Search: “about the blog”

I am not a big fan of Jag’s but the new XF is HOT! [Pictures]

I am at Sultan Center and trying out moblogging in preperation for my Paris trip tomorrow. No spellchecker here which sucks. (Posted from my Nokia e61i)

I sent the post below from the Kuwait Bookshop via 3G. The size of the image is small but when you click it you get a bigger one although at a very low resolution. I could probably figure out how to make it a higher resolution but then each post will cost me 500fils or something crazy like that considering I will be photo blogging while roaming..

I am at the Kuwait Bookshop in Muthana and just picked up the last copy of the Paris City Guide by Wallpaper*

I have tickets to the NIN concert that is taking place on the 22nd in Ireland but I will be missing it and instead going to Paris for work. I am disappointed I will be missing out on NIN but it’s not like I am getting sent to Dubai or Beirut. I’ve actually never been to Paris before so I am really looking forward to it. I will be leaving on the 21st and coming back on the 26th. While there I will try photo blogging since with my new phone (the E61i) I can actually do that. By photo blogging I mean taking a picture from my phone and then instantly sending it to my blog. I already have a software that will do that for me and I will try it out before I leave to France to make sure its working right.

update: Here is a link to my old photo blog, before I started 248AM and Miskan. [Link]

Some of the best shots so far, the rear is still looking weird to me. [Link]

These two girls are Kuwaiti and ASK graduates class of 2003. [YouTube]

Thanks Erzulie!

Last month I posted about how Bazaar used an illustration for the cover of their dining guide without crediting the illustrator, without paying for the image and without permission from the artist. They replied thanking me for finding the artist and that they contacted him and were going to reimburse him.

Well they did contact him but the amount they offered to pay the artist was just $200. Considering that rights managed images start at a $1000 and upwards then you could imagine how low $200 is. Anyway the original artist had this to say about the whole incident:

I have been invited to comment the case with Bazaar copying an image that once was created by me. The image was used without my permission. I was therefore never compensated financially and for good reasons I assume that I was never mentioned in the credit line. I was made aware of the unauthorized usage before Bazaar contacted me.

When they contacted me they offered to compensate me financially. I am sure they found that the compensation was fair but I have a different opinion. In fact we are in a position where we don’t seem to be able to reach an agreement. I have therefore decided that it is not worth to take this any further due to the cost and time that I would have to spend on this.

I have also decided that I will not accept money that Bazaar offers me since that would be accepting the terms of how they have used my image. So case is closed.

I think it is vital to defend the copyright law for many different reasons. In most countries it is seen as self-evident that you shouldn’t use an image without paying for the copyright, but from what I can tell by following the debate on this website I understand that Q8 might not be one of those countries. The sad thing is that in countries where the copyright law is not taken seriously the originator has little or no chance at all to protect his work.

I am a freelance illustrator and my only source of income is the images I create. I have a family to support and bills to pay. If I manufactured, let’s say bikes and someone took one of my bikes form the warehouse and used it without telling me, how would you characterize that? Should the unauthorized use of images be treated differently?

I have been featured on design blogs all over the world. I take it that most of the people who are publishing my work there are very young. But they all have something in common – they contact me before or shortly after publishing my images and very often they write “Copyright Bo Lundberg” . What is it that they understand and that some publishers don’t?

Another aspect is that when I create an image it is commissioned by a client. They are paying for the usage of the images. To illustrate what can happen when people copy my images I would like to give an example. Once I had a call from a publisher in the US that I had done more than 80 illustrations for. They were extremely upset with me since they had found all my illustrations in another book printed in Asia and now they were contemplating on suing me. What had happened was that someone just ripped my images from the original book and created a whole new book, obviously without informing me. I managed to reason with the original client but as you might understand it was quite a situation to have been copied and then facing a possible trial.

I wish all the designers in Q8 good luck in your efforts. And to those who commission work I would just like to ask you to think twice before using an image without authorization. In the long run – who wants to work as an illustrator or photographer if you are not compensated and protected by copyright law?

Bo Lundberg

The reason I think we have a big problem here is because Bazaar is one of the biggest and most respected magazines in Kuwait. If they aren’t going to abide by copyright laws and set an example to the smaller publishers who will? They might as well do what Campus Cruise did and just take pictures off flickr and put them on the cover.

I hadn’t heard the majority of these websites up until awhile ago. [Link]

via del.icio.us

BuzBerry, a blog run by a group of young Kuwaitis are trying to encourage people to read. To accomplish that they’ve set up a competition in which to enter you need to read and review one of the following four books:

1) A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah
2) As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
3) Night by Elie Wiesel
4) The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

Now here is where things get interesting, there will be three winners who will win one of the following prizes:

First place: Nokia 8600 Luna
Second place: Apple iPod
Third Place: Apple iPod Shuffle

If you are interested in participating in this competition you need to email them by August 8th informing them. The deadline for entering your review will be September 1st.

For more information on this competition check out the BuzBerry blog. [Link]

Z District has an interesting post about a post by K.theKuwaiti which he found really funny called Kuwait Blogs 101. Check it out. [Link]

I love my alarm clock but the problem with it is that its just that, an alarm clock. Sure it plays CD’s and has a radio but these are two features I never use. I really didn’t know what I really wanted until I found the Chumby.

What is a chumby?
The chumby is a compact device that displays useful and entertaining information from the web: news, photos, music, celebrity gossip, weather, box scores, blogs — using your wireless internet connection. Always on, it shows — nonstop — what’s online that matters to you.

Yes all that and it also has an alarm. It’s an internet appliance thats meant for the night table. The device isn’t out yet and won’t be out for at least a couple of months but the creators have promised it should cost under $200. You can check out the Chumby website for more details. [Link]

For now though if anyone is interested in an incredibly good deal on an internet appliance I would have to recommend the Audrey by 3Com. You can find them on eBay for under $50 and they look great and are perfect for the living room, kitchen or even the bathroom. You can check your email on it, browse the web and even use it as an organizer. I have one in my living room and it comes handy for checking the latest weather or headline news whenever my laptop isn’t around. Just go to ebay and do a search for “3Com Audrey”.

Its actually not looking that bad in these pictures at all. But thats probably because we can’t see the rear… [Link]

via autoblog

A friend of ours surprised us tonight by pulling out an iPhone. Within seconds everyone was trying to get their hands on it, it looks a lot cooler in person than in the pictures. K.thekuwaiti has a more detailed writeup plus some more pictures on his blog, check it out. [Link]

Little hand painted people left in London to fend for themselves.

This is art. [Link]