Day 13

Cats, Trust, and Photography

Since yesterday's topic seemed to center on Google Glass for distance learning and education, I thought I'd start out today's post by showing how I used the tool to make an instructional video.

How to Pill a Cat

So here you go... Dr. Karl and "How to Pill a Cat."  The prerequisites, of course, are a pill, some heavy whipped cream...

and a cat.

Place the whipped cream nearby.  Hold the pill between thumb and forefinger of your dominant hand.  Face the cat from their front.  Firmly grasp the beast by the nape of the neck with your other hand and tilt them back.  Using your second and third fingers, apply gentle pressure to the corner of the cat's mouth.  When the mouth opens, use your fingers to gently open it wider.  Place (or toss) the pill far back in the creature's mouth.  (Failure to do so may mean the cat spits out the pill.  This is bad.  Getting the pill onto the back of the tongue makes it easier for both you and the cat.  You will bleed less.)

  
Quickly remove both of your hands and reward the cat with the whipped cream.  If you are a first-timer, apply antibiotics and bandages to the scratches and bites that you will have suffered.

Trust

I had some more thoughts about my manager's reaction to Glass yesterday.  Just as with cellphones, eventually there will have to be a level of trust that the operator of a mobile device is behaving within socially acceptable norms.

The idea that because you are wearing a device somehow makes you suspect of clandestine video recording ignores the fact that clandestine smartphone videos frequently make the news.  The only clear differentiation is that Glass is on your head and that makes a real difference to some.  Glass Explorers will need to be cognizant and respectful of these sorts of sensitivities. 

Glass Photography

With the weather warming up, I'm interested in comparing Glass as a true photographic device with my trusty dedicated digital cameras.  I'm looking for photographic opprotunities where I can use Glass and the camera nearly simultaneously.  For the moment I'll be working on still lifes of my bonsai and of flowers in the greenhouse, and maybe a quite moment with the cats.  If I can find the right model, I'd like to do some environmental portraiture or figure studies.

This afternoon I took a series of video and still photos downstairs in our display area where I could control the lights via dimmer switches.  I also took a video of transitions as I moved from dark areas to brighter lit areas.  Exposure values ranged from 0 to 9 and I'll post the samples and the lux readings from my light meter tomorrow.