Finally some images!
February 3rd, 2008I’ve finally got Aperture working, and have just started doing some edits. You’ll be seeing more and more images appear on Flickr this afternoon and tonight.
I’m a little bit disappointed with some of my images - a few of them aren’t as sharp and in focus as they could have been, but there’s a few that are great. Hopefully I’ll grab some great ones this afternoon during the feature race.
Here’s one of my favourite images from the bunch I took yesterday.
-james
Sunshine, Rain and Computer Problems @ Eastern Creek
February 3rd, 2008You could almost say that I was in Melbourne with the weather I’ve experienced today. On the grid before the sprint race, the sun was shining and the weather was quite hot. 30 minutes later, the rain started as large grey clouds covered the circuit, and it hasn’t stopped since.
Here’s a shot of the weather, taken with the camera in my Nokia mobile.
To make my day even more uneventful, I’ve had problems with Aperture (my photo management software). I’m trying to download the update that should fix it at the moment - but until then, I’m stuck with not being able to edit any of the photos that I took yesterday and today.
Hopefully, you’ll see some photos appearing on my Flickr account before the feature race at 2pm!
-james
Coming to you live from the Australian A1GP
February 2nd, 2008
Currently, I’m sitting in the media room at the Australian A1Gp at Eastern Creek International Raceway, Sydney. We’re about 15 minutes away from the first of four qualifying sessions, before the two races tomorrow.
Expect to get some posts about results and some of my favourite shots over the next 30 hours or so.Unfortunately, my MacBook is still in the shop, so I’m working on my PowerBook. I’ll be installing Aperture on it tonight when I get home, so expect some photos late tonight AEST.
Right now though, I’m going to grab some more of the great, healthy food they’ve got here, and then catch the shuttle bus to find a good spot trackside to grab some shots! I’ll write more after qualifying!
-james
My technology week from hell
January 31st, 2008So, usually I love technology. Usually I rant and rave about how it makes my life easier and how I’m able to do so many great things with technology that my friends just can’t understand.
Not this week.
Last weekend, I went back home for the Australia Day long weekend, which was fantastic — catching up with friends and family for the last time before I’ll head back to Uni. While I was away, I did some package updates on my server in Sydney which I use as a Network Attached Storage (NAS) device, as well as an internal VoIP server. Primarily I updated some NFS (networked file system) packages, thinking that it was the right thing to do — of course which it usually is.
When I returned back to Sydney, my MacBook died on the Monday I returned within hours of me walking in the door. .Mac, which is temperamental at the best of times, failed to sync my iCal calendars properly (while successfully syncing everything else), so I’ve got no recent copy of my calendars — which has left me without any idea of what I’m specifically doing this week.
So, I’ve been using my old PowerBook G4 as a portable machine once again. Unfortunately though, my NFS server has broken (due to what I think is the package updates I did) and so iTunes doesn’t work because my entire library is stored on my NAS which has made it difficult to listen to my favourite podcasts and downloading music from the iTunes store.
Right now, I’m waiting for people who are smarter than I, to write back to my posts in the great linuxquestions.org forums. My MacBook is in the AppleCentre Service Department at Broadway (thank goodness for the 1 year warranty with all Apple products), and I probably won’t get it back for a few weeks judging by the experience of a friend who took his MacPro in to the same centre recently.
At least I’m not totally cut off from the world - my PowerBook is still going strong, even with a short battery life these days. Hopefully, I’ll be able to post in a week and thank a whole bunch of people from LQ’s and the AppleCentre for their support - but right now, I’ll just sit tight and hope for the best.
-james
What Tech I got in 2007
December 23rd, 2007I could have called this post What Tech I Purchased in 2007 but strangely enough, I didn’t purchase all that much. However, thanks to the job I got with Apple throughout the Spring semester, I was in receipt of a lot of products that I now get to keep, even though I am currently not working for them. I am not including items I’ve received as gifts though — and I don’t think I got any major tech gifts this year anyway.
Purchased: Canon 400D DSLR Twin Lens Kit +430EX Flash Unit
I quickly outgrew the Panasonic FZ5 point and shoot that I purchased in late 2005. While the FZ5 was (and still is) a great camera, I had a number of complaints with it. My 400D has solved all of those problems and more and I have greatly enjoyed using it. It’s also bought me some unpaid photography work and allowed me to build up my portfolio.
I purchased the 430EX late this year to make sure I got some great shots on the red carpet at the ARIA awards. I’ve been using it ever since, but I don’t take it everywhere I go. On short trips I’ll usually just take my body and 18-55mm lens as it fits in the camera bag I originally purchased for my FZ5 perfectly.
Received: Black MacBook 2.16Ghz/1GB RAM (+ Extra RAM Upgrade)
I can’t really speak highly enough of this machine. It’s small and hence light and portable, powerful and it’s got a number of great features that weren’t included on my G4 PowerBook like the built-in iSight camera. A couple of downfalls on this machine though is that it has the mini-DVI port that Apple uses on most of its products, which means that I needed to buy 3 different (DVI, VGA, S-Video) $40 adapters for when I do presentations, and no Firewire 800 port.
I upgraded the RAM in my MacBook from 1GB (standard) to 2GB and doubled the RAM in my PowerBook to 1GB at the same time. The extra RAM helps programs like Aperture run great, and multitasking a breeze — especially with Spaces in Leopard. I got the ram from macsales.com and while it took a while for the product to ship, their prices are some of the best I’ve seen - significantly beating Australian prices even after shipping costs.
Purchased: Apple Wireless Keyboard
Shortly before receiving my new MacBook, I started to make the move to turn my old G4 PowerBook into a pernament desktop machine. To save clutter (despite still having far too much of it), I purchased the now, previous generation, Apple Bluetooth keyboard. Having my PowerBook setup as a desktop with the keyboard and a Griffin laptop stand has made my experience at my desk far more enjoyable. I’d highly recommend getting a laptop stand and keyboard/mouse combination for anyone who uses a laptop for long periods at a desk.
Received: 5th Generation iPod (80GB)
When I got the new iPod I was still pretty satisfied with my 4th Gen U2 iPod that had served me well since mid last year when I got a new one under warranty. The U2 iPod wasn’t full, not even close, and I really didn’t have any intention on filling it - I had a decent amount of music and podcasts that kept me happy on my reasonably long commutes to Uni each day.
Looking back, I think I could still be using my U2 iPod, but having the 5th gen has certainly given me a lot more flexibility in the way I listen to, and now watch, the media I have on my computers back at home. I’ve taken a lot of my DVD’s and ripped them to an iPod compatbile format so I can watch movies, concerts and TV shows on commutes back to Newcastle and other long distances and podcasts like Diggnation when I’m going into Uni. Previous to doing this I’d get the laptop out and watch them on the much larger screen. I miss doing that sometimes, and I think I’ll be in the market for a 16GB iPhone should Apple release one in Australia next year, just to have the wider screen.
Received: Pro Apps
Originally, I didn’t intend on getting Final Cut Studio 2 as part of the gear I got from my job with Apple, but we treated as a bit of an experiment to see how well that the apps would run on my MacBook. Both Aperture and FCS2 have been a great addition to my workflow for my photography and video production. Aperture has proved a fantastic upgrade from iPhoto which was suffering significantly with images from my 400D in terms of performance. It runs really well on my MacBook, and it’s certainly proved useful when I’ve done large events.
Final Cut Studio 2 was a great upgrade from Final Cut Pro 5 and Motion 2 which I had previously and included some new features that made my life when editing so much easier. My favourite feature of FCS2 is the use of Master Templates from Motion to Final Cut and the tighter integration between all the studio apps.
Received: iWork ‘08, iLife ‘08 and OS 10.5 Leopard
All 3 of these products have been covered extensively elsewhere on the internet, so I don’t feel I really need to say how much I’ve enjoyed having all these bundles. I actually haven’t used iLife all that much because I’ve got the pro replacements for all the apps, but I have used Garage Band to record and produce some podcasts, mainly because it’s so darn simple to use.
Numbers within the iWork package hasn’t completely won me over yet and I’m seriously considering re-installing Excel because I’m so used to it. Since TextEdit in Leopard can open and save Word docs (to a limited degree) I don’t really need MS Word, and Keynote has always been my replacement to PowerPoint since when I first got my PowerBook.
Purchased: Shuttle PC (Intel P4 2.8Ghz, 512MB RAM, dual 10/100 Ethernet)
I originally purchased this great little box to act as just a VoIP server, and it has actually turned out to be a great little Network Attached Storage (NAS) box. I’m still going to turn it into a VoIP server one day (It’s running trixbox, with a load of extra custom packages installed on top) - but I’ve got to upgrade my internet connection to make the best use of a VoIP service.
So in the mean time, this shuttle working hard as a NAS with 2x 120GB drives and one 184GB partition shared across the network as NFS exports. This works great with my Macs and I now run my entire iTunes library on my PowerBook straight off the NAS — I just have it automount on boot to ~/Music. As well as storing copies of all my DVD’s so I can play them up stairs on my laptop without needing to grab the disc, I use the Shuttle to store uncompressed DV exports out of Final Cut Pro so I can run compression software over them on my MacBook which does the job significantly faster than anything my PowerBook would ever be able to handle. Unfortunately, when I get around to purchasing a Gigabit Ethernet card the most it will be able to push through is 130Mb/s due to the bandwidth limitations on an non-express PCI slot.
Purchased: LaCie d2 320GB External Disk Drive
I wrote about this purchase back in July and it’s been working hard ever since. It now accompanies the Shuttle in working as storage for files that I don’t need access to that often, as well as the capture scratch for Final Cut Pro. I might buy another one of these in the new year to work with Time Machine, but for the moment I’ve got a copy of most of my documents on my PowerBook and my MacBook so I don’t really have the need.
I’ll be interested to see what I get for Christmas now. Here’s a few things on my list I’d like for Christmas, or I’ll seriously consider buying in the new year:
- In-ear Monitors (probably a pair of Shure’s) because I’m damaging my ears with wearing my Sony cans on the bus which don’t do a terribly great job at blocking out extra sound.
- A new mouse for my desktop setup to replace the Apple puck (circa 1998 mouse) that I’ve got. I’m currently looking at the Logitech MX Revolution.
- More storage: I’m going to buy some new SATA drives for my NAS and another external drive from LaCie.
Feel free to write in the comments about what you’ve purchased in 2007 and what you’re hoping for Christmas, or looking at getting in the year to come!
- james
Spring 2007 Semester Results
December 19th, 2007In the wee hours of this morning (like, 12:01am), I checked my results for my previous semester at Uni and was pleasantly happy with how I did.
Somehow I think I should have got more in Internetwork Design than I think I did, so I’m going to have a word to the subject co-ordinator about that. I’m also a little disappointed with my result in Photography 1 - as I was sitting on a HD mark for the first 3 assessments (worth 15% each), so I must have messed up in the written assessment, and the final assessment.
But, I passed everything - and while a credit in AIT would have been awesome (especially because that subject was one of the worst I’ve done), I’m counting my blessings that I was able to get through everything without failing. My uni results seem to be getting better and better as I go through!
- james
Operator Please live @ the Basement
December 19th, 2007I was lucky enough, last night, to get a ticket to see Australian act Operator Please at The Basement in Sydney. The night totally went off and I was able to get some awesome shots. Here’s just a couple from the night, and of course you can find the rest at my flickr account at http://www.flickr.com/photos/jameskirsop/.
Operator Please were totally cool to talk to too! They stayed around and chatted with the fans and did photos and I got a signed set list (by everyone except Ash and Sarah - who was sick), and a drum stick from Timmy.
- james
Apple partners with Quiksilver for free iTunes
November 29th, 2007Recently, in the TRACKS surfing magazine I was interested to find the following iTunes card bundled inside the front cover.
Previously, I’d only ever seen cards like these at the Back-to-Uni promotions that Apple runs at Uni Campuses around the country. Apple and Quiksilver created a unique partnership here where both companies gain exposure, but also have allowed me to find some really great music, for free. While I don’t like all of the 17 tracks that came with the iTunes card, some of them are great listening material and certainly worth the $0.00 I payed for them (minus for the broadband connection of course).
I think partnerships like these are an exciting prospect for the future of the iTunes store, especially as it increasingly moves into the iTunes Plus - non DRM space (which, incidentally, I’m loving more and more). My guess is that the typical reader of Tracks magazine is not a typical iTunes, or computer user, and this deal is a great hook to get people interested in purchasing music online.
Click on the image for a larger screen shot of the iTunes store Quiksilver checkout page.
I’m curious to know if Apple and other partners will create more opportunities like these. I’m wondering who paid for the music that I, and many others, downloaded. Apple probably made this deal a loss-leader but I’m not sure what Quiksilver did to get this deal - maybe just promotion of their DVD or maybe just brand awareness.
Regardless, free music is great, especially when it is as easy as typing in a short code to get.
-james
My favourite new feature in Keynote
September 21st, 2007I finally got my MacBook the other day (Pics of my new setup coming soon), and straight away installed iWork ‘08. I’m very excited that I can now use my Apple remote (the one that’s used for Front Row) with Keynote to jump slides. You can also quickly return to a previous slide, or jump ahead in slides with the menu button, which is a great feature. Yes, I know you’ve been able to do this with 3rd party apps, but it’s great to see Apple’s built it in.
My 2nd favourite feature is the ability to set in and out points for audio/video - so I no longer have to go and edit a video to get the portion I want.
Stay tuned for pics of my new hardware/software soon!!
- james
Review: Windows Remote Desktop Client for Mac 2.0 (beta)
August 28th, 2007As many mac users would know (even though we hate to admit it) there are sometimes where we need to run a Windows based application. Most recently for me, this has been the application to submit my tax return to the government. For recent mac purchasers, this problem has been solved with solutions like Boot Camp, Parallels and Fusion, but for old-timers like me who haven’t made the switch to an Intel based mac yet, we still have to have a Windows PC around or go through the painful virtulisation software that is available to run Windows on our PowerPC CPU’s.
However, there’s one other solution that has been great for me, and that is the ability to use my Windows based PC (back in my parents house) remotely through the Remote Desktop Server/Client setup. Thankfully, Microsoft has recently released a beta of the client, which offers quite a few new features over the previous version, and a couple of things that I’d like to see changed.
Universal Binary
This is really a no brainer, but an important step-up from the PowerPC only version that preceeded the new beta.
Built for the Mac
Unlike the previous version (1.6), the 2.0 beta has been intergrated nicely with the Mac OS X user interface and experience. There’s now an option to go Full Screen, and like in DVD player, the menu bar pops out when you place your cursor at the top of the screen to allow you to drop back to the normal size. You can also resize the window and the remote desktop will scale accordingly.
The added functionality of a preference pane, and the inclusion of the default shortcut of Cmd+, is also worth a mention. Within the preferences, they’ve grouped everything under tabs, similar to the previous iteration of the software, but with far more added functionality. The keyboard mapping feature has been updated and makes for a Mac to Windows transition a breeze.
The brand new Preferences pane which adds some great functionality to the RDC client.
Keyboard Mapping features
A new Connection Window
While a minor change, the new connection window has taken receipt of a new Vista-like graphic. Unfortunately, it looses the ‘Options’ disclosure triange which allowed for a user to quickly change the information about the connection they were about to establish. This selection has been moved to the Preferences pane, but it would have been nice to see it in both locations for better ease of use.
The old Remote Desktop Connection Window
A refreshed RDC 2.0 (beta) screen.
As you can see above, Microsoft has followed Apple’s lead with the UI design by doing away with the brushed metal look and going for the gradient look now found in iTunes and several other Mac applications.
Other Features
Microsoft also claims a host of other features, most of which I haven’t been able to try out but some are worth a mention here.
- Multiple Sessions
Lets you connect to multiple Windows-based computers at the same time. - Improved Printing Support
- Remote Desktop Protocol 6.0
Allows for connections to Windows Vista machines
Stability
Despite being a beta product, I’ve found this version to be very stable. I’ve only had one crash which occourred when I closed the connected session window by clicking on the red button at the top left corner of the window. The scaling works extremely well, and moving from window to full screen view makes for no trouble at all. Microsoft seems to have worked hard on this, all-be-it light weight, application, making sure that stability hasn’t been compromised with the addition of more Mac like features that the end-user will no doubt take advantage of.
If you’ve used the RDC client for Mac in the past, I highly recommend you get the latest beta. It’s a much needed overhaul to a robust application that has served me very well over the past 2 and a half years since I first got my PowerBook. The RDC Client for Mac beta is available from Mactopia at http://www.microsoft.com/mac/.
- james