Photography

I thought I should post an entry as I haven't done so for quite a while.  The reason for this is that I have been concentrating on my photography and thus have been posting primarily to flickr.  I also decided to create my own website to showcase some of my photos.

If anyone is interested my website, 500px and flickr sites are as follows:

http://iamphotos.weebly.com/
http://500px.com/iaMacey
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ianmcy/

St. Mary’s Church Eastwell & Lake

 

 

MotoGP

2 weeks ago we went on our annual pilgrimage to the British round of the MotoGP.  The weather was good for the Friday and Saturday, resulting in over 800 photos being taken.  On Sunday the weather was bad but the racing was good.  Still can’t believe how they managed to race bikes at 150mph+ in the pouring rain.  Although Cal Crutchlow was injured and couldn’t race, we still had somebody to cheer for.  Bradley Smith, a rookie in the Moto2 class, started at the back the grid and managed throughout the race to move through the pack, ending up 2nd.

Valentino Rossi (f/10.0 1/200 300mm ISO 200)

Alvaro Bautista (f/8.0 1/250 300mm ISO 200)

Toni Elias (f/11.0 1/125 300mm ISO 200)

Jorge Lorenzo (f/10.0 1/250 300mm ISO 200)

Bradley Smith (f/7.1 1/250 300mm ISO 200)

Photographers Day Out – Part 2

Here are some further shots taken at the Masters Historic Festival.

  Ford Mustang (f/16.0 1/80 300mm ISO 200)

AC Cobra (f/9.0 1/200 300mm ISO 200)

BMW 3.5 CSL (f/13.0 1/100 95mm ISO 200)

Photographers Day Out

Yesterday I went to the Masters Historic Festival at Brands Hatch and met up with a number of local photographers.  This was organised by Glyn Bareham and Paul Dunmall in response to a similar meet-up they organised last year.

“This is aimed at being a fun day in the company of fellow enthusiasts but as last year if anyone requires help with the intricacies of Motor Sport Photography, Panning, places to get the best angles / views etc. this will again be available as we will have at least two & hopefully more photographers on hand well versed in such matters.”

It was a good day, being both enjoyable and informative.  Plus the weather was good, not raining until after the last race had finished.

Aston Martin DB4 (f/7.1 1/250 300mm ISO 200)

Ford GT40 Mk1 (f/8.0 1/250 300mm ISO 200)

Taydec Mk3, Chevron B16, Chevron B16 (C) (f/8.0 1/320 190mm ISO 1600)

 

Aston Martin DB4 (f/14.0 1/80 95mm ISO 200)

Underwater Technology

Yesterday I spent the afternoon in Canterbury and whilst walking along side one of the small rivers that flows through the city I came across this piece of underwater technology.  A Compaq laptop.

Josh Brookes

Yesterday Laguna Performance Centre had an open day and Josh Brookes (BSB rider for Relentless Suzuki) was there signing autographs.  So I went along and managed to get him to sign one of the photographs I had taken of him at the recent British Superbike round at Brands Hatch.  The shot is of Josh exiting Druids but to make it more interesting I adjusted the angle of the image to give the rider and bike a more upright look.

Josh Brookes @ BSB Round 1 Brands Hatch (f/8.0 1/640 300mm ISO 400)

Update

Well it is over a year since my last entry, so I thought that I should pull my finger out and provide an update.

I have always been interested in photography and in June last year (as a reward to myself for graduating) I purchased my first non “point & shoot” camera, a Canon EOS 450D.  At this point I was a total noobie, so things like aperture, exposure and depth of field were all alien to me.  Now after reading numerous articles, both on and off line and having joined 2 local photography clubs I am starting to get to grips with my new hobby and gaining a better understanding of it’s technical side.  One book that has certainly helped is “The Canon EOS Digital Rebel XSi/450D Companion”, it covers all the bells and whistles of the camera, giving good and helpful explanations as to when, why and how to use the different settings.  Although still very much a novice I am growing in confidence and in March of this year signed up for the OU’s short-course  “T189 - Digital photography: creating and sharing better images”.  T189 is a 10 week course with the first week starting on the 1st May.

For a number of years my other interest has been motorsport, primarily motorbike racing, and am now combining this with the photography.  Last year I went to a number of meetings (MotoGP, WSBK & BSB) and each time my technique has got better.  Its a slow process and requires a lot of practice, but I do feel that I am improving.  If you would like to see my efforts so far, take a look at me Flickr page at http://www.flickr.com/photos/ianmcy/.

Luke Helm @ BSB Round 1 Brands Hatch (f/5.6 1/320 300mm ISO 250)

Facebook users be aware

Our companies e-mail monitoring system captured an e-mail today pertaining to have come from Facebook Customer Support.

Subject:  Facebook Password Reset Confirmation! Customer Support

Body: 

Dear user of facebook,
Because of the measures taken to provide safety to our clients, your password has been changed.
You can find your new password in attached document.
Thanks,
Your Facebook.

Attachment:  Facebook_password_239.zip (containing Facebook_password_239.exe)

Threat:  Mal/FakeAV-BW

Suzi’s replacement

After all the new bikes and liveries, plus line-up changes, the last question all fans have been asking themselves about the 2010 MotoGP season can finally be answered - who will be presenting the BBC's MotoGP coverage?

Suzi Perry, the face of MotoGP for more than a decade, decided in the close season to step down and concentrate on other work.

Now, her replacement can be revealed - Jennie Gow.

More >>

Web Leopard

After taking the BBC (Lab UK) “Web Behaviour Test” I am apparently  a “Web Leopard”.

Fast-moving - Web Leopards like you are adept at getting information from the internet very quickly. Your speed is a trait you share with real-world leopards, which are among the fastest land animals.

Solitary - Leopards live alone, fending for themselves in isolated home ranges. Similarly, the Web Leopard likes to go it alone when looking for information, rather than rely on social networks, or other sites where the users create the content.

Specialised - Web Leopards are best suited to performing one task at a time rather than multitasking. The real-world leopard is similarly specialised, being perfectly adapted to silently tracking its prey before pouncing.

Go take the test at: Discover your inner animal

Open University curbs Tesco 'clubcard degree' scheme

The Open University is scaling back a scheme which allows students to pay for courses with Tesco clubcard points.

Since February 2007, OU students have been able to use reward points earned from shopping to pay fees for their undergraduate degrees.

But now the university says it has had to "re-evaluate its budget" and restrict the deal to students in their first years, under a phased programme…

ref:  BBC News

SourceForge Block Syria, Sudan, Iran, N. Korea & Cuba

Is Open Source Still Open?

…SourceForge.net the world’s largest open source software development web site blocked users from downloading free open source software from “banned locations” meaning users and developers form Syria, Sudan, Iran, N Korea and Cuba are banned…

ref: ArabCrunch En

What next?

A number of people have been asking what I will do next, and to be honest I am not to sure at present.

Some students and tutors have suggested teaching.  Although this is something I have looked at in the past I am have decided not to go down this avenue because from what I have seen secondary schools at present do not teach computing, they just teach pupils how to use computers / software.

Several other tutors having suggested tutoring for the OU and this is something I might well look at doing.

Or I could continue studying by doing an Msc.  Having taken a brief look at the OU website I have estimated it would take 5-6 years at a cost of about £9,000.

What every I end up doing I am taking a year off.  Even though I have a few jobs to do around the house, a year of no TMA’s, revision or exams will be so relaxing.

Thank you

Having completed my degree I would like to extend a big thank you to the following:

• The “Open University” for giving people the opportunity to better themselves;
• The tutors who have helped me through my courses;
• My fellow students whose messages of help and congratulations have been a great motivator.

Degree Confirmed

The OU, via my “student home page”, has confirmed this morning that I have my degree.  It is a Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Computing, Upper Second-class Honours (2.1).

M366: Result!

The final results for M366 have been released (3 days earlier than stated) and I got a Grade 3 (OCAS 92 & OES 54).  I felt that the exam didn’t go well for me and I have been worrying since then that I had failed the exam (thus the course) and would have to do a re-sit.  So I am mightily pleased.

This means that I have got my degree and if my calculations are correct it is a 2:1.

M366: Finished (well hopefully)

Yesterday afternoon I took what I' am hoping was my last exam for my degree.  To say that it was a joyous experience would be an extreme exaggeration as I found it concentrated to much on the minor aspects of the course, i.e. those areas that you think want crop up in the exam or if they do it would be the odd one or two questions.  Plus they changed the way formulae were presented making them look partially different to how they were in the course text.  Exams are a stressful experience and with the time constraints I for one did not need the challenge of having to decipher a formula before using it.

I now just have to wait until December to see if I scrapped enough marks together for a pass and not have to worry about doing a re-sit in April 2010.

M366: Revision starts today

Having attended the M366 strand at the M500 Revision Weekend and submitted my last TMA (Tuesday evening) I can now concentrate on revising for the exam on the 14.Oct.

To aid in my revision I have created a plan:

Day	Date		Block	Unit	Description
1	Fri	18.Sep	1	1	Learning outcomes
2	Sat	19.Sep	2	1	Learning outcomes
3	Sun	20.Sep	2	2	Learning outcomes
4	Mon	21.Sep	2	3	Learning outcomes
5	Tue	22.Sep	2	4	Learning outcomes
6	Wed	23.Sep	3	1	Learning outcomes
7	Thur	24.Sep	3	2	Learning outcomes
8	Fri	25.Sep	3	3	Learning outcomes
9	Sat	26.Sep	Tutorial		10:30 – 15:00 Croydon
10	Sun	27.Sep	Turotial		10:30 – 15:00 UoW
11	Mon	28.Sep	3	4	Learning outcomes
12	Tue	29.Sep	4	1	Learning outcomes
13	Wed	30.Sep	4	2	Learning outcomes
14	Thur	01.Oct	4	3	Learning outcomes
15	Fri	02.Oct	4	4	Learning outcomes
16	Sat	03.Oct	5	1	Learning outcomes
17	Sun	04.Oct	5	2	Learning outcomes
18	Mon	05.Oct	5	3	Learning outcomes
19	Tue	06.Oct	6	1	Learning outcomes
20	Wed	07.Oct	2	All	Recap
21	Thur	08.Oct	3	All	Recap
22	Fri	09.Oct	4	All	Recap
23	Sat	10.Oct	1	All	Recap
24	Sun	11.Oct	6	All	Recap
25	Mon	12.Oct	5	All	Recap
26	Tue	13.Oct	Study	exam	papers
27	Wed	14.Oct	Exam		14:30 – 17:30

and constructed a revision pack:

1.	Learning outcomes;
2.	M500 slides;
3.	TMA's & marked answers;
4.	08 exam & specimen papers;
5.	Glossary;
6.	Maths guide;
7.	Course text index.

Using the course text and my revision pack I plan to answer, on a postcard, each of the Learning Outcomes for course.  I will then carry the postcards around with me all the time and use them (i.e. whilst commuting to work) to aid in an attempt in retaining all the necessary information.

Painless Upgrade

In the past upgrading the firmware on my iPod Touch has been a painful experience (unless I have been doing something wrong), in that the upgrade has reset my Touch and removed all my music and videos.  As I don’t retain copies of my CD’s in iTunes this has meant that after the upgrade I have had to go through the lengthy process of re-importing my CD collection.  Thus for along time I have been on the hunt for a program that will allow me to copy my media files back onto my PC so that it makes the re-importing a lot quicker and less tedious.

Although there are a number of commercial programs available, I have been using a program called iPhoneBrowser (http://code.google.com/p/iphonebrowser/).  This program looks a bit like Windows Explorer, allowing me to see the whole of the folder structure of the Touch and backing up selected files to a PC.

Even though it is a powerful program it has a couple of draw backs.

1. You have to be familiar with Unix / Linux folder structures making the hunting down of where you music is stored frustrating;
2. The music (and videos) files do not have user friendly names (i.e. IHAX.m4a) and there is no knowing what track is what until you import them in to iTunes.

So my hunt has continued, until the beginning of the week when I discovered SharePod (http://www.getsharepod.com/about/), a free standalone application that when copying your media files gives them recognisable filenames.

After several tests of copying music from the Touch to a PC using SharePod I decided to take the plunge and upgrade the firmware to the latest version (3.0/7A341).  The first step was to backup all my media on the Touch.  SharePod was very impressive, copying 1,300 audio tracks to the PC in half an hour.  The next step was to perform the upgrade itself.  This went very smoothly and after the upgrade I discovered that this time the Touch had not been wiped clean with all my media still there.  Initially I was a bit annoyed at having gone to all the trouble of backing up my Touch but then when I thought about it if I hadn’t I would not have discovered the brilliant SharePod.

Aside:  Anyone interested in jailbreaking their iPod Touch (or iPhone) should take a look at this instructional video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wM_QovWugN8