Canon G10 Gallery
While we wait for the G11 and S90 to show up, I uploaded some favorites that I've shot over the last couple of months with the G10.
Zune 4.0 Software
Hell has frozen over: Microsoft has built a piece of software that is more elegant, functional, and easier to use than Apple's new iTunes 9.
Zune 4.0 Software showing collection view of artist albums by release year
Grab Zune 4.0 Software or have a look at some screenshots first.
Now if anyone out there is listening, please can you make WMP 12 go the way of Outlook Express and make the Zune desktop software the new default? KTHXBYE!
Gordy’s Camera Straps
I never use the bundled neck straps for their intented purpose - usually I end up wrapping them a couple of times around my wrist so they don't get in the way too much. On occasion I might carry a camera over my shoulder on its strap but if it's out it's usually in my hand. Gordy's Camera Straps is a purveyor of finely crafted leather straps of all shapes and sizes. My black leather wrist strap arrived a couple of weeks back and I've been very happy with it. It's primarily intended to work with a compact camera but I discovered that it works just great with a much bigger DSLR too. The quality is outstanding and, depending on your style of shooting, this could be the perfect accessory to add a little retro flair to your camera of choice.
Here are a few shots of what it looks like on my G10 and K10D:
Also check out the customer gallery on Gordon's website which showcases many the different styles and colours available.
Verdict: highly recommended! (It should match my future S90 quite nicely, methinks.)
Developers, developers, developers
Yes, what else, I'm referring to the infamous Steve Ballmer going crazy on stage scene. Bruce Eckel recently wrote in a blog post:
He's right, developers are important. And if you only go to Microsoft conferences, it looks like all developers are using Windows. But if you go to any other developer conference, everyone is using Macs.
Which got me thinking, WTF is up with the Windows command prompt? If there's one thing developers need, it's a solid command line interface which lets them manipulate OS primitives with the minimum of fuss. So why do I find myself installing Cygwin and puttycyg on every Windows machine that I need to get some work done with? Maybe I'm just a *nix die-hard who's too stubborn to learn something new but it works great, for the most part (what's wrong is the subject of another rant altogether).
Some will probably say that PowerShell is meant to be the answer but I disagree. It may be nice for scripted rolling out of patches and performing other sysadmin-type tasks en masse but c'mon, who wants to use that as their shell? Even if you were willing to dig deeper and learn the arcane syntax, you're still stuck in the same old DOS box "terminal" that the regular cmd.exe runs in. Even trivial operations like resizing the window or copy & paste are a misson. A Google search for "Those who don't understand UNIX are condemned to reinvent it, poorly" returns a similar rant about PowerShell as one of the top results so clearly I'm not the only one frustrated by it. It all sounds very good on paper what with the pipes on steroids and .NET integration but it somehow fails to provide a shell replacement.
Are all Windows developers hopelessly stuck somewhere deep inside the Visual Studio GUI? (The ones that haven't migrated to the Mac yet, anyway?)
Canon S90 looks promising
Canon has just announced a duo of high-end compact digital cameras, the G11 and S90. The G11 is the successor to the highly acclaimed G10 not-quite-pocketable digicam which generated numerous rave reviews last year. Suffice to say that at ISO 80 to 200, shooting raw, the G10 produces outstanding results. The G11 adds a flip-out LCD (never been a big fan myself) and a new sensor with *lower* pixel count for improved low-light sensitivity. The trouble with the G10 is that, while compact by DSLR standards, it just isn't small enough to carry at all times. This is exactly where the S90 comes in - same sensor, even faster lens (f/2.0 at 28mm equiv.), and a new twist on the control dial scheme (if you'll excuse the bad pun), it could be just the right pocket camera.
Pixel densities compared - Canon G10, Canon G11, Nikon D90, Nikon D700. They are 34 MP/cm², 23 MP/cm², 3.3 MP/cm², and 1.4 MP/cm² respectively. Ok, a compact is never going to be anywhere near as light sensitive as even an APS-C DSLR, but f the new sensor delivers even a 1-stop improvement over the old one it would be great. Can't wait to get my hands on one!
Edit: I think Canon missed a trick with this one however. They should have left a small attachment point and released an optional external viewfinder, with brightlines for 28/35/50mm framing.
Recent tweets
- Real-life Half-Life moment - here's what the inside of a power station cooling tower looks like: http://flic.kr/p/7HUkGt #photo #fb 1 week ago
- Discovery got a nod in The Economist for its innovative health management: http://bit.ly/cN1g6A #plug 1 week ago
- So I am a student again. At this point I would like to say goodbye to my social life, see you friends next year. Or the one after... #fb 1 week ago
- @KentBeck electrons in and of themselves are not very useful; it's the movement thereof that we're interested in (and costs $$$) ;-) 1 week ago
- To build solid software you don't need redesigns and rewrites to get it right once and for all, but rather a committment to constant change. 1 week ago
Recently read
- Programming in the Mid-Future March 11, 2010
- Sarah Palin will win in 2012 if this is her campaign poster March 11, 2010
- Pentax unveils 40MP 645D medium format DSLR March 10, 2010
- Valve: full "Steam" ahead on Mac OS X with free syncing March 9, 2010
- Bliki: VcsSurvey March 8, 2010
