Aperture 1.1 out

Aperture 1.1 was released as a free update today. If you own Aperture, see Software Update. (My comments about it are here.)

In my original review of Aperture, the only real complaint I had was the price, which was too close to PhaseOne CaptureOne. I felt that Apple should undercut them like Final Cut Pro did to Avid. Well, if you own Aperture 1.0 like I do, you can get a $200 coupon good for future Apple Store purchases (Academic users get a $100 one).

By the way, this also means a $200 price drop to Aperture to $300 from $500.

Now how is that for service?Continue reading →

Posted on by tychay 2

A difference of one letter

Redgee likes to joke that his relatives are all in jail or the military. He told me a few months ago that he heard from them that they are being told to gear up for a war in Iran. Now with a recent New Yorker article I read, this rumor is getting some play in the public discourse.

I don’t think it’s going to happen. But since we are gearing up for midterm elections, it is about time for the Republicans to start another war.
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Posted on by tychay 7

CA-50 is dead to me

Today is the day of the California 50 special election.

The purpose of the special election, like that of the one that will occur in Delay’s district, is based on the premise that Republicans are more likely to vote when voter turnout is low. After all, what is the purpose in Governor Schwarzenegger wasting resources on an election after the last debacle with the midterms so close, especially after the last debacle?

It has some significance to me because even though most of PacBeach is not part of CA-50, the part I live in, the rich, conservative part, falls just within it. (By the way, special kudos to GovTrack for a creative use of GoogleMaps.)
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Posted on by tychay 4

Picturewall

I recently purchased a picturewall in order to add some accents to my otherwise boring apartment. It’s been on my to do list forever and now that I own a couch, hanging up some “fotografs,” as Caitlin puts it, was my next priority.

A quick run to Costco today allowed me to add a few photos.

Picturewall (detail)

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Posted on by tychay 3

DX smackdown

Someone on flickr decided to engage in a smackdown of the APS-C format.

The problem with these is that they often parrot experts who don’t really remember their history. I’m sure when these experts were young pups, they defended their 35mm film cameras against the old codgers doing medium or full-frame photography. They miss the reality that they’ve become the old codgers themselves.

I’m not claiming that they don’t have a valid argument. I’m just claiming they’re a guilty of hypocrisy: They diss another format as being the “one true format” implicitly exposing own bias in their own format as the “one true format.”Continue reading →

Posted on by tychay 7

No value deal

wendys

I stopped by Wendy’s on the way back from the ski rental. I noticed the double was selling for $1 more than the single and the triple was $1 more than the double.

But they were advertising “Double the beef just add 89 cents.” So technically you save 11 cents if you order a single and “double” it. Also does that mean you get a quad for less than the price of a triple if you “double the beef” on a double, or was there some fine print I missed?

It’s strange that the menu system in fast food places requires such a large amount of financial arithmetic in order to order something. I wonder if Dave Thomas is rolling over in his grave.

I hate this crap.Continue reading →

Posted on by tychay 2