Paris and Planet

I captured this picture of the Paris and Planet Hollywood casinos in Las Vegas in May 2009 while attending RailsConf. It's probably one of my favorite pics of Vegas mainly because of how cool I think the sky looks.

I didn't realize there was a name for this effect, but Scott mentioned at work this week that it is called the Blue Hour. Who knew...

Either way, I love the way the sky contrasts the bright and vivid lights from the Strip. What's even cooler about this picture? Well, it just won me a runner-up prize in a photo contest!

On a whim (I'm not even sure how I came across the ad), I submitted this picture to Fodor's "Show Us Your Las Vegas" contest. After the grand prize winner, there were 10 runner-ups in the contest so this beauty was apparently good enough to place in the top 11.

The grand prize was two free night in Vegas. Oh well. For my effort, I ended up netting two free travel guides, my picture will be posted online in a slideshow, and it may be used in a future travel guide. Not too shabby I guess.

At World's End

McWay Falls at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park is still my favorite place in the world, hands down.

If you've been to our house, you probably know that I have a panorama of the falls that I took from a previous trip framed and hanging on the wall in our living room. Well, that is about to come down and be replaced by this one.

This panorama of the sunset over McWay Falls is an HDR blend of 27 individual pictures from the camera. 6 hours of Photoshop fun later (I'm not kidding about that, unfortunately), this was the final result.

If you want to check out some other pics from our recent trip to CA, you can view them from my SmugMug galleries.

Pictures from Huntington Botanical Gardens Now Available

I'm embarrassed to say that in the 3 years I lived in Southern California, I never visited the Huntington Library Art Collections and Botanical Gardens in Pasadena. During our trip to CA this past week, we made up for it.

This is a 4-picture infrared panorama taken in the Chinese Gardens. For a few other views of the gardens, take a peek at my friend Scott's Flickr page.

You can also see the rest of my set from the gardens on SmugMug.

Fix iTunes Catalog Streaming on FStream for iPhone

On my way to work, I've gotten in the habit of listening to web radio on my iPhone instead of local radio. It's a much more satisfying commute when you get rid of commercials, etc.

Up until recently I used an app called FStream, however, that all stopped working a few weeks ago. I'm not sure what changed, but FStream is no longer able to play any streams from the iTunes radio catalog (although other streams in the favorites browser, such as those from Shoutcast, still seem to work). After quite a bit of fiddling, I finally came across a solution, although it's a bit hackish.

Since I only had issues with the iTunes catalog stations in the app, I was betting that the stream URLs were wrong, or something along those lines. So I went into iTunes to try to get the stream URLs that it was playing, because I could still access those stations through iTunes. I couldn't find a way to just right-click on the stations in the radio browser in iTunes, so I had to drag the station to a playlist first and then do a 'Get Info' on it. Doing so, I was able to then copy the stream URL and then paste it into FStream as a new station (I emailed the URL to myself on the iPhone if you are wondering how I did this copy/paste).

No dice.

Looking at the stream URL I realized it was actually a redirect URL. Maybe iTunes uses these as some sort of marketing ploy to figure out what stations users are listening to? And maybe FStream can't follow the redirect? Don't know. So instead I took that URL and pasted it into Safari and let it follow the redirect. Doing so I was able to download the M3U playlist file that the actual web radio station serves up. Opening that with a text editor yields the real stream URLs. Copy/pasting those URLs into FStream instead did work. Voila!

So like I said, it was a bit hackish and I'm hoping the FStream app gets updated to remove this issue. Most users will not want to go through this process and the only reason I did it was because I only had two stations I listen to so it was easy. But for a free app that works well and keeps me from having to listen to the annoying local radio stations play the same crap over and over, this little hack fest was worth the effort for me.

Tuscany Pictures Now Available

Last one, I promise. The final set of our Italy pics captures a couple of different cities. We took a chartered bus tour from Florence through the Tuscany region, stopping in Pisa, a random winery for lunch and tasting, San Gimignano, and Siena.

Pictured above is a view of the skyline in San Gimignano, taken as our bus was approaching the city. The picture from the camera was pretty boring, so I decided to try something new and go all Frank Miller with the processing. I thought the result was pretty neat, so I stuck with it. Props go out to my friend Scott for giving me the idea. I also tried out some sepia processing for the first time on a few of the pics, so be sure to check those out too.

Tuscany album on SmugMug

Tuscany GPS track #1: Google Maps
Tuscany GPS track #1: Google Earth

Tuscany GPS track #2: Google Maps
Tuscany GPS track #2: Google Earth

Florence Pictures Now Available

The more pictures I post, the shorter the summaries get...

Next up in the madness that is my Italia pics is Florence. We only had part of the day to explore the city, but managed to sneak in a visit to Michelangelo's David, eat more gelato, and hike to the top of the Duomo.

Instead of posting another panorama (yes, I took one from the top of the dome), I'm going with something different here. I tried various long exposures of the carousel in Republic Square and really liked the effect.

Florence album on SmugMug

(Sorry, no GPS tracks for this one. I had to do the geotagging by hand since my GPS never got a signal in Florence.)

Cinque Terre Pictures Now Available

What else can I say about the Cinque Terre that hasn't already been said? It's one of the prettiest stretches of coast line you will see, it's rustic and relaxing, has the best pesto in the world, I actually ate fresh anchovies here, and it's another place we didn't get to spend enough time (partly due to train incompetence on our part) and another place I would definitely like to go back to.

Shown here is yet another HDR panorama (can you tell it's my new favorite thing to do?) of Monterosso. One of the few things we did get to do, in between missing trains and eating said pesto/anchovies, was do the 2+ mile hike from Vernazza to Monterosso before enjoying a quick swim in the Mediterranean Sea. This HDR pan was the result of 9 individual shots off of the camera.

Cinque Terre album on SmugMug

Cinque Terre GPS track: Google Maps
Cinque Terre GPS track: Google Earth

Portofino Pictures Now Available

Okay, technically these have been posted and available for awhile, but I'm just getting around to writing about them now. So act surprised, okay?

The next Italy album features Portofino, the classy and pricey little port town just south of Santa Margherita. Portofino immediately reminded me of Avalon, California, with its small crescent shaped harbor and boats docked outside some quaint little cafes and shops.

We took a 2 mile walk from Santa Margherita to Portofino and then took a boat ride back. While the town isn't very big, I would have like to have spent a little more time to explore the coast and even take a dip in the water near here. Oh well, next time.

The picture shown here is my first attempt at doing selective coloring with a layer mask in Photoshop. I think it came out okay for my first attempt, but it sure can be time consuming. But I remember when we took this picture (Missy gets credit for taking it first - I loved the way she framed it so I had to shoot it too), as I immediately thought about making this sort finished product from it. Something about that red boat just really stuck out well in the scene.

Portofino album on SmugMug

Portofino GPS track: Google Maps
Portofino GPS track: Google Earth

Santa Margherita Pictures Now Available

Next up in the Italian photo-fest is Santa Margherita. We took a train from Venice through Milan down to the Italian Riviera and stayed here for three nights. Santa Margherita was a nice place to stay, since it provided easy train access to the Cinque Terre while being close to Portofino, which we might otherwise have missed.

Shown here is another HDR panorama, this time comprised of 18 raw shots off of the camera. I think this may be my favorite picture from the entire trip. I just love the wide perspective this shot (taken from the balcony of our hotel room) gives of the morning sun rising over the harbor. Although I do wish the clouds were a little whiter. I think some of this is due to the HDR processing, but they were a little grey in the original shots too.

Santa Margherita album on SmugMug

Venice Pictures Now Available

After spending way too much time processing pictures (I guess that's what happens when you take 1800 of them...), I'm happy to say that I've started posting pictures from our recent trip to Italy.

First up is Venice. All I can say is that I've never had so much fun walking around and getting lost. (Most of the getting lost part was trying to find the church/library from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.) You think you know what to expect from movies and seeing pictures online, etc. but it was very different seeing it in person. In many ways, it's still hard to imagine that a place like this even exists. Seeing a city built completely on the water was very surreal.

I think we got lucky, in that we visited during the week instead of a weekend so the crowds were much smaller. I can see why people would not enjoy it though if they visited during a hot crowded summer day, that's a shame. I think the city has a wide variety of site seeing options and we had a blast and would definitely like to go back sometime.

Pictured here is an HDR panorama from the balcony of Basilica di San Marco. It's a blend of 27 individual shots off the camera, combined using Photomatix (to make the HDRs) and Photoshop CS4 (to make the panorama). If you want to take a peek at all of the geotagged photo goodness from Venice or view the GPS tracklog of where we wandered, here's a few links:

Venice album on SmugMug

Venice GPS track: Google Maps
Venice GPS track: Google Earth

Xbox 360 Update + WPA2 + Airport Express

I ran into an issue last night trying to download the latest Xbox 360 dashboard update. The first part of the download came through okay, the system rebooted okay, and then all hell broke loose. Okay, it wasn't really that bad, but the little WPA2 update for the 360 wireless adapter basically hosed my connection to my Airport Express router.

After 20 minutes of getting "can't connect to your wireless network" errors, here's what I discovered. My AE was set to the wireless mode "WPA/WPA2 Personal". With that mode, the 360 would not accept my network password at all, no matter whether it was specified in the WPA field or the WPA2 field. It just flat out would not connect. By switching the AE into WPA2-only mode, the 360 was finally able to accept the network passphrase.

I'm not sure why the old method didn't still work, but oh well. Hopefully this post will help some other poor soul who runs into the same problem.

My Mistress

I'm officially cheating. There I said it. I'm cheating on SmugMug with Flickr. Don't hate me.

But let me say this too before I go further. I love SmugMug. I always have, I probably always will. Sure there are some things with the service that annoy me (like that damn pop-out window when you hover over an image -- Argh!!!), but like any successful marriage, you take the good with the bad. With SmugMug, there is more good than bad, I think.

So, if I'm in love with SmugMug, why flirt with Flickr? The answer is that SmugMug has become a one-side relationship for me. I will continue to post every picture I take to SmugMug for safe keeping and for pointing my friends and family to. But I need more. I want to be a better photographer. I want people to comment on my pictures and tell me what they like or don't like. Sure, SmugMug has communities, but it's not the same as the social photo sharing monstrosity that is Flickr.

Therefore, I've decided to start posting a small subset of pics on Flickr too, just to see what becomes of it. I plan on redirecting everyone back to SmugMug for the larger versions, but hopefully this test will help me get some more exposure and improve my skill set.

If you want to check out all of the sexy, secretive details of my little affair, head on over to http://www.flickr.com/areichman.

Another Sunday Golf Disappointment

I really wanted to write something about Tom Watson's performance this week at the Open Championship. I didn't get a chance to watch until today, but I was pulling for him. I think I've been really sentimental lately about golf, in that I've really gotten attached to some of the guys in the finals.

On a few occasions, it was rooting for Tiger or Phil to come from way back, shooting a round that you'd never forget. In other cases, it was almost the same feeling I had rooting for Roddick versus Federer in the epic Wimbledon from a few weeks ago -- I wanted the underdog to win.

So in trying to figure out what to say, I came across this entry in ESPN's Live Blog:


--
Stewart Cink is part of a recent run of "party-pooper" major champions.

From ESPN stats guru Jon Kramer ...

2009 Open Championship: Stewart Cink beats Tom Watson in a 4-hole playoff after Watson bogeys the final hole of regulation. At 59, Watson was trying to win his 6th Open Championship and become the oldest major winner of all-time.

2009 U.S. Open: David Duval, ranked 882nd in the world, finds himself right in the hunt. But it's unheralded Lucas Glover who takes the title at soggy Bethpage Black.

2009 Masters: 48-year old Kenny Perry has his first major title in sight before bogeying the 17th and 18th holes in the 4th round. He goes on to lose to Angel Cabrera in a 3-man playoff that also included Chad Campbell.

2008 Open Championship: At 53, Greg Norman was trying to become the oldest major winner ever. Padraig Harrington caught him on Sunday at Royal Birkdale as he successfully defended his Open title.

One could make an argument that Tiger Woods was a party pooper by beating "Joe Golfer" Rocco Mediate in the 2008 U.S. Open
--


I think that sums up pretty well how I feel. I think a lot of people, myself included, wanted Tom to win so badly that the loss kind of rips at your gut. It's like a bad breakup or something. In many of the cases listed above, I felt I was watching something magic on a Sunday afternoon, only to have the fairy tale end and then end up with the feeling that I just wasted an entire day watching someone I don't like win a golf tournament.

That's not entirely fair, because in today's case, Stewart Cink is actually a pretty likable guy. Unfortunately, he just wasn't the one that could have turned back the clock 30 years today.

Congratulations anyways, Tom. It was a lot of fun to watch.

Everyone Else Thinks Our Jerseys Suck, Too

According to this article on ESPN.com, the Sabres and Bills ranked 9th and 4th respectively on the suck-o-meter for uniforms in pro sports. It's pretty sad that both Buffalo teams ended up on this list, but I have to agree.

The worst part about this whole mess is that in both cases, it seems as fans like the throwback uniforms better. And in both cases, we are stuck with crap for the next couple of years at least. Oh well. At least for some games they both wear the throwback so it's not bad all of the time. Right?

The Great iTunes Catalog Update

Man, I haven't blogged in a long time...And if I keep doing what I'm doing, I might not for a while again either.

After snagging a shiny new, abeit plastic, iPhone 3GS, I have a lot more space to fill on my phone now. I could simply copy my whole music library over, seeing as I have the space. But I'd like to do things a little more smartly.

I've been having this annoyance with my music library lately. Basically I'm sick of my music and I feel like I'm listening to the same stuff over an over.

So I'm embarking on a long journey whereby I'm updating the tags on my music. I've never used the Genre or Rating tags and I'm making an effort to do so now. I'm hoping in the end that I'll rediscover some music I had forgotten about. And ultimately, I'll be able to create some Smart Playlists with more randomized music for me to listen to.

It's a big effort (and I have a smallish 2500 song library), but hopefully it will be worth it in the end.

The New Hotness

After 5+ years, my aging PowerBook G4 was finally replaced this week by a new aluminum MacBook.

I had been eyeing it for a while and was planning all along to actually buy a refurb unit from apple.com. Well, it turns out I waited long enough for them to drop the price buy another Franklin, which sweetened the deal even more. The backlit keyboard on this unit is much brighter and consistent than that on my PowerBook, it's obviously much snappier with the upgraded hardware, and I love the new look of the black keyboard and screen. I'm really digging this so far.

As for my PowerBook, Craigslist, here you come.

The TO Experiment

It's funny how diverse the reactions have been to the Bills' signing of Terrell Owens. When Missy and I first saw the breaking news on ESPN, all I could yell was, "What!?!". I think it was just more shock than anything. I was just trying to picture TO living in Buffalo and wondering how bored he would be. Brent thinks he'll try to kill himself again halfway through the year after he realizes where he lives. Bflo Blog thinks TO will say things that make Willis McGahee look like he worked for the Chamber of Commerce. Personally, I just hope Lynch and Owens don't go on a shooting spree on Chippewa. Then they'll really have no place to go.

Most of my friends and family just sort of groaned when they heard the news. I think if you had asked me last week (or ever) if I wanted TO on my team, it would have been an emphatic "no". But after seeing it actually happen, I am actually excited. Why? They need a receiver to compliment Lee Evans and got a potentially huge player (if he holds up to his past stats) for cheaper than they would have gotten someone like Laveranues Coles. So I'm all for it. It's only a one year deal. TO has been good in the first year. I have no belief that he'll stay for more than one year or if he'll even last the whole year. But I'm okay with that.

Alot of why I'm okay with it has to do with the fact that at least the Bills are relevant again. The national media is talking about the Bills. And if Lynch miraculously avoids suspensions and Edwards doesn't get scared during a Monday night game again, the Bills offense could actually be good this year (don't we say something like this every year?). Maybe it will at least be fun to watch again, instead of boring me to sleep. I'm really excited to see if Evans and Owens, with a little Reed on the side, can destroy a defense now. Teams can't just double team Evans anymore.

And if this whole experiment blows up, what the worst thing that happens? They are simply the same sucky team they would have been without him anyways. Well, maybe the worst thing is that Chippewa shooting spree thing. But at least they are taking a shot now. And I applaud them for that.

And I have to at least ponder Missy's question: I wonder if we'll see him in the bars of Rochester during training camp?

Death of the Aud

I was pretty shocked to see the state of the Aud last week when we went to Buffalo for the Sabres-Hurricanes game. You could practically see the orange seats from the road now.

So long old friend. We'll miss you.

Here's the rest of the pics I took during the game, which was probably one of the worst I've ever been to: Sabres-Hurricanes

Netflix in Front Row

The news of an add-on called (or by?) Understudy can easily be read elsewhere, but I wanted to add my thoughts since I didn't see too many others talking about using it.

First of all, it's not a full Netflix wrapper like those on a TiVo or Xbox 360 or Boxee. But I think it's a simple, clean way of getting access to your online queue.

In order to use it, you have to be logged into Netflix's site through Safari, since Understudy will pull your RSS feed data. Then, you can view and play your content like you would any other content in Front Row. You don't have access to edit your queue or anything like that though. It's just a viewer.

Once your content starts playing, it's pretty much full screen. There's a button for Full Screen play, but I didn't seem to have any mouse access to select it. I think it may just be there as part of the normal browser-based player that's getting crammed into Front Row. ???

Regardless, after 5 minutes of playing with it, I think I'll use this as my way of watching content on my Mac. I tried Boxee, but I don't like the fact that I can't get the Apple Remote to control the system volume in Boxee. The remote wants to control Boxee's volume, which on my system, results in the same output volume to my speakers regardless of the app's volume setting. So it's pretty much useless. With Understudy, since I'm in Front Row, I have full access to all of the normal Front Row functionality, including system volume.

I Heart Rivet

There's nothing I can say about the tragedy in Buffalo that hasn't been said already. I'll just add that my thoughts and prayers go out to all those affected. May God give you the strength to heal and move past this.

I think Craig Rivet is everything the Sabres have been longing for during the past 1.5 years. While Pommer gets credit for the game tying goal with 3.9 seconds left, to me it was symbolic that it was Rivet taking that final shot against his former team when the city needed a hero and a fairy tale ending the most.

I think this guy has taken his team on his shoulders and has chosen to lead them. And I think he can become as representative of the city of Buffalo and this team as Lindy Ruff is. That role could have belonged to Briere or Drury, but they chose not to accept it. Maybe Rivet will.