A prison, but a beautiful one

So, last week was the WWDC09 conference in San Francisco. Usually the opportunity for a load of Apple types to gather around the newest SDK or some development frameworks etc. This year, much of the same, but something a little more remarkable. At this point I will say that, although I’ve only shared the ideas contained within this post with two other people I am no Kevin Rose and I’m sure others have gestured in the same direction. But, well, here goes…

So the iPhone 3G[s] was announced (much to the annoyance of current O2 customers). The RRP is about £270 in the UK to which people are (quite vocally) proclaiming represents a complete rip off given ‘there’s not much added value’… tell you why that is wrong? What does the iPhone 3G[s] represent? It represents an engineering challenge, increase the spec yet retain the form factor. This is key to Apple’s brand image and, lets be honest, it’s what they’ve been doing with the rest of their product line for the past 10 years.

So, what other major announcements were made? Snow Leopard, and what does that represent? Progress. That’s right, while Microsoft have been rebranding to Windows, Apple have been working hard to improve their current OS. They’ve made 300 applications smoother, more efficient and removed a massive 6GB from the code base. It is a lean, mean, operating machine. So what was missing from WWDC this year… ah yes, that ever-so-hyped netbook. I’ll tell you what

there is no netbook.

Lets have a look at the evidence. An engineering philosophy from the rest of the product-line applied to an iPhone, a smaller, sleeker OSX and most importantly an open hardware interface. That’s right, 2.0 represented an open software stack and 3.0 represents an open hardware stack. Therefore I put it to you that:

the iPhone is the netbook

Imagine; a device running full, multithreaded, parallel applications, 3G enabled that docks into a nice 13-30inch LED LCD in full plate glass and brushed aluminum. Bluetooth keyboard and mouse (portable if you want) and a mobile network connection if you don’t have wireless or ethernet. Carry on with your office work, your photo editing, whatever you want and, when you’re done, pick it up and put it in your pocket fully charged. If you lose it then track it down with locate or wipe it remotely.

The future is here, welcome it with open wallets.

Needs more fill flash...

Right, after handing out a load of advice on what camera to get (Canon; you owe me at least two) I thought I would elaborate on the next step. How to use the blasted thing. Now, as ever, there is one key thing to remember and a few obstacles or urban myths to quell. Firstly:

Photography is about light, not composition

That’s right, sorry Jan Arthus-Bertrand, it’s all about the light; natural, flash, fill, studio whatever. Light is king. Now the biggest obstacle to avoid when learning is that instinctive reaction to acquire knowledge by the world most logical method: the written word. The problem we have here is that

Most magazines are out there to sell cameras

Yep, they have a million adverts and reviews on new equipment but are scantily-clad when it comes to genuine advice. This is not particularly true for books (after all their revenue is generated from a single sale, and you already have the book in your hand) but books tend to be more functional that I, personally, dislike.

So, what to do… hmmm…

The funniest thing is, if you sit down for a second and think about it, you already have everything you need to learn about photography and they are:

• Your camera
• Your eyes
• Your brain

and perhaps the understanding that, when it comes to photography (and as we have covered photography is about light, again sorry Jan) you control three things: the sensitivity (film or digital sensor), the aperture and the shutter. Now, just to make it really clear here:

your camera knows how to take great photos, learn from it.

Loe and behold, all you need to do is point the camera, shoot and check. There’s a four step process you can use to introduce those three elements.

Step 1: Auto

In A (auto mode) point and shoot. If it takes a picture you like then look back at the settings it chose (menu screen EXIF data). This will tell you everything about it. No fuss.

Step 2: Program

In program you can change a couple of features of the camera, concentrate on the ISO (sensitivity) and let the camera do the rest. In P (program mode) point and shoot. Again check the good shots. No mess.

Step 3: A/S

Now we introduce the other two elements. In S (shutter priority mode) you change the shutter and it’ll use the aperture to sort the exposure, visa versa for A (aperture priority mode). Use S to try some cool long exposure effects (dark rooms, lights etc) and A for some cooler depth of field effects. Point, set, shoot, check.

…and we’re done! Now you should be about 6 months into trying all of the above and getting a bit bored. Boredom is good, it means you’re validated in trying something more. Whack it into M (manual mode) and point, set, shoot, check.

Note: If you’re not getting the time you want to take photos, or you’ve not got the conditions that you will be shooting in or you would like to see what others have done then. Well. You know about Flickr right? Yeah? Bottom right corner there’s a little hyperlink that says ‘more details’. There’s your EXIF for you.

Enjoy.

Jiminey Cricket, it's Jimeny Cricket!

It’s a recession; run for the hills, the country’s industry is screwed. Wrong. Why? Here goes:

Money makes the world go round and yes, it’s the root of all evil, but it’s an evil rock we sit upon and a satanic isle on which we float. However I believe the implications of this will, throughout the course of the year, leave us coming out of the end of the recession with a populace with a far greater quality of life. This is because, amongst all this commotion, people with ideas are breeding small, intricate, interesting and financially sound business plans to either supplement their existing remuneration from an employer or (and more to the point) to escape the rat race and to it alone, balls-to-the-wall style.

So, I’ve heard noises coming from various business ‘gurus’ about this and I’m the first to admit that I’m no MBA grad with a stream of letters after his name and a briefcase full of references but… I don’t care about business and I don’t care about the country’s economy. I care about the world I live in and the people that influence that world. In my opinion it used to be the big business that set the agenda but I believe we will all be witness to a growing stream of small, specialist, personable offerings from intelligent an experienced individuals or small groups looking out for themselves by looking after (in a way big business generaly can’t) you.

Note: I say this with a tip of the cap to Jon Lister and the hope that anyone interested in hiring a budding travel, adventure sports or abstract photographer knows where I am.

You have been warned.

The Prodigy Live; Endlessly Noisy.

There are a couple of things you probably know about me by now; firstly I sometimes have a little too much energy and I do all sorts of activities (running, cycling, climbing, snowboarding etc.), I also have irregular bouts of insomnia, which you may not know, and as I did last night. So I set about finding something to do… I ended up thinking about the music I love right now and how I’d love a short mix to rag it on my bike or launch off a ramp to. So, with that in mind, I give you my first offering ‘Invayders Myst Dye’.

The reason it’s named so is because the main element comes from the new Prodigy Album ‘Invaders Must Die’ and, as it was recorded at 5am after a night out, it felt like it should be said slurred (a la Shameless).

Here’s the track list, apologies for the poor change between 2 and 3, I’ve only GarageBand available to me at the moment. If anyone knows of some better mixing software shoot me a comment below. Meanwhile if you want a copy from DropSend gimme a comment and it’ll come your way!

1. ‘Buckle Up’ by Kid 606 on Kill Sound Before Sound Kills You
2. ‘Invaders Must Die’ by The Prodigy on Invaders Must Die
3. ‘My People’ by The Presets on Apocalypso
4. ‘Atlantis to Interzone’ by The Klaxons on Myths of the Near Future
5. ‘Omen’ by The Prodigy on Invaders Must Die
6. ‘I Think We’re Alone Now’ by Kid 606 on Kill Sound Before Sound Kills You
7. ‘Omen Reprise’ by The Prodigy on Invaders Must Die

Enjoy. Benjam x

PS Comment to request a copy it’s proper mixed like!

PPS. I’m not sure about the legality of distribution so, I’ll ensure I have only a few albums covered on each mix in return for you promising you have all the albums legally.

advertising for clobber, talk to me

So I’ve been riding to work now for about two weeks. It’s great, I’ve covered about 60 miles so far! However there are a couple fo probems; today I ripped my favourite shorts and I’ve got stitching coming out of my favourite shoes. But I’ve got a solution to my lack of clobber problem…

I’m a 6′6” guy riding approximately fifteen miles a day through some of the busiest areas of central London. As such I can provide, to anyone prepared to send me gear, about two hours a day of ‘air time’ for their chosen cause. Today I rode with a tee from Ribbit that they sent me and I estimate around 250 people saw their logo, maybe more. So if you want to send me any of the following items:

• Tee shirt
• Shorts
• Shoes
• Bandana (for the fumes)
• Glasses
• Watch
• Bike parts (no frames, forks or bars)

I will, for free, wear/use them for at least five days (non consecutive for fabrics) on my commute, from Putney to St.Paul’s, through the following areas:

• Wandsworth
• Battersea
• Chelsea
• Pimlico
• Westminster
• Embankment
• The City

I promise to cycle responsibly, as to not defoul your brand, and not to wear items outside of the above times (not a fan of branding honestly). If you’re interested leave a comment with your contact details (which will be removed before publishing) and I’ll be in touch.

This is either genius or idiocy… lets see what happens.

Back to the Old school

So I’ve been asked for advice on what camera to get by two colleagues this week. I’m not saying that I’m any sort of authority on the matter, but I know some things. If you’re thinking of buying a camera then read on. If not well, you needn’t have read this far.

So cameras, hmmm, whether you think digital sensors and the increasing ability for the camera to automatically create magical images is ruining the medium of photography or not digital photography is here. And it’s here to stay. However there are a number of choices to be made, a number of decisions to ponder and a number of opinions to filter. I don’t intend to muddy the water here but offer some honest, agnostic advice.

Firstly one must consider the following two questions:

1. What do I want from a camera? This is a simple question with a world of answers. Do you want a cheap camera to take photos of nights out, family holidays and the occasional garden shot? Or do you harvest, deep in the subconscious of your subconscious, the need to explore photography and, one day, be rated amongst your friends as ‘a keen photographer’?
2. How much do I want to spend? Obviously this is part of the equation but, honestly, it’s pretty redundant. I’ll explain why later.

Secondly we must dispel a common, urban myth: More mega-pixels does not mean higher resolution. The resolution of a camera’s sensor is an absolute misnomer. Today it is possible to cram 10MP into the tiniest of spaces and in such a case the resolution comes down to

‘the ability of the lens to resolve the light accurately enough to utilise the resolution of the sensor’

This means that a poor lens on a small sensor packed with ‘pixels’ will result in poor photos. There are obviously two ways to solve this problem: Firstly better glass. This is going to cost $$$ for the producer so it’s generally not done. Secondly increase the size of the sensor. This is the route taken by SLR manufacturers (albeit with some increase in lens quality).

Now it gets interesting. If you answered ‘family pics etc’ to question one then stop reading and go buy a Canon IXUS, Olmpus Myu, Nikon CoolPix or Canon PowerShot if you want something a little more meaty. If you have a bit more money I recommend Leica and Ricoh. If you’re still undecided read on…

The thing to consider with photography is simple. You’re buying into a system. That system consists of a sensor (film or digital) and a lens. Now, should you buy into a compact or the increasingly popular ‘bridge’ market (compact camera, some SLR features), those two things are locked together. Thus you have the following problems:

1. If one bit breaks, it all breaks.
2. If you get tired of the lens, you are forced to replace the sensor (and visa versa). A caveat here is that some bridge cameras offer support for wide and/or tele screw ins. My advice: don’t bother, get an SLR.
3. See point 2.

That second point is the most important thing to consider and I cannot stress it enough because, in that simple equation lies the potential to waste vast sums of money. Now if you’re still reading you probably want to hear the bit about why you should buy a digital SLR. But I’m not going to do that. Because you’re here. Which means you’ve already decided to get one… Instead I’ll tell you what to look for, and remember, you don’t need a lot of megapixels (the fact is that I have an A2 canvas printed from a 6MP SP500UZ and loads of A3 prints from a 4MP Myu and they look great).

Firstly, seriously, consider second hand: My current Nikon D80 replaced the D70 (6MP SLR) 2 years ago and you can pick up a mint D70 for about £250 or a mint D80 for about £350. Grey’s of Westminster and the London Camera Exchange are great places to start. Secondly consider size, both in terms of sensor and ergonomics: the smaller ‘compact’ DSLRs are not for guys with big hands in my opinion, also they suffer from a loss of useful buttons. Equally most entry-level DSLRs will have a 1.5x or 1.6x factor on lenses as they have a smaller sensor. Full frame’s are better but more $$$. However Olympus offer a middle ground in their 4/3rds systems. Thirdly (and you’ll be glad to read finally) consider the choice of lens and the fact that, of the £1,000 worth of lenses I own, my favorite is the £80 50mm prime. The purest, simplest, most treasured thing I ever found in photography.

Happy hunting.

The Tweed Run, a must for all dapper chaps on bikes!

So I’ve decided a couple of things:

1) I’m not getting the gym time I’d like to be getting
2) I’m feeling more pasty and English by the week
3) this pring is looking pretty solid here in London

As such I’ve decided to buy a bike (if you’re interested a single-speed, freewheel cyclocross by Bianchi or Specialized) as my ride to work consists of a ride from Putney Bridge to Millenium Bridge, which is pretty sweet. However, bikes are expensive!

So I decided that my employer should help me as I’d be reducing their carbon footprint and I’d be a fitter, happier employee commuting by manpower. It would appear a few people in this sunny isle agree and as such someone somewhere, got off their arse and got the government on-side.

I’m talking, of course, about the cycle scheme: a government lead initiative to give employees the chance to buy a bike (and accessories), tax-free, paid as a spread over the course of 18 months via pre-tax salary sacrifice.

Now, personally, I’d put my employer in the catagory for anything like that but, shock horror, they’re not. Therefore I have taken it upon myself to review the situation and drum up the cash to get it started. So if you work for BT, you would like to commute by bike or you would just like to formally state your support for BT signing up to the cycle scheme then could you take 2 minutes to answer this 7 question survey.

Thanks

BenJam x

Homelessness is not an option

I am employed. I am a graduate. I am about to be subject to the biggest swindle of my life. Let me explain.

I began employment with a BSc (bronze swimming certifcate) in Computer Science, an MSc (masturbating student civilian) in Computer Security and a year as a Oracle migration analyst. I have, in the last two years, added to my portfolio experience in network security, corporate research and my current capacity in risk and business continuity. Top that off with certified project manager in agile and prince2 techniques and I’d argue I’m perhaps worth more than when I started. However…

The world has changed in the last twelve months and, even more so than usually, the recruitment/promotion playing field looks all the more terrifying. Now I’m of the opinion that the goals of the participants in a recruitment process are:

• The employer: to get a skilled and dedicated individual onboard at the lowest possible cost. .
• The employee: to find the most financially rewarding job possible with the best prospects and the least amount of skill and/or dedication required.

Add to this the fact that, usually, both participants have almost a perfectly symmetrical lack of knowledge about each other. The only knowledge they have is the goal of the other party. I call this ‘the great swindle’ others call this ‘The Market for Lemons’. Once more, let me explain.

‘The Market for Lemons’ is a Nobel prize winning paper in the field of economics back from 1970 by George Akerlof. The basic premise behind this paper is:

Given a complete assymetry of knowledge about the quality of a product; the price of that product resolves to the lowest possible common denominator between all participants in a transaction

At this point I should say, my knowledge of economics (macro or micro) comes from two books: ‘The Economic Naturalist’ by Robert Frankand ‘Cityboy; beer and loathing in the square mile’ by Geraint Anderson. Neither of which could be described as seminal works. However the principle stands. The particular context referenced in Akerlof’s paper is that of a used car bieng sold. The asymmetry of knowledge resulting in the lowest possible valuation of the car being the best price for the transaction. The assumption is that the car may well be a lemon, after all if it was not so then why would it be for sale?

Bringing it back into our context of recruitment we could deduce that the best tactic to secure a good remuneration package as an employee is to proclaim the reasons why your current employer is letting you go. This issue is covered in ‘The Market for Lemons’ and explains the reasons for add’s such as: ‘Must sell Porche due to new family member on the way’ in common auto trading magazines. However the arguement ‘looking for work because employer has been impacted by recession’ doesn’t have the same ring to it. Does it?

Woe is me, looks like we’re in for a bumpy ride.

Note: I’ve tried to reason this using FIPA ACL (if you’re interested look it up, else stop reading). However I have determined that such a language is based on mathematical formalism and, true as ever, mathematical formalism does not take into account in inane behavioral complexity of the human condition. As such I resolve to the following conclusion:

F*ck it; were all in this together, act accordingly.

Wow, Jobs had hair!

I write this as I consider another post ‘The Market for Lemons’ coming soon. I have come to realise that, in a company circa 160,000 strong like my employer’s, the need for a single message from a single leader is of utmost importance. Even if that leader is the most hated figure this side of the Afgan border, my reason being that a mob united by hatred is still a group with a purpose and direction.

Anyway while musing on this I happened to search for the term CEO on my company directory and, loe behold, circa 35 employees call themselves a Cheif Executive Officer. So, the question begs to be asked, what constitutes a CEO. A combination of OED, Princeton and Wikipedia states that

‘A CEO is the highest ranking corporate officer in charge of total management of a corporation, company agency; reporting to a board of directors or trustees’

Now I’m no business guru but, for a publicly licensed company this board of directors should be a board of representitives for the shareholders reposnsible for maintaining shareholder value by keeping the CEO on the straight and narrow (or in the case of companies like Enron, whatever’s profitable). It also of note that President also has a similar meaning in the US (though I’m not 100% on it) however about 50 or so come up on my company directory *sigh*

This, in my humble opinion, is of absolutely no concern to my colleagues who call themselves such things as ‘CEO of Technology X’ which, I’m quite sure, means sweet FA to anyone reporting to him/her and merely resolves to a) make the holder of such a title seem a little arrogant, and b) increase the arrogance of the holder yet more dizzying heights.

So, for this reason, I stand proud with my long but informative job title and will point in the direction of this post anyone who mocks it.

Tom (from Ripcurl) stalls a natural quarter pipe in Jasna.

This week I’ve been lucky enough to be part of the Propaganda Snowboards crew as a Photographer. I was paid with a free trip and some of the best conditions for off-piste riding I could imagine.

I’ve really enjoyed my week of pretending to be a professional photographer and, personally, I think some of my shots are half decent. I wouldn’t mind sacking off my career in IT security if it wasn’t for the fact that I know, for many photographers, their work is as relentless as it is underpaid and, as such, I think I’ll wait for that big break. However, if you’re interested, you can hire me by emailing me at benjamin [dot] nickolls [at] gmail dot com.

Meanwhile you can check out the Propganda Snowboards page here, the Flickr page here and my personal collection here.