Blog . Eli Duke . Com

If you haven't already guessed, my name is Eli Duke and right now I'm working at McMurdo Station in Antarctica as an Electrical Helper. I really like it here.

Who has the largest Flickr Photostream?

For the past couple years now, I’ve been wondering how my Flickr account stacks up to all the other Flickr accounts out there… in terms of size. After my first big push to Flickr I just about cracked the 10,000 mark, and since then I’ve added about another 15,000 photos (and videos) to my bulging Photostream. It shocks me really, but when you break it down it’s only like 3 or 4 thousand pictures per year. It’s still a lot of photos, but it’s not unreasonable.

http://flickr.com/elisfanclub

A few days ago I decided to see if Google could help me find the largest Flickr Photostream. Unfortunately, that search returns 2 results which both point to the exact same blog with a link to GiddyGirlie’s Photostream which has about 16,000 items. Certainly nothing to sneeze at, but still about 10 grand short of mine.

My next thought was to just straight up ask Flickr: who has the largest Photostream?

Hello Eli,

Thank you for contacting Flickr Customer Care.

I am very sorry but at this time, we can’t release this sort of data.

Thank you for your interest in Flickr.

If you have any other questions, please feel free to reply to this email.

Thank you again for contacting us.
Regards,

Araceli
Flickr Customer Care

They can’t release that sort of data? Why not? I mean, there was a virtual pissing contest to see who had the largest Twitter Following, so I asked them why they can’t release that sort of data.

Hello,

Thank you for contacting Flickr Member Support.

I have escalated your email to a senior representative in
an effort to obtain the best answer. We are currently
experiencing a very high volume of requests. We would like
to apologize and inform you that it might take a little
longer than usual for us to respond to your question.

If you have any other questions, please feel free to reply to this email.

Thank you again for contacting us.

Regards,

Flickr Member Support

They escalated my email to a senior representative? Wow. Maybe this was a bigger deal than I thought; they might actually divulge their secrets! So I waited a few days and got this response.

Hello elisfanclub,

Thank you for contacting Flickr Member Support.

Due to privacy reasons we can’t release this sort of data.

Thank you for your interest in Flickr. If you have any other questions, please feel free to reply to this email.

Regards,
Marcela

Oh, come on! They “escalated my email” and then that’s all I got? For crying out loud! Why couldn’t the first person just tell me that? Sheesh!

Then a friend of mine had a good idea. What if I ask a more direction question? What if I ask if *I* have the largest Flickr Photostream? So I did, and this is what I got back.

Hello elisfanclub,

Unfortunately we are not able to make that kind of statement.

But we truly appreciate you choosing Flickr for sharing your photos.

Thank you again for contacting us.

Regards,
Marcela

They can’t make that kind of statement?! What a weird thing to say. Is this classified information? What are they afraid of, Photostream envy? I’m just a curious person, and I thought this would be a simple question / answer sort of thing, but Flickr had to go and make it a bigger deal than it needed to be. So, I’m gonna rally the troops.

Attention Fellow Flickrites!

This is an official call to the Flickrverse to find the largest Photostream. Leave your comments here if you find any account with more than 24,000 items (photos & videos). If Flickr won’t help us, let’s help ourselves.

Filed under: general , ,

Spiders are Amazing Creatures

The other night Ingrid and I were talking about really obvious things that are amazing. I forget what things specifically that we were talking about, but this morning (as I flip through my Flickr uploads) I am reminded of another yet another obvious, amazing thing.

Spiders

If for a moment you can put your fears aside, please make an effort to appreciate what spiders do.

Spiders secrete silk from an organ on the underside of their abdomen called a spinneret. The large majority of spiders have 6 spinnerets that “move independently and in concert to build webs.” Most use those webs to catch their prey (with sticky and non-sticky threads that they maneuver with ease, sensing vibrations), but some spiders “fish” with a sticky “capture blob” of silk on the end of a line, and some even create trapdoors. Typically spiders “prey on insects and on other spiders, although a few large species also take birds and lizards.”

Upon capture, spiders inject their prey with venom, then “they liquidize their food by flooding it with digestive enzymes” because their “guts are too narrow to take solids.”

Here is a fantastic specimen that I noticed in the shed.

Attleson Farm: Crazy Spider Web

The complexity and scope of the web is had to capture in one picture. The dome that you see there is supported by dozens of smaller lines attached to the wall, some going almost 2 feet up.

Attleson Farm: Crazy Spider Web

Notice where the ends of the legs tug on the web. :)

Info source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider

Filed under: general , , , ,

There is no going back to what was before

Once again, Jim Kunstler hits the nail right on the head.

President Obama had better turn his efforts from pretending to re-start the revolving credit rackets to overseeing the comprehensive re-simplifying of American life. I think he has a few weeks to turn his rhetoric around before the political mischief begins for real, and the aggrieved classes start shooting things up and burning things down. These classes really do need something to hope for, and something to work at, and something to occupy their attention besides their grief over the massive losses in their lives. But none of that energy will be focused beneficially unless they hear the truth… that there really is no going back to what was before.

From The Free and the Dead on kunstler.com.

Filed under: general , , ,

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Antarctica: Time Lapse Hair Cut

Antarctica: My Hair Pre Cut

Antarctica: My Hair Pre Cut

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