Hamarana

I’ve been struggling with the fact that two applications on Windows are not available on Macintosh. One of them is Picasa, an image management tool from Google, and which is similar to but not the same as iPhoto. I like iPhoto, but I also want to use Picasa (at least long enough to see what the fuss is about).

I also want to use Simply Budgets, which I have written about on a separate page.

For both of these, and many other applications only available on Windows, I have been forced to install Windows on Bootcamp (and last time that led to a complete meltdown through user error, and loss of work), or else into a Virtual Machine via Parallels or VMWare Fusion (my preferred method so far).

However, Codeweavers have produced Crossover for Mac. I had used it in the past on Linux, to get access to Office. Now its here on Mac. I don’t need the applications they are touting as being compatible. We seriously don’t need to use a Windows version of Office when we already have a native version as well as the clones. Similarly, many of the other apps already have a MacOSX native version. But there are no native versions of Picasa, Simply Budgets, or Paintshop Pro.

I’m able to report that Picasa works flawlessly, as does Simply Budgets. Paintshop Pro X crashes when you try to start it, Mio Digiwalker will not install (dammit, I really am ticked about that, my MioC520 wont talk to my Mac at all). I’ve yet to try older versions of PSP, but expect that one or more of them might work.

Here’s a screenie of my Desktop, with Picasa running perfectly well under Crossover for Mac.

I might add that the system drain is negligible, unlike VMWare or Parallels, so I am pretty pleased. One Crossover licence coming up! Its only $39.95 for the standard licence which is all I need, and as soon as the dollar gains some strength against the US dollar, I will be purchasing.

Chris has posted on Australian Opinion about the proposed internet censorship in Australia.

Whilst the intent is honourable and good and designed to protect kids (and others) from the nasties of the net, at best, its going to block a whole bunch of stuff that shouldn’t get blocked (imagine, if you will, someone trying to find information about breast cancer and being unable to do so) and at worst, will drive it all underground as has happened in the past.

The good senator (Stephen Conroy) and his cohort do not seem to be aware that porn sites can *mostly* be blocked by existing “nanny” type software. But perhaps there’s a more sinister intent. Blockage of warez, as well, perhaps? Blockage of torrents? Blockage of person to person applications? We already know that ISPs have been ordered to prevent certain types of file being available on their usenet servers… and most are complying, under threat of their licences being revoked. But, of course, we can access usenet from other sources, so its not really doing much to prevent those who want to access *those* kinds of files. A wider filter will stop that.

I can understand the movie and recording industry wanting to stop the proliferation of illegal copies of music and videos, but consider the fact that there are legal torrents and P2P versions of software about… prime examples being OpenOffice (huge file, distributed under GPL via torrents as well as the Sun site) and many of the Linux distributions. Are we supposed to think that its okay for those to get blocked as well?

One cannot help thinking of the extremes of censorship in China… and wonder if thats how far our government will go. It certainly seems as if that is probable as well as possible. The EFA has noted that Australians won’t even be able to opt out of such measures.

For more detail on the censorship measures and what it really means to the average Australian, do some reading at the EFA website about Labor’s Mandatory ISP Internet Blocking Plan. Some of the information is old, but remains relevant.

NoCleanFeed is the EFA’s explanatory site about how to do something about it. Go read there, and then go sign the petition against internet censorship in Australia.

I saw these living things today, at my friend’s house. Her garden is in glorious bloom at the moment, and there is not room to post all the flowers I photographed. I’ve chosen a few, as well as a small statue/birdbath, a bee and a bird and its baby

Click on each photo thumbnail to get to a larger version and the comments form for each individual shot.

Things to do
1) Use a non-working bank account to which funds can be transferred easily as required.
2) Use a Debit card and a credit card. With a credit card, you can do a chargeback. With a debit card you need to rely on Paypal to save you. (But they do a good job of it)
3) Use a LONG alphanumeric password.
4) Get a gmail account specifically for paypal and not to be used under any circumstances for anything else.
5) Get the Paypal security key.

I am now doing some of the above.
I am not using a credit card. Once my existing one is paid off, I am dispensing with it entirely. I bought the paypal security key which arrived this week, and I have a new long pass and an email account that nobody knows except paypal. However, with the security key, it might no longer matter. even if someone happens to have your login and pass, without the security key (which randomises a second password every 30 seconds) they cannot touch your account.

Feeling safer now.

Well, that was a bit of a burnout.

I took a long look at a number of different DSLRs including one I had not seriously considered, because I thought it might be too expensive.
1) The Pentax K20D I had pretty much decided on: Damnation! WAY too heavy for me. Its almost 1kg without a lens attached. Add a long zoom and my wrists immediately failed. I have a touch of RSI (too much time here, and at work, on computers) as well as a touch of the carpal tunnel syndrome. If I got the K20D I would be consigning myself to either wearing wrist braces 24/7 or using a tripod every time. Neither option is suitable, appropriate or acceptable. K20D is now off the list, and so is the K200D.
2) Nikon D90: is quite expensive, but on the other hand has all of the features I want in a DSLR. However I looked at it after I fiddled with the Pentax, and my wrists were already very sore and sensitive. So it too, seemed way too heavy. I’ll take another look when wrists are in recovery.
3) Sony Alpha 300: Not too heavy but again, my wrists were already quite sore so it was hard to work out whether I should continue to consider it. If not, then the A200 is much lighter and has become a possibility even though it doesnt have live view.
4) Canon 450D: Price is good, weight is good. I did not want to get a camera with its image stabilisation in the lens, but I may just have to. The Canon felt just fine, even with my wrists in extremis.

However: something I had only briefly considered was the 4/3 system of Olympus and Panasonic. And now, I believe there is a micro 4/3 system on the horizon from both. The nice thing here I guess is that Panasonic can use some of the Olympus Zuiko lenses, as well as the Leica lenses created especially for it, which may give a wider range of options.

Is there anything wrong with the 4/3 system? Well, maybe… the sensors are smaller than in the others, and that might make the 4/3 less capable. Although it probably depends on pixel density… and I haven’t really looked into that yet.

Long story short: Purchase is going to have to wait some months yet. So I bought another point and shoot (its terrible, having the buys when you want a camera)… its an old Fuji, the F20, excellent low light capacity and only 6MP which suits me. I’ll wear glasses when using it or else rely entirely on a beep to tell me if its in focus. Sad, innit?

Another shot I never thought I could pull off with the Fuji 8000. A droplet of water about to fall from a leaf, at sunrise. It would have been good to get the sun itself reflected in the drop but timing is everything.

The reflections you can see in the drop are of the roof of the house across the road, and the top of a palm tree he has growing in his yard. The sun itself is juuuust glinting through a broken piece of the leaf (above drop and to the right)

Well, it works! I went off to Stockton tonight, near the ferry. A friend accompanied me (we had been off to dinner) and I set up the tripod for the first time. I was wanting to see how my S8000fd would perform if it wasn’t in my hands, and if I played with the manual controls. I still have a lot to learn, and I still think the following shot would be better had it been taken with a DSLR, but it didnt do too badly for a cheap cam and a cheap tripod. I am going to have to play with it a lot more.

The shot is not fantastic, I know, but remember its my first attempt and is the best of what seemed to be a pretty awful bunch. Overexposed, underexposed, tripod jiggled… but… practice makes perfect, and if I can find someone to come with me tonight and/or tomorrow night, I’ll try again.