Palm Inc, an off shoot of the 3 Com company, made the PDA a mainstream object – it was the Palm Pilot; a name synonymous with the PDA. I never owned a Palm Pilot until they merged that item with a phone. The Palm Phone was born and I was a fan.
I got my first Palm Phone, the Palm Treo 600 in 2004 and then the Palm Treo 650 in 2006. The Treo 650 works so well, that I still use it to this day. I think It still works better than the Apple iPhone.
Recently, the Palm Pre was released on the Sprint network in the US. I got to test drive it when I was in New York last month. It is a worthy successor, unfortunately, in North America, the new Palm Pre is only available in the US on the Sprint network – a non-GSM network. I refuse to get one because I wouldn’t be able to use it outside of North America and I’m on Rogers in Canada. It it were available on GSM, there would be a much larger market for this phone.
However, they did produce some good commercials as seen below…
I notice recently that I’ve been cropping some of my images to a square or 4×5 format. I find that the 3×2 format of 35mm and D-SLR cameras don’t always work for what I’m shooting. I never used to crop my photos because I was framing the subject to fit in the camera viewfinder but it did not work when I viewed it on paper or on the screen.
However, I noticed that when I cropped some of them, it gave them a new life and changed the perspective of the photo. I’m sure I learned why in school, but my brain is like a sieve and I usually forget such minute technical details. I normally would shoot, process the levels and then post – maybe I could not be bothered to crop photos before.
Now that I think about it, why isn’t all film/digital in a more square format? Lenses are round and if film is not, there’s a lot of wasted space. I will guess that it started with some film manufacturing executive fitting into the manufacturing process or something like that. I’m going to a camera show on the weekend so I’m sure some people can let me in on the secret.
Enough talk, here are some pictures. Two of my favorite images, one square, one 4×5. Ironically, both from NY – maybe that’s what changed. Click on either image to jump to my flickr set.
Slideshows of the sets; click on the larger image to advance to the next one.
I listed my former Nikon D200 camera along with my tourist zoom lens on Sunday and I sold the camera tonight; the lens is still for sale. I was surprised because I thought the lens would sell sooner. I’m about to buy a new camera but I haven’t decided which one to get. I think I already know, but I’m thinking of a few different options. I had this one for almost two years. I honestly thought I would have owned it for much longer – but I guess two years is a lifetime in the age of electronics. One can’t get attached to objects.
I definitely learned a lot from this camera – including lighting, exposure and especially effects with a fisheye lens. I haven’t decided what to do with the fisheye lens since it only works on the smaller frame digital cameras and not the full frame digital cameras – which I am very likely about to buy. Maybe I’ve outgrown the fisheye lens. A fellow photographer told me that I would probably outgrow it in about a year and a half – I’m three months away from that since I got the fisheye lens in 2007. Although I am curious to experiment with a super-wide angle lens. That could be my next challenge.
Some recent images with the D200 and fisheye lens.
It all started one day in July when I made up my mind to go to New York in August for a weekend of parties at the NYC Couch Crash Festival.
When I arrived at Pearson airport in Toronto, I found out that my flight was delayed by two hours because of inclement weather in New York. After an hour, I was told that my flight was canceled. American Airlines found me a seat on the previous flight – that had already been holding for over three hours. Passangers actually got on the aircraft before they were told some time later to get off because the delay at the other end was undetermined. While in the waiting room, I called AA to ask if I could get a refund because of the delay – the agent indicated that I could – before I could say yes, they announced that we could board the plane again. Instead of getting a refund, I got back on the aircraft – where we sat for another hour and then were finally able to take off for New York. I did eventually get there, but about five hours later than I expected at about 2:30 a.m.
It was fun while I was there; I met lots of new people, some old friends, made some new friends and had lots of fun too!
I was only in New York for about 36 hours until I had to leave for the airport. I missed one of the trains to the airport. That created a chain reaction that caused me to end up at the airport with 25 minutes before my flight was to take off. I could have made it if I had my boarding pass. However, I didn’t have access to a computer and printer for the weekend that caused me to have to wait in the lineup at the airport. When I did reach an agent, they told me that the next flight was in an hour at LaGuardia airport – unfortunately I was at JFK airport. He offered to put me on the next flight which was at 7:00 a.m. the next morning. I declined and purchased a bus ticket and headed to the bus station.
On the way back to the city bus station, I decided to call American Airlines to tell them of my situation. Even though it was my own fault for missing the flight, they offered me a credit for my missed flight which I promptly accepted. There was no arguing or protracted phone call. It took about five minutes while I was waiting for the train back to Manhattan.
This is either really good luck on my part, good customer service or poor fiscal policy of American Airlines. Regardless, I’ll be going back to NYC to continue my current love affair with the city. Beware of what you ask for because you might receive it.
I wasn’t exactly sure what a hipster was until recently when I visited New York City. I found out through a free newspaper that they live in Williamsburg, an area of Brooklyn just over the river from Manhattan. Apparently they aren’t well liked by some because they over-pay for Goodwill fashion, drive out good-value restaurants, hang at dive bars and drive up housing prices, especially lofts!
Elise Thompson, an editor for the LA blog LAist defines hipsters as people wearing “expensive ‘alternative’ fashion[s]“, going to the “latest, coolest, hippest bar…[and] listen[ing] to the latest, coolest, hippest band.”
People are starting to emulate them in other cities – including Toronto as seen here in gbalogh’s (a flickr contact) photo stream.
Hopefully we won’t need to reinforce our doors to keep them out in Toronto – and hopefully they won’t invade Sneaky Dee’s!
Here’s a funny video of hipsters in action in Brooklyn.
Ten years after I first visited Yankee stadium, I returned for a final visit in the last season of the current Yankee Stadium. They will be playing in a new stadium starting in 2009 – also called Yankee Stadiium and the old Yankee Stadium will be demolished.
Although there is a lot of history in the current stadium, it is an old style stadium. The seating is old, the walkways and washrooms are cramped and there are not many amenities. Skydome/Roger’s Centre in Toronto is quite spacious in comparison.What I find most interesting about Yankee Stadium are the fans that visit the games. They are the most lively, boisterous and out-spoken – true New Yorkers. The Yankee fans may taunt you because you’re a Jay fan, etc. but everyone can still be friends because we’re all baseball fans.
I’ll probably go back to visit the stadium before it is demolished but this will probably be my last Yankee game in the House That Ruth Built (or the Stadium, the Big Ballpark in the Bronx, the Cathedral of Baseball).
On a related note, while in NY, I met a guy from Toronto that has the goal of watching every Toronto Blue Jay game in 2008 – at home and on the road. He worked out a deal with his company to work part time – when he was in town. His enthusiasm seem to be waning when I talked to him – but that’s understandable because he has been watching baseball games daily on his own for five months and counting. As Homer Simpson knows, baseball isn’t that exciting most of the time (when sober). Ryan’s website, is Baseball Odyssey – he stopped blogging at the end of June – perhaps that’s when he contracted baseball fatigue.
Here is my Flickr baseball set. Click on the larger image to advance to the next image.
At the beginning of August I followed through on my promise to attend Slideluck Potshow XII in New York following the event in Toronto in May. SLPS was held in Brooklyn – specifcally Williamsburg a trendy area of Brooklyn – just over the river from Manhattan. It was held NY-style. There were about 1000 attendees, a giant potluck to match, a DJ, festivities, beer and wine vendors and, last but not least, a slide show of photography, video and art on a giant screen.
The wading pool before the show – or maybe this is the show.
The food – lots of it!
The after parties went until dawn…
This was also my first visit to NYC in ten years. It was such a good trip that it spurred me to go back in August – it will be a total of three times by the end of August. The final trip of August – if all goes as planned – will have me doing approximately the same things as ten years ago – a Yankee/Jay game and attending the US Open tennis tournament. I wonder how it will be the second time around.
My flickr set from SLPS XII, click on the larger image to advance to the next one.
That’s how many hours I was in transit last weekend from Friday afternoon to Monday morning. After arriving at the airport, I was told my flight was canceled; I ended up getting on the previous flight which had already been holding for three hours. I almost didn’t make it to NYC on Friday. After waiting a few hours, I was on the phone to American Airlines inquiring about a refund – which they did offer to me – but at the last moment, I declined to take it. Moments later, we did get on the plane and we took off around 10:30 p.m. I was in Brooklyn by 2:00 a.m. and the party was already started.
Watching the sunset while waiting for my flight at Toronto Pearson airport.
On the way home on Sunday evening, I arrived at JFK airport late because I missed one of my connections which delayed me enough to miss the boarding cutoff time. I ended up buying a bus ticket and arrived back in Toronto by 7:00 a.m. Monday morning. I basically went home, showered and left for work. It was very tiring and it took me until Thursday to feel normal again.
On a lark, I called American Airlines to let them know of my weekend. They were nice enough to give me a credit for my missed flight so there will be another trip to NYC in the works.
Relaxing at JFK after missing the check-in cutoff time.
Watching the sunset in Manhattan before catching my bus.
The Megabus; I paid 80x that; but at least it got me home.
I was rushed for time – I already missed my flight and didn’t want to miss my bus so I opted for some fast food. I had a Burger King BK veggie sandwich – which is not available in Canada. It was pretty good – I think it’s the best veggie burger that I’ve had from a fast food chain so far. It’s more of a ‘garden burger’ which I prefer over the soy ones that resemble beef. I give it a 7.5/10.
In the early 80s, Keith Haring‘s art was primarily in public spaces in New York. Since he died in 1990, not much of it is left in public spaces. There is a tribute on Houston Avenue at Bowery Street in the lower east side that was created earlier this year.
He started his public art in the subway in the early 1980s. His art was not only graffiti, but carried a social message. He had other works such as Crack is Whack, which still exists today – in the renamed, Crack is Whack Playground in Harlem, as well as other works in some private buildings including one that was recently uncovered in a condo building in Tribeca.
According to The Villager, the Haring installation on Houston was tagged in July. Had I been in New York two weeks earlier, it would have looked different. However, it still unmistakably is a Haring and is now more of a collaborative work. It is also accessible to all and not locked up in a museum, art gallery or private collection.
Advertising, Batcave, New York, Photography, Stuff, Technology, Travel | Garry July 14, 2009 | 
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