To start off, these are probably the most crappiest photos you will ever see on this blog. It’s the fabled iPhone in my grubby mitts…
Pictures were taken with my Dopod 838 Pro (AKA HTC Hermes). Good PDA phone, not so good camera.
I shoulda brought my K800 instead…
The iPhone really is a marvel. It’s hella thin, looks like it belongs in the permanent collection at the MOMA and the screen navigation is really just like you see on TV. And that gorgeous screen! It makes YouTube videos and everything else look great!
So am I going to drink the kool-aid? Maybe…but my only concern is if I can get the damn thing unlocked. You see, here in the ewe ess of aaay, cell phone providers simlock their phones so only their SIM cards work on them. They justify this by their “subsidy”, a discount of the overly inflated MSRP of the phone that they provide to you so you can be indentured with a two year contract.
However, the iPhone is NOT subsidized. You’re paying full boat for it and it’s STILL SIM locked? That’s very wrong…and the only thing that’s holding me back from taking the plunge.
Bored Friday Night
So after my Friday night plans fell through (grrrr), I decided to do the San Francisco thing and geek out on the computer.
Walking Ixus has had the same look for three years; I figured it was time to freshen it up. Still working out some of the kinks, but the new sitemap goes something like this:
Archives and Categories are on the left.
Fun Stuff is on the right.
Kinda matches up with your left/right side of the brain thing, huh? Here’s something else for your left/right side of the brain thing…
Are you Kidding??!?!?
Me?? Calming?? Who writes these silly quizzes I wind up taking???
|
Your Blog Should Be Blue |
 Your blog is a peaceful, calming force in the blogosphere. You tend to avoid conflict – you’re more likely to share than rant. From your social causes to cute pet photos, your life is a (mostly) open book. |
They dun know me vewwwwy well do dey?? WHAHAHAHAH
|
You Are 76% Capitalist, 24% Socialist |
 In general, you support a free economy and business interests. You tend to think people should fend for themselves, even when times get tough. However, do think the government should help those who are truly in need. |
Now this one is a bit more accurate. Just a bit.
Digital Camera History and why “walking-ixus”?
I realized recently that if you removed all the photoblogs off the net, it would be hella boring online! Much of the blogging revolution is due to the creation and evolution of the digital camera. Of course even before digicams, there were pictures up on the net. But it was not as accessible!
Back in the day, you had to
1: Take pictures with film (?),
2: Develop aforementioned film and
3: Scan and resize into computer for uploading with 14.4 modem.
Very slow process and hella expensive! Film ain’t cheap and you pay for all the shots on the roll, good and bad. My last film camera was a Yashica T4. Then I realized that I’ve been digital since 2001 and blogging the following year. Wow!
I started, like practically everyone in the US did with photography, with a Kodak. I purchased a used DC210 back in 2000.
It was a big camera, 1 whole megapixel and gobbled AA batteries 4 at a time. I learned the phrase “rechargeable batteries” very quickly. The picture quality was marginal because of its fixed focus lens (which Kodak claimed was a “feature”) but the ability to instantly view your snaps and delete the ones that didn’t pass muster was a novelty back in the day.
After seeing my cousin’s Canon S10, I promptly picked up a used S20 and began my long run with Canon hardware. After that camera, I picked up an S300 and while in Hong Kong one trip, I picked up an Ixus S400 to replace that. My most recent Powershot/Ixus/Ixy camera was the SD400, very compact and took good pix. A great camwhoring camera! In fact, I have an SD800is enroute that has two things that my other cameras never had: wide angle 28mm lens setting and image stabilization. Makes it easier for that big dramatic night shot.
Now, what’s with the blog name? Well…
When I decided to create a blog a few years ago (mostly to stop people from asking for personalized emails and pix from the road when I started travelling), I had to think of a name. I figured it would be things as I saw them, and by extension, how my camera saw them. At the time, I had a Canon Powershot (in the US, they’re called Powershots, in the rest of the world they’re called Ixus except in Japan where they’re called Ixy) and I decided to name the blog based on what my camera saw.
And the name “walking-powershot” sounded stupid.
Walking-ixus, OTOH, was different. It sounded “not as stupid” plus none of my frens in the US would know what it meant. Because of that, I’ve had to explain that many times. And after three years of asking “what does your blog name mean?”, I’ve finally posted the answer here.
Some shots from Macworld 06
I made it out to Macworld today to check out the hype about the iPhone, Apple’s latest kick-ass cool gadget. And, yes, it is hella cool, slick and seksi. And i want one! When I can actually see and touch and playwidit…
When I finally made it onto the showfloor and made a beeline for the Apple exhibit, I was greeted with the iPhone rotating in its own case and being guarded by a “apple security guard”. Still, it is a beeyoutiful piece of industrial design and a technical tour de force.
That’s how the iPod component looks like
Here’s a closeup (sorta) of the back. The little dot in the corner is the 2MP camera that strangely, isn’t mentioned much…
The Star of the Show…
Timbuk2 wasn’t here this year (so no 28.75% off deal this year) but Crumpler was! They were serving beverages on request! Yeay! Buuurp…
It’s almost closing time!
iPhone (with 2G!!) debut at Macworld. A game changer, eventually
By now, everyone in the civilized world has seen the debut of the iPhone. This is the device that I’ve been waiting for. Quad-Band GSM. EDGE (tho HSDPA or UMTS would have been better), Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. And your choice of either 4GB or 8GB storage. I pick the 8 Gig.
I am reserving judgement and curbing my techno lust until I find out a few things about it. I was able to speak to an Apple drone about the iPhone. I hit him with some questions. And as usual, the answers I got were slightly better than useless…
The 2 MP camera; is it autofocus or fixed focus? “erm, I think it’s autofocus coz it’s 2 MP.” FYI, the camera is fixed focus. Okieee…
Is the iPhone sold SIM locked since it’s going through Cingular (ugh) or is it going to be sold unlocked through Apple, similar to what Palm does with its Treo line? “We haven’t made that marketing decision yet”.
Skype client? “we don’t reveal that information”
I’d like to know these things before I throw down US$700 and commit myself to yet another 2 year period of indentured servitude (AKA “contract”). So the ultimate internet tool? Not quite yet. Still, that’s one seksi piece!!!
Crumpler is here and it’s staffed with Ozzies. Besides the accent giving them away, I asked about beer for bags and they had beer there! Burp.
Micro$oft is planning a new release of Office next year to match this year’s new PC office release. No info except that they’re “adding features”. I suggested to them that they bring offline messaging to the Mac Messenger client. Wonder if it’ll actually happen…
Surprisingly, Timbuk2 is not here this year. So no 20% off and no (pay your sales) tax deal this year. Booooooo!
First Meme
Apologies for the lack o’ posts. My poor MacBook was diagnosed with RSD. That’s Random Shut Down for you non Apple types. The good thing is that Apple has acknowledged this as a problemo and is fixing it. My MacBook was sent in last Monday. It came back this Monday. So far so good.
So I found this meme on Xuan’s blog. Here we go….
01) What is the phone brand?
Dopod S300 (AKA Cingular 3150)
02) What are the last 3 digits of your mobile number?
918
03) What does the 2nd message in your inbox say?
Hey! Have a great flight back! Was glad to meet up with ya…
04) Who’s the first person who comes up under the letter M?
Ma (HP sorts by last name)
05) Who’s the last person you rang?
Returned Lee’s missed call. He wanted advice about the upcoming Election
06) Who was your last missed call from?
Lee
07) Who’s the 2nd person who comes up under D?
Depalma
08) What does the last message in your inbox say?
It’s Sat in SF? It’s Tues am here! Thanks for the joke!
09)Who comes up under J?
Jen (again, last name)
10) Go to your Sent Items – what does the 10th message say?
Saw some of the Indo haze over SIN. Yuck. Like a really bad in HKG. Weather (here) cleared up so nights were nice.
11) Who’s the 4th person who comes up under S?
Shu (still last names!)
12) Who’s your network provider?
Cingular in US, StarHub in SIN
13) How many messages are currently in your inbox?
I dunno. Maybe about 25?
14) What do you have as your background?
Big D for “Dopod”. I dun have too much imagination when it comes to backgrounds.
15) Who’s the 2nd person who comes up under R?
Roper (you guessed it, a surname!)
16) Who do you have on speed dial 3?
I don’t use speed dial
17) If you’re on Pay as you Go, how much credit do you have?
Postpaid here. Prepaid in Singapore. Got about S$18.35
18) Who’s the first person who comes up under C?
Callahan
19) How many bars of signal do you currently have?
Full
20) What do you have as your main ringtone?
Some techno ditty that came with the phone. Am looking for “Heavy Action” ringtone to replace that.
Now get to it!
New Mac Book
No, I ‘ve not gotten one yet. But I have slammed the lid and kicked the tires on one.
First. they come in a shiny white, like the previous iBook and a matte black which looks really cool but shows greasy fingerprints easily.
In “innocent” white…
Yearrgh! It’s da dread pirate Roberts! I mean BlackMacBook!
It’s noticibly bigger than the 12″ PB, as seen here.
That’s Bender on top and the thus unnamed MacBook on da bottom. Despite this, my bags can carry up to a 15″ laptop so that’s all good.
The screen is shiny and bright and very vivid. The keyboard is, erm, different. Instead of a traditional keyboard, it looks like a bunch of chiclets. There’s also space between the keys so remembering your touch typing is a must!
I’m leaning toward the white one because as you can see here, the matte coating can wear off, leaving a shiny spot. Click on picture for bigger one.
You can see it from a distance
This could be an issue as time goes by
Will probably be upgrading soon. Bender’s 3.5 years old!
Camera
I picked up a Lumix DMC-FZ7 to play with last week. Not bad! Besides having a kick-ass Leica lens, it also has shutter and aperture priority, program and manual modes and a big zoom (36-432mm) too. I was raised with SLRs and rangefinders so having a digicam with these kind of controls that dun cost an arm and a leg is exciting! The Ixus is great for carrying around and photowhoring, but sometimes you just want to work on technique and being artsy-fartsy.
Aperture priority basically means that you can focus on an object and it will blur the background for those artsy-fartsy shots that many picture-snappers aim for. See?
Since I live 5 minutes away from an international landmark, I drove 5 minutes and took some pictures last night.
Yup, it’s all a “Special Driving Zone” here…
Toll Plaza, where you pay to enter San Francisco. Is it worth it?
And the one sign that should be plastered on all sidewalks…
Public Service
I found this entry on National Geographic Traveler and found it important enough to share:
2. Trash your “cookies,” small files (stored in your Internet browser) that record the websites you surf—and the transactions you make. Say you go online and purchase a $200 plane ticket from Chicago to Omaha. The next time you visit that site, you could be quoted a higher rate than what’s actually available because of your spending history. Avoid this problem by deleting these files each time you log on; detailed instructions can be found under the “Help” option in your browser menu.
Now the cookie thing is common knowledge if you’ve been on the internet for any length of time. However, as (occasionally) blur as I can get, I didn’t think that the airlines would use purchasing history AGAINST you…
The most expensive part of my travel is usually airfare. I generally dun stay at fancy schmancy hotels at my destination (because that’s money best spent on FOOD and Booze); rather I stay at hostels for both the experience and economy. Don’t get me wrong, I looove fancy schmancy hotels. But unless I’m planning a rendezvous of some sort, the money spent on a fancy schmancy hotel is better used for food. And booze. And cigars.
So long entry short, delete your cookies in your browser before you do any kind of airfare hunt.
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