Love the time-lapse and tilt-shift combo!

I installed ze “A Year Before” Wordpress plugin, and really like it.

The sidebar to the right will now show links to posts written on the same month and day from years past. It ignores the really old stuff and the really really old stuff because those entries were never migrated to Greymatter and then to Cafelog b2 and then to Wordpress.

I’m currently blocking 87 applications (and 5 individuals) on Facebook for what I call “Facebook application spam.” I don’t care what kind of vegetable you are most like, and I don’t care to have a [random object here] thrown at me.

Facebook will probably add privacy features to account for this problem eventually, but in the meantime, we have to block every annoying application we see to prevent repeated spam from annoying applications / individuals.

Want to see my current block list? (read more »)

Hello, readers! If you have a moment, can you leave a comment wherever you first see this message, or where you feel most comfortable submitting a comment?

I’d like to get an idea of the % readership from my journal, from Twitter, and from Facebook. I’ll post the results. Thank you! :)

How much did a video card upgrade affect Aperture performance?

The current video card upgrades at the Apple Store are not compatible with first-generation Mac Pros, which is really unfortunate (I have an old 3GHz Mac Pro that uses 667 MHz DDR2 memory). With the coming reliance of Snow Leopard and apps on Core Image (which uses the GPU for accelerated performance), a fast video card is a must in any modern Mac. Plus, I use Aperture, which is really only usable with a fast video card. (read more »)

This gave me a lot of joy to produce.

• I am SO glad I live in coastal California. There are more smokers outside of CA, and they *reek*. #
• Whale Wars Season 2 is available for Season Pass on iTunes for $19.99. Get it! :) #
• Updated links to my travel page. I know, I’m like 3 years behind. Sorry. http://echeng.com/travel/ #
• Convinced an editor to write about shark finning in an upcoming shark article for kids in AMC mag (in Taiwan). Donating images in return. #
• Just installed a video driver on Jim’s nav computer. They ran at 800×600, 256 color for years before. I can’t even imagine. #
• Future Shear Water guests: do not store your luggage in the new storage compartment. They will come out smelling like death. #
• Three manatees in the harbor, including one baby! Very cute! #
• “HO-tel. HO-tel. Goan’. Goan’. Goan’ to the HO-tel. Goan’ be slow. (Excerpts from Eric Practices His Southern) #
• “DUHDn’(d). DUHDn’(d). That DUHDn’(d) make any SAY-ence.” I’ll get it one of these days. #
• European need to standardize cheek kisses. 1? 2? 3? Air kiss? Contact? I just botched a Swiss double cheeker and almost got it on the lips. #
• @charlottelai I keep getting emails for an “emily cheng”. My favorite tactic is to reply all. in reply to charlottelai #
• Arrived in Charleston. Excited to hang out with friends at Spoleto! #
• I’m going to try to be better about sending trip journals / available expeditions to my personal travel list: http://bit.ly/14eZ4i #
• Went to see Charles Wadsworth interviewed for NPR. He was brilliant! (He’s handing Spoleto USA’s chamber music program over to Geoff) #
• The food in Charleston is amazing. The downside? I feel bloated. #
• “East coast beaches suck.” But it is quite beautiful here… http://twitpic.com/6oq6v #
• @fleander I was quoting someone else. I don’t like your beaches as much as I do West Coast beaches, but they have their charm here… #
• Starting to get emails about my background appearances on Whale Wars 2 (Animal Planet). Excited to see the premiere episode! #
• Xee.app just replaced Preview.app for me (for images. still use Preview for PDFs). http://bit.ly/EXcpQ #
• Whale Wars 2 on iTunes isn’t in HD? So disappointing… #
• The downward slide: I am eating ice cream for lunch. #
• Waiting for @chriskac to start complaining about the Pre! ;) in reply to chriskac #
• Hrm. Penguin Planet and captive bald eagle at the Charleston aquarium = sad. No room at all. :( #
• I’m on the internet at http://paolosgelato.com right now! #
• Obviously, I’m not on that webcam anymore. Trying to purge stomach bloat somehow before late dinner tonight. #
• I hear there is a new Facebook client for Blackberry. Been waiting for improvements (downloading now). http://bit.ly/zN8yr #
• I just lost 7 minutes of my life. http://bit.ly/bwCK5 #
• I hear the gyro incident made a prominent appearance on Whale Wars 2 season premiere. Har har. #
• @choccobo Hey man. Saw the photos from your housewarming party. Congrats! (I’m in Charleston) in reply to choccobo #
• @chriskac And so it begins! har har har. in reply to chriskac #
• Last supper in Charleston with Pam, Geoff, Livia and Alisa. Had a wonderful time at Spoleto USA! #

beautiful Bahamian sunset

I have been going to the Bahamas to photograph sharks for eight years. Last week marked my 10th trip aboard the M/V Shear Water with Jim Abernethy. This time, I was part of a private charter for my good friend, Lucien, who was there on the very first dive I made with an underwater camera back in 2001. Lucien, Richard and Jacques joined me, Jim and crew members Don, Mike and Ed for eight days of cruising in the Bahamas for with tiger sharks, lemon sharks, Caribbean reef sharks, Atlantic spotted dolphins, and more. The weather forecasts were good: light winds with afternoon showers every day. (read more »)

• Please, Delta. All I want to do is check in online (the one time I have flown Delta in many years = #FAIL) #
• One last Asian meal before going to Florida! #
• Daniel Brown, I curse you for sending me the link to memeParty! So funny. So wrong. http://bit.ly/95HiB #
• Sweet! A seat right by the bathroom! (Argghh) #
• I’m going to remove all business entities from my Facebook contacts and groups. Enough with businesses spamming on Facebook! #
• Oh, the familiar smell of the ShearWater. Cramming to finish work before more sharks and dolphins! #
• I am confused. Good food on the Shearwater?! *boggles* #
• Restored iPhoto photo access to my screen saver (which I lost after upgrading to iLife ‘09). http://bit.ly/zo5Rg #
• Looks like Animal Planet Whale Wars 2 media blast is starting! http://bit.ly/3K6WNr http://bit.ly/VqAgs #
• OK, this is the correct link to see all of the videos posted by Animal Planet so far: http://bit.ly/8y8CN #
• @uwfotog thank you, michele! I’ll say hi to the gang for you. We leave in about half an hour. I miss Pam already. #
• Vote Andy DeHart for Oceana Ocean Hero! http://bit.ly/m6mwN #
• We’re in West End at the dock internet connection — pulling away now. See you in a week! #
• My favorite website, FAIL Blog, is on fire these days. http://bit.ly/11SdLC (another laugh-out-loud post) #
• Panasonic DMC-LX3 firmware update: http://bit.ly/1XxIqv #
• Correction: Panasonic DMC-LX3 firmware v1.3 update will be out on June 1 at http://bit.ly/1XxIqv #
• Don: “I’m online. I’m online! That’s the first time I’ve ever done that!” #
• The fan up here in the wheelhouse of the Shear Water sounds like Galactica’s dradis. #

• Please, Delta. All I want to do is check in online (the one time I have flown Delta in many years = #FAIL) #
• One last Asian meal before going to Florida! #
• Daniel Brown, I curse you for sending me the link to memeParty! So funny. So wrong. http://bit.ly/95HiB #
• Sweet! A seat right by the bathroom! (Argghh) #
• I’m going to remove all business entities from my Facebook contacts and groups. Enough with businesses spamming on Facebook! #
• Oh, the familiar smell of the ShearWater. Cramming to finish work before more sharks and dolphins! #
• I am confused. Good food on the Shearwater?! *boggles* #
• Restored iPhoto photo access to my screen saver (which I lost after upgrading to iLife ‘09). http://bit.ly/zo5Rg #
• Looks like Animal Planet Whale Wars 2 media blast is starting! http://bit.ly/3K6WNr http://bit.ly/VqAgs #
• OK, this is the correct link to see all of the videos posted by Animal Planet so far: http://bit.ly/8y8CN #
• @uwfotog thank you, michele! I’ll say hi to the gang for you. We leave in about half an hour. I miss Pam already. #
• Vote Andy DeHart for Oceana Ocean Hero! http://bit.ly/m6mwN #
• We’re in West End at the dock internet connection — pulling away now. See you in a week! #
• My favorite website, FAIL Blog, is on fire these days. http://bit.ly/11SdLC (another laugh-out-loud post) #
• Panasonic DMC-LX3 firmware update: http://bit.ly/1XxIqv #
• Correction: Panasonic DMC-LX3 firmware v1.3 update will be out on June 1 at http://bit.ly/1XxIqv #
• Don: “I’m online. I’m online! That’s the first time I’ve ever done that!” #
• The fan up here in the wheelhouse of the Shear Water sounds like Galactica’s dradis. #