Wuju NoNoNo!

Fotologue Member

The beta test site is finally up for English registration. Love the site for its full use of Flash technology to serve up photos in large scale. You could see mine from

http://fotologue.jp/wuju

Doesn't experience count these days?

"Starting November 28, 2005, moped drivers will have to hold a Class M licence or the new restricted Class M licence to operate their moped. You can no longer operate a moped holding any driver's licence. You need to pass a written test and starting Spring 2006 (when weather permits), you will need to complete both the M1 and M2 road tests and, if successful, you will receive a driver's licence that allows you to operate a limited-speed motorcycle (motor scooter) and moped only."

I'm very happy now that there is a new license that one can take to ride a scooter without doing the highway exit M test. However, for anyone who held a moped license before November 28, 2005, they are "Grandfathered" (automatically upgraded) to have the restricted class M license so they don't have to go to a written or roadtest to continue to drive their moped for life. But as a holder of a M2 license to only drive a limited-speed motor scooter for the past 4 years - I can't be "Grandfathered". How fair is that! The answer I got from the department of transportation, is that the grandfathered policy is simply a bridge to allow the existing moped license owners to continue to drive their mopeds without further test, and that for someone who has an M2 is considered a motorcycle license and must go through the road test to get the restricted class M to drive a 49cc scooter.

So in essence, I took the time and training to pass a test to get a M2 license and to have the experience of riding a limited motor scooter for the past 4 years, will still need to pass a road test to get the restricted M class license to continue to drive my scooter. However, for any moped license holders (without any training or testing) before November 28, 2005, they'll be grandfathered to ride a moped or limited motor scooter without any test - simply unfair! So what I'm asking is, since moped users get this special treatment, I strongly believe that anyone who held an M2 and wanted to simply drive a limited motor scooter should be grandfathered as well. It's only fair that the grandfathered policy be applicalbe to both moped and limited-scooter users, and it's based on experience rather than a bridge only to let moped users to continue to drive.

Slacking Off in Fall

Well, It's been almost a month now since I wrote anything in my weblog. I must admit, I'm a bit lazy on my blogging. I wonder why? I think it's the change in the season; Summer is well behind us now and Fall is here. The morning air is a bit cooler and I start to find myself harder to get up in the morning these days. Just the other day, as I'm having an early morning walk (around 6:30am) to have breakfast with my brother, the sky was still dark - if it was Summer, the sun would have been out before 6am - really hits home that Fall is upon us.

Fall may be the explanation for my laziness. However, I've also been occupied with a new toy I've recently purchased - it's the new iPod 20 Gigs Photo. Apple's new iPod Nano is the other choice I may have gotten, but it simply does no have enough memory (4 Gigs max) to store my entire library of 16 Gigs worth of musics. So, the decision was clear and simple to choose the 20 Gigs model. Having a colored iPod is very sweet with colored menus and the ability to have album art attached to the songs is very cool. Let's not forget iPod Photo also gives you the ability to view download photos on the iPod too. Price per value - the regular iPod photo unit easily wins over the iPod Nano because of storage space. Still, I'm very much like to get the iPod Nano someday because of its size - it's so small.

So, here I am finally writing an update to my weblog and my goal is to write more frequently this month. I just noticed my co-worker have this neat digital-picture-frame made by Philips over on his desk. Time to investigate...

Canon 5D Full-Frame Digital Camera

About a year ago when I was looking for a DSLR camera, there were 2 sensor sizes available in the market. There is the small sized format sensor DX or 4/3 standards (similar to the APS film equivalent), where the captured images has a crop effect of 1.5 to 2.0 times using any of the standard 35mm lenses. The other sensor size has the same size and dimension as a 35mm film. The key reason I went with the Nikon D70, which has the APS size format, because of the price. Most of the APS sensor size DSLR on the market are within the 1,000 to 2,000 price range, but the 35mm full frame (few in models) DSLR cost 10,000 or more - one being Canon's EOS-1Ds Mark II. The problem of using any APS sized sensor DSLR with 35mm lenses is that it cuts out 1/3 of the images because of the crop factor, so you're not using the entire glass to frame you picture, which is a shame for any group or wide-angle shots.

Canon has recently announced a new camera (available late in the Fall this year) called EOS 5D that has a 35mm full frame sensor; it created a big commotion in the pro-consumer community because of its price and size. The suggested retail price is around 3,200 USD (about 5,000 CDN), though it is not cheap, it's more affordable than Canon's professional Mark II. It has the size and weight similar to the 350D as well, which is light enough to bring on a trip. So, this beg the question that 35mm sensor DSLR is becoming more affordable in the future with Canon setting the bar on EOS 5D's price, size and weight. In time, it may reach the same price range as the current APS sensor DSLR, but having to stay with Nikon because of the lenses that I invested, I wish Nikon will invest the time and money to produce a full frame sensor someday. Hopefully soon, before Canon has the 35mm full-frame sensor market all to itself with the EOS 5D.

Just Got an iPod Shuffle

Ever since Apple introduced the iPod Shuffle, I've been sceptic about it since it does not have a screen to view and find the songs that one wants to play. Now that I finally got the iPod Shuffle (the 512MB version), I've changed my view. The selling point of the Shuffle is that it is very small and compact, but the key idea that it tries to sell is the random function that we commonly ignore on other MP3 or CD players. I always like to control what I like to play and never wanted to play the songs in random order; however, Shuffle invited (or rather forced) me to try it. It turns out that playing song in random order is quite refreshing, it simulates the un-predictability that one gets listening to radio and it's quite a nice change of scenary to play music. I guess I simply needed the push to try it out. One may still play the songs in the order that the songs are organized when they were downloaded into the Shuffle, if desired. However, I must say that playing songs in sequential order will become very predictable and boring quickly.

So, I for one like the random play idea and iPod Shuffle's simple and clean design. Though, I would very much like iPod Shuffle to have a built-in FM radio when you simply want to listen to different tunes outside of the 120 songs that one can fit in the 512MB version. Life needs a bit or un-predictability to make it more interesting. I like that!

Test Driving a Smart

When I travelled to Paris back in year 2000, I saw the Smart car for the first time. I took tons of pictures of it from every angle, and wondered if I'll ever get to see or drive one back home in Canada because there are many foreign cars that never get imported to North America. Fortunately, the Smart Car made its debut into the Canadian Market late last year, but supply was short and demand was high everywhere in Canada. So, seeing the Smart on the street was far in between, let alone the possibility of driving one. Though I'm interested of getting one someday, I doubt I have the opportunity to drive one unless someone I know bought one. However, I was able to test drive one on the weekend, not through a friend, but rather through an Autoshare program (a network of cars that are rent-able based on hourly rate as oppose to the typical daily rental cars) that I joined recently - perphaps another weblog about its details in the future.

I picked up the car early on Saturday morning, and I drove it to my parent's place as a surprise to see what kind of a reaction I might get. My mom and brother were amazed to see me pulling up the driveway with the Smart, and immediately questioning me if I bought it? But I had to disappoint them that it's a shared vehicle from the Autoshare program. My parent lives in a quite neighbourhood so when I pull up the Smart in-front of my parent's place, the first thing they noticed was the noise that the car makes. Smart car runs on diesel, though it has a much smaller engine comparing to a diesel engine truck, it has the same rumbling noise that one hears from any diesel engine. So driving a Smart car early morning in a quite neighbourhood may wake up a few people, but under any normal situation, one would not noticed the engine noise at all.

It was fun driving the Smart car; the steering (without power steering) was pretty good and responsive, and the handling isn't bad at all. I (5 feet 7) felt very comfortable driving inside the Smart given its small appearance from the outside. However, the real test on the driving comfort will happen when a friend of mine, who is about 6 feet 3, gets to test drive it in the near future. The only issue that I have with the Smart is its stiff brake; I found I had to step on the brake quite hard to stop the car, and it does not have the light gradual braking response that I find in most Japanese cars. So, I had quite a few hard stops test driving the Smart car but it may smooth out in time after its break in period because the car I rented only had about 2000km on the odometer.

So, would I recommend it? Yes, if you don't plan to drive it over long distance (over 3 hours) because I doubt it has the same comfort that one gets in bigger cars, like the Toyota Camry or Honda Accord for long trips, but it's a blast to park in our congested parking space in the city. The one thing I would like to have is a 4WD (four-wheel-drive) model for better power distribution since Smart car was designed with a rear-mounted drive engine, it will skid alot in our Canadian Winter driving conditions. With Smart's small engine (50hp), 4WD would also help gets it out of icy snow banks. It will be interesting to see how Smart handles in our Canadian Winter, but I wouldn't want to test drive one in a highway this Winter unless it's equipped with Winter tires!

Cool Site to Share Photo

I've just found a very cool site called, Fotologue, from Japan to share photos on-line. The site uses Flash extensively for its presentation and layout. If you have the connection speed (DSL connection at a minimum), it's amazing to see your photos in large format on the web - it literally take up your entire screen. There are alot of artistic shots in the submitted photos; you could learn alot on the Japanese culture from the photos and it's a pleasure to browser through them. Here are a few that I like: Rayon Bleu, 6 Strings, Flow, and Your Eyes.

Unfortunately, the site is written entirely in Japanese, but I'll get to the bottom of it to see if I can sign in and start sharing my photos. I might need someone who speaks Japanese to help me out understanding the site.

Latest Updates - Apparently, it's a site on member's invitation only. Initially, one can post a limited amount of pictures there and the members would vote on what they like or dislike, and if the hosting company or any site member likes your work, you'll be given a invitation to become a standard member. Sounds like an exclusive club limited to few.

Special Licensing for 50cc Scooter

Gas prices in the world are on a steady climb due to various political reasons and its limited availabilities. Although car manufacturers are working hard with new ideas that range from hybrid car (electric & gasoline) to hydrogen cell powered vehicles to reduce the consumption of gasoline, the government of Ontario should look into ways to encourage the use of two-wheel vehicles such as motorcycle and scooters. In the Ministry of Transportation in Ontario, there are various levels of license to drive different types of vehicle, ranging from cars, trucks, and buses. However, there’s only one type of license to drive a two-wheel vehicle, from a 50cc engine scooter (maximum speed of 60km/h) to a 650cc plus Harley Davison motorcycle. The Government of Ontario should revise the current regulation on motorcycle licensing, so a scooterist with a 50cc scooter should only require the M2 motorcycle license to drive permanently in the city, without the need of a full motorcycle M license.

First off, there are differences in the scooter regulation among provinces in Canada, where in British Columbia and Quebec (the two largest populated provinces aside from Ontario), one does not need any motorcycle license to drive a 50cc scooter on the road. To drive a 50cc scooter, all they need is a full permanent car driver’s license. On the other hand, Ontario has a very strict rule stipulating that any two-wheel powered vehicle capable of reaching above parking speed requires the motorist to get a full M motorcycle to maintain the license permanently. However, a moped, which also has a 50cc engine capable of reaching 60km/h (same as the scooter), does not require a motorcycle license at all. The only difference between the 50cc scooter and a moped is not the size, nor the speed, but simple that the moped has a pedal. Therefore it is classified as a bicycle with an assisted motor. Where is the logic in that!

A 50cc scooter can’t possibly have the sufficient speed to go on a highway, nor is anyone foolish enough to try. Thus, Ontario’s requirement to have a highway-exit M class motorcycle license to drive a 50cc scooter is in-comprehensible and absurd. However, the regulation in Vancouver and Quebec, where one does not require any training to drive a 50cc scooter, is a bit too relaxed. As a result, car drivers get angry and upset with untrained scooterists cutting into traffic. A 50cc scooter is not a bicycle and I believe the province should have a license where one only needs to go to a motorcycle training course to get a special scooter license (highway driving is not required) to drive on the city road permanently. If one desires to drive a higher powered scooter or motorcycle – with the ability to go on a highway – only then should it be necessary to get a highway-exit M motorcycle license.

In the end, if Ontario changes its regulation on low-powered scooter, where one only needs to get a M2 motorcycle license to drive a 50cc scooter, there’ll be more people driving scooters on the road. The benefit would be quite substantial with the increased usage of scooter as a mean of transportation because it saves gas, reduces pollution, saves a lot of parking space in downtown, and saves a lot of time in traffic with fewer cars on the road.

Film versus Digital

If you’re in the market for a camera, there are two choices that you can choose between the traditional camera that uses film, and the new digital camera that uses a memory card. In many ways, both types of camera share similar hardware technologies such as the use of the shutter release to take a picture, the lens to focus the subject, and the aperture to control the light. However, the cost, picture quality, and convenience of the two will determine which type of camera you decide to use or buy.

The initial cost of the film camera is in the camera body, lenses, and films. After you’ve taken your first roll of film, you must develop it to view your photos. The cost of similar class digital camera is almost the same, but instead of buying films, one must invest quite a bit more for the memory card to store the photos. With the newer digital cameras that can take large mega-pixels photos, larger memory is needed to store the large image files. So, the initial cost of digital camera will most likely be more expensive. However, In film development, one must develop the entire roll of film, regardless if the photos taken were any good. Statistically, only 10 percent of the photos taken are kept. Therefore, the real cost of using film camera is in the photo development, substantially more compared to the one time cost of buying the camera. On the other hand, one can save a lot by using a digital camera because the pictures are previewed beforehand, and only the good photos get printed. In terms of archiving your “Kodak moments”, this film technology will cost you quite a bit from expensive framing to scanning the negatives. But digital photos can easily be archived using recordable media such as DVDs or computer hard-drives with minimal cost.

There have been many articles and arguments on the subject of digital camera not being able to produce the same quality prints as the traditional film, but the advancement in technology has shortened that gap substantially. With the 35mm film media, one can produce sharp quality prints, up to an A4 size paper. On the other hand, with the new 12 mega-pixel digital cameras, one can easily print up to poster size print with minimal effort. Most of the film camera, ranged from the point & shoot to the professional SLR (Single Lens Reflex) models, can produce reasonable quality photo prints. However, not all digital cameras can produce quality prints. Digital cameras in cell phones or Palm like PDA (Personal Digital Agenda) devices will only give mediocre quality picture intended only for sharing and sending via email. So, to get quality images from the digital format, one must look into the mid-range to high-end models. Eventually, it’s a matter of time before the digital format will surpass the larger 50mm film used for wedding or glamour shots on sharpness and billboard scale reproduction.

With the widely accepted standard of 35mm film used in the traditional camera, one can easily buy extra rolls of film anywhere to use while on a vacation. On the other hand, it’s not so easy to buy a memory card for the digital camera if it’s full. One needs to transfer the images taken in the memory card to either a notebook back in the hotel, or invest in a portable hard-drive media to download the photos before you can take more pictures using the same memory card. One may buy more memory cards to bring on a trip but it’s very costly and not practical. Luckily, there are many selections of portable hard-drives to choose from; even Apple’s new iPod can store images.

A famous journalist photographer once said, “It’s not how well you can take a picture, but rather having a camera with you at all times to capture the unexpected.” The size of a 35mm camera can be reduced so far, due to the size of the film cartridge. However, with advancements in micro-technology, there are multitudes of ultra-thin digital cameras that can easily fit in your shirt pocket, making them convenient to carry anywhere. When you’re on a vacation, it is very important that the shots you’ve taken are properly focused and exposed. With the film camera, there is no instant view feedback on how your shots turned out until the film is developed. These shots might have been out of focus and it’s too late to take another afterward. However, one can instantly see the photos taken through the LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) that most digital cameras have to see if the shot was taken successfully. If not, one can take another shot on the spot, and there is no cost for bad photos in the digital format because they can easily be deleted. Individuals who like to enlarge, to manipulate, or to fix over-exposed or under-exposed photos, need to use different types of equipment and chemicals with the film in the darkroom. However, it’s a lot easier to fix or manipulate digital photos using computer software such as Photo Elements for beginners to Photoshop for the professionals.

Despite the differences, one can apply his/her skills in photography in either the film or digital format. With the ability to pack up to 22 mega-pixels resolutions in the high-end digital camera, both types of format will give great results in photo prints. But the cost and convenience will determine if you should get a film or a digital camera. With the introduction of the Canon Digital Rebel and Nikon D70, the prices of digital SLR cameras are very affordable. Professionally speaking, the most expensive investment is in the lenses. Quality lenses can range from a few hundred dollars to thousands, if not more. The good news is that camera manufactures were kind enough to have the same lens mount in the digital SLR camera as the traditional film SLR camera. Thus, one can use all of the old SLR lenses on the digital SLR body without any problem. Therefore, an investment in lenses used in the film camera is not lost.

Letter to the Mayor

Dear Mayor of Toronto;

I’ve lived in Toronto for well over 20 years now, and I’ve seen many changes in its downtown districts. In my neighborhood, I’ve seen the ever-changing Queen Street West retailing stores, from low end discount computer stores to the high fashion retailers that we see today. I’ve also noticed the ever-increasing number of condos going up daily to re-vitalize the residential living in the downtown core. These are all positive signs in the development of our great city. However, to bring Toronto to a world class living city, we need to address various issues from attracting more tourism businesses in our prime and precious lakefront area, to cleaning up our communities, to reducing the ever increasing traffic congestion in the city’s roads and major highways.

Unlike overpopulated cities, such as Hong Kong, where they had to create shoreline land mass for development, we should take advantage of our natural Lake Ontario shoreline and maximize its potential. Although, there are some existing attractions already in place, we simply have not tapped into its full potential yet. In Chicago, they have taken advantage of their water front properties and populated its entire area with various tourism attractions, such as museums, parks, shops, great seafood restaurants and water theme park activities. In addition, they have built a large sea-world type attraction where everyone can go to see and learn all things about sea living creatures. There are no shortages of successful ideas and stories for lakefront development in many great cities in the world, and Toronto needs to get onboard and create its own unique lakefront environment and activities for us to enjoy and the world to come to.

With the added growth of residential properties in the downtown area, extra attention is needed to further handle the already congested streets in Toronto. The sea of tail lights on the highway going in and out of Toronto is a continuing problem that the city needs to address. A possible solution is to establish a dedicated highway speed lane for taxi and car pooling vehicles, so people would car pool more often to decrease the volume of single drivers on the road these days, which averaged about 80 percent in the latest poll. With the increasing cost of gasoline, air pollution, parking lots and congestion in our local street, the city should encourage the use of scooter/motorcycle to help solve all the problems mentioned.

Another important aspect of what makes a great city is its communities, and Toronto has a large palette of multicultural inhabitants to create a great canvas for everyone to live in. However, dirty neighborhoods do not spell world class living and there needs to be awareness, control and enforcement put in place in the communities to clean up the appearance of Toronto. Chinatown is one of the worst cases that I’ve seen where garbage disposals and vendors taking up sidewalk space is getting out of hand. The smells in the area are un-bearable during summer months with overflow public garbage bins and litter. Pass 9pm, Chinatown becomes a dump site with mountains of produce waste. Some call it “The Great Wall of China”, and it is left on the sidewalk for hours for private garbage pickup from many of the supermarket retailers in the area. It’s not a pleasant area to see or be in at all after business hours.

In addition to cleaning up the city streets of its garbage, we need to find a solution to the squeegee kids on street corners (a constant hazard to the flow of traffic) and the homeless individuals who sleep on the ventilation ducts in the downtown business district. They are a visual reminder to both the local and tourist alike that Toronto, as great as it may be, can’t deal with poverty and it is a critical issue that needs to be deal with in general.

With the economy getting back on its feet and the unfortunate SARS incidents 2 years ago behind us, the city of Toronto needs to prove to the world that it’s not only a great city to live and work in but it is a world class city to visit and to be in.  Immediate action is needed to bring us there, and there is not time to waste.