Camera Recommendation

I recently got asked for a camera recommendation for someone who might want to get into photography. I view this question as a pretty simple one — it doesn’t matter which camera you use. Photography is the art/science of capturing light, and almost any camera will do a decent job of it. I remember owning a plastic Flintstones camera as a kid (120 film format), it took acceptable photos. I’m pretty sure the limit of any photographic device (including the camera in my phone) is the person using it.

That said, people always want more detailed recommendations, so here’s my advice. If you really want to get into photography, start with a fixed-focal length camera. Zooms add too many variables (and design comprises) to be useful when you’re first starting out. Smaller and lighter is better; the best camera in the world doesn’t do any good sitting on a shelf at home. Finally, get something with at least one manual dial (preferably two).

With those criteria, I’d say the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF2 is a reasonable choice. It uses the micro-4/3 lens system, but with adapters you can even tack on older manual lenses from a wide variety of manufacturers. It’s small considering it can take multiple lenses, and it even has a dial for setting shutter or aperture. The biggest problem is that it’s not out yet (but it’s due any day now). The previous version (Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF1) is available and, except for being slightly bulkier, is probably an even better choice.

Another camera I’d consider is the the Ricoh GR Digital III, or if you absolutely have to have a zoom lens, then the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5. Both are compact cameras (they fit in a jacket pocket), and have the fastest lenses going for their feature set. Fast lenses mean you won’t have to depend on the built-in flash as often (and that’s a good thing).

If you must have a DSLR, there’s no hope for you. At least buy a Canon…that way you won’t be borrowing my Nikon lenses. Truth be told, there’s not much difference to talk about between the two, but for whatever reason my friends keep buying the Nikons (even though I keep recommending the Canons). I hear good things about the Nikon D3100 and the Canon Rebel XS (EOS 1000D). But really you have to ask yourself why you’re going the DSLR route, unless you already have (expensive) film lenses you want to use with these cameras. If you do, buy whichever camera matches your lenses best.

No matter which camera you choose, the best upgrade is making the photog better. Check out Strobist for how to fix-up yours.

Audioengine A2 Speakers


It’s easy to overlook something you see and use everyday. I’ve had a pair of Audioengine A2 speakers on my desk for over a year now, and I can say without hesitation that they are the best desktop speakers I’ve ever used.

I’ve had the great pleasure of doing everything from listening to the complete Beatles remastered CD collection to blowing up baddies through these puppies, and I’ve never heard the least bit of distortion and the clarity has been excellent. My biggest complaint is that these speakers have exposed the weakness of my USB stereo adapter. I’m probably going to end up investing in speaker stands and a new USB audio interface soon.

Erector/Meccano sets

With the youngest munchkin showing a distinct interest in tools and building things we picked up a couple of erector sets at the store this weekend. We picked up a set for the kid, and since I had never had Erector sets before one for me as well.

I won’t know about smaller set until after Christmas, but my set is really complicated. It makes Lego looked like it was designed for toddlers. It’s actually more than I’m mentally prepared to take on at the moment. I’m not sure where they found an 8-year-old to attempt it, but I want that kid working on my car in a couple of years.

The Importance of Mathematics in Education

Dr. Robert H. Lewis of Fordham University has written a great article on the importance of mathematics in education. Here’s a quick excerpt,

Education is not about any particular machine, system, skill, or job. Education is both broader and deeper than training. An education is a deep, complex, and organic representation of reality in the student’s mind. It is an image of reality made of concepts, not facts. Concepts that relate to each other, reinforce each other, and illuminate each other. Yet the education is more even than that because it is organic: it will live, evolve, and adapt throughout life.

Read the whole article here.

(via Slashdot)

Reading List

I just finished American Gods (for 1 Book, 1 Twitter #1b1t). Pretty good, better than my previous read; which was The Dream of Perpetual Motion. That book started out well enough, but I think the author either didn’t have a satisfactory ending planned, or needed serious editorial input. It followed the typical not ready feel of good beginning, slow middle, flip and disappointing ending. Pretty much it blew off any investment the reader had in the characters.

In the queue at the moment, The City and the City (in progress), Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, and the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

Hey, I won something!

You know those Internet sweepstakes that just about every website seems to host. The ones that end up getting you spam every couple of days, and that no one seems to win. I won one of them.

OK, it was the Esquire Augmented Reality give-away, and I only won one of the fifty webcams (Blue Microphones Eyeball 2.0), but it was a nice surprise to receive it in the mail. They were suppose to notify me back in January, but I never heard a word; it just arrived.

As far as getting spam, that particular contest didn’t increase my incidence of spam. Probably because at the time I was actually a subscriber to the print edition of Esquire. I do wonder if it helped my chances though…

Of iPads and eBooks

The best thing about the iPad is that it removes the clutter from reading. Traditionally, there’s a stack of books next to my bed that I’m currently “reading”, which is to say that I’ve started them, and not finished any. With the iPad (and the iPhone before it), I have that stack of books in a convenient digital device. I’ve been using the Kindle app mostly, since it manages to keep my Mac, iPhone, and iPad synced with my current position in each book, so that I can use whichever is most convenient at the moment. Most importantly, you don’t need to actually own a Kindle.

But recently I’ve been somewhat ticked off at Amazon. I purchased a couple of eBooks from them 4 years ago, and they’ve since closed down that particular store and associated format. I have my original (encrypted) PDF files, but they’re now worthless since Adobe has shutdown the associated authentication servers. The result is a bunch of bits I “own”, but cannot access. Amazon customer service is no help and based on comments in their own forums, I don’t think Adobe would be either.

So this week I’ve taken to converting all my Kindle books (of which there are many). It works out to be a fairly easy process once you gather all the software. I’m using iPhone Backup Extractor to retrieve the eBook files, a Python script to “modify” the files, Calibre to handle format conversion to the open ePub format. On the devices iBooks and Stanza read the results in pretty close to the same quality as the Kindle apps (sans location syncing). All but one of my eBooks was painless, and that other book was handled by a different tool that I don’t expect to need very often. The nice thing about this setup is that the Python script can be configured as a plugin to Calibre, and once you get the Kindle PID for each device (for instance, using kindlepid.py ) that part becomes seamless. If I can figure out the PID for my Kindle for Mac, I’d be able to eliminate the backup extraction, and could do everything from inside of Calibre.

As a side effect of all of this, I can convert and read any PDF I have handy on the iPad/iPhone as well. More importantly, I’ve future-proofed my eBook purchases against another boneheaded move from Amazon. Now I just need to figure out how to access those older files…

Computers, Cars, and a Tale of Two Apples

Here’s great article about the ideological path from open computing to computing appliance and the two Steve’s of Apple that were at the vanguard of pushing both ends of that spectrum:

Steve Wozniak, Steve Jobs, and the long road to the iPad. – By Tim Wu – Slate Magazine.

I have long contended that computers have the same trajectory as automobiles. Initially the domain of cutting-edge enthusiasts, moving through eras of: mass-production (Model-T v. IBM PC), large-differentiation (trucks/cars v. laptops/desktops), into customization (hot-rods v. case-mods). Eventually, the car market evolved into what we have today, a highly commoditized market were owners are are unlikely to tinker with the vehicle and depend on specialists to maintain and repair their car. Rather than increase the performance of their car through tuning, adjustment, or upgrades, consumers choose to just purchase new cars. The same is probably now true of computer users as well. It has been common industry knowledge that a segment of the population only upgrades operating system by purchasing a new computer.

As a thoughtful and long-time computer user, I applaud the design and functionality that modern Apple products represent. As a long time computer enthusiast, I bemoan the increasing commoditization of computing. As a computer science researcher and educator, I worry over the fact that our students seem to be increasingly the former rather than the latter.