Let’s see if this works.

:)

I just received the brand-new Amazon Kindle 3G last weekend and I love it! I’ve been thinking about getting an e-reader for a while but up to now I didn’t like the form factor. But this newest edition of the Kindle is smaller, lighter, has even better contrast and more memory, among other things. The high-contrast “e-paper” is really amazing and honestly feels and reads just like actual paper. For a while I thought maybe I should get an iPad, but I decided against it for several reasons. First, I want a dedicated reading device that’s optimized for just one thing – reading. The iPad, while a nice toy, is neither here nor there in my opinion. I’ve seen dozens and dozens of people at airports with their iPads, and invariably they’re doing one of two things: either they’re surfing the web, or they’re reading an e-book. Now, if I want to surf the web, I prefer my tiny little laptop, because it also serves as everything else at the same time – I can use Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, Word, etc and it has USB hubs (which the iPad lacks). And if I want to read an e-book, the iPad doesn’t cut it either – the glary screen is just like a computer screen and will eventually strain your eyes, just like a computer screen (and try reading an iPad in bright sunlight – impossible with that glare…). So for reading an e-book, I prefer a dedicated e-reader like the Kindle, with its high-contrast, low-glare “screen” (I hesitate to call it that because it doesn’t feel like a screen, it feels more like an actual paper page). Of course, the Kindle wins out on battery life by a huge margin – one charge will last you up to a month, while the iPad dies after about 10 hours or so… Oh and then there’s of course the price – iPads are ridiculously overpriced, while the Kindle starts at $139 (iPads start at $499). Don’t get me wrong, I’m a gadget fan and if somebody gave me an iPad I’d keep it of course :-) But I don’t really see the point, and I’m not sure what else I would use it for – certainly not for extended reading, and I’m not much of a games person either. For serious readers (which I consider myself to be), a dedicated reading device just makes more sense.

Ok enough of the sales pitch, maybe Amazon should pay me a commission… but it’s just an honest reflection of how happy I am with this little gem. Now I don’t have to lug around several pounds of paper on my many trips anymore, just this tiny little thing which will hold up to 3,500 entire books.

Speaking of books, I’ve been reading voraciously lately – partly due to the fact that I spent several hundred hours in airport lounges and on planes over the last couple of months, with plenty of time to kill. Some of the better books I read recently include the following:

Klaus Mann’s classic “Mephisto” (the original German version), a novel he wrote while he was in exile in the Netherlands to avoid persecution by Hitler’s regime. Mann wrote the book “…to analyze the abject type of treacherous intellectual who prostitutes his talent for the sake of some tawdry fame and transitory wealth”. As Amazon puts it, it’s a “searing indictment of Hitler’s Germany”.

Why Does E=mc2?
I picked this up recently while waiting at yet another airport, and I absolutely loved it. It’s a fascinating, passionate, and authoritative account of relativity physics. The authors, both brilliant physicists, use very clear writing to describe ‘…how the search for “mathematical consistency” can guide scientists in finding the “laws that describe physical reality.”’ Providing historical context and funny anecdotes, they walk you through various critical scientific discoveries all the way up to Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity. In the process, they will boggle your mind with the weirdest, most counter-intuitive thought experiments. Highly entertaining! And so what if it’s geeky :-)

Leonardo’s Legacy: How Da Vinci Reimagined the World by Stefan Klein (I read the original German version). Great investigation of Da Vinci’s scientific and artistic achievements and thought processes: from paintings and drawings to the study of flowing water, anatomy, weaponry, flying machines, mechanical devices and other technologies, this book is a fascinating account of one of history’s most amazing geniuses.

On the lighter end of the spectrum, I also finished the three books in the incredibly popular “Millennium” trilogy by Stieg Larsson. These novels are a fun, quick read, real page-turners. The thrillers evolve around the unusual heroine, Lisbeth Salander (a sociopathic, anorexic-looking young hacker with a dark past) and Mikael Blomqvist, an investigative journalist. Addictive, fun stuff. It’s amazing to see how many people are reading these books – get on any plane and you’re bound to see 10 people reading about the girl with the dragon tattoo.

Right now I’m reading two books in parallel, Jack Holland’s “Misogyny: The World’s Oldest Prejudice” and Jo Nesbo’s “The Redbreast” (the latter one being pretty light fare). I might post some thoughts on those in the near future.

Pick up any of the above books and I guarantee you won’t regret it.

Here’s a shot of the Taj Mahal I took about three years ago… running it through Topaz Adjust really makes the colors pop. And I actually toned the effect down, you can easily create really crazy looking stuff!

click for full size.

Taj Mahal (Agra, India)

My newest toy though is Nik Software’s amazing Silver Efex Pro:

This software is an incredibly powerful tool that allows the most precise control over every detail of your image. You can selectively tweak tonality and contrast of every element of your image, emulate a bunch of traditional black and white films, determine grain, tonal curves, etc. It’s a blast and I’m still wrapping my head around all the possibilities. Here’s one image I played around with today. There is much room for improvement, so I’ll keep digging into my fun new toy. Click on the image for full size.

Lone Cypress Tree, Pebble Beach

With my DSLR, I shoot mostly in RAW format (as opposed to JPEG) for maximum control in post-processing. Most digital SLR cameras offer the option to shoot RAW, but very few compact cameras do. I love my DSLR but I’ve been wanting to get the Canon G10 compact camera to use whenever an SLR and a bunch of lenses are too much to carry around. But now that Canon announced its successor, I think I will wait for the new G11. Like the G10, it offers the option to shoot in RAW format and has all sorts of other improvements like better low-light capabilities, image stabilization and a built in Neutral Density filter.

This camera looks like a heck of a lot of fun… and it’s perfect as an every-day camera. Another option would be the new S90 which is even more compact and also offers RAW, but overall is probably slightly below the G11 in terms of capabilities. Hmmm decisions, decisions…

Lots of stuff happening around the web in the last few weeks… Microsoft buying a chunk of Facebook… Google getting more active in the mobile industry…

Talking about Google, they’re now the 5th largest company in the US (by market capitalization). Crazy. And they’re trading at $732.94 as of this writing… who would’ve thunk it. Oh and if you simply can’t get enough of Google, soon you’ll find your favorite search monster at your nearest gas station too.

Oh by the way, if you like to stay on top of news when you’re on the go, you’ll surely enjoy the NYTimesRiver. It doesn’t look like much when you open the website, but it makes news a lot more digestible on my Blackberry – I love it.

More later…

Ok, so today was a fairly exciting day if you’re a gadget fan and/or music lover. As expected, Steve Jobs presented a bunch of exciting new products and services at Apple’s “The Beat Goes On” event.

Most noteworthy is probably the iPod Touch. It’s a geek’s dream come true. The only bummer is that the capacity, well, sorta sucks. 16GB is not all that bad, but it just isn’t enough to hold my entire music collection. Which is what I want my iPod to do (for workouts I now use the wonderful little Shuffle). So despite all the cool stuff like Wi-Fi, built-in Safari browser, Cover Flow, and of course the touchscreen, I probably won’t shell out the $399 for the Touch but rather get the new and improved 80GB iPod Classic. It doesn’t look all that different from its predecessor, but neat new features like an enhanced interface and Cover Flow should be fun.

I bet they’ll announce some neat new gadget. Maybe a touchscreen Ipod? Now that would be cool.

There are exceptions though, and they don’t have to be complicated. Here’s one example that I think is a great viral marketing idea, and it seems to be creating plenty of word of mouth on YouTube and blogs: Blendtec, a maker of mixers, blenders, etc. has created a hilarious website where they prove their blenders’ awesome power by blending all sorts of stuff that you shouldn’t, well, blend. They shred Iphones, lighters, golf balls, diamonds, oysters, and much more…

Don’t try this at home.