More Adventures With The EVO 4G

The HTC EVO had a good 4G reception sitting on top of the GT5 Collectors Edition box...Coincidence? Perhaps...

If you have been keeping up with my previous EVO 4G posts, I have been trying to discover new uses for this magical phone from the future. So far, I have used it effectively as a heads up display and a GPS data logger for automobile racing.

Yesterday, I went over to my friend Jason's house to play a game known to many people as GT5. Long story short, our DSL internet connection in the friendly city of El Monte isn't really up to par with the cable internet that other cities can afford. The 680MB game update would have taken a week on El Monte's DSL service.

I have tethered my HTC EVO 4G before into my laptop for concept testing a few weeks back. Now was the EVO's chance to prove itself worthy of an epic tether. Although El Monte overall has crappy DSL, it has a few isolated pockets of 4G coverage all over North El Monte. We found a comfortable spot in his living room that had a beacon of 4G coverage and commenced tethering the phone to his Apple Powerbook laptop. Success. The Powerbook was now connected to the internets via a 4G data stream. Next we converted his Powerbook into a router and connected it to the Playstation 3 via an ethernet cable. The next part was a bit tricky. The PS3 had trouble logically connecting to the makeshift 4G router but with the help of the internets, we discovered that we needed to enable "Internet Sharing" in the Powerbook via the control panel and then had to do the following:

OS X 10.5:

1. Start Internet Sharing if it's not already running.
2. In Terminal, type cp /etc/bootpd.plist /tmp/bootpd.plist
3. Stop Internet Sharing.
4. Open /tmp/bootpd.plist for editing using TextEdit or whatever.
5. Locate this section of the file, near the end:

   reply_threshold_seconds
   4

6. Change the value 4 to 0.
7. In Terminal, type sudo cp /tmp/bootpd.plist /etc
8. Start Internet Sharing.
9. If you want to, check that your change to /etc/bootpd.plist hasn't been reverted.

Finally, after an hour of fan-dangling, the PS3 was well on its way updating this fabled game known as GT5. So how long did it take to download a 680MB update while speed testing the connection and doing some light browsing? Less than 25 minutes....

Lessons learned:
1.) The interwebs are very powerful.
2.) The HTC EVO 4G is either from the future or has been reverse engineered from Area 51 Alien technology.
3.) 4G gobbles battery power similar to college students guzzling beer during happy hour...While the phone is tethered via USB, it is also charging the phone's battery. However with 4G enabled, the 4G data link almost over powers the battery charging. I commenced battery charging at 25% battery life with the 4G data link enabled to keep my laptop internet radio stream and pidgin service alive for 8 hours while I slept. When I woke up, the battery was charged to 28%.

Fall Radio Show

To make things a bit more interesting this fall, I took up a volunteer job working at the local university radio station. It was quite fun to say the least. My favorite part of the whole deal was operating all of their ghetto equipment. The radio station is so poor that we can't really afford anything fancy. Anyways, I ended my semester with a really cool visit from one of Omaha's best club DJs. You can watch the interview and follow on performance below. I edited the video down to only 5 minutes because the entire session was over an hour. A radio show is meant to be listened to instead of being watched since there is really nothing to see that's super cool. The full podcast is available upon request.

Interview


Edited Session

Jasper Johns 3 Flags with real flags

So this would be a fun project to do. Basically, take the idea of the painting "3 Flags" by Jasper Johns and transform with real flags. In the painting, Johns seemed to have used the same proportions for each flag. In my project I will use flags of 2 proportions since they don't seem to make the middle sized flag in the right dimensions.

Here is a rendition of how Johns' piece looks in comparison to what mine will look like in real life.

Jasper Johns


What mine should look like in real life (done in Photoshop)

The largest flag is 4x6.
The medium flag is 3x5.
The smallest flag is 2x3.

The largest and smallest essentially are the same proportion. However, the medium would have to be 3x4.5 ft to fit the scheme. I couldn't find that size so 3x5 is the next best thing.

I'm probably going to use double sided tape to stick the flags onto each other. Also, what you want to do is fold the white part of the flag (the part that attaches to a pole) in so it looks more like the picture.

2 extra stars ftw!!

Omaha with it's Christmas Mod Pack

Although I do miss the ocean breeze and coastal landscapes, I do like Omaha because it is a beautiful city at night. This is a shot of downtown Omaha after it got all dolled up for the holiday season.

The Adventures With The EVO 4G Continues: Heads Up Display

As I continue to discover the powers of my magical phone, here is my latest experiment: a portable heads up display for your car!

GPS Data Logging on the HTC EVO 4G

A while back, I swapped in my old Nokia 3390 for an HTC EVO 4G running the Android OS. Since then, I have been trying to figure out some of the various capabilities of this new phone (other than making fancy phone calls) and the different things I can do with it. This is the first major capability experiment for the phone.

Specifically, it is a test of the phone's GPS data logging abilities. Using the GPS capability embedded within itself, it can log speed and elevation, along with latitude and longitude. There is a bit of lag between the actual speedometer and the GPS speedometer due to the refresh rate of the GPS unit. I think excessive vibrations also affect the way it is reading. The car vibrates like crazy at high speeds. Due to the refresh rate and vibrations, there seems to be some sporadic spiking in the data readouts when I introduce drastic speed changes. Overall, the GPS data logging capabilities of the phone works great.

This was also a test of my external microphone, piped from my on-board camera directly into the engine compartment. This is what the raw sound of a 1.5L 1NE-FE Toyota engine (pushing a bit over 100HP) sounds like at full power!

Vroom...Vrooom.... :^P

My next big experiment will be using the accelerometer embedded in the phone to measure lateral G forces acting on the vehicle during a high speed turn. I will also try to add this to the overlay.

For specific technical details on this experiment, feel free to ask and I will explain it over a cup of coffee....

90's Flashback!

Every now and then I like to dig into my time capsule buried deep within the confines of my room located in ghetto El Monte. I always encourage people to listen to the stories of older people who have lived in other decades of time. It will make them appreciate what they have now in the present time. Today I will focus in on the 1990's and specifically on video games of that era. The year 1991 was when Nintendo released the SNES in the United States, 5 years after American audiences were first introduced to its younger sibling, the NES. The internet in its familiar form that we know today did not exist quite yet. The world wide web would later become a household name in 1996 and it would take a year or two before people figured out what to do with it.

Video games in the NES/SNES era were quite difficult I thought. I think the major factor was the fact that NES games did not have a save option. Therefore, when you start playing the game, you had to continue playing until you beat the entire game. The fatigue factor starts to set in after a few hours. In addition, some games didn't offer a lot of chances for extra lives or continues. For example, the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was difficult because each level was extremely long and extra lives just wasn't offered. Of course, there was always the option of pausing it for an extended period of time and turning the TV off when we got fatigued. However, most of the time, when I came back a few hours later to un-pause it, the screen would be a digitized 8-bit mess of corrupted data since solid state devices during those years were quite glitchy.

The SNES games started to introduce the "Save Game" feature since at this time, solid state memory was becoming a bit cheaper. Now, some of the games would include either secret special levels, secret special moves, or perhaps a level was so difficult that there was only one way to beat it. Where does one go to advance further into the game? There was no internet, so GAMEFAQs was out of the question. What about strategy guides you ask? Well, I sure couldn't find any during those years. I think the first strategy guides started coming out in the late 90's.

One of the only ways to get past that portion of the game that had left you scratching your head was actually writing a hand written letter to Nintendo explaining your situation. This was actually really awesome because they would provide a personalized answer. Over a span of many years in the early 90's, I had written quite a few letters since I always found myself stuck somewhere in a game level. In a few of the letters that I had received for a reply, they actually provided some words of encouragement to keep practicing. The kids of this generation have no idea that these exchanges occurred. Apparently, Nintendo had these "Game Play Counselors" that would respond to every letter sent to the company asking for help. The turnaround time was about 2 weeks if I remembered correctly. If they didn't know the answer (which only happens with a third party game), then they would provide the contact information for that third party (i.e. Acclaim Entertainment). For a 12 year old, this concept was amazingly cool. I was communicating with someone from Nintendo about their video games and they were providing the information I needed to progress further into the game. From a kid's perspective, Nintendo was this dreamy place that produced these magical products that invaded our imaginations. At the time, I dreamed of visiting the place where all this magic occurred. Unknown to me at the time, I would eventually get a chance to visit Nintendo headquarters 14 years later.

So without being too long winded, appreciate what you have now. The internet has made our lives very easy (in more ways than one). However, it has taken away that personal touch that was apparent in the days before this technological boom.

My visit to Nintendo of America in Redmond, WA in 2009, where I finally saw the physical place that all my letters were going to... the letters that I had written more than 14 years ago...

RallyX

After a weekend of rally, I can tell you with a high confidence that AWD cars can do really well in the dirt! Haha

heavy back light

Recently, I've found myself in favor of pictures with heavy back light situations. Usually this isn't preferred because you can't see the details of your subject. But what if you don't want your subject to be really detailed? Just enough to let your mind fill in the the rest. Here's an example of a picture I took with a really bright background.

My subject (who chose to remain nameless) was asleep for this shot. This was taken with a 50mm f/1.8 at ISO 200 on a Canon 450D with a natural 10AM sunlight.

Nokia 3390

I'm going to miss this phone dearly. It has served me well for close to 10 years. The terms of our parting is worth mentioning. The reason I had to get a new phone was not because this one stopped working, but it was because my wireless carrier (ATT, which bought out my original carrier Cingular) started charging outrageous rates for very limited usage. It was hard to turn down an offer from Sprint that was not only cheaper, but offered unlimited everything....(except for the whole phone tethering option, but I can live without that).

This phone has gone with me to hell and back and people have told me that they don't make phones this durable anymore. I have lived a pretty extreme lifestyle since the start of my college years when this phone started tagging along. I have had number skateboard wipeouts in which this phone took the blunt of the force due to where I clipped it on my belt. One fall was so hard that it shattered my belt clip and attaching mechanism on impact while the phone that was attached to the front of it was left unphased. Most of my wipeouts were due to tiny rocks on campus which caused me to fly off the skateboard, hitting the ground and sliding a few feet. After 4 1/2 years of skateboard abuse and drunk college parties in which it has fallen up to 10 stories, it only had minor scratches. One time during my junior year, I took it up 8600 feet to the peak of Mt. Baldy. As the rest of the hiking group was struggling for oxygen, the Snake game still ran fine. I actually fell and slid off the side of the mountain on the hike back down from the summit. My blood-covered left arm didn't look too good afterward but the phone still worked. The phone gained one or two small battle scars while I had gained a giant one on my arm. Sometimes I wished my body was made out of this space-aged stainless steel plastic that my phone has.

Post college years, it discovered the true meaning of "roaming". I started working on a nuclear powered submersible warship. It survived many trips to test depth, countless hours getting healthy doses of radiation, and it even had a chance to see the beautiful tropic paradise of Hawaii. Thankfully, it never really got too wet although I was sometimes tempted to drown it only to realize that the case is not even close to being waterproof. It's last epic journey occurred last year when it had a chance to experience the Extraterrestrial Highway in Rachel, NV. If our group had been abducted, I would have offered this phone in exchange for our freedom since it is a technological symbol of mankind's early 21st century.

It's a shame I never had a chance to take this phone up into space. Even though it wouldn't get any reception, I'd still turn it on to play some Snake. Now that NASA announced their cancellation of their manned-space program, I can't even put in an application for it. I can fly up with the Russians but my gut feelings tell me that it may not be such a bright idea.

Honey Pancake! :D

Made this with crystallized honey <3
It's almost like a sweet crepe! (It's a lot thinner than pancakes) and it's not as dry :D
Don't need to add any syrup/what nots on it but would go well with fruits!
*Tip: Cook with butter and low heat!

Honor Roll

Ever see those Honor Roll stickers that parents put on their minivans that brag about their kids? It usually goes something like, "My child is an Honor Roll student at Twin Lakes Elementary" or "My child is the Student of the Year at Mountain View". I have seen parodies of those stickers which include "My kid beat up your honor roll kid". However, the internet has produced stickers that have even topped the one I just mentioned. Check them out! I'm considering printing them out and putting it on my car even though I don't have any kids.

Nachos

I had a craving for some nachos..so I made some! Om nom nom nom...

Chicken Cordon Bleu

Here is a simple, yet elegant recipe for homemade Chicken Cordon Bleu. Your friends will love it!


Take some boneless, skinless chicken breast and pound them with a kitchen mallet until the chicken is approximately 1/4 inch thick. Next, pepper both sides of the chicken breast. After you are done with that, take some cooked smoked ham and place a slice or two on top of the chicken followed by a few slices of Swiss cheese. Finally, roll up the chicken like a fruit roll up and use a tooth pick to hold everything in place. You can bread up the chicken roll with bread crumbs too at this point.


Set the oven to 375 degrees and bake for 45 minutes or until the chicken is done on the inside. If you want, you can place some Swiss cheese on top of the chicken towards the end of the baking cycle for more cheesy goodness! There is also the option of pan frying it but I haven't tried that yet.

HDR first attempt

Here's my first attempt at HDR photography. Excuse the poor framing, I wasn't even paying much attention to what was going on in the shot, I just wanted to see if the technical aspects of this shoot would work.

First, I had to set my camera (Canon 450D/Rebel XSi) into the correct mode. AEB (Automatic Exposure Bracketing at +2/-2. Then, I picked a location to shoot that had nice contrast in lighting, lots of shadows and highlights. I used a release cable and a tripod so the camera would stay steady and shot away. I used the stock 18-55mm kit lens at ISO 200 (I should have just used 100) using 1/2, 2, 8 sec exposure times (camera automatically did that) at f/4.5.

This is my result!


The settings in Photomatix were a bit overwhelming at first so I really had to get in there and play with it. I'm not happy about the amount of noise I see in the sky and that annoying lens flare right in the middle, but all in all it came out not bad for a first attempt.

dslr and photoshop

Recently I bought a Canon 450D (Rebel XSI) during my trip to Shanghai and begin my amateur photography hobby. My favorite lens right now is the 50mm f/1.8. Its a really cheap ($100) lens and if you're thinking about starting photography I highly recommend it. One of the main reasons I like it so much is because it takes great low light shots due to its large aperture. GET IT.
Here's a picture I took of Yuki in my apartment with our average light bulbs that give off some what of a yellowish light.


Notice the picture color seems a little off because of the yellow tint. It almost looks sepia aside from the lavender in the background on Queen's backpack. If I wanted to print this picture I would need to fix the color first.

Now by no means am I a Photoshop expert, but with simple color balance adjustments (ctrl+b) I've turned that picture in to this:

This is a real quick (2 min) color adjustment and it probably could look even better if done by a professional. In this picture you can really see the blue in his right eye and that lavender in the backpack looks a lot better, also my ACU pattern backpack doesn't look so brown. If I were to print this picture, this version would be it.

Tater Tot Casserole

This is a great casserole for the kids or for people like me who refuse to grow up. Brown the 1lb of ground beef with the veggies and dump it into the casserole dish. Add cream of mushroom and chicken on top along with a layer of tater tots. Bake at 400 degrees for 3o minutes or until the tots are brown. Finally sprinkle some cheese on top if you'd like.

Deep Thoughts

Why doesn't Tarzan have a beard when he lives in the jungle without a razor?

Why do banks charge a fee on 'insufficient funds' when they know there is
not enough?

Why do Kamikaze pilots wear helmets?

What is the speed of darkness?

Why is it that people say they 'slept like a baby' when babies wake up every
two hours?

If the temperature is zero outside today and it's going to be twice as cold tomorrow, how cold will it be?

Why do people pay to go up tall buildings and then put money in binoculars
to look at things on the ground?

Did you ever stop and wonder......

Who was the first person to look at a cow and say, 'I think I'll squeeze
these pink dangly things here, and drink whatever comes out?'

Who was the first person to say, 'See that chicken there... I'm gonna eat
the next thing that comes outta it's bum.'

Why do toasters always have a setting so high that could burn the toast to a
horrible crisp, which no decent human being would eat?

Why is there a light in the fridge and not in the freezer?

Why do people point to their wrist when asking for the time, but don't point
to their bum when they ask where the bathroom is?

Why does your Obstetrician, Gynaecologist leave the room when you get
undressed if they are going to look up there anyway?

Why do the Alphabet song and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star have the same
tune?

Safety

I want to remind everyone that no matter what your hobbies are, whether it'd be mountain climbing, BMX dirt biking, cooking, or knitting, safety is paramount. I recently added a long overdue safety item to my car since now I'm using it beyond what it was normally designed and engineered for. The original designers engineered my vehicle specifically for trips to the grocery store and back. Over the past 4 years, I've re-engineered it for Time Attack.

Hello BC rated in-car fire extinguisher, it's a pleasure to meet you =)

Accomplishments

I was daydreaming at work today and realized that in the past year, 3 teens have really set themselves apart and have accomplished spectacular milestones quite early in their lives. In one of those cases, the advancement of technology has really opened up the possibilities of how one can make a name for themselves in today's age of social media.

The Quest To Circumnavigate The World
Abby Sunderland, age 16, took on the monumental task of sailing around the world by herself in her 40ft. boat Wild Eyes. Abby had been preparing for her journey since she was 13. She had trained in ocean sailing with experienced sailors and also with her father. The route consisted of about ten legs beginning from Marina del Rey. From there, she would sail through Cape Horn, Cape of Good Hope, Cape Leeuwin and back to Marina del Rey all solo and unassisted, following definitions set by the International Sailing Federation World Sailing Speed Record Council according to which the equator must be crossed. Being a mariner myself, I have sailed through various parts of the Pacific Ocean which in itself is a monumental task. Thus I can appreciate her efforts to sail such a long distance by herself, especially at so young of an age. There are so many things to consider and so many things that can go wrong while you're out there in the middle of the ocean that it is quite a scary undertaking even for the most experienced of mariners. In fact, she had to make two attempts and during the second attempt, her sailboat was dismasted due to heavy seas and high winds. She found herself stranded in a remote area of the Indian Ocean. Abby activated her distress beacons and was fortunately rescued two days later.

Photo of Abby - Courtesy of Lisa Gizara

Paparazzi
For those of you who have school age children, there is a chance that they will participate in their local school talent show this year. They may sing, dance, play an instrument or show off some wacky talent. In the case of Greyson Chance, he decided to do a cover of Lady Gaga's song "Paparazzi" while playing the piano. Someone recorded this and posted it on YouTube. It just so happens that Greyson, who is 12 years old by the way, has a great signing voice along with amazing piano skills. Within a short amount of time, his video gets more than a million views because his performance was ridiculous. The following week, Ellen deGeneres invites him on her show where he plays the cover song that made him an internet phenomenon. His YouTube video now has more than 26 million views and he has a record deal in the books! This is one of those examples of how technology has changed the way people get discovered. Prior to the year 2000, one of the few ways to get noticed was to have a producer sitting in the audience during one of your performances. What are the chances that a big name record producer would sit in on a sixth grade music festival? With the arrival of social media technologies like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, all it takes is one person putting something spectacular out there and the next thing you know, it spreads like wildfire through everyone's social network. From that point on, there is a 100% chance that your media will be seen by the right people, which will set you up for the rest of your performance career. In the case of Greyson, he has the talent to be a great performer and I'm glad he is putting it to good use.

Photo of Greyson Chance - Courtesy of the Ellen deGeneres Show

I remember the painstaking task of trying to put our Kidswithsticks videos up for public viewing back in the late 90's and early 2000's. We had to purchase our own personal webspace and at $20/month, it was quite expensive (remember we were still in high school). Once we had our videos up, it took about 10 viewers to exceed the website's monthly bandwidth allocation. Soon, the $20/month fee was too much and we couldn't continue to fund the webspace. A few months later, the website was taken down due to lack of funds. If YouTube was around during that time, we would have no issues trying to get our fan base out to more than 10 people per month. The kids growing up these days take for granted that they have the ability to upload videos for free and have unlimited bandwidth to show their videos to millions of people around the world. It is so much easier to get discovered in today's technological world. Imagine if YouTube was around back in 1999-2000 time frame. Can you imagine if someone taped the Swing Kings during one of their awesome performances and posted it on YouTube? I am willing to bet that they would have had a record deal within the first week of being posted online. If you don't know who the Swing Kings are, ask someone from El Monte that grew up during that era. This group had some spectacular talent but were only famous locally due to the infancy of internet broadcast technology.

Pike's Peak Hill Climb
For those of you who have not heard of Pike's Peak Hill Climb, it is the nation's second oldest motorsports race at 88 years behind the Indianapolis 500. Pike's Peak is in the state of Colorado and the climb occurs on a 12.42-mile course with 156 turns and climbs 4,720 feet where the drivers finish at an elevation of 14,110 feet. As the air becomes thinner, fatigue sets in for the car and its driver. The road surface changes from paved to dirt and the average grade is 7 percent, with a "maximum plus grade" of 10.5 percent. Drivers usually race up the hill with a navigator since most of the corners are blind corners. All it takes is one small mistake and your car will go barreling down the side of the mountain due to the lack of barriers. The hill climb sounds crazy but to 16 year old Savannah Rickli, it's just another day driving her rally-prepped Mini Cooper. Savannah has been racing since she was 11 and on Sunday, she will be the youngest driver ever to have competed in the hill climb. Everyone likes to think that they are a good driver but when given these types of speeds and conditions, it takes a special type of person with amazing reflexes and bravery to accomplish a task such as Pike's Peak. I have been autoracing myself and know that it is no easy feat when you push a car to its limits in the middle of an unstable environment where a patch of bad asphalt can mean inevitable disaster. I applaud Savannah for her natural talent and skills to take on such an achievement such as Pike's Peak. For me, it is a distant dream but for her, she is writing the history books.

Photo of Savannah - Courtesy of Leah Millis At The Denver Post

What will your kids be doing 10 years from now when they are in their teens? Who knows, maybe the next kid will discover cold fusion. It wouldn't surprise me. The standards are definitely set high and anything is possible with the help of technology, desire, determination, talent, acquired skills, and motivation (especially when you have no fear of failure).

As my daydreaming continued, I began to reflect what I had done during my years as a teen. I never had any natural talent to do amazing feats such as those mentioned above. However in retrospect, I was extremely satisfied with my teenage years mostly because a lot of the great things I achieved was accomplished with a great group of people. Yes you know who you are. I realized that the big theme at that stage of my life was teamwork. I was surrounded by a great group of people and together as a collective whole was where we had the talent, motivation and skills that were needed to achieve some ridiculously fun times. Now I'm almost in my thirties, but I realize that life can be short. Therefore I live my life like there is no tomorrow. I think that if I keep going down this route, I will be okay in the end. Compared to all the ridiculously cool accomplishments these 3 kids are doing in their teens, it seems that my unique life stories was just shifted up a few decades into my early thirties. I may not make an appearance on ESPN or the Ellen deGeneres show but in the end, I still have a ton of cool stories that I'll be able to tell my kids someday which is okay by my standards! =)

Navigating around the Pacific Ocean on a Nuclear Powered Vessel

Mabo Tofu

Since Tina posts all of her amazing food adventures, I had to post some of my own to boost the madness of all the delicious food currently on this blog. Hi Tina! Although we've never met, you seem like an awesome cook ^_^!


Here I present Chinese Mabo Tofu from scratch. You can buy the sauce packets if you are lazy. Lee Kum Kee makes a great sauce packet and all you need to do is add pork and tofu.

1 box of Tofu, 1/2 pound of Pork

Tomatoes and Onions

Hoisin Sauce and whatever other spices you want

Brown the onions, toss in the pork

Once the pork is fully cooked, chuck in the hoisin sauce and your other spices along with everything else...put in the tomatoes last to prevent them from coagulating

Serve over a bed of rice! Om nom nom nom...

Photographing People

I started practicing photographing people today. It is definitely a lot harder to compose a good shot using people versus doing landscapes. I feel like I have mastered landscapes, so now I'm going to move on to taking snapshots of people. It'll be a big learning experience but I'm all for it!

got married today

So Queen and I finally got married today. It was a really small event. Prophet, Lawrence, and Yuritzi were the only guests there. It was perfect, no headaches that come with a big wedding and the price was great ($100 for the license).

We were bored waiting for them to call us up so we took these pictures with our phones.

Later I photoshop'd it and made it a little nicer.

This took me probably 5 min per picture. I think if i spent more time on it I could have made it look really good, but it just goes to show you how much of a difference Photoshop can add. Remember these were from camera phones.

Night Photography

Rock Bottom Brewery, Old Market - Omaha Nebraska
1 second shutter speed, ISO80

A lot of people ask me what type of camera I have, after looking at some of my photos. It turns out that I have a point and shoot, Canon SD1000. It just so happens that I have exploited all of its manual features in order to take some stunning photos. I want to prove to people out there that you don't need a fancy SLR to take great pictures. In fact, some people with fancy SLR cameras take some horrible pictures. It's not very nice to say but it can be true sometimes. The only draw back to point and shoot is that I can't print anything bigger than 11x14 with my current camera. Oh well.

Enter the world of HDR my friends. If you have never heard of this photography style, here is the summary of what High Dynamic Range Imaging is all about: "A set of techniques that allow a greater dynamic range of luminances between the lightest and darkest areas of an image than standard digital imaging techniques or photographic methods. This wider dynamic range allows HDR images to more accurately represent the wide range of intensity levels found in real scenes, ranging from direct sunlight to faint starlight." - Wikipedia.

Basically have you ever taken a photo with the sun in your face? You'll notice that certain parts of the photo come out darker than others. What if you can evenly distribute the light to all areas of the photo? HDR allows qualities such as even light distribution to be injected into the photo. Most of the time HDR photos look synthetic, since the color map is so well represented. It is definitely worth experimenting. Let me know if you are interested in how to make one.

Crazy Asian Drivers

Some controlled reckless driving videos to mix things up a bit!

Sunset From The Pacific Coast Highway