June 2005 Archives (17 posts)
ShortStat Widget
ShortStat Widget might just be a useful Dashboard widget for OS X. It allows you check stats on your websites. Track hits, unique visits, referrers and more.
I’m going to install this next week and see if it lives up to the hype.
Posted in OS X Software at 12:33 AM | Comments (0)
creativebits
If you’re a design professional and you use Adobe Photoshop on OS X then you have to do yourself a favour and visit creativebits—your daily fix of graphic design and OS X.
Posted in Design at 9:41 AM | Comments (1)
Dirty Mary Crazy Larry
Dirty Mary Crazy Larry (1974) is being released by Anchor Bay Entertainment in what they are calling a “Supercharger Edition” with a few extra features. One is an all new documentary with cast and crew interviews.
As cheesy as it is, this is one of my favourite movies. It’s one of the original car chase films from the early 70s that gave way to the Smokey and the Bandit series. The ending of the film was used each week in opening credits of The Fall Guy (1981-1986) television show, starring Lee Majors and Heather Thomas.
It’s been out of print since the 80s making it a cult favourite by many. The only way to get it was through some “sketchy” archive companies in LA and Texas. I bought a copy several years ago on VHS. It will nice to finally see it in its original format and with Dolby Digital sound.
Posted in Movies at 12:14 PM | Comments (2)
My Doorbell
I can’t get My Doorbell out of my head. I heard this song from The White Stripes’ new album on the radio yesterday, downloaded a copy from iTunes and have been playing it ever since.
I’m not really a fan of the band but this song is great. Give it a listen.
Posted in Music at 2:16 PM | Comments (2)
50 Coolest Websites
Time.com has a list of 50 Coolest Websites 2005. The list is broken down into different categories—blogs, arts & entertainment, news, lifestyle and shopping.
Some of the sites that I found interesting are:
Posted in Web at 1:15 PM | Comments (2)
Real Classy
I just walked up the street to get a coffee at the Dip N’ Sip coffe shop. Not a classy joint but it’s open 24/7 and it gets me through the late nights of work.
On my way back to the office I noticed a cab in front of my building with the backdoor open. Inside was a blonde, all dolled up, laying down in the backseat, face down, puking onto Kingston Road. She must have seen my feet because she tried to look up and called out, “Paul… Paul?” Amused, I walked away before she could see who was looking down at her.
I hope she was drunk and not deathly ill because I found the whole thing kind of funny. I can sort of relate to her situation. There may have been a time or two in my past where I was in the backseat of a car, wanting to toss my cookies. Yeah, I know, it’s difficult to imagine.
Posted in Observations at 11:25 PM | Comments (0)
Toronto’s Drains
I came across an interestign site called The Vanishing Point: An Ontario Draining Resource that describes storm water drains throughout Ontario.
It turns out that the Cliffside Storm and Sanitary Sewers are literally at the end of my street—the Scarborough Bluffs. Sanitary Sewers don’t sound very appealing but I think it might be fun to to do a little exploring when I’m finished working on CD-ROM projects.
Posted in Web at 11:38 PM | Comments (3)
Batman Begins (2005)
I was working late on Tuesday night and decided to catch the midnight showing of Batman Begins (2005) with a few friends. My one word review—awesome!
I wasn’t sure how director Christopher Nolan was going to breathe life into the Batman franchise but I’d say he pulled it off nicely. There is a lot more back story than we saw in Tim Burton’s version from 1989 (which I still enjoy watching).
Batman Begins has a clever script that does an excellent job at explaining the origin of Batman’s character. It also does a nice job of setting up the origin of lunatic villains that wear costumes and masks for sequels.
Christian Bale is a great casting choice. I couldn’t see Colin Farell as Bruce Wayne. It was nice to see Gary Oldman in a decent role again. Michael Cain, Morgan Freeman and Liam Neeson are also perfectly cast for their roles.
I have no complaints about this movie at all and wanted to watch it again as soon as the credits rolled. If you like Batman at all, or wish you were Batman as a little kid, then this movie is a homerun.
Posted in Movie Reviews at 2:02 PM | Comments (3)
Adobe Photoshop CS2
AdobeEvangelists.com has a nice list of the new features in Adobe Photoshop CS 2. There are 9 other PDF files that discuss Camera Raw, all the CS2 Filters, automating tasks with Actions and more .
If you’re thinking of upgrading or if you’re already using Photoshop CS2 then this is required reading.
Posted in OS X Software at 1:52 PM | Comments (0)
That’s more like it!
Thanks to Ryan’s link that explains how to turn off Spotlight in OS X Tiger, my Mac is now running like it used to.
Apple made Spotlight a part of the operating system with the release of Tiger. It allows you to “find anything, anywhere, fast”. And it does. The tradeoff is that Spotlight sucks away valuable processor speed while it constantly indexes all of your files and information on your computer. Find things fast, work slower is what they should have used for a Spotlight tagline.
I don’t know about you but I hardly do a lot of “searching” on my Mac and when I do, I prefer to use the old Command-F for “find” in the operating system. It has always worked great. I don’t understand this move to Spotlight and why we have to have it rammed down our throats because Apple thinks it is good for us. I think they missed the boat on this one.
Posted in OS X Software at 10:08 PM | Comments (2)
Secrets & Lies (1996)
Written and directed by Mike Leigh who recently wrote and directed the Oscar-nominated Vera Drake (2004). Great acting. Pure drama. Enjoyable.
Leigh has a unique style where he tends to linger on characters faces allowing you to read their emotions, experience them. There are long awkward silences which add realism to each scene. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t anything like Gerry (2002) where an eternity goes by before anything happens. Secrets & Lies takes its time in telling an interesting story.
If you do happen to see the movie, watch the expressions of Lee Ross. He plays the character of Paul, Roxanne’s boyfriend and he’s hilarious to watch.
Posted in DVD Reviews at 3:59 PM | Comments (1)
OS X Tiger Crawls
OS X 10.4.1 on my dual 1.8 GHz G5 crawls like a wounded Tiger. I feel like I’m running System 7.1 on a Mac IIsi half the time. Everything runs slower under Tiger and it’s starting to drive me crazy.
It used to be that when I changed the name of a file, in a Finder window, the list of files would sort alphabetically, immediately. Now it can take as long as 10 seconds. Icons in the dock tend to freeze now and again. Opening a file in dialog box can hang my system for up to a minute. PhotoShop 7.0 runs, rather it crawls. I just updated to PhotoShop CS 2 and it seems sluggish as well.
What gives? I suspect that Spotlight is slowing down my system as it indexes all of my files. Constantly. I hate it! I never use it and want the option to get rid of it!
Have you tried running a slideshow by right-clicking a group of jpeg files. It can take about 20 seconds to run after staring at the colour beachball icon. While this is a cool feature, I don’t like having to wait for it to work. I find I’m doing a lot of waiting lately with Tiger and it is slowing down my workflow. I hope Apple releases an upgrade that will address these major speed issues. I guess this is the price of early adoption.
Posted in OS X Software at 12:40 PM | Comments (3)
OpenRAW
OpenRAW is a website that addresses the problems associated with the RAW file format for digital cameras. Canon, Nikon, every digital camera maker has their own proprietary file format which can cause headaches for digital camera owners.
When PhotoShop CS2 came out last month, they didn’t have RAW support for my Canon Digital Rebel XT camera. In late May, Adobe upgraded their Camera Raw 3.1 plug-in to support the Rebel XT and a few other cameras.
The point is that a standard file format or spec for RAW would be the best solution for everyone so that photographers can access their images in the future. Adobe has proposed the Digital Negative (DNG) format.
Is anyone using this file format to archive their images?
Posted in Photography at 11:10 AM | Comments (0)
X & Y
I downloaded the latest Coldplay disc from iTunes this morning and have been listening to it on and off throughout the day at work. I feel like a 36-year-old yuppy that only listens to British pop for posting about this but the album is good. Pretty much what I would expect.
This is the first disc I’ve downloaded from iTunes that has a digital booklet and video interview that is part of the album download. My only complaint is that it would be nicer if the booklet actually printed out smaller so that it fit into a CD jewel case.
Posted in Music at 11:14 PM | Comments (1)
McEwan’s Scotch Ale
I love going to the LCBO and looking for different beers to try. There is so much variety and seldom do I come across a beer that I can’t stand. I’m not crazy about Belgian beers (Hoegaarden or Duvel) but will have one now and again.
I enjoy Newcastle Brown Ale and thought I would try McEwan’s Scotch Ale (also brewed by Newcastle). So I purchased a six-pack, put it in the fridge to chill, and cracked open a bottle an hour later.
My initial reaction to this beer was that it was absolutely awful. I finished a bottle expecting to like it after a few sips but I kept thinking that Buckley’s Cough Syrup tastes better. I was shocked. I found a beer that I would have to categorize as revolting.
It’s a strong beer at 8% alcohol and it has bit of a Sherry taste with chocolate. Nasty stuff. Give me a Samuel Adams. I tried Crazy Horse Malt Liquor when I was down in Baton Rouge and liked that better than McEwan’s Scotch Ale.
I would rather eat a plate of haggis than drink another bottle of Scotch Ale. So what do I do with 5 more bottles of this stuff?
I placed a bunch of small bowls in the gardens around our house and filled them with my least favourite ale. Slugs and snails are attracted to the beer, crawl in the bowl and drown—there are worse ways do die.
Problem solved.
Posted in Food at 11:22 AM | Comments (22)
Madagascar (2005)
I took Daniel to see Madagascar (2005) on his birthday. Dreamworks’ latest 3D animated film is quite funny at times but it doesn’t come close to The Incredibles in my opinion. It’s much better than Shark Tale but seems lacking in terms of story and animation.
There are a tonne of gags that rely on references to a number of films such as Castaway, American Beauty and Planet of the Apes. The kids will understand the jokes at one level while the adults will laugh at the references to films or other forms of popular culture.
My favourite character was King Julian the Lemur, voiced by Sacha Baron Cohen, otherwise known as Ali-G. He’s absolutely hilarious and I guarantee that you’ll walk out of the theatre singing, “I Like to Move It”.
Posted in Movie Reviews at 11:59 PM | Comments (2)
First Photo Shoot
Tomorrow morning at 6:30 AM I’m going on my first photo shoot. Paid photo shoot.
No, I’m not taking photos of a sunrise or doing any nature photography. That would be fun. I’m heading out to a lab in Oshawa. I’ll be taking a couple of hundred photos of three audio systems that are going into a new SUV model.
Yeah, not so glamourous but I get to take pictures for a half a day and that makes me happy.
Posted in Photography at 11:45 PM | Comments (1)
