One might almost be tempted to think that the "landscape" mode of shooting could be used to take pictures of a landscape. But, that's crazy talk, man.

I'd assume the majority is unaware that it's called landscape mode. It would never have crossed the majority's mind that we're more comfortable looking at things horozontally because we evolved on open plains with a horizon line, and we rarely needed to search the sky for threats or food or someone flipping over a cash register at a macdonalds. And who the fuck records a video in portrait even if it is a tight shot of one subject talking? Portrait mode should be called WORlDSTAR mode.

Really, cellphones should just record in landscape mode constantly and you have to manually change the settings to record in portrait, which nobody would ever do.

Fucking agreed. I don't know why they don't do this simple, logical thing, and I don't care - Obama or Xi or Park need to bear down on smartphone manufacturers with the full weight and ferocity of office to make this a fucking carved in stone law.

BUT THEN WHAT WHAT HAPPEN WITH ALL THOSE COOL VINES MAN?

Because if it showed landscape mode while held upright, users would bitch about the big black bars and "why can't my phone use all its screen?" (See also: letterboxed video in the days of 4:3 televisions).

There's a semi-regular cycle to it. It's just been getting steadily more regular as the American Southwest returns to its original climate. (The last couple hundred years have been way rainier than the previous several thousand).

But this year's fun started about 5 months early and is likely to be the lead-in for historic storms, but not hurricanes.

There's a small part of Costa Rica (my country) that regularly goes up in flames every summer. It's pretty cool at night to drive to high ground and look out into the distance and see all these wildfires and the red/orange glow they cast against the dark skyline.

I remember reading a study which indicated that putting out the fires every year makes the fires more intense in following years, as there's more stuff to burn. Bigger fires also result in more mudslides when the brief rainy season comes.

what seems to be happening is that our winters are getting wetter and the summer is getting dryer and hotter. More brush grows, dries to a crisp, and catches/gets set on fire.

Al Gore has a team of eco-terrorists that set these fires to promote his fraudulent claims of anthropogenic climate change. WAKE UP, SHEEPLE!

Do we really have to accept that though? Will mankind never change? Just hold the fucking phone horizontally. Jesus!

It's the accepted format now. The masses have spoken. Don't try to fight it, James.

I'll fight it till my dying breath, which will probably be captured as footage of me screaming in a best buy before being tazed to cardiac arrest, filmed in portrait.

The talking monkey can only see other talking monkeys. Hence portrait mode. Getting them to see the landscape has always been a challenge.

"Don't film me in portrait mode, bro!"

*****