Happy Halloween

Photographed by Mr. Harry. In Masker Orchards, October 14.

Clockwise from top left: Mr. Harry, Alex, Vivien, and Catherine. Shot by Jin using a Canon G3.

Canon EOS 1 D Mark III Recalled In UK?

While Nikon is gleefully congratulating itself for staying alive for some 90 years as an image technology leader topped with the introduction of D3 and D300 and a slow loading browser crashing (you have been warned) stamp sized Quicktime video, Canon is being judged rather harshly by Nikonians and Canonites alike on its handling of its newly released malfunctioning $4,500 Canon EOS 1D Mark III.

Canon really lost control of the message, assuming there is one, to its customers. Actually up until now, there is still no message from Canon to its users. If you go to its website, it's just business as usual. All we have is hearsay or a seemingly authentic memo from a Mr. Lee Bonniface of Canon UK to its retailers admitting there are some faulty Canon EOS 1D Mark III units. If Canon chooses not to talk to its customers directly, somebody else sure will, and usually not in the most flattering way. And from reading various sources like amateurphotograhy and Gizmodo, neither Canon UK nor Canon USA will or can confirm the authenticity of the letter. I think that's really the worst part.

I wonder what's going to happen to Mr. Lee Bonniface.

UPDATE: November 1, as reported by Rob Galbraith, Canon USA made announcement regarding the Canon EOS what is it, anyway. It's about time.

User Generated Content

User generated content reaches prime time TV. The new iPod Touch commercial by Nick Haley, an 18 years old English student just got broadcast on ABC's Desperate Housewives. His original Youtube video can be seen above. And the more polished one can be seen on Apple's iTunes page and here (no permalink?), and on TV as well.

Once in a blue moon, you have some brilliant user generated content from YouTube that rivals works from the creative departments of the most established ad agencies. Sometimes when ad agencies grow too big and too established, the creative juice may give way to bureaucracy and red tapes.

Reported from The New York Times.

Some pictures

Apple picking from last Sunday. The picture uploading process hasn't been smooth for the past hour or so. It's been crashing my box. So far only one picture got loaded. I don't know if it's Google's problem or my problem. Most likely problem on my side ....

From Inbox Trash Folder

Another storm in a teacup - this time it's about Martin Lee's article
in WSJ and, I think, the Chinese translation of the term "direct
engagement" used by Lee:

http://www.zonaeuropa.com/20071026_1.htm

TVB Jade, HK Cable TV News Channel 9 and Hong Kong Legislative
councillors have translated "direct engagement" in the article as
"直接干预", which I think is an over-translation, if not a wrong
translation.

The term 干预 [literally "intervention" in Chinese] carries a very
negative as well as sensitive meaning, especially to pro-Beijing
groups. They called Martin Lee a running dog and a traitor when they
staged a protest outside the Legislative Council Building.

In fact, in the context of Lee's 17 October 2007 artcle, the term
ought to be rendered as "直接对话" or "直接互动". Even "直接介入" would
be a
better translation than "直接干预" because any talk of intervention
from a
foreign power hits a raw nerve with patriotic Chinese citizens

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< Martin Lee chose his words carefully. Words like "intervention" or
"force China to ..." were avoided at all costs. Yet Jasper Tsang and
his comrades jumped at the opportunity to put words in Lee's mouth.
That's why I said it's a storm in a teacup.

Bye now. I'm leaving in a minute to attend the [redacted] in the capacity of [redacted].

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>


No, it's not a matter of storm in the tea cup, the local communists
hate Martin Lee so much that they used whatever means to attack him.

Lee's article published in the WSJ for sometimes, I wonder why those
local communists didn't aware that, until the [redacted] Tsang
Yuk Shing [redacted] Martin yesterday, I think Tsang is the only guy who
read the WSJ

For those Union [redacted] like Wong Kwok Hing, he used his
people's language that learnt during the cultural revoluation,
claiming Martin was "Ng Sam Kwai".

According to local author Mr To Kit, Ng has did the right things at
the right times, when the gang of "Li Zhi San" [redacted] the women in
Beijing, Ng should invite the Ching army to stop the massacre, like
the pro-vietnamese Combodia communists invited Vietnamese to stop Red
Combodia to kill the people.

For me, I do expect some changes or reform of Beijing Communist after
2008, just like South Korea have some changes after the 1984 Olympia

Enough bull-shit.

[redacted]

On being told that money doesn't buy happiness,
a wise guy once said, "But it upgrades despair
so beautifully!"
>
>
> Wait a minute, man.    As long as you enjoy
life and find some of the things around you
interesting, other worldly matters like marriage,
> career and even money don't matter.   
Money alone can't make you
> happy.
> 

>
> in term in gambling, I have already lost in
my [redacted], [redacted] and
> many, not to mention horse racing, 3T and
Football gambling.
[truncated]
> 

iPhone Dev Center

Apple is going to lead the way. But that's not going to stop the industrious hackers out there who are hell-bent to do it their way.

A tribute to iPhone hackers ....

Ubuntu 7.10 Available

Ubuntu 7.10 Gutsy Gibbon is available. I am upgrading mine online as I type. It's going to take some time. I expect some screw up here and there otherwise where is the challenge? Last night I tried to do my basement wi-fi connected box but no dice. It couldn't get past the preparing the upgrade line. I suspect I better hard wire that puppy to do the upgrade or burn a CD to do the upgrade, what do I know. As for the 7.04 with my wifi setup I have unblacklist and to pad the ESSID with an extra character. So that may go away with Gutsy Gibbon, where do they come up with names like this? The Upgrade really takes hours.

http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/upgrading

http://technical-itch.co.uk/2007/10/19/ubuntu-710-upgrade-first-impressions/

UPDATES: It went through without any problem. So there is no screw up to report about.

Notes to Self

GIMP doesn't do a good job in their File | Open department. But in fairness, the solution is just a search away. If you are a Linux guru it shouldn't be a problem (sadly I am not, so I have to search).

I have to via the interface do a Places | Connect to Server ...
pick Windows share under Service type
type in the ip address of the Windows PC
then able to see MYPICTURES as share (the folder is My Pictures)
your Windows Box will appear on the desktop. But GIMP can't access that.

After that then I can issue the below command, but only on the 2nd time that it wouldn't complain. Is it a bug, maybe, maybe not as I really don't have a solid grasp of what's happening.

1st time failed
mybox@mybox-desktop:~$ sudo smbmount //PC/MYPICTURES /mnt/winshare -o username=yourusername,password=yourpassword
Packet send failed to 169.254.255.255(137) ERRNO=Operation not permitted

2nd time succeeded
mybox@mybox-desktop:~$ sudo smbmount //PC/MYPICTURES /mnt/winshare -o username=yourusername,password=yourpassword
mybox@mybox-desktop:~$

Even you unmount the Windows PC on the desktop, your shared Windows folder will remain on the Linux (Ubuntu) file system, in my case /mnt/winshare where GIMP can access.

PHOTOPLUS 2007

There are no D3 samples here. The below are shot using my D70 or from one of the D2Xs' as seen from the picture below. The lenses used are either the 300mm or the 500mm fixed focal big glasses or my 18~70 kit lens; check the EXIF for more details.

Just another nutty, twisted Nikon shooter...

Nikon man in black. This one is shot using a 500mm lens.

She is one of the D3 mavens at the show. Shot using a D2Xs with a 300mm lens. The live view is operated in 4 simple steps. Turn the release mode button located on the top left hand side of the camera to Lv, press down the shutter release button to first lock up the mirror, now live view on LCD; press the shutter again to focus, now the LCD is blackout; press all the way down to get the picture.

Another D3 guardian/maven. He sits next to the lady shown above, guess who I asks the live view question.

Model/ballerina Irina for Joe McNally. The best model on the floor: classy, professional, and friendly.

The very animated Mr. Joe McNally. He ups the ante by doing some live shooting using the D3 and some speed lights from Nikon. It seems pretty easy ....

Mr. Joe McNally adjusting the flash. He is shooting tethered to a Mac, the JPEGs are shown on two monitors instantaneously.

Mr. Dave Black showing off his clean high ISO images on the big TV. His presentation is followed by Joe McNally's. Good showmanship and impressive images.

The show ends shortly after 4PM.

There are many many D3 previews and samples out there. so I don't bother to shoot yet another high ISO picture from D3.

Report from Wired.

Random Thoughts

Let the revolution continue ...

Charles Platiau/Reuters via The New York Times online.

You have to love the French people, the folks who bring us French Revolution, French kiss, French fries, the guillotine, and a strong sense of self entitlement. The French workers probably spend 60 percent of their time protesting work related exploitation (real or imagined), 39 percent of their time on paid vacation and the remaining 1% actually working, only if you include the 2-hour lunch.

Also, you can't fuck with the French. Apple has had great success selling locked iPhones in the US and elsewhere in Europe. But no, the French won't take any crap, not from President Sarkozy, and certainly not from Jobs. The French essentially tells Jobs to shove his locked iPhones up his arse .... So there are unlocked iPhones in addition to locked ones selling in France.

In another Apple iPhone related news, just when Apple board member Al Gore won Nobel Peace prize on his contribution to environmental issues, Greenpeace came up to spoil the party by alleging Apple selling poisonous iPhones. Personally I think facts are facts, if the iPhone does carry toxic substances I don't see why the fanboys have to defend Apple, maybe that's why they are called fanboys in the first place. It's good that we have Greenpeace, the perennial environmental complainer, to every now and then spoil the party. At least you are made more aware of the facts to make an informed decision. Say if you think your kids are dumb already and so it doesn't matter whether the toys are coated with lead paints, you are still going to buy them anyway.

"Has Steve really reinvented the phone?" from GreenpeaceVideo

Notes To Self

mybox@mybox-desktop:~/java$ java HelloWorldApp
Exception in thread "main" java.lang.ClassFormatError: HelloWorldApp (unrecognized class file version)
at java.lang.VMClassLoader.defineClass(libgcj.so.70)
at java.lang.ClassLoader.defineClass(libgcj.so.70)
at java.security.SecureClassLoader.defineClass(libgcj.so.70)
at java.net.URLClassLoader.findClass(libgcj.so.70)
at gnu.gcj.runtime.SystemClassLoader.findClass(libgcj.so.70)
at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(libgcj.so.70)
at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(libgcj.so.70)
at gnu.java.lang.MainThread.run(libgcj.so.70)


mybox@mybox-desktop:~/java$ sudo update-alternatives --config java

There are 3 alternatives which provide `java'.

Selection Alternative
-----------------------------------------------
1 /usr/bin/gij-wrapper-4.1
+ 2 /usr/lib/jvm/java-gcj/jre/bin/java
* 3 /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-sun/jre/bin/java

Press enter to keep the default[*], or type selection number:

mybox@mybox-desktop:~/java$ java HelloWorldApp
Hello World!

More D3 In The Wild

This is again sourced from Nikonwatch.com which in turn got it from Luminance Landscape. The pictures were heavily processed in PhotoShop and have a specific look to them.

The guy, I mean James Russell is a professional photographer unlike me an armchair photographer who reads and talks about photography but rarely take any, or any good ones. Enjoy.

Irrational Exuberance Is Back In Full Force ...

eBay conceded it had grossly overpaid for Skype by about $1.43 billion.

eBay's Meg Whitman is largely credited to getting irrational exuberance back to silicon valley by acquiring Skype for $3.1 billion. Thank you Ms. Whitman.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Apple continues its onslaught with new product rollout every month, almost, in 2007. After got bumped by iPhone, Leopard is finally prowling into the spotlight on October 26, with 300 plus new features. And thank god there is only one version. I can never figure out what Vista one should buy or not buy. Is it home basic or home premium, is it business or ultimate? What the fuck?

Jobs has also just confirmed that there will be an SDK for iPhone/iPod Touch in February next year. Some hackers must be very very disappointed, where is the challenge now? Where is the underground allure of hacking the forbidden?

Notes to Self

I did not create the below files or scripts, it's more like I took them from the web see my prior ref here.

mybox@mybox-desktop:~$ cat .netrc
machine ftp-www.earthlink.net
login 1234@earthlink.net
password !@#$%^

mybox@mybox-desktop:~$ crontab -l
# m h dom mon dow command
01,31 * * * * /home/mybox/Scripts/up.sh


mybox@mybox-desktop:~/Scripts$ cat up.sh
#!/bin/bash
MyDate=`date`
MyIP=`curl -s http://myip.dk/ | egrep -m1 -o '[0-9]{1,3}\.[0-9]{1,3}\.[0-9]{1,3}\.[0-9]{1,3}'`
echo $MyIP > ~/Scripts/.MyIP.now
if !(/usr/bin/diff ~/Scripts/.MyIP.now ~/Scripts/.MyIP.then) ; then
sed "s/~~~MyIP~~~/$MyIP/g ; s/~~~date~~~/$MyDate/g" ~/Scripts/index.html_source > ~/Scripts/index.html
echo -e "put index.html" | /usr/bin/ftp -v ftp-www.earthlink.net
cp ~/Scripts/.MyIP.now ~/Scripts/.MyIP.then
fi


mybox@mybox-desktop:~/Scripts$ cat index.html_source
<html>
<head>
<title>~~~MyIP~~~</title>
<meta http-equiv="Refresh" content="7;URL=http://~~~MyIP~~~/">
</head>

<body>
<p>
<p>

Good things come to those who wait 7 seconds...
<p>
you are being redirected to <a href="http://~~~MyIP~~~/">my basement server.</a>

<br><br>
</body>
<hr>
<p><i>Page last updated on ~~~date~~~</i></p>
<hr>
</html>

What Not To Watch On TV

If you live an indolent life and have a taste for unsavory TV shows, then you wouldn't have missed Tim Gunn's latest foray into yet another make-over TV show, "Tim Gunn's Guide to Style."

The show takes a page from TLC's "What Not To Wear" or actually rip all the pages from the entire playbook. "What Not To Wear" is cheerfully hosted by Stacy and Clinton, the two style mavens who dish out presumptuous directives on their style challenged to be made over candidates. The show is light hearted, almost educational and the two hosts have great chemistry. "Tim Gunn's Guide to Style" is "What Not To Wear"'s ugly twin sister, the show is unwatchable. The show already jumps the shark from the get go. What's the deal with raiding the underwear drawer? It really crosses the line from gleefully putting down the candidate to disturbingly disgusting. I don't know what's wrong with Mr. Tim Gunn's co host Veronica Webb, she seems to have jaundice or something. Her on screen complexion is perpetually yellowish and I am sure it's not my TV. I wish her good health and good luck. As to Mr. Gunn, I guess he better off doing Project Runway and leaves the make-over job to Stacey and Clinton's What Not To Wear.

Project Runway.
Tim Gunn's Guide To Style.
What Not To Wear.

Se, Jie

"Se, Jie" is director Lee Ang latest meditation on celluloid on the themes of lust, love and loss. Set in World War II Hong Kong and Shanghai, the movie chronicles a group of college student activists who are no longer satisfied with their peripheral contribution to the war, namely raising money for the resistance by performing political drama on stage, decide to spend the summer to play real spies. Their goal? To kill a high level political turncoat Mr. Yee (Leung Chiu Wai) who happens to be stationed in Hong Kong. Their plan? Leading lady Wang Jiazhi (Tang Wei) would play seductress Mrs. Mak to lure Yee out of his lair and kill him. Revolution is not a dinner party. Things can go wrong do go wrong. Mr. Yee leaves Hong Kong abruptly and the plan falls apart. It isn't until years later that the plan resumes in Shanghai and gets carried out to its tragic but not unexpected ending.

Lee's films always have that exquisite quality, it's subtle but it's there. Tang when playing Wang playing Mrs. Mak always appears in beautiful Cheung Sam, or in her iconic form fitting overcoat topped with a bucket hat. You see Tang in a beautiful Cheung Sam, not a beautiful Cheung Sam on Tang. The wardrobe and the production design never overwhelm the characters. They just serve their purpose, earnestly and quietly in the background where they belong. What's not so subtle is the much talked about on screen NC-17 performance. <BS>Leung's balls are rumored to be nominated for best supporting actor, and not to be outdone, Tang's erected nipples and bushy armpits are in competition for best supporting actress.</BS> They are as erotic and acrobatic as they are repressive and melancholic. I think those are the most brutally honest sex scenes I have ever seen on big screen. Leung's Mr. Yee to Tang's Mrs. Mak is lust at first sight, but through sexual intimacy they get to reveal their naked selves to each other and to themselves. It's almost like how much do you know a person if you don't ever have sex with him? The answer is not much. In their first sexual encounter, it was almost like rape: it's forced, quick and both are partially clothed. And Mr. Yee doesn't even let himself be seen as he was doing it from behind. As the relationship progresses the dynamic changes, the last sex scene, Mrs. Mak is on top, in control, is able to put a pillow over Mr. Yee's face to do the coming while going, and if she chooses, she could have killed him by using his gun hanging on one of the bed posts. But she chooses not to. So that is it. She is done as a would be assassin. She falls for her target. In the end, Wang's forbidden love is destined to be doomed.

Many people think that Leung's performance here is underwhelming, I for one appreciate his rather stoic, understated presence. I am still mesmerized by his performance in Wong Kar Wai's "Days of Being Wild" in which Leung appears just before the end credit rolls with no dialog whatsoever. I think it's one the most beautiful movie endings. Leung, despite his size does have a screen presence, what he lacks in size he more than makes up with his eyes. He's one of the few actors that can do more with less using his eyes only. In his other performances, mostly collaborations with Wong Kar Wai, he seems to be playing superstar Leung Chiu Wai playing whatever character that he is playing. In "Se, Jie," he just plays Mr. Yee straight up, the charming superstar Leung is gone for good. Tang, as a newcomer, delivers the wide range of emotions demanded for this role and carries the movie from beginning to end. That also shows director Lee's superb direction. I have never seen Michelle Yeoh or even Chow Yun Fat that good until in "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon."

Lee, Leung and Tang deserve Oscar nomination for their no holds barred direction and performance

I can't even come up with a title

Taken from my Inbox

Well done! That is so true. The Japanese were dumb enough to attack Pearl Harbour (and Hitler was even dumber by declaring war on the US because of the axis thing). The giant, with its demographic and industrial might, was awakened. Without the help from America, China would have to sue for peace at one time or another. As a leader, Jiang must have thought about it and must have done something. Of course, after the war, all such evidence was destroyed and disowned. Success has a thousand mothers, but failure is always an orphan. Wang Jing Wei, for his part, also had big character fault. He only sank deeper and deeper. Do you know that he was always petitioning to his Japanese overlords that his regime should declare war on US too (following Pearl Harbour)! It was always a very complex story. The good thing about the movie is that: inadvertently, it reminds us of that part of Chinese history during that time. Who are the good guys and who are the bad guys? Are they really so clear cut?


> Recently I watched many DVDs that I bought in Taiwan, about WWII in China, Burma etc. I have some other insight, as long
> as China alone cannot beat Japanese, why should China still defense, if KMT surrender, or co-operate with Japanese, like
> Chairman Wang Jin Wei or his senior officers, like Tony Leung. Then Japanese will concentrate their efforts in fucking US,
> Pearl Habor attrack may happen earlier in 1939 or 1940, then will make Uncle Sam get into a lot of trouble earlier.
>
> And I just wonder, China will get less civilians or troops being murdered and more US GI will be killed.
>
> As in 1939 to 1942, certainly sooner or later Japan must be in confrontation with US, why should we still defense, like
> Kingdom of Siam, their King co-operate with Japanese, and less Thai people have been murdered. (As I watch a documentary
> from Dept of Defense of US), the King of Siam seems more clever or more care for their people than Mao or CKS.
>
> Enough bull shit, [redacted], what's your idea ?


I watched it last week. It was a good movie. The sex scenes were very explicit. Okay, if you want to watch a skin flick, go watch a skin flick. In one of the scenes, you could see Tony Leung's balls, not to mention Tang Wei's erect nipples all the time. Was this necessary? I had some doubts. It could be that the director's focus was on lust. Then what about the political background of that time. Tony Leung really had not much to do in the movie, If I were the director, I would have given a bigger role to Tony. But the downside is the movie won't do too well at the box office. It is always a tough sell. Come to think of it. How many people know what is going on in China at that time? In the States, a lot of kids think the Americans teamed up with the Germans to fight the Russians in the Second World War. In China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, things are not much better. That said, I could tell that the director gave a lot of heart in the production of this movie. Great attention to details. You should watch the movie in a cinema. In [redacted], at 9:30 in the morning, it only cost me hkd 45.> > > [redacted]>

A Tribute to iPhone Developers

Or Hackers.



This should make the other Steve proud.

Fall Jacket

Bottom Photo: Ryan Pfluger

Ruby Lin (literature and economics) is in a Balenciaga by Nicolas Ghesquière wool jacket, $2,575, and scarf with silver chains, $5,595. At Balenciaga, 542 West 22nd Street. Trunk LTD. T-shirt, $90. At www.trunkltd .com. Lucky Brand Jeans, $98. At Lucky Brand Jeans stores. Melet Mercantile belt. Yarbourough ring.

The top one is what Jcrew calls the Lexington jacket, $250. The bottom one is from Balenciaga costing $2,575; picture and words sourced from The New York Times. Jcrew picture from their online store.

The Balenciaga jacket as seen on runway.

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

The piracy paradox.

From myself.