Tag Archives: photo

Where does Birmingham Instagram?

herefeed screenshotInstagram is still a major player in our local online media consumption in Birmingham, AL. The folks behind InstagramBham do a really great job of making sure those active on the service in the community are connected. They’ve definitely continued to grow since our original brief on them in 2012. Perhaps a tool like HereFeed will help them discover even more people.

The San Diego, CA, web-based service just launched this month, receiving coverage from the likes of Fast Company, The Daily Dot, and all those Curbed websites. Its capturing interest because of its ability to provide real-time tracking of uploads to the popular photo-sharing service.

The pink bubbles grow as more people upload geo-tagged photos. You’re able to see the images if you either click on the bubbles or scroll down. Users may toggle between “top” and “recent” maps as well, though the rawness of real-time means some images, though public, may not be suitable for work. Plus, you’ll need to enable your web browser to share its location to take full advantage if you check the site out on a non-mobile device.

The Daily Dot reminded its readers of the existence of an iPhone app, Skedadel, that isn’t as focused on real-time. The folks at FC give us a bit more background as we learn the project’s creator, a former vice president of social products at MySpace and a founder of Science, Inc. (a company focused on funding, developing and advising “companies focused on solving the everyday problems of modern living”) named Ryan Sit has been working on this for some time. It provides only a glimpse of what could be possible for the delivery of information in our location-based world.

 

Instagrams of Birmingham? There’s an online home for them

instagrambham badgeSome who’ve been online in Birmingham, AL for a while probably remember the Magic City Flickr Group. It still exists (with more than 20,600 photos and 800+ members as of this digital entry) as does The Terminal‘s Flickr Group, Birmingham Weekly‘s SEEN pool, and a profile maintained by Weld for Birmingham.

Well there appears to be a new and growing group of individuals who’ve turned to the popular photo sharing app Instagram to expose themselves and others to images of Alabama’s largest city. Instagram Birmingham lives entirely online; its Twitter profile only has 10 followers (& it hasn’t said anything… yet), but its brand page on Facebook currently has 80 people sharing what they’ve been able to capture digitally – with that number only able to go up.

The group connects using the hashtag #instagrambham when sharing their images on Twitter. Local fans of the smartphone app have gathered in person before as well, including back in March as part of the first annual Instagram International Photowalk. Incidentally, our namesake in the UK is preparing to hold one their own on July 26 as part of the next international photowalk that weekend.

Maybe we’ll learn some more about how our folks plan on taking part soon?

Saw’s opens second location in Avondale

Inside Saws AvondaleSaw’s BBQ, the popular restaurant in Homewood’s Edgewood neighborhood, opened its second location on 41st Street South in the heart of the Avondale commercial revitalization effort on Wednesday, March 21.

It’s just down the block from Avondale Brewing Company‘s (ABC)  home – they’re excited about their arrival (and the fact they’ll run food down to hungry customers in their taproom). We’re assuming the folks over at Spring Street Fire House are too.) The menu board is currently made up of mostly BBQ sandwiches, burgers and bakers. The space, at 215 41st St. S., was the home to Split & Quick BBQ until recently.

Someone else that may be excited about the new restaurant on 41st Street? Whoever the folks at ABC chose as the winner of the space directly across the street from them – complete with free rent for six months. The announcement’s scheduled for next week Thursday, March 29, at the brewery’s taproom.

Pay for the paper at the box with a credit card

New Birmingham News boxes downtown. acnatta/FlickrFolks who pick up their copies of The Birmingham News from one of the newspaper boxes in front their headquarters don’t have to necessarily have change anymore.

At least three of the boxes located at the corner of 20th Street and 4th Avenue North now accept credit cards.

It’s not necessarily a new concept; the folks at AdAge wrote about the expanding trend last summer pointing out that USA Today had devices on boxes in airports for several years. The Wall Street Journal, New York Times and Chicago Tribune are other publications that have tried them. They’ve even been tried out in Juneau, AK.

We’re still hoping for a digital newsstand someday though…

Photo: New Birmingham News boxes downtown. acnatta/Flickr

Random shots: Classical music fills Railroad Park

Alabama Symphony concert at Railroad Park 2011

Tonight’s your last chance to enjoy the Alabama Symphony Orchestra perform in Railroad Park downtown. As mentioned previously over on Timetable, this is a new version of the outdoor summer concert series that was held at Caldwell Park in Birmingham’s Highland Park neighborhood.

The photo above is from Friday night’s performance; Sunday’s will begin at 6 p.m. and is being called more family-friendly than the previous two. Pieces presented will include the theme to the Harry Potter film series, selections from Pirates of the Caribbean and a big bands salute all sponsored by Protective Life.

Attendees who want to share their photos from this weekend with others and are members of Flickr may want to add them to the unofficial group for Railroad Park that’s maintained on the popular site. The park has placed a gallery of those images on its website.

Stocking East Lake for a rodeo this weekend

Stocking East Lake for 2011 Fishing RodeoNo, this photo doesn’t catch a catfish sliding into East Lake Park‘s namesake early Wednesday afternoon. There were several folks present though who did see several fish dive in as the lake was stocked for Birmingham’s 14th annual Family Fishing Rodeo this Saturday, June 4. They were delivered by Stearn’s Fish Farm of Wetumpka, AL.

It’s the largest community fishing event in the state, drawing thousands to Birmingham’s eastern area. It’s also an opportunity to participate in giveaways and learn more about local non-profits and community organizations. It’ll take place from 8 a.m. – 1 p.m.

If you want a better idea of what it looks like when you load a few thousand pounds of fish into a city lake, check out this video via al.com from last year’s stocking.

In case you’re planning to renew your car tag today…

The line outside of the Jefferson County Courthouse, 5.31.2011

The line outside of the Jefferson County Courthouse in downtown Birmingham is quite long this morning, extending deep into Linn Park. It is the last day of the month (and the first since the Jefferson County Commission decided to close satellite offices once again in order to save money), meaning people from throughout the region are making that last ditch effort to pay their tag renewals.

Don’t forget that you can choose to pay your tag renewal fees virtually, though you’ll be paying an online convenience fee of anywhere between $3-30 depending on how you choose to pay – and you won’t necessarily get that tag renewal in time to avoid getting a ticket. There is word though that the county may have extended the deadline for renewing your May tags until June 30, but we’re waiting for confirmation and it’s been confirmed.

Thanks to Jacob Pigott for sharing his photo with us this morning.