Ah.. today turned out be a pretty decent day! 🙂
It also looks like tomorrow will be an even nicer day. I’ll have to get the bike ready to ride! 🙂
Monthly Archives: April 2010
Wine bottle photography – harsh lessons in relectivity
After my series of Easter Egg Photos, earlier this week, I decided to clear out my ‘collection’ of wine bottles. I keep them, to remind me which wines I liked. Some are quality, some are just a good value (consumable on the cheap).
Combining my desire to clear out a corner of my kitchen, and learn a little more about lighting, reflection and studio product photography, I put together this little experiment.
I quickly learned that shooting objects with high reflectivity, such as glass, is much more difficult to manage than other images. You’ll notice the lighting umbrellas, the wall colors, even a few have reflections of myself in the wine glass.
Some have a large bright reflection on the bottom of the glass. It turns out the white floor in the shop really reflects light well, and shows up on the glass. Putting down an extra black backdrop on the floor took care of that. But the sides and background beyond the camera remained an issue. I have white and yellow curtains there. I guess I need to get black for that as well. Just another set of lessons learned.
The photos are also uploaded to my Flickr account with additional comments on each wine. I’ll copy those comments, and add more info later. For how, I’ll just provide the pics.
McWilliams Cabernet Sauvignon 2007
Wine 2
Wine 3
Wine 4
Wine 6
Wine 7
Wine 8
Wine 9
Wine 10
Wine 11
Wine 12
Wine 13
As you can see in the photos, having a totally solid color, or black studio would produce a better image. That and adjusting the camera to a deeper field of focus. But, this why I’m doing this. To learn those lessons, hone my craft, and have a little fun at the same time.
Help for Geeks – My Development Bookmarks
I’ve thought about this many times. What info do I find useful, and would other geeks find it useful too?  Perhaps.   In that spirit here is my current list of Development related bookmarks.  Slightly organized. You might find some nuggets of info in here that relates to a project you are working on. Or it might spark and idea to build something new, or re-design a process that is not as optimal is you’d like it to be.
I hope some of these help, as they have helped me over the years. One note though, I removed all my links to PHP development. I just can’t stand using it any more, it’s just too easy to PWN.
Apache
- libapreq2-2.08: libapreq2: Apache2::Request
- Apache2::RequestRec – Perl API for Apache request record accessors – search.cpan.org
- Apache2::AuthCookie – Perl Authentication and Authorization via cookies – search.cpan.org
- Adventures in the Land of Apache and mod_perl
- perl. Computational Chemistry List, perl, mod_perl, modperl2, cgi, Apache, cgi, forms
- Combining Apache and Perl
- Useful OpenSSL Commands
- Creating Self-Signed Certs on Apache 2.2 | CB1, INC.
- CB1, INC. is a Minneapolis based software and consulting company specializing in custom development and systems integration.
- NSS and SSL Error Codes
- Smart HTTP and HTTPS RewriteRule Redirects
- Smarter SSL HTTPS to HTTP Redirections in .htaccess using RewriteRule to set an environment variable
- Apache Week. Using User Authentication
- The O’Reilly Network has teamed with Red Hat Apache Week, the leading commercial Apache site to offer comprehensive Apache information and resources. Apache Week offers news, feature articles, reviews, resources, and documentation.
- htaccess rewrite tips using RewriteRule and RewriteCond for .htaccess mod_rewrite
- mod_rewrite tips and tricks for .htaccess files using RewriteBase, RewriteCond, RewriteEngine, RewriteLock, RewriteLog, RewriteLogLevel, RewriteMap, RewriteOptions, and RewriteRule
- mod_perl: mod_perl 2.0 Server Configuration
- mod_perl documentation: This chapter provides an in-depth mod_perl 2.0 configuration details.
- Dr. Dobb’s | A mod_perl 2 Primer | December 1, 2004
- Though it’s technically not quite ready for prime time, it’s high time we all got a taste of the next version of mod_perl.
- Apache2::Status 4.00
- apache 2: “private key not found”
HTML / CSS
- CSS2 Reference
- Free HTML XHTML CSS JavaScript DHTML XML DOM XSL XSLT RSS AJAX ASP ADO PHP SQL tutorials, references, examples for web building.
- CSS Tutorial – Border
- Place customized CSS borders around your HTML elements with the CSS Border attribute.
- How can I make just one cell in an HTML table bordered, or just one side of a cell bordered?
- CSS Positioning Properties
- Free HTML XHTML CSS JavaScript DHTML XML DOM XSL XSLT RSS AJAX ASP ADO PHP SQL tutorials, references, examples for web building.
- Ajaxload – Ajax loading gif generator
- Ajaxload – Ajax loading gif generator
- workalike for top.location.watch(“href”,fn) in IE? – JavaScript
- workalike for top.location.watch(“href”,fn) in IE?. Get answers to your questions in our JavaScript forum.
- window.onbeforeunload [javascript] [form]
- HTML FIELDSET TAG
- Free HTML XHTML CSS JavaScript DHTML XML DOM XSL XSLT RSS AJAX ASP ADO PHP SQL tutorials, references, examples for web building.
- wg:Bubble Tooltips
- web graphics is a compilation of hypertext design resources, links, and commentary.
- lixlpixel CSS tooltips
- pure CSS pop up tooltips with clean semantic code – valid XHTML – degrades nicely
- Simple Round CSS Links ( Wii Buttons )
- HTML URL-encoding Reference
- Free HTML XHTML CSS JavaScript DHTML XML DOM XSL XSLT RSS AJAX ASP ADO PHP SQL tutorials, references, examples for web building.
- Custom error responses
- CSS and round corners: Making accessible menu tabs
- Find out how to lose the box layout of your CSS pages and make great menu tabs
- A List Apart: Articles: Sliding Doors of CSS
- Must CSS layouts be flat and boxy? Nope! Bowman shows how to create slick tabbed navigation using CSS and structured XHTML lists.
- Light Weight Low Tech CSS Tabs
- An example of light weight tabs by combining the Sliding Doors method with the Mountaintop corners idea.
- A List Apart: Articles: Mountaintop Corners
- Using CSS to create standards-compliant, mountain top corners
- Setting a Minimum Body Height:Solving the ‘Height’ Mystery
- W3C Markup Validator
- W3C’s easy-to-use HTML validation service, based on an SGML parser.
- Private RSS Feeds: Support for security in aggregators – silverorange labs
- We’ve been experimenting with security options for RSS feeds for our intranet product. However, we found that there weren’t many resources or guidelines for how encryption or authentification should be handled (either in feeds or in readers/aggregators).
- The W3C CSS Validation Service
- The Art of Web ~ CSS: border-radius and -moz-border-radius
- One of the most keenly-anticipated CSS properties is border-radius. It’s not yet available in Internet Explorer, but there is limited support in Firefox (-moz-border-radius) and Safari (WebKit). Discussion and examples.
- removeChild
- javascript document object javascript document object model sans serif font document object model removechild: Removing objects from a web page.
- Adding elements to the DOM
- Click here for an introductory tutorial on the DOM of IE 5/ NS 6, and how to program using it
- JavaScript tutorial – DOM nodes and tree
- HTTP State Management Mechanism [RFC-Ref]
- phone number validation
- phone number validation
- Validating with XML Schema
- HTML Color Names
- Free HTML XHTML CSS JavaScript DHTML XML DOM XSL XSLT RSS AJAX ASP ADO PHP SQL tutorials, references, examples for web building.
- CSS Color Names
- Free HTML XHTML CSS JavaScript DHTML XML DOM XSL XSLT RSS AJAX ASP ADO PHP SQL tutorials, references, examples for web building.
- CSS Image Opacity / Transparency
- Free HTML XHTML CSS JavaScript DHTML XML DOM XSL XSLT RSS AJAX ASP ADO PHP SQL tutorials, references, examples for web building.
JavaScript
- O’Reilly Network — Dynamic HTML Tables: Improving Performance
- The widespread browser adoption of the W3C Document Object Model (DOM) and other de facto standards have given developers many ways to repopulate a table. So what’s the best approach? Danny Goodman, author of JavaScript & DHTML Cookbook, investigated…
- Managing the Dynamic created HTML table thru javascript – SEO Chat
- Managing the Dynamic created HTML table thru javascript- HTML Coding. Visit SEO Chat to discuss Managing the Dynamic created HTML table thru javascript
- JavaScript Kit- Text Object
- Click here for a complete JavaScript Reference, including array, string, document. window, and more.
- How do you know what button was pressed in the submit? – JavaScript
- How do you know what button was pressed in the submit?. Get answers to your questions in our JavaScript forum.
- The JavaScript Source: Forms : Auto Email Link
- Automatically creates a new e-mail utilizing the user’s default e-mail client. The script fills in the subject line and adds the URL of the current Web page to the body. Note: May not be compatible with all e-mail clients.
- Javascript – Early event handlers
- Javascript – The events
- Javascript – Introduction to Events
- The JavaScript Source: Forms: Form Focus
- Places the focus on the first editable field in a form on any web page. Efficient!
- JavaScript Help: How to access parent elements from a child window or frame
- Popup Window Tutorials
- This series of tutorials takes you step by step thrugh thedifferent ways that you can create and modify popup windows.
- DevGuru JavaScript PROPERTY: document::forms
- Award-winning web developers’ resource: over 3000 pages of quick reference guides, tutorials, knowledge base articles, Ask DevGuru, useful products.
- ActiveWidgets • sorting • download data xls
JAVA
- java integer to string – Google Search
- Java Dynamic Management Kit 5.1 Release Notes
- NetBeans IDE 6.0.1 Download
- NetBeans IDE 6.0.1 Download
- Welcome to JavaWorld.com
- Solutions for Java developers
- Your Source for Java Information – Developer.com’s Gamelan.com
- Get the latest Java news, articles, whitepapers, analyst reports, and more. This is your one stop for information that will help you make decisions related to Java.
- String (Java Platform SE 6)
- Arrays (The Javaâ„¢ Tutorials > Learning the Java Language > Language Basics)
- StringBuffer (Java 2 Platform SE 5.0)
- Throwable (Java 2 Platform SE v1.4.2)
- NetBeans Forums – How to use Netbeans packages?
- Javadoc Guide
- System Properties (The Javaâ„¢ Tutorials > Deployment > Doing More With Rich Internet Applications)
- Adding Classes to the JAR File’s Classpath (The Javaâ„¢ Tutorials > Deployment > Packaging Programs in JAR Files)
- NetBeans Forums – Create manifest, jar and class file in netbeans
- Packaging and Deploying Desktop Java Applications
- Creating executable JAR files and deploying netbeans projects
- Understanding the Manifest
- JAR files can support a wide range of functionality, including electronic signing, version control, package sealing, extensions, and others. What gives JAR files the ability to be so versatile? The answer is embodied in the JAR file’s manifest.
- http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.3/docs/guide/jar/jar.html#JAR%20Manifest
- JAVA Illegal Start of Expression Error – Java
- JAVA Illegal Start of Expression Error Java
- do-jar-with-main class ‘manifest.available+main.class’ not set. – Google Search
- Formatted Printing for Java (sprintf)
- The C language utility sprintf is for formatting strings of characters and numbers. This article documents the use of a Java programming language class, PrintfFormat, whose behavior is based on the sprintf specification. Source code is provided.
- Java Tips – How to align your components in horizontal or vertical layout
- Java Tips — Java, Java, and more Java, How to align your components in horizontal or vertical layout
- Java Tips – PointBase Embedded
- Java Tips — Java, Java, and more Java, PointBase Embedded
- Programming with Java in 24 Hours: Building a Complex User Interface
- Questions, corrections and clarifications for hour 16 of the book Teach Yourself Java 6 in 24 Hours by Rogers Cadenhead. The book teaches Java 6 programming for non-programmers, new programmers who hated learning a language, and experienced programmers who want to quickly get up to speed.
- Java look and feel Graphics Repository
- Welcome to the Java Software Human Interface Group’s Java look and feel Graphics Repository pages.
MySQL
- MySQL Stored Procedures / Functions
- MySQL AB :: MySQL Forums :: Install :: Comments on my.cnf for high insert volume db
- MySQL Configuration
- MySQL Performance Blog » Should MySQL and Web Server share the same box ?
- MySQL AB :: Index update with update statement
- MySQL AB :: MySQL 5.0 Reference Manual :: 18 Stored Procedures and Functions
- MySQL Stored Procedures
- MySQL Server Tweaking Basics – Admin Zone Forums
- This is a basic guide to understanding what the directives in your my.cnf mean, and what they do. We’ll also try to give some general
- mySql — CHECK TABLE Syntax
- Live Backups of MySQL Using Replication
- Russell Dyer, author of MySQL in a Nutshell, walks through the process of using replication for data backups in MySQL.
- MySQL AB :: MySQL 5.0 Reference Manual :: B.1.4.1 How to Reset the Root Password
- MySQL – best methods for backups
- Best way to backup, MySQL/VPS etc Linux
- MySQL AB :: MySQL 5.0 Reference Manual :: 12.2.17.1 Troubleshooting InnoDB Data Dictionary Operations
- ERROR: database: mysql_error: Can’t connect to MySQL server on ‘10.10.0.7 (110) – Snort Forums Archive
- The open source Snort Intrusion Detection and Prevention system is the most flexible and widely deployed solution available.
- How to fix error 134 from storage engine – MySQL
- How to fix error 134 from storage engine. Get answers to your questions in our MySQL forum.
- MySQL AB :: MySQL 5.0 Reference Manual :: 12.2.3 InnoDB Configuration
- MySQL Stored Procedures: Part 2
- Part 2 of MySQL Stored Procedures covers some more advanced concepts, including conditions and loops.
- MySQL AB :: MySQL 5.0 Reference Manual :: 10.11.1 GROUP BY (Aggregate) Functions
- Select INTO OUTFILE
- MySQL :: stored procedure to list stored procedures
- MySQL :: MySQL 5.1 Reference Manual :: 10.4.5 The SET Type
- InnoDbEngineStatusAndTuning < Development < TWiki
- MySQL :: MySQL 5.0 Reference Manual :: 13.2.11 InnoDB Performance Tuning Tips
- Regular Expressions in MySQL
- Regular Expressions in MySQL
- Dan Winchester – MySQL date_format
- MySQL :: MySQL 5.0 Reference Manual :: B.1.2.11 Communication Errors and Aborted Connections
- MySQL Bugs: #36910: Mysql Server has gone away
- Mysql_User_Add < Development < TWiki
- mytop – a top clone for MySQL
- Using ON DUPLICATE KEY UPDATE to improve MySQL Replication Performance « Kevin Burton’s NEW FeedBlog
- MySQL :: MySQL 5.1 Reference Manual :: 13.11 The FEDERATED Storage Engine
- MySQL :: MySQL 5.1 Reference Manual :: 11.4.2 Regular Expressions
- MySQL :: MySQL 5.1 Reference Manual :: 18.2 Partition Types
PERL
- Proc::ProcessTable – Perl extension to access the unix process table – search.cpan.org
- Proc::ProcessTable::Process – Perl process objects – search.cpan.org
- perlvar
- Perl 5.8 Documentation – Signals
- Perl 5.8 Documentation – Signals
- khtml2png – Make screenshots from webpages
- Sys::Load – Perl module for getting the current system load and uptime – search.cpan.org
- The CPAN Search Site – search.cpan.org
- Perl HTML::Form
- Perl 5.8 Documentation – HTML::Form – Class that represents HTML forms
- LWP Cookbook – URL explosion
- Reaping Zombies
- PERL ‘UTF-16LE’ – MarkMail
- urlencode / urldecode in Perl | melecio.org
- Regular Expression Examples
- how check new URL of redirected page
- Getopt::Long – perldoc.perl.org
- perl.com: Beginners Intro to Perl – Part 6
- Doug Sheppard shows us how to activate Perl’s built in security features.
- How can I make one class extend another one?
- XML::Generator – Perl extension for generating XML – search.cpan.org
- Free Perl source library: unescape
- subroutine name: unescape decode URL-encoded string
- rami.info » URLEncode And URLDecode For Perl
- File Tests in Perl
- File Tests in Perl
- Page 2 – Build a Perl RSS Aggregator with Templating Tools
- Page 2 – Build a Perl RSS Aggregator with Templating Tools
- perl.com: Preventing Cross-site Scripting Attacks
- Paul Lindner, author of the mod_perl Cookbook, explains how to secure our sites against Cross-Site Scripting attacks using mod_perl and Apache::TaintRequest
- libapreq2-2.08: libapreq2: Apache2::Upload
- binary data handling – examine a .gif file – Perl example
- binary data handling – examine a .gif file – Perl example
- PERL — Conversion Functions
- LWP::UserAgent
- Web user agent class
- Fastest XML Parser ?
mod_perl
- Practical mod_perl: 6.3.3.6. A third solution
- This solution makes use of package-name declaration in the …
- mod_perl: HTTP Handlers
- mod_perl documentation: This chapter explains how to implement the HTTP protocol handlers in mod_perl.
- Installing mod_perl from RPM | O’Reilly Media
- It’s easy to install mod_perl using the Red Hat package manager. Configuring it is trickier.
- mod_perl: Apache2::RequestRec – Perl API for Apache request record accessors
- mod_perl documentation: <code>Apache2::RequestRec</code> provides the Perl API for Apache request_rec object.
- How to extract name/value pairs from the query string? | ModPerl | ModPerl
- How to extract name/value pairs from the query string? ModPerl ModPerl
- mod_perl: Code Snippets
- mod_perl documentation: A collection of mod_perl code snippets which you can either adapt to your own use or integrate directly into your own code.
XML
- Helpful XML related sites
- iWeb Toolkit: XML Validator
- XML Schema (REC (20010502) version, as amended) Checking Service
- XML Schema Examples
- XML::Generator
- Perl extension for generating XML
- XML DOM – Validate XML
- Free HTML XHTML CSS JavaScript DHTML XML DOM XSL XSLT RSS AJAX ASP ADO PHP SQL tutorials, references, examples for web building.
Swish-e
- Swish-e :: Re: performance aspects
- Swish-e Lightning Talk
- Swish-e :: Re: running out of memory during merge
- Swish-e :: INSTALL – Swish-e Installation Instructions
- Connecting Linux or UNIX system to Network attached storage device
- Network attached storage (NAS) allows using TCP/IP network to backup files. This enables multiple servers in IDC to share the same storage for backup at once, which minimizes overhead by centrally managing hard disks. NAS …
- How do I access NAS server using automount?
- Network-attached storage commonly used to store backup and other shared files over TCP/IP network. For example: i) Corporate e-mail system with multiple, load-balanced webmail servers ii) Load-balanced web servers access the same contents from NAS …
- SmallNetBuilder
- SmallNetBuilder provides networking and IT news, reviews, help and information for professional and "prosumer" SOHO and SMB users.
- IP Subnet Calculator
- Online IP Subnet Calculator
- 10 Steps to Installing PostgreSQL
- Remote Network Commands | Linux Journal
- Cikul » How to change hostname in CentOS
- Thecus User Group – NFS mount failed permission denied
- Thecus 1U4500 – Enable root SSH
- Wahoo’s Word » Using watch to monitor Javascript
- Ascii control codes (control characters, C0 controls)
- DOM Based Cross Site Scripting
- document.body, doctype switching, and more | evolt.org
- A world community for web developers, evolt.org promotes the mutual free exchange of ideas, skills and experiences.
- DOM:window.open – MDC
- Welcome to Hadoop!
- Internationalized domain name – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Code Charts – Scripts
- ISO 8859-1 Latin 1 and Unicode characters in ampersand entities
- Dig Demonstrations
- Re: say if grep can find non-ascii
- http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2181.txt
- MIL-STD-498,MIL STD 498,MIL-STD,MIL-SPEC,MIL SPEC,Military Standards
- MIL-STD-498,MIL-STD,MIL-SPEC,MIL STD,MIL SPEC,Military Standards for ISA
- J-STD-016 & MIL-STD-498 vs. DOD-STD-2167A & 7935A
- DOD Standards Procedures Collection Document Listing – Page 2
- IHS, DOD STANDARDS (MILITARY/FEDERAL SPECS) – General Collection
- Fred Morris, project management/distributed systems/practices
- Info: (dir) Top
- VICNET Help: Online – Web Design – .htpasswd encoder
- reminders about programming: Fedora firewall setup is simple using built-in tools
- Sample Usability Test Plan
- FavIcon from Pics — free favicon.ico for your website (animated, static and marquee icons)
- Free and easy to use online tool for creating favicons (.ico, animated, marquee and static) for browser address bars, favorites and tabs, from pictures, logos and other graphics.
- How to Obscure Any URL
- frames test page for harvesters
- IP CIDR Subnet Calculator
- Online IP CIDR / VLSM Supernet Calculator
- DNS BIND named.conf Parameters
- Copy files and directories recursively with tar – Tech-Recipes.com
- Copying a directory tree and its contents to another filesystem using tar will preserve ownership, permissions, and timestamps. A neat trick allows using tar to perform a recursive copy without creating an intermediate tar file.
- Scrum (development) – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Searching your files with SWISH-E
- Disk I/O
- Installing and Configuring iptables
- How to add an external USB hard drive to your Linux server (Redhat, CentOS, Ubuntu, Gentoo and SUSE) | my-whiteboard
- Extenal USB hard disk is really useful (and inexpensive) for backing up your Linux server. Follow these steps to get it to work. 1, Buy a USB hard disk (I have
- Which Web Browser is King? – Round 5: JavaScript Library and Framework Tests – OS, Software & Networking by ExtremeTech
- Which browser is faster? IE7, Firefox 3, Google Chrome, Safari, or Opera? We run a bevy of tests to determine the king of the Web browser hill.
- How to: Debug SSL certificate problems from the shell prompt
- OpenSSL is a cryptography toolkit implementing the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL v2/v3) and Transport Layer Security (TLS v1) network protocols and related cryptography standards required by them. It also includes the openssl command, which provides a rich variety of commands You can use the same command to debug problems with SSL certificates. To test the secure connections to a server, type the following command at a shell prompt: openssl s_client -connect ssl.servername.com:443 Where, s_client : This implements a generic SSL/TLS client which can establish a transparent connection to a remote server speaking SSL/TLS. It’s intended for testing …
- Ascii Table – ASCII character codes and html, octal, hex and decimal chart conversion
- Ascii character table – ascii ascii ascii ascii and ascii…conversions
- How to Copy Files Across a Network/Internet in UNIX/LINUX (Redhat, Debian, FreeBSD, etc) – scp tar rsync
- HOWTO: Installing DenyHosts – Page 2 – Ubuntu Forums
- Page 2- HOWTO: Installing DenyHosts Tutorials & Tips
- sendmail Configuration
- history–Show status of files and users
- using rsync to copy files from one server to another
- CVS Commands
- FC5 Repositories & Updates
- Multiple Bugzilla databases with a single installation
- IP Address Lookup (IPv4 & IPv6)
- Determines your IP address and shows information (host, location, whois…) about any IP address entered – Up to 10 IP addresses can be looked up at the same time
- FC10 network setup repeatedly overwritten – FedoraForum.org
- FC10 network setup repeatedly overwritten Installation Help
- Interface Configuration Files
- CVS revision numbers
- CVS Branch and Merge example
- CVS–Concurrent Versions System – Merging two revisions
- Linux.com :: All about Linux swap space
- When your computer needs to run programs that are bigger than your available physical memory, most modern operating systems use a technique called swapping, in which chunks of memory are temporarily stored on the hard disk while other data is moved into physical memory space. Here are some techniques that may help you better manage swapping on Linux systems and get the best performance from the Linux swapping subsystem.
- Zone Files
- HowTo Setup an NTP Daemon for Time Synchronization – SIPfoundry sipXecs IP PBX, The Open Source SIP PBX for Linux – Calivia
- YAML Ain’t Markup Language (YAML) Version 1.1
- Trouble editing whine.txt.tmpl – What variables can I use? – mozilla.support.bugzilla | Google Groups
- The Cafes » Privacy Tip #3: Block Referer Headers in Firefox
- Writing Software Requirements Specifications | A Technical Communication Community
- DiG HOWTO
- How to use dig to query DNS name servers.
- Behavior Driven Development – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Agile software development – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Waterfall model – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Going old-school, so I can do some more cutting edge photography
Going retro to go modern. Sometimes old-tech really helps with a new concept.
Now, I know that I’m not the first person to do this sort of work. I know this, because I was inspired by the works of other, better photographers that have done this already. But, I still think the effect is modern, fresh and can produce some really interesting imagery. At least according to those that tell me so, and I trust most of them to be brutally honest (as they have been in the past).
A great many years ago, I sold all my Canon A-1 and AE-1 bodies, lenses and accessories to move into the digital SLR age. The first camera I purchased was the 6.3 Mega-Pixel Canon Digital Rebel. At the time, it cost almost $1000. By today’s standards, it’s specifications are quite unimpressive:
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It worked well enough for long enough. But more resolution and more f/s speed was required. It was not long after the release of the Digital Rebel, that the Canon 10D was released.
Following that was the Canon 20D, with a little larger sensor and a decent f/s speed (5.0 fps!). This was my next Canon digital camera purchase.
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Specs:
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Canon released the 30D seemingly a few months later, meaning the price of the 20D had dropped. During my annual trek to Laguna Seca, I purchased another 20D in Portland Oregon. This started my affair with multiple camera bodies. Having a pair of 20D cameras, each with a different type of lens, opened up a whole new world of shooting opportunity. Instead of having to expose sensors to dust every time I needed a new lens, I simply setup the cameras the night before, and headed on location. Switching from one shooting capability to the next, was as simple as grabbing another camera.
I worked with the 20D camera for many years, until this past month, then I added another body to the camera bag. With the release of the new Canon 7D, prices on the preceding models dropped. This also meant that a number of store demos could be picked up for significant savings. In the case of the Canon 50D, I picked up a demo model for almost $400 of the price of new. It was an opportunity that I could just not pass up.
The upgrade bumped me from 8.3 to 15.1 megapixels of resolution (almost double!). The biggest benefit though, is the new parallel Digic image processors. And of course the dramatic increase in frames per second speed (20% boost) and the big buffer, allowing extensive rapid-fire shooting before having to wait for card writes to finish. There is also the benefit of Ultra DMA support in the 50D, that I did not have in the 20D‘s I’ve been using for a long time.
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For a great many years I was very satisfied with my move to digital. I no longer had to pay for expensive film (I only used Pro transparency film which can be pricey), the processing, wait a week for the slides to be developed and mounted, dealing with dust, etc. etc. etc.
That was true until I started working on my Human Canvas Projects. Suddenly I needed slides. A wide variety of slides. The only slides I had available to me were 5-8 years old, and I didn’t have any way to create more.
Because of this I have been exploring a wide variety of slide creating methods. I even have two rolls of 120 slide film in case I stumble across a good deal on a 120 medium format camera kit (good luck with that, right?!). I checked all the Pawn shops across town, the Craig’s list postings, you name it. Now, I did find some 35mm camera bodies, but all of them were either non-Canon or non EF systems. The best I found was $100 for a very old and very basic Canon AE-1, circa 1980 something. I sold one of these bodies many years ago.
Yesterday, that problem was solved! I was at Glazer’s photo in Seattle to pick up some 60×60 (120 frame size) transparency mounts for the alternative slide creation method I came up with (I might write that up in the coming week). Turns out Glazer’s in-store price was 30% LOWER than the best on-line price I could find, then I had to pay for shipping too. I bought every full box they had.
After dropping the slide mounts off in my car, I wandered across the street to the Camera store (film and lighting is in one store, cameras in another across the street), and looked for any deals on a used 120 body. Nothing was in sight, but as I rounded the back of the store, where I found the 50D I bought from them, a month ago, I saw some new inventory. A nice Canon EOS-1 with auto-winder drive.
The Canon EOS-1, was the Professional body released for the new (at the time in 1989) EOS lens system. I was very excited about the find!
And, best of all, its was only $149 (plus Seattle/WA taxes…). It was already loaded with batteries, ready to go! A couple of other people were hovering around the case, looking over the EOS-1, so I had to decided quickly. Keep looking around, maybe find a good ‘deal’ on an EOS camera at a pawn shop, or pull the trigger on this baby, and head straight to the ferry and back home. So, that’s exactly what I did.
Here is the very camera body I purchased, with one of my Canon macro zoom lenses mounted:
Now, maybe it is, or maybe it isn’t obvious in this photo, but the camera is a beast! Here is a comparison shot of my three current camera bodies (photos taken with my backup 20D body and consumer 18-55 lens).
A shot of the rears of the Cameras. Digital cameras have the display screens turned on to illustrate one of the nice improvements in on-board display capabilities between the 20D and 50D cameras. It’s pretty easy to see how massive the Pro body EOS-1 is, compared to my consumer and prosumer Digital equipment.
I’m looking forward to seeing the quality of slides I can produce with the EOS-1. I’m used to manual focus film equipment, so the auto-focus capabilities of the EOS-1 are a nice thing to have. I’m not sure I fully understand how to use the new body, and the store was not able to locate a matching owner’s manual. I’ll be playing it by ear. The first roll should be going to the processing company tomorrow, weather and shooting opportunity permitting.
Mobile social networking technology – FourSquare
I noted this a couple of weeks ago, that I was starting to play around with foursquare, the mobile social networking tool. It’s primary advantage is as a Smart Phone app. I, of course, prefer the iPhone 3GS (aka The Oracle) platform for my mobile networking, blogging and just plain monkeying around.
One of it’s features, is the ‘Stats’ page. It gives you a rundown of how often you’ve used the app, what cities you spend the majority of your time in, how many check-ins you average on each day of the week. Anyhow, here are my stats (as of this morning). It’s just and example.
But, it turns out that it’s much more than a neat tool for big-brother to keep an eye on your travels (frankly, they already know where you phone is 24×7, heck, they can even turn on the microphone and listen to you without you’re knowledge, so you tin-foil that types can just simmer on down), I’ve found that it’s one of the most useful, real world source for finding places and things to do, while traveling, or just putting around your local area!
The way it works is very simple. Using the geoLocation capabilities of your smart phone (now I’m assuming your phone is actually smart.. and can do this) it will show you venues nearby that people have entered into the system. But the real benefit comes for the following three neat features!
1) – Displays nearby locations
Based on your location, it will display all sorts of businesses, parks, eateries, medical facilities, you name it.
Now in my sample image here, you see an number of medical facilities, primarily because I was near the hospital when I snapped this screengrab (another thing that the iPhone is amazingly adept at doing). The list can be fairly long, or pretty short. It all depends on how densely populated the area you are in is, and how many locations people have added to the system. Even out here in the sticks, I’ve found a lot of places entered into the system, presumably by developers, since almost all of them had no previous visitors when I checked in.
2) – Tips and things to do
Now, this is the one I find the most useful! Using this, in places that I’ve been frequenting for years, I discovered some NEW businesses and interesting things to do (or eat/drink) at them. I see this as a great way to explore a new town, or even the one you live in.
Traveling, not familiar with the area? Why not try foursquare to see if you can get some good tips from the locals on things to do (or things NOT to do), places with deals, specials, whatever. This is my favorite and most used part of the app.
Now a nice bonus feature is the ability for businesses to add ‘Specials’ that will pop up on the screen that you can unlock. For instance (sorry, no screen shot here, maybe when I get into the office tomorrow I’ll add that one) the hotel next to my work offers a free coffee in the morning and a $20 off certificate on a future stay, simply by checking in there using foursquare and showing it to the barrista in the lobby! See, you really can get something for (nearly) nothing!
3) – ToDo lists
This is sort of an extension of Feature 2, but I think it’s useful enough on it’s own to be mentioned.
It’s another neat feature that comes in handy for a traveler. Did you hear about something cool to do on foursquare (a tip) and want to recall it next time you are in the area? Mark it as a ‘To Do’ and it will show up on your list. Simple as that.
“Big Deal!”. you might say,“I can do that with a notepad!”. True enough. BUT, you use the foursquare website to poke around in another city location, look at the tips and remember the ones you think sound interesting, by simply clicking and adding to your ToDo list. And guess what, when you are in the local area, the relevant list items are right there at your fingertip. Seems easy enough!
Final thoughts for today – monitization
Being the semi-paranoid data geek I am, what I don’t get about this application, is how the developers and the operator of the website make their money. I can see where a business might pay a little to offer a deal, but how much $$$ is there, for foursquare, in that? I don’t know. Now I also wonder if they are using this neat pile of data they are collecting on your, and re-selling that to potential marketeers! That would be my biggest concern. And one that I’ll be looking into soon.
For now, it’s fun little app. And honestly, it sort of encourages me to get out of the house more and explore places, looking for things people suggest in the tips.
Unless you are one of those tin-foil hat types, you might check it out.
Easter Eggs – a study in light and egg art
Happy Easter!
It is that time again. When we (well, some people) celebrate the Rising of the Christ. And along with that, goes what I guess is the pagan tradition of the Easter Egg. No matter. It’s a time for the family to goof around and explore some artistic expression.
These are the results. Each of the thumbnails will bring up a larger image.
Some eggs are ‘interesting’, some are messy, some are pretty standard fare. All photos taken in my home studio, using a Canon 50D + Canon 70-200 f/2.8L lens and 600 watts of color-corrected 5600k light, bounced off two Profoto reflectors. Subjects are placed 8′ in front of a black drop.
Now, I hope the Easter Bunny can find a place to hide them all!