PDF Security Issues

Since I’ve been banging the drum for PDF as a great format for online portfolios, etc., I feel obliged to pass on this tidbit:

A Security Advisory has been posted in regards to the Adobe Reader and Acrobat issue discussed in the Adobe PSIRT blog on December 14 (“New Adobe Reader and Acrobat Vulnerability“, CVE-2009-4324). A critical vulnerability exists in Adobe Reader and Acrobat 9.2 and earlier for Windows, Macintosh and UNIX operating systems. This vulnerability (CVE-2009-4324) could cause a crash and potentially allow an attacker to take control of the affected system. There are reports that this vulnerability is being actively exploited in the wild. Customers should refer to the Security Advisory for information on mitigating this vulnerability. The advisory will be updated once a schedule has been determined for releasing a fix.

The problem lies with Javascript. The solution, at least until Adobe gets off their butt and fixes the problem, is to disable Javascript in Adobe Acrobat and Adobe Reader. This is particularly important if you’re running Windows XP, apparently, as the exploit allows execution of malicious code. On Macs, Vista, and WIndows 7, Adobe Reader just crashes if it’s fed a file that contains the exploit. Or at least, that’s what I’ve heard.

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Scams

Twice, now, I’ve gotten what appear to be fraudulent offers to write a ‘guest’ post for this blog.

The first one, I just declined politely. Nothing to indicate it was some sort of scam. Two links to articles as ‘examples’ of the writing. Neither article seemed even remotely appropriate to this blog.

The second one, though, came from a different email address, used a different name, but used one of the same articles as an example. Hmm.

All three articles where on the same website. The website purports to be a search engine for finding photography schools.

I’ve no idea of what the scam is. It might be as simple as someone trying to drive traffic to this site; it might be as nefarious trying to drive traffic to a site that hosts some malicious crud. Whatever it is, it’s darn weird.

Bleh. If you have a photo blog, watch out for scams, I guess. There’s not a lot to a blog like this one, but apparently it’s enough to attract the attention of less than honest people.

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Repeat

Browsing back through my queue of photos for the blog, I noticed these two. They were made two days apart. The difference in color is due to difference in illumination, but also probably due to differences in how I handled the images on the two different days.

I don’t know for sure I remembered the first photo when I made the second; it’s barely possible that I hadn’t yet processed the first when I made the second exposure. But it’s likely that what happened was that I saw the very similar situation, stepped up close with the camera, and made the second photo despite having the feeling that I’d made the first.

I used to worry about doing this. But I figure that my current working style makes this sort of thing inevitable. That’s partly because, when presented with a similar problem, my brain is going to come up with a similar solution, perhaps tweaked just a bit. It’s also because even if I had clearly remembered making the first photo, I might have made the second because I’ve figured out that, when I’m drawn to the same photo repeatedly, the fast way to get past it is to just make it again. It doesn’t cost anything, often the repeat is a refinement or improvement on the first, and so there’s really no downside to repeating, but a lot of potential upside.

I’ll have to do a bit more thinking on this. It’s interesting that it’s not just the same Mahona nervosa, but almost exactly the same camera position and very similar framing.

On failing

Years ago, my kids were avid rock climbers, both indoor and outdoor. Climbing indoors, in a climbing gym, things are pretty controlled. It’s an environment where you can improve your skills by repeatedly trying to push past the limits of what you think you can do. If you screw up and fall – well, you’re on belay, and a fall in the gym is pretty much a non-event.

One of the coaches for their climbing team had a saying that I really liked – “If you’re not flying, you’re not trying”. That is, unless you’re taking falls, you haven’t yet tested your limits.

Samuel Beckett is not my favorite playwright. But I’ve been told that he had a bit of paper stuck up next to the desk where he wrote, on which he’d written “Fail. Fail again. Fail better.” I think he had a clue.

And another interesting quote, this time from the world of mathematics:

He was gifted with the special capability of making many mistakes, mostly in the right direction. I envied him for this and tried in vain to emulate him, but found it quite difficult to make good mistakes.”

- Goro Shimura, speaking of Yutaka Taniyama

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Progress isn’t a matter of getting it right every time. It’s a matter of getting it wrong, learning from the mistakes, and making better mistakes the next time.

Photography that makes me jealous

Periodically on Twitter I’ve been mentioning what I call the “Photography that makes me jealous” award, which is awarded (by me) to the photographer and work which caught my eye and made me think “Oh, jeez. I wish I’d made that. Why do I bother doing my stuff? This person’s stuff is awesome, with a capital awe. And my stuff, well. You know.”

I originally planned to make awards weekly. Hah! The award has been granted sporadically.

This week’s award goes to John Perkins for his project “Empty New York”, which you can view by going to http://afterpostmodern.com/photography/empty-new-york/

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I got this via email, but I think I’ll answer it here:

subject: i downloaded your ‘curves’ digital toning files, very nice, but a quick question

i just read some of your blog
are we are all just luddites ?
in the digital world all photos are worthless
photographers are useless schmoes
how many of ansel adams printers died of strange diseases
and they were actually better off than the industry in general
vats of strange chemicals.

i bought a digital camera
basically perfect
with photoshop and epson, every question answered
despite its perfection, it is depressing
my question is
do you think you should go back to film
inferior though it is,
because you can ? and because you are one of the last people on earth who ever could or will?

Luddites were the social movement of textile artisans who railed against the mechanized looms introduced during the industrial revolution. I can’t speak for others, I can only speak for myself. I am not a luddite.

I don’t think photographers are worthless schmoes. In fact, I think the world would be a better place if more people were art-makers, and since I see photography as art-making, I think photographers are far from worthless.

I think there were environmental risks from various chemicals used in traditional gelatin silver printing (and in other processes, as well). I expect there is environmental risk associated with digital photography as well. Silicon foundries are not low environmental impact.

I expect there are people out there who buy digital cameras, photoshop, and printers, and think “Oh, now I am getting perfect results”. I disagree with that point of view. I don’t get perfect results. I don’t know what perfect results might look like. If you think you’re getting perfect results, I think perhaps your technical standards are not set high enough. And that’s the technical part. I don’t know of anyone engaged in any artistic endeavor who thinks they’re achieving perfection.

So I’m at a loss. I’m not clear on what’s depressing about digital photography. I don’t see it as lifeless. I have little desire to go back to film right now, but I’d not hesitate to go back if it seemed like the way for me to achieve something I wanted to try. But that comment needs to be tempered with the observation that I don’t care if the image is formed by bits of silver salt suspended in gelatin and exposed to light using an optical machine, or by pigments sprayed onto a paper base using a computer controlled robot, or by fermented weasel feces dabbed onto the paper by magic woodchucks wielding camel’s hair spotting brushes. I happen to like processing photos on a computer, but I enjoyed darkroom work tremendously as well. And I expect I’d enjoy casting spells controlling magic woodchucks.

As for the last – I don’t think I should go back to film, unless I decide I want to. I don’t think film is inferior, I think it’s different. I don’t think the fact that I can do traditional darkroom work and might well be one of the last people who ever could or will generates any obligation for me to do it.

Fail

This is a small area in the forest near my house; I leave this area unmanaged for reasons beyond the scope of discussion here.

Each day it defies my efforts to make a decent photograph of it. Slowly but surely, though, the photographs I make of this spot are getting better. This one managed to make it into the ‘interesting failure’ category.

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