SOMEWHAT FRANK

circaVie For Memorable Photo Timelines

Looking to plot your photos in a memorable timeline? circaVie could be just what you are looking for. With circaVie you can easily create a flashy photo timeline.

Simply sign-up, start uploading or pointing to your photo links, associating a photo date and circaVie plots them on a scrollable timeline. It sort of reminds me of a scrapbook in a timeline format. Timeline is interactive as users can interact with each photo on the timeline as well as leave comments. circaVie offers the ability to change the color of the timeline and it can be snagged for embedding into your favorite web site or blog. You can also pass your timeline via AIM Share or by passing around an RSS feed. I have included a timeline below from a fabulous time spent exploring San Francisco last weekend.

Similar to Ficlets, circaVie was created by AOL's AIM Network, it was done using a nimble and agile development team which at times was up to six people but has since been reduced to just two. circaVie offers OpenID and also makes it easy to select a site specific username and pull in your buddy icon from AOL, AIM, Flickr or Twitter. circaVie is a fun and useful application for anyone looking for a way to tell your photo explorations in a memorable fashion.

Xcavator.net For Stock Image Recognition & Color Search

Are you looking for a solid image search? xcavator might be able to help as it offers a couple of interesting image search options. Unlike other image search engines, xcavator enables users to search stock images by selecting an image color, tag or keyword.

Using an innovative color selector users can find images with a similar dominant color. The color selected can then be filtered by tag or keyword. Users can search among royalty free and licensed images. Additionally, xcavator uses image recognition technology which was created by CogniSign to allow users to search on an uploaded image. Check out the video tour here - a screen-shot of a simple color search is shown below.

Find Your Celebrity Look-Alike

Editor's Note: If you like my insights and perspective in this article please join my inner circle here.

Which celebrities do you look like? AOL may be able to help answer that question with its recent launch of an innovative facial recognition technology, similar to that of Riya and MyHeritage, created by AOL Labs in collaboration with Oxford University and Caltech University. Thus far the technology has been used in a fun little site called FindMyCelebrityLookAlike.com. AOL Labs is the technology research group of AOL responsible for delivering insight and capabilities to build the next generation of services for the company. 

By submitting a photo by either uploading an image or by submitting an URL to the photo you can search celebrities for a match. Users can tweak the search results by limiting them to a particular gender. In addition, users can find additional information about the celebrities that they look like. So find out who you look like. I decided to look for both male and female results and turns out I look like singer Jesse McCartney, actor Elijah Wood, actress Keira Knightley and actor Adam Brody. What do you think about the results? I am kind of close to the situation so it is difficult for me to judge.

If you like my insights and perspective in this article please join my inner circle here.

Digital Railroad's Photo Marketplace

Evan Nisselson has leveraged his photo obsession and turned it into a full fledged business, Digital Railroad, that strives to help pro-photographers solve workflow issues and connect with a broader audience of viewers - and now buyers.

The marketplace allows you to search and browse, select, download and license images from an impressive roster of pro's. With DRR it is easy to lose yourself in the site browsing and searching the thousands of amazing images by global photographers like Aric Mayer, Jeremy Horner, Ann Howley, Mark Garfinkel and so many others.

DRR has long provided members with the ability to create their own customizable photo archive, offering tools for easy uploading, managing and displaying their work. but now they have taken the site to a new level. As an early beta tester of the site, I was thrilled to see the addition of syndication in the form of RSS feeds. Users can select a feed they've created or create your own custom feed based on keywords you enter. For mac users, they're now offering a plug-in for Apple Aperture, making it easy to transfer images directly from Aperture 1.5 to your DRR archive.

Along with the photo feeds, I also subscribed to both blogs - member showcase and marketplace - which, like the channels and what's new areas, expertly curate the site with delightful photos, like the photo below.

(c)Michele Westmorland/drr.net - Photo Details: Young village children playing and swimming in a beautiful lagoon. Near Morovo Lagoon, Solomon Islands

Congrats to the entire DRR team for launching the Digital Railroad Marketplace beta! Nisselson believes that technology is the catalyst for change and evolution in the stock photo industry. Though I have limited experience inside the stock photo industry, it is exciting to see how technology both challenges the industry (e.g., copyright) and creates innovative new opportunities like the Digital Railroad Marketplace that serves both sellers and buyers alike.   

Editor's Note: Special thanks to Jen Consalvo for  leveraging her photography expertise to contribute this article to Somewhat Frank. Thank you.