tomvandenbon-blog

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Blog has moved!

Hi There, I won't be updating this tumblr anymore. Please find my new posts at

http://tomvandenbon.co.za/blog/

Thanks :)

[tomvandenbon-blog]

I've been using Postagram for a while now sending postcards to friends and family all over the world, especially when I go on a (business) trip. Recently I got some messages (from total strangers) on my twitter feed informing me that I am more than welcome to send them some postagrams as well and that got me thinking. Everybody likes receiving a Postagram, especially from a stranger from the other side of the world, with a cool photo. So I decided to give a "Random Postagram to Random Stranger" idea a chance.

Here is how it works:

(1) Leave your postal address here :  https://www.postable.com/tomvandenbon  (2) Every time I send out a batch of Postagram's I will randomly select one or more names from the list and send them a postagram with my current adventure. It can pretty much be anything that I'm busy with (work, holiday, cool sightings, etc). (3) Get a cool postcard from a complete stranger and have a wonderful day as a result :) This is a social experiment and I will continue this as I long as it's fun. Also, even if your name is on the list I am under no obligation to send you a postcard.

Cool? Then head over to https://www.postable.com/tomvandenbon and lets see how this goes. If you do receive a postcard from me then it would be nice if you let me know.

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"Kissing in the blue dark Playing pool and wild darts Video games"

Recently got the Lana Del Rey cd, loving the Video Games song ...

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To create the superhero photo I basically took two photos (camera on the tripod). One with just the blank wall, and one where I was holding Aiden up. After that I simply overlaid the two images in photoshop and used a mask to remove me from the picture. Very simple but effective :)

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New ‘Geek’ business cards :)

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Monique loves Nature - 18 Feb

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Cartrack Valentine Celebrations - 17 Feb

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This is going to make changing diapers a tad more difficult ...

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Why capture the moment ?

Why do we as humans take photographs? Is it the urge to document life and our history? Birthday parties, holiday snaps and pictures of friends are probably what most camera owners take pictures of. So why do we do it ? I am certainly in no position to claim that I know why people take photos, but if I would have to take a guess it's probably so that they can relive the good times ... the happy times. Most photos get taken when people are having fun and they try to capture that moment, the moment where nothing else mattered except for that point in time...

Lets face it, in the technological age we live in just about everybody has a camera. You can get buy yourself a decent camera for cheap and because it is all digital there are no other costs involved, other than storage space. No need to buy the film or pay for development costs. Even cellphones these days have such a good built in camera that there is no excuse to not take photos all the time. The downside to this though, is that photography has been deprecated as an art form. The internet is swamped with photos of sleeping babies, the hamburger they had for lunch and even the dead bird that your cat dragged in the house. Everything is documented and filed away on a Facebook that nobody else cares about and let's face it ... most of the photos are pretty crap.

Maybe by taking photos of everyday events we try to prove that our lives are as exciting as what our status updates pretend to be?

So ... why do I take photos? While it is true that I also take a picture of the occasional lunch and sleeping kittens (lunch and kittens are not related!), I think the main reason why I take photos is not to capture the moment in time, but rather the emotion that is experienced at that time? hmm... that sounds like something you would read in a fortune cookie. Maybe it's the satisfying click of the shutter indicating that you have just captured something, possibly out of focus, but still something that just happened, and will never happen exactly that same way again. Maybe it's a way to interact with the real world while hiding behind the camera? Come to think of it, I guess I don't really know why I take photos...

But in the end, does it really matter? As long as I enjoy it ...

[tomvandenbon-blog]

Sports for Geeks: Geocaching

Geocaching, a not-so-new high tech treasure hunting game that has recently had me sticking my hands into dark holes, dancing around in a spot looking at my phone and writing logs to ... well no one in particular. This is the curse of a geocacher and be warned: it's addictive, time consuming and most 'muggles' just don't get it.

My addiction started a few months ago and in a short time I have met interesting people and discovered awesome places. It all started when I came across the Geocaching website. I was fascinated reading about all these people who spent their time looking for small treasures at specific GPS locations. Some of these treasures contained as little as a piece of paper for your name and others a small collection of lucky packet toys. Upon doing a search for geocaches close to my office, I was rewarded with a list of about 30 geocaches within 10km. The closest one a mere 200m away. With this new knowledge I dragged a co-worker from his desk and we went looking for this 'treasure'...

So, for those who don't know, the game works as follow; there is a listing of geocaches on the website. It has an easy to use search system and with an address or gps coordinates you'll soon have a list of geocaches. For each geocache you get gps coordinates, a description, some properties and maybe a hint. From there you go to the gps coordinates and 'find' the treasure.  

Sounds simple? It is, until you get there and you have to start looking for something smaller than a rj45 plug. I have seen everything from small magnetic containers, to containers hidden in bolts, tree stumps, big lunchboxes and even seeds.

And even if you do find it, there is no guarantee that you can open it or even reach it without solving a puzzle or using a special tool. But let me tell you, when you do find that first cache and successfully log your name on it, you will be hooked. You are now going down the rabbit hole ... and there is no turning back...

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Happy New Year! 2012 has the possibility of being an excellent year. Make good use of it!