My view of the world

Up in Reno, Nv they have and interesting non-profit called the Reno Bike Project that rebuilds and sells donated bicycles.

They also let you bring in your own bike and use their tools to repair it. There are usually a number of volunteers willing to lend you a hand if you have a problem. The cost is just $3.00 hr.

Here’s a link to an article in one of the reno papers about the Reno Bike Project.
This is their main page, it leads to a series of photos that are hosted on Flicr.
This is the Reno Bike Project blog, which is more interesting that the pictures.

You can drop off donations on Weds-Saturday, Noon to 6pm. Look for them in the alley between Bell & Ralston Streets. –Obviously they’re not getting rich off it.

250 Bell Street (SE Corner)
775.323.4488

And this is my favorite picture from their blog.

Reuters: MIAMI, April 9, 2008 /PRNewswire/ — Fontainebleau Resorts, LLC, a
privately-held Las Vegas-based resort and casino developer, today announced
that Nakheel Hotels, a division of Dubai-based property developer Nakheel,
best known for developing The Palm islands and The World, has invested $375
million in exchange for a 50% interest in the Company’s iconic Fontainebleau
Miami Beach resort.
Fontainebleau Resorts, in partnership with Nakheel Hotels, is re-creating
the legendary Fontainebleau Miami Beach Hotel with a spectacular $500 million
renovation. The Miami Beach project is expected to open in the second half of
2008.
Joe Sita, CEO at Nakheel Hotels, said on Thursday the deal provided Nakheel with a “premier entrance” into the Miami resort market.

It makes me wonder how long it will be before they buy into Las Vegas in a big way; providing of course, they haven’t already done so.

In case you’re curious about this company, visit their website here.
This is the company that has been building all those custom islands and beach fronts along the coast of Dubai.

This is one of their projects:

This is the Palm, Jumeirah and it includes the Trump International Hotel and Tower, due to open in 2009.

(The total price tag for the resort is expected to surpass $4 billion dollars)

The new Fontainebleau being built in Las Vegas, and due to open in late 2009, will have an iMac in every room.

This is from the brochure on their website:
DIGITAL MEDIA PROGRAM
Fontainebleau guests experience a new sensory landscape through an innovative relationship with Apple. The program includes intuitive and simple options for booking and pre-planning stays online and interactive programming throughout the resort. An iMac in every guest room inspires guests to share memories and encourages personal expression.

An establishment of this caliber with a Mac in each of it’s 3889 rooms should work wonders when it comes to upscaling the Apple image.

Of course with 100,000 sq ft of casino, a 60,000 sq ft spa and a number of world class eating and drinks establishments under the same roof, I doubt that the iMacs will be used for much of anything except keeping the kids occupied and sending “wish you were here” emails.

Ok, does this guy look weird enough for you.

The device he’s wearing if an echo locater that he built to show kids how bats see.

Here’s the abstract which bears the title “Experiencing Echolocation - seeing with you ears”
This is a quote from the abstract:

Here, the form of interaction—walking and using a new sense that is based on sound—is specific to the educational message and is not generic. The batgoggles have “bat ears” so that the devices, embodies the subject matter. Finally, any abstractions, such as the lack of true three dimensional localization cues are necessitated by technological limitations and not arbitrary.

Ok, Ok I’m done boring you. Click here to go to the page that tells you how to build your very own batgoggles.

Just click on the pictures at the top of the article and soon you too can walk around looking like an uber-geeky doofus.

They look like they’d be great fun, and in context they’re a wonderful idea, but if you wore them you’d still look like a doofus.

I wonder how long before they appear on the “Big Bang Theory” on CBS?

This is from Mail Online UK.
150-year-old Monkey puzzle tree facing chop because council says its needles are ‘like syringes.’

It seems that there is a Chilean Pine that’s been growing peacefully in the UK for 150 years or so and now the West Cross City Counsel has decided that it’s too dangerous to be allowed near children.

The council brought in two independent health and safety experts who both advised to give the monkey puzzle the chop, especially since a new school is being opened nearby.

A council spokesman said: ‘Safety experts have said the tree is too much of a risk to children for it to remain.

‘One expert likened the tree foliage to discarded syringe needles and warns they pose a probable risk of serious injury to children. The authority could find itself defending any litigation, should this arise.’

Here’s a picture of a defenseless child being attacked by these killer needles.

Ok, so.. no blood, no pain, the kid seems to be fine.

Tell me again how come this counsel hired not one but two health and safety “experts” when all they had to do is walk over and pick one of these things up….. Oh yeah, “politicians”…. After all, what good is taxpayers’ money if you can’t waste it?

Bet they pad the playground next.

Don’t mind me, I’m just venting.

Have you ever tried to talk to a friend and known you were shouting into the wind?

I was discussing my newest camera with someone and he asked why I didn’t buy a Nikon D3. He seemed to be under the impression that it would take better photographs than my D300.

The only major differences that I am aware of are the D3’s full frame advantage, face recognition and faster frame rate. — Oh, yeah, and PRICE
There are some other differences but either camera is more than I need.

Now he’s hot to buy a DSLR and has been looking at some of the “deals” on Ebay. These almost invariably include a good body and a bunch of so-so lenses.
I’m not a particularly good amateur but I do know that a great lens on a good camera beats a so-so lens on a great camera.

I suggested that he take some classes at the community college.
I also suggested that he go out and practice by shooting lots of frames of anything that was of interest and see what worked and what didn’t.
He has a copy of Photoshop CS2 and a good monitor so I told him he could borrow one of my teach yourself books.
He vetoed all three options. I guess they require more work than he is willing to invest.

Since he got on this camera kick, everybody he knows knows that he wants to take pictures of models exclusively.

He already bought a nice studio lighting set-up and he plans on using his wife as his first model. (Bad idea! Wait until she decides the camera makes her look fat.)

Neither of them have a clue about make-up and his preparation consists of reading camera reviews and printing something on studio lighting that he found online.

Now, almost every guy I know, including myself, seems to wind up with expensive toys sooner or later. but we generally understand that a certain level of training and practice is required to get the most out of the equipment.

This guy on the other hand is one of those people who honestly believes that he can just buy all the right equipment and be an instant pro.
I have given up arguing or even trying to explain things to him, I just smile and nod a lot.

A few months from now he’ll be frustrated and not want to even talk about the subject.

If everything runs true to course I should be able to get his entire outfit for less than half what he’s about to pay. I just hope that the high end Canon is too much money and he goes with the D3, because all my lenses are Nikon.

You can’t save someone who doesn’t want to be saved, but sometimes you can profit from their mistakes.

Film is dead in Japan:
This comes after Japan’s trade body CIPA (Camera & Imaging Products Association) announced that film camera sales were so low, that it was no longer worth tracking. In the month of January, only 1,580 film cameras were sold compared to the 5,417,563 digital cameras.

Canon makes a EOS-1DS-Mark III, 21 megapixel camera that is about $8k for the body. I just bought a Nikon D300 12 megapixal (body only) for $1800. The Nikon D3 12 megapixel full frame is about $5k.
My point is that while these cameras are expensive now, but the price per megapixel is coming down.

If you don’t need an slr you can buy a 12.1 megapixel PowerShot A650 IS Digital Camera for $300.
And the truth is, the megapixel silliness is nothing more than advertising hype.

If you’re going to make poster it matters, if you’re going to make fine art prints it matters, if you’re going to look at them on your computer or email them to Aunt Jane it doesn’t. The extra megapixels just fill up your memory card faster.

Film will be around for quite some time but it will become a niche market. The guys making huge detailed panoramas can’t use digital and get the best quality…. Yet.

I have a small digital camera that I keep in my car and sometimes carry in my pocket. It’s somewhere between 5 and 7 megapixels, it has image stabilization(far more important to me than megapixels) and a 3x glass zoom.

It cost me $400 +/- a couple of years back and I can buy better, cheaper now. It’s strictly a point and drool camera and while I know how to take better pictures, by the time I’m done with the processing in Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 I find I don’t need to take better pictures, since all I do is stick them on the web or leave them on my computer.

Why would the average person want to use film? You need to buy the film, have it processed and then store the prints and negatives. Then when Aunt Jane wants to see them you can’t just sit in front of your computer and email them to her. You have to make extra prints and take them to the post office.

With digital you get instant gratification, no extra processing, and the memory card can be used over and over.
It’s a wonder that they sell any film except for professional/semi-pro use and the occasional disposable camera.

I upgraded my camera the other day. I went from a Nikon D70 that’s 6 years old or so, to a Nikon D300.

I was going to go with the D200 because it will do anything I’m likely to need, but the price difference for a new unit was minimal and I’d have had to order it online.

The D300 was being offered as a special with an 18-200 vr lens and an instant rebate of $300 applied to the lens.
Since I already own a 24-120 VR and a 70-300 I let the salesman talk me into forgoing the special and buying a Sigma 12-24.
I also own an SB-800 flash unit. — All this makes for a fairly heavy camera bag.

My intention is to get my overfed ass out from behind my computer and outside. — You know, that place with sunshine.

For outdoor work I’ll probably leave the flash unit home, but I may purchase a macro flash. I will definitely need to include a bipod and water bottle.

Because of the weight, this combination may have to change, but for now I’ll just try a vest or backpack.
I’m certain that what I carry a few months from now will be much different from all the stuff I currently think I might need.

Here are two shots taken from the roof of Pioneerloan and one from the inside that demonstrates the problem of being close to your subject with a wide angle lens.
(Clicking on either of the wide images should take you to a much larger image.)
12mm

24mm

12mm
I focused on the bottom shelf of the case directly in front of me intending to include the walls in the shot as well.
I had not expected the “special effects” to be quite so noticeable.

For my next trick I’m going to read the owners manual. The bloody camera will sing, dance and make coffee. But only if you know where to look in the menus and what dial to spin.

I used to shoot film with my Nikon F2as or my TLR.

Those cameras would take beautiful pictures, but it was mostly because I had studied and practiced until I didn’t have to think about what I was doing.
Now I not only need to learn how to use a camera that is smarter than I am, I need to buckle down and spend some serious study time with Photoshop.

Remember those disgustingly cute Cabbage Patch dolls? Well some of them weren’t as harmless as they appeared.

Back in 1997 Mattel had to recall approximately 500,000 Snacktime Kids dolls at $40.00 each.

It seems that these cute little critters were supposed to munch on plastic veggies. However, being kids they didn’t want to eat their vegetables. They wanted to eat other things, like hair and fingers.

Yeppers, the little blighters would just munch out on some kid’s hair and refuse to let go.
– Just like a real child who has something in their mouth that they like.

I guess they made them a little too life like.

Here’s the story in the NYT archives.

Mattel got lucky. The engineers I’ve known would have given them teeth.

I ran across an old bookmark that led to this from the Timesonline.com:
A 28-year-old South Korean man collapsed and died of exhaustion after playing a computer game almost non-stop for 50 hours.

The man, identified only by his family name Lee, sat down to play the online battle simulation game Starcraft at an internet cafe in the southern city of Taegu last Wednesday morning and stayed there for the next three days, stopping only for brief naps or toilet breaks.

And they say there’s no harm in playing video games.