So I woke up this morning and heard on the news that there was a chance of typhoon Koppu becoming signal 8. Instead of looking forward to a day off, the first thought that popped in my mind was "Oh crap...I have a joint unit test with our partner bank in Japan tomorrow. PLEASE don't let this typhoon mess up our timeline"
I actually wished against a free day off?! When did I become the worrying manager...?
Monday, September 14, 2009
Sunday, September 6, 2009
I love my new Pany
This is the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ7 (called DMC-ZS3 in the US) . It's a fantastic little compact DC with a 25-300mm lens (with image stabilization) and 720p HD movie recording. What more could you want? It's focal length covers pretty much anything you'd encounter inside and out and it lets you take decent looking HD movies (naturally, it can't compete with an actual camcorder but it still does a good job at casual shoots).
The 300mm is a life saver for shooting photos and videos during wakeboarding. My old Ixy 910IS only went up to 105mm, so after cropping I was left with a tiny image. The Pany's 300mm is more than enough (I find myself shooting at 200mm) to allow for large photos even after cropping. And best of all, it has a Hi-Speed Burst mode, that lets me shoot at 6fps (caveat: the camera limits max resolution to 3MP). This feature makes capturing the right moment a heck of a lot easier than before:
Naturally, it still takes some practice to time it right. Shooting a moving target from a bumpy boat is no easy task. Using burst mode, my friend and I fired off over 700 shots and a majority of them looked like this (that splash you see on the left is me making a landing):
Still, with 700 photos, the odds were in favor of getting a couple of good shots. Amazingly, my wake buddy was able to capture shots of me smiling. That's right: Me...Smiling. People who know me know I generally default to a blank expression. And whenever I wakeboard, I always have a scowl on my face and clenched jaws. So I must have been giddy from all the jumping I did because I was smiling in a couple of photos.
Ah, here we go. Back to Mr. Pouty McScowlington
BTW. I put up a quick and easy review of the Pany on my fotop site: http://www.fotop.net/teruphoto/Panasonic_DMC_TZ7
I've only had the camera for a week but I look forward to getting more acquainted to it.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Uplifting
If your eyes don't water up after hearing this story, there's something very wrong with you.
Source: http://www.ocregister.com/articles/pixar-up-movie-2468059-home-show
HUNTINGTON BEACH Colby Curtin, a 10-year-old with a rare form of cancer, was staying alive for one thing a movie.
From the minute Colby saw the previews to the Disney-Pixar movie Up, she was desperate to see it. Colby had been diagnosed with vascular cancer about three years ago, said her mother, Lisa Curtin, and at the beginning of this month it became apparent that she would die soon and was too ill to be moved to a theater to see the film.
On April 28, Colby went to see the Dream Works 3-D movie "Monsters Vs. Aliens" but was impressed by the previews to "Up."
It was from then on, she said, I have to see that movie. It is so cool, Lynch said.
Two days later Colbys health began to worsen. On June 4 her mother asked a hospice company to bring a wheelchair for Colby so she could visit a theater to see "Up." However, the weekend went by and the wheelchair was not delivered, Lisa Curtin said.
By June 9, Colby could no longer be transported to a theater and her family feared she would die without having seen the movie.
At that point, Orum-Moore, who desperately wanted Colby to get her last wish, began to cold-call Pixar and Disney to see if someone could help. Pixar officials listened to Colbys story and agreed to send someone to Colbys house the next day with a DVD of "Up," Orum-Moore recalled.
She immediately called Lisa Curtin, who told Colby.
Do you think you can hang on? Colbys mother said.
I'm ready (to die), but I'm going to wait for the movie, the girl replied.
At about 12:30 p.m. the Pixar employee came to the Curtins home with the DVD. Colby couldn't see the screen because the pain kept her eyes closed so her mother gave her a play-by-play of the film. At the end of the film, the mother asked if her daughter enjoyed the movie and Colby nodded yes, Lisa Curtin said.
Colby died with her mom and dad nearby at 9:20 p.m.
"When I watched it, I had really no idea about the content of the theme of the movie", said Curtin, 46. "I just know that word Up and all of the balloons and I swear to you, for me it meant that (Colby) was going to go up. Up to heaven."
Source: http://www.ocregister.com/articles/pixar-up-movie-2468059-home-show
HUNTINGTON BEACH Colby Curtin, a 10-year-old with a rare form of cancer, was staying alive for one thing a movie.
From the minute Colby saw the previews to the Disney-Pixar movie Up, she was desperate to see it. Colby had been diagnosed with vascular cancer about three years ago, said her mother, Lisa Curtin, and at the beginning of this month it became apparent that she would die soon and was too ill to be moved to a theater to see the film.
On April 28, Colby went to see the Dream Works 3-D movie "Monsters Vs. Aliens" but was impressed by the previews to "Up."
It was from then on, she said, I have to see that movie. It is so cool, Lynch said.
Two days later Colbys health began to worsen. On June 4 her mother asked a hospice company to bring a wheelchair for Colby so she could visit a theater to see "Up." However, the weekend went by and the wheelchair was not delivered, Lisa Curtin said.
By June 9, Colby could no longer be transported to a theater and her family feared she would die without having seen the movie.
At that point, Orum-Moore, who desperately wanted Colby to get her last wish, began to cold-call Pixar and Disney to see if someone could help. Pixar officials listened to Colbys story and agreed to send someone to Colbys house the next day with a DVD of "Up," Orum-Moore recalled.
She immediately called Lisa Curtin, who told Colby.
Do you think you can hang on? Colbys mother said.
I'm ready (to die), but I'm going to wait for the movie, the girl replied.
At about 12:30 p.m. the Pixar employee came to the Curtins home with the DVD. Colby couldn't see the screen because the pain kept her eyes closed so her mother gave her a play-by-play of the film. At the end of the film, the mother asked if her daughter enjoyed the movie and Colby nodded yes, Lisa Curtin said.
Colby died with her mom and dad nearby at 9:20 p.m.
"When I watched it, I had really no idea about the content of the theme of the movie", said Curtin, 46. "I just know that word Up and all of the balloons and I swear to you, for me it meant that (Colby) was going to go up. Up to heaven."
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