nathan jara

The extremely popular photo sharing service, Instagram, got everyone’s tinsel in a bunch last week when it made an announcement concerning advertising in its Terms of Service. An article by Matt Honan from Wired Magazine gives a nice overview of the timeline of events, and ultimately his decision to leave the service. To review quickly, the changes give Instagram the ability to use and or sell any user’s profile information and/or Instagram photos in paid advertisements without the user’s agreement or knowledge. Instagram shouldn’t have been surprised when such an announcement caused some alarm.

At first, I felt the same; note relative Tweet. I wasn’t surprised that such a change was made after Facebook bought Instagram earlier this year, seeing as how we all know how transparent Facebook has been over the years. But nonetheless disappointed that yet another great service was taking advantage of its users who turned the product into its present sensation. I agree with Honan that there are better ways to go about incorporating advertising in order to grant Instagram the revenue it deserves for it’s successful product.

We’d all be naive to think that Instagram photos, or any of our photos on the Googles, Facebooks, Flickrs or Twitters of the world being used without our consent will stop with a change of a few lines in a terms and conditions statement that the majority of users click right passed. I’ll admit that I wouldn’t have known about the update without a Tweet telling me I should. But if we don’t spark discussion or express our opinion about a principle we believe in as Honan notes, we’ll never move the web to a better place.

The Instagram hullabaloo gave me the chance to re-evaluate how I share my photos in general. Another recent Instagram change occurred that no longer allows Instagram photos to be displayed in Twitter feeds. The removal of this ability due to an Instagram update forces viewers to be an additional click away from viewing Instagram content. Chatting with co-workers led me to another photo editing app called Snapseed. Snapseed, which is owned by Google, provides an innovative editing interface so that I can filter and tweak my photos with even more granularity or pop on a preset filter just like I could with Instagram. And it’s FREE. I also like that there’s no social network tied to Snapseed as there is with Instagram. No Snapseed followers to manage as with Instagram, something I never really spent much time on with Instagram. With Snapseed, I can add drama to my mobile captures and just share to the internets via Twitter integration on my phone’s OS. Sharing this way uses Twitter’s standard photo service, which does allow you to view photos right in the photo stream. Nice.

This past June, I attended the 2012 Latrobe Airshow at the Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Latrobe, PA. The show featured numerous acrobatic shows, but most impressively, the Navy’s Blue Angels made their first appearance in Latrobe in over ten years. The event was a perfect opportunity to test out the burst settings on my digital SLR along with some movie makin’ fun. For some higher-res photos, check out the album. Or just enjoy the need for speed below.

If you can’t play it above, download it here, silly. Chrome/Safari | Firefox

As many have come to realize, nathanjara.com is a one-stop-shop for all your tech review needs. Development software, the latest Apple products…you name it, you can find a superb review right here. Well, I’m expanding my review department and will soon be featuring a celebrity poster to give you an in-depth look into one of today’s hottest products. Who will it be!? And what is that product you ask!? You’ll just have to stay tuned…

A while ago, I posted about adding my latest read articles from Google Reader. Well, since then, Google changed some things, adding a little thing called Google+, thus leaving my reader feed unfed. Rather than reworking the Google feed, I’ve decided to replace it with my Twitter feed. So now, just to the right, you’ll find my latest twotes (hey, it’s a word according to Urban Dictionary).

Yep, I joined Twitter. I held out for a while, not sure I wanted to join in all the 140 character fun. But after just observing others’ posts for a few weeks, I found I understood why tweeters are tweeting everywhere everyday. Number one, it’s a great digest for information. Following some of my favorite magazines and news sources, you get links to the latest and greatest without having to search. The information just comes to you. And it’s fun! Following your family and friends lets you connect without the clutter and distraction.

The U.S. Congress is holding hearings this week concerning two bills that can drastically change the internet we know, love, and use everyday. These two bills, the Protect IP Act and the Stop Online Privacy Act, would create the first American Internet censorship system, potentially blocking your access to favorite sites due to mere claims of copyright infringement. Please take some time to learn more by watching the video below and taking action by contacting your Congressman. A free internet is worth the fight.