Qik is a little piece of software that enables you to stream videos directly from your phone to the Web. Use it to stream engaging videos to your friends in Facebook, Twitter, etc. or as your camcorder to capture entertaining and special moments.
With Qik you can stream engaging video live from your phone to the world or use your phone like a camcorder to capture entertaining, interesting and special moments. Go LIVE with your life by streaming anytime, anywhere—right from your phone. Be an eyewitness, capture those first steps, or whip up your own streaming video blog. There are just a million and one uses of Qik.
This is one of the coolest Web things I have played with in a long time. Let me know what you think.
I can remember when I was 5 years old and had formulated a theory of how electric motors worked. I got as far as electricity, currents and forces but how the forces "knew" what to do was a mystery to me! So began a career in electronics. In the last 23 years I have been involved in product development, embedded software design, engineering management, technology and innovation management, marketing and business development.
In short it has to date been a rewarding and fascinating time. As a self confessed techie, I love being involved in the latest and most interesting innovations, especially those impacting our everyday lives
I have been a SCUBA diver for more than 18 years now and in that time have had the opportunity to dive extensively throughout South Australia. I've dived elsewhere and yes, tropical water is wonderful but my soft spot is for the dramatic offshore waters of Australia's Southern coast. It may be cold but the dramatic scale of walls, caves, ledges, kelp, dolphins, seals, reef fish, oceanic pelagics and the odd rather too large for comfort predator make for what South Australian diving stands for!!
My favorite dive location is Allthorpe Island off the coast of South Australia's York Peninsula. My favorite shore dive is Chinaman's Hat, again on South Australia's York Peninsula.
I wish I could say how many dives I have done but for 10 years I kept no record of my diving, an oversight I now regret, many hundreds I'd say at a pinch! I now teach others to dive and my enthusiasm for the salty realm is as strong as ever.
I have been involved in this mad sport for nearly 20 years now and can be found at the bottom of the pool on a regular basis. We play weekly at the Adelaide Aquatics Centre with formally organised teams and games. After the game you will almost certainly find us continuing the proceedings at a nearby watering hole!
Underwater hockey is very similar to field hockey in the way it is played with 6 players in the game per side and 4 players as interchange. We use a puck which, although looks like an ice hockey puck, is made of plastic coated lead. The hockey stick is very short, about 20cm long and is held in one hand. The entire game is played at the bottom of the pool while holding your breath!
Underwater Hockey started in England in 1954, but it was not until 1984 that the first World Championships took place in Chicago , USA where Australia made a clean sweep in Men’s and Women’s winning in both team events. Australian Open UWH Championships were held in 1975. The Women’s UWH Titles commenced in 1981, with the Junior UWH Championships commencing in 1990.
I could could tell you a bit about who I am but I'm afraid the story would be obsolete before you get to read it. So let me give you a little of who I am at the time of writing this text. I am having a rich and adventurous life, full of "life experiences" as they say and it is my intention to keep things that way!
I presently live in the quiet city of Adelaide in South Australia. Adelaide may be quiet to some but believe me, there is plenty here to keep anyone thoroughly engaged, enthralled and occupied! You might just have to put in a bit of effort to find it sometimes!
My most recent passion has become the pursuit of excellence in teaching scuba divers. For me it has been a wonderful experience in bringing the brand new uninitiated into a world I have had many privileged years to be part of. Such a stark contrast from my previous life in the world of electronics, technology and computing.
That all being said I am still a technologist at heart and keep my ears to the ground and my eyes out for the latest, the greatest and most fun new things to play with. Today's new ideas may seem like fun and folly for the early adopters but history has shown that the future depends on us. If it were not for our insatiable appetite for ever new and more complex things to fill our lives with then I'm sure we would all still be living in caves and wondering "is this all there is!!".
This exquisite creature is mysterious, captivating and enchanting as it moves through the ocean with a grace all its own.
This time of the year in the waters off Ireland they are everywhere and make incredible subjects of photography or observation while waiting to off-gas on our safety stop. They are also everywhere on beaches, washed ashore, where their distinctive compass pattern can be seen draped over rock, shingle and sand.
For me the ‘jellies’ are also synonymous with the warmer (relative) water of Ireland’s Summer.
On yet another perfect dive day you can see our tiny dive boat tucked in behind Bray Head. You could dive just this few hundred metres of coastline all year and never experience the same dive twice.
What a privilege it is to be diving week in and week out at locations like this.
The last thing I expected on the 12th hole was a pheasant cock strutting his stuff. I have now learned that pheasants have had uninterrupted residency here on the Cork Golf Club grounds for years.
Not actually being here to play I was easily distracted by shiny things and bright colours, especially when my team were waiting their turn.
So, cock sure and strutting his stuff, and with no fear of humans bearing strange clubs, this beautifully coloured bird captured my attention for little while. At least until the play moved on.
These two beautiful gannets flying overhead, alongside the famous Bull Rock, showcase their reputation of Ireland’s most majestic seabird.
Watching gannets feeding is amazing. After a period of circling, a gannet will hover about 6m above the water and then suddenly drop into a vertical plummet, diving into the sea. What is especially spectacular is when a group of them all hit the water at the same time.
Having gannets fly above us was not so amazing. After a short while our boat had scored several hits of a different kind and I noticed at least one direct strike on Johns shoulder.
Majestic they may be but it was now a good thing that we were all about to get into the water.
An interesting part of every deep dive is that shallow last third where physics and biology enforce coming up to a shallow depth to avoid decompression issues. Here the freedom of exploring the depths is taken from us and safely of the shallows presents new and interesting things to explore and see.
Here among the swaying kelp I found this small garden of plumrose anenome (Metridium senile). In a strange way it was easy to imagine these as a head of cauliflower wrapped in the green leaves of kelp. I’m sure there must be a good a recipe for ocean cauliflower soup, and somewhere it is probably a delicacy.
I’ll stick with cauliflower from the garden for now but happy to see more of these beautiful anemones on future dives.
This tiny little village on this tiny little planet is Portmagee and is located in the very south western corner of the Ireland.
We stumbled upon on Portmagee seven years ago when touring Ireland with friends. We enjoyed its beauty and remoteness, but never imaged coming back to this very same place considering all the other beautiful places we have yet to visit.
… little did we know!
In the last three months I’ve been to Portmagee many times now. Some day trips and some weekend stays and it’s all thanks to my getting serious about scuba diving again.
Thanks to the Inbhear Sceine Kerry Sub Aqua Club, Portmagee could become my third home.
Unlike some stone cast into a still pond, these ripples in the cafe window were frozen in time from the moment of their creation.
Perhaps they wanted to subdue the view of the street. Perhaps they wanted privacy for their clientele. Perhaps they were just being arty. Regardless, this was our rippled view out to the world.
Sitting here with Jennifer we debated cleaning the window for a better image. Pragmatism was the outcome this time, that rippled view remained just as it was, and we went back to enjoying our coffee.
For almost ten years my wife has been patiently waiting to have ‘Grace Notes’, the creative part of her PhD thesis, published. Without compromise there was only one publisher acceptable to her: Salmon Poetry, based in Ennistymon, in the west of Ireland.
When she first cast her line we were living in Australia. It was a particularly long cast to be sure, but this was a fish she was determined to catch by hook or by crook. It took a few years but eventually she got ‘the rise’ she’d been angling for, the salmon took the lure, and the long play to where we are now began.
Nearly ten years on and we are living in Ireland, have entered the hallowed abode, and Jessie Lendennie will publish Jennifer’s work later this year.
They say that nothing teaches patience like fishing, especially when fishing for salmon.
This view above Lamb Island tells almost everything you need to know about the conditions, …almost everything.
Wall to wall blue sky, check. No swell or current, check. The iconic Skellig Islands clear on the horizon, check. Incredible coastal rock formations above water, check. Fun dive crew on cool RIB, check. A hint of the crystal clear water as Lamb Island descends down 30m below the warter-line, almost check!
See my previous image ‘Below Lamb Island’ to complete the picture and you can see that we had the perfect Irish diving day.
The diving out of Cahersiveen and Portmagee this last weekend was simply amazing. I’m blessed to have this kind of diving on my door step and to be diving with the Inbhear Sceine Kerry SAC crew who live and breathe (via regulator obviously) this beautiful region of Irish coast.
At a depth of around 25 meters my dive buddy Richie is revelling in the 20+ meter visibility, the perfect conditions for wide angle underwater photography. The visibility was so good, and the terrain so spectacular, I often found myself just floating out in mid water taking in the view.
My introduction to Irish diving has been wonderful with perfect conditions 6 out of the last 7 weekends and with the water finally getting warmer it can only get better.
Finally, apologies for the un-imaginative title but it’s one of a two part theme to be completed later.
My moment with this gentle giant was fleeting, no more than 30 seconds, but wow what a wonderful moment it was.
When finally it swam into the distance, visibility, light and turbidity were not kind to the camera. All colour and definition were gone, but still the grace with which it swam was mesmerising.
This was my last glimpse before it disappeared into the depths below but not before it showed that unmistakable shark profile that evolution has not changed in millions of years.
All of the diving I have done so far here in Ireland has been on the exposed Kerry coastline and the one common theme of every dive has been kelp!
The kelp line begins around 6m below the surface where it is just out of range of all but the most severe seas and extends down to around 12m where the failing light is no longer sufficient for the photosynthesis the algae needs to survive.
This species called Cuvie (Laminaria hyperborea) has become a landmark of depth for me, greeting me on my way back up to the surface and keeping me company on my safety stops.
We were nearing the end of a fabulous dive just off Bray Head on Valentia Island and were hovering around 5m sandwiched between the surface and the kelp bed below.
I turned to locate my dive buddy and instead was greeted by a massive grey form coming up from below and swimming directly for me. It is hard to describe and give justice to the experience which followed.
At first I thought it was the biggest and strangest looking dolphin that ever existed. I was stupefied until it gracefully dived under me and the expanse of this giant shark was revealed.
Basking sharks are the second largest shark or fish after the whale shark and typically will reach 8m in length. This one was on the smaller size, perhaps 4-5m, but still possessed incredible presence.
After swimming beneath me, this beautiful creature performed a graceful turn, revealed its ancient profile, then doubled back for a moment before reaching the edge of the kelp and diving back down into the depths.
This was my first encounter with these gentle giants and left us both basking in the beauty of the encounter.
It’s cold down here, it’s dark down here, but it’s anything but quiet. Between the sound of my own breathing and my bubbles escaping to the surface, the water is filled with clicks and chirps and strange sharps noises not unlike forest insects on a warm evening.
As the light of my torch falls on this massive vertical rock wall I am astounded by the beautiful patchwork carpet of colour. Thousands of anemones in colonies of purple and red and yellow all with their tiny stinging tentacles, feed on plankton in the nutrient rich water.
Looking up I catch I glimpse of blue sky above and am filled with gratitude for this amazing magic carpet ride.
I have just had another fantastic day diving with the crew from Inbhear Sceine SAC diving. This particular dive on Doulus Head was truly spectacular with cliff facing walls coming up from more than 30m below and covered in massive anemone gardens.
This moment captures our all important ascent with Richie being first to the boat and John ready to help us on board.
I am still getting used to the cold 10 degC water, and the crew here think I am crazy diving in a wetsuit, but it’s worth every moment diving in this beautiful part of the world.
My discovery of Ireland’s beautiful place seems to have no end and despite previous trips here I’ve really only just started.
We are on the pier at Kells Bay, about to head out into Dingle Bay for a dive, and I just can’t begin to describe how amazing it is to be here.
The diving from here was stunning but to those that will never dip their head below the waves, just look around and enjoy our beautiful planet from what ever perspective you can.
Living in Ireland has provided many firsts for me and my dives with Inbhear Sceine Kerry Sub Aqua have been no exception.
I’ve experienced new underwater sights and sounds with my favourite Southern Australian ‘usual suspects’ being replaced with an entirely new cohort of marine species I am eager to make my acquaintance with.
For the time being at least I’m acclimatising to the 10 degC water temperature, and still tuning my gear, but a couple more dives should see most of those issues sorted (aside from the cold).
For now at least I can share another first, it may not be anything spectacular but here is my first published image from under Irish seas, the Edible Sea Urchin (Echinus esculentus).
Nearly seven years ago I got to circumnavigate the famous Skellig Michael off the south west coast of Ireland, symbol of the archangel Micheal and spiritual haven of the Mainistir Fhionáin monks that made this sacred rock their home.
I planned to return one day with the anticipation of climbing to its pinnacle.
Last Saturday was the reunion I never imagined.
We’ve been in living Ireland nearly four months now and like a fish out of water I’ve been pining to dive again, trading a South Australian sea for an Irish one. Considering the colder water and lack of familiarity with diving in Ireland I’d almost resigned to my first Irish dive being something simple and tame, a shake down and ‘get used to it’ dive.
Then I got a text from Micheal! (not the archangel, but can I really be sure?)
“Hi Robert, me and the lads are diving Skellig Micheal this weekend and we’d love to have you along.”
To cut the rest of my story short, my first Irish dive was anything but tame and simple, an adventure beneath Skellig Micheal.
Thank you Micheal, John, Richie, Ellie, Nigel and Gearóid of the Inbhear Sceine Kerry Sub Aqua Club for looking after me and making my first Irish diving simply extraordinary.
No one has actually seen a living Irish Elk for 8,000 years but once they were abundant here as well as on much of continental Europe. With an antler span of 3 to 4 m they would have been spectacular to behold.
Nearly 40 years ago, Cork artist Kevin Holland brought the great Irish Elk back to life as a bronze effigy overlooking the N20 road between Cork and Mallow. For twenty years I’ve been wanting to photograph that stag with never quite the opporunity.
On a recent ‘Create Day’ with the Mallow camera club we explored crazy things like photographing spilled ink in puddles of potcheen.
The process was very simple, pour the potcheen onto blotting paper (with optional nip when no one’s watching), place drop of coloured ink onto the wet and changing paper, take a photograph, pour again, have another nip and repeat.
The constantly moving patterns were quite mesmerising and the challenge was knowing when to stop.
Of the many weird photographic endeavors explored that day we only got a taste (no pun intended) of each but enough to wet the appetite to do it all again.
This candid and beautiful moment between two sisters will be forever theirs and no one else’s. Whatever their thoughts, and wherever their hearts, the brightness of the world outside provides everything needed; hope, gratitude, family, friendship and comfort.
It’s not all about landscape, natural beauty and an unblemished world. The light comes first, the heart and mind are drawn to it, and momentarily we become part of the brightness of it all.
I first photographed Dromaneen Castle on banks of the Blackwater river back in 2015. At that time, besides my camera, my most important piece of equipment was a solid pair of ankle high waterproof boots. Those boots were marginal dealing with the mud and the cow manure on route through the fields and knee high wellingtons would have been a better choice.
This time round, despite being in the midst of Storm Kathleen, I found a break in the weather to put my camera up where no cow patty could foul it and capture this birds eye view along side of the, ‘not so meandering’, Blackwater river just out of Mallow.
Dromaneen Castle is said to have been built by Caher O’Callaghan in around 1610 to replace an older tower fortification of the ancient O’Callaghan clan. However, it was soon lost to the English during the Eleven Years' War (Cogadh na hAon-déag mBliana) and was never occupied by an O’Callaghan again.
To this day the O’Callaghan’s of Longueville House, on the other side of the Blackwater, have the ruin of their former castle remind them of Ireland’s, and their own, volatile past.