I hate seeing compression artifacts in so-called high def video - it causes me to think about the display rather than the story. The same thing happens to music when processed with Autotune. To my ear, it sounds like a machine - not a human. The same thing happens with poorly remastered CDs. I've pretty much given up buying new CDs or any modern digital music from big companies because the sound grates my ears.
Surprise! The corporate world is generally using really old computers and software. Engineering is using AutoCAD 2000, Office 2003, and Windows XP. Marketing is using Quark Xpress. The ERP system is an old AS400 running software that is decades old. And they still have Netware servers - a lot of them.
So if you really want to train the kids for the "real world", buying the latest/greatest may not be your best use of money.
Every publicly traded company has to keep some of their activities confidential. We make heavy use of encrypted hard drives, encrypted VPN and train them not to allow others to view their screens. I can't wait for the firestorm after the CEO gets turned into the FBI for his "terrorist" activities. He has a building full of lawyers at his disposal.
I wonder if the candidates for US President are using these "terrorist" tools?
I'm a pro photographer and sometimes teach. I have a rather different viewpoint than most of the posters, as I get to see what regular folks have trouble with.
In a nutshell, any camera designed for consumers is likely to be pretty easy to learn. They drive me nuts, because they hide the controls I want to get to. Pro cameras have lots of controls, less automation, and will drive you nuts.
Frankly, a entry-level dSLR is your best value by far. The Nikon D3100 and D5100 are excellent beginner camera, and can be set for full auto for the rest of your life, yet have plenty of controls should you decide you want to master it. Canon also has really good beginner dSLRs, but I'm not a fan of their low-end lenses.
MILC - I was excited when they first came out, but with a single exception, I have been quite disappointed. This is a new field that will most likely become dominate, but right now they are as refined as a $99 Android 1.5 tablet. They simply are not very refined, unless you use them full auto - so you would be better off getting a non-IL camera like a Canon G12 (pretty much THE camera that pros buy as a point-and-shoot).
The exception is the Nikon 1. I thought it was going to be pretty crappy until I used one. Holly crap - it's really fast, really good, lots of fun to shoot and makes impressive photos. I have not used the Sony NEX-7 but Sony controls seem like a non-photographer designed them. And the super thin body means each lens has to be longer by the same amount, so the lenses are pretty large.
So here's my list of camera you might be happy with. Go to BHphoto and Adorama and see what refurbs they have.
Compact - Canon S100 or the older S95 Not-so-compact: Canon G12 or any earlier model, Nikon P7100 (NOT earlier models) MILC - Nikon V1, J1 or _maybe_ the Sony NEX 5 or 7 (but these are more expensive than entry-level dSLR). Entry Level SLR: Nikon D3000/3100/5000/5100. Used SLR - Pretty much any Nikon or Canon dSLR.
Best bang-for-the-buck: Refurb Nikon D3000 - US$370 @ BH Photo. Get the 35mm f/1.8 AF-S lens (~$200) or the 50mm f/1.8 AF-S lens (~$200) for low light (indoor). These are amazing lenses (close to pro-quality) for not much money.
I'm sure Canon users will take issues with this, but that is how I see it. I'm sure to get flamed.
Disclaimer: While I've owned Nikon, Canon, Olympus and Leica, I have developed a strong preference for Nikon. My 40 year old Nikon lens works fine in current model cameras. That means you have a huge market of used Nikon lenses for very little money.
So any disgruntled employee (or visitor) who wanted to sabotage your company and cost you dearly can do so just by cross-connecting an Ethernet cable?
Not any more. And it's not my company. I was brought in because the CFO used to work at one of my clients.
That's about as sophisticated as having a keypad entry on your front door with a passcode of 1234.
No, they changed it to 4321. Really. Clever. Guess what the password to the server is? Yeah.... They say it didn't matter since the server is behind a locked door (4321). When I pointed out that anyone with remote desktop could access it, the response was "Our employees don't know anything about that stuff!"
Holy hell, I hope that IT manager was fired right after the dumb employee.
As a matter of fact, he was fired about two weeks later, after we documented the system and secured it. Everyone hates what I did because all unused ports are off by default and they have to fill out a form to have a port turned on.
A better headline might be: "Writer get pissed that IT guy called his new gadget a Toy."
While I'm sure he's got a good point that IT people should not talk down to other employees, he needs to hear a few horror stories to understand our concern about his new "toy".
I was brought in to trouble shoot a network that was completely down, idling over 100 workers. Naturally, the CEO called everyone who had any IT experience, so we had a crowd of upset and confused people. In short - it was a packet storm. What caused it was an employee bringing in his own device and connecting it to the network.
The employee wanted a wireless AP for his laptop, because he didn't like the Cat5 cable. The IT staff said "no", so he install his own Linksys. You see it coming - no encryption, default password, etc. Well, it was slower than the wired connection, so he figured he could get twice the bandwidth if he connected TWO Ethernet cables. The port he selected was connected to a different switch, and soon a packet storm erupted.
Yes, the IT manager made several mistakes, including buying non-managed switches. But the bottom line is the employee cost the company dearly for his "toy".
What's funny? The guy was bragging to his buddies about how smart he was, not knowing the IT manager, CEO and I were standing behind him. Fired on the spot he was.
I'd advise you and others to contribute all you can to the "Let's Buy Ken a Ferrari" fund.
Rather than wonder where your money went, you'll enjoy the sweet, sweet sound of a V12 will be echoing throughout the concrete canyon as I blast down Main Street. You'll be able to shout "This is my gift to you all!" and feel the admiring glances of those who wish they had contributed as well.
What could possibly do more to help mankind than to share the sounds of a V12 Ferrari?
Plus all this crap about toting around a D700 everywhere, seriously a bag with extra batteries and you lenses and you're looking at a good 20 pounds of crap. Few photographers carry that kind of gear everywhere because it sucks to lug it all around.
It does suck to lug around all that weight, but sometimes that is the price you have to pay to get the results I'm after. A D700 and 24mm f/1.4 lens is about 4.25 lbs, and a D700/MB10/85mm f/1.4 is just under five lbs. With one on each shoulder, I'm carrying about 9 lbs. I don't need any other cards or batteries, since I have an entire spare camera.
And I'm way better off then those guys carrying heavy pro zooms and flashes.
Also lets face it if you used an 85mm f/1.4 in any semi decent bar on a friday night there'll be about 20 teenagers filling in the gap between you and the subject you're trying to photograph:-P
I'm tall and work fast. I also time the gaps in the crowd. If you think about it, you'll see there's easy ways to deal with all that.
Not so for me. I use a Nikon D700 camera with a 85mm f/1.4 lens and need no flash to shoot in near-darkness. I have many images to back up that statement.
Is that an expression of pride at having spent some $5000 just so that you can continue, as per TFS, to be one of those wildly irresponsible people taking embarassing photos of people cheating on their spouses, being an idiot around their boss, or drunkenly harassing fellow party-goers?:P
None of the above. The bar pays me to shoot. I try to get tasteful images of people having a good time. So I have a good (professional) reason to be doing this with pro gear. I only shared this because nearly everyone thinks they are safe from cameras in dark bars. But Slashdotters should know better...
... it be moronic and socially clueless to bring a DSLR to a night club...
You are lacking data. The bar owner pays me to shoot the bands and guests. Thus I'm invited, and people want me to photograph them because I make them look a lot better than their friend's iWhatever.
I'm not sure if you've ever actually been to a bar or real party (read: rager) but most of those environments are dark enough that without flash, your pictures are nearly useless when attempting to identify people.
Not so for me. I use a Nikon D700 camera with a 85mm f/1.4 lens and need no flash to shoot in near-darkness. I have many images to back up that statement.
While interesting, it will not be of much use with professional photographs.
I'm a pro photographer and used to program in Assembly, C and Forth. The way I hide the "life experience" of older women is to use specialized lighting. Small point lights create sharp shadows in skin folds, causing the subject to look extremely old. Very large lights might leave no shadows at all because the light wraps all sides of the skin fold. To achieve this, I use a 7 foot diameter Octobox - a light modifier that creates a huge soft light source. I also use a lens that focuses red light on a different plane than green and blue. The net effect is to soften skin, as blemishes will not be in sharp focus. The camera does not record JPEG, but saves raw sensor data that is later converted into a picture using Photoshop or Lightroom.
Thus as far as software can tell, the JPEG photo produced is the original. There are no re-compression artifacts. In fact, until the RAW sensor data was "de-mosaiced" in Photoshop, one could argue that the picture did not exist as such. And most of the smoothing of the image takes place in the analog world, before a digital file is produced.
>> "Conjecture: People who have the money to buy "commercial real-estate and mult-unit dwellings" aren't stupid enough to be swayed by a bit of retouching of pictures"
I would envision a typical response to be either cutting off the Internet connections from an attacking country (by physically destroying the cables with air strikes), or pinpointing the location of the attackers and turning them into red mist.
Well, since the attackers would be a BotNet of compromised XP PCs located all over the US mainland, I don't think that would be effective. But I could certainly see some bonehead launching cruse missiles, then wondering why they appear to be circling back to base.
At last! My Microsoft experience has taught me to wait for the third version before buying. Sounds like the Linux that Microsoft users have been waiting for!
So this thing is finely stable, right? Like DOS 3?
I see where Microsoft says it's not true. But what if MS did open source VB? What would happen? What good and what bad?
- Lots of old Windows apps become available on Linux. (spread the love)
- Lots of crap written by just-got-a-book-on-that "programmers" pollutes Linux. (spread the clap)
When I read the headline, I figured it was an offensive move on MS's part. Sort of a pollute-the-waters strategy.
Smart move by Amazon. I agree that the term 'App Store' is generic and should not be something Apple can trademark. But even if they lose, the "fight" will be covered by the press - who seems to have Apple fever. Rather then spend piles of money on advertising, just call it 'App Store' and let Apple's legal department get the ball rolling. The press will cover it and everyone will know there are "two app stores".
Pity all the other app stores. They will be fighting over third place. And most marketing races boil down to the market leader and the best alternative. Did Amazon just leap past Google with even offering a phone?
Slashdot Mirror
I hate seeing compression artifacts in so-called high def video - it causes me to think about the display rather than the story. The same thing happens to music when processed with Autotune. To my ear, it sounds like a machine - not a human. The same thing happens with poorly remastered CDs. I've pretty much given up buying new CDs or any modern digital music from big companies because the sound grates my ears.
Surprise! The corporate world is generally using really old computers and software. Engineering is using AutoCAD 2000, Office 2003, and Windows XP. Marketing is using Quark Xpress. The ERP system is an old AS400 running software that is decades old. And they still have Netware servers - a lot of them.
So if you really want to train the kids for the "real world", buying the latest/greatest may not be your best use of money.
I and many others were waiting for the Courier to arrive. My brother's company expected to pass them out like candy, and were quite disappointed.
Hey Microsoft - Give it to Nokia. I bet they would do an outstanding job.
Every publicly traded company has to keep some of their activities confidential. We make heavy use of encrypted hard drives, encrypted VPN and train them not to allow others to view their screens. I can't wait for the firestorm after the CEO gets turned into the FBI for his "terrorist" activities. He has a building full of lawyers at his disposal.
I wonder if the candidates for US President are using these "terrorist" tools?
Amazon is having a sale on a sense-of-humor. You should go check it out...
Suddenly Win Admins everywhere switch to Linux because its "easier".
I'm a pro photographer and sometimes teach. I have a rather different viewpoint than most of the posters, as I get to see what regular folks have trouble with.
In a nutshell, any camera designed for consumers is likely to be pretty easy to learn. They drive me nuts, because they hide the controls I want to get to. Pro cameras have lots of controls, less automation, and will drive you nuts.
Frankly, a entry-level dSLR is your best value by far. The Nikon D3100 and D5100 are excellent beginner camera, and can be set for full auto for the rest of your life, yet have plenty of controls should you decide you want to master it. Canon also has really good beginner dSLRs, but I'm not a fan of their low-end lenses.
MILC - I was excited when they first came out, but with a single exception, I have been quite disappointed. This is a new field that will most likely become dominate, but right now they are as refined as a $99 Android 1.5 tablet. They simply are not very refined, unless you use them full auto - so you would be better off getting a non-IL camera like a Canon G12 (pretty much THE camera that pros buy as a point-and-shoot).
The exception is the Nikon 1. I thought it was going to be pretty crappy until I used one. Holly crap - it's really fast, really good, lots of fun to shoot and makes impressive photos. I have not used the Sony NEX-7 but Sony controls seem like a non-photographer designed them. And the super thin body means each lens has to be longer by the same amount, so the lenses are pretty large.
So here's my list of camera you might be happy with. Go to BHphoto and Adorama and see what refurbs they have.
Compact - Canon S100 or the older S95
Not-so-compact: Canon G12 or any earlier model, Nikon P7100 (NOT earlier models)
MILC - Nikon V1, J1 or _maybe_ the Sony NEX 5 or 7 (but these are more expensive than entry-level dSLR).
Entry Level SLR: Nikon D3000/3100/5000/5100.
Used SLR - Pretty much any Nikon or Canon dSLR.
Best bang-for-the-buck: Refurb Nikon D3000 - US$370 @ BH Photo. Get the 35mm f/1.8 AF-S lens (~$200) or the 50mm f/1.8 AF-S lens (~$200) for low light (indoor). These are amazing lenses (close to pro-quality) for not much money.
I'm sure Canon users will take issues with this, but that is how I see it. I'm sure to get flamed.
Disclaimer: While I've owned Nikon, Canon, Olympus and Leica, I have developed a strong preference for Nikon. My 40 year old Nikon lens works fine in current model cameras. That means you have a huge market of used Nikon lenses for very little money.
So any disgruntled employee (or visitor) who wanted to sabotage your company and cost you dearly can do so just by cross-connecting an Ethernet cable?
Not any more. And it's not my company. I was brought in because the CFO used to work at one of my clients.
That's about as sophisticated as having a keypad entry on your front door with a passcode of 1234.
No, they changed it to 4321. Really. Clever. Guess what the password to the server is? Yeah.... They say it didn't matter since the server is behind a locked door (4321). When I pointed out that anyone with remote desktop could access it, the response was "Our employees don't know anything about that stuff!"
Holy hell, I hope that IT manager was fired right after the dumb employee.
As a matter of fact, he was fired about two weeks later, after we documented the system and secured it. Everyone hates what I did because all unused ports are off by default and they have to fill out a form to have a port turned on.
A better headline might be: "Writer get pissed that IT guy called his new gadget a Toy."
While I'm sure he's got a good point that IT people should not talk down to other employees, he needs to hear a few horror stories to understand our concern about his new "toy".
I was brought in to trouble shoot a network that was completely down, idling over 100 workers. Naturally, the CEO called everyone who had any IT experience, so we had a crowd of upset and confused people. In short - it was a packet storm. What caused it was an employee bringing in his own device and connecting it to the network.
The employee wanted a wireless AP for his laptop, because he didn't like the Cat5 cable. The IT staff said "no", so he install his own Linksys. You see it coming - no encryption, default password, etc. Well, it was slower than the wired connection, so he figured he could get twice the bandwidth if he connected TWO Ethernet cables. The port he selected was connected to a different switch, and soon a packet storm erupted.
Yes, the IT manager made several mistakes, including buying non-managed switches. But the bottom line is the employee cost the company dearly for his "toy".
What's funny? The guy was bragging to his buddies about how smart he was, not knowing the IT manager, CEO and I were standing behind him. Fired on the spot he was.
I'd advise you and others to contribute all you can to the "Let's Buy Ken a Ferrari" fund.
Rather than wonder where your money went, you'll enjoy the sweet, sweet sound of a V12 will be echoing throughout the concrete canyon as I blast down Main Street. You'll be able to shout "This is my gift to you all!" and feel the admiring glances of those who wish they had contributed as well.
What could possibly do more to help mankind than to share the sounds of a V12 Ferrari?
Plus all this crap about toting around a D700 everywhere, seriously a bag with extra batteries and you lenses and you're looking at a good 20 pounds of crap. Few photographers carry that kind of gear everywhere because it sucks to lug it all around.
It does suck to lug around all that weight, but sometimes that is the price you have to pay to get the results I'm after. A D700 and 24mm f/1.4 lens is about 4.25 lbs, and a D700/MB10/85mm f/1.4 is just under five lbs. With one on each shoulder, I'm carrying about 9 lbs. I don't need any other cards or batteries, since I have an entire spare camera.
And I'm way better off then those guys carrying heavy pro zooms and flashes.
Also lets face it if you used an 85mm f/1.4 in any semi decent bar on a friday night there'll be about 20 teenagers filling in the gap between you and the subject you're trying to photograph :-P
I'm tall and work fast. I also time the gaps in the crowd. If you think about it, you'll see there's easy ways to deal with all that.
Not so for me. I use a Nikon D700 camera with a 85mm f/1.4 lens and need no flash to shoot in near-darkness. I have many images to back up that statement.
Is that an expression of pride at having spent some $5000 just so that you can continue, as per TFS, to be one of those wildly irresponsible people taking embarassing photos of people cheating on their spouses, being an idiot around their boss, or drunkenly harassing fellow party-goers? :P
None of the above. The bar pays me to shoot. I try to get tasteful images of people having a good time. So I have a good (professional) reason to be doing this with pro gear. I only shared this because nearly everyone thinks they are safe from cameras in dark bars. But Slashdotters should know better...
... it be moronic and socially clueless to bring a DSLR to a night club...
You are lacking data. The bar owner pays me to shoot the bands and guests. Thus I'm invited, and people want me to photograph them because I make them look a lot better than their friend's iWhatever.
I'm not sure if you've ever actually been to a bar or real party (read: rager) but most of those environments are dark enough that without flash, your pictures are nearly useless when attempting to identify people.
Not so for me. I use a Nikon D700 camera with a 85mm f/1.4 lens and need no flash to shoot in near-darkness. I have many images to back up that statement.
We use JPG in sRGB to transmit files for external printing, but we don't SHOOT in JPG. We shoot RAW, edit, then export JPG or TIFF for client use.
But your point is well made. Thanks for the comment.
While interesting, it will not be of much use with professional photographs.
I'm a pro photographer and used to program in Assembly, C and Forth. The way I hide the "life experience" of older women is to use specialized lighting. Small point lights create sharp shadows in skin folds, causing the subject to look extremely old. Very large lights might leave no shadows at all because the light wraps all sides of the skin fold. To achieve this, I use a 7 foot diameter Octobox - a light modifier that creates a huge soft light source. I also use a lens that focuses red light on a different plane than green and blue. The net effect is to soften skin, as blemishes will not be in sharp focus. The camera does not record JPEG, but saves raw sensor data that is later converted into a picture using Photoshop or Lightroom.
Thus as far as software can tell, the JPEG photo produced is the original. There are no re-compression artifacts. In fact, until the RAW sensor data was "de-mosaiced" in Photoshop, one could argue that the picture did not exist as such. And most of the smoothing of the image takes place in the analog world, before a digital file is produced.
>> "Conjecture: People who have the money to buy "commercial real-estate and mult-unit dwellings" aren't stupid enough to be swayed by a bit of retouching of pictures"
If only that were true...
I'm looking to increase my backup times to an external USB3 drive
Increase time? Sounds like you need a USB 1.0 card. I assume you are paid by the hour, as those of us on salary want to decrease our backup time.
Actually, that is a great idea. Consumers know Compaq.
I would envision a typical response to be either cutting off the Internet connections from an attacking country (by physically destroying the cables with air strikes), or pinpointing the location of the attackers and turning them into red mist.
Well, since the attackers would be a BotNet of compromised XP PCs located all over the US mainland, I don't think that would be effective. But I could certainly see some bonehead launching cruse missiles, then wondering why they appear to be circling back to base.
At last! My Microsoft experience has taught me to wait for the third version before buying. Sounds like the Linux that Microsoft users have been waiting for!
So this thing is finely stable, right? Like DOS 3?
I see where Microsoft says it's not true. But what if MS did open source VB? What would happen? What good and what bad?
- Lots of old Windows apps become available on Linux. (spread the love)
- Lots of crap written by just-got-a-book-on-that "programmers" pollutes Linux. (spread the clap)
When I read the headline, I figured it was an offensive move on MS's part. Sort of a pollute-the-waters strategy.
Smart move by Amazon. I agree that the term 'App Store' is generic and should not be something Apple can trademark. But even if they lose, the "fight" will be covered by the press - who seems to have Apple fever. Rather then spend piles of money on advertising, just call it 'App Store' and let Apple's legal department get the ball rolling. The press will cover it and everyone will know there are "two app stores".
Pity all the other app stores. They will be fighting over third place. And most marketing races boil down to the market leader and the best alternative. Did Amazon just leap past Google with even offering a phone?
Damn glad I stuck with Forth.
OS? I don't need no stinking OS...