Flickr Video is now Live

The rumors have been true - we have Flickr video. If you login to your Flickr account, you'll see that you are now able to upload videos as well as pictures.

There's a limit of 90 seconds and 150 MB to uploaded videos.

Flickr video has two basic rules: only "safe" and "moderated" content is allowed, and you can only upload videos that you have created yourself.

Only pro members can upload video content, but anyone can view it, provided they have permission. There are no general upload limits, except the ones on the individual clip.

Flickr supports uploads of AVI, WMV, MPEG, MOV and 3gp videos.

I uploaded a 21 MB clip, which of course took forever and a day. Once it uploads, the video is processed rather quickly. Quality is good. You can also embed it in your blog if you feel like it. The clip can be watched from the photo stream itself, which is rather cool.

It's a very nice addition to have alongside the pictures, especially with digital cameras these days, which give you the option to shoot short clips.

Obviously, this is not a YouTube replacement. I don't think we'll be seeing much music clips or news bloopers - I guess the Flickr video experience will be more personal and artsy. We'll see. In the mean time, I hope to get some cool clips to add to my photo stream, in the upcoming diving safari in Sinai.

Probably the Best Way to End the Year

Divers always enjoy meeting interesting animals underwater. Personally, I don't wait for the big ones (like turtles or sting-rays). For me, even staring at some amazingly-purple Fridman's Dottyback, is a lovely experience. You can see very interesting things in every dive. They don't have to be big or exotic, you just need to open your eyes and LOOK.

Still, there are times in which mother nature grants you her favor, and you get an experience of a lifetime. And this is what happened to me at the end of 2007.

A diving safari in Ras Mohammed, Sinai. December 29th, early morning, first dive of the day. On our way to the so-called Sarah H. wreck, we encounter an amazing group of about 40 dolphins. We quickly jump into the water and spend a magnificent quarter of an hour with these incredible creatures. Words can hardly describe the feeling, and not even this video can explain how utterly lucky we have been. Still, this is how it looked like, and it is probably the best way to end 2007: