Civilization 4, 2nd Expansion Pack

 Gaming  1 Response »
Jul 192007
 

Lo the power of RSS readers, and the ability to keep up to date on the latest Steam news!

Steam released a Civ 4 expansion pack for download today.  Steam Powered Civ 4 makes me sit up and think about the days when I used to play the original Civilization, and the spin-offs that it generated.  Hours of fun, with high re-playability.  I’ve not really been tempted by a turn-based strategy game in eons, but the graphics look nice.  And, as I am contemplating purchasing a new blazing fast 3.4 GHz PC, I’m examining the games that I could purchase once I get myself a new toy.

Of course, I’m also tempted by Steam Powered Lost Planet: Extreme Condition.  And possibly a month reviewing how WoW: Burning Crusades plays on the new PC.

Power Overwhelming.

 Posted by John Williams at 2:06 pm

Nikon D90 Preview (Laugh)

 Photography  No Responses »
Jul 192007
 

For those who didn’t read the full preview and discover that it was actually a joke, go back and click the link.  For those that did, here’s the excerpt of the punch lines for many of the faux features offered in the D90:

  1. uVR: “With uVR enabled, the combined power of the batteries sends a current through the step-up transformer. This then delivers a 110 volt shock through metal pads around the grip. The resulting electrical shock matches the shutter speed (maximum of 10 seconds).The shock causes a very stable clenching of the photographer’s muscles while the shutter is open, simulating the stability of a tripod.”
  2. In-camera editing: “To save money, the CS3 licenses were bought from a Russian spammer at 1/50th the regular price, allowing Nikon to keep the price of the D90 competitive. “
  3. Shutter delays: “The D90 solves this problem thanks to Nikon’s new MindProbe technology. MindProbe scans your brain, looking for those tell-tale low amplitude beta waves that signal an imminent shutter-press. By the time your neurons react, and you actually press the shutter, the D90 has already captured 3 images (or 6 in GTI mode).” …

    “My Nikon contact tells me their R&D people are now working on a system that eliminates the photographer altogether. Nikon’s customer research has discovered that when a photographer takes a great image, they claim all the credit. But when a photographer takes a bad image, they blame the camera.

    By eliminating the photographer, Nikon plans to eliminate lousy photos altogether.”

  4. Universal memory compatability: “The D50 and D80 caused some controversy by moving Nikon’s consumer-orientated DSLR models away from CF cards. This lead many Nikon users to resort to unseemly and ungentlemanly language in the forums (expressly forbidden under the terms and conditions of the standard Nikon warranty).

    In an effort to avoid such distasteful events this time around, and ensure everybody can enjoy a D90, Nikon now supports the following storage formats…”

  5. Wireless Anywhere: “… Nikon has put a series of satellites in orbit that are dedicated to receiving wireless remote signals from users anywhere on the planet. These are then forwarded to your camera, allowing you to trigger the shutter no matter where you are.”

 And much more.

The entire article is of course intended as humor.

 Posted by John Williams at 8:41 am

Nikon D90 Preview

 Photography  No Responses »
Jul 162007
 

I recently read the Nikon D90 preview (read the full preview) and wanted to share some of the buzz about it.  Based on everything I’ve read, it’s going to revolutionize the Nikon product line.

  1. Universal Vibration Reduction (uVR): Providing a 10 stop advantage over non-uVR equiped dSLR cameras, uVR works with all lenses attached to the Nikon D90. “… This means a person using a 500mm lens, who would normally have to shoot at 1/500th of a second, can shoot at 2 seconds when uVR is enabled. …”
  2. Even better in-camera editing: “…Nikon decided to include a full working version of Photoshop CS3 in the D90…”
  3. More songs than ever: “…The new D90 does away with built-in songs, and includes a fully-fledged iPod…” “…But just before you rush out an get yourself an MB-D90b, you might want to consider the MB-D90c. This version of the grip includes a sub-woofer (fully compatible with the D90′s Dolby surround). That’s right, the optional MB-D90c allows you to play music with unprecedented levels of fidelity for a consumer-level DSLR…”

  4. No more shutter delays: “While the D80 was pretty responsive, your reactions aren’t. By the time you’ve realized you should have pressed the shutter, the moment is lost forever…” Now thanks to new shutter technology, “…for the first time in the history of photography, the shutter delay is actually measured in negative time. Now that’s progress.”

  5. New Built-in artistic-effect modes

  6. Universal Memory card compatability

  7. Wireless remote that works from anywhere

And lastly, to avoid the stocking and shipping delays, the Nikon D90 is already on sale!

 Posted by John Williams at 3:54 pm

HDR Take 3.x

 Photography, Photoshop  No Responses »
Jul 132007
 

In a previous HDR post, I posted another attempt at HDR photography.  I continue to play with the post processing on ways to improve the quality of the finished composition.

version 3.2

versus

version 3.1

versus

version 3.0

versus

original

As you can see, improvement is being made…  but, I’m still not as pleased with the work as I would like to be.

 Posted by John Williams at 5:17 pm

eHarmony

 Personal  1 Response »
Jul 122007
 

Every time I see an eHarmony commercial, I sigh in exasperation.

I joined eHarmony 3.5 years ago.  I’d never used a formal online dating service, but I’d tried my hand at meeting people online.  The problem with meeting people online is that too often they are dishonest.  This really isn’t a function of dating online, it’s just a function of the nature of humanity.  I know that sounds cynical.

Anyway, after joining 3.5 years ago, I had my share of “matches.”  I talked to a number of matches in my first few months, but the number of matches that I was interested in (and were interested in me in turn) were significantly less in the following years.  I might have talked to 3-4 people each year for a couple of weeks before deciding that the relationship was not destined to survive long term, for various reasons.

Now, if you don’t know anything about the eHarmony matching process, I’ll give you a quickstart  introduction.  You fill out a 400 (?) question form designed to identify your personality type.  You get a personality profile.  You sign up for the matching service.  You get a match.  Then you proceed through a “guided communication process,” which starts with pre-designed questions and multiple choice answers (phase 1 communication).  Phase 2 involves sharing a list of things that you must have in a relationship, and a list of things you cannot stand in a relationship.  If both parties continue to be interested in communicating, then phase 3 involves a more open question and answer phase, usually with the questions being taken from a pre-defined list of questions, but the answers are written by the respondent.  If you like everything you’ve read so far, then you move to open communication, which is conversing via email on the website.

So, as you can see, that’s fairly involved.  I really like the fact that the entire process is designed to get you to know the other person before you meet in person. Most dating websites gives you a very little help in breaking the ice or getting to know your potential partner.  Most websites also cater to people who are only interested in dating, and I’d decided about 3 years ago that I really was tired of dating women.  I was ready for something serious.

So, back to the first sentence.  I (and my Girlfriend) get exasperated watching commercials from eHarmony because it took us just over 3 years to meet each other.  You see, she also started her eHarmony account 3 years ago.  Yet, despite the fact that both she and I were members, we were never matched.

What’s up with that?

 Posted by John Williams at 8:52 am

HDR, Take 3

 Personal, Photography  1 Response »
Jul 112007
 

I went to Hakone Gardens in Saratoga, California this weekend and attempted another round of HDR photography.  It was very peaceful until other visitors started arriving.  Afterwards, my girlfriend and I went to Cinnebar and did a wine tasting.  We enjoyed it so much, we decided to join the wine club they have.  We really enjoyed the 2005 Monterey Chardonney.

 Posted by John Williams at 9:45 am

HDR, Take 2

 Photography  No Responses »
Jul 052007
 

Still no luck.  This is an underexposure composition that I improved in post-processing.  I think it came out very well.  Sadly, to make it very picturesque, I’d have to spend some time cleaning the bird-gunk off the bridge… and I’m not about to spend my time doing that, no matter how much I like my apartment complex.

 Posted by John Williams at 5:31 pm

Can you hear me now?

 Telecom  No Responses »
Jul 052007
 

http://www.signalmap.com/

A nifty idea  to help everyone, the carrier included, figure out where they are strong or weak in serving the customers.

I plotted my home.

I’m sure that they could serve non-US carriers if they wanted to, but they don’t have any listed.

 Posted by John Williams at 4:40 pm

Digital Photography Cropping

 Photography  No Responses »
Jul 032007
 

As promised, here is the brief tutorial to understand cropping.

The original photo was 3872 x 2592.  This 12.5% crop is 484 x 324, or 12.5% of the size of the original while retaining most of the original photo.

This is a 50% crop of the same image.  Since it is also 484 x 324 pixels in size, it means that I removed 75% of the original image to produce this one. (484/3872 = 1/8… but since it’s a 50% crop you double that value, meaning it’s 1/4th of the data from the first image… which also means that I removed 3/4th of the composition to make this one.)

 Posted by John Williams at 8:30 am
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