Nikon have just released a firmware update for the Nikon D700.

To the Nikon guy that did this….

1) When the camera’s AF-ON button is pressed, the monitor turns off and a focus point can now be selected using the multi selector. 
2) When the MB-D10 AF-ON button is pressed (with AF-ON selected for Custom Setting a10 AF-ON for MB-D10), the monitor now turns off and a focus point can be selected using the multi selector.

Thank you….

Mac-http://nikoneurope-en.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/45639
Windows -http://nikoneurope-en.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/45637

Peter Lamborn Wilson (aka Hakim Bey) on the intentional community: “the thin edge of the wedge of resistance” to “technopathocracy”

...how to adopt people into the confederation - either as a tribe or as individuals... ...they had no concept that to be an Iroquois meant that you had to have certain genes or bloodline. It was about the way you lived. If you lived like an Indian you were an Indian and you could join the confederation.

I’m really impressed with what Think Tank have created in their Streetwalker backpack series. The Streetwalker Pro in particular is the perfect bag for my setup – holding an incredible amount of gear in what on the outside, looks like a fairly small and nondescript backpack. I also really like the Think Tank Lens Changer bags.

When I’m in walk and shoot mode – I use a Lens Changer 50, Lens Changer 75 Pop Down, Skin Strobe and an R U Thirsty water bottle bag – all attached to my Yates 1.75 inch Cobra CQB Belt. The belt wears just like an ordinary belt. And with a flannel short sleeve shirt covering the Skin Strobe at the back – it doesn’t actually ‘look’ like I’m carrying that much gear.

Here’s one configuration that I use for the Streetwalker Pro (click on the images for large size).

A pro body with three pro lenses, a flash, accessories and a tripod. The Streetwalker Pro copes with it all brilliantly and is extremely comfortable to wear. There’s also a deep groove down the back and lumbar padding – which lets air in, keeping your back cooler than a flat padded backpack would.

Think Tank really pay attention to detail as well. With the backpack and a few lens changers – all the rain covers are clearly labelled – so you know which rain cover to grab in a hurry to get your gear covered when you need to.

My only minor gripe – is that I wish they’d placed a cross strap just above the side pockets – one on either side – so that I could attach a Lens Changer bag to the side of the Streetwalker Pro for a little extra storage when needed.

Amazing bag. Thanks a bunch Think Tank. You’ve made a great bag at a very reasonable price to boot. :-)

A few weeks ago I was out taking pictures around the Rama VIII bridge here in Bangkok. I was on the Pin Klao side, having walked from the Rama VIII bridge to the Phra Pin Klao pier. I decided to sit by the river for a while and watch what was happening on that early Sunday morning.

There was plenty of activity. Folks making merit by releasing fish bought from the local markets into the river (a kind of last minute Buddhist reprieve). A few people actually bathing in the river and getting ready for the day.

And then this young women arrived carrying something bundled up in a towel – held like a doll, or small child closely against her chest. I couldn’t see what she was carrying – but I could see she was headed for the water. I asked her if she would mind if I took a few pictures.

It was then I saw that she was holding a hamster wrapped in a white towel.

I’ve tried to tell this story a couple of times now. Every time I do at least one of us ends up laughing – or trying to keep a straight face while I describe how I watched a young women bathe her hamster in the Chao Phraya River.

At the time I was confused, moved, and downright worried about how it was going to end up. The wake from passing boats was generating large enough waves to wash the hamster out into the river, and I was worried that if that happened, she would follow in a rescue attempt.

In the end the hamster was fine and after its bath waited obediently on its towel while its master proceeded to wash her hands and feet in the river.

I’ve seen some strange things in this part of the world – but I think it would be wrong to completely dismiss this as just another strange event without at least trying to understand why she did it; about what it meant for this women with such care and attention - to take her pet and bathe in the Chao Phraya River early on a Sunday morning in June.

Some applications deserve ‘outing’ and Nikon ViewNX is one of them. I’ve used at least a dozen image editors, viewers, managers over the years – and the one that potentially means the most to me – sucks big time.

Not long ago I bought some of Nikon’s top gear. I love their lenses, and the new FX bodies are out of this world – but Nikon – you need to get your software in order.

Below is a screen shot of Process Monitor – filtered for Nikon ViewNX. I stopped recording events after we hit two million. That’s 2,309,221 file system events – and Nikon ViewNX was still going strong.

What’s more, ViewNX and Capture NX 2 appear to have been developed by different teams (not even able to agree on where the NX should go), using different explorer components and other features. That’s just silly – since the navigation panel is an obvious candidate for object reuse. Not sure who’s UI tools they’ve used to skin their applications – but they both occasionally ‘drop’ their skin and revert to Windows classic chrome.

I don’t underestimate the size of the task in producing Mac and Windows versions of fairly hefty applications – but you guys need to do better than this. Capture NX even featured in a recent YouTube parody over the Nikon D3x – so I’m not alone in my concerns about Nikon software.

Bummer…

Probably another post that’s more tweet worthy than a blog post – but… I just can’t help it. I love ECCO shoes. I mean I really love them.

I probably shouldn’t. The pair I bought today is made from Yak leather and manufactured in Thailand. Questionable characteristics on both counts.

But they just feel so gooooood. I don’t mean just a little bit comfortable either – I mean they make me feel like walking that’s how darn good they are. I’ve bought ECCO shoes now for the last decade – casual, outdoor and work varieties. And each pair I’ve purchased has lasted between four and five years. The soles have never worn out and they’ve always felt better then the other brands I try when the time comes.

I don’t know how you guys do it – but thank you ECCO.

Well with a bit more time on my hands now, I was finally able to begin experimenting with high dynamic range images (HDR). I decided to give Photomatix a try - and this is my first attempt. A picture I took on a recent trip to Vientiane. It's a merged image from four separate photographs - each at a different exposure - hence the 'dynamic range'.

Will be having lots of fun with this over the next week or so. :-)

Speechless really. I’m not often lost for words – but this presentation by Patrick Dixon of Siemens leaves me speechless. Thanks to RFIDs on the Brain from Boing Boing (and Douglas Rushkoff via ‘Joe’).

April 13th 2009 will be remembered by me as one of the strangest days yet here in Thailand. I think the pictures pretty much tell the story; pictures of the last moments of a running skirmish between Red-shirt protesters and the Thai Army – while at the same time over on Silom Road - Thais were celebrating Songkran with characteristic enthusiasm.

Come with me on a journey – a journey of pain – a pain worse than bamboo slivers under your fingernails.

You see that picture to the left? That’s my laundry basket. I know, it’s not a fancy once – but it came with the serviced apartment I currently live in. But it’s really a mutant killer laundry basket. Really it is. I put my laundry in it… and then when I get my laundry back – anything that’s not on hangers – is folded and placed back inside the basket.

So then I have to reach inside the basket and take out folded shirts, shorts, jeans, whatever. And that’s when it happens. That’s when the  mutant killer attack laundry basket strikes! You see the next picture below?

Take a good look at the notches cut into the side of the basket – somebody's idea of an artistic motif maybe? Nope – a really insidious man-trap. I reach in to grab my laundry – my fingers travel down the inside of the basket – and then wham! – one of those little notches catches my fingernail and I’m done. A perfect fit – finger in the notch, small barb of the notch under my fingernail. It’s all over.