ThinkTank Retrospective 30 Camera Bag Review

ThinkTank Photo Retrospective 30 - BlackThe ThinkTank Retrospective camera bag series is different from the other regular ThinkTank (shoulder) bags. The normal ThinkTank bags are mainly professional looking. The Retrospective line is much more casual (not as casual as the Domke bags), and it doesn't yell 'THINKTANK'.

Posted on November 8, 2010 and filed under Photography, Review.

Changing Camera Systems?

Don't know how it happened, but last night I stumbled upon several dSLR (Nikon/Canon) versus Rangefinder (Leica) comparisons. Something, I wish hadn't happen. Reading through these reviews / comparisons / user experiences made the (digital) rangefinder concept very appealing. Especially when you're a non-studio / non-portrait / non-macro / non-action shooter..... which fits my profile for about 95%.

Posted on September 30, 2010 and filed under Personal, Photography.

Beth Hart Showcase @ Amstelkerk, Amsterdam

Autographed CDMy gf won two tickets for the showcase for Beth Hart's new CD 'My California' for last Friday. I didn't quite know what to expect. I did know some of her older songs, and that's about it.

Since it was a showcase for her new CD, she didn't play much 'oldies'. Not that I cared, since her new album contains more than enough excellent material.

Below, one of her new songs 'Sister Heroine'.

Recorded with a Panasonic Lumix LX3

More photos from the showcase are available on my flickr page.

Posted on September 28, 2010 and filed under Music, Personal.

HDCP Master Key Leaked

The High-Bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) key was leaked onto the Internet. This master key can be used to decode encrypted traffic between certified / licensed devices. No encryption means that the content (mostly movies) can be copied, and/or played on non-licensed devices.
A while back, another copy-protection key was leaked. That key was for BluRay (BR+) titles. This HDCP key is the, so-called, mother-load.

Posted on September 20, 2010 and filed under DRM, Security.

Comment Spammers Do Research

Lately, the comment spam rose exponentially. The is done by automated scripts, usually from compromised PC around the world. This way the original spammer will remain anonymous.

The last couple of days I noticed weird search queries (Google search referrers) in my logging;

Looks like someone (probably in the Hong Kong area) is searching the Internet for specific blogs (I guess SquareSpace blogs looking at the query) that contain certain words / fiels, indicating that commenting is allowed. These keywords match 100% with the field / words in and around the blog comment area. Shortly after these searches, the comment spam came pouring in.

At the moment, the only remedy against these spam comments is to screen every newly submitted comment by an editor, since the automated spam detection on the Squarespace platform is basically worthless. Too bad, since they rock at everything else.

Posted on September 17, 2010 and filed under Annoying, Website.

Apple iPhoto Photo Album

For the last 5 years, I've been using the Apple iPhoto application to create my holiday photo albums (five so far). Some might find them too expensive, but I simply love the Apple iPhoto integration, the available templates, and ordering process. Worth every penny in my opinion.

The 46 page photo album of the Spain holiday arrived today. Time between ordering and delivery was thee work days (five if you include the weekend). Excellent, fast, service if I may say so.

The album was created with Apple iPhoto.

Warning: crappy low-light iPhone photo :-)Thankfully, the real thing looks much better.......

The photos seen in the album in the photo above is a 7 photo panoramic overview of Granada, Spain. Taken from within Alhambra.

Posted on September 8, 2010 and filed under Apple, Photography.

Tequila

Really haven't got the words for this excellent spoof on the average American (drug) ad.

I just hope that these kind of ads stay away from the local continent (and I don't mean the spoofs). Some things are better left on the other side of the Atlantic.

Posted on September 2, 2010 and filed under Fun.

Adobe Coldfusion 8 and 9 Vulnerable to Hijacking

Adobe released a security bulletin regarding the Coldfusion web engine. Upgrade / patch your Coldfusion server if you like to stay in control of your webserver. The patch has been classified as important.

An important vulnerability has been identified in ColdFusion 8.0, 8.0.1, 9.0, 9.0.1 for Windows, Macintosh and UNIX. This directory traversal vulnerability could lead to information disclosure (CVE-2010-2861). Adobe has provided a solution to the reported vulnerability. It is recommended that users update their product installation using the instructions provided above.

The patch/update get be downloaded here.

Posted on August 19, 2010 and filed under Security, Software.

'Official' Nikon Hand Strap II Review

I was in the market for a hand-strap. Nikon offers a AH-4 hand-strap for their cameras, but that accessory is over $70 USD. Not something you buy without knowing if it 'suits' you. Sure, I could get the official AH-4, and find out after a couple of days that it's not my cup of tea. Chances are slim that the store will get it back with a full refund, since it's used.

So I started to look around for a cheaper option, and I found one (well, several) on eBay. This Nikon Hand-Strap II is supposed to be official in/from Korea, but even the Korean Nikon website only shows the original AH-4. So it's a (cheap) knock-off, but that didn't keep me from getting one.

Posted on August 16, 2010 and filed under Photography, Review.