Marcus Bleasdale: Banker-Photojournalist

I just read an article in the UK's Telegraph on the photojournalist Marcus Bleasdale, and his change of career from banker to photographer. The article highlights how someone who clearly didn't feel comfortable in the world of finance moved towards the uncertain and dangerous life of a photojournalist involved in conflict.

The article starts with this:

"As an investment banker, Marcus Bleasdale was paid £500,000 a year to sit in front of 10 computers and 25 phones. 'My job was to produce for the bank,’ he remembers, 'almost like being a battery chicken, sitting there laying eggs.’ There were perks, of course, and before the age of 30 Bleasdale was the owner of two houses and a 1968 Porsche 911, and he spent weekends skiing in the Alps.
"

And ends with this:

"Does he feel he has changed? 'I think I appreciate life a lot more. I think I’m more sensitive. I think,’ he concludes, 'I’m a nicer guy.’"

Marcus Bleasdale spent 8 years covering the brutal conflict within the borders of the Democratic Republic of Congo and the work was published in his book “One Hundred Years of Darkness". He is widely published in the UK, Europe and the USA in publications such as The Sunday Times Magazine, The Telegraph Saturday Magazine, Geo Magazine, The New Yorker, TIME and Newsweek, LIFE and National Geographic Magazine. In 2004 he was awarded UNICEF Photographer of the Year Award, the 3p Grant and the Alexia Foundation Grant. Marcus was awarded a World Press Photo award in 2006 and the Olivier Rebbot Award by the Overseas Press Club 2006, and is represented by VII.

Lenovo ThinkPad W700: Mac Killer?

Photo courtesy Lenovo
Lenovo is expected to announce the first significant update of its ThinkPad W700 laptop since it was introduced in the fall of 2008. Included in the new specs is an optional (which usually means more $$$) slide-out second screen in a model called W700ds, a more affordable quad core processor option, the ability to order the machine with as much as 8GB of RAM (up from a maximum of 4GB previously) and the correcting of a problem that rendered the optional built-in CompactFlash slot unusably slow.

Yes, you read correctly. A second slide-out screen! This laptop is principally aimed at photographers and graphic artists. The W700ds incorporates a 10.6 inch, 768 x 1280 pixel LED-backlit display alongside the unit's 17 inch, 1920 x 1200 pixel CCFL-backlit primary display. The smaller screen slides in and out of a slot on the back of the main screen, and will add $400-500 to the already pricey laptop.

The Lenovo ThinkPad W700 via Rob Galbraith.