Google Maps: Google Maps Adds Walking Directions, Bad Neighborhood Caution
Walking directions from Google Maps finally!!! The online petition I signed actually(?) worked!!
It’s out!!!
More than Just a High Pixel Count
The Highest-Quality Images Ever from a Compact Digital CameraAt the heart of the DMC-LX3, is its 1/1.63-inch CCD. Making the intentional choice to limit the number of mega pixels to 10.1 on its CCD, Panasonic was able to give more space for each pixel and also redesigned the peripheral circuits and other components to further minimize noise generation. As a result, sensitivity is almost 40 percent higher and saturation is increased by 35 percent, when compared to Panasonics 10 MP digital cameras*, giving the DMC-LX3 outstanding image quality and a wide dynamic range, and meeting the demand for a camera that works optimally in low-light environments. The CCD is also capable of reproducing images in three aspect ratios 4:3, 3:2 or 16:9. The new Multi Aspect mode allows the camera to take an image in all three aspect ratios simultaneously, allowing you to choose the version that best suits their needs.
Large Aperture F2.0, 24mm Wide-Angle
Another major upgrade to the DMC-LX3 is the F2.0 24mm ultra wide-angle LEICA DC VARIO-SUMMICRON lens. The F2.0 is about twice as bright as a F2.8 lens and can shoot at higher shutter speeds to capture clear, blur-free images in dimly lit environments. In addition, the 24mm lens captures approximately a 213% larger viewing angle than a normal 35mm camera and 136% larger compared to a 28mm wide-angle lens. The lens unit consists of eight elements in six groups with four aspherical lenses with four aspherical surfaces. As a result of the F2.0 lens, the DMC-LX3 produces high resolution and minimal distortion and artifacts such as chromatic aberrations, ghosting and flaring.
I’ve been using LX2 for a year now. I like its manual control flexibility and compact size. The biggest drawback was the high noise level. Anything beyond 200 ISO is just pitiful (I mean seriously, and I am not even picky when it comes to image quality), which is a big problem for me since I like shooting indoors. From the looks of it they seem to have addressed that, instead of cramming in more useless pixels.
Aperture F2.0 and 24mm lens… need I say more? Yeah, ok I will elaborate on that.
F2.0 basically means it’s awesome for low light condition. Normally you only get F2.8 or F3.5, which are one or two levels below.
People usually call 32mm lens wide-angle, and 28mm ultra wide-angle. So I think 24mm is uber wide-angle. Great for outdoor or you can use it for close-up shots to get interesting effects, like disproportionally large faces.
The only downside I see on the specifications is the low optical zoom (only 2.5x I think). Personally I don’t think it’s too big of an issue.
Anyone looking for a new camera?
What do you call a late lunch at 4PM?
Anyways, as might have guessed, one day I had a late lunch at 4PM. I wandered toward Granville Island not knowing what I wanted exactly. Before I reached Granville Island, I passed by a well decorated small tea shop named Sawa on 2nd avenue. I decided to give it a try.
It was cozy, with a few seats in the front against the window, and more at the back perfect for having conversations. I ordered wild salmon with rice and soup from their light-meal menu, priced at $8 (if I remember correctly).
The food was fine, but I didn’t feel strongly about it. I mean, it’s hard to do a bad review on salmon, rice, and miso soup. I’m not really trying to do a restaurant review here either. What made it special was that it all felt very “right”. In the quiet afternoon of summer breeze, it was as if the place was forgotten. I found myself mindlessly reading through last week’s metro, enjoying the luxury of being willingly unproductive.
When was the last time you had a simple lunch of which the purpose was not calories intake, but escapism from daily routines?
I get this question a lot these days. I’m on one hand glad that people asked, because I like talking about myself. On the other hand, I’m somewhat frustrated because there’s not much to talk about.
It’s been almost a month since I got back to Vancouver. Nothing much has changed actually. Here’s what I’ve been doing:
– Still waiting for the company I want to work in
– Giving myself a crash course on web development/programming
– Trying to get my money back from RBC and Fido, who charged/fined me for ridiculous reasons and now blaming me for not catching their mistakes when I was Sweden
– Feeling exploited and pissed for the reason above
– Thinking about recycling all the bottles and cleaning up all the mess at home which I did not make
– Walking around different neighbourhood
– Walking across the bridges to/from Downtown because I don’t have u-pass anymore and I am so cheap
– Watching movies
– Hanging out with friends
– Wanting to cook but feeling unmotivated
– Reading stuff
– Wondering how I spent last 4 weeks doing only these
Read this.
If you are laughing as hard as I am, you know you are a geek. xD
I have developed this terrible nostalgia since Gizmodo started posting articles about LEGO. I still remember the first set I played and became obsessed over it instantly. I can’t remember what sets I owned exactly, but this one brought back some long lost memories.
I found that on the LEGO website you can even build your own sets with the software they provide: made possible by computers, internet, and e-commerce. Kids today are so lucky. However it seems that kids play video games more nowadays… In fact, I suspect that the target of the Star Wars series are actually adults.
It’s either me having a very bad memory or I just chat with a guy on msn for 2 hours and talked about movies and gave him career advice and at the end realized that he might have mistaken me for someone else.
So this guy whom I had class with a while back messaged me “hey”. At first I had no idea who he was until I checked my history only to find out that our previous conversation consisted of him saying “hi” and I replied “hey” 2 hours later. This time, the situation was almost the same, except this time I didn’t reply until 5 hours later. 10 seconds later, he messaged back apparently a bit annoyed because I was so slow. Anyways that was how it got started.
We started talking about the usual, like what we’ve been doing. He talked about movies so I told him what I’ve been watching and what I want to watch. He had no idea that I went to Sweden (no, not Switzerland) so I shared a bit about what I felt about Europe. Then we talked about jobs. I gave him some advice that I think might be useful.
At the end I told him I am looking for a job in marketing.
“marketing? I remember you told me you like to build things.”
“building things..? hmm.. you sure that’s me?”
“yeah”
“like building what?”
“just things. I don’t remember exactly. Anyways thanks for your help. I gotta get ready for bed”
“k no prob. nites”
I don’t know. Maybe he was referring to my LEGO years. I am not offended or anything, but I think it’s funny how we all have too many people in our msn that we never talked to, and one day, still manage to have a normal (sometimes awkward) conversation, even without knowing who they are.. xD
Rational Irrationalism 