About thegreatlandoni / Jim Landon  

Born in 1943 while my dad was in the army, stateside.

Unremarkable, except in the eyes of my wife and grandchildren.

Introvert ... except in email and Flickr,

Retired Electrical Engineer.

Grandfather of seven.

For a dear Friend :
-----///\\------Please
----///--\\\----put this
---|||----|||---on your
---|||-- -|||---profile if
---|||-- -|||---you know
----\\\--///----someone
-----\\\///-----who is living with, survived
------///\-----or has passed away from
-----///\\\----cancer.
----///--\\\---Thank you

MY THOUGHTS ABOUT FLICKR:

My introduction to flickr was simply as a place to host my photos of WWI airplane details for building scale models. The WWI Models website, which I still belong to is not optimum for uploading large file size photos. Now I can give my friends the URL of any photo on flickr that I want them to see.

I was pleasantly surprised to find a bazillion great photos of WWI planes on flickr. I have downloaded tons of them for future reference when building models. Flickr members have visited museums all over the world that I will probably never get to visit in person. I visit them through my flickr friends' photos.

I've even started a group: "Scale Models From Scratch" about scale models built without a kit.

From that limited introduction my interest in flickr has expanded to include many other subjects … everything from flowers to sunsets, to people, to non-WWI airplanes, to nature scenes and everything else. My childhood hobby of photography has been rekindled.

I really enjoy flickr … appreciating everyone's photos and having mine appreciated. I look forward to time on my computer to do my flickr.

Flickr has inspired me to go through all my old photos and slides and share them ... except there are not enough hours in a day.

I created another group called "Marshalltown Iowa" about my home town.

I've made some great friends here, even if only through the computer. But if we ever meet in person I think we'd be "real" friends.

Flickr has inspired me to learn how to use my software to create "trick photos".

I am embarrassed that I only speak English, while I expect everyone else to read and write English.

I am embarrassed that I can’t keep up with all the recent uploads from my contacts.

I appreciate all the invitations to join groups but I feel guilty that I can't view and compliment everyone else's work.

I am very confused about how compliments and awards are given. I see great photos (in my opinion) that get very little attention, and I see photos that (to me) are nothing more than ordinary snapshots, and they get hundreds of compliments and awards.

An award or compliment that is nothing more than the groups "copy and paste" artwork, with no personal words added, isn't much of a compliment. I'd rather see a hand typed message than an impersonal jazzy sparkly animated graphic, even though the graphic may include built-in complimentary words.

I hate it when people don't enable the ALL SIZES button on their photos. I like to examine details. I understand the concern for theft but it prevents me from fully appreciating the photo. And if it's a detailed photo of a WWI airplane I'd like to download the large size for future reference for building models ... or just drool over. ... I would never knowingly present someone else's photo as if I'd taken it. If I do post a photo taken by a friend, with their permission, I give them credit.

My self-imposed sense of obligation to view and comment on all my contacts' photos reduces my time to take, process and upload my own work.