November 02, 2008
Aperture 2
With the tremendous functionality of all the software that comes included with every Mac (the iLife suite), one tends to forget that Apple also makes pro versions for more serious users. Aperture 2 is the pro complement to iPhoto and it's a fabulous piece of software. In a nutshell, it's workflow software for the serious photographer. Something of a digital darkroom. Priced at 199 € (or 199 $ in the USA), you get a whole lot more functionality than iPhoto gives you when it comes to tweaking your images. It's all the more so if you've shot your images in the RAW format. In this case, it's really amazing the degree to which you can correct and enhance the images you've captured. It's also fast, makes great use of screen real estate, and very logical in the way it helps you work through many pictures fast (a problem we all face considering the free nature of digital photography).
Apple has made for Aperture a dedicated video tutorial site to get you to learn the whole thing quickly and efficiently. It's very well done avoiding you hours of reading boring manuals. Online learning is now really a fact of life.
I'll finish by saying that you can find all the information about Aperture here and that if you own a DSLR (a digital reflex camera) and are serious about your photography you should buy this.
Posted by ridelightning at 01:53 PM | Comments (0)
November 01, 2008
Death Magnetic
The lords of metal are back. After more than 15 years of absence... Yep, 15 years ! How can I say this when there were three studio albums in those 15 years ? Well, Load and Reload were more Southern Rock than metal and Saint Anger was just angry and pathetic (and with the worst sound of all their albums). So yes, I consider this their first album in 15 years. It should have been called Death Avoided. My review will be short and to the point : this is their best album ever :-) It has the most incredible speed metal riffs (courtesy of James Hetfield), the best drumming Lars Ulrich has ever done, fabulous solos and a bass you can actually (sometimes) hear. Overwhelming power ! It just feels like a giant kick in the ass !
I'm quite sure that loads of fans like me (Gen Xers in their late thirties and early forties) that had slowly drifted elsewhere had very low expectations for this album. Metallica had a clever site set up to wet everyone's appetite. However, the album and it's raw, boundless, fabulous energy still came as a total surprise. It is simply a must buy if you ever liked the genre !
Posted by ridelightning at 05:42 PM | Comments (0)
October 27, 2007
The Information Revolution
Every once in a while, I find something that reminds me why I still like information technology and how much it changes our lives. Watch this fabulous video by Michael Wesch :
Posted by ridelightning at 11:53 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
August 29, 2007
Classic Clips : ZZ Top
I'm from Gen X and, as teenagers, we would all sit in front of MTV (newly launched...) and watch videoclips. Some of these clips, regardless of musical style, went down to become true classics. Here's one that everyone in his late thirties has seen and will definitely remember : "Gimme all your lovin" by ZZ Top dating from 1983. Relax and enjoy the stroll through memory lane ;-)
Posted by ridelightning at 11:23 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
July 08, 2007
Forget the Gansevoort !
A short review of the Hotel Gansevoort in Chelsea, Manhattan, New York. I've stayed at this hotel several times when most of my business was downtown. The rooms are the usual fare for this type of boutique hotel and the service is just as cold as the décor. Views from the rooms over the river are very beautiful and there is something to be said for the location (if you need to be in the meatpacking district). There is a fabulous japanese restaurant in the lobby. Biggest drawback of the hotel : the rooftop bar. This bar seems to be a trendy draw for the 18-25 crowd but having the lobby and elevators bursting to the seems from thursday night thru sunday is definitely not my idea of a zen hotel to stay in. Considering that room rates average 450 $ / night, I definitely do not recommend this hotel.
Posted by ridelightning at 06:27 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
February 10, 2007
The most beautiful car in the world ;-)
The video hereunder is the official video that Aston Martin made to accompany the launch of it's new "baby" : the V8 Vantage. It's a spectacularly beautiful car and drives great as well. The sense of occasion that accompanies it is totally Aston Martin. For a car that aims the Porsche 911 (the reigning champion of sports cars), it really does very well (though the Porsche is still slightly better). What the car lacks in performance it more than makes up in brand cachet, elegance and beauty. It is for me, the finest car in the world.
Posted by ridelightning at 01:40 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
January 14, 2007
Quote of the day
“The future is here; it’s just not widely distributed yet.”
William Gibson
Posted by ridelightning at 04:23 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
