St. Petersburg is the center of the arts in Russia and fittingly, the grandest and largest art museum, the Hermitage, is located here. I have recorded my impression on the Hermitage here.

Hermitage is a collection of a bunch of buildings and is massive in scale. Photographing architecture is non trivial and I usually don’t attempt them either. But the impressive structure of the Hermitage made me pause. The challenge to capture the immense structure egged me to click away. But I had to be careful what I shoot and how I shoot it. I quickly thought about it, the obvious solution is to shoot a panorama. The light was good (about mid noon) and I had a lens that shoots normal (40mm equivalent). I had to shoot from a distance (of course) and I had enough space as the square was large and due to the winter weather there was no crowd either.

I parked myself in the center of the square, adjusted my stance to the center of the building and shot two sequences of 8 shots each (all handheld). I had to check to see if I had captured the exposure and the framing right. Luckily, the lighting did not change (I shot manual exp of course) due to the overcast skies.

The trouble I realized was that, even though I will get the entire building framed in the panorama, I am going to suffer strange optical distortions. You can observe the building tapering at the far end. I guess I need more rigorous technique to shoot panoramas but I will take what I have.

It is not perfect, but a lot of details and the scale is captured in one image. I have to resort to using deep zoom again for displaying the content. Enjoy the imagery.

If you are reading via a rss reader, please visit the site for the deep-zoom content.

This is a start to a sequence of image posts based on some of the pictures I shot in Russia. Starting on a holy note, we visited numerous churches during our trip and each one was them was spectacular. Some large, some small but all of them equally beautiful. I think It is difficult to convey the beauty and details in words and tricky with pictures sometimes. I hence decided to go along in creating deepzoom imagery to really drive the beauty of these structures.

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This was the smallest church we visited in the whole trip. Somewhere in Ekaterinburg and in my enthusiasm, I forgot to note the name down. I am sure someone will step up in filling for my memory loss. Please do let me know the name so that I can have a proper document for interested visitors. Till then enjoy the imagery.

This is the Chapel of St. Catherine and is right here.

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I am unable to find much history of this chapel, but feel free to let me know in the comments.

Note: the view above is composed using stitching 4 images in Photoshop and composing them using Microsoft’s excellent Deep Zoom composer.

If you are reading via a rss reader, please visit the site for the deep-zoom content.

A long trip now-a-days means tons of images. Given that digital camera allows you to play the statistical game on the cheap along with images that are carefully composed, I seem to end up with a mish-mash of images that I intentionally shot and numerous grab shots. The challenge I face is editing.

I have numerous carefully crafted images that do not seem to work when I see them at the editors desk. There may still be images in them but I am unable to extract the mood I want. So those are easy to discard. The grab shots are a bit more tricky. Since I did not plan them, I have to work on a story while editing. The trouble is that when I see them in new light (sic), I have many interpretations of the image. Some do not work off the bat. So they get discarded. But the ones that I think have some mileage take way too much time to work on. Should I crop? Does it work better in monochrome? I like the blue but the yellow is distracting.

The agony of choice!

I am also struggling in terms of figuring out whether I should post images in batches (which will keep my audience engaged) vs. post them all at once (audience will get the whole story). It does not help that my fellow travelers have been posting stunning images and I seem to either have repetitions or less interesting pictures to show. Working on stronger compositions is going to take even longer, darn…

Anyhow, I suppose since I was traveling with some really good photog’s, The travel images are out for the general audience. However, my personal fans (all 2 of you) will have to wait till the goods come out. I am frantically working on it, but do not wish to short change the story value of the images. So please continue waiting, I will come up with the goods asap.

Most know I am a mac convert and I have been impressed with their line of products. As is known in the mac rumor community, 3 or 4 times a year, lots of rumors start spreading on the next product that apple will release. It heats up a few weeks before their scheduled product launch timeline and the persistent rumors are currently in relation to Apple working on a touch enabled handheld (a la tablet) that is being called the iSlate.

Well that speculation is for professional rumor generators. I am interested instead on the directions that Apple might take on convergence via software.

Here is one.

Apple has a couple of product lines that do not get very much air time. The Mac Mini which is a compact desktop computer that runs Mac OSX and the other mysterious product being Apple TV.For all the amount pur on developing and marketing the AppleTV, it is intriguing that the box is simply a console to stream content (from your iTunes or Audio / Video streamed through the internet. You can also watch You Tube content, but really, who the hell wants to watch silly YouTube videos on their living room TV. The idea of Integrating YouTube is simply a way of saying, “there, we can do it too”. So I am thinking, what is possible to do with AppleTV, something that will turn into a straightforward revenue stream for Apple instead of a protracted negotiation with Broadcasters on TV rights and a piecemeal bite into the home entertainment pie.

Firstly, AppleTV is a console. A console that has a capable CPU, memory, storage and GPU that can push HD content to your TV. It is a sizable box that, with the help of hardware engineers can be easily upgraded to a mid-high end computing machine. Note, the software is ready to access your iTunes account and make purchases (even without using a PC or Mac). It works wirelessly (adding bluetooth is a matter of 5$ hardware upgrade). Now the controller for this console is a simplistic Apple Remote that is (almost too simplistic). However the Apple TV can also be controlled via your iPhone or iPod Touch.

That is the second part of the puzzle. The iPhone (and iPodTouch) can control your AppleTV. The iPhone is an absolutely stunning device that has brilliant controls with its neat touch screen and accelerometers. Tons of extremely innovative games and control schemes have been developed in the last couple of years that has shown the ingenuity of game developers and the platform.

It seems logical in my mind that it is time for AppleTV to take centre stage. Not as a movie streaming box but, you heard it first here, as a Gaming console. Imagine the possibilities. The apple TV takes centre stage in the Living room plugged to a large screen TV with tons of CPU resources. Now, if game developers start developing games that can play on the AppleTV, all we need is good game controllers. There is the iPhone in your pocket. Whip it out, connect with the AppleTV, start the specific game ‘map’ and the controls magically appear on the phone, joysticks, tilt controls, multi touch controls, all in the palm of your hand. It gets better, sync 2 or more iPhones and you have multi player gaming in your living room. Even better, the in thing in gaming is online games and Apple need not be left out of this either. The AppleTV is always online. Hah, I might have cracked a long standing enigma that is AppleTV and potentially, cracked open a new revenue stream and industry for Apple to butt their nose into and make billions in revenue (remember iTunes music sales crossed a Billion $ mark in its first year).

It gets even better, you need not have to purchase the controller ‘map’, AppleTV can stream the game controls to your iPhone when you are connected and the controls disappear when you log out. Just run over to your friends house to play a game you do not own but the controls are beamed by the Local console and you need not be left out of the gaming fun during the next party.

Sell the games via iTunes / app store and the circle is complete. Apple being Apple, will keep the games playable on AppleTV alone and not on all macs (including Mini). Well that means Mini has a different product strategy planned out. And that is ok in my book.

Now, whip out your wallets and be ready for picking up the Next Gen souped up AppleTV when it comes out.

Well if anyone in apple wants more ideas, there is lots more where this comes from, I would gladly be an advisor for product development

Now, that is fresh speculation! he heh.

If it is not the movie, it is the theater that screws the experience.

As I have mentioned, I am cautious about the local ‘film festivals’ as the movie experience is usually a gamble but when I read about Cathay screening some Ghibli classics, I jumped in on the opportunity to see some good shows on the big screen. I also coaxed some of my friends to join in.

I managed to get tickets only for ‘Laputa’ and I was pleased as it fit my schedule.

My expectations were very high, I was expecting to see the animation in high res, beautiful colors and great details. The show is from the late 80’s but given Cathay promoted it as a Ghibli festial and a one screen only event, I was pretty much looking forward to a well remastered show.

My enthusiasm was crushed when the show started. Booming audio and pretty low res video is what was shown. Damn, I felt like watching my DVD on mega screen. When the end credits rolled, the cast mentioned ‘Anna Paquain’. I thought, when did she start speaking Japanese…

A quick search later I realized Anna Paquain voiced over in the Disney dub of the film. So essentially what I paid money to watch was a japanese soundtracked Disney dub of the film.

Not that I care, but when I Cathay promotes one screen only shows I expect better control over the quality of the audience experience. The so called festival seems like a schedule filler and a pretence to make a quick buck.

I am saddened by the lack of quality cinema experience and needless to say, the next time I checkout picturehouse it will be with a due sense of caution.

I am pretty neutral in this. I wear helmets when I want to and I dont when I dont want to. There are people on both camps who argue passionately about what is right and wrong and a ton of pseudo science going around fueled by marketing campaigns.

Anyhow, I found this and it has a dark sense of humor to it.

If you do like dark humor (mostly with violent or sexual connotations), you might enjoy the regular strips too.

My long wait is over. Street view is live in Singapore now. Unfortunately, I am missing

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Recall I mentioned I spotted the Google Street view Car a while back. Well it was fairly late in the evening and I guess unless they bring in features for day time / night time view, I will not appear. Unless, I track down the Trike or the car next time they are out and about scanning the streets.

Well we cannot have it all, but the street view is still worth it even without me featuring in it. Heh.

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I wonder where my “friend at Google” is…

I also realize that the street view has gotten a lot more features in the recent months. The Navigation is absolutely brilliant and now they even have images shot nearby. Neat.

Was looking at a tabloid this morning and posted all over was the article on Google Street view trike. A friend of mine was nice enough to share the article in the evening and translated a bit here and there.

I am wondering with my contacts in places high up, how did I miss this opportunity! You know, ride the bike around town, geek out on the trike setup, take pictures while on the job and and bring more useful information to the rest of the world. Hmmm, I should keep my ears more open

Some more information here.

I have been contemplating some upgrades for the bike (part of it is lust for shiny new stuff and mostly things I think can improve my commute and beyond). There are 2 bikes that I am focussing on upgrades, firstly, it is my Long Haul Trucker and the second one id some upgrades to my New World Tourist. Lets focus on the simpler upgrade, my Long Haul trucker.

The focus is on setting up a power plant on the bike to generate electricity. Recently (2009 / 2010) many companies are working on products that focus on harnessing energy from the bike to charge electronics (phone, GPS etc…). Some good products coming on line are from pedal power +, B&M and Dahon. I have invested in checking out Pedal Power + and will be testing out their product in the coming weeks. The missing component in my bike is a good electricity generator.

Dynamos on bikes are very old technology and have been around for a long time now and the technology is very mature. Generally, there are 2 classes of products, side wall dynamos (good ones are from B&M) and the hub dynamos (good ones are made by SON, Shimano and SRAM). Pros and cons exist for both versions and I have decided on going along the Hub route. It is expensive option (generally) but if you get a good deal on a hub, it is a very fuss free option.

As I was procuring some components I chanced on a great deal for a Shimano DH-3N72 hub (< 60 USD) and pounced on it. I dont know much about the quality of dynamos but Peter White says that the Shimano Hubs (especially the 7x and 8x) are very good bang for the buck and a very good long term value. I received the package and the hub looks very delicious in appearance and it came with a skewer too. The electric attachment also looks pretty robust I do think it is a good value. I will have to wait for the built wheel and some riding to see if things are going to be smooth sailing.

So, the project essentially involves building a new wheel around the Shimano dynamo hub. I also found good deals on a nice head light (Spanninga Luceo) at velo orange and the entire package does not blow a hole in the wallet. I contemplated re-lacing my current front wheel with the hub but when I thought about it, I needed to get rid of the current rim tape, undo the spokes, get new spokes or try to re-tap the current ones to be used with the larger hub, build the wheels again and replace the rim tape. On the other hand, if I just got a new rim, I need not strip the current wheel and keep it as a backup or sell it to someone who needs it. That’s what I decided and I am going to get a new rim and build a new wheel around the hub. Some pictures in the blog show the new stuff and I will post pictures once I get the wheel built.

The wheels are being built by TR bikes who have built my earlier wheels too and do a great job about it. They recently have tied up with a new wheel builder and I am expecting the build to be the best one can get.

Enjoy the component porn while I wait for the wheel (should be in within the week) and I will be posting more of my experiments with the lights and pedal power + charger in the weeks to come.

Update: I realized it is not easy to find the sub 60$ deal on the hub. It is actually sold by Niagara Cycle Works and they have an amazon shopfront. A direct link to the product is here. It says DH-3N71, but they shipped a DH-3N72. According to Peter White, there is no difference between the models (except the 8x which has an aluminum axle). If you are still waiting on a hub, run there to score the deal.

Apple IPod event came and it went. Usually, this part of the year has been very exciting over the past several years due to the tremendous innovations that came from apple with regard to their iPods.

Better form factors, newer hardware, smaller iPods, better iTunes, more features… You name it.

This time, the expectation was high but apple decided to show off better marketing instead of technology. Duh… What we have is a high capacity iPod and more features in iTunes, I am sure no one really cares about. Music is all about songs, giving off liner notes is not going to sell an album. Apple taught us that, now they are buckling under music label pressure.

So we get souped up iPod Nano. Well, the features are nice, video recording, fm radio (what took them so long?) and audio recording. But none of it for the iPod touch. No tech breakthroughs here. But a more clearer market seggregation.

iPhones have video rec, why not iPod? Well it is because iPod touch is already eating into the traditional iPod product line and nano struggles to live between the shuffle and the iPod touch. Well, marketing comes into play and attaches features to spur nano sales and makes sure the touch does not get the features to compete.

Very clever but ultimately sneaky. Not good for the consumer. If you want games, get the touch. If you want video/radio, get the nano. If you want both, go F@&$ yourself.

I wish the technologists get out of their plateau soon…