Years 2009-2012 Breningstall.com

Private photos on Apple iPhones are not really private: New York Times

The New York Times has an interesting piece buried in the Bits blog today that claims Apple is giving developers access to iPhone users' photo libraries without any notification beyond an initial consent to accept location-based services.

Nick Bilton explains, "After a user allows an application on an iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch to have access to location information, the app can copy the user’s entire photo library, without any further notification or warning, according to app developers.

It is unclear whether any apps in Apple’s App Store are illicitly copying user photos. Although Apple’s rules do not specifically forbid photo copying, Apple says it screens all apps submitted to the store, a process that should catch nefarious behavior on the part of developers. But copying address book data was against Apple’s rules, and the company approved many popular apps that collected that information."

Read full story.

How to clean your camera sensor

[Use at your own risk.]

The wet and the dry method. Instructions and links.

Rear button autofocusing

I found this podcast on rear button autofocusing useful. I've tried using rear button focusing before and found it difficult to balance the camera while holding two separate buttons, but I'm intrigued by the way he discusses the technique and I will have to try it again to see if it works as well as it did in his duck experiment. Will post the results at a later date.

Dementia Behind Bars: aging prisoners cared for by convicted killers | video

The California Men’s Colony is using convicted killers to care for inmates who can no longer care for themselves.

On those tricky manufacturer rebates

Manufacturer rebates are offered for several reasons, including 1) It allows companies to offer a short-term discount without effecting the long-term price of the product, 2) It allows companies to hold onto the discount dollars (and invest or collect interest on them) for a month or two until the rebate is issued, and 3) It leaves open the possibility that consumers will fail to send in the rebate forms and never collect the discount (though of course it still factors in their purchase decision).

As the recent beneficiary of a large rebate, I've observed it's even more tricky than that.

Erik Johansson: Impossible Photography

Erik Johansson creates realistic photos of impossible scenes -- capturing ideas, not moments. In this witty how-to, the Photoshop wizard describes the principles he uses to make these fantastical scenarios come to life, while keeping them visually plausible.

Jessie DeZiel, University of Nebraska Gymnastics (photos from meet vs. University of Minnesota)

Jessie DeZiel of Rogers, Minnesota returned to her home state with a bang Feb. 18, taking first place in three events to help the University of Nebraska top the University of Minnesota in women's gymnastics.

DeZiel led the Cornhusters with a 39.60 all-around score, her highest of the year. Last fall, she competed for Team USA in artistic gymnastics in the Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico.

More photos of Jessie DeZiel after the jump:

University of Nebraska gymnastics: Emily Wong competes in Minnesota (photos)

University of Nebraska women's gymnastics team member Emily Wong is a first team All-American (bars, 2011) from Grand Forks, North Dakota. In these photos, she is competing against the University of Minnesota at Minnesota. Wong was the second-place all-arounder at the meet as the No. 9-ranked Cornhuskers beat the Gophers, going onto a 9-1 record. Wong competed in the vault, uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise. Her score total was 39.425.

Click to view more photos of college gymnastics.