Hello everybody,
Happy 2009 - the year of the Ox. I've been so out of touch on the blogging scene, I figured I should get back on track and start blogging again. In the meantime, I would start thinking about what I want to write about, perhaps review of the stuff that I get and collect these days.
Stay tune...
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
"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.
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...
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.
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!
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!
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.
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.
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.
