Photo

Just now, in a Starbucks, two separate tourists asked me to take their photo (with their cameras, of course).

It got me thinking.

There are loads of famous photographers walking around New York. And certainly lots of tourists. I wonder how many vacation-snapshot-portraits were taken by notable photographers. Surely someone stopped Richard Avedon, Jay Maisel, or Eugene Smith and asked to get a photo with the Empire State building in the background.

I think this would be a funny art show to see.

POTD

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This week: brown.

Wang?

Wang, or not a wang? I say no.

POTD

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This week: brown.

Pruno

"Make sure to keep a close eye on Baby Pruno, because if you're not careful, the bag holding Baby Pruno will pop, letting nasty orange pulp and mushy fruit cocktail seep all over the place. This happened when we were making pruno and the apartment smelled like Newark for three days."

Group Layout

Tomas Pavek has a two-part blog discussion about GroupLayout, the new layout manager designed for Netbeans 5.0. I'm using both Netbeans 5 and GroupLayout to do the GUI for a new project, so the timing is perfect.

I was going to write a longer entry about Netbeans 5 and GroupLayout, but Tomas went into greater depth than I would have, so take a look at what he said. Matisse, the GUI builder in Netbeans 5, is a huge improvement over previous revisions; I'd dare to say an improvement over all the other Java UI builders I've used.

Zeiss

In a wonderfully German newsletter, Zeiss shares some detail about the Nikon-mount 50mm and 85mm lenses they designed. The seem to be predictably sharp, and surprisingly well priced: $1200 for the 85 and $600 for the 50.

POTD

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This week: brown.

Napster

"There is no question that their execution has been less than brilliant over the last 12 months," Napster chairman and chief executive Chris Gorog said at a New York conference.

"Our business does rely on Microsoft's digital rights management software and our business model also relies on Microsoft's ecosystem of device manufacturers,"

A warning to companies planning to use WindowsMedia DRM as part of a new venture.

POTD

click for high-res

This week: brown.

Damn

Dammit! Why didn't we pick this up?

Want

I WANT ONE!

Ahhhh

Why do I enjoy this so much?

POTD

click for high-res

This week: brown.

Banana

"As much as I love bananas, this isn't right..."

Leica

This is bizarre. Leica developed a 14-50mm lens for the Four Thirds system. Presumably to complement this camera, which doesn't yet exist.

I'd really like to play with one of these; I'm curious about the build quality.