lactose

I sent a letter to the owners of the Rosedale mall to ask for permission to shoot the crowds waiting for the iPhone. I only got a reply the next day, after already getting tons of photos, but he was more interested in my opinion of what he describes as Apples 'unconventional methods'

Here's a link to the VP and General Manager of the company that owns Rosedale Mall:
http://www.myrosedale.com/go/services.cfm?type=cu

Here is his reply

"Riaz, if you have the time to do it and wouldn't mind, I would love to hear some of your impressions of the day. The whole approach Apple had to their launch was on many levels unconventional, and the thoughts of one who had been there would be interesting, to say the least." ~ Rollin Hunsicker

and my impressions of the day:

"It was expertly handled i thought. Apple had a large countdown clock
in the window to keep everyone informed. They handed out tickets that
looked like iPhones to guarantee the people in line that they would
receive one, preventing anyone from waiting in line for nothing. The
lines were quiet and didn't seem to bother anyone else.

A few other vendors, with some entrepreneurial spirit left in them,
capitalized on the crowd with hand out pamphlets, but no one except
caribou coffee free water had any thing to offer the crowds.

When the countdown reached 1 minute the crowds were getting ready to
be excited for the opening when preemptively, before everyone got all
hyped up, they opened the doors and allowed a counted number in at a
time, thus diffusing any wildness from waiting till the end of
countdown. I was expecting a audible countdown but they opened the
doors a minute early before any got over excited, very clever.

I saw a few people being told not to use cameras, but critical mass
won over because there were hundreds of people with cameras. So i
would say that the guards were a little too anxious, which is not good
for a crowd, the Apple employees were very well prepared for the crowd
dynamics. So it went of without a hitch. The other neighboring vendors
got free extended exposure from the people sitting there and interest
generated from them.

I got my iPhone after waiting in the line for about 20min after the
opening and have it now listed for sale on eBay where they have been
selling for around 20-30% higher.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120137543966
"

And the Photos:

Hmm, looks like when i'm logged into my google for domain services that it now gives me an iGoogle page when i just go to iGoogle. It's ok, except it still isn't integrating with my domain services, i won't check my domain email, it want to create a new email account using the same email address, dumb, legacy safe trap that microsoft fell into.

"The mental processing required to perceive images is so great that it represents about 40% of the body's at-rest caloric consumption. This is why it's so resting to close our eyes for a moment. (I forget the citation for the 40% number, let me know if you have it exactly.)"
~ Ken Rockwell

Eyes resolution: 1/60th of a degree (Google converging lines test pattern)
Eyes effective shutter speed: 1/30th of a second. (video is like 1/48th of a second)

I agree with Ken's complaints about the state of HDR images, they've become ubiquitous since Adobe added an automation feature in PhotoShop, but they still have weird artifacts. What we need is a camera sensor that is able to adjust the gain on a pixel level, mapped ISO, or a high resolution LCD screen that could act as a masked ND filter. Heck i should patent that! They make those sun-glasses that have light sensitive darkness to them, they should put a really thin on over the sensor of a D-Camera

This is great example of decent HDR, where the images is appealing and doesn't have the weird highlights of an auto HDR job. Here is another great one, where it still looks somewhat realistic. And one more from wikipedia

Previous post got one Digg, and it was me, bummer. I guess I missed the target on that one. "What there's no mouse mod niche market out here", "Oh there is." If only i had had this idea:

via ~ http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS9902727147.html

(Disclaimer: this probably voids your mouses' electromagnetic interference levels, according to the FCC but who believes them anyway)

So i don't need to convince you on the convenience of a wireless mouse, but i may need to sell you on using a laptop mouse for a desktop.

The main reason: Size, they are small so you can move the mouse with your fingers rather than moving your whole hand+wrist.

The problem: Range, they usually use a USB dongle that you'd plug into your desktop, which in many cases is under the desk stretching the range to the usual 3ft claim (2ft in reality). I was frustrated by the number of times I'd have to click to double click, and lack of responsiveness.

The Solution: Bigger Tail, antennas inside the mouse are effectively shielded by your hand which absorbs a lot of the EMF and almost creates a Faraday cage around the mouse. Adding an external antennae will give the transmitter a bigger antennae and prevent the signal from being shielded so much. Since the deal is a one way communication (from mouse to dongle) we will see results even though we're only extending the one antennae. (when trying to increase range on two way communications you have to do both because increasing the size of the receiving antennae can also increase the noise being picked up)




A great feature of this mouse is that the mouse and dongle can become one for transportation, which means that you won't lose the dongle, and the little protruding button get depressed when you fit the dongle into the bottom of the mouse, which turns it off. For once M$oft got it right!

So to upgrade the range on this little rodent, you'll need a screwdriver (i used the one on my cute pink leather man ) and a twisty tie, like ones that come with any gadget with wires.

First pick of the pads off with whatever then unscrew all 4 screws.

Near the front there is a stiff wire, unsheathe some of the twisty tie and twist it on there. Make a little notch for the wire to escape when you close the mouse up. Keep the notch small so that it holds the twisty in place.


Then close it up, thats it your done! The range should now be about 3x so around 9ft though i was able to double click from much farther when line of sight with the dongle. Polar antennae, like this one, have a doughnut radiation pattern, which means that the signal is strongest on the sides and almost zero on axis, so don't point the antenna at the dongle, rather have it parallel.

Other DIY articles

• DIY Softbox for perfect portraits (1000+ diggs)
  
• The silent Server - make a quiet PC box from scrap wood
• DIY Man bag
• Intel Hipster PDA
• Google SMS hack - never forget the SMS shorcuts

"The Baha'i Faith is one of the most disorganized religions on the planet! NOT."

Dwight from The Office did an interview on the US Baha'i Site, I didn't see who the interviewer was, but they did a great job. I really like the responses Wilson gave to what role the Faith plays in his life, especially the reference to digging latrines in Honduras. Having a socialy responsible mindset can easily encourage thoughts of doing thankless menial labour, but Wilson proves that you would be doing it at the cost of contributing to society with your unique talents. If your not sure what those talents are, then menial labor can be invaluable at drawing them out.

"My favorite quote from the Baha'i Faith is from Abdu'l-Baha: "If religion be the cause of disunity, then irreligion is surely to be preferred." For the disenfranchised to know that Abdu'l-Baha is a proponent of having no religion if there's disunity... And for those who say they don't like "organized religion," don't worry: The Baha'i Faith is one of the most disorganized religions on the planet! NOT."

Enjoy it Rainn Wilson: Hollywood’s funny guy talks straight about being a Baha'i via Bahai.us

Wiki Entry