Apple Releases Safari 4.0.2

Apple released Safari v4.0.2. Besides the regular security fixes they also fixed the bug which made Rabobank Internet Banking 'go haywire'. So I could in theory move from Firefox to Safari.... In theory I said :).

Internet Data Retention Law is Live in the Netherlands

It's a fact. As of this Tuesday, the Dutch ISP's are required (by Dutch law) to log all Internet activity of their customers and store the data for 12 months (at the moment). Gitmo Nation has expanded a bit further to the east, according to the No Agenda podcast host Adam Curry (which is a great podcast by the way).

Anyway, the logging is no longer limited to the basic IP connection data, the new law requires the ISP's to log the following information:

General Internet Access:

• Loginname
• IP Address
• Name and address details of of all the parties involved (when available)
• Time and Date the communication took place
• Used service(s)
• The callers phone number in the case of dial-up Internet access
• The number called for dial-up Internet access
• DSL, phonenumbers, MAC address (when using public/ISP sponsored WiFi/Network access)

E-mail:

• IP address used to access or send e-mail
• User ID
• E-mail address of the sender, recipients etc. (basically the FROM, TO, CC and BCC fields)
• Registered e-mail alias addresses when available
• Time and date of the communications
• Name and address details of all the parties involved (when available).
• Method used in sending/receiving the e-mail (webmail, POP, SMTP, IMAP, etc.)

Internet VoIP:

• Phone numbers of both parties
• IP addresses
• Name and address details of all the parties involved (when available)
• Time and date of the communication (start and finish)
• Protocols used during the communication
• Successful and failed attempts to communicate

The 'fun' part is that the Dutch government won't (or can't) give a real reason why this information is required..... Why can't they give the proper reasons for creating and passing this law. Theoretically we still live in a democracy.

My thought is that it's probably based on some vague report by some high-profile consulting company that scared the shit out of the politicians (accountability??). Especially the terms 'child pornography' and 'terrorism' are most likely THE keywords on which the decision is based. And no one wants be publicly not against those two.... And so the privacy of the Dutch citizens crumbles, and crumbles.

Time to start using more and more encryption in all of your communications if you ask me, and start running your own services on a server in your attic .

/me is removing the dust from his PGP keyrings....

Why I F#cking Hate Windows

Yes, you read it correctly. I f#cking hate windows. Why? Well, let me explain;

Microsoft has this nice feature called Automatic Updates. Basically nothing wrong with that. It makes sure that you have the latest patches and updates without having to think too much about it.

Every now and then you get a mildly annoying question if you want to reboot (no, off course not... I'm working at this moment), but you can postpone those during the day. So when you shutdown the laptop/PC at the end of the day, the changes are taken into effect, and you can be (pretty) sure that your system is up-to-date the next time you boot it up.
So far nothing wrong.......

Somehow there are certain updates which enforces a reboot of itself (see the screenshot below). This is a reboot from hell, because no matter what documents you have open, no matter how many things you need to save before restarting. This bug-from-hell (I have no other words for it), will close everything by force and reboots your system. And with force I really do mean force.

Automatic Update RebootNormally, when you close a program, you get a question if you would like to save the document if it has changed. Even when you shutdown the PC the official way, the shutdown process stops (actually, it hangs, because stuff stops responding) at those dialogs. Waiting for your input. But this enforced reboot ignores this all together.

After the first message appears on your screen you've got exactly 5 minutes to change its mind. So if you're at lunch, or on the toilet, you might be in deep sh#t. Because when you come back, the OS has rebooted. Every open document (saved or NOT) is closed, and you can start over again.

The worst part is that a unwanted shutdown can (and will at some point) corrupt data. Something you don't want, but just happened to me....

Damages:

• Corrupt Outlook PST file
  which was an archived mail file, which can be recovered from an earlier backup.
• Corrupt MS-Word document
  thankfully the auto-save function was enabled and recovery seemed to work. No idea what content is missing yet.
• Lost several notepad files which were open with several to-do things, and pieces of code I was working on.

And that's why I love Apple OSX, and f#cking hate Windows.

B.t.w. I already blogged about this feature a while back, but I hadn't lost any data that time. This time it's personal.

Oh, and spare me the advise on reconfiguring Automatic Updates, because this feature should not even exist.

5 Years of Photography

I started out with a Nikon D100, and grew to a Nikon D300 in those 5 years. The Nikon D200 was in my possession only about 6 months or so. Man, the noise on that body was humongous.

The Lightroom library shows me that I started (semi-serious) with photography about 5 years ago. 2005 was a bit of a slow year though.

It seems that the number of photo's I make grows exponentially.

At this rate, my Drobo wil run out of space in about a month or so :)

Nik Color Efex Pro versus Topaz Adjust

For those who follow the photo's on my flickr account may notice that I do like HDR(like) post-processing on my images. I use Photomatix's Tonemapping functionality to create the basic HDR. After that I add (a lot of) drama to the picture by using Nik Color Efex Pro.

Nik Color Efex Pro has a plugin called Tonal Contrast. This plugin adds the detail/drama in the picture. Last weekend I ran into Topaz Adjust from Topaz Labs. This plugin is able to create the exact same drama in the picture. The difference is that Topaz costs only $49,99, while Color Efex Pro (with the Tonal Contrast filter option) costs $299,95 (but you also get a lot more filters for that price).

The following pictures are the result of either Nik Color Efex Pro Tonal Contrast filter or Topaz adjust. The differences are minimal if you ask me.

Nik Color Efex Pro Tonal Contrast Post HDR Processing Topaz Adjust Post HDR ProcessingSo if your looking for HDR-like drama in your photo's you might wanna consider Topaz Adjust. It's relatively cheap compared to Color Efex Pro, but you get 52 filters for that price (instead of one filter with several presets).

Apple Releases Safari 4.....

and breaks the functionality @ Dutch Rabobank Internet Banking.

I got the Safari 4 update this morning, and with most Apple updates I just install them. After the update I launched it and was (at first) surprised at the Interface. It opened with 'Top Sites'. An overview of Websites along with thumnails... Nice.

Since I had a web browser open, I launched the Rabobank Internet bankieren website. Since Apple boasts with the fact that Safari 4 passes like a gazillion Acid tests (and Microsoft like only 1)

Safari 4 ACIS tests results (according to Apple)From another source:

On February 24 2009, Safari 4 was the first fully functional build browser to pass Acid3.[22]
On 08 June 2009, Safari 4 was the first official release version of a desktop browser to display a score of 100/100 and pass the Acid3 test.

The main page worked fine, but transferring funds leaves you with empty screens etc. There is no way of managing your money with Safari 4.
I haven't search for workarounds, since I don't want to search through knowledge bases, or sniffing through settings within Safari (or OSX). A browser should work.

So they might be perfect in a lab environment, but I'd rather have a less perfect browser which enables me to manage my money.

So, to summarize:

Safari 4: 100% ACID 3 proof, and a 100% failure rating in displaying websites
(since I only tried one website)

Anyway, back to FireFox for me.

B.t.w. I have tried the same with Internet Explorer 8 on a worklaptop (since it got pushed through my throat), and that one works fine. Even when it's not in its compatibility view mode (for displaying non-standard websites). Must the one of the few times that Internet Explorer seems to work....

Discovering Doel, Belgium

Last Sunday we went (a couple of guys from the camera club) to the (almost) abandoned town of Doel in Belgium. The town is located near a nuclear power plant, and due to planned harbor expansions, the government started buying (or bought) houses in the small town.

The people who left, left a lot of stuff behind in their houses. Stuff that nobody bothered to clean up. This makes it an excellent environment for a little urban-exploration.

Smelly FridgeMy photo's from Doel can be viewed on my flickr page.

Lighting Gear

Been experimenting the last couple of days with off-camera flash. Not entirely to my satisfaction, but learning every second more and more about (studio) flashing.

At the moment I have a Nikon SB-600 which is nice, but two (or more) would be a lot nicer (Photography Acquisition Syndrome, anyone???). Also some stands, claps etc. would be nice. Getting a flash off the floor (or cases) and into the air requires a lot of ingenuity.

This way, the gear-wish-list keeps growing and growing. Oh man, that Nikon 200-400mm f/4 lens is not getting closer this way....