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Filed under: Flickr Find

Flickr member flypigs has made this series of six cover mock-ups for the rumored forthcoming Steve Jobs autobiography. They’re all pretty cool, and if you look at the notes for each photo you’ll see that flypigs has put a little research into it. For Steve Jobs: The Man Who Makes It A Different Place, flypigs stated: “After searching “Walter Isaacson” on Amazon.com, you will find almost all his books share the same layout of cover design — a big title on the top, a highly visible “Walter Isaacson” on the bottom, and a huge famous face in the center.”

Personally, my favorite is Connecting The Dots. It uses a photograph by Diana Walker called STEVE JOBS AT HOME IN 1982. Steve Jobs said of the photo: “This was a very typical time. I was single. All you needed was a cup of tea, a light, and your stereo, you know, and that’s what I had.” I love the layout of the title and the fact that flypigs took the title from Steve Jobs’ 2005 Commencement address at Stanford University.

What’s your favorite? Vote in the poll!

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TUAWFlickr Find: Fan-made imaginary covers for Steve Jobs’ biography originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 20 Feb 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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School-issued laptops are becoming more and more common these days, but thanks to the action of one high school, students and parents might have second thoughts about bringing them home. The parents of a Pennsylvania high school student, Blake J. Robbins, have filed a lawsuit against his school district after discovering that school officials had allegedly been remotely accessing the laptop in order to take webcam photos of the students at home (via BoingBoing). There are a number of unanswered questions about this story, but if true, it could mean serious penalties for the Lower Merion School District.

According to the complaint, the school in question (Harriton High School) had issued laptops equipped with built-in webcams to every student so that they could have “24/7 access to school based resources” and the ability to work seamlessly between school and home when it comes to research and projects. In November of 2009, however, Robbins was disciplined by the Assistant Principal of his school, Lindy Matsko, for engaging in “improper behavior” in his home. At that time, Matsko cited a photograph from the built-in webcam on the laptop.

Filed under: iMac, Apple

In what should be used by Apple as a testament to the solid construction of their computers, a Swedish man, Anders Norman, suffered a tragedy last Wednesday when his house burned down. To Norman’s surprise, his iMac survived the conflagration despite being burned and partially melted.

Norman’s experience (translated from Swedish) follows: “Unfortunately, the whole house and all things in there completely destroyed, so even the iMac. What’s funny is that it is still in operation. While damaged from smoke and dust and partially melted, but yet, however in operation.

On Friday I bought a new iMac at the Apple Store here in Umeå, which I now rejoice.”

To see just how bad the damage was, take a look at this second photograph by Anders Norman that was shown on the Feber.se website:

Thanks to TUAW readers Emil and Roger for the tip.

TUAWSwede’s iMac takes a burnin’ and it’s still turnin’ originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 15 Feb 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nowadays, we can do so much photo editing after the fact that we often don’t realize what a difference framing makes. Despite what you may think, stepping forward will probably be better than cropping later (or digital zoom) when taking photos.

Photo by ralphbijker.

Helen Bradley explains on her Pro Photo Blog:

If there is one technique most digital camera users can use today to instantly improve their photos it is to stand at least two or three steps closer to their subject. Most photographers stand too far away from their subjects so the subject ends up being very small relative to the rest of the photo. When you move closer to your subject you make them larger in the viewfinder so they fill the photograph.

When you’re taking a picture of an actual object, like a person, a tighter photo is far more interesting and dramatic than one with lots of background. In the age of digital cameras many of us less seasoned professionals often think that we can just crop and zoom after the fact, but that isn’t necessarily so—cropping and digital zooming do not achieve the same effect as actually getting the lens closer to the subject (note that optical zooming does work, in this case—most cameras have both, so if you have to use the zoom, make sure you’re using the right one). Got any other tips for more interesting photos? Share them in the comments!

The FBI this week released a “digitally-altered” image showing what Osama Bin Laden possibly looks like now he’s older.

While the FBI claims to have used “cutting edge” technology to create the image, a Spanish politician has noticed that the poster is a modified version of his campaign photo — he now finds his face in America’s most wanted list.

While on the surface it’s an amusing misstep by intelligence agencies, Gaspar Llamazares, the former leader of Spain’s United Left coalition, calls the move “shameless”. His safety is at risk, he told the BBC, and he no longer feels able to travel to America now his likeness is on a wanted poster: “Bin Laden’s safety is not threatened by this but mine certainly is”, Llamazares said.

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Left, Bin Laden in 1998; middle, the FBI image; right, Gaspar Llamazares

The FBI is quoted admitting to the error, saying that the artist found the photo on the web and didn’t know it was of a Spanish politician:

When producing age-progressed photographs, forensic artists typically select features from a database of stock reference photographs to create the new image…it appears that in this instance the forensic artist was unable to find suitable features among the reference photographs and obtained those features, in part, from a photograph he found on the internet.

The forensic artist was not aware of the identity of the individual depicted in the photograph. The similarities between the photos were unintentional and inadvertent.

We don’t think it matters that the man in question was a notable politician: using photos from an image search to create a most wanted poster is surely putting the subject at risk, is it not?

Tags: FBI, Photoshop, trending

If you’ve ever looked a photo with dramatic lighting in the style of old detective movies, you’re likely seeing the effect of a snoot—a flash-modifier that directs light in a tight pattern. You can mimic the effect with straws.

The appropriately named blog LightingMods has a tutorial for turning a box of drinking straws, cardboard, and tape into a snoot for your camera flash. A snoot is essentially the opposite of diffusion—we showed you how to diffuse your flash with an old film canister and a cigarette pack—you use a snoot to tightly focus the flash into an intense area, instead of diffusing it softly around the room.

The raw materials are nearly free they’re so cheap; the biggest investment you’ll make is the time it takes to cut up the straws and glue/tape the whole thing together (which really shouldn’t take that long). Check out the tutorial at the link below for sample pictures and a step-by-step build guide. Have a photograph-related hack of your own to share? Let’s hear about it in the comments.

Last week we asked you to share your favorite tool for tracking goals. We rounded up your nominations for the Hive Five and now we’re back with the results.

Photo by Peter Kaminski.

Pen and Paper led by a wide margin, showing that the most technical solution isn’t always the best or the one people turn to for simple tasks. Following pen and paper was Evernote—many people already use it and the ubiquitous capture makes it simple to photograph and document your goals. Rounding out the five was Excel, Joe’s Goals, and Friends and Family. Check out the full Hive Five for additional information and poll results.

Have a topic you’d live to see covered by the Hive Five? Send us an email at tips @ lifehacker.com with “Hive Five” in the subject line.

Back in July, we wrote about Face.com’s Photo Tagger app for Facebook, which was then in beta. The successor to the popular Photo Finder app, Photo Tagger lets you tag all photos in an album in-bulk and automatically publish those results right to Facebook.

Photo Tagger is now out of beta and available for free. You can check out the app’s Facebook page here.

In addition to making tagging faster and more streamlined, Photo Tagger also utilizes the Face Alerts system. Instead of only getting a notification when you are tagged in a photograph by a Facebook user, Face Alerts can identify even untagged photos. You can then visit those photos and confirm (or untag, if it’s something you want to hide from mom) your presence.

Face.com says it has recognized more than 5 million faces in Facebook, which is impressive for a company that has only been around since March.

We love the idea of bulk tagging and believe that Face Alerts to Facebook make the process that more efficient. With millions of photos uploaded to Facebook each month, it’s great to see tools like this simplify what can be an overwhelming process.

Tags: face.com, facebook, photo tagger, photo tagging, Photos

Not all the hobbies we take up become life-long passions. Make a cold assessment of your hobbies to free up space, and maybe even make a little extra cash. Photo by Tim Patterson.

Maybe once upon a time you actually played tennis every week, took trips to go scuba diving, and spent your weekends doing wood work in the shed. But if we don’t assess our hobbies occasionally, we end up with attics, garages, and hall closets stuffed with the often expensive castoffs of hobbies we don’t actively participate in anymore.

The Unclutterer blog posts a two part series on hobbies, covering both assessing your hobbies and what to do with the stuff. Part one is a five-step guide to assessing if you’re still interested in the hobby and how much time you actually spend enjoying it. Their assessment guide centers around figuring out how much time you actually spend enjoying your hobby:

Any hobby with an estimation of 10 hours or less should immediately be moved out of your home. Pack up the equipment and head to a used sports equipment store or an appropriate charity. If the hobby stuff is valuable, photograph it and list it for sale on a site like ebay or craigslist.

Part two is all about getting your stuff out of the house and into the hands of people that will actually use and enjoy it. Maybe that’s by giving it to fellow hobbyists, or listing it for sale. Either way, check out the two guides below to help you decide which hobbies are ready for retirement and reclaim that space in the hall closet.

Much was made of Barack Obama’s use of social media in his successful 2008 Presidential campaign. Although it’s now been nearly a year since he was elected, the President and his team continue to make use of the tools that helped him land the job.

The latest example: the official Obama family portrait, posted to Flickr on Thursday. The photo is part of the White House Flickr stream, which includes hundreds of sets from the President’s day-to-day engagements around the world.

As with all photos posted to the stream, however, users should be aware of the restrictions placed on their use: “This official White House photograph is being made available only for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photograph. The photograph may not be manipulated in any way and may not be used in commercial or political materials, advertisements, emails, products, promotions that in any way suggests approval or endorsement of the President, the First Family, or the White House.”

Do you think Obama has been doing an effective job of using social media since he became President? Share your thoughts in the comments.

See Also: Obama: Does He Pass the Social Media Test?

Tags: flickr, obama, obama family portrait, politics