Windows 7

Are you 7 enough to use Windows 7?  Windows 7 is not as 7 as I have imagined, at least that's what all the reviews told me so far.  But does it really matter?  Even The New York Times described Windows Vista as "epic fail" but to me, it really doesn't matter.  I just use it to browse the web.  It could well be Windows 3.11.  As an aside, I think the word "fail" is really on fire.  I try to be trendy so I have adopted it to my post usage as well.  I know the really hip people are going to hate that as a hip lingo is once again summarily appropriated and adopted by an uncool person like me and even by the Gray Lady.  There is chance that I will have to go 7, like it or not.  But really it doesn't matter.  Not much anyway.

Canon EOS 1 D Mark IV

As if the world needs another big ass digital camera.  I say yes actually.  Canon just announced its latest high speed professional DSLR that once again offers a dizzying array of features that at once appeal to professional photographers and professional gear heads.  According to my quick glance at dpreview, where else anyway, the new camera has 45 AF points that have the potential to focus correctly as opposed to its predecessor that is mired with focus problems, real or perceived.  The thing offers full 1080p video and can shoot in the dark, i.e. ISO 120400, not that it means anything to me,  It is totally outside of my knowledge and experience.  If with any luck, I may be able to see it in the PhotoPlus in NYC.

The World Is Not Enough Of Apple

There is an avalanche of good news coming from Apple.  First and foremost, the stock is now over $200 and most likely will stay that way and if Cramer would have it, it probably is going to shoot past the $300 or even $400 price point.  Sky is the limit.  As if that is not enough, Apple just rolled out some minor upgrades of its notebook and desktop line, the details of course can be found in Apple's site and other sites that are peripheral and feeding off Apple's success.  The new unibody hard plastic, er, I mean polycarbonate MacBook lacks FireWire and SD slot, bummer.  Perhaps what's old is new again, it just looks like my broken iBook G3 from way back 30 years ago.  Anyway, for FW and SD you have to go MacBook Pro.  Anyway, people are lapping up anything Apple makes.  The state of Apple is strong and reality distorting, just like it should be.  Disclaimer:  I own Apple stock and products.  If you buy Apple stock and end up losing more than your underwear, don't blame it on me.  I can't be responsible for anybody's stupidity and misfortune.

Random Thoughts

It's really not the equipment.  I have similar equipment but my pictures are pedestrian at best.  Mostly I just admire my equipment, they are my objects of affection, sometimes I feel bad for my gears, it's like I never help them fulfill their potentials even they are capable of taking great pictures.  Oleg Noikov's October 21 2009 pictures just blow me away.  Sure I don't have a CFV-39 back but that's not really irrelevant.

Apple Can't Do No Wrong

Just like pseudo model Chrissie Chau, Apple can't do no wrong.  If you disagree, you are wrong.  In the midst or at least the immediate aftermath of an economic death spiral while most companies are struggling to stay afloat, that's with the exception of Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan Chase, Apple is yet having another stellar quarter.  The share price of Apple hit $200 at some point.  You can see even people are struggling financially and losing their homes to foreclosures, when it comes to computing, people are willing to pay a premium to be cool or perceived to be cool.  You do pay more to be cool, just look at Apple's profit margin.  Apple's gross margin is over 32.26% while Dell was around 20.4%.  Disclaimer:  In the interest of disclosure, I own Apple stock and products (broken G3 iBook and free iPod something, the 512MB gum stick).  If you were to lose more than your underwear buying and selling stock, don't blame it on me.  I can't be responsible for anybody's stupidity and bad luck.

Something About Shoelaces ...

It's the morning rush.  Everybody is in a hurry.  There is no time for anything.  Everybody has to be out at 7:28AM.  That's except for one thing, tying up the shoelace in a butterfly bow securely.

I pulled over the curb once I found out Harry just tucked in his shoelaces instead of doing it the right way--securely tied in a butterfly bow.  I would not tolerate this infraction.  It is one of my many excuses to get mad at them.  I just think there is really no reason not to know how to tie the shoelace.  With the invention of Velcro, both kids and parents are just too happy not to know how to tie their shoes.  If I see any otherwise healthy ten  year old wearing Velcro tied sportshoes not because of any misguided aesthetic reason but out of necessity, it really makes me sick.  I wouldn't like them to just slip in and off a tied pair of shoes either, especially when they whine and scream while trying to squeeze in their untied pair of shoes.  I feel like to yell and slap them around.  But I choose my war to fight, sometimes I just give up and back off.  Like any parents in the morning rush.

Digital Back CFV-39 For Hasselblad

This is a digital back for Hasselblad V series cameras.  I think.  I don't bother to read the fine prints.  Oleg Novikov is in the process of penning his field experience with this 39MP back.  The site is good old html, and I don't know if it has any perma link.  Anyway, do a search or something, the update is on October 17, 2009.

Daily Fodder From Donald

The guy is on a roll.  After playing grammar cop, with spectacular failure, in a legco meeting, Donald Tsang continues his daily blunder by trying to give nepotism a bad name.  The father-in-law of Tsang's son turns out to be a vendor and a likely beneficiary of some government sponsored energy efficient light bulb program.  There won't be any conflict of interest if it has been properly disclosed and approved by some certain branch of government.  It looks like this was not the case.  Another Oopsie from your Chief Executive.

Sourced from mingpaonews.com

The Year After

Dow is inching towards 10,000.  JPMorgan Chase is having spectacular quarter profits.

What happened a year ago seems so far away now.

• Bear got saved by the government and bought by JPMorgan Chase
• Lehman Brothers, not so lucky.  Paulson let it go under.  The bankruptcy had a domino effect, a run on the money market, a liquidity freeze, a collapse of confidence.  Barclays bought part of Lehman at a good price.
• AIG was considered too big to fail and saved by the Fed.
• Merrill Lynch sold at $29 a share to Bank of America.  John Thain got a good deal from Ken Lewis.
• Morgan Stanley was saved by Mitsubishi
• Goldman Sachs got money from Warren Buffett.
• The Fed got Congress to pass legislation to spend $700 billions on TARP.

The free market is not free.  The Fed spent taxpayers' money so the free market can remain free for the bankers.  How we got to the point where we couldn't let one financial institution fail without dire consequence to the whole global market is beyond me.

I am not sure if we are having any financial reform.  Or any health care reform at all.

UPDATE 3:24PM:
Dow passed the 10,000 mark.

Staedtler Eraser

When I was little like eleven or twelve, education was a privilege. We needed to jump through hoops just to go to secondary school (or what we call junior high school here).I remember our primary school teachers made sure we had the right weapons for this Primary Six public examination, i.e. three sharpened HB pencils and a Staedtler eraser for those multiple choice questions. To this day, I still believe in a good eraser. Every time, my kids erase their homework with some sub par eraser, I can't help but tell them to use a real eraser. It irks me to no end seeing them using the eraser head from the pencil.

Nikon D3s

I am live blogging live blogging the supposedly Nikon D3s launch. Just kidding. I can't be live blogging that. Anyway, the "s" is not meant to indicate plural but a new model for the incremental evolutionary upgrade of the Nikon D3 model. There is some excitement, manufactured or not, really depending on who you are, to this launch. And the usual rumor sites are prepared to blog more about this should it really become a real product. The Leica M9 is the camera du jour, everybody is still very much excited about it and got a bit hung over since its 09/09/09 launch. But if you are looking for sheer speed and high ISO and expandability, nothing really beats a Nikon, there I said it--as if I really know what I am talking about. I want a D3 like DSLR with 18MP selling for a thousand bucks. Give it to me Nikon.

UPDATE:
Sorry guys, there isn't really anything first hand here.  But thanks for visiting.
You got to go to Nikonrumors.com to see all the D3s rumors.

Lee Jeans

I remember once upon a time Lee made some killer jeans.  But now in the US, Lee just specializes in selling the ugliest jeans it can possibly make.  They re-design all the good old jeans they can and make them look as ugly as they can possibly make them, the cut, the wash, everything.  If not ugly they simply won't sell them.

I really don't get it.  If only they don't change a thing they would look the best already.  Now instead for the best looking Lee you will have to find them in Europe or in Japan.  America somehow deserves the ugliest looking Lee jeans.

GPS Experience

I am spoiled by Google Map and Google in general.  So when I have to type in something in my GPS, and it takes like a minute to give me choices I am not at all happy.

J Crew and Levi's

I don't know what Levi's was thinking.  But I guess if the price is right, one can sell his mother.  That's what I feel about the transaction between J Crew and Levi's.  Allegedly Levi's sold its LVC, or Levi's Vintage Clothing (Collection?) to J. Crew.  If you were to do a relevant search on Google you probably can find traces of this relationship.  I don't know it's made public or if it's even true but that's what I have gathered from my source.  The collection typically sells for $200 for a vintage 501 replica and I guess J. Crew would probably jack it up maybe 25% more why 25% because that's what Google cache is telling me.

UPDATE 2 seconds after the above and some Google result reading:
The above was indeed old news.  I found reports on that in August.  So it's a done deal.  My post trying to be a fashionista fails. Miserably.  I guess the LVC is not offered online.

I Love You All

Again it's time to thank a very small number but dedicated readers out there ... some where--my imagination runs wild during this time of the day.

Clean Is Not Enough

Empire State Of Mind
warning: explicit lyrics, maybe offensive.

Every time somebody reminds me how dirty New York is, I just shrug.

"When you leave New York, you are astonished at how clean the rest of the world is.  Clean is not enough."--Fran Lebowitz.

Bear Mountain Trail

I am still searching my own identity in this world.  One of the roles I play regularly is my boys' Dad, though I am definitely not going to get any Oscar award for that judging from my lackluster performance.

It was a five-hour hike and I made it back alive without totally embarrassing myself and my kids, I think.  Just look at the pictures, I was always the last one trying to catch up, always on the verge of losing my will to walk another step or live another day.

The inept photographer in me says:  notice the purple fringing around the tree branches?  I think Canon compacts or maybe most compacts have this problem when shooting directly into the sunlight.  But big deal, I'll just leave it as it is.  If National Geographic decides to call me, which is like never, then I will learn how to remove this purple fringing thing.  For now, I just love the color purple.

Ralph Lauren

FAIL.
 

Photoshop fail, legal fail, publicity fail, what now, fashion fail?

I think the dude is selling Americana, like romantic vision of the great American ideals, great outdoors, freedom and individual liberty.  But dude is suppressing freedom of speech through some big wig lawyers.  Shame on you cowboy.

via bb via Conscientious via hongkie tweet.  Yes, I am just recycling the news.  No you won't see the picture except via the link.  I am afraid I will get a cease and desist from Polo.

Note:  There is no freedom of speech in this blog.  Comment at your own risk.

The Inevitable Pseudo Intellectualization of The Pseudo Model Phenomenon Part II

Don't let this die.

I can really appreciate the humility of this chick girl.  She is the first to admit she is the one to blame for perhaps her sub-par performance, because as she puts it she doesn't have "enough ink" in her to answer those supposedly intellectually profound and challenging questions--my words not hers.  I mean how can you hate her?   Her meteoric rise to fame and fortune can be attributed to her good look and good management.  But I guess it's also because she is a girl of our time.  By that I mean she didn't come from any of the traditional establishment in Hong Kong, i.e. traditional TV beauty pageant.  People are already deeply critical and cynical of traditional TV if not downright sick and tired of it.  And Chau proves that those people are right.  TVB can no longer be the arbiter or purveyor of taste, or as a gatekeeper and hold you back to become successful though it may help when you have it on your side.  The public, read guys, don't need TVB to tell them which chick has the beauty and the brain to be named Miss Hong Kong, not anymore and not even relevant to a large part of the populace.  The most severe critics that I am aware of turn out to be from the good old fashioned venues, some chick from a beauty pageant and a woman whose dad is a billionaire casino mogul and an openly practicing polygamist.  Both suggest Chau, is pandering to sex and bad taste in general, and hence deserves absolutely no respect and worse is like committing the  biggest crime ever, which is mind-boggling considering both are in the same business though admittedly with less publicity and grassroots support than Chau.  Epic fail.  People tend to root for the underdog and the underdog is Chau.

The Inevitable Pseudo Intellectualization of The Pseudo Model Phenomenon

The first rule of being a model, you don't talk.  The second rule of being a model, refer to rule number one.

The inevitable pseudo intellectualization of the pseudo model begins.  Epic Fail.  I like her the same regardless. (note to Chau:  don't be intimidated, if you were, by this professor or the academic setting, his questions aren't necessarily hard or intellectually challenging.  If you feel like it's a dumb question, probably it is.  What's profound is how far you have gone from where you were to where you are now.  Enjoy your fame and fortune.)

via ESWN