Melusine

FYI to whom this may concern...I just received a phishing email that used a disposable email address I created specifically for Backscatter, so they may have been hacked... Dear Valued Member, we have noticed invalid login attempts into your account, due to this we are temporarily limiting and restricting your Yahoo account access until we confirm your identity. (link deleted)

I'll be there!

Great to meet you too, Gary! Thanks for the tips, everyone. I did get out Fri, Sat & Sun morning with Bird's, and there were lots of people but the vis was so low that they didn't usually show up in my shots! LOL. I've put up some of my shots from Fri at Main Spring, the only morning I got sunlight. Underwater Journeys

Hi, Carol, those are beautiful shots! I'm heading up to Crystal River this weekend. Do you have any tips to share for shooting manatees? Are you using strobes? Thanks!

Chris Jordan is an American artist who turns statistics on consumption into beautiful and thought-provoking images. Chris Jordan's current series And a quote from his website; "As an American consumer myself, I am in no position to finger wag; but I do know that when we reflect on a difficult question in the absence of an answer, our attention can turn inward, and in that space may exist the possibility of some evolution of thought or action. So my hope is that these photographs can serve as portals to a kind of cultural self-inquiry. It may not be the most comfortable terrain, but I have heard it said that in risking self-awareness, at least we know that we are awake. "

Why, yes I do! Avalon, CA, that is . Well, CA is leading the way in trying to establish GHG emissions limits at the state level (google "AB 32"). We'll see whether these work or not. But that step seems to have motivated eleven (!) other states in the U.S. to also adopt the same limits. So, while it might be difficult to track emissions globally (and attribute them to various states/countries), the tracking can be done on a local level, and perhaps the local efforts will propagate to a wider scale. Here's hoping...! States with Greenhouse Gas Emissions Targets If you think about ALL the things you're not doing right now, then affecting change becomes a really daunting task. One step at a time, every little bit helps, including carbon offset schemes. However, some have expressed the concern that people will buy carbon offsets and then use that to justify NOT making behavioral changes. Sort of like, "well, I exercised this morning so I can have an extra donut" rather than "I'll exercise and also avoid donuts". Unfortunately, I don't think the human race will die out (not in my lifetime at least), but do say goodbye to biodiversity...

True, but Palmid raises an interesting point that bears repeating: many people seem to hope that they can affect big change without changing their lifestyles. The push by utilities in California has been for "energy efficiency" rather than "conservation", because apparently "conservation" conjures up feelings of deprivation and feeling poor for many people. So people don't take conservation-type actions. So, we push EE technologies and the underlying message that you can go ahead and use energy as long as you use it efficiently. I'm hoping that "conservation" will start to gain a little more traction... I'm also waiting for some real guideline as to which carbon-offset businesses are truly effective, and periodically check that industry for news. In the meantime, I do try to eat more vegetarian meals (http://earthsave.org/globalwarming.htm), teleconference instead of fly to meetings... Every little bit counts, these days.

Woo hoo!! That's great news, thanks for posting!

For some of the bigger o-rings such as the housing's main o-ring, you may be able to just use your thumbs to push two segments towards each other and that will pop the intervening segment out.

There is an organization called Reef Protect International that has developed a pocket guide to help people make responsible choices in aquarium fish. A PDF version of the guide is here; you can print one out and hand them to your favorite aquarist: RPI Reef Fish Guide They got the idea from the Monterey Bay Aquarium's pocket guide to sustainably harvest seafood. You can also contribute to their efforts or order paper versions of the guide (info on their website). Reef Protect International

Congrats, Jack! Does this mean you get to dive with the six gills? I'm sooooo jealous.

Do NOT put tape directly over the internal flash. Your internal flash might be strong enough to burn the tape into the plastic of the flash. Ask me how I know... <_<

Get her a magnifying glass (one made from glass, not plastic) and she can explore the macro world while staying nearby.