;)
After I bought the Leica M9, I was in the market to get a new camera bag for the M9. The bag had to be small, versatile, and not scream '(expensive) PHOTO GEAR HERE!!!!'. Since I owned a Billingham bag before, my eye quickly fell on the smaller Billingham bags. Especially the Hadley Small looked very appealing. After checking the internal and external dimensions on the website I purchased the bag (Black FybreNite version) through Robert White in the UK. They had the bag in stock, and it was cheaper (with shipping included) than ordering it in the Netherlands. I also included the SP50 Shoulderpad, for additional comfort.
Upgrading Splunk on Ubuntu Linux
Just a small post with the instructions on upgrading Splunk on Ubuntu Linux.
First download the Splunk update. The Splunk website also gives you the wget command, which you can use directly on the Linux commandline.
Camera Club Photo Weekend 2011
This weekend, we had a little outing with the camera club in Drenthe (NL). During the weekend we visited Orvulte, Camp Westerbork, Dwingelderveld, and Groningen.
- Orvulte is a (really) small town with a no-cars-allowed-policy during a large part of the year. It could be a nice place to visit if it wasn't overrun by tourists (and photographers).
- Camp Westerbork was a transit camp for Jews during the second World War. Over 107.000 Jews, Sinti and Roma were shipped to various concentration camps in Europe and lost their lives. Unfortunately, there's not much left of the original camp.
Barbed Wire @ Camp Westerbork
Iconic rail track @ Camp Westerbork
Nice autumn colors during the walk to the camp
- National Park Dwingelderveld is a small nature reserve in Drenthe (NL).
- And Groningen is.... well a big city in the northern part of the Netherlands.
Waiting for the bus
Red, White and GreenThis was the first (photo)trip without my Nikon dSLR gear. Leica only, which was kinda challenging at times (not having zoom-capabilities etc.), but I survived.
Unofficial iOS5 upgrade
After reading the iOS5 upgrade on the Lifehacker website, I decided to upgrade my iPad2 to iOS5. It's unofficial, because iOS5 hasn't been released yet. The version mentioned on the Lifehacker websites is considered to be the Gold-Master version. Meaning that it's the final version, waiting to be released somewhere this month.
First I installed the iTunes beta version as mentioned and downloaded the appropriate iOS versions for my iPad and iPhone. The upgrade went extremely well. Just remember to backup your device before the 'upgrade' proceding.
After the iPad upgrade, I decided to upgrade my iPhone3gs. This went as smooth as the iPad upgrade.
The biggest new feature for me so far is the possibility to use custom text/notification tones. The iPhone3gs also feels more responsive.
There was one annoyance with the initial configuration of the iPad;
My Apple ID was a basic username, and not an e-mail address. This is NOT accepted by the initial iOS5 configuration wizard. Your Apple account NEEDS TO BE an e-mail address. It took me a while to set that up properly in my online account settings.
R.I.P Steve Jobs
He died way too early @ the age of 56. A terrible loss for his family, friends, and the industry.
Steve Jobs (1956 - 2011)
Sammy J & Randy
Hilarious improv comedy.
Configuring Syslog-ng on Ubuntu
Syslog-ng is a replacement for the default syslog daemons you get with most Linux distributions. The advantage of syslog-ng is that the configuration is easier to understand, and it gives the sys-admin numerous advantages. Especially in complex environments.
Let's say we have a RADIUS environment which is able to send authentication and accounting information through syslog to external devices. And let's assume that a relevant part of this syslog information is needed by a department within a large cooperation.
Installing syslog-ng (on Ubuntu) is done by the following command:
# sudo apt-get install syslog-ng
Through the use of syslog-ng we can store, and/or forward syslog information based on the following (but not limited to):
- source IP address
- destination IP address
- syslog level
- content in the original syslog message by using regular expressions.
All this can be configured in the /etc/syslog-ng/syslog-ng.conf file.
Moving from Flickr to SmugMug
Over the last couple of years, I've been storing my photos online @ Flickr. But I fear that time has come to move forward. Forward to another service for the next couple of years. The main reason for moving is that Flickr doesn't seem to innovate. No innovation basically means going backwards, in these days.
Flickr is a WYSIWYG environment. What you see is what you get, and not in the way this term is usually used on the Interwebs. There's no way of changing the coloring or appearance (white only). No way of integrating into another website (e.g. changing the URL).
Unable to Upgrade Firefox on OS X
Today I tried to upgrade Firefox 5.0.1 on my iMac to version Firefox 6, but it failed with some 'weird' error;
The operation can't be completed because the item libsmime3.dylib" is in use.
Weird because I didn't have FireFox running at the time. Removing Firefox didn't work either, since I couldn't remove it from the Trash (same error).
Turned out that I had the Cisco AnyConnect VPN installed on my system (process name: vpnagentd). To 'unload' this process enter the following in Terminal:
sudo launchctl unload /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.cisco.anyconnect.vpnagentd.plist
Install Firefox, and enable the vpnagent again by entering the following in Terminal:
sudo launchctl load /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.cisco.anyconnect.vpnagentd.plist
And all should be well.
Leica M9-P review by a dSLR User
A nice (impression) review of the M9 by someone (Darren Rowse) who uses a dSLR in real life.