You iPhone as a Camera Remote

iPhones just keep getting better as more and more apps get released. This one may have a ways to go before all the kinks are worked out but it looks like an impressive start. onOne software have release version 1.1 of DSLR Camera Remote. For a qualified review of this software go here:

DSLR Camera Remote for iPhone comes to life in v1.1  | Ron Galbraith Photography

For me this will get much more interesting when you can connect the camera to a WIFI dongle rather than plug it into a laptop/netbook but for some people this is probably ready enough to start using.

Sennheiser HD 650s

When you’re not fucking around with your audio listening equipment you have to consider Sennheiser as one of the top brands (admittedly they also play into the more dreary consumer space too). The HD 650 is at the top of the stack for open air dynamic headphones; often referred to as a “Reference Headphone”. Like the sound of that? Well I’m digging the sound quality of the 650’s. Very solid response through the whole audio spectrum especially now that I have my Xonar Essence STX driving the D-to-A conversion and amplification. If you’re going to have something strapped to your head you might as well have it be comfortable and delivery high-quality music to your ears. Right? Right. Get online and buy yourself one if you care for yourself.

My new “macro toy”

I’m going to Houston next week so as any self-respecting European – or in this case, American living in Europe – I’m doing my shopping in the US. So what am I getting? Camera goodies. And good they are. I am getting the Canon MP-E 65 Macro Lens and Canon MR-14EX Macro Ring Flash (pictured above).

The MP-E 65 has a 5x multiplier. Don’t confuse this with focal length. This means that the full digital sensor is filled with something 5 times larger than in real life! This allows you to explore a the world of the very small and microscopic. To give you a sense of what’s possible I’ve put a few pictures up that illustrate the power of this lens (mind you these were NOT taken by me, I have linked back to their source to give credit accordingly):

In this picture the dew drop at the end of a stalk of vegitation has actually reflected a flower near it. Very cool, eh?

The world of bugs – a seemingly popular focus for macro photographers – brings alive a world that we simply gloss over in normal passing.

Kuala Lumpur’s beverage critic

I just arrived in Kuala Lumpur and thought I might quench my thirst with a lovely Kuala Lumpur beverage. What, might you ask, is a favorite Kuala Lumpur beverage? Well you’re undoubtedly talking to the wrong chap … I was just thirsty. Anyway after a quick peruse of the shelves I found myself with none other than the classic – no I’m sorry “the original” – F&M Ice Cream Soda. Yummy, right? Well no. Verdict: pass on the ice cream soda. I mean hell, different strokes for different folks, so I don’t want to say that this soda isn’t a crowd pleaser in some circles but my guess is that the circle is small and that these fans have a tendency to prefer chemicals to real food. Yuck. Anyway outside my initial disappointment on beverage the city of Kuala Lumpur seems nice at first glance. It’s night time here so I guess I’ll have more to say tomorrow along with the rising sun. Don’t worry, I’ll keep ya posted.

I was just thinking …

Asia a pretty darn big land mass!

Biscuit the Bee Killer

The life of a bee killer is never easy. Biscuit wakes up early every morning and sniffs out his nemesis. He tells himself that all he really wants to do is play but secretly he wants to show these annoying, arrogant, little furry creatures who’s boss in a way that they’ll not forget. Well today the bee killer (aka, Biscuit) got a chance to make his point heard. The bee’s were ready. Bees 1, Biscuit 0.

Audiophile audio on your PC?

Who says you have to make sacrifices in sound quality when listening to music? Well almost everyone until pretty recently. That may no longer be the case with the arrival of the ASUS’s Xonar Essence STX. High-quality from start to finish:

• Texas Instruments 6120A2 amp for headphones with variable impedance control and 1/4” socket output
• Heavy-duty EMI shielding
• High quality software mixer to tune to your headphones/speakers
• Burr-Brown PCM1792 Digital-to-Analogue converter

I’ve only had this setup for less than 24 hours but let me tell you it makes a huge difference and I’m sure my less-than-audiophile hearing is missing a substantial amount of the differences. All i know is the music sounds fantastic!

For a fantastic review – from a true audiophile – take at look this review from Overclockers (or just read all the buzz on all the audiophile discussion lists): [Review].

In search of the missing gadget

Sometimes I think of things I’d like and tell myself “it would be cool if that existed” and on the other extreme there are times where I find myself utterly amazed at what has just been released. Somewhere in-between, however, lives a land of frustration, of perennial disappointment, and of broken dreams. Yes that right, I’m talking about the “gadget you know should exist but doesn’t”. I recognize that due to certain personality traits I may spend more time uncovering these “missing gadgets” than the average gadget user but that doesn’t make the experience any less frustrating.

My most recent bout of “fucked for caring” came yesterday when I was struck by this weird divide between “audiophile headphones” and “geeks for headsets” (aka, has a boom microphone attached). Who says that someone who occasionally talks on Skype is not interested in listening to high fidelity sound the rest of the time? Is there now a penalty for being social? Ok I’m not done yet … what about wireless? Why is it that high quality audio needs to be carried over wires? Extensive googling led me to the Sony MDR-DS6000 as the top choice for wireless sound quality and it does look reasonable for audio listening but no boom mic. Why no boom mic? Couldn’t you just come up with the MDR-DS6000-wFBM (w/ Fucking Boom Mic)? Oh and guess what? You can only buy the regular DS6000 in the USA. Smart. Obviously people on an island – like the UK, where i live – should be treated as second class citizens.

I know that most audiophiles probably aren’t hooking this microphone into a computer but the world is changing Dorothy! High-quality audio, wireless freedom, and clear speech pickup is not an unreasonable ask for the more pedestrian computer-tethered classes. In fact, I think you’ll find that many gamer geeks and mobile warriors will spend in the same category as audiophiles if the right equipment is available.

Am I done now? Almost. Anyone who has known me the past five years knows that I’ve tried to love bluetooth but the love affair has ended in tears too many times to count. That said, I still want it to make sense. With the introduction of A2DP I was hoping to see manufacturers jumping all over themselves to produce high-quality stereo headsets but there have been surprisingly few choices and none in the upper end of the spectrum. With the iPhone’s 3.0 OS you can now use A2DP on a cool platform, hopefully this will generate a second wave of choices. Ultimately, I’d like to know why A2DP couldn’t be the universal tether for all audio devices: stereo-to-headphone, PC-to-headset, phone-to-headset, etc. If anyone has any ideas on whether there are actual limits to the protocol please reply with a comment here.

Flowers in the garden

Getting sick has a few benefits … you have much more time to potter about and do things you’d never have time for otherwise. Admittedly, the main thing I’m doing right now is sleeping. In fact I’m fairly certain if Guinness had been over yesterday we’d have had a new record for “most hours slept”. Anyway, here’s a few pictures of flowers in our garden:

 

Sick, tired, and quarantined

I am on day 3 of high fever (although down from my 102.6 of yesterday), body ache, sore throat, dry coughs, ear ache, dizziness, and general lack of well being. I literally almost passed out while on the phone to British Airways this morning. Quite scary. Anyway, based on the doctor’s advice yesterday I’ve self-quarantined myself for 5 days on the fear that this is swine flu (I find out on Thursday). Also as a proactive measure I’m taking Tamaflu which apparently has proven to be very effective with swine flu.

All I can say is thank god for Wimbledon or I’d be pulling my hair out in boredom.

First observations on iPhone 3 OS

• it feels somewhat more responsive although not dramatically so (guess you'll need the new hardware for a big change)
• MMS is cool and integrated much better than moat phones who distiguish it too much from regular texting
• cut-and-paste at last! Happy days.
• lots of subtle improvements
• my biggest gripe is the "shake to shuffle" feature which I was looking forward to as the effect of another hard button to skip tracks. Would be very useful for jogging. Anyway, it works but you have to have the screen on, unlocked, and looking at the iPod app! Jeez, at that point why not just press the next button?
  
  
  -- Post From My iPhone
  

Catch the Wave

Have you checked out Google Wave yet? I guess you haven’t used it yet as it’s not released yet but it is creating some positive buzz. I just watched the video demonstration of it and I’m impressed. Hard to describe why it’s so cool so I’d recommend everyone take a look at their well designed YouTube video here:

http://wave.google.com

Wedding in Northern Ireland

 

Kabuki and I went to Bangor, Northern Ireland for Carolyn and Julian’s wedding. It was fantastic weather and the wedding went off without a hitch. On Sunday we got a chance to do a whirlwind tour of the Antrim coast (the northern coastline about an hour north of Belfast).

Conspiracy Theory, Peak Oil, and the IEA

There is an interesting article nearing publication by Swedish professor Kjell Aleklett who is president of the Associate for the Study of Peak Oil. His article effectively claims that the IEA’s forecast for oil supply is nothing more than fiction and that the IEA is simply a puppet to larger political bodies. For more on this read the Platts’ article from The Barrel:

The latest peak oil projection: a stunning difference | Platts

Electric car hanging out with the cool kids

Between 350 and 400 horsepower, 0-60 in 4 seconds flat, and a top speed of 171mph. This isn’t your father’s electric car!