Okay ... long time no post. :)
It is October. 2005. I'm in USA for a month. Austin, TX. Should be back home in a week or so from now.
Austin is not a very large city - seems small compared to Atlanta, GA - that I visited in the year 2000. Wide open spaces and temperatures ranging from 10 degrees celsius to 42 degrees celsius in a single day. Very, very unpredictable weather - we had a summer, a winter and rains all in a couple of days - however all extremes within Pune limits. So wasn't much of a problem.
The thing that struck me first was ... how little of a change the US has seen since the year 2000.
Malls ... roads, shops ... hell even Walmart is the same as it was 5 years ago. After seeing this, I find it easy to appreciate the -phenomenal- rate at which India is moving ahead.
A very old lady - probably in her eighties came over to me in H.E.B (a grocery store) and asked me - why is it that Indians are taking away their jobs - and if it was really true that China will be surpassing the US in every by 2015!
Monday, October 17, 2005
Thursday, July 21, 2005
a first look at the 350D + Canon EF-S kit lens
Got the 350D+ Kit lens from jj mehta (run by a nice chap - kartik mehta) in mumbai.
47k for the body+kit lens+2year Canon India warranty, and 5.9k for a Sandisk Extreme III IGB CF card.
Also am getting a Canon 50mm f/1.8 prime lens tomorrow. (-the- BEST glass you can get for the price of 5k. period.)
First few observations:
The sensor gives amazingly crisp and silky smooth image texture as compared to anything else I've ever seen yet.
The kit lens is a huge let-down .... since I'm coming from the Schneider Kreuznach Variogon on the Kodak 6490 - believe me ... I just realized that the 6490 cost breakup is like 25k = 20k for the 38-380mm lens and around 5k for the body+sensor+other electronics. (now the 6490 costs around 18k)
The kit lens is a Canon 18-55mm EF-S II f/3.5 - f/5.6. This lens does not allow enough light for good indoor photos in low light as compared to the Schneider Variogon on the kodak. I can open up the Variogon up to f/2.8 even at - say - 200mm - which is really fast i.e. it allows in more light and thus allows me to afford a shorter shutter speed (i.e. crisp - shake free photos) compared to what the Canon kit lens allows me to do. So --- I'm returning the kit lens (which costs 4.5k) and will probably go in for a Tamron 18-200mm f/3.5-f/6.3 lens .... I still haven't decided on this yet - but the kit lens sure does disappoint me.
Shooting with a dSLR is -very- different from a compact point-and-shoot-zoom-with-creative-controls camera.
The most prominent issues that a compact point-and-shoot user will face -
a.) no LCD screen based composition
b.) no great kit lens - and this is a -big- drawback if you are used to a compact with a very good lens - say, like the kodak DX6490.
c.) a different weight distribution in a different shape hinders blur and shake free shooting in low light (again, this is probably very lens dependent)
e.) the AF system on the Canon 350D is pretty useless when shooting a subject more than 5 meters away in the dark, outside, with just street lighting to go with.
(the flash fires a series of very fast strobes as an AF assist beam - NO INFRARED BEAM as in the kodak) This is awful, but can be rectified with the Canon Speedlite flash unit that has an IR AF assist beam
I have a very good friend in mumbai who is a pro photographer, -AND- uses a kit lens (!!!) with a 300D .... so, it is probably a bit subjective and it depends on what you are used to ... eventually the creative faculties will adapt to the equipment (happened with the kodak for me - the slow autofocus and lack of aperture settings beyond f/8 ... the really noisy sensor that forced me to never shoot at anything other than ISO 80 for anything I wanted to print).
So ... I've bought the Canon 50mm f/1.8 prime - which should effectively solve the low light shooting issue. And am looking for a cost effective solution to the tele-zoom issue (got spoilt by composition choices that the 38-380mm zoom on the kodak offers :) find it difficult to use my feet as a zoom now. ) The problem is .... glass is -VERY- expensive - if it is any good. And glass prices don't come down :( like the camera body prices do. A good quality lens that I'm looking at buying right now (maybe not so right now ... :) )is a Canon 70-200/f 2.8 IS USM L lens ... and it comes with a price tag of 78k INR!!!!!!!!!! Meanwhile the Tamron 18-200/f3.5-f6.3 will have to do @ 18k ... although it is not as fast - but at least it will give me something closer to the Schneider Kreuznach Variogon 38-380/f2.8-f5.6
My recommendation- if you are planning to buy a dSLR ..... buy the glass first. Buy the best glass you can afford. This could be repeated -n- times - a good digital body with the cheapest available glass ( the kit lens in this case) is like having a Bose home theater attached to a local made 14" monochrome monitor and a really crummy pair of cheaply made car speakers salvaged from the local junk yard.
Well, not that bad, but if you are on a 'Pune, India' kinda salary and are spending a bomb on a dSLR system, first save up for and buy the glass ... and then save up for the body (which will decrease in price then)
What makes moving to a dSLR worth ... is, of course ... the quality of the finished product :)
Once you see what a -good- lens can do, there's no coming back :)) be warned - read this -
47k for the body+kit lens+2year Canon India warranty, and 5.9k for a Sandisk Extreme III IGB CF card.
Also am getting a Canon 50mm f/1.8 prime lens tomorrow. (-the- BEST glass you can get for the price of 5k. period.)
First few observations:
The sensor gives amazingly crisp and silky smooth image texture as compared to anything else I've ever seen yet.
The kit lens is a huge let-down .... since I'm coming from the Schneider Kreuznach Variogon on the Kodak 6490 - believe me ... I just realized that the 6490 cost breakup is like 25k = 20k for the 38-380mm lens and around 5k for the body+sensor+other electronics. (now the 6490 costs around 18k)
The kit lens is a Canon 18-55mm EF-S II f/3.5 - f/5.6. This lens does not allow enough light for good indoor photos in low light as compared to the Schneider Variogon on the kodak. I can open up the Variogon up to f/2.8 even at - say - 200mm - which is really fast i.e. it allows in more light and thus allows me to afford a shorter shutter speed (i.e. crisp - shake free photos) compared to what the Canon kit lens allows me to do. So --- I'm returning the kit lens (which costs 4.5k) and will probably go in for a Tamron 18-200mm f/3.5-f/6.3 lens .... I still haven't decided on this yet - but the kit lens sure does disappoint me.
Shooting with a dSLR is -very- different from a compact point-and-shoot-zoom-with-creative-controls camera.
The most prominent issues that a compact point-and-shoot user will face -
a.) no LCD screen based composition
b.) no great kit lens - and this is a -big- drawback if you are used to a compact with a very good lens - say, like the kodak DX6490.
c.) a different weight distribution in a different shape hinders blur and shake free shooting in low light (again, this is probably very lens dependent)
e.) the AF system on the Canon 350D is pretty useless when shooting a subject more than 5 meters away in the dark, outside, with just street lighting to go with.
(the flash fires a series of very fast strobes as an AF assist beam - NO INFRARED BEAM as in the kodak) This is awful, but can be rectified with the Canon Speedlite flash unit that has an IR AF assist beam
I have a very good friend in mumbai who is a pro photographer, -AND- uses a kit lens (!!!) with a 300D .... so, it is probably a bit subjective and it depends on what you are used to ... eventually the creative faculties will adapt to the equipment (happened with the kodak for me - the slow autofocus and lack of aperture settings beyond f/8 ... the really noisy sensor that forced me to never shoot at anything other than ISO 80 for anything I wanted to print).
So ... I've bought the Canon 50mm f/1.8 prime - which should effectively solve the low light shooting issue. And am looking for a cost effective solution to the tele-zoom issue (got spoilt by composition choices that the 38-380mm zoom on the kodak offers :) find it difficult to use my feet as a zoom now. ) The problem is .... glass is -VERY- expensive - if it is any good. And glass prices don't come down :( like the camera body prices do. A good quality lens that I'm looking at buying right now (maybe not so right now ... :) )is a Canon 70-200/f 2.8 IS USM L lens ... and it comes with a price tag of 78k INR!!!!!!!!!! Meanwhile the Tamron 18-200/f3.5-f6.3 will have to do @ 18k ... although it is not as fast - but at least it will give me something closer to the Schneider Kreuznach Variogon 38-380/f2.8-f5.6
My recommendation- if you are planning to buy a dSLR ..... buy the glass first. Buy the best glass you can afford. This could be repeated -n- times - a good digital body with the cheapest available glass ( the kit lens in this case) is like having a Bose home theater attached to a local made 14" monochrome monitor and a really crummy pair of cheaply made car speakers salvaged from the local junk yard.
Well, not that bad, but if you are on a 'Pune, India' kinda salary and are spending a bomb on a dSLR system, first save up for and buy the glass ... and then save up for the body (which will decrease in price then)
What makes moving to a dSLR worth ... is, of course ... the quality of the finished product :)
Once you see what a -good- lens can do, there's no coming back :)) be warned - read this -
Wednesday, July 20, 2005
entry into dSLR land
Canon EOS 350D / Digital Rebel XT Review: 1. Introduction: Digital Photography Review Got a Canon EOS 350D this weekend. :)
Will post more later...
Will post more later...
Monday, June 20, 2005
what should a personal website be like ...
Here is an interesting form I found ...
topology.org - ak's personal web site
What are the different forms that a personal website can and should take is a question that probably every person who has a personal website has faced at one point of time or the other. (Of course, not everyone would choose to think about it too much). The other questions that this raises is, why is it that one should have a personal website. For me, I want to have a publicly visible representation of my thoughts, ideas, and activities to enable collaboration and participation in mutually beneficial transactions with and affecting as large a subset of the human population as possible.
Something to think about during this week .... how to structure http://www.sarafs.com/aal ... how to create a structure like a wiki that would ensure that the site stays in sync with atomspace. hmmm ...
topology.org - ak's personal web site
What are the different forms that a personal website can and should take is a question that probably every person who has a personal website has faced at one point of time or the other. (Of course, not everyone would choose to think about it too much). The other questions that this raises is, why is it that one should have a personal website. For me, I want to have a publicly visible representation of my thoughts, ideas, and activities to enable collaboration and participation in mutually beneficial transactions with and affecting as large a subset of the human population as possible.
Something to think about during this week .... how to structure http://www.sarafs.com/aal ... how to create a structure like a wiki that would ensure that the site stays in sync with atomspace. hmmm ...
Thursday, June 16, 2005
tools - what's your notepad ... misc tips
Tip #305 - Best of VIM Tips (VIM's best Features) : vim online
If you aren't a Vim power user yet ... :)
I've moved back and forth between Emacs and Vim since 1995 and I've grown to like both of them
Check this out as well - a vim configuration to make vim into an even powerful editor that looks lesser like vi ...
If you aren't a Vim power user yet ... :)
I've moved back and forth between Emacs and Vim since 1995 and I've grown to like both of them
Check this out as well - a vim configuration to make vim into an even powerful editor that looks lesser like vi ...
Wednesday, June 15, 2005
words that you would want your existence to be associated with ...
For me -
Creative. Thorough. Relentless.
What are yours?
Creative. Thorough. Relentless.
What are yours?
Google Corporate Information: Our Philosophy
This is how Google does it :)
Google Corporate Information: Our Philosophy
Google Corporate Information: Our Philosophy
Tuesday, June 14, 2005
Want to make your pages as responsive as Gmail?
The answer, if you haven't already read about it, is AJAX, or Asynchronous JavaScript XMLHttpRequests ....
ONLamp.com: A Simpler Ajax Path
Go google out some more ... if time permits, will post a tute on this.
Am thinking of ways of incorporating this into my site design.
ONLamp.com: A Simpler Ajax Path
Go google out some more ... if time permits, will post a tute on this.
Am thinking of ways of incorporating this into my site design.
Saturday, June 11, 2005
A man wanting to read a book is not just a man - but a soul reaching out to seek the infinite.
Why should a person read
Simply put - to transcend the immediate limitations of human senses and perception in order to experience this world in as rich, diverse and interesting a manner as possible.
I have had various discussions and arguments with some of my friends who maintain that it is better to just live life as one sees it around oneself instead of qualifying that experience by perceptions one acquires from reading books. My answer to that has been -- books give me a glimpse of a much larger subset of the world that I may then -choose- to experience, they help me transcend the boundaries of my immediate surroundings and circumstances - for example, give me a controllable environment where I can choose to talk with J.Krishnamurthi and Mahatma Gandhi instead of being in a group of people living around where I live, where the subjects of discussion are usually limited to local politics and gossip. (And it is more difficult for me to control my atomspace location than my mindspace or bitspace location.)
(peronal opinion) And I believe that not using the power of the written word to control how one 'programs' oneself is being an ultra-luddite. :)
(impersonal opinion! :-)) An answer to 'should one read' can be found by trying to understand what the purpose of one's life is. There are phases in a lifetime, when it is -very- relevant to have access to written literature and a person should read. As to 'should one read a lot', that should be decided by what is 'necessary'. How to decide what is 'necessary' requires an inquiry into what is 'good' and 'bad'. However, if one aims to see further, standing on the shoulders of many giants helps. How much one can read depends on the efficiency and effectiveness of the persons 'comprehension apparatus'.
Simply put - to transcend the immediate limitations of human senses and perception in order to experience this world in as rich, diverse and interesting a manner as possible.
I have had various discussions and arguments with some of my friends who maintain that it is better to just live life as one sees it around oneself instead of qualifying that experience by perceptions one acquires from reading books. My answer to that has been -- books give me a glimpse of a much larger subset of the world that I may then -choose- to experience, they help me transcend the boundaries of my immediate surroundings and circumstances - for example, give me a controllable environment where I can choose to talk with J.Krishnamurthi and Mahatma Gandhi instead of being in a group of people living around where I live, where the subjects of discussion are usually limited to local politics and gossip. (And it is more difficult for me to control my atomspace location than my mindspace or bitspace location.)
(peronal opinion) And I believe that not using the power of the written word to control how one 'programs' oneself is being an ultra-luddite. :)
(impersonal opinion! :-)) An answer to 'should one read' can be found by trying to understand what the purpose of one's life is. There are phases in a lifetime, when it is -very- relevant to have access to written literature and a person should read. As to 'should one read a lot', that should be decided by what is 'necessary'. How to decide what is 'necessary' requires an inquiry into what is 'good' and 'bad'. However, if one aims to see further, standing on the shoulders of many giants helps. How much one can read depends on the efficiency and effectiveness of the persons 'comprehension apparatus'.
On invention and being a generalist+specialist ...
I discovered a book on invention (quite by accident) on a site called http://www.books24x7.com, which I have access to, by letting IBM Software Labs fund me right now. It is about an inventive method of problem solving called TRIZ.
Some of the conclusions drawn in the book align with my world view. One such conclusion:
You have a better chance of creating technically valuable inventions, if you have combed deeply through the problem and solution spaces of many, diverse fields.
'TRIZ', classifies problems into 5 categories on the basis of their technical invention value
as decided by their problem domain and the required solution domain -
Some of the conclusions drawn in the book align with my world view. One such conclusion:
You have a better chance of creating technically valuable inventions, if you have combed deeply through the problem and solution spaces of many, diverse fields.
'TRIZ', classifies problems into 5 categories on the basis of their technical invention value
as decided by their problem domain and the required solution domain -
- a.) a problem of a specific field in an industry solved by knowledge from that field itself.
- b.) a problem of a specific field in an industry solved by applying knowledge of another field in the same industry -
- c.) a problem of a field solved by knowledge from another field
- d.) a problem of a field solved by advancement of science in a related field.
- e.) a problem of a field requiring advancement of science in an unrelated field
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