A little over a year ago, PhotoSynth was just a couple of demos.

They've now released the software, it's free, and it works.

I thought the demos last year were pretty cool.

The reality is even more so.

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Edit: it was only released yesterday, and was promptly overloaded. It was back up earlier, but looks like it's down again. I guess it'll be a little while before it settles down.
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Edit: no, it's up again.

I went out into the garden earlier, and snapped 30-odd 6MP JPEGs. Great art it ain't, but it does prove it works.

Just as an example, I have a nine year old niece, who's very interested in both aeroplanes and photography (surprisingly, not influenced by me), and has a little digital P&S of some kind.

So I showed her my recent Farnborough photos, some of which you may remember.

In particular, I showed her this one, which people have been very nice about, and also this one, which she much preferred.

When I asked her why, she said that she loved the bright colours, and she liked the way the aeroplanes were so clear.

It may be a child's view, and it may change in time. But it's no less valid for all that. Just because you or I might articulate the same thing in terms of contrast, saturation, sharpness, and detail is entirely irrelevant in my view.

Well you perhaps either haven't read, or haven't understood the point I was making earlier.

To judge our weekly competitions, you don't have to be qualified to make erudite comments about the technical merits of pictures entered in the competition.

You only have to be capable of saying why you like or don't like the images. If you think you can't, or don't have the right, to do that, then I think you're quite wrong.

If you win a comp, you've earned the right to judge, and no one of any substance here would take that away, irrespective of how little experience you have with all the clever words.

Even if you haven't won a comp, I think it still applies - hearing people's views on why they like or dislike pictures here is always valuable.

True.

But most of us aspire to be grown-ups, in a photographic sense, not toddlers.

Most people here want to improve, not to be patted on the back and told that his or her picture was marvellous.

Not liking something in art, and having a reason for not liking it, is not degrading it.

Discussing the relative merits and demerits of pictures we see, in the context of our own personal reasons for liking and disliking things, is precisely what adds richness and variety to the experience.

Well, there's no reason why someone shouldn't be pleased with a picture for any number of reasons personal to themselves, even if everyone else hates it for their own personal reasons.

But 'good' carries with it the idea of a more collective acceptability - some meeting of criteria that have broader acceptance than simply one person's taste.

What is seen as 'good' does of course, change over time, so it's not a simple business. What is seen as bad by the majority at one time, liked by only a few mavericks, can end up as good, and the mavericks reclassified as ahead of their time.

So I'm not suggesting that anyone should feel compelled to just fit in with the herd.

But neither is something good, just because someone likes it. A certain Briton in the news, returning to Heathrow today, should prove that point.

That's a bite, is it?

I wouldn't be at all surprised.

Either Gary has an exceptionally good lighting set up, and excellent product-shot skills, or these pictures are copied from product web sites. If these are your own original product shots, then I take my hat off to you.

But if not, it should be pointed out that it's usual to post actual photos of the item in question, even if it's in mint condition.

To nick other people's pictures is bad form, really, as well as a waste of time, since we all know (or can easily find out) what this stuff looked like new.

That's a good point.

I imagine they want proof that you physically have the card - see if they'd accept pictures where the signature is partially obscured.

You have to give them all the same details though, don't you?

Or is it one of these customisable cards with a particularly unattractive picture of you on it?

Well it's £219 at SRS and Bristol.