RAW vs JPEG Shooting

Warning: Camera geek post below. If you do not know what either RAW or JPEG is, then you probably should ignore this post.

A few months ago, a friend and I were discussing the tremendous size that RAW files can take up for storage. We were both feeling overwhelmed by the amount of photos we were taking and the amount of demand from our wives (who like to scrapbook) for JPEG files that they need to be able to upload and order them. For both of us, the majority of the reason we shoot in RAW is because of the tremendous flexibility that it gives you for processing the photo later on the computer. Shooting in JPEG allows the camera to do most of the image processing, and leaves you with little room for corrections or changes without degrading the quality of the image. Essentially, if you're going to shoot any images in the JPEG format, you're probably not planning on doing any processing to the photo after you get it on your computer.

We both agreed that it was probably in our best interests to shoot both RAW for our own fine art work, and then JPEG for more informal events such as family get-togethers, etc. This would ensure that we can keep up with our insane amount of storage needed for our photos (JPEG's are smaller than RAW files), and allow us to make the photos our wives would want readily available for their scrapbooking.

So the other day I decided that I would shoot our entire visit to the National Zoo in the JPEG format, which would allow me to shoot more photos (since they take up less space on the memory card), and since I figured that we'd be outside most of the time with good lighting. Needless to say, I was both right and wrong. I only shot about 100 photos (yes, that's not much for me), so even had I shot in RAW, I would have had plenty of room on the memory card. I ran into many situations where the light was less than ideal, and I ended up regretting it when I had to go through my images and try to correct them. Some shots were taken indoors where a flash would have ruined the photo and other settings would have caused me too much blur. Thus, I had to underexpose a few images. Generally, if you shoot in RAW you can lighten the underexposed images enough to fix the photo. JPEG is nowhere near as forgiving. I ended up having to discard several images that were good shots, but too dark in important areas.

On the bright side of this story is that because I was limited in what I could do in JPEG for processing, my processing time on the computer was much shorter, and many of the images came out great without needing much help. In any case, I think that the conclusion is that from now on, I'm going to give up on JPEG shooting unless I have no choice. The lack of control over my post-processing options makes me a little nervous in thinking that that one great image I may one day get might be tanked due a complicated lighting or color issue that could have been easily been adjusted in RAW.

Those Crazy Google People!

As usual, Google comes out with an April Fool's joke every year. This year its centered around Gmail, Google's web e-mail service. Basically, its advertising a new feature where you can send your e-mails and change the time that they were sent, to make it look like you sent it days, weeks, or even years ago. My favorite part of the whole thing are the testimonials to the right. Particularly, this quote:

"I used to be an honest person; but now I don't have to be. It's just so much easier this way. I've gained a lot of productivity by not having to think about doing the 'right' thing."

Todd J., Investment Banker

Here's the link to check it out yourself:

http://mail.google.com/mail/help/customtime/index.html

Dear Windows Vista...

Dear Windows Vista,

We've been together for over a year now and it has been quite an interesting relationship. Since day one you've done your little song and dance. You've bragged about your new features and improvements to me. You've shown me that you can run as reliably as the other guy. I was almost impressed.

Then one day you decided that you couldn't live with some of my friends. You scoffed at my printer when I just wanted him to work with us both. You told me that you'd not ever plan on being friends with some of my favorite applications that the OS in my previous relationship got along with so well.

You've also decided to nag me constantly when all I wanted to do was my normal routine. You are so paranoid about the simplest of security issues. It's practically all you think about. Then there was the day that you let me down completely. I was attempting to help some people at work with their networking problems. You did all that you could to confuse me and complicate everything. You haven't costed me my job, but I'm thinking that if things continue with you, my reputation at work might be jeopardized.

You are so demanding. You want the best computers and you require so much more than anyone else. You are already getting ready for major therapy for a bunch of issues. Rumor has it that the therapy could make you worse.

It is therefore sad that I have to end this relationship. I gave you months to change. I waited for you to get along and I tried to get used to your idiosyncrasies but to no avail. Therefore, I've decided that its time for us to go our separate ways. I was much happier with my last OS. He might have been a little clumsy with security, and maybe he doesn't have your bells and whistles, but he's reliable for me and he never complains. Don't take it personally. Okay, maybe you should. We're through.

-Albert

CMOS or CCD? Which is King?

(Nerdy photography technical topic alert! Please skip this post if you don't care about this stuff)


I find it curious to know whether or not it is valuable to go to CMOS over CCD. I've not really gotten a clear message from previous sources on what is the best technology for the digital image. However, I think that the following article does a good job of shedding some light on the subject. Read on if you're curious:

http://www.news.com/8301-13580_3-9860021-39.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-5

My side job as an Apple Evangelist

Well, I wouldn't exactly say I'm and evangelist, I guess. However, I've already given 3 recommendations to people to buy a Mac when they asked my advice on getting another computer. One person actually took my advice and came walking into work two days later with a new MacBook and a big smile on their face. Fast-forward one week and the smile is still there and she's pushing her own evangelism for Steve Jobs around the place.

Despite our family's switch to a Mac about 2 months ago, I can't say that I've been blown away by the system. It pretty much does the same thing that my PC did. Other than not worrying about viruses anymore, which wasn't a huge concern anyways, I'd have to say that the adjustment to our computing life might even be a bit more annoying than when we were with our PC. The new computing platform requires learning how to do similar things somewhat differently.

So why have I been recommending Macs? I think that its the confidence in their reliability and the fact that most people with limited computer knowledge will find them a bit less daunting to use. These days, Macs can do most anything a PC can, without the issues of antivirus software, spyware, and hardware compatibility issues (unless you have my luck). Another reason that I now recommend a Mac is because I have one, and am feeling a bit more confident about answering questions about them.

This doesn't mean that I've given up on the PC. I actually still think that people with a tad more experience using PC's should stick with it if they've got a lot of software commitments to Microsoft, or if they don't want the restricted hardware options and prices that Apple offers.

A link to share

Well, Its been almost a week and I'm anticipating the arrival of our new Mac Mini tomorrow sometime. Interestingly, I ordered some items from Newegg.com on the same day and they've been here for about 4 days now. Go figure. As for preparations, I've been reading some Mac info here and there trying to ready myself for the switch. I even dove into creating my own external backup drive. I made a nice discovery last night about my spare hard drive that I had. I went in to format it to FAT32 so that it would be Mac read/write compatible, when I noticed that it was not 80 GB in size, but rather, 160 GB in size (half of it was never formatted or partitioned).

Okay, since I'm going totally geeky with this post, I might as well share a funny link that a student of mine discovered for me. Its a link to a never-before released operating system by Microsoft. Check it out and see for yourself:

http://www.deanliou.com/winrg/

Safari Redemption and other Browser thoughts

Recently I've been surveying the whole gambit of alternative web browsers, in an effort to see if any of the competition (besides IE and Firefox) has been doing any improvements since my last survey. Here is what I've found:

  Opera 9 just doesn't get it. They pack a ton of features, they've slimmed down their browser's default settings so that you are not bombarded with stuff, but they still run into the same site incompatibilities that they've always had with sites. Their only benefit is the speed of their browser, but fractions of a second in browsing are not an equal trade to so many site compatibility issues.

Maxthon 2, a clone to IE seemed like a viable alternative. It comes with every feature under the sun for browsing, and most of them are way too overkill. Without getting too detailed on the features, let's just say that I use a browser to surf the web and too many bells and whistles just takes up space and gets in the way. Needless to say, compatibility is great, since they run on the IE7 engine. However, before I could declare anything good, I got into a situation where I had a random error which opened up hundreds of empty tabs and gobbled up 765 MB  of system memory with no remedy to fix it (other than killing the active task). This is a major no-no for me. If its not a beta, then somebody  needs to fix their junk.

Earlier in the year, I gave a look to Apple's new release of Safari. At the time, I found it pretty decent, but had some site compatibility issues that I couldn't get around so easily. Thankfully, I found that Apple has been working on them and I found very few sites that gave me problems. The speed is rivaling of Opera, which lends it to be a better alternative. In fact, I'm writing this post on Safari for windows right now. Its doing a fine job, but I'll continue to test it throughout the week to see if I'm convinced. 

Overall, I think that Safari has the advantage for anyone considering looking for something that is not IE or Firefox. I still hesitate to give it any advantage over Firefox, when you consider the expandability of Firefox. However, some people don't have time to tinker with add-ons and such. If that is the case, you may want Safari.

Make That "Extra Cheese", Please.

Not that I should be surprised, but we've come a long way when it comes to ordering a pizza. I guess we're still using a phone, at least.

Text message your Papa John's Pizza order

Apple's Safari Browser for the PC (Beta) Review

Last night I decided to see what Apple had to offer with their new Safari Browser. From what I've heard from Mac users, Safari is less of a resource hog than Mozilla Firefox on the Mac, and it also seems to load pages a lot quicker. The download took no time at all, nor did the installation. However, like all Apple products for the PC, it simply has to install at least one other piece of software on your machine that you didn't ask for. In this case, it was the "Apple Product Update" and "Bonjour". I believe that these pieces were optional, but still, the point is that you get nagged to install them anyways.

To apple's credit, the browser certainly was fast. I felt like my internet connection increased significantly as pages rendered and loaded quite well. The interface was weird. Apple certainly went to great pains in making the Safari Browser look a lot like OSX's platinum theme. Using their browser in full-screen view made you think that you were on a Mac, with the buttons and animated features working seamlessly as you surfed. I found it quite annoying for some of its functions with tabs and configurations, but that's probably stemming from years of Firefox and IE. It was something that was going to take some getting used to. At least I had tabbed browsing.

Installing plug-ins was not that difficult to do, but unless you scoured the download page or did some decent Google searching, you were out of luck. Also, a lot of pages weren't ready to distinguish between Safari Plug-ins for the Mac and ones for the PC. What's more, some of the so-called "plug-ins" were actually full versions of the software.. This left me with stuff I didn't want, like Adobe Acrobat Reader 8, which is one of the chunkiest pieces of software out there (The install was about 123 MB once installed).

My favorite remote PC access site Logmein.com didn't work so well. For some reason, after installing the Java Plugin, restarting, and various other attempts didn't fix the issue. I was forced each time to use the HTML implementation which is way too annoying for anyone.

Then came the killer. I was browsing randomly and ready other forums and reviews on Safari when I noted that one article mentioned something about memory usage. I had known that Firefox has had issues with memory management, but these days, things were much better than originally. The article prompted me to check out my memory usage from Safari. After spitting out my drink in a spray all over my desk and picking myself up off of the floor, I looked again at what the memory monitor said: 131MB of memory used (and counting). That was rediculous. More than 10 percent of my system memory (1024MB) was being used up by Safari with just one tab opened. Despite its speediness, that's enough to take a toll on any system. I feel bad for the poor chap who has 512 or even 256MB on their system trying to run this thing.

With that revelation, I quickly uninstalled the browser from my machine. It was clear that the glaring issue was the system memory usage. And with LogMeIn not working so well, I could find little to justify using it in day-to-day use for my job.

In conclusion, the Apple Safari browser is a slick and snappy program. It has available plug-ins for the typical browsing needs such as Flash and Java and even Media Player. However, the interface is not too configurable, the tabbed browsing can be tiring when compared with Firefox or even IE7. Lastly, the fact that it eats system resources for lunch make it not too great of a browser for less-equipped PCs with less than a gig of memory. Thankfully, Apple can punt to "Beta" as a good excuse for these things. It is noticeable, however, that anything that Apple tries port over to the PC (such as iTunes) proves to be less than stellar. Nice try Apple, but it's not ready quite yet.

The Linux Dilemna

Besides the obvious factor of being a computer geek, there is some mysterious appeal to learn and use an operating system other than Microsoft Windows. Am I against using Microsoft Windows? Not really. Most of what I know and understand about computers has come from learning it in a Windows environment. I guess I'm curious to know how the other half lives. Recently, we've been toying with the idea of possibly running Ubuntu Linux on the computers in the elementary lab. This idea is mainly motivated by the idea of saving a lot of money, as well as giving a chance to an open source alternative.

So what is the dilemma? The dilemma has a lot to do with the support and maintenance of Linux. As well as the unpredictability of what could go wrong. What if the printer stops working? What if certain well-used programs don't work? What if our web-filtering software is not compatible? What if I die in a tragic blimp accident and they don't have anyone else who even remotely can figure out the mess I've made using Linux? These questions keep me away. Admittedly, I've been using Ubuntu Linux on my home desktop and my work laptop for about 2 weeks now and I'm really content with it. Only rarely do I find any need to boot into Windows for the use of Internet Explorer or Picasa2 (it runs so slowly in linux for me). Would I recommend Ubuntu Linux to others? Sure. Would I use it in my school's elementary lab this coming year...probably not. Not yet, at least.

The scary thing about computers.

Have you ever seen those "end of the world" movies where the computers crash and pandemonium breaks out and people start raiding stores, etc.? Yesterday I was going through the self-checkout of the local grocery store when the kiosk I was using crashed on me. Suddenly, I noticed that other people had concerned looks on their faces. As I scanned the faces of the cashiers, I realized that their machines had crashed. It was then that the manager called all of the store staff to the front of the building and was giving them frantic instructions. This was going on, of course while the lines were beginning to build with confused customers with huge piles of groceries.

There was an announcement made that they were experiencing a computer issue and it would be fixed momentarily. Well, 10 minutes later it was still not fixed. I overhead one employee tell another that not only had the store's computers gone offline, but the entire chain of grocery stores in the area were experiencing the exact same problem at the exact same time. Needless to say, I had to get back to work, so I left my stuff and walked out.

This experience kind of woke me up to the reality of how much of what we do everyday is relied upon the use of computers. If ever a Y2K situation ever occurred, I think we'd be seeing a major catastrophe. Humans have been too conditioned and dependent on machines for operating in every day life. Kind of scary.

Entry for 12/20/06

I saw this article today which stated that Firefox's share in the browser market slipped slightly from last quarter. To be honest, I'm not surprised. I've been using IE7 occasionally, and I'd have to say, other than the annoying ads it seems to still allow, it seems to be quite a nice browser in comparison to IE6.



In other news, with windows Vista now on the horizon and scheduled for launch on January 30th of 2007, I will be soon ordering a copy for evaluation. Our school is building a new facility which will have two computer labs. We'll be equipping each lab with new machines and, if Vista turns out to be decent, new operating systems as well. It should be quite an interesting adventure this summer, as we try and take partial occupancy of the new building with our high school.

Post for 5/23/06

So I've flip-flopped once again to Mozilla Firefox 1.5.0.3. I was enjoying using Maxthon as my browser of choice. However, the ever-growing list of extensions for firefox has wooed me back as usual. One of those extensions, in fact, is how I write this blog entry. A very convenient integrated blogging utility called Performancing.

Anyways, here's a link to a cool piece of software called visual task tips. It allows you to enjoy a future feature of Windows vista, where you can hover your mouse over the open program buttons in your taskbar and get a small thumbnail of what the program looks like. This becomes really useful when you have a lot of windows open at once: Visual Task Tips Web Site

If you are into photography, particuarly digital photography, and would like to learn more about some neat tips and suggestions to bring out your camera's ability, as well as your own. Check out this blog: Digital Photography School

Anybody looking for some great tools for organization that are available online, I've been finding my life to be extremely productive with the following tools:

Gmail: an online e-mail client thats quick, easy, well-organized, and holds 2 Gigs of e-mails.

Google Calendar (GCal): Possibly the best online calendar application I've ever seen. It allows additons of multiple calendars, e-mail, sms, and popup notifications, daily agenda e-mails, etc.

Tada list: this is a recent application I've found useful in helping me to manage my work projects. Its as simple as it gets for a ToDo list, and its free (just like the above applications).

There are other online applications that I've found either useful or beneficial to me. I'll share more about them later in another posting. What about you? Are there any online (web-based) applications that you rely on for productivity and organization? Feel free to share.

Is there anything about this article that bothers you?

This article kind of bothers me. I just don't think we need to get this crazy about technology for churches. It just seems like its taking things a little "over the top".

Another Firefox Experience/Experiment

As usual, I'm "testing" out Firefox again. The reason being is that the extensions just keep getting better. It seems that many more websites are becoming more compliant as well. I will be attempting to use it as my standard browser over the next month and I'll give an update then.

For now, I can report that I've run into some issues that I had thought were initially belonging to Firefox, but actually could be attributed to some of the extensions that I had installed. This extension made websited load funny or not at all, and basically took away the cursor when I clicked in any textbox on a form. Very weird. It seems as though the crappy memory hogging issues are still there. From what I've read so far, the 1.5 series of releases has caused a lot of dissappointments among Firefox enthusiasts in relation to the memory issues and stability overall. The good news for them is that a newer version is already in Alpha, so perhaps it will redeem these issues a bit.

On a final note about this. I've decided to do my experiment using "Portable Firefox 1.5.0.2" rather than the regular one. This way, its easier to restore it if an extension messes things up.

Entry for 4-5-06

Here's a good idea, being implemented terribly.

Movies to be available for downloading and owning

Begin Rants and Info:

-From what I've been told, its April. But it seems that somebody didn't get the memo, because I had to drive to work in violent snow squalls this morning. I've thought of a new name for Pennsylvania that will suit us better: Canada.

- I bought a 19" LCD viewsonic Monitor for my computer. All I can say is "WOW!". After using a refurbished 17" CRT monitor with scratches on the screen that I found on eBay for about 4 years now, this is a nice upgrade.

- Never underestimate the benefits and luxuries of spending a little money on a comfortable computer mouse.

-If you keep a baby in the bathtub long enough, they WILL poop.

-Don't you hate when you have a pile of money and...nevermind, that never happens to me.

End Rants and Info:

Notes:

All 1.75 of you who actually read my blog might wonder why I really only post tech news articles on here. The reason, in my opinion, is because tech news usually doesn't depress me and make me feel paranoid about plane trips and government corruption. I like to keep my life happy, so introducing it to too much politics or stories of exploitation and crime in our world just brings a brother down. To that end i try to stay on top of things where I'm more qualified to make an opinion.

4-6-06 Edit

Uhh...Because this is EXACTLY what I want to do with excess toilet water:

http://www.realgoods.com/shop/shop2.cfm?dp=205&ts=6020334

Here is a good FAQ I found on running windows on a Mac...the trendiest thing going these days for geeks:
http://news.com.com/FAQ+Windows+on+Macs/2100-1016_3-6058163.html?tag=st.prev

What I find interesting is how much emphasis people put on "support" for windows xp...give me a break. This operating system has been around forever. If you need "support" for windows xp, then you either have not operated a computer in the past 5 years, or you have no idea what you are doing. Not once in my entire life did I ever consider, or know anyone else who has considered calling "windows technical support". There are so many forums, FAQ's and all-around windows "experts" freely available that it doesn't make sense to need support for such a tried and true OS. Just weird, in my opinion.

Attack [on] the Mac!!!

Here are two very interesting articles about Mac Security and the recent attacks against them. Although it looks like Macs are still safer, it also looks like people are now starting to turn their attention over to the challenge of exploiting this undiscovered territory of Mac vulnerabilities. Both very good articles by Larry Seltzer of eWeek.

http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,1928716,00.asp

http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,1916535,00.asp

Entry for 2/16/06

This article touches on something that is so very, very true about communication over the internet.
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,70179-0.html?tw=rss.index

Optical Illusions are pretty cool. These pictures take that to a whole different level with using simple paint in the right places:
http://www.2loop.com/3drooms.html

A Lot of people don't even know how to drive their cars, and yet somehow we feel compelled in inventing technology so that they can fly them???
http://news.com.com/StudentsCatCMITCgiveCflyingCcarCaCshot/2100-11389_3-6040007.html?tag=nefd.top

Finally, I heard this morning that last night's episode of American Idol received much better ratings than the Winter Olympics. Not a surprise really. Americans want to be entertained. They want to be entertained when THEY want it. Not when the network wants it. NBC holds up all of the good coverage until later on in the evening, and after most people have exhausted their ability to stay up. Add that to the fact that the results are easily discovered on the internet or the local news. Not much entertainment coming from the Olympics with all of that against it.