Friday, September 30, 2005

Modern English

My contribution to modern English and correct grammer.
I give you: conjugations of the verb 'ipod'.



Infinitive: to ipod
Participle: ipoded
Gerund: ipoding

Conditional
Present
I would ipod
you would ipod
he would ipod
we would ipod
you would ipod
they would ipod

Perfect
I would have ipoded
you would have ipoded
he would have ipoded
we would have ipoded
you would have ipoded
they would have ipoded

Conjunctive
Present
I ipod
you ipod
he ipod
we ipod
you ipod
they ipod

Present
I have ipoded
you have ipoded
he have ipoded
we have ipoded
you have ipoded
they have ipoded

Past
I ipoded
you ipoded
he ipoded
we ipoded
you ipoded
they ipoded

Pluperfect
I had ipoded
you had ipoded
he had ipoded
we had ipoded
you had ipoded
they had ipoded





Indicative
Present
I ipod
you ipod
he ipods
we ipod
you ipod
they ipod

Past
I ipoded
you ipoded
he ipoded
we ipoded
you ipoded
they ipoded

Future
I will ipod
you will ipod
he will ipod
we will ipod
you will ipod
they will ipod

Perfect
I have ipoded
you have ipoded
he has ipoded
we have ipoded
you have ipoded
they have ipoded

Pluperfect
I had ipoded
you had ipoded
he had ipoded
we had ipoded
you had ipoded
they had ipoded

Future perfect
I will have ipoded
you will have ipoded
he will have ipoded
we will have ipoded
you will have ipoded
they will have ipoded

Imperative
you ipod
we Let´s ipod
you ipod

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Leeds Castle

Leeds Castle on a grey day.

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Feet

Feet
A foot (plural: feet) is a non-SI unit of distance or length, measuring around a third of a metre. There are twelve inches in one foot and three feet in one yard.

The standardization of weights and measures has left several different standard foot measures. The most commonly used foot today is the English foot, used in the United Kingdom and the United States and elsewhere, which is defined to be exactly 0.3048 metre. This unit is sometimes denoted with a prime (e.g. 30′ means 30 feet), often approximated by an apostrophe. Similarly, inches can be denoted by a double prime (often approximated by a quotation mark), so 6′ 2″ means 6 feet 2 inches.

In addition to the current standard international foot, there is also a slightly different U.S. survey foot, used only in connection with surveys by the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, it is defined as exactly 1200/3937 m (610 nm greater than 0.3048 m).

The foot as a measure was used in almost all cultures. The first known standard foot measure was from Sumeria, where a definition is given in a statue of Gudea of Lagash from around 2575 BC. The imperial foot was adapted from an Egyptian measure by the Greeks, with a subsequent larger foot being adopted by the Romans.

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Thursday, September 29, 2005

Doppleganger

I've got a pseudonym doppleganger.

I found out today that someone else was using my pseudonym, I was astonished that someone else would have though of the same one; anyway I went to check out their blog and luckily they are no longer blogging.

After much fun for almost a year and a half, I am calling it quits on the blogging scene. I just don't have the time or ability to continue right now, but maybe sometime in the future I'll be back.
I'm hoping that they don't start blogging again as it would be just too weird. It is bizarre enough that they pretty much stopped at around the same time I started!

It's a strange and infinately convoluted world we live in.

Lunch?

You lookin' at me, well are you punk?

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Wednesday, September 28, 2005

Which File Extension Are You?

I'm an oggWell... what extention are you? visit the Which File Extension Are You? page and find out.

It would appear that I'm an '.ogg' and to be honest - who am I to argue with the wisdom of the genius that is a script that can distill my entire personality into a file extention metaphor with only a few clicks of the mouse.

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Ubuntu

Andy has alerted me to the existence of Ubuntu. He must think its good as he's restyled his website subtly in what appears to be an homage to the new OS.

From a read of the website looks quite good but I haven't got any hardware to install it on yet.

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The Fly

The Fly

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Queenstown Road

Queenstoen Road Railway Station
Queenstown Road is a railway station in Battersea, South London, between Vauxhall and Clapham Junction. There are 8 tracks but only 3 platforms (one of which in the photo above is not used). Now in a state of general disrepair the station is a short walk from Battersea Park station and Battersea Park itself. The entrance to the station still bears the original name of the station 'Queens Road'.

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Tuesday, September 27, 2005

The Joy of Scan

Plugged the scanner in this evening, instantly recognised by VueScan. Set everything up and scanned the first negative - perfect, no problems whatsoever. Things can be so easy sometimes.

Except for the fact that at some point the cludgy VueScan interface didn't update between tab changes as I moved the slider to frame two (to scan frame two), not realising that the interface hadn't updated and inadvertently was sliding the tiff compression value. Ended up with half of the scans at half resolution :(

Its not that bad though as the files are still large enough for what I need them for, but all the same it is irritating. I'm hoping that the next version of VueScan will allow you to lock settings that don't need changing very often so that this kind of accident becomes a thing of the past.

Scanning the last frame as I type this, hopefully tomorrows scanning will be just as smooth but without any mistakes.

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Jamaican Views

Sombre Views
 Views from apartment in Ocho Rios.
Misty Mountains
 Mountains near Kingston.

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Monday, September 26, 2005

Scanning is Hell!

I've just spent the last hour trying to scan a single frame of film. For the first half an hour VueScan refused to accept that there was even a scanner attached to the PC, despite Windows and me claiming to the contrary.

After several reboots, rescans of the SCSI bus and two dance of shames, the software eventually gave in and accepted that there was a scanner attached - hurray! or so I thought.

VueScan then decided that it could still win and that whatever I scanned no matter what the settings were that it was going to get its revenge by f*@king up the colour of the scanned negative. I used exactly the same technique that I have been using for the past few days (forgot to mention that I now have the scanner until Thursday), but no joy. Changed the setting to defaults and started again from first principles, no joy. Did the dance of shame, no joy. Did the dance of joy, no joy.

I've packed the scanner away now and will challenge VueScan to a rematch tomorrow. Did I mention that scanning is hell?

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Kew Gardens

Kew Palm House
The Palm House at Kew Gardens as seen through my eyes.

Both dramatic and elegant, its curvilinear structure is a classic example of Victorian design. Built between 1844 and 1848, by Richard Turner to Decimus Burton's designs. it was constructed to house tropical trees, shrubs and palms. The Palm House is world's most important surviving Victorian glass and iron structure.

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UK Photo Calendar

I've been working on a pet project for a while now (with more than a little help from my friends) called UK Photo Calendar. The idea being to build an online calendar with photographs for each day of the year taken on that day in a previous year. Eventually I am hoping to get a calendar that gives some sense of the changing seasons, but not restrict the photos to landscape photos, so that there is a spattering of other interesting photos.

The layout needs some work, maybe quite a bit, but for now I am focusing on the administrative aspects. If anyone has any suggestions please leave a comment. There already have been a number of suggestions but the more the merrier.

So far the project has been moving along reasonably nicely and there have been a pretty good response with a number of people submitting photos. There is however a serious lack of photographs so if anyone would like to contribute please visit the UK Photo Calendar website and register and start uploading.

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Sunday, September 25, 2005

Congratulations Fernando!

World ChampionWell I'm not a Renault supporter, and I think that Raikkonen and M. Schumacher are better drivers but, despite all of that, well done Fernando. Who a minute ago won his first (of many?) Formula 1 Drivers' Championship.

It has been a suprisingly unpredictable season, with Renault being super strong at the very start of the season and Maclaren very quickly showing that they had the fastest (but not very reliable) car. However Fernando Alonso and Renault's consistency have stood them in good stead. Fernando is now the youngest ever winner of the Formula 1 Drivers' Championship and I believe the very first Spaniard to win it as well. I'm sure his mum is very chuffed!

Looking forward to a Ferrari revival next season though!

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All I want for Christmas...

Well I'm still scanning, been browsing looking at a plethora of articles on scanning and post processing technique. I think that the best solution would simply be to obtain a digital SLR. Yes there would still need to be processing of the RAW files but compared to scanning that would be a doddle, and for the occasional snapshots I could just use JPEGs.

To that end I've been doing some 'pie in the sky' research and have decided that a Canon 5D is the one for me. And whilst I'm in virtual lottery winner land I'd have an EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM lens to go with it.

Anyway going to take a break to watch the Brazilian Grand Prix, the sound of a microstepping motor is now well and truly fixed in my auditory memory!

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More Strange Fruit

Another strange fruit at the botanical gardens in Miami

After seeing Billie Holiday perform at the club, Café Society, in New York, Meeropol showed her the poem. Holiday liked it and after working on it with Sonny White turned the poem into the song, Strange Fruit. The record made it to No. 16 on the charts in July 1939. However, the song was denounced by Time Magazine as "a prime piece of musical propaganda" for the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP).

I would recommend having a listen to anything labelled "a prime piece of musical propaganda" if you can get hold of it, and I would also recommend listening to just about anything by Billie Holiday. But combining the two I would have to say that if you haven't heard it your life is not complete, so go out and find the track and have a listen.

If you are feeling particularly generous you can buy me Strange Fruit: 1937-1939.

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Strange Fruit

Strange Fruit in Miami Botanical Gardens August 2003
I took this photo in 2003 whilst visiting Miami. The heat, humidity and very Americaness of it all reminded me of a poem by Abel Meeropol.

Southern trees bear a strange fruit,
Blood on the leaves and blood at the root,
Black body swinging in the Southern breeze,
Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.

Pastoral scene of the gallant South,
The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth,
Scent of magnolia sweet and fresh,
And the sudden smell of burning flesh!

Here is a fruit for the crows to pluck,
For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck,
For the sun to rot, for a tree to drop,
Here is a strange and bitter crop.

Abel Meeropol, Strange Fruit, (1939)

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Twist of fate?

As luck would have it, it turns out that I'll be in possesion of the scanner for at least another six hours, which I suppose is lucky as there are many more frames to scan. However it is a double edged blade as this means six more hours of the most tediuos task in the world (see below).

Well I've decided to make hay while the sun shines and am off to do another marathon session of scanning. Think of me whilst you are enjoying what looks like a nice, sunny Sunday.

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Saturday, September 24, 2005

Aubergines

Aubergines

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The most tedious task in the world?

I have spent what seems like the whole day scanning negatives. This has to be the most tedious task ever!

I borrowed a scanner and a nice one at that - an ArtixScan 4000t, with the intention of scanning some holiday photos taken in August this year. I thought that it would be nice to share the photos with some friends and relatives and hey I wasn't planning to do anything else today.

For those of you who have never had the pleasure let me explain a little about the art of negative scanning. First you have to review your prints and decide which frames you would ike to scan. Secondly you have to place the strip of four negatives very carefully into the negative carrier, being extreemly careful not get any dust on the negatives which (being primarily cellulose) pick up even the slightest electrical charge and then act as dust magnets. You then place the carrier into the scanner.

Once the scanner has loaded the negative carrier, run through a series of checks of the stepping motor, and adjusted the focus of the scanning head (all of which takes a minimum of one minute). You then use your scanning software (in this case VueScan) to preview the frame that you would like to scan. The scanner then scans the frame and corrects the colour (a cool three to five minutes depending onthe density of the negative). You then adjust the crop marks and as its viewscan you save the high resolution preview (4000 ppi). If you are lucky enough to have more than one frame on the series of four you move on to the next one otherwise its back to finding the right strip and loading the negative carrier.

Bored yet? Well I wasn't either for the first hour or so. Continuing onwards...

The negatives have been cut into strips of four and it would seem that the people in the processing lab have an uncanny knack of determining which frames I would like to scan and ensuring that no two are on the same strip of four negatives even if they were sequential photographs!

Well so far today I have managed to scan a selection of frames from four rolls of negatives, thirty nine frames to be exact. Not bad but as I have twelve rolls still left to scan I'm beginning to feel that I made a BIG mistake even starting.

Once I've finished scanning I have the joy of post processing to look forward to. As the ArtixScan 4000t does not have an infrared scanning head, the scanner does not support any form of automated dust and scratch removal I have to do this manually. The tiniest particles of dust and the finest of scratches - not noticable with the unaided eye become huge on the completed scan so you have to remove them. So for each scanned negative the joys of 'spotting', cropping, rotating, levels and curve corrections and some light sharpening are all necessary prior to resizing for whatever the intended purpose, be that printing, posting here, emailing or whatever.

Well I'd better stop bitching and get on with it, I have to return the scanner tomorrow morning and will try to scan as much as I can tonight. If anyone out there has a scanner with dust and scratch removal like a 'Nikon Coolscan V ED' or better yet a (much quicker) 'Nikon Coolscan 5000 ED' and they would like to lend it to me please let me know :)

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Friday, September 23, 2005

Olu Deniz

Visited Olu Deniz in Turkey earlier this year. Had a great time, loved the people and the atmosphere. I will write a little about the people and the place when I have more time, but for now I'll just say that I would recommend a holiday in the Fethiye area of Turkey to anyone.

Here are a few photos from my trip, I'll post more later.
Blue Lagoon

Typical Midday Scene

Promenade Bar at Dusk

Beach Bar at Night

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Richmond Park


As seen through the eyes of my father.

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London

Current Nearest Observations: cloudy 13°C
Wind: SE (8 mph)
Relative Humidity (%): 88.
Pressure (mB): 1012, Falling.
Visibility: Moderate.