Black Friday is only days away, and by now you should start planning your Christmas shopping. But if you are like me, you are already late – and really struggling to come up with a good idea. Well here’s one for you – the brilliant SuperTooth Buddy Bluetooth handsfree for your car!

I’ve been a happy owner of one of these for a couple of months now, and it is a brilliant gadget and it could potentially be one of the best investments you ever make. Considering the fines frequently handed out for using your mobile while driving in Norway, one of these could save your wallet big bucks!

Key features:

• 1000 hours standby time
• 20 hours talk time
• 3 hours charge time

It could be yours for as little as NOK 390,- but check out the Prisguide.no for updates.

While updating my StokkPhoto website, I came across some photos from the actual setup I arranged when shooting some flower macro images at my parents’ house back in January 2009. As you will see from these photos, this was a rather simple setup; however, suitable for this use, and quite effective. Here is what I did.

As always with macro photography, I strongly recommend to use a sturdy tripod. To increase the chances of getting crisp clear results, also use a remote control on your camera, or alternatively you can use the timer-function on your camera.

To add the dark background, I simply placed my subject in front of a wall-mounted LCD TV, and to be able to control the light, I set up a Lastolite reflector and pointed a LED flashlight at it.

Simple, clever, and effective! Here is the setup, and the result.

Simple and effective macro setup - The setup

Simple and effective macro setup - View from the camera

Simple and effective macro setup - The result

Happy capturing!

I would argue that the e-mail contact form is a thing of the past. In fact, I find it very annoying when I encounter websites – in particular commercial websites – that do not display their e-mail addresses and other contact information properly, but instead rely on a web based e-mail form through which existing and potentially new customers can contact them. And why do I think so?

The e-mail contact form - a thing of the past?

Control

First of all, I like to be in control, and with e-mail forms I seldom feel that I am in control. How can I be sure the e-mail for works as intended? How can I be sure the e-mail was actually received?

When I send my e-mails through my regular e-mail client (Outlook, Gmail, etc.) I have a copy in my “Sent Items” folder – and that leaves me in control. I know what e-mails I have sent, and if necessary, I can refer to them later on. With web forms, e-mails are sent through a “black hole” and often never seen again. Which leaves me to talk about confirmation.

Confirmation

Sending an e-mail through an e-mail form is like shooting a bullet straight up in the air – you’ll never know where it is going to land – and if it ever landed. Some e-mail forms do offer the option to have a copy of the message sent to your own e-mail address – however – it is not a confirmation that the message was ever received by the recipient.

Referring to my previous point – if I send my e-mail from my regular e-mail client, I do not necessarily get a confirmation of every delivered e-mail, but I least I (usually) get an error message if e-mails I send cannot be successfully delivered.

(Lack of) Professionalism

If you as a company do not want to reveal you contact e-mail address to visitors of your website, I start wondering about why you need to be so secret? What do you need to hide from the public? Is spam a problem, and you cannot afford to deal with it, well, in my view that says a lot about you as a company – that you are not professional. Most companies find their way to fight spam – and so should you. Don’t blame your customers and leave them to pay for your lack of professionalism.

My recommendation

I recommend to always display your contact e-mail address in the open, e.g. in the footer of your webpage. E-mail forms are just an annoyance, and I would recommend to have them removed from you website.