2015 - new stockings!

I didn't do much dressing or photography in 2014, and only updated this blog four times. That's pretty dismal! Anyway, got the new year off to a good start by ordering some stockings and they've arrived.

I keep hearing about how the "social media" has stuff like preachings of violence, and beheadings, and suchlike... whereas crossdressers get their pix removed just for showing a bit too much ass. Bloody stupid. But anyway, I've taken the precaution of pixelating this pic, as I'm not really sure what's allowed on blogger and what's not.


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NewBud Noise from amateur crossdressers

After some noisy weeks on Newbudnudes (NBN) where some of the gurlies were pestering the poor old site boss for upgrades... yep we got the upgrades!

The site is much improved, and there's lots of amateur CDs shaking their lil' ol' butts there. And other things!  There was an unplanned "pink panties" day, last week, and quite a lot of CDs joined in.

Users of xHamster might have noticed hate posts and harassment seem freely allowed, and while death wishes can be reported as spam (?!) there isn't a Report This Member facility. There's no way such stuff is tolerated on NBN, the moderators there are well on the case. And I should know, as I'm one of them!  Sure, NBN's not as active as xHam but it's a nice place.

The above sample just shows me, so's I don't need to ask permission.

The site upgrades do mean new arrivals can't easily browse the site without getting free membership first. But *shrug* there you go. Click this pic if you fancy checking it out -----

A collection of holes tied together with string...

A collection of holes tied together with string...

...That's someone's description of a net. 

I first saw it in a UKIP (United Kingdom Independence Party) news-sheet that I was reading, last week. Hadn't heard that expression before, but I like it!

And here's a photo of me wearing my fav collection of holes, while doing a bit of bed-making!

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PS: I see I did three blog entries in 2011, two in 2012 and three last year! I'm going to see if I can do a bit better than that, this year.

Crossdresser tests camera setting f8 and a new backdrop

Joanna Slinky with her educational hat on?

Tested my camera a bit more, last week, with some flash photos and the camera fixed on aperture f8. So I let shutter speed drift on auto, but it chose 1/60th of a sec each time. 

The idea was, I'd lessen blurring. In fact, I seem to have made it a bit worse! It doesn't show up in a small image on the web, though. British amateurs, eh.

I also tested the black bedsheet I bought recently while shopping in a supermarket, but I think it's a bit too black for these photos. Anyway, it just doesn't work well with a black tunic and black gloves, really.

It does soak up any harsh flashbulb shadow, though... which was one of my plans.

So I was doing several Joanna Slinky tests all at once, with mixed results. Oh, well... it's still fun wearing my schoolgurlie outfit!

British amateur crossdresser and an amateur CD / TV photo site

My first 'blogger' blog of the new year.  Hope 2014 is going well for you!

I was reading the other day about favourite sex terms that people search for, and it reckoned 'British' and 'amateur' are very popular in the UK. So I've shoved them into this blog title, to see what happens!

Things are getting much better on my fav gurlie site (newbudnudes) now that more moderators have been appointed to tackle things like web-steals. Last autumn, I felt like I was the only one. Three months on, and the new team are really getting to grips with stuff.

Amateurs posting their photos don't want to have to compete with professional photos, and those who want pro pix can go to pro sites, or use a search engine.

Another improvement, people now only have to wait a few hours to get their request for account verification checked by the moderators. A few years ago, the wait could be several months, until Site Admin could find time.

So... it's looking good for 2014!

xtube site doesn't help members of good standing

I used to like xtube - I've been a member since 2007, and I have several vids on there, all of which have attracted some favourable comment and some votes.
Now, though, I've become sick of the site and the obstacles they put in the way of people who want to participate. I've never posted anything that's attracted criticism or needed to be deleted, yet since 2010 the site's been demanding I complete a "captcha" test when uploading anything.

I've got a solid track record over several years of uploading stuff that they like, yet they treat me like crap. After several minutes of waiting, the site tells me the captcha was wrong, try again.

Sorry, but I'm sick of trying again. My last video on that site was in 2010 and that one will probably be my last ever.  I'm not going to jump through their stupid hoops any longer. They seemingly don't trust me, and I sure as hell don't like them.

So we'll go our separate ways.

Youtube and unacceptable videos

I was reading this week that there have been calls for extremist stuff like "hate preachers" and videos of beheadings to be removed from Youtube.

It made me smile a bit grimly, as I've had several videos kicked off Youtube and I've not yet beheaded anyone — I think I just showed a bit too much ass.

That was before Google took over the site, but I imagine the YT rules haven't changed very much in the last couple of years.

I agree with those who say kids shouldn't be able to view so much porn, and I imagine those vids of mine strayed across the line in some way. Usually I try to make sure they're OK for a general audience, and there's no bare ass or any cock showing, or stuff like that, but thongs are a difficult area, as the events at Myrtle Beach this week have shown.

I wonder what the NC cops would do if I wore one!

NBN and NDN - changes in girlie cyberspace

The last few weeks have seen a bit of a change on my favourite site, NBN (newbudnudes). The site covered all gay activity from hairy "bears" flexing their biceps through to effeminate stuff like crossdressing.

On 12 January, NDN (newdudenudes) was created for the gays who, in the words of one site user, "want men to be like men."  In other words, men who don't wear feminine clothes.

If we're honest about it, some of them just dislike women and don't even want to be reminded that they exist! Well, takes all sorts, huh.

I'm a moderator on the new site, and I was in the weird position of kicking photos off the site that I liked, and which are similar to many of my own photos!

Meanwhile, newbudnudes (the old site) has become the preserve of the TG and CD folks, and I'm a moderator there as well. But I haven't had official permission yet to kick the hunks and butch guys in y-fronts off that site!

So the current position is:

name	purpose	themes that are banned
NBN	TG/CD/TV 'gurlie'	none
NDN	gay	no CD gurlie pix

It's kind of a bit lop-sided, because the general gay community has been posting to NBN for many years, and if their pix were suddenly all slung off the site, that would just be thoughtless.

But if they're to be encouraged to migrate over from NBN to NDN, then I imagine it will help some make the move if they see an orderly and well-maintained site all ready and waiting for them.

Being a moderator isn't always as easy as it seems.

Bluescreen or greenscreen lighting problems

Earlier this year I tried my first greenscreen superimposing on video - except it was a blue screen!

...and it went fairly OK, as you can see. It was a good try, for a first try!  But look on the left, and you can see the shadow I was casting on the blue screen. The idea of chroma key is that we select everything that's blue, reverse the selection so that we've got everything that isn't blue, and then paste it onto the main video. That's what the software will do, anyway.

Trouble with shadow is that that isn't blue either... it's a sort of murky blue-gray. So you have to increase your tolerance (threshhold) as to how you define blue, so that it grabs the blue-gray as well. And then the selection starts eating into areas you don't want - such as my gloved arm.

Compare my upraised arm in the original bluescreen view with how it is on the video. It's been nibbled at, basically because there isn't a lot of difference between dark blue-gray, and shiny black.

The professional way of avoiding that problem is to have a bigger blue screen, and stand around 10 feet away from it, and have angled lighting that illuminates all of the screen equally. You want to avoid hotspots and avoid shadow.

Huh. Easier said than done, when you aren't living in a Hollywood studio.

I don't trust the Google Machine anymore.

Funny thing is, this blogger site is owned by Google, so they're probably reading every word that I type.

That bunch want to make all the connections that they can, and figure out who is who, so that they can target their advertising and suss who's doing what. Where will it end, though? Do they care about an individual's privacy anymore?

Once, the Google motto was "Don't be Evil." Nowadays, they seem to have crossed out the first word.

Their attitude, now, seems to be what Microsoft's was about ten years ago - do what the hell you like and sod the users.

Right now, I would trust Microsoft much more than Google.

My fav site, NBN (newbudnudes), has finally got the site upgrades that its sister site, NN (newbienudes) has had for over a year!

I don't know why it's taken so long, but I'm pleased that it's happened.

Preps for the Summer

Now there's been some nice UK weather in March and again in April, it's got me thinking about some of my plans for the summer. Main one is, I want to get "out there" and take some photos. Out in the countryside, I mean.

I remember thinking exactly the same thing back in spring 2010, but this time it's for real :)

MSO issues again?

I like the idea that lies behind MSO, but the way it's presented to us is horrendous.

The site's really a goddamn nightmare.

Rubbish watching on ITV dot com

Some people say streaming is the future of the Internet.

Tonight, I watched the last-ever episode of "The Bill" and, after 10 minutes, the ITV feed froze. Hitting refresh after a minute, I had to then sit through a couple of statutory adverts before the drama resumed.

These were (a) 'get the AVIVA deal' and (b) ultimate bouncelookability from L'oreal. Result was, I missed much more than I needed to! I'll boycott those products from now on, after they intruded like that.

So, we have to sit through ads while the service resumes? I say that's crap, and ITV.com needs to get a bloody grip.

World Cup 2010 - upcoming USA-England game

Only a week to go, before England play USA.

Best outcome in Group C would be England and USA qualifying, at the expense of Algeria and Slovenia... so it might be best if that first game is played fairly gently.

Assuming USA and England both beat the other two, there's no need for fireworks... no need to risk any injuries or yellow cards when a nil-nil draw will suit both sides!

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Facebook privacy scares

The Facebook news stories make me smile. If I don't want people to know my personal info, I don't shovel it up onto the web!

The only websites that get accurate date of birth and address info from me are the corporate ones - online banking, eBay, PayPay and similar. Further down the pecking order, the accuracy diminishes severely. I just can't understand why people trust sites like Facebook and then start whining when there's security breaches or identity theft.

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An update on some of the crossdresser sites or crossdresser + gay sites I visit... who's mad, and who's just bad?

MSO (MaleShowOffs.com)

After much disruption in March, during a change of site admin, the original owner took up the reins again after contribution and visitor numbers collapsed. Now, a new rash of category deletions and changes has started, prompting one friend to tell me that the owner is "doing the same silly **** that the other guy did. I am about to give up on it all together!"

I know just how he feels, and it's debatable when I'll next bother to log in.

NBN (NewBudNudes.com)

By way of contrast, NBN almost never changes. And that includes the "weekly" poll on its front page, which hasn't changed for many months! While many of us gripe, or regard the site as a moribund joke, many of us do feel settled there.

The owners give the impression they couldn't care less about us (a recurring theme in the forums) but at least there's stability. I'd rather have the neglectful predictability of NBN than the erratic mess that is MSO. And I even pay for it: three-year membership!

Pix and video, and blogging... and a rudimentary forum and chatroom. The forum's a bit alarming: no-one except moderators can edit or delete stuff that's posted. So don't use it while drunk!

TRANZGIRLS

This used to be trannyrepublic.com but now the site is at http://tranzgirls.com and offers a mix of galleries and groups - that's Flickr-style groups of themed pics. The site is aimed at being an alternative to - or better than - tvChix, and certainly the bitchiness and "clique" feel of tvChix is thankfully absent.

On the down side, pic thumbnails aren't proportioned correctly and contributors who get membership promotion for contributions can unexpectedly get demoted later on. Of course, if the membership enhancement wasn't paid for then one can't really complain... but it would be nice to have a bit of transparancy in the matter.

CELECTION

Celection gives a membership upgrade if your contributions (pix, comments, etc) hit a certain target in a certain period. The numbers can be seen by everyone, so it's easy to distinguish regular participants from casual or lapsed users.

One unusual feature is the ability to set a new "challenge" or theme, inviting others to post pix that match the specified theme. The creator of the challenge then gets to judge the entries when the contest closes. One current challenge is "Best Ass in Blue Jeans" but, annoyingly, is only open to women.

YuVuTu

Video-posting site. Submissions have to be approved before they are displayed, but most people will want to view stuff rather than post - and that can be done for free. The site restriction annoys me, but it needn't worry the casual surfer.

FLICKR

I stopped using Flickr last year, because of their erratic policy towards what's acceptable content and how it should be graded. Trouble is, their site model combines adult porn with family-safe viewing, and that's a fraught mix. There's bound to be problems, really.

XTUBE

My second-fav video site. Free viewing, but uploads can take 72 hours to process. That needn't worry most viewers, of course.

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Found any other site you like or dislike? Why not tell us about them in the comments section below? Anonymous commenting is currently enabled.

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Found a new site for amateur pix

I like posting amateur crossdress pix on various sites. NBN (newbudnudes) is still my fav but I recently abandoned Flickr because it really doesn't know whether it's a sex site or not. The Flickr site management seem to keep moving the goalposts and I got tired of trying to guess what's OK and what's not.

So I was pleased to get referred to a new kid on the block, MaleShowOffs.com, which only started in December... so they're still at the "keen to please" stage. You know, where you can ask questions and get swift answers, and where new categories of pix are still being added.

Having said that, hopefully MSO won't become complacent like NBN, or monolithic and faceless like Flickr. We'll see!

Site membership has only just passed the 100 mark, so picture commenting and picture voting hasn't become the rough-and-tumble jungle that is Newbudnudes. On NBN, down-voters roam with blood-stained teeth, ready to pounce on you. On MSO, we're all new-comers who are being nice to each other. What it'll be like when there's 10,000 members I really don't know, but it'll be fun finding out.

So far, I like the look of the site. Membership is free, and there's no age verification rigmarole, so you can keep your plastic safely in your wallet... usually the best place for it, on the Internet. You can also browse the site and get an idea of what it has to offer, before you've signed up. However, there naturally is the restriction that you can't view full-size pix until you've gone through the sign-up procedure and then logged in.

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Lethargic!

I've been neglecting my photography, this year. Naughty me! I haven't done any crossdresser pix at all, in 2010. Sometimes feeling tired in the evening, and sometimes busy doing other things.

Yep, could do better.

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More about Twitter

I see a Twitter chart rates a guy called Peter Cashmore as top UK tweeter... with 1,800,000 followers, he gets an "influence rating" of 81.0.

The Twitter hall of fame was compiled by mobile phone maker INQ. (More.)

It made me smile, wondering where I'd be, on that list. I've got 11 followers... no, not eleven million. Just eleven! ...and I've tweeted only 12 times in all.

I've got a bit of ground to make up, then.

Update...

I've now got another Twitter follower: INQ Mobile, the company that did that chart! In my last tweet, I mentioned their name as author of the list, and they obviously spotted that tweet. So, someone at INQ is now going to see crossdressing tweets whenever I do them.

Nice one!

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