"Photographs have always been a great way to capture our memories and share them--but it hasn't always been that way." With the holiday season passing--one more year of memories that we can't really go back and re-live. Or can we? Probably the reason I enjoy photography--and a main reason I started an online Etsy studio--is to capture times that I have enjoyed--and have the opportunity to share them or relive those moments again. We all have those special times we treasure--the birth of a baby, a wedding, graduation, an anniversary, our first date, etc. Just like good art--photography captures not only what was--but also what we want it to be. It allows us to "airbrush" our lives to be seen as we see within ourselves. It allows us to share our world as we want to see it--whether it be our family, business, nation or nature. And through this "artistic" side of photography--we can express ourselves and also "showca

"Sir," he said. "I suggest you back away from that animal very slowly. He could charge at any minute...!" (gulp) Ok...I'm not one to shy away from a challenge.  But in September, 2007--I reconsidered what my life was worth in exchange for a photograph. Specifically a dining bison at Yellowstone. Having spent a half day of seeing the sites in Yellowstone in the Fall of 2007--my friend and I stopped halfway north near the Roosevelt Arch at a rangers station. We had noticed a small herd of buffalo grazing nearby. Heck--buffalo wander around Yellowstone all the time. One even came right up to the passenger side of our car looking in at us (I snapped a pic of it--but it's pretty blurred. Wonder why!) A few days earlier--we stopped by a roadside picnic table having lunch. I was facing the woodland area behind our table--keeping an eye out for bears, deer, elk--whatever. Suddenly--my friend said, "Shhhh....gradually look behind you!" I

"What I like most about photography is that it allows you to capture a moment and relive it time and again--as well as expressing your creative side..." All of us have passions and hobbies--whether it be cooking, writing, performing, etc. With the advent now of iTunes, Amazon, eBay and Etsy--we can now become artistic merchants reaching a worldwide audience of prospects. I recently decided to open an Etsy storefront to showcase my favorite photographic shots that I've taken over the years. In 2007, I went to Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons packed with a new 1.3 mg, Minolta Dimage Xi camera with optical and digital zoom. This was about the time camera's were going more digital and this one was the size of a cigarette pack. It took some of the best shots I've ever taken (like the one above--Pastorale Stream, at my Etsy storefront, www.etsy.com/shop/verlinstudios).  In spite of the fact I now use an iPhone 5s and a Nikon, 16mg camera/1080 HD video

As the boundaries between work and life become increasingly blurred, businesses will begin to design certain areas of their offices to accommodate changing working. Here's a great post from "down under" in Australia by Melinda Oliver with Smart Company,  concerning the use of mobile technology and use of big data for business trends in 2014. This is targeted for the Australian business community but may be a model for the rest of the world as well: Citrix Labs vice president and Office Chair chief technology officer Martin Duursma said businesses will need to constantly adapt their IT infrastructure to cater for the changes. Here are six key predictions for 2014 from the report. 1. Employees will drive the technology used The report finds that as staff bring their own devices to the workspace such as smartphones, tablets and laptops, and connect them to work systems, businesses will have to boost IT security. “Rather than employees connecting to the ent

  "...as many times as we talked about great customer service and how important the customer was--we were measured on monthly and quarterly performance of "sales amounts"--and it was easy to forget the customer in the midst of administrative reports and appointments". Gut instinct or big marketing data? Which does your business focus on? As we shift to a more online, digital world--the "metrics" that online capabilities can now provide to business owners is expanding. From page views, to click throughs, to types of products we all buy--the numbers can become hard to analyze and implement. What does the focus group tell us vs what our customers are telling us? This past weekend, Jeff Bezos announced that Amazon was going to be utilizing drone delivery Prime Air systems to provide urban areas thirty minute delivery of product. He also indicated that Amazon was now producing their own original content movies based on their "customer feedback&q

What do Motley Crew, George Brett and Rush Limbaugh all have in common? All three were fans of a classic rock band that was the first American band to sign with Virgin Records. (think Bay City Roller days). The band was from Kansas City. Their first album was produced in London by Gus Dudgeon--Elton Johns' producer. They opened for Robin Trower, Heart, Cheap Trick, Journey, Jefferson Starship, etc. They played the Hollywood Bowl, Madison Square Garden and witnessed the rumbles of Mt. St. Helen going off a hundred miles away while recording their second album. Their name was Shooting Star. My brother Ron Verlin was the bass player. He and the lead guitar player, Van McClain started the band. The band actually started conceptually in 1963 when my brother went up the street looking for friends in our new neighborhood. He rang the doorbell at Van's house--asking if their was anyone to play with that lived there. Van and his brother Craig became my brother and my best

  In one word: Seamless   seam·less ˈsēmlis/ adjective 1 . (of a fabric or surface) smooth and without seams or obvious joins. "seamless stockings" Let me preface this post by admitting upfront a couple of things: I'm not a geek in the true sense of the word. I came from a rock n roll background (more on this in another post)--and worked with classical,  smooth jazz and newstalk radio stations for thirty-two years. I was the audio-visual guy in junior high--delivering projectors, tape recorders to classrooms, etc--so I've always had an interest in "gadgets". My first one was an Archer walkie-talkie and my second was a Science Fair crystal radio set. I then had a Science Fair weather station. I'm not employed by or paid by Apple, Samsung, Google, etc or any tech company, blog or magazine.  I'm just offering a semi-tech guy's opinion of how Apple & Samsung stand up to each other after having owned

When I started in radio sales..I'd go through days of not knowing if I'd make a sale, an appointment, etc. Those were the day's the my sales manager would tell me to go  write a commercial to play as a "spec ad" for a prospect. He knew that if I could engage my creative side--I would refocus my thoughts and feel productive to keep me from getting down. He was right. And if I had a particularly creative idea--I would get excited and energized. That taught me a great lesson throughout my career--when down--think creatively.  More importantly--do something creative--writing, painting, singing, etc.  And it doesn't have to be complicated. There are simple ways to make your day! Check out some neat ones Kevin Daum came up with from Inc. magazine: Here are 10 suggestions on how to make your day! Sometimes people get in a rut. The hours drag on, boredom making you feel like you are slogging through mud. Don't let the offic

"In the twinkling of an eye, Nebuchadnezzar became a raving maniac. With wild shrieks he rushed from the room and down the staircase as the crown of gold toppled from his head. Across the tiled floor of the throne room he raced, tearing from his body his regal robes and scattering them as he went. Through the doors and down the corridors he ran bellowing like a wounded bull while the palace retainers stood by in consternation. Nebuchadnezzar,  the proud and dignified monarch of the greatest empires of ancient times, was running down the street of his capital city, stripped, stark naked" — Campbell, Donald K., Daniel: DecoderBooks, 1979, p. 51. It's a sad commentary today when we see publicly elected officials, businesspersons, sports stars, Hollywood stars all put on a public display of Arrogance 101. In their fifteen seconds of fame--it's all or nothing as self-absorbed individuals seem unaffected by their behaviors. The latest to draw attention is Rob Ford--To