA|NY site here (and subscribe to their free newsletter). Check out APA | National here.

Color geeks arise! ColorManagement.com recently lauched a blog. It won’t help you get your desktop inkjet to stop making everyone look green. It will give you a sense of what color management means to guys who drive million-dollar printing presses for a living. Always helps to have a bit of perspective.

‘Life’ has once again risen from the ashes. The weekly, then monthly, then occasionally magazine that so many of us grew up with has morphed into a picture-filled website. Life.com is a joint venture between Getty Images and Time, Inc. You’ll find literally millions of photos to look at. Fortunately, they are divided into galleries: News, Celebrity, Sports, Travel, Animals… There are even galleries where celebrities pick their favorite photos. Yikes. ‘Life’ will use the site to publish new photos and articles. Many of the historic photos are available for purchase via download. As a media brand and picture archive, Life is one of the biggest and most persistent. I’m sure they will reinvent themselves when whatever comes around after the Internet comes around. Now that the Life collection is online, many rare photos will come into the limelight — like this one of Joe McNally wearing a tie (one of only two known photos that depict this fleeting event).

Really Right Stuff has published a 2-part article in their newsletter on making tack-sharp images (part 1, part 2). Really helpful info there for guys with long lenses. Don’t know about RRS? They make precision gear for holding cameras in just exactly the right spot. Check out their camera plates, ballheads, pano mounts, macro gear and more at the RRS site. I’ve been a customer for years and would not use anything else.

ASMP continues to provide more benefits for emerging pro shooters than any other photo organization. ‘Strictly Business 2′ was a day-long series of seminars on the business of photography that toured the country in 2008. ASMP has just launched the ‘Strictly Business Blog’ – described as “… business tips, thought provoking ideas, useful resources, videos and podcasts all focused on professional photography. Our team of contributors are ASMP educators who will share posts you can enjoy with your morning coffee, on a break or a commute.” The initial installments are insights shared by Chase Jarvis, Paula Lerner, Lou Jones and others. Check it out here.

The Annenberg Space For Photography opens to the public today. Located in the heart of Los Angeles, the space focuses on “celebrating the human condition as seen through the lens of some of the world’s most renowned photographers.’ With an interior design inspired by the inner workings of a camera, the space celebrates both traditional print photography as well as electronic images. The schedule for the lecture series makes me wish I lived a bit closer to LA (which is the first time I’ve said that in many years). More info here.

Have you reset the clocks on your cameras? For most of us, Daylight Savings Time started a couple of weeks ago. While I reset the clocks around the house and in the cars, I discovered this week that I had not reset the clocks in my cameras.

The tug-o-war between copyright and the public domain continues. Creative Commons, which serves as ground-zero for free thinking about the interface of copyright and the public domain, recently wrote: “Creative Commons has spent a lot of time over the past year or so strategizing, and worrying, about the current state of the public domain and its future. In particular, we’ve been thinking about ways to help cultivate a vibrant and rich pool of freely available resources accessible to anyone to use for any purpose, unconditionally…. Our copyright licenses empower creators to manage their copyright on terms they choose. But what about creators who aren’t concerned about those protections, or who later want to waive those rights altogether? Unfortunately, the law makes it virtually impossible to waive the copyright automatically bestowed on creators.” Read the entire article here.

Chris Orwig launched a blog recently. You’ll find ‘Flipside‘ here. If you don’t know Chris, you should. He is one of the most insightful instructors I’ve ever met. Fortunately, you don’t have to attend Brooks Institute to get Chris’ pearls of wisdom and latest techniques. His tutorials on Photoshop and Lightroom at Lynda.com are fantastic. You should also check out his monthly newsletter – which I’d consider a must-read if you’re journeying in the realm of Ps and Lr (who isn’t?). What I really admire about Chris are his insights about creativity and living life as a photographer.

PixSylated recently joined the legions of blogs on photography at Alltop. [Warning: clicking here will cost you a lot of time. You'll be zoomed over to Alltop's Photography News page which carries the lastest five headlines from dozens of blogs on photography. If you go looking for PixSylated, you'll find it way at the bottom. Along the way, you'll come upon loads of great blogs on photography that you've never heard of. You'll click links. You'll read great articles. You'll see great photos. After a few hours, you'll wonder "how did I get here?" Hopefully, you'll remember that it all started because you clicked something on PixSylated marked "here".]

Joe McNally’s latest exposé, ‘The Hot Shoe Diaries’ was published last Friday, The 13th (               …) < fill in your own snide comment ’bout that. A few days later it rose to #9 for all books sold on Amazon. (O.K. now take back your snide comment…). If you’ve just got out of solitary or recently crash landed on our planet, you should know that I’ve gone on record as saying this is the best book on flash photography ever. It’s pure McNally. Beautiful images. Great stories. Loads of “how-to” info. If you still need to order your copy, click here.

Work with Joe McNally in person. Paso Robles Workshops still has a few seats available for the Joe McNally and David Hobby workshops in April. McNally will teach ‘The Hot Shoe Diaries’ workshop April 20-24. Hobby will teach a ‘Strobist’ 5-day workshop April 27 – May 1. Px has confirmed that the mayor of Paso Robles will order extra bulbs for the bat-signal during those two weeks. Head to the Paso Robles Workshops site for more details (on the workshops, not the mayor).
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Loads of photographers these days think that “traditional photography” means black-and-white, silver-based prints. I’ve argued that there really is no such thing as “traditional photography” because “traditional” is always relative to one’s perspective. As a counterpoint to all of the electron-wrangling done by digital shooters, it’s great to know that The Photographer’s Forumulary in Montana offers supplies and workshops for those looking to explore “alternative” photography. Carbon prints anyone?

CanonProfessional Services USA is on it’s way to catching up with CPS Europe in terms of providing informative materials to its pro members (finally). CPS is a program for professional photographers that provides an express lane for repairs, the opportunity to borrow gear for evaluation and a couple of other benies. For quite a while, I’ve subscribed to the CPS Europe online newsletter because CPS-USA had nothing to offer. If you are a Canon-based, pro shooter click here for information on the revamped CPS program in America. You might also want to check out the Canon Pro Network in Europe for some great photography and interesting articles.

Blurb recently announced the 2nd Photography Book Now competition. The grand prize is $25,000. Categories are open for Fine Art, Editorial and Commercial books. Deadline for entry is July 16, 2009. Complete details can be found on the Photography Book Now site. When you win, how about comping me a copy of your book, please?

Photoshop World will descend upon Boston in a couple of weeks. The three-day event features over 100 programs taught by 40 luminaries of the photo world. Learn the latest about Photoshop and Lightroom or just hang with friends from across the country. There’s still time to register and get a cheap airline ticket. The Photoshop World site has all the details. (Watch the intro video even if you’re not going. You’ll see me in the crowd shots three or four times if you look real close. Really.)

Aaron Johnson proves that he’s not superstitious. The mad genius behind the hilarious, photo-centric comic strip, What The Duck, proves that he’s not afraid of numbers by issuing strip #666 on Friday the 13th. Appropriately the panel has to do with wedding photography. Aaron lets readers suggest the titles for every strip. I pitched in “Tempting Fate” as my suggestion. Check out the latest WTD humor at WhatTheDuck.com.

Paso Robles Workshops still has a few seats available for the Joe McNally and David Hobby workshops in April. McNally will teach ‘The Hot Shoe Diaries’ workshop April 20-24. Hobby will teach a ‘Strobist’ 5-day workshop April 27 – May 1. No word yet on whether the mayor of Paso Robles will activate the bat-signal during those two weeks. Head to the Paso Robles Workshops site for more details.