• I was bitten by a preying mantis yesterday. Ouch! #
• Shopping for women's shoes with Brazilian photographer Marcelo Krause. #
• Man-repelling design, in the real world. http://yfrog.com/nas69gj #
• Wait, so is the "freshly squeezed" lemonade actually freshly squeezed? #
• Pho in Lake Park, FL. Looks the same! http://yfrog.com/5lohdhj #
• There were 8 Asians at the pho place. I've just doubled the number of Asians I've seen in South Florida in the past 8 years. #
• Verizon MiFi is disconnecting every 5 minutes. Almost unusable. #
• Fuji FinePix X100: http://ech.cc/aUDccC WANT! #
• A marketing dpt wants to "borrow" framed prints for an event. My reply: can I "borrow" 6-8 hrs of your best marketing consulting time? #
• Videos by comedian Russell Peters are great company for travel. #
• Had an anxiety dream last night in which my computer, cash and cameras were stolen while I was on a ferry. Shaken up by it! #
• I'm not sure Jim Abernethy has enough drives connected to his computer… http://yfrog.com/mzuu1sj #
• I can't imagine a more (data) secure work environment! http://yfrog.com/jud8lsj #
• Indeed… RT @johnolilly Coffee, I used to think we were friends. Now I'm not so sure. I think you may be trying to kill me. #
• @Laurens_deGroot hey, Laurens – stop by G2 Gallery and check out my prints! in reply to Laurens_deGroot #
• I really like Twitter and Facebook, but getting them to work together consistently (along with RSS) is still impossible. #
• My sister just won the 2010 Ralph Henry Gabriel Dissertation Prize for best doctoral dissertation in American Studies. Congrats, Wendy! #
• Wow – the boarding passengers at Charlotte, NC are the worst I've ever seen. Put your bag away and sit down! #
• RT @gbrockway: New TripIt Pro launches! It literally pays for itself (Yes, really.) http://bit.ly/astAcr #
• Standard first day home: go through snail mail and email, and unpack… #
• Hmmm. Anaglyph cyan/red doesn't work on my desktop w/calibrated display. Works fine on my notebook, even with ext display. Frustrating. #
• I hate slightly pink backgrounds because I always think it's a monitor calibration issue. #
• I liked a YouTube video — OK Go – White Knuckles – Official Video http://youtu.be/nHlJODYBLKs?a #
• WordPress -> Twitter via Twitter Tools for WordPress is not working reliably. This should be easier! #
• Social security statements are too big to scan. Please fix, US Gov! Sincerely, Paperless. #
• Hmm-the annual report for the Yerba Buena Community Benefit District in SF doesn't show pics of the people sleeping in the street at night. #
• Adobe shows off plenoptic lenses that let you refocus an image after it's taken http://ech.cc/bSxsQ3 #
• Booq Cobra Courier XS – alternative to Tom Binh iPad bag http://ech.cc/bbImSc (both, expensive!) #
• SwiftKey for Android is out and on sale for $0.99. It is a worthy replacement for stock Android keyboard. #
• Stopped by to read Jacket 2 bedtime stories before heading to CS198 reunion. #
• Oops. That's Jack, not Jacket. Stupid autocorrect! #
• It was great to see all of you at the CS198 reunion! @adamnash @schrep @johnolilly @klep #
• After removing 2TB as offline archives, it's still going to take me from 7-10 days to seed a 3TB Crashplan backup from my main machine. #
• OK, I just enabled Places for Facebook. Weird that I have to use the touch interface even from a normal computer. #
• I'll be speaking at the Stanford Photography Club meeting on Oct 5. http://photography.stanford.edu/ (the website looks old) #
• A Brief History of Counter Eco-Terrorism Against the Dolphin Killers of Taiji – Sea Shepherd http://instapaper.com/z0h881n1p #
• @johnolilly I don't know who Maroon 5 are. Are they a band? I guess I've not been paying attention… in reply to johnolilly #
• Sharktopus http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fK2bBfuepKk #
• I liked a YouTube video — "RED-BULL SUPER- COPTER" http://youtu.be/pdprMRMjs1c?a #
• I liked a YouTube video — Minecraft FIREE WTFFFFFFF!!!!! http://youtu.be/LnjSWPxJxNs?a #
• Bocelli is enough to drive me away from a cafe. #
• Of what use is the Android Autolock app if you can just power cycle the phone for access? #
• Facebook Places won't work from my Android browser. #
• 5 LV bags between two dudes? Hello, Los Angeles! #
• Dammit – Hertz gave us a minivan! #
• Really? http://yfrog.com/jusralj #
• Photos of manta ray slaughter off of La Paz, Mexico http://ech.cc/bl3T0S #
• @gilesshaxted minivan (per prior tweet) :) in reply to gilesshaxted #
• @trhall The copy time is from my machine to a local server (gigabit). Can't connect locally because the store is a NAS box. in reply to trhall #
• Interrupting a parade #win (classic!!) http://ech.cc/9MruWu #
• I liked a YouTube video — Sleepless In Seattle : Recut as a horror movie http://youtu.be/frUPnZMxr08?a #
• I liked a YouTube video — The Shining Recut http://youtu.be/KmkVWuP_sO0?a #
• SHARKTOPUS IS ON SYFY RIGHT NOW! #
• Sharktopus: the stupidest fragment of a movie I've ever seen. How does this stuff get funded and made?? #
• @uwfotog I think you and Howard should watch Sharktopus. It will teach you a great deal about cinematography and filmmaking. #
• Taiwanese desserts with Kozyndan and Gio in Arcadia http://yfrog.com/3up1pjfj #
• @choccobo 2tb over USB = a world of hurt in reply to choccobo #

It can be hard to shop for Zandra (Antoni’s thoughtful birthday gift)

Happy birthday, Zandra!

Karel the Robot keychain gift at CS198 reunion

On August 13, 2010, Professor Eric Roberts and Mehran Sahami, Associate Chair of the Department of Computer Science, sent the Stanford CS198 alumn list an email inviting them to a reunion of undergratuate section leaders, TAs and program coordinators — the first such reunion in 40 years of teaching introductory CS106 classes. (read more »)

For an email client, I use Mac OS X’s Mail.app, which I’m perfectly happy with (in conjunction with Mail Act-On, which I find to be indispensable). To access my various email accounts, I use both POP and IMAP; each offers me something the other does not. (read more »)

I just returned from a trip to the Bahamas, where I shot and posted a bunch of 3D underwater video encoded for viewing with red/cyan anaglyph 3D glasses. When I arrived at home, I opened one of the 3D videos on my calibrated 30″ Dell 3008WFP LCD (connected to a Mac Pro)… and discovered that I could not see any 3D effect. It was quite strange because I could see the 3D effect perfectly when I streamed the same videos from my Vimeo page (on the same machine/display), and everything looks good when played from my MacBook Pro (even when it is attached to an external monitor). I even tried playing the videos back on my 50″ plasma display, and the 3D was fine.

What I discovered is that if you have a properly calibrated video card / monitor, you may not be able see anaglyph 3D-encoded images and video correctly. When trying to render colors “correctly,” ColorSync can change the colors enough to destroy the effect. (read more »)

I’ve listed my Light & Motion Z1u/FX1 Bluefin housing and travel package for sale through Backscatter (located in Monterey, CA, but will ship).

Description: Used Light & Motion Bluefin Z1U/FX1 housing for the Sony Z1U or Sony FX1 camera. The housing comes with the stock flat port and when used with the internal flip down macro diopter gives you the option for extreme macro. Also included is the 80 Super Wide angle lens that allows full zoom through on the camera. This housing is in good condition and comes with the incredible Sunray 2000 light system, two chargers, four batteries and a Pelican 1620 case that holds everything. [more information]

a humorous copyright violation

As a photographer, I am constantly asked for free images. Every day, I respond to upwards of 5 requests for free imagery from a diverse array of entities including individuals, non-profits / conservation organizations, companies, buildings, and other organizations.

Some photographers get angry when they are asked for free work, but I do not. If the request is ridiculous, I find great humor in the situation, but if it is a serious request by someone who has really thought things out, I will reply honestly.

The most recent request was to “borrow” images for some sort of company event, and compensation was to have my name visible next to the prints. Dave, a good friend (and successful artist himself), wrote commentary about the situation after I mentioned it.

If they pick up/drop off, you’re visibly credited w/your contact info and there’s a lot of traffic it could be good exposure.

In theory, I agree with his statement, but I’ve had enormous prints mounted in the lobbies of some of the biggest buildings in San Francisco for months, and do you know how many leads they generated? Zero. Even with my name, a biography, and postcards placed somewhere near the prints, they generated no leads. (read more »)

• Back in port after spending a week in the Bahamas. Would check email, but received many gigantic attachments. Will be back online 100% 9/21. #
• OK. Kicked everyone else off my MiFi and can now download email at full speed. Have to do trip slideshow tonight… #
• Using "i need help lol" as a forum post title communicates a great deal of information. #
• Updated with a second video: The GoPro Shark Experiment http://echeng.com/journal/2010…..xperiment/ #
• 100' visibility and a couple dozen goliath groupers at the Zion. Is it better to have crappy 3D footage or an excellent still image? :( #
• The group is going for a dive at the Blue Heron Bridge http://yfrog.com/ne96ukj #
• Shen just ambushed us on the Shear Water (he was diving the Blue Heron Bridge). He's using fiber optic snoots. http://ech.cc/9cDzTA #
• OK, I'm excited about some of the 3D shark footage I got. Shows the potential of the rig I have! #
• Just released 50 baby loggerhead turtles on the beach. Thank you, Jeanette and Mike! #
• Pam is in a fashion show right now, and @lfstewart sent me a photo! Thank you. :) #
• I uploaded a YouTube video — GoPro Underwater Shark Experiment http://youtu.be/sxDbjxHS0pA?a #
• Wakodahatchee park. Beautiful! http://yfrog.com/n0vigsj #
• @Daffs Daff! Congrats on new HTC Incredible. Beware of battery issue: http://ech.cc/dcnFWt in reply to Daffs #
• @tonywu tried to go to local Vietnamese resto in North Palm Beach — closed. Had to do BBQ instead. Need to return to California! in reply to tonywu #
• An incredible new Seacam accessory: http://ech.cc/cAbPyB #

Burrowing owl (Athene cunicularia) in Boca Raton, Florida

Jim Abernethy and Janine took Marcelo and me to Boca Raton today to photograph burrowing owls, which are extremely cute. We found them in a field at Florida Atlantic University, where their burrows are marked with stakes (along with additional markers designating the distance you are allowed to approach). Burrowing owls are a “species of special concern” in Florida and are listed in CITES Appendix II.

Emma the tiger shark and a bunch of reef sharks and lemon sharks feed on a bit of fish bait (bones, mostly) in the Bahamas.

This is probably the most effective blue-water 3D video I’ve posted to date. It is a bit bright, but it’s hard to do color correction for anaglyph 3D. I need to find a way to preview my work on proper 3D displays!

UPDATE: I just looked at this video, and the Vimeo upload’s compression has made the 3D anaglyph effect much less pronounced. At 1080p pre-Vimeo compression, the 3D effect is tremendous. I need to upload a better version…

Reef sharks, lemon sharks and nurse sharks investigate a gorgonian, where an injured fish must be hiding. Bahamas.

Two goliath groupers (Epinephelus itajara) on the wreck of the Zion, Jupiter, Florida

While shooting video today, I had quite a few moments in which I wished only for a strobe or two.

3D anaglyph (red/cyan) video of a school of Atlantic spadefish (Chaetodipterus faber). Jupiter, Florida. September 11, 2010.

This particular video looks great at 1080p full screen on a 17″ monitor, but suffers greatly when reduced in resolution and viewed as a postage stamp-sized video.

The Eye of Mine underwater housing for GoPro cameras is simple: it’s a stock GoPro housing with a replacement flat port. Although the standard GoPro housing is waterproof and rated to 60 meters, it won’t focus underwater because of its tiny little dome port. Eye of Mine’s simple solution lets you capture sharp images underwater using a GoPro Hero HD camera.

I took an Eye of Mine-housed GoPro Hero HD camera to the Bahamas a few days ago and played with sharks:

Although I’m used to cameras many times the cost of a GoPro, and I was really impressed by the footage I managed to capture. Specifically, I can’t imagine putting any other camera inside a shark’s mouth! (Also, the footage does actually look pretty good.)

Special thanks to Russell Latimer of Eye of Mine for the loaner housing (which is still in relatively good shape, considering the abuse I put it through); to Jim Abernethy, my good friend and shark guide in the Bahamas for 9 years now; to Sterling Zumbrunn for providing third-party camera footage, and to Ultralight Control Systems for providing the AD-GO ball adapter to connect the GoPro housing to my rig.

• What happened to Square? I never received my two credit card payment dongles. #
• @adamnash can't you just set it to encode H.264 Main 3.1 for iPad? in reply to adamnash #
• Just stuck 5 x 2TB drives and 1 x 2TB drive into the new ReadyNAS Pro. It will have 7TB accessible with 2 x 2TB for double redundancy. #
• One of the 7 USB devices connected to my Mac Pro is preventing it from going to sleep. The debugging begins… #
• Come with me to the Bahamas for sharks, dolphins and goliath groupers this September 11-19! Last-minute cancellation. http://bit.ly/cOKhaL #
• I uploaded a YouTube video — Moray eel hunting at night in the Maldives (3D) http://youtu.be/p5ePPMokVFQ?a #
• I just posted a review of Keldan Luna 8 LA-V LED video lights over at Wetpixel: http://ech.cc/9mq5qZ #
• ATTO's Xtend SAN Mac iSCSI Initator: $195.00 to download, $150 to ship w/1-2 week wait from 3rd party vendor). Wrong. #
• 3 points of contact at all times probably wouldn't do much here. http://ech.cc/chIBk8 #
• 8.81 TB iSCSI volume is online and hitting 114 MB/s read over dedicated gigE line (no switch). ReadyNAS Pro + ATTO Xtend SAN iSCSI init. #
• "Uninterruptible? Is that even a word?" -Pam, during building-wide brownout (now). #
• @churnd GlobalSAN doesn't work with 64-bit kernel. in reply to churnd #
• @mdgmnas Yes, RAID and SSD in the client. in reply to mdgmnas #
• Brownouts are way worse than blackouts. PG&E is saying that it will be 2.5 hours before an *update* about what is going on. #
• Brownout has become blackout. Yee-haw. #
• I always think it is strange that I can still use computers / internet when the power goes out (strategic placement of UPSes) ;) #
• Fled to a local cafe to work while waiting for PG&E to fix the power lines. #
• Rob Stewart (Sharkwater) on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caFAVljNtlo #
• I liked a YouTube video — The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson and guest Rob Stewart http://youtu.be/caFAVljNtlo?a #
• Verizon MiFi is pretty terrible. Hard to sustain a connection… #
• @mdgmnas Thank you — corrected the typo. in reply to mdgmnas #
• Will someone tell me why Asian teenaged girls puff out their cheeks in photos? Is it "kawai?" #
• I liked a YouTube video — My iPad iBuddy (Steve Young Football My Buddy Spoof) http://youtu.be/1ZeoQ_sViVI?a #
• VLC player coming to iPad! http://ech.cc/byCPUG #
• Bahamian sharks threatened by shark finning. Please take 2 minutes to show your support (petition)! http://ech.cc/9hiUm1 #
• @choccobo Yeah — it should be easier and require less information. :( in reply to choccobo #
• Gave up on multiple machine -> single destination Crashplan backups. It just doesn't work. (It's still a great solution for single machine) #
• Asian Poses! (via Warren) http://asianposes.com/ #
• Anyone have suggestions for a wedding portrait studio in Taiwan? The uh… cheesier, the better. #
• Have good friends coming on the upcoming Bahamas trip and November Ambon trip. Re-energized! #
• @choccobo San Franciscans will be upset to be lumped in with Oakland and Fremont. ;) in reply to choccobo #
• Me: "Are your backups [of your iMac] still working?" Pam: "No… it asked me a question at some point, and I closed the window." *sigh* #
• I liked a YouTube video — Waterbridge Elementary Bomb Scare http://youtu.be/2hmcf1mHVoU?a #
• Heading to the Bahamas for my 11th sharks/dolphins trip aboard the Shear Water with Jim Abernethy! #
• just drove through haze from the san bruno fire on my way to the airport #
• I sort of feel like death. Extremely sleep deprived, but will make up for it on the flights. #
• $25 for 200GB Ultrium 2 backup tape = $125 / terabyte (plus drive cost overhead). For $109, I can get a 2TB 3.5" drive. #
• @lfstewart Maybe you should start using hand-written cards + bike messengers instead of AT&T! in reply to lfstewart #
• Don't they know that this sort of thing makes us hate US airports? http://plixi.com/p/44373931 #
• Just hung out with James Wiseman (and Sarah and Henry) at Houston Airport. Henry is getting big! #
• 7 TSA officers manning a single security line in Houston Airport at the speed of slow. #
• If there is no more bin space on the plane, the best move is probably just to freeze and block all aisle traffic. #
• @choccobo international arrivals only. in reply to choccobo #
• I'm told that there is a photo of Geoff and Livia in the New York Times today. Congrats!! #
• Hear that goliath action was great today. Looking forward to tomorrow! #
• Geoff and Livia in the New York Times today, now with link! http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09……html?_r=1 #
• Jim Abernethy on a Mac! I am filled with wonder… http://yfrog.com/06r5nj #
• Drogin would be proud. http://yfrog.com/73ipbrj #
• Counted 30 goliath groupers at once in my field of vision at the wreck of the Zion. Hear there are fewer this year than last year. #
• @cindypon I suspect "cage free" chickens are stored in boxes, instead. in reply to cindypon #
• Exporting a 3D video clip. 13 minutes for a 12-second clip. PAIN! #
• Leaving for the Bahamas at around 2am after a nice day with the goliath grouper aggregation in Jupiter, Florida. #

A spawning aggregation of goliath groupers (Epinephelus itajara) off of Jupiter, Florida, taken just before sunset (hence, the noisy video).

People are starting to do HDR video using beam splitters (which are normally used to shoot in 3D). The video above was posted yesterday and was made with two Canon 5D Mark II cameras by the folks at Soviet Montage.

4 months ago, E3D Creative posted an HDR video shot with two RED cameras (again, using a beam splitter):

Fun stuff! I want a beam splitter.

I’m a big fan of CrashPlan, which is sort of like a platform-agnostic Time Machine with full internet support (minus the pretty star field graphics). I use it to continuously monitor and back up two machines (Mac Pro and MacBook Pro), and when I’m travelling, but MacBook Pro continues to back new files up — to a machine in my closet — through the internet.

I have CrashPlan+ licenses for the two machines I back up. CrashPlan+ doesn’t exist anymore, but it seems to give me some of the features of CrashPlan Pro like compression, encryption, and real-time monitoring of file changes.

Now, for the bad news: CrashPlan works really well when I have one machine backing up to another, but fails miserably when I have two machines backing up one machine. My MacBook Pro always backs up perfectly to the destination, but my Mac Pro stops after some time (usually works until I stop the initial backup, at which point it never starts up again).

I’ve tried:

• starting and stopping the CrashPlan engine
• setting each instance of CrashPlan to a different port
• reinstalling CrashPlan
• reinstalling the OS
• following directions sent from CrashPlan support (multiple times)

Each time, CrashPlan support says that it “must be a network issue,” but can’t figure out why it’s not working. I think it might be because I’m backing up multiple terabytes.

A few days ago, I realized that I was being stupid because I’m backing up my Mac Pro to a NAS volume that is mounted on the server. The server isn’t even necessary for my Mac Pro backup, since the 55-lb machine never leaves the house! So I’m now pointing my CrashPlan backup directly at the volume on the NAS box. The MacBook Pro is still happily backing up via the server.

I hope it works.

I just noticed that Amazon has book buybacks.¹ In this case, it would be like a 4-month rental for $2.06! That’s a great deal.

I recently acquired a Fuji FinePix REAL 3D W3 point & shoot camera, which is the only (proper) 3D point & shoot camera on the market (Mark Blum showed me the W1, its predecessor, some time ago). The camera stores still images in MPO format, which is essentially two JPGs, thumbnails and metadata crammed into a single file. It stores video files in a stacked AVI format called 3D-AVI.

New file formats are always challenging to deal with, especially if you’re on a Mac. Fuji ships the camera with its FinePix software, and after installing it, I realized that it has no 3D support because the Mac version is two major revisions behind the Windows version!

I went online looking around for MPO and 3D-AVI support for the Mac. Things aren’t looking so good. (read more »)