Today, I was invited to a family dinner that was slightly to slow-paced for my taste. The food ended up taking an hour to come, and the conversation dragged on from purchasing glasses to Chinese names. I have hardly any experience in the latter category, so you might imagine I grew quite bored. I drew out my Sony Ericsson w600i, which does happen to be a camera phone like all phones made in the last two years, and began fooling around with the camera. Luckily, the restaurant was very well designed and decorated, so I had many items to try it out on.

Before continuing, I’d like to disclose some information:

• My own Sony Ericsson w600i is almost two years old – it has been released for nearly the same amount of time, so as you can imagine, the camera quality will not be as great as one of a w810i or the world-class camera phone complete with Xenon flash, k790i.
• I am not a professional photographer – quite the contrary; I’ve got the interest in photography but definitely lack the skill and experience.
• I am aware I probably looked like a doofus, especially to people who walked through when I was taking a picture. However, my sense of boredom overcame my sense of shame and I decided to go along with such a scheme anyway.
• If you’re looking to put stuff in your portfolio or your school project or even something just as simple as remembering precious family moments, don’t use a camera phone.

We’ll start with my main point: every camera and phone is different, so you’re going to want to experiment. It takes time to find out the optimum settings to take pictures. I realized soon that the maximum resolution was sacrificing response time, so I decided on lowering it to a moderate 640×480 (the w600i has a 1.3mp camera, meaning it has a maximum resolution of 1280×1024). I switched the quality to Fine and mainly tampered with the White Balance, shifting from Incandescent to Fluorescent and then Cloudy. Here were the results; you tell me which one you thought was best.

The next step: how you hold the camera phone will affect the result. If you’re going for the “fly” look and hold it with one hand, it’ll show. If you’re holding it like a normal person with two hands, it’ll show. Some will look much less blurred, some will look like they were taken with a real camera! Because the average human’s got pretty jittery hands, you’re going to want to hold it with both hands, even if it makes you look like a nimrod (unless you’ve got really steady hands). Also, pull the sniper-trick – I read about this in Wired once, if I’m not mistaken: breathe in for five seconds, hold your breath for five seconds, and breathe out for five seconds. Repeat. This is supposed to slow your heart rate (assuming I remember correctly) and calm you down a bit, meaning you’ll have steadier hands.

If you’re going to turn a deaf ear to my advice, and want to replace your camera with a camera phone, common sense will tell you to invest your money in a powerful camera phone. Something like a Sony Ericsson k790i, k850i, or a Nokia N95 costs a sure heck lot more than a normal camera, but if you really want results from a camera phone, then this is what you’re going to want. Higher resolutions, Carl Zeiss lens, Xenon flash, and all the trimmings. Not to mention they’re pretty powerful devices that can do pretty much anything you want them to do.

There really aren’t any universal tricks to taking better pictures, as it’s already pretty subjective to compare which photo looks better from a camera phone: you have to take into consideration the focus (or lack thereof) and the colour capture, not to mention a whole mountain-sized pile of other things. To recap, if you’re resolving to take better pictures:

1. Experiment with your camera phone. Perhaps practise, even.
2. Throw away your dignity and hold the camera phone like a normal person.
3. Invest your money in a stronger camera phone.
4. Thank Herbert Lui for such a wonderful and common-sense filled tutorial.

Have fun snapping those shots away.

As of recent times, the music industry has really been cracking down on P2P users. But, as the saying goes, “When you can’t beat them, join them,” – and I think that this is a much more constructive and productive method to encountering this situation. Rather than start suing little children and other practically harmless individual P2P users, why not make them pay a reasonable sum? On a small-scale, that might not work – but with P2P growing ever so popular, I think it’ll work pretty well on a larger scale (even though we only have 30 million people up here in Canada).

The fee is expected to be charged to consumers’ Internet bills, similar to World of Warcraft, and is expected to rake in $500 million to $900 million, which is to be distributed to the artists. Not a bad concept at all, but will it wreck the entire delicate balance of Canada? First – is the $5/month fee mandatory? I think that we can safely assume it is – because P2P is so widespread in our country that it’d be difficult to verify whether someone was actually downloading music or not (even if they claim to not be downloading so as to avoid the $5/month fee).

This then, would result in a chain of crazy events; music retailers selling CD’s and the such will be seeing their loyal buyers flee away to their own desktops, and will soon meet their downfall. Call me old-fashioned, but I like my music on a CD – it’s just got that much more character, as opposed to some downloaded cyber-shot of album art, its real paper and real plastic.

I like things the way they are – people either do what is right, or what is wrong (morally speaking, legitimately we are all covered by the Canadian umbrella). It’s a choice that everyone will have to make, and brushing it away might be a solution to this problem, but the P2P sharing will eventually grow so popular that movies and games will be pirated even more, leading to more fees? What can we expect then?

I really don’t know if this is as great an idea as it sounds. I’m sure I will miss my CD’s, but if this is the only means that artists can collect their royalties, then I’m afraid I’ll have to pack up my CD case and get on a computer. I believe in people getting what they deserve, whether it be good or bad.

Well, today I finally got my first taste of Halo 3. I went to a friend‘s house, as I don’t have an Xbox 360 – and he just had Halo 3 delivered to him a couple of days ago. So as you could imagine, when he stuck the disc into the socket, I was pretty darn excited. One thing I did notice – it wasn’t exactly a socket, but a normal CD-drive. I thought next-gen systems outgrew that stuff, but it’s refreshing to still see it there (I never got used to the socket on the Wii, really).

Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/30/Arbiter_crop.png

So, we played a bit of multi-player, but as you can imagine 2-person Slayer isn’t really that much fun. We then decided to play some Campaign mode – and wow, it was definitely something else. For some odd reason, I always get motion-sickness when I play Halo – well, not exactly motion-sickness, but I definitely have to take breaks in between long periods of playing, which is a problem I don’t get when playing games such as Counterstrike or Half Life 2. Could be the big TV, could be Halo. Anyway, he was Master Chief, and – wow, I was the Arbiter. I loved the addition of the Arbiter and still do, but I miss the energy swords (hammers just aren’t the same).

We finally destroyed the darn anti-air cannon when I called it quits. Initially we thought we already beat the game (apparently it’s a really short game), but upon seeing the huge ship crash we decided otherwise and I was definitely ready to hurl a bucketful. Still, tons of fun and an entertaining experience.

Dear Yahoo! Corp,

The past couple of weeks have been tough, I have to say. Who would’ve thought that things would’ve turned out like this? With you going downhill, I offer to drive a stake down and bring you back up to the top – and what do you do? You go and spurn my advances of $44.6 billion – something that doesn’t happen to me very often. And I don’t like it.

Sure, you could’ve left the meeting with the gigantic Google or the ever-so-handsome Apple, but ya didn’t. I can’t figure you out – you turn all three of us down, and now you claim to be strong enough to return even though you’ve been doing that for as long as I can remember. But I won’t stand for it – if they’re not going to have you, I’m going to take you whether you like it or not.

So now I’m going to have to seize you by my own force and use your shareholders to get to you – and you can’t do jack but watch. Know this – we really could’ve had something special and gotten along, but you had to do things the hard way. I wish you well, and hope you don’t feel too threatened by this – even though you have every right to. I’m not violating you, just liberating you from the clutches of failure.

Your buddy,

Microsoft

P.S. I’m still giving you a chance to accept my proposal, but not for long. Have fun!

Author’s Comment: Thanks to Darren Rowse over at ProBlogger for introducing this concept to me.

There’s a little bug in the whole idea of having two flash items in a single WordPress post, and so Revver and Imeem refresh a couple of seconds after they’re loaded. My apologies for such an inconvenience, but hopefully you enjoy the video nonetheless.

Breaking news – well, sorta.  Yahoo! corp. is going to fight the Microsoft takeover.  I have to admit, such a move really took guts – Yahoo’s risking the support of their stock shareholders in order to stand up to the big guys, and I’m going to say it’s a noble move.  But is it smart?

Not exactly, as Yahoo! now lands itself in a pretty precarious position.  Without Microsoft, Yahoo! is going to have to find an alternate method of financial support, as it’s been losing funds for a while now – and this task alone won’t be easy (who else will be willing to offer tens of billions of dollars?  …Apple…?  *wink*).  Plus, what I’ve been saying the whole time was that two losers really don’t make a winner – and now, with Yahoo! taking serious consideration (well, more serious than before hopefully) into how they’re going to survive, it looks like they’re going to have to step up their game.

With this short chapter in the saga closed, we can only wait and see what Yahoo! does next.  But this definitely is turning very, very interesting.  Of course, Microsoft still has a chance, it just has to increase its bidding amount – which would be difficult, but it’s still very feasible.  Not to mention the nagging of shareholders should be able to change Yahoo!’s attitude.

Source: http://www.windowsitpro.com/Article/ArticleID/98213/98213.html

Last week, Microsoft shook the fragile framework of the world by announcing its proposed hostile takeover of Yahoo! corporation for a whopping $44.6 billion dollars. In my opinion, Yahoo!’s continued losses mean that they couldn’t afford to not look at this offer seriously. Alas, as most stories proceed, there emerge a few ironic twists and turns that even I would never have predicted.

Source: http://files.shareholder.com/downloads/YHOO/0x0x10712/25D58133-E6FD-4AD5-A5D0-11AA773135C3/jerry_yang.jpg

Microsoft’s still in it to win it, and could very possibly do so. With Yahoo! chairman Terry Semel resigning, it seems that the opposition to Microsoft’s takeover left with him. However, apparently, Yahoo! CEO Jerry Yang doesn’t seem too fond of Microsoft – but who will Yang turn to in such a time of disaster and Microsoft seemingly coming in to sweep Yahoo! from the outskirts of the web into the mainstream again?

Source: http://images.jeb.be//Apple/apple_logo_(640×480).jpg

Why, Apple, of course! It’s rumoured that Yang has expressed openly admiration for Steve Jobs and the whole Apple crew – and its well-earned, of course. Apple already revolutionized the way we listen to music and now the way we handle mobile devices – perhaps the internet is the next step? However, Apple isn’t the only giant to intervene between the transaction of Microsoft and Yahoo!.

Enter Google – king of the search industry. I was surprised to see such a strong reaction from them, actually – they claimed that Microsoft and Yahoo! combining would lead to a monopoly, which I can sympathize with, but Google has been so successful already that I doubt even such a strong move would be capable of downing Google – now very reluctant to relinquish their view of the top. Understandable.

Source: http://blog.wired.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/06/05/yahoo_logo.jpg

I think the best move would be for Yahoo! to end up in the hands of Apple Corp. as they seem to have a knack for doing things right, and don’t have their own web portal yet – Google’s Google, and Microsoft’s got MSN and Live. I think that Apple + Yahoo! would = an interesting move, but we’ve yet to see the chess game play out.

I had a blast during my stay in the states, visiting various places and seeing sights that are hardly available in Toronto. Plus, the Winter was much milder, making the trip that much better. Unfortunately, that meant having hardly anytime to use all those services that piqued my Canadian interests! Luckily, this evening I had a chance to take a quick look at Pandora – which I must admit, is very similar to Last.fm. Thank goodness that’s still available to us.

Pandora loads very quickly, and it guides you through the whole experience very closely. The only difference between Pandora and Last.fm so far as I can see is that Last.fm needs to be downloaded onto the computer to enjoy the total experience, whereas Pandora is fine just on the internet. Basically, all you need to do is input a beloved artist and out comes the results – some new music to explore, as well as probably some of your old favourites.

Pandora’s GUI is great! It’s very user-friendly and it’s a lot more flexible than Last.fm – no need to register, no need to download the client. I’m sure that if I registered, a lot more features would have been available to me; sadly, I don’t think it’d be very realistic to sign up for a service I’m going to lose access to by tomorrow.

Being the picky listener I am, I already found one thing to whine about – the skipping limit! It was a real pain in the behind to know that I wan’t allowed to skip as many songs as I wanted to, due to some “restrictions”. Last.fm actually didn’t have this problem last time I checked. I realized I had used my quota and I gave up Pandora that instant. Might’ve been a hasty decision, but I didn’t have much of a choice anyway – I’m leaving for Canada tomorrow.

It’s probably a bit overrated by Canadians, as Pandora isn’t really that much better to use than Last.fm – in fact, they’re arguably at around the same calibur I daresay. However, I must also emphasize that I haven’t used Pandora to it’s potential yet and this is just a very quick judgment – I can be proven wrong, but it’s just a bummer to realize how restricted it is to an unregistered user. I’m still glad I had this eye-opening experience though – looks like we still can survive without Pandora. And we might have to for a while, because the RIAA hasn’t invaded Canada yet.

At this day and age, I’m quite surprised that even just a concept of the Weave has been so widely accepted into the world. With viruses and hackers running rampant, I didn’t realize that our metadata was vulnerable enough to have to be stored on a server, as opposed to in our brains. It really does seem like our future is here now – doesn’t it?

Source: http://people.mozilla.com/~cbeard/weave/weave-logo.jpg

The Weave is a new project introduced by Mozilla, which promises to sync all your metadata (saved passwords, cookies, all that good stuff) with a server – preferably your own, yet possibly ones provided by Mozilla – with both being available. How considerate! This means that all your data will be available when you open a Firefox session, and will be automatically synced – wherever you are – including at a restaurant on in your dear grandmother’s house for a nice family gathering.

My main concern with this is how the metadata will be accessed in a secure method. I would assume since metadata consists of such important information, it will be a very sought-after target for hackers. Will the metadata be accessed via a username and password, or will there be a more creative, original method of access? The metadata will all be stored on a server, and you have a choice of either using your own or one provided by Mozilla. I’d like to see how Mozilla handles the situation of teaching an average user how to create their own server, or use part of their computer to store or stream the metadata elsewhere.

Source: http://people.mozilla.com/~cbeard/weave/services-overview-v1.png

The actual server should be very safe from intruders otherwise – if Gmail can keep such large volumes of data safe, I believe that Mozilla, a company so successful with their secure browser Firefox, then I think that they can do the same, if not better, with Weave – where they realize security will be an issue. I also think that this will grow to be a convenient service, but I don’t think it will be a revolutionary one. It’s a step in the right direction though.

Weave provides a promising look into the future, but I’m not sure whether it will be one for better or for worse. Such a tactic makes me wonder if humans are getting lazier – so lazy that they are unable to memorize a few passwords – but alas, that’s a total other social issue. I think it will be great for collaborative purposes as well, as partners will be able to use each other’s data to collect information twice as fast, essentially. What convenience, and what a conception.

Official Information:

http://labs.mozilla.com/2007/12/introducing-weave/

Day-to-day Applications/Use Cases:

https://labs.mozilla.com/forum/index.php/topic,392.0.html

For the past demi-year, Hulu has been officially open as a beta to consumers. But as part of the Canadian public, I’ve lacked the opportunity to try such a service as it was unfortunately unavailable in my region at this time. Either way, I’ve finally arrived south of the border, and I’m dying to try this service out. Luckily, I was able to access the service – if I weren’t, I might’ve died.

Hulu has a wide variety of shows, which all seem to appeal to me. They are all hits on TV, and they are all widely available on the internet – something that Hulu is trying to discourage by officially offering a medium to watch such shows. However, I must object – when you are trying to discourage piracy, please try to include the rest of the world – just something to take into consideration.

A spectrum of features are made available – in fact, something to the most minute detail like changing the background colour is available for the comfort of your eyes. The overall GUI is pretty and goes well with the whole glass look of the new Web, as well as Vista. They also go so far as to offer summaries and user opinions of the shows they offer.

The most important feature of a video site has to be the playback – which I must admit, disappointed me a bit. I must mention that I am using wi-fi, so I might not be getting as strong a signal as I could be, but I still think that streaming a video should be much smoother. I had to wait a while for the video to load, as it was quite choppy at first. Also, it’s resolution isn’t as nice as something like Veoh’s, so I think it wasn’t really worth the hype. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still above Youtube par, but I was certainly expecting more.

Hulu looks very promising at the moment, and if it progresses then it should be a feasible alternative to piracy. However, I’m begging Hulu creators to please make the service more widely available, and to make the videos load faster as well as in higher quality. If you’re still in Canada right now, then you’re really missing out.