GAIM... Pidgin 2.0.0

Pidgin (formerly known as GAIM) 2.0.0 has been released to the public after nearly two years of development. There are some nice improvements especially on the UI side. At the very least, the UI doesn't feel like an outdated 10 years old application. :-)

Decided to get a flash.

I got the basic set of lenses for my Canon EOS 30D to cover my needs. The last thing remaining to complete my equipment is a flash so I decided to purchase a Canon Speedlite 430EX. The reviews looked good and the price is reasonable if it lasts for a long time. With this last item, I think I pretty much have everything I would need for a long time unless I become a really serious amateur photographer.

Gaim... uhh Pidgin

Overall, I like Gaim/Pidgin and I use it regularly (especially in UNIX environments). Today, the "final" beta has been released as announced on their homepage. However, given their attitude and the April 22 posting. They should add to this quote, "We anticipate a final release later this week." the addition, "As that text states, that was an anticipation -- and we aren't quite ready, yet."

I'm not complaining on the release date. As an open source project, they have the right to determine when it is best to release a "final" version especially since the source code is available to everyone who are impatient and wants something now. The only problem is that they continue to set expectation then fail to meet the expectations and point the blame at the users.

Basic Photography Concepts

Now that I've started getting back into photography, I've decided to refresh myself on some basic concepts of photography starting with exposure.

Exposure is the combination of four element related to light: light, sensitivity, intensity and time. Unless you're using a flash or providing a light source, assume that light is a constant (i.e. you work with what the environment provides).

Sensitivity of film/sensor is measure by the ISO (international standards organization) rating. The higher the ISO, the less light is needed since the sensor is so... sensitive. Thus, in low light situations, one can use an ISO 3200 film and still use a high shutter speed to snap shots. However, the downside of a high ISO is that the result will have more noise (grainy) then a less sensitive (lower ISO) sensor/film.

Shutter speed is the time the curtain of the camera remains open when a photo is taken. It is measured relative to one second so a shutter speed of 25 means that the curtain is open for 1/25th of one second. A fast shutter speed means less time for light to pass through to the sensor but allows for sharper pictures. With a long shutter speed, there is a higher chance that the photo will be blurred since during the time the curtain is opened the subject could move or your hand wasn't steady.

Aperture is the size of the lens opening that controls the amount of light that reaches the sensor. Lens aperture is specified in f-stops and the higher the f-stop the less light is allowed to pass through the opening. At first I was always confused by aperture terminology and didn't really understand how the number is derived.



The aperture of the lens effects the amount of light passed through and that in turn effects the depth-of-field. The equation for determining aperture:



When comparing lenses, the focal length (f) can be set as a constant of 1 thus the higher the f-number (N) the smaller the opening and thus allows less light.

The combination of these different factors equals the exposure of a photograph. As you can see, the same exposure can be obtained with different combination.

Actresses that I'd go see

A few actresses who's movies I'd go see just because they're in them:

Angelina Jolie
Scarlett Johansson
Elizabeth Hurley


Ones I'd seriously consider going:

Kirsten Dunst
Julia Stiles
Natalie Portman
Catherine Zeta Jones
Jodie Foster
Heather Graham

There are a few actors who I find tend to turn in good performances so I'd be willing to go to their movies despite so-so reviews:

Dustin Hoffman
Gene Hackman
Morgan Freeman
Denzel Washington
Johnny Depp

Weber Spirit E-310 Grill

I promised that once the backyard is completed, I would get myself a grill and do some BBQ. I didn't want a massive grill that's loaded with hundred of features, but didn't want to get something that is too basic. After researching online, the Weber Genesis Silver B was one of the most recommended grills for its quality and price, but Weber no longer makes it. It turned out that they just changed the name from Genesis to Spirit and I decided to buy the Weber Spirit E-310. A friend came by this weekend to help me assemble it.

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It took us about 45 minutes to put it together. The only time two people was really needed was lifting the center piece onto the stand, but having two people always help! We got ourselves a full tank of propane and lit it up full blast for 30 minutes to let it clean all the grilling surfaces. I was pleased to note that while the cooking area got plenty hot, the heat was all contained in the grill. The surrounding areas didn't feel the heat. I was initially worried that having such a small yard might cause plants and house to feel the heat of the grill, but it turned out to be a non-issue.

The grill has a good amount of grilling space, ceramic-enamel cooking surface, a small work tray on one side and the heat/fire control on the other. Overall the grill doesn't take up too much physical space while still provided plenty of cooking surface. I didn't get the optional burner on the side since that adds another $200 to the price tag when I can just go into the kitchen and do the same thing.

I'm pleased with the initial test run of the grill and felt it was a good purchase. I got a cover for the grill to protect it from the element and will hopefully extend the life of the grill since I don't want to have to get another one in the near future! :-)

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Now I can get in touch with my inner caveman and cook meat over fire! Rrrr...

Creating sliding DIVs

Here is a tutorial for writing a sliding divs like you see on Digg or many other sites. It was written in response to another tutorial on implementing a similar behavior.

Both articles are worth reading as it spells out clearly how to do the effect. The version on firblitz takes a more object oriented approach. In both examples, the initial call is from an inline Javascript (a href="javascript:..."). There is nothing wrong with doing this, but to have an even cleaner separation between Javascript and the HTML presentation, it's best to not have inline Javascript at all. Instead, use the event model to attach the function to the event so that that the HTML is completely clean.

Start with the following addition to firblitz's javascript code.

function toggle() {
	var sd = document.getElementById("slidediv");
	if (sd.style.display == 'none') {
		Slide('slidediv').down();
	} else {
		Slide('slidediv').up();
	}    
}
function init() {
   // attach event listener to objects
   var slidediv = document.getElementById("mydiv");
   slidediv.addEventListener("click", toggle, true);
}
window.onload = init;

And the body of the html would just be:

clickme
Hello world!

To take it one step further, take out the inline styles. However, this introduced one problem. Javascripts is unable to access the style value directly if it is not an inline style. This is because the element's style is not the style of the CSS object that is assigned through the #id. Thus, you have to manually assign the styles to the element. This is the end result:

function toggle() {
	var sd = document.getElementById("slidediv");
	var styles = getComputedStyle(sd, '');
	sd.style.display = styles.display;
	sd.style.height = styles.height;
	if (sd.style.display == 'none') {
		Slide('slidediv').down();
	} else {
		Slide('slidediv').up();
	}    
}		   
function init() {
   // attach event listener to objects
   var slidediv = document.getElementById("mydiv");
   slidediv.addEventListener("click", toggle, true);
}

And the body of the html is a clean:

clickme
Hello world!

amateur photographer

I'm not even sure if I should classify myself as an amateur photographer at this point. While I'm enjoying taking pictures, I'm not really experimenting and practicing that much. I'm a long way away from the days when I thought about being a photographer shooting bikini models in exotic locations. I just enjoy taking out the camera and taking baby pictures and to capture memories and small things around the house such as the backyard and the animals that visits.

Still, I'm tempted to get a longer range telephoto lens and knowing that I'm not going to be a "serious" photographer, I have my eyes on a basic beginner lens: Canon EF 100-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM. At around $285, it's inexpensive as lenses go, but after shelling out so much already, I'm in a belt-tightening mode. For now, I guess I should have it on my wish list.

Beginning PHP and PostgreSQL 8

This book by Jason Gilmore and Robert Treat (published by Apress) is meant to be a comprehensive tutorial on the PHP language and PostgreSQL for beginners. Don't expect it to be a detailed book focused on using PHP with Postgres. It's like two books in one. 2/3 of the book is devoted to teaching PHP and it's well written and easy to understand with plenty of examples. It covers additional topics that other beginning books sometime don't cover such as networking, secure programming and web services although not necessarily in great detail, but I like that it seeds the topic into beginners' heads.

The latter 1/3 is devoted to Postgres and provides better coverage then other stand alone Postgres book and more accessible then the Postgres documentation. It discuss database topics, postgres setup and administration and is a good reference source.

I would recommend this book to those who want to learn either these technology especially those who are going to work with PHP since most likely you'll be needing a database beyond the SQLite solution that comes with PHP.

The only area that I wish would be improved is more details on web services on the PHP side and a discussion on database replication on the Postgres side.

Y! Messenger Archive location

If you archive your messages in Y! Messenger and need to move to another location, the files are stored in:

Program Files\Yahoo!\Messenger\Profile\\Archive\