1mind1’s keyholder, originally uploaded by 1mind1.

Kulcscsomóm

Man, SEPTA just can’t catch a break. A track inspector was struck and killed this morning near Melrose Park.

The R2, R3, and R5 lines are not operating north of Fern Rock. All lines are operating normally between Fern Rock and CCP.

Ora 8:35…staţia de metrou Eroii Revoluţiei. Puhoi de lume!!! Metroul…se lasă aşteptat…

ora 8:42- soseşte un metrou. Speranţele de a putea urca în el mi-au fost spulberate.

ora 8:47- al doilea metrou. Dau din coate şi iau un loc în spaţiu.

ora 8:56- cobor din metrou şi fug spre R3 (pt necunoscători amfiteatrul de la etj 3 al Facultăţii de Chimie)

ora 9:00- în prag de stop respirator…scările alea sunt criminiali sub acoperire

ora 10:15- după o înşiruire de şcoli epistemologice (ha, joc de dicţie!), ne împrăştiem care încotro

Eu ajung din nou la metrou, apoi în Ratb. Linia 141 mai exact.

Şi aici… o parte din dezastrul civilizaţiei: o familie, adică mama, tata şi puradelul de vreo 2-3 ani. Tatăl avea în mână o puşcă de jucărie, din care tot ţâşnea o ventuză ce se lipea cuminte de tavanul autobuzului. Puradelul urla ca din gură de şarpe după jucărie. Mama râdea zgomotos printre “băgă-mi-aş pula bah…dă-i copilului jucăria, n-auzi? dar-ar boala în tine!”. Apoi fuge dintr-un capăt în celalălat al autobuzului, pentru că bărbatu-său o urmărea cu puşca şi din când în când o împuşca cu ventuze. O serie de cuvinte dulci, urlete de puradel…hopa!! întânire cu prieteni de cartier! Mai exact un nene care stătea pe scaunul din faţa mea. Amical, este împuşcat cu o ventuză în ureche şi 2 înjurături. Apoi ţinta este pusă pe mamă, dar ea se apără cu o sacoşă, aşa că proiectilul ricoşează într-un bătrân care aştepta să coboare.

Puradelul ia fabuloasa jucărie şi o îndreaptă spre tată. Care stătea în apropierea mea…(“la naiba, poate mă împuşcă!”) Din fericire, a ţintit în tavan. Spre norocul meu!

Apoi familia s-a reunit fericită şi au coborât, mulţumind frumos şoferului pentru spaţiul de joacă!

P.S Băi nene Charles Darwin… se pare că în prezent nu se mai practică teoria ta cu evoluţionismul….ci degradismul..

10-25-09 Consensus seems to be for the original one; so swapping back for now. Thanks all for the input!

While working on some graphic matters with Constitutional Liberty Coalition of (which many R3publicans participate in projects ongoing) we decided to rework our banner here.  Of course it can always be changed back, but see what you think and give us some feedback.

We are also working with our folks in Texas to open up some networks which I helped on in the formative years of Associated Conservatives of Texas/America.  We are branching out with a new group – DRIPusa (Don’t Return Incumbent Politicians – specially the ones who voted for a bailout!).

Here is the original banner for comparison:

And the new one posted now in the header:

Let us know your thoughts and suggestions or if you want to submit a banner for consideration, that would be welcomed as well – post comment or email ideas [sandiec99'at'hotmail'dot'com]  At first I thought it was too pale, but I love black and white and the hint of blue and we will probably use the more vivid pictures in posts as appropriate with relevant articles.

If you want to submit an article or be a regular contributor here – let us know and send a brief bio and references if we are not already linked up.  We welcome your input and assistance as we work together to Restore the Republic and unite all of our officialdom (from precinct chairs to the white house) under the banner of the Constitution.  Obviously we have much work to protect our Liberties which are expressly enumerated therein and reserved if not specifically delegated as well!

For Life and Liberty,

Sandie

More options:  These versions are at Kaye’s suggestion for you to ponder – testing the bold R3 version now so you can see what you think.  Feedback?  Any more ideas? . . .

originally published 10-18-09

Following is a video, article and Podcast that I ran across in the past few days that all remind me of the above message from the Apostle Paul to the Church of Corinth.  The verse, 2nd Corinthians 13:5,  addresses faith and I think carries an implication of doctrinal discernment as well.

Up first, E. Barrett of  R3 shares a humorous video with a serious message about Christian theology.  I especially appreciated RockTV’s jab – calling it out, so to speak, of false gospels that are “preached” and superstar “pastors” among other things.

Up next… a post by Sam Guzman of Crosstalk Blog  Guzman takes a look at the social “gospel” and money, timely I think, considering Monday’s post.

The third and final resource comes from the 12 October Podcast at Fighting for the Faith where host Chris Rosebrough also weighs in on social justice and other issues (50:00).

Hope you all enjoy.

Grace and peace be with you.

A NeoGAF user, goldsoundz, noticed this billboard in his town of Shreveport, Louisiana. Goldsoundz explained that Shreveport is a popular spot for film shoots, and that this billboard for Resistance 3 will show up in the movie: Battle: Los Angeles, which is set to come out early 2011.

Looking at the billboard, i’m guessing we will be seeing New York in this resistance, in my opinion, hopefully it’ll be more enjoyable than R2.

CX1 AHEAD OF THE PACK ?

(Macro image from Ricoh CX1)

Prompted to post this, following several recent e-mails from readers of my (various!) blogs …. hope this answers some questions for you : 

The LX3 is acknowledged as one of the very best compacts out there, and enjoys a huge fan base, which has perhaps grown further lately as some potential buyers – swayed by the announcement of the Olympus E-P1, Panasonic GF-1, Ricoh GRDIII (and CX2), and Leica X-1 – have more recently decided that this fixed-lens model, producing consistently great-quality images, has to be considered a relative bargain at around £350 …and have bought-up all available free stock. Pretty well globally.

But whilst the LX3 undoubtedly has a huge, die-hard fanbase, there have been a couple of other contenders for buyers’ cash …notably the Ricoh CX1 and Fujifilm’s F200EXR.  Both have proven extremely popular.

For those interested in all of the (potentially boring) technical differences between these three ‘pocket rockets’ – you’ll need to look elsewhere. Life’s too short. But if it’s real-world usability and satisfaction rating you’re more interested in, you’re at the right place. No waffle, here’s how it goes :

1/ LX3 : Excellent in very many respects:

• Stunning lens (of course), starting at 24mm f2 …but ends at 60mm (equiv).
• White balance dramatically better than it once was – I feel there’s still a little room for improvement. Reds are still oversaturated, even when cooled-off. If you like Canon colour, you’ll like LX3.
• BW – in ‘Dynamic’ form …very film-like, fantastic high-contrast, highly-detailed results.
• Multi-film mode – three separate, consecutive images
• Multi-Aspect mode : very useful. 4:3, 3:2 and 16:9 options
• Superb Mega O.I.S
• Slightly ‘hollow’ feel to chassis
• RAW files – very detailed, but need to use (time-consuming) SilkyPix software to extract quality
• Separate lens-cap
• Almost pocketable (!)
• User interface – a bit fiddly, but ok

2/ Ricoh CX1 : vastly underrated

• Some say it’s a far cry from ‘GRD output’ – I disagree (unless you want to pixel-peep… but why would you?)
• White balance – superb. Multi-awb is a useful extra. Great colour rendition, and fantastic ‘Outdoor’ setting
• Electronic level …excellent, should be standard on all cameras 
• Very flexible 7x zoom focal range - 28-200mm(equiv), capturing images that the LX3 is simply incapable of
• Image stabilisation very effective – and this camera is capable of surprisingly good low-light images
• Rapid response …focus, image display, scrolling, changing options ….CMOS etc means very fast all ’round
• Reliable exposures, and wide dynamic range (without the inhibiting DR Double-Shot mode)
• As advertised, not prone to sky ‘whiteout’  …more useful and more impressive than I expected
• Multi-film (Colour, BW, sepia) works brilliantly – exactly same image processed three ways
• Multi-Aspect – but only one at a time : 4:3, 3:2, 1:1  (needs addition of 16:9!)
• Stunning 920k screen – looks like the image you download and view on pc screen
• Amazing 1cm macro capability
• User interface – as good as it gets – intuitive, fast, logical, reliable
• Great build quality exceeds all other compacts I’ve ever used
• Very recently superceded by the new CX2,  with even greater 28-300mm(equiv) focal range

3/ Fujifilm F200EXR : useful award-winner

• EXR sensor promises much, delivers some (sometimes)
• Sensor option (three in total) has to be manually selected for best results
• Some strange metering/exposure reactions, so inconsistent results …even in fairly ‘normal’ shooting conditions
• Irritating real-world aspect : the high-contrast (but fairly lo-res) screen makes you wonder what you’ve captured … or not
• Images often – but not always – look far better on computer display, once downloaded (thank heavens !)
• Multi-Aspect modes : can select one at a time from 4:3, 3:2 and 16:9
• 5x zoom range : 28-140mm (equiv) …again, captures some images that LX3 just can’t
• Image stabilisation ok, but definitely not as effective as CX1’s
• Some blackout after image capture, as if processor working really hard
• Feels ‘lightweight’ and small in the hand, compared with bulletproof CX1 build and solid feel 
• 12MP files (jpeg only) are very detailed …although images not quite as responsive to processing as CX1 jpegs, in my experience
• New F70EXR has wider focal range, and is less expensive – but its sensor is more highly pixel-packed
• Overall – great camera, hoped for more than it has delivered (so far, at least)

Hope this helps you draw your own conclusions on usability for your own needs – because that’s all that really matters.

Without doubt, all three are very high-quality cameras, and all are capable of great results much of the time, even under very difficult conditions.

Images in separate galleries from all three models at http://nickbland.zenfolio.com – enjoy !

1. R3 Bodykit Satria NEo Full Set With Spoiler

PRice RM 844…

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Price RM 690

*Serious Buyer ONly..Serious Buyer mean One TIme SMS OR CALL..DEAL….
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Q..:)

PANASONIC GF1 ...RICOH'S VERSION TO FOLLOW ?

As mentioned with the recent announcement of the new Fuji F70EXR, and again in my post of about an hour ago – without having seen this at that point – the compact market is hotting-up, and here’s another that’s likely to see the light of day pretty soon – although maybe in an altered form ?

Either way, it’s another Ricoh competitor, and really a type of product that they should be developing … perhaps they already are ?

YORKSHIRE LANDSCAPE : DYNAMIC BW 16:9

It was time for another CX1 Black & White image, again in my favoured 16:9 aspect ratio.

CX1 BW output is really good anyway, but I find with some enhancement in Nikon Capture NX software that it’s easy to get that unusual look of fairly high contrast while maintaining detail – just wish it was more like that straight out-of-camera, which we may see in the CX1’s successor.

Likewise, 16:9 is becoming a much more available standard aspect ratio option, and Ricoh would be making a mistake in omitting it from either being covered in a firmware update – which would be very simple for them to do – or adding it in to the spec of a new model, as & when.

There’s a distinct ‘hotting-up’ of the compact camera market, with several new models announced recently, and no doubt many more to come shortly. The Fuji F70EXR is only a few weeks away (EXR sensor, 24mm-240mm equiv focal range, 16:9 option !), as is the new Ricoh GRDIII …and manufacturers are starting to realise that the only way to reverse the trend in the now-declining global compact camera market is to go with the first rule in sales : GIVE THE CUSTOMER WHAT THEY WANT.

Some rules are made to be broken – this is one that should remain unfettered, if those brands who rely on compact sales for at least a part of their income stream want to survive. DSLR sales will not continually grow, and there are signs that lens technology needs to improve now, to meet resolution available from sensors on even the lower-priced models … so there’s another potentially declining market area…for a while, perhaps.

Fact is that virtually all DSLR owners still want/need a compact – like me, they may well find it becomes their most-used camera, and many will consider ownership of more than one or two (or more!). Excite the market with innovation, and notice how, even in tough economic times, consumers will make sacrifices to own the model(s) they desire. Selling the dream ?  Definitely.

Many more CX1 images, in gallery folders for ease of viewing, at http://nickbland.zenfolio.com

Many more camera details, rumours & commentary at http://1001noisycameras.com

INGLETON WATERFALLS TRAIL : PECCA FALLS

And as if it wasn’t wet enough …here’s another image, this captured at Pecca Falls, along the Ingleton Waterfalls trail.

Rather than the usual ’smooth’ flow of water usually depicted with long DSLR-on-tripod exposures running often into 5 or more seconds (with filters etc) – which can get a bit ’samey’ after a while –  I instead used the CX1’s flash, at the right level, on the slow sync setting, to add some sparkle and freeze, as well as capturing some of the water’s flow.. which I reckon worked well on this occasion.

The CX1 zoom range was of course a huge help, and the short focal range of the LX3 couldn’t have covered many in this series …there are many more, and also a larger version of the above, to be seen at http://nickbland.zenfolio.com

INGLETON : JULY 09

Typically Yorkshire weather last week – although it didn’t quite rain all the time – here’s an image from the first outing in the Ingleton area… there are more, and much larger versions, at http://nickbland.zenfolio.com

Although I also packed the LX3, I barely used it on this trip … the CX1’s 28-200mm (equiv) focal range was not only useful, but actually necessary for very many of the images I wanted to capture, and I was more than pleased with the results – some of them could almost be filed under ‘low-light’ !

Anyway, for those that haven’t been to the Yorkshire Dales (in the UK), it’s an area considered to be of ’special scientific interest’, and some of the landscapes seem to be ‘not of this Earth’ – well worth a visit

I tried to import profile after system refresh a while ago. I just noticed that import profile character entry is limited. As far as I’m involved in SAP Basis consultant, I never experience a problem when importing an instance profile in RZ10. Before I show you where the character limit entry reside, here’s the procedure how I import a profile:

1. Run transaction RZ10.
2. Write down the profile name in Profile
3. Click Import Button (F8)
4. If you receive a warning like ‘First maintain management data‘. Click continue.
5. Fill in the necessary data, Activation in operating system file name and name of reference server for profile parameter check.
   
6. Click on Copy Button
7. Distribute to instance.
8. Save.
9. Profile has been imported.

Now, when you look in the activation in operating system file name field, you will find that it point to physical file which is in Operating System directory. If you are using local directory as in the picture above, this should be no issue on character limit. But if you are using shared directory which has long character name, like for example : \\saphostr3app1\sapmnt\DEV\SYS\profile\START_DVEBMGS00_SAPHOSTR3APP1, you will see as below picture:

When you save this setting you will find your profile file name become START_DVEBMGS00_SAPHO . The character limit is likely 60 character allowed. So just you aware about this limit, you can manage the profile name to a better looks.

In property, it is said, location is everything. This was put to the test in San Diego when architect Lloyd Russell and his artist wife Ame Parsley managed to buy a vacant block in San Diego’s Little Italy neighbourhood for a bargain $50,000 – not surprising considering the property is an oddly shaped wedge of land sitting between the i-5 freeway and the busiest single-runway airport in the USA, San Diego International Airport (with 600 departures and arrivals per day).

This site couldn’t be noisier – check out the Google Earth satellite photo below for proof – there is even an aeroplane on approach passing almost directly overhead (see if you can pick the site, the triangular building just north of the jumbo)

Never one to shy away from a challenge, Russell set to work designing his new home – the R3 building, a triangular gallery-cum-residence complete with triple glazing, commercial air filtration system, and walls that are stuccoed to help bounce sound waves back onto the freeway.  There is also a killer integrated sound system in case any pesky noise still sneak through.

In designing R3, Lloyd Russell has proven that the most exciting architecture is often, if not always borne from the most difficult challenges.

FENLAND LANDSCAPE

A different colour treatment for this CX1 landscape, with a little more contrast and less saturation …plus some Capture NX  ‘ND Grad filter’ for the sky.

Again cropped into my favourite 16:9 format, it would be preferable if camera manufacturers included this as a standard option. Panasonic and Fuji manage it on some models, and it really does make a difference if the composition can be made at the time of  exposure … perhaps Ricoh are listening ? They need to these days, more than ever.

Formats are a key point in camera usability – and user satisfaction – and I can see why many are drawn to models from certain manufacturers that enable various format options…often 3:2, 4:3 and 16:9.  I appreciate that Ricoh have included a useful 1:1 format …so a 16:9 addition would be an easy firmware upgrade. Rant over.

A visit to http://nickbland.zenfolio.com will ensure your exposure to many CX1 images in 4:3, 1:1 and 16:9 formats.

IMAGE COURTESY OF FUJIFILM

Ricoh has had little direct competition to the CX1, insofar as it has some really interesting & innovative, well-executed features that conspire to take it way beyond any standard ‘point&shoot’ compact camera.

With the announcement yesterday of the new Fuji F70EXR, with some very interesting features – not least of which are a further development of their unique EXR High Dynamic Range sensor, ‘Pro Low Light Mode’, and ‘Pro-Focus’ to give DSLR-like bokeh (out-of-focus backgrounds for increased subject impact) – this seems to be a model that will tick so many boxes for photographers that need a pocketable compact with 10x (27mm-270mm equiv) zoom range that will cover so many bases…that have so far not succumbed to the Panasonic TZ7 and the like.

But will the F70EXR be able to deliver ?

As usual, even though the camera hasn’t yet been released – that’s in August – and no-one’s even seen one in the flesh yet, nor used it - there’s already much speculation on pixel density, low-light ability, lens quality, criticism of the ND filter for slower shutter speeds (instead of an actual aperture control), and whether the whole thing is just too compromised to be a workable tool.

There’s jpeg-only output as well – no RAW.  Same as CX1, then, in that respect. Also, the Fuji’s new ‘Multi-frame technology’ is along the lines of CX1’s DR mode operation. Fuji state that subject and camera need to be still while several exposures are made in quick succession, and this does have obvious drawbacks – I’m intrigued to see how well this works in the real world.

What is absolutely certain, regardless of the answers to all of the above, is that Fuji’s marketing machine will be in full swing shortly …and we’ll no doubt all want one !

 I’ll be featuring more of the F70EXR here as things develop - I think it will be of great interest to many Ricoh shooters, as well as users of lesser cameras (!) that may be looking for a model with cutting-edge technology and what’s likely to have, like all previous Fujis, fantastic colour rendition. The CX1 has this in common with Fuji.

As a matter of particular interest to me, and you may have already noticed…. did I mention the F70EXR, like the Fuji F200EXR, will have a 16:9 format option ?

Just go to http://www.fujifilm.com/products/digital_cameras/f/finepix_f70exr/ for more on this exciting new camera. There are also many more details on the F70EXR via http://1001noisycameras.com. 

As always, there are many new & updated galleries of CX1 images at http://nickbland.zenfolio.com – including some in my favourite 16:9 format !