Erosion of State

This country is eroding out under us as our government strips the citizens of Constitutional rights.

Today, I took my friend Chris’ advice, I joined the EFF and ACLU. My next step is get hooked up with the Maryland Democratic Party and see what I can do to help.

For the record, Maryland’s primary elections are Sept. 12, 2006 and the general election is Nov. 7, 2006. I plan on voting in both (electronic voting machines nothwithstanding).

I urge you to take action: do some, or all of the above; leave me a comment about other ways to make a difference; or simply take action on your own.

If we start acting like we care about what happens in this country, maybe we can make it a better place (again).

BTW: for those who are wondering what’s gotten into me, check out this and this.

Bengies Drive-In Theatre: 50th Anniversary

Bengies Drive-In Theatre (the last drive-in theatre in the region) is celebrating the 50th annivesary of their grand opening with a special weeknight showing on Tuesday, June 6, 2006. Admission is $6 per car, and the show starts at 8:45 pm. The features: The Harder They Fall, and Trapeze will be presented on the biggest screen on the east coast. I hope to see you there!

AP: Microsoft launching security subscription service

Associated Press is reporting that Microsoft launching security subscription service.

So let me get this straight, you now have to pay to have the people who left holes in your operating system to protect you from those holes. Of course, if you don’t pay then you and your business will be vulnerable to attack.

Isn’t this better known as a protection racket?

Seriously, don’t people pay Microsoft to provide a secure system already? Isn’t the new Windows Vista supposed to be, “the most secure and trustworthy Windows operating system yet”. So why do users need to pay extra for Microsoft to secure the product they sell as already being secure?

Frugal Photography

I’ve was thinking aobut putting up a blog devoted to DIY/cheap photographic equipment. It would link to the large number of DIY projects already on the web, and I’d add my own personal thoughts and ideas. I’m not positive it would be much of a resource though. If anyone’s interested in reading such a blog, leave me a comment and I’ll keep considering it.

In the mean time here’s some links to free/DIY type photographic stuff that I’ve found so far:

Free Photo Software:
Adobe Lightroom Beta
Adobe has made a public beta of their soon-to-be released photo workflow program available for free. The Mac version is available now, the Windows version will be available soon.
Picasa
A free image editting program brought to you by the fine folks at Google. Currently available for Windows and Linux. Downloading Picasa from the following button, earns this site $1 and it costs you nada.
GIMP
An open-source editting program that mimics the functionality of Adobe Photoshop. GIMP is available for: Linux/Unix, Mac, and Windows, but can be a unwieldy since it uses other open-source tools for display (noteably XFree86).

DIY Projects:
Paper Camera
What could be more DIY than making your own camera out of paper. These guys have put together their own version of the czechoslovakian Dirkon paper camera of the 1970’s
Strobist SSO-CLK
Instructions for putting together a quality, portable flash rig on a budget.
Darkroom
Process your own film and save. DIY and cheaper to boot!
LED Ringlight
There are a lot of ringlight projects out there, this one is more complicated, but the results are pretty professional looking.
Macro Extension Tube
Make macro photos with the lens you already have and $10 in easy to find parts.
Softlight Panel
A light diffusion panel and stand made from PVC
Lightbox
An economical lightbox for product photos
Mini-Studio
Everything you need for a small DIY photo studio. I like the SSO-CLK from above better, but this might suit some people more.

Kingdom of Heaven: Director’s Cut

Normally, I’m a fan of director Ridley Scott, so I had eagerly anticipated the theatrical release of his latest film, Kingdom of Heaven. But the mixed feedback from early reviews and initial public reaction turned me off to the film. I waited to see it until the movie made a quick transition to DVD, and then I understood the cool reaction it had received in theaters; Kingdom of Heaven seemed to be an epic film with no heart and little point. I couldn’t bring myself to care for the characters or their predicament.

Now one year after the theatrical release we get the Kingdom of Heaven: Director’s Cut; with almost an extra hour of footage. This is almost a completely different movie; character arcs that weren’t even hinted at before are exposed and existing ones filled out. Now the characters’ motivations are evident, we know them and understand their decisions. Suddenly what had been an empty, swords and sandals pictures has turned into a sophisticated story on the relationship between people, their faith, and morality.

With the Director’s Cut, Kingdom of Heaven has evolved from a mediocre swords and sandals film into a don’t epic tale. Don’t pass over this revised version of the movie, regardless of what you thought of the initial release.

Photographic Equipment

As some might have noticed on the photoblog, I’m back taking pictures again – abeit at a much slower rate than before. Truthfully, I’ve managed to reach a new part the cycle of photographic equipment insanity. Common wisom is that novice photographers go through several stages of gadget lust before getting to a point where they start actually trying to make good photos. These stages appear to be:

  1. Cameras Everybody wants to believe that whiz-bang camera features will let them take “good” photos. “Clearly the antiquiated junk I’ve been using is worthless in the light of the latest and greatest new technology!”. Yup, Ansel Adams, Henri Cartier-Bresson, and Dorothea Lange clearly needed 8 fps, auto-focus, and computer-contolled exposure to be successful.
  2. Lenses Once it becomes clear that camera bodies aren’t the magic ingredient, many turn to buying expensive glass to improve their shots. I mean who’s photography wouldn’t improve with 10x zoom, f/1.0 and image stabilization. (Hint: see some of the names above) Latter parts of this phase probably include an infatuation with available light.
  3. Tripods “Clearly good, available light photos require longer exposure times, a tripod will minimize camera shake and therefore my images will improve”, or at least that’s how the rationalization goes. I have to admit this was one of the less painful (ie. expensive) phases of photogear addiction
  4. Lights Well if I want to record light (the purposes of photographic equipment), maybe I should be proactive about controlling light. I’m told that this is a pretty reasonable place to be all things considered.
  5. (I’ll let you know if/when I get there.)

At the beginning of the 2006 I owned preciesly one portable electronic flash. Since then, I’ve managed to obtain three more, associated stands, reflectors, and accessories. Some of the new gear was used to create the latest self-portrait, and hopefully future images will benefit from the added equipment soon.

I also want to point out that I’ve been reading David Hobby’s Strobist blog, dedicated to promoting “more effective use of small, shoe-mount flashes“. David is a professional photographer whose work appears in the Baltimore Sun, and his advice in the blog has inspired me to step up my game, luminally speaking.

The CREATE USB Interface

Ok, this looks kick ass. It’s an interface board to allow direct connection of sensors or other electronic inputs via USB (they also have a bluetooth version) without the need for custom device drivers.

This is totally cool. I wish these had been around when I was a kid, I might have wrecked fewer controllers/computers/stuff. I’m going to want one of these, or maybe I’ll go ahead and build my own (yeah right, like I even have the time to use the thing). I should add that it’s a steal at $50, pre-built.

Update: Mine is now on order.