just throwing it out there, but i think its funny how people cry about how the English language is degrading. what with different typing styles, slang, etc.

well, have any of you stopped to think about what has been happening all your life? how about since the birth of america? over time languages evolve. if they didn't, we'd all be speaking like in Shakespeare's plays still. when you guys were young, i'm sure you used slang words too. now its suddenly wrong because other kids are doing it? i'm sure a hundred years ago, people were thinking the same thing as clothing and language styles changed and evolved into what we have today. now you think it suddenly has to stop evolving because you don't want to change with it?

as times change, things change. you have to accept that things wont stop changing just because you don't like them.
there comes a time when you have to accept change or get left behind and looked at as an old fashioned person who thinks their point of view is the only correct one.

so, because some people choose to do things differently from you means they are a lower life form?
quite a conceited point of view.

sorry for not realizing the world revolved around you and that anybody that didn't agree with you was lacking of education.

I may have only just joined a week ago, but I'd like to give a bit of a critique and some suggestions regarding the forum. Please don't take offense to anything that I am saying, and if anybody else has any comments, feel free to add them.

The forum is very active, I've yet to see a time with less then 50 members online. This is a good thing, however, I personally think the forum software itself is lacking.

1. Appearance. the forum looks quite plain and drab. Being that it's run by a publishing company, I'd expect it to be pretty nice looking. Why not add some color to it? Like a banner along the top, maybe some nice looking icons for the forum categories and topics etc.

2. Organization. There are over 6000 members that have posted over 12000 topics in 5 categories. The phrase 'sardines in a can' comes to mind. Every day there are dozens of topics with new posts. This makes it hard for people to not only help others, but also to get help and find their own topic.

Between the physical size and appearance of the forum, it makes me think of a kid who is just learning how to program and made their first forum, and didn't really care about how it turned out.

Why not add subforums to better organize all the topics of discussion?
-The Photography forum could be divided into: Insects & Animals, Landscapes, Buildings, People, Vehicles, Objects, Misc Stuff.
-The Main Photography Discussion is good for general questions.
-What about adding forums for specific camera and lens discussion though? How about adding a Camera forum and a Lens forum, both with subforums for popular brands?
-How about a forum for photo editing?

If your homemade forum code can't really do any of this easily, then why use it at all? I was surprised when I saw the forum wasn't using a professional software like vbullitin with a beautiful skin and graphics.

oddly, i only have a few pics of caterpillars

Wooly Bear caterpillar


some species of caterpillars on a Blueberry bush


don't know what species this is

English is the only language I know.

I can easily type using capital letters if I choose to, it has no effect on how fast I can type. But the thing is, I choose not to. Why? Simply put, it makes me feel that my posts are calmer, just plain text lacking of any emotion. It tends to match how I am in real life: calm, boring, and not very emotional. Emotion is something that is often very difficult to express with text and it's easily misinterpreted which can lead to arguments. Thus, typing in a calm manner also makes me feel that I am getting a point across without any chance of triggering an emotion based response by somebody reading it.

While some people may type poorly even if English is their native language, you must keep in mind that the internet is a global place and those that don't know English may not be able to type it correctly. Even with spell checkers, a computer without an English Language pack may not be capable of spell checking the English they are trying to type. While yes, you did basically say if English is your native language, are you really going to ask and record what the native language is of every single member of the forum to dictate whether or not it's acceptable for them to type incorrectly? In addition, if you really want to nit-pick, we could bring cultural differences into spelling and grammar. The United States isn't the only country that speaks English, so expecting residents of other English speaking countries to conform to the U.S. English standards isn't exactly proper. I have many times seen U.S. English speakers complain about the typography of European English speakers, and vice versa.


if my desire to type a certain way doesn't conform to somebodies standards of typography, then so be it, i'm not bothered by it. everybody has their own opinions about things and everybody has their methods of getting things done. everyone has a right to express those opinions and methods as long as they are within the rules of the location they are expressing them, be it online or in real life. ten years of running game servers, websites, and moderating forums has taught me to not worry about how somebody types. all that matters is that the person gets their point across.

how does the lack of capitalization of letters make it harder to read a sentence, or even a paragraph?
that's what punctuation is for.

if english isn't your main language, i can understand it being hard. but if its your main language, then it really shouldn't be too hard as the human mind is pretty good at deciphering text.

which is why this is readable:
Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch dnoe at an Elingsh uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht frist and lsat ltteer is at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae we do not raed ervey lteter by itslef but the wrod as a wlohe.

if memory serves correct (its been years since i kept dart/arrow frogs) those are Dendrobates Auratus.
i believe the big guy is a Dumpy Tree Frog.


those are great shots.
although i don't often own any, i've always loved frogs.

personally, i think they are all great shots
i love seeing old abandoned/collapsed buildings.

first one looks like a bright but cloudy summer day
the faded grass and clouds in the rest make me think of late fall with an oncoming storm, especially the last one.

thanks for the advice Arnold.
i'll gladly take any advice from professional photographers :)

i don't know when the next time i'll be down in VA is (usually go down every few years) but i'll definitely remember your tips.




btw, i must say, those are some amazing shots you have on your website.

here's a few tree bases that i took a few days ago.

roots intertwined like the fingers of two lovers


perched up on a rock to get a better view


shame the tree was cut. i think it would have been amazing to have seen the full tree growing precariously out of the rocks,

pics are a few years old.
taken from a boat at Chincoteague VA

don't think its possible to get any more wet then these pics :p

pics from in the stream outside the Lehigh Vally Zoo in PA
using waterproof Olympus Stylus Tough 10mp
yea, quality isn't so good. but then, underwater is quite different from above water

old covered bridge near the Lehigh Vally Zoo in PA.
the bridge has been closed for i think a year and a half now.
no clue whats going on with it.

bridge in 2007


same bridge, spring 2011

believe it or not, people still buy floppy drives and discs.
don't quite understand why because cds are cheaper.

that's how i found it today. was checking my email and in the add box that gmail has along the top of the inbox there was an add for this site. or rather, for the sites newsletter. i normally ignore the adds but decided to check out the site anyway.

*checks email* there it is again:
"1 Weird Photography Trick - UglyHedgehog.com - Check out this one amazing trick that lets you take great photos"