To help people find me by my old ACM email address, I've made an nwv@acm.org page, which I'll try to Googlejuice.
See 2004-11-15 for why I abandoned the ACM address.
I happened by a camera store today, and took a look at the Canon Digital Rebel XT (EOS 350D) and the Nikon D50. I'd heard the grip of the XT was too small for some people's hands, and it turned out to be noticeably small in my own hand. My fingertips hit the front of the body before I could grasp the grip firmly with my palm. I think i was mostly holding the camera between my fingertips and thumb.
The Nikon D50 grip was a much better fit. Overall, I'd say the D50 looked and felt noticeably more professional than the XT. Of course, once you start looking at the D50, you have to also look at the D70 — which is almost at the same price point, unlike the next step up in Canon's line, the EOS 20D.
This might be what pushes me to the Nikon system after I was ready to buy into Canon for the long haul.
The best theory I've heard for why Canon would shrink the grip of the 350D from the decent size of the 300D is that they're targeting Japanese girls. I am working on an alternative theory, which involves the 20D product manager somehow trying to sabotage the career of the 350D manager.
I took advantage of yesterday's 107 heat index and my lack of air conditioning to visit Revere Beach, not knowing that the beach was polluted. Fortunately, I had my carry camera, so I snapshotted signs, seagulls, and sandcastles. Which led to meeting a neat new friend.
The girl in the middle sure is competitive.
In a rare scene on the MIT campus today, students relaxing on the grass, with proper sunlight and everything. Cristiana is Italian; I forgot to ask Ben from which part of Europe his accent comes. Both were quite charming when asked for permission to photograph for the Web.
Only once sorting photos did I notice that Ben's attention this midsummer Sunday afternoon is firmly on an academic paper, rather than on the very pretty woman in bikini nearby. No doubt, Ben is a dedicated engineer and/or an exceptionally faithful Significant Other.
A few days ago, while I was trying to get a good shot of an armada of Duck Boats at the Museum of Science, a blader cut a swath through the traffic and frame unexpectedly. I'd like to say that my artful use of Gimp's crop tool made her the subject retroactively, but clearly she commanded the original scene as well.
Our favorite Cambridge evangelist was spotted recently back in Harvard Square with a revised message, "YOU MUST CONVERT TO BORN AGAIN CHRISTIAN OR YOU WILL GO TO HELL," to avoid inadvertent disclosure of field operative identity like in the 2002 incident of "JESUS IS COMING TO KILL EVERYBODY EXCEPT FOR BORN-AGAIN CHRISTIANS."
This time, I was walking past him on the way to a model shoot. "Can I photograph your sign?" "By all means." "Thank you." "You're welcome." He sounded suspicious, so I wasn't going to ask him to pose with the sign.
In between these Harvard Square appearances, I've spotted him in Central Square and Area Four, hefting milder signage. Perhaps he perceived those audiences as more amenable to salvation.
Next time I plan to tell him that the saving grace of the Lord is most needed at 77 Mass. Ave. — or, more precisely, 20 Ames St.
The City of Cambridge is fond of dubbing intersections or blocks "___ Square," each named after some departed local, and hanging black signage proclaiming same on the corner signpost. In the wee hours of late June, I encountered unofficial signage. Victoria's Secret Square? Coeds Corner? Stripped Street? Panties Pass?
Had my camera had been at that intersection of Broadway and Ellsworth Ave. a bit earlier, I suspect I'd have more interesting photos.
Because not everyone (yet) watches Fox News 24/7.
The News Corporation, making one of its largest bets on the Internet, announced today that it is paying $580 million in cash to acquire Intermix Media Inc., a Los Angeles-based company whose chief asset is MySpace.com, [...] a youth-oriented music and "social networking" site that has grown to more than 16 million monthly users. [...] According to News Corporation, MySpace attracts the fifth-most page views of any Web site.
—Richard Siklos, "News Corp. to Acquire Owner of MySpace.com," New York Times, 2005-07-18
A good article on political issue framing:
Even before the election, a new political word had begun to take hold of the party, beginning on the West Coast and spreading like a virus all the way to the inner offices of the Capitol. That word was "framing." Exactly what it means to "frame" issues seems to depend on which Democrat you are talking to, but everyone agrees that it has to do with choosing the language to define a debate and, more important, with fitting individual issues into the contexts of broader story lines. In the months after the election, Democratic consultants and elected officials came to sound like creative-writing teachers, holding forth on the importance of metaphor and narrative.
—Matt Bai, "The Framing Wars," New York Times Magazine, 2005-07-17
postnet.scm version 0.2 released. Don't ask.
This State Street Corp. job listing sounds like a video title from the 'adult' section of the store.
I imagine many tech support people can sympathize with the uncomfortable sensations of the job.
A Sunday ago, I started test shooting for an experimental portraiture theme project that I'm planning for autumn in Boston. Two things that came out of that are: (1) I was spoiled with a great first model who's perfectly suited to my project, and (2) my need for better gear is even more dire than I thought. When your gear can't capture relevant ranges that other commonplace gear can, it's not only frustrating to the photographer, but unfair to the model.
Later, I'll put up some shots from that session, with proper model attribution. Until then, one of my favorite candids from while we were warming up is a model-returning-fire snapshot. Pardon the bold yellow.
But this didn't stop Dick Van Dyke. He just went out -- on his own, mind you -- and shot a live action background plate. Then -- on his own time at home -- he used his personal computer to create this realistic looking CG motorcycle which crashed. Dick then combined the two pieces of footage and screened them for the producers of "Diagnosis Murder." These folks were just stunned that the star of their show was this sort of technicial whiz.
—Jim Hill, "Do you think that TV legends can't master computer animation? Well then ... You clearly don't know Dick.," 2004-08-12
If only Julie Andrews had been my nanny.
levenshtein.scm 0.3 released, mainly for PLaneT 299/3xx, on request.
James Carroll, "The day after the fireworks," Boston Globe, 2005-07-05
WebScraperHelper 0.3 has been released. It's been submitted to PLaneT for 299/3xx.
NYT plays straight man on the caption for photo of President Bush in Fourth Of July attire.
Other classic Shrub photos were posted here on 2002-11-12 and 2002-12-02.
In case you haven't yet heard the breaking news, she's retiring. I think this means that the militant right-wing religious extremist regime — er, I mean Mr. Bush — will probably be appointing at least two Supremes before the Presidential term is up. Initial reaction is that this bodes ill for the future of the nation. Friday before Independence Day weekend.
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