November 23, 2007
New Camera Purchase
Several weeks ago I bought an iMac with all the bells and whistles, plus Apple's photo management and editing application: Aperture. The problem was that when using Aperture's loupe to instantly zoom in on images, I realized that my camera (a Fuji Finepix S9100) was outputting some very noisy (grainy) images. Not only that, but I was starting to notice the large amount of barrel distortion in the lens which was making straight lines look curved. Considering that I take quite a lot of photos of buildings and street scenes, this was a problem. It was then that I started looking into the latest digital Single Lens Reflex (SLR) cameras. SLRs are the more traditional type of camera which typically have larger photosensors, detachable lenses and almost always produce higher-quality images than the standard point-and-shoot style camera.
So after weeks of poring over reviews of digital SLRs, I finally decided on the Olympus EVOLT E-510 which I just ordered on Amazon a few minutes ago. I chose the E-510 for several reasons which I'll outline here.
First and foremost is image quality. My biggest complaint with my current camera has been the graininess so I was looking for a camera that would minimize noise at high sensitivity (ISO) and more faithfully represent what my eyes actually see. The E-510 boasts 10 megapixels and from all the samples I've viewed, is crystal clear and has little noise even at high ISO.
The E-510 has an active image stabilization system which will help reduce camera shake. My current camera has "picture stabilization" but all it does is increase the ISO so that a faster shutter speed may be used, thus reducing blur in low light images. The problem is that the resulting images end up being shot at 800-1600 ISO which made them ridiculously noisy. I left it on by accident a few weeks ago when shooting a train crossing a bridge at dusk and was disgusted when I got home and looked at the photos on my computer. That incident was the straw that broke the camera's back.
Obviously, image quality is of highest importance in a digital camera but the file format is important as well. The E-510 will shoot RAW images that can be directly imported into Aperture. This gives me a lot more flexibility when editing my photos. It also uses xD and CF cards for recording images. This means that with my 2 GB xD card plus the 8 GB CompactFlash card I just bought, I'm going to have a whopping 10 GB of storage space in the camera at all times.
When looking at cameras last weekend and actually holding several of them, I realized how important shape is. With a camera as large as an SLR, the way the camera feels in the hands is very important. Several of the cameras I held last weekend were uncomfortable to hold. On one (a Nikon, I think), my right hand rubbed against the lens itself which would have eventually cramped up my hand and literally left me with bloody (or at least irritated) knuckles. Maybe I just have big hands but I was able to comfortably wrap my right one around the grip of the E-510 without any problems and it felt good in my hands.
I'm on a limited budget so price played a big role in my decision as well. The E-510 can be purchased with two lenses on Amazon for only $675. This makes it one of the most affordable 10 megapixel SLRs on the market. Sure, you can buy many other SLRs for that price but they often only include one lens or none at all. The two lenses that come with the E-510 will allow me to get out and start using the camera as soon as it arrives.
Finally, the internet obviously played a huge role in this decision. The number of camera review websites is staggering but the one that I kept going back to when evaluating all my options was Digital Photography Review. They wrote a detailed 32-page review of the E-510 which compared it to other cameras. They also posted a full size sample gallery and judged it on more criteria than I am even able to understand. For me, they've become an invaluable source for choosing a digital camera.
Hopefully the E-510 will live up to the hype I've just built up here. I'll be able to find out for myself when it arrives sometime next week so stay tuned.
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November 18, 2007
Catching Up
A few people have started to comment that my blog has been neglected for nearly three months now so I'm going to cave and write a little update on what's been going on.
Basically, my new job is keeping me very, very busy. This, however, is good because the old job in New York City was quickly draining my energy and enthusiasm. Now, I'm experiencing the opposite effect. I'm more motivated and excited now than I have been for years and the new job makes me feel like I just got out of college again and am bursting with enthusiasm and ideas. It's awesome.
At the same time, I'm looking forward to this week's Thanksgiving break and am excited for the holidays. Earlier this week I made plans to go back to New York for a visit the week after Christmas. During the four years I lived in New York I would spent New Year's here in Minnesota so I figure it's time to reverse that trend and spend it in New York. As great as things have been going here, I really miss the bustle of New York, its subways and bridges and, of course, all the friends I made there.
Other developments include my purchase of a slick alumninum and glass 24" iMac which I am throroughly enjoying with the latest iteration of Apple's Mac OS X: Leopard. I've been nothing but happy with it so far and am beginning to learn Aperture, Apple's photo management and editing application. This has had the effect of making me want to buy a true SLR camera so I will hopefully be purchasing one of those before Christmas.
My reading list has been dominated by non-fiction lately, especially of the Civil War variety. Recent reads (along with my review - lifted from my Facebook profile - of each) include:
Grant & Twain by Mark Perry: This is the first time I've read a detailed account of Grant's last days and it's only made me respect the guy even more. Perry writes simply but knows how to tell the story without getting too academic.
Cry Havoc! The Crooked Road to Civil War by Nelson Lankford: This book is unlike any other Civil War history that I've ever read as it deals not with battles, but with the politics of secession and the often-overlooked events that led the North and South to full fledged civil war. With this micro-history approach, Lankford has composed an intricate, wonderfully written, day-by-day and sometimes hour-by-hour account of the crooked road to Civil War.
Hey Ranger! True Tales of Humor and Misadventure from America's National Parks by Jim Burnett: Although I once worked with Jim, the ranger who wrote this book, his writing style is a bit too conversational for my tastes. It feels like every sentence is being delivered with a chuckle and it gets annoying after a while.
Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey: This book really sucked. It was written by a park ranger who kills a rabbit within the boundary of a national park for no apparent reason. That would be a federal crime by the way. The incident basically confirmed my opinion of the author as a complete moron and total asshole.
For music, I've seen three great shows since my last entry: Arcade Fire, Smashing Pumpkins and New Pornographers. At home and work I've been digging the latest albums from Band of Horses, Pinback, Radiohead, Palomar, The Ponys, Voxtrot, Rilo Kiley and The New Pornographers.
Well, that pretty much covers what I've been up to. I really ought to write more often, shouldn't I?
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January 24, 2007
Recommended Daily Podcasts
Every morning on my walk to the subway and during the wait for the train, I listen to three podcasts. They're worth checking out because they're short, to the point and informative.
Garrison Keillor's The Writer's Almanac (RSS, iTunes)
I start my walk with this one not only because of the soothing voice of Garrison Keillor, but because he gives a brief summary of someone born on each day and/or the history of something that happened in history on that day. Then he closes with a poem. I'm not a huge fan of the poetry portion of this five minute program but every so often I hear something that I really like.
Story of the Day (RSS, iTunes)
Each day the editors at NPR pick a story that is exceptional and put it up as a podcast. Sometimes it's a story that I've heard live on the radio in the morning but more often than not, it's something that was aired at a different time of day than my usual 5:30-6:30 AM listening period. The stories chosen are nearly always something different than the typical news story. Perhaps an interview with a notable person or a humorous or touching story from someone's life. Simply put, the story of the day is one of the many quality stories that make NPR the only radio station worth listening to.
Slate Explainer (RSS, iTunes)
Ever have one of those moments where you're listening to or reading a news story and you have an unanswered question? Slate answers reader questions about the news and posts them on their website to read and makes them available in this podcast. Lately, this has included the following vexing questions: how do you blow up a satellite, how do you keep fruit from freezing and how do i get to Gitmo. Slate does the research and answers each question in under five minutes every weekday.
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January 9, 2007
Apple Reinvents the Telephone
Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced the iPhone today in a keynote presentation at the Macworld conference. It's a touchscreen iPod, phone and internet communications device. This thing does everything!
The interface is gorgeous (a word Jobs used several times during the keynote speech) and combines the simplicity and power of OS X with the eye candy of its Dashboard application. The touchscreen erases the need to have a stylus and is multi-touch. In other words, the user simply has to touch two fingers to the screen and pinch together to zoom in on a photo, map or webpage. Scrolling is accomplished by literally flicking one's finger across the screen. It can also be used in portrait or landscape mode by simply tilting the phone on its side and a sensor switches it automatically.
The only downside as far as I can tell is that it won't be available until it gets FCC approval in the next few months - that means it won't ship until June. The 4 GB model is $499 and an 8 GB model will be available for $599.
See Apple's iPhone page for more information or view the specs and press release at Gizmodo.
permalink | comments (0) | TrackBack | posted at 9:42 PM
February 4, 2006
A Review of CNN's Pipeline
I finally decided to give CNN's new video service, Pipeline, a try on Thursday. I was originally going to take advantage of their 14-day free trial on Tuesday night so I could watch the State of the Union address (I don't own a TV) but ran out of time and didn't end up watching the speech anyway. But today I thought I'd give it a shot and figured I'd write up a little review for those who might be curious.
Signup
The signup process was quick. You do have to provide a credit card number and select a plan ($2.95/month or $24.95 for a year) in order to get the service. It is assumed that you'll cancel before 14 days if you don't want the service, in which case you will not be charged. I picked the yearly option since $24.95 is a pittance for a year's worth of news.
Once I had signed up and my system had been tested, I launched the web player because I'm using a Mac. Mac users have to use the web player which basically opens a Safari (or Firefox) window with Windows Media Player 9 embedded in the middle. To use Pipeline on a PC, users have the option of downloading a standalone application which has some more powerful options including a mini mode and system tray alerts for breaking news. CNN as a more detailed comparison of these two options.
Interface
The overall interface is easy to navigate, and practically any news story can be found with just a few clicks. The video window sits in the middle with the Top Stories, a News Update button and a menu which lets you browse by section (Sports, World, US, etc.) on the left. The right side of the window gives a description of what's playing and web links related to the current story. The right side also shows breaking news and a schedule of the day's previous and upcoming news events. The bottom window has three buttons (Live Feeds, On Demand, Browse) which I'll describe next.
Live Feeds
Four pipes provide live feeds and are selected by simply clicking on the thumbnails at the bottom of the screen. Around primetime Thursday for example, pipe one was a documentary style program about human trafficking, pipe two was breaking news in California, pipe three was showing C-SPAN-type stuff like Bush's speech in Maplewood, MN earlier today and pipe four was the current weather and forecasts for the country (I didn't watch this channel long enough to see if they give weather for the rest of the world).
On Demand
This section shows horizontal, scrollable thumbnails of some of the producer's picks. This part of the display actually looks a lot like the front page of the iTunes music store. Many of these stories are less than five minutes long but they did have Bono's entire speech from that morning's Prayer Breakfast which I watched part of (he seemed really nervous).
Browse
Clicking the browse button gives a list of stories from the day. I'm not sure how these are selected but they can be sorted by time, section and most watched. There were over 80 stories in this section when I was checking on Thursday. The screenshot shows Epiphanny Price, the girl who scored 113 points in a high school basketball game on Wednesday, and her coach (who had to address some tough sportsmanship questions from the interviewer).
Verdict
After having this service for a few days now, it is certainly worth the low price. I would expect that this method of getting the news will keep me better informed, especially when it comes to breaking events. I would even go so far to say that CNN Pipeline is indispensable for someone who doesn't have a TV and wants to stay informed. In fact, the lack of a news channel was the only big problem of not having a TV but that gap is now filled. Now if only MLB.com would put something like this together for the 2006 baseball season...
permalink | comments (1) | TrackBack | posted at 1:27 PM
December 9, 2004
Linux on "Alias"
I was recently introduced to the TV show "Alias" by a friend who owns all the previous seasons on DVD. I've been working through them for the past several weeks and was watching season 2, episode 11 tonight when I caught a glimpse of a computer desktop in the episode. Such scenes are not unusual because it is a TV series about spies and involves lots of "hacking". What caught my eye was a very familiar window manager: KDE. Several shots of the desktop were shown throughout the episode in scenes involving Marshall, the tech genius of the show. See the episode guide for more info on the plot.
The desktop shown is a relatively standard, default configuration of KDE. At one point the character holding Marshall captive notices a hole in the firewall and is convinced that Marshall is trying to communicate with the outside world so that he can be rescued. Marshall explains the breech by saying he was simply downloading an mp3 from Audiogalaxy. He plays the song (Sammy Hagar's "Serious Juju") and the viewer is treated to a quick shot of the song playing on Linux's most popular music player: XMMS.
Eventually Marshall builds the Echelon program but when his captor runs the file (shown as an icon on the left portion of the desktop), an official looking screen comes up and then Pong begins playing. Turns out that Marshall had been bluffing to buy time, at which point Sydney (Jennifer Garner) crashes in at just the right moment, thereby saving him from execution.
Correct me if I'm wrong but the only other previous appearance by KDE (that I know of) was on "24" last year.
permalink | comments (4) | posted at 9:26 PM
November 5, 2004
iPod Case by Countour Design
Countour Design's "Showcase" is an iPod case for the new, fourth generation iPods. It features rubberized sides with rounded corners and a clear plastic facing and back. Cutouts expose the hold button and headphone jack on the top, dock plugin on the bottom and the click wheel on the front. It also has a detachable belt clip.
After using this case for several weeks, I can now say that it's well worth picking up if you're interested in a way to protect your investment. The case manages to completely protect the iPod while leaving the controls easily accessible. In addition, the iPod is still recognizable when it's inside the Showcase. So, it you're into the style aspect of your little white wonder, you should consider this case.
Read a more detailed review with lots of pictures at ipodlounge.
permalink | comments (0) | posted at 1:31 AM
October 31, 2004
When Things Just Work
So I'm sitting here at my computer and suddenly I hear this strange ticking noise. At first I think maybe the hard drive on my server in the closet is going haywire, then I wonder if maybe I left the stove on and my apartment is about to burn down. Finally I notice that the hands on my atomic clock are going crazy and then I remember that it's daylight savings and the clock is just resetting itself exactly like it's supposed to, exactly at the right time. I am fascinated by this.
permalink | comments (1) | posted at 1:03 AM
August 12, 2004
Seattle's Central Library
The Central Branch of the Seattle Public Library is where I've been writing from while I've been in Seattle. It's a brand new building which just opened in late May and is absolutely stunning. I've been interested in achitecture for some time due to an excellent drafting teacher in high school and a full year course on architectural history in college and have been inside noted cathedrals, homes and office buildings so I made a point to check out this library. I even stayed in a hotel just a few blocks away because of the free internet access that the library provides.
There's been a lot of praise for this building and some criticism, like there are with all buildings so I'm going to add my unprofessional, and somewhat educated opinion to all the others. Simply put, I think this building is brilliant. It is visually intriguing, technologically advanced, and a pleasure to spend time in.
The exterior is sheathed in glass with a criss-crossing steel frame, not unlike I.M. Pei's controversial pyramid at the Louvre in Paris. Each floor is offset, giving the building the appearance of being off-kilter but balanced at the same time.
Inside, the library has a total of eleven levels. Each is different. Many of the levels are public spaces such as reading rooms, research areas, study areas or computer spaces. Note that I'm refraining from using the word "room" because there are very few actual rooms in the building. Many of the spaces are only bound by a floor and ceiling. Some parts, such as the "Living Room", are open on all sides and sunlight streams in through acres of glass wall.
In terms of function, lower levels are mostly dedicated to public spaces and computer areas while books are in the unique "book spiral" of the upper floors. The spiral is exactly what it sounds like - a continous ramp of bookshelves. This makes it possible to walk from level nine down to level six without using the stairs. Books flow down the gradually sloping spiral in order of the Dewey Decimal System, with rubber floor mats denoting the catalog number of each shelf.
There is a lot of art in the building. The floor of the foreign language area is a woodcarving of sentences from books in 11 languages while a wall next to one of the escalators is knocked out and shows faces projected onto pipes and other surfaces.
Technology highlights include 400 computers, wireless internet access throughout the building and RFID chips implanted in each book which allow the custom built book handling system to automatically sort every book for easy re-shelving.
The biggest triumph for this building however, is that in light of all the brilliant technology and design features mentioned above, the building still feels like a library. It's quiet and peaceful, the staff is helpful and information is easy to find - all things that a library should be. The building takes form to new levels while enhancing function, like all well designed buildings do.
View a slideshow of images at the library's website.
Sources: floor by floor, book handling, stats, art
permalink | comments (0) | posted at 1:52 PM
July 20, 2004
Riding Around America: Changing the Way I Travel
As I continue to plan for the big rail trip (detailed previously), I'm starting to realize that this vacation is going to be fundamentally different than all the others I've taken.
In the past few years I've become more accustomed to sending e-mail and photographs to a select group of people while travelling but this upcoming trip is taking the idea even further. This is the first time that I'll be devoting a substantial amount of time to taking, sorting and displaying photographs of my travels, and it's the first time I'll be writing it as I go. I've written travelogues and taken pictures before, but I've always done it after the fact. Now I'll have instant gratification, or dismay if the photos are bad, unlike what I've experienced in the past.
The other obvious change is that I'm making the whole trip visible to anyone with a computer and an internet connection. Although I don't expect to attract many more visitors than I do now, which isn't much, it is out there for the world to see and I'm sure that will change my view in different ways.
Even more obvious is that I now have more stuff to bring with me on this trip than I ever have before. Up until the past year or so, I rarely brought even a Discman with me when I travelled. Now I have an iPod, camera link, digital camera, laptop, and the many accesories that go along with these items. So these things are literally changing what I'm carrying on my back.
Mode of transport is playing a big role in this trip also. I've almost always done large trips around the U.S. in a car - until now. This marks my first major vacation with no automobile. It took me awhile to come to grips with this fact. I love driving and in many ways still pine for the days when I didn't live in New York and could afford to have a car. Being tied to the tracks so to speak has its disadvantages, but I'm pretty sure that nothing is going to beat whizzing across the landscape on the train.
Oh, I almost forgot. I'll be doing this whole thing by myself. Sure, I'll be staying a with a friend here and some relatives there, but for the most part I'll be travelling on my own. It will be first time I've gone solo on a big trip since 1998 and I'm looking forward to it. Yes, I'll miss the companionship of my usual travel partner, but there's something to be said for striking out on your own on a massive journey around the country.
I don't know what the result of all of this change is going to be. The technology I'm using might sidetrack me or frustrate me. I could become physically ill from the radio waves emanating from all of the free wireless access points I'll be using along the way. Any number of bad things could happen and I may never do a anything like this again. But I don't think that's likely. If anything, writing these entries and posting the photographs as I go will make me think a little bit more about what I'm seeing and experiencing. It will make me go the extra mile to get a good photo, or meet new people, or learn something new. In the end, for me at least, that's the whole point.
permalink | comments (1) | posted at 2:17 AM
June 22, 2004
"Dreams of Iron and Steel" by Deborah Cadbury
Originally a television show aired on the BBC in Britain, "Dreams of Iron and Steel" is TV presenter Deborah Cadbury's print version of the popular series. In it, she looks at seven wonders of the industrial age: the Great Eastern, London sewer system, Brooklyn Bridge, Panama Canal, transcontinental railroad, Bell Rock Lighthouse and Hoover Dam. Each modern marvel receives its own chapter in which Cadbury delves just deep enough into the topic to keep the reader informed and interested. She gives enough technical information to show the genius of each design, and tells of the common workers and the conditions they endured to build each of the seven wonders. If anything, Cadbury's book is as much about the people as it is the technology. And, considering the volumes that have been written about every one of the wonders in this book, she manages to narrow each one down to perhaps 40 or 50 pages, making "Dreams of Iron and Steel" a captivating read.
BBC History has a brief summary of it's popular series along with a gallery of images that were not put in the book.
permalink | comments (0) | posted at 11:10 PM