Eric Cheng's Journal http://echeng.com/journal Eric Cheng's Journal Mon, 14 May 2012 07:01:00 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 Weekly Twitter Digest: 2012-05-14 http://echeng.com/journal/2012/05/14/weekly-twitter-digest-2012-05-14/ http://echeng.com/journal/2012/05/14/weekly-twitter-digest-2012-05-14/#comments Mon, 14 May 2012 07:01:00 +0000 echeng http://echeng.com/journal/2012/05/14/weekly-twitter-digest-2012-05-14/ Tweets posted by @echeng during the week of 2012-05-14.

]]> http://echeng.com/journal/2012/05/14/weekly-twitter-digest-2012-05-14/feed/ 0 Contrail Shadow, Aerial (flight from Seattle to San Francisco) http://echeng.com/journal/2012/05/08/contrail-shadow-aerial-flight-from-seattle-to-san-francisco/ http://echeng.com/journal/2012/05/08/contrail-shadow-aerial-flight-from-seattle-to-san-francisco/#comments Tue, 08 May 2012 08:15:02 +0000 echeng http://echeng.com/journal/?p=5422

I looked out of the window during a flight from Seattle to San Francisco last Sunday and noticed the shadow of the plane’s contrail. This video was shot with an iPhone 4s and sped up 8x (with contrast increased).

]]> http://echeng.com/journal/2012/05/08/contrail-shadow-aerial-flight-from-seattle-to-san-francisco/feed/ 0 Weekly Twitter Digest: 2012-05-07 http://echeng.com/journal/2012/05/07/weekly-twitter-digest-2012-05-07/ http://echeng.com/journal/2012/05/07/weekly-twitter-digest-2012-05-07/#comments Mon, 07 May 2012 07:01:00 +0000 echeng http://echeng.com/journal/2012/05/07/weekly-twitter-digest-2012-05-07/ Tweets posted by @echeng during the week of 2012-05-07.

  • Arqball featured on Information Week—you guys are in great company! cc @arqball @abhvious http://t.co/aFEBIu8k #fb #
  • Care package in the mail today from @kozyndan. Pinipples! http://t.co/nRrwDoMx #
  • eBay UPS shipping label integration is totally broken. It's sad to see such a great service stagnate! #fb #
  • Wow. If they do this, we will cancel! RT @jwz: Hulu to require Cable TV subscription. Bwaaahahahhaha! *snerk* http://t.co/wmVLMs9t #
  • When calf stretching meets photography @kirasw @ South Beach Marina http://t.co/9hBViu2M #
  • @sheevazee we are in one of your conference rooms. Come show us how excited you are! :) #
  • South Beach photo walk in SF @ Pier 40 http://t.co/f8HfLbk4 #
  • Love @calvetica, which is my new default iPhone calendar app. Event view needs organizing, though. Location is too far down! #
  • @johnolilly thanks—i'll find the setting! #
  • I wonder if I should sell all the lenses I never use. #fb #
  • @Nyccmh Have to inventory. I actively use 10-12 lenses, but have more. #
  • @Nyccmh @topolovac I'm a Canon shooter. :) #
  • @Nyccmh @topolovac Wanna have a portfolio contest? ;) #
  • @sterlingz I went through my lens collection and only found 4 that I don't actively use. Not too bad. There are 2 more I want, though. ;) #
  • @Nyccmh doesn't really matter which camera I use (comparable models, I mean). shooting skill is much more important. #
  • Re-processing all of my travel pictures, one trip at a time. This is going to take a loooong time. #fb #
  • Beautiful, beautiful video. TED talk: Louie Schwartzberg: The hidden beauty of pollination #fb http://t.co/GYs0txQd #
  • @cindypon TEDx is the closest I've gotten! #
  • My first SF Giants game! @ AT&T Park http://t.co/2fYt6wye #
  • The field at AT&T park @ AT&T Park http://t.co/ZolssMTV #
  • Awesome @Lytro dentist shot from Victoria. :) http://t.co/QMJx1Jun #
  • @nobledesign We also have dermatologists interested. ;) #
  • @OliRyan Took @Uber tonight. Wonderful experience, as always. #
  • My Google+ profile page's animated tiger shark is back! :) http://t.co/xSbgj3UQ #
  • Looks versatile! RT @sterlingz Wow! The Genie looks like an absolutely amazing tool for Timelapse photography http://t.co/nzzV6O98 #
  • @sterlingz I backed one earlier. Looks like a great relacement for the brain for my Perception Motion Dolly, which is very hard to use. #
  • Thomas Hawk (@thomashawk) takes us on a video tour of @SmugMug HQ (my shark print is shown, I'm told!) http://t.co/w5D2K0xH! #fb #
  • This is a perfect use of the Lytro camera (once again, Alejandro Guillen pulls off a great shot). http://t.co/C0wVO46E #
  • Wanna take the new Nikon D4 underwater? Read our Nauticam housing review on Wetpixel (by Alex Mustard) http://t.co/0oiunYN5 #fb #
  • Everytime someone asks if I want to video chat via Skype, I ask if they iChat, Facetime, or Google+ Hangout, instead. #fb #
  • @gilesshaxted For voice, it's fine, but for video, I find it to be lacking. Also, their giant interface really doesn't work for me… #
  • RIP, Neville Coleman. May your rest be dominated by beautiful, colorful sea slugs. #fb #
  • Edison's Revenge: The Rise of DC Power (via @Pocket) #fb http://t.co/qMiX8idL #
  • The iRest iPad stand from Rain Design is on sale for $40. I love Rain products. http://t.co/m86YYz3f #fb #
  • @davidkosmos Not sure—post at Wetpixel Critter ID forum. They (we) are very helpful over there! http://t.co/LHTtPnnJ #
  • my wife agrees re: Nash oddness! :) “@mcgd: @adamnash I am the president of your fan club but holy moly are you odd. Don't change. :)” #
  • Big jets are cool (Trent engine) @ Future of Flight Aviation Center & Boeing Tour http://t.co/aTSxTLTS #
  • @adamnash you continue to fascinate Pam #
  • Beautiful day in Seattle http://t.co/J3cj7ykC #
  • Ugh. eBay auction says USA only, yet non-USA bidder wins. Annoying! #
  • Leyan (@leyanlo) shows off insane Rubik's Cube skills to rapt @Lytro employees during lunch. http://t.co/s3W17fOW #
]]> http://echeng.com/journal/2012/05/07/weekly-twitter-digest-2012-05-07/feed/ 0 Weekly Twitter Digest: 2012-04-30 http://echeng.com/journal/2012/04/30/weekly-twitter-digest-2012-04-30/ http://echeng.com/journal/2012/04/30/weekly-twitter-digest-2012-04-30/#comments Mon, 30 Apr 2012 07:01:00 +0000 echeng http://echeng.com/journal/2012/04/30/weekly-twitter-digest-2012-04-30/ Tweets posted by @echeng during the week of 2012-04-30.

  • Useful: "10 Time-Saving Enhancements to Layers Panel in Photoshop CS6" by Julieanne Kost http://t.co/pC5TRwfz! #
  • @adamnash @johnolilly Wool books 1-5: $5.99 for Kindle—nice! I would read it for free via Prime, but I almost always read via Kindle apps. #
  • We are getting big! @lytro @ Lytro http://t.co/kAZ8gHXS #
  • Little Printer in @Lytro light field! cc @genmon @BERGLondon #littleprinter http://t.co/ZDJeABBI #
  • This garden in Milan featured some of the most beautiful flowers I've ever seen http://t.co/0Qlv3Xfp #
  • I have never seen such a beautiful cloudy sky in San Francisco. If you're here, go outside and look west!#fb. #
  • Violinist Chee-Yun on my roof in SF: http://t.co/AR8t5045 #
  • Artists @kozyndan in @Lytro light field: http://t.co/t1BZTYZw #
  • @DamonWebster Hey, Damon. It was good to see you in LA. Here's you, in @Lytro light field: http://t.co/Gj7lI3Ku #
  • Sorcery! http://t.co/Q2Wx9GVH! #
  • @pyknosis That is so awesome. #
  • @nobledesign Shelley, I think you are right! I took some shots of miniatures last week in Milan—worked well. :) http://t.co/UwgUsdlg #
  • A 3TB Western Digital drive failed in my ReadyNAS. Luckily, it is RAIDed; I didn't lose any data. Back up, friends—all drives fail. #fb #
  • This @Lytro picture of Alice Jacini's eye is my favorite eye portrait, so far http://t.co/pbCBGN0X #
  • How to take a @Lytro picture of a dude holding a CD http://t.co/sjBCLHuS #
  • Tree kangaroo claws, Papua New Guinea. http://t.co/FYJgmYFo #
  • Co-worker pegged me for "26 or 27" years old today. Wonder when I'll look 30. #fb #
  • Had an infusion of life while listening to Livia Sohn play Tchaikovsky violin conc @ Dinkelspiel Auditorium http://t.co/U8jLo5WN #
  • Cine: Hard at work at @Lytro http://t.co/q67pojgG #cinemagraph #gif #
  • @JeremiahLee Agreed! #
  • @johnolilly episodes 1-3 do not exist for me! #
  • @johnolilly Pam just asked, "what's episode 2? The ewoks?" #
  • The best veggie spring rolls ever! (at Yummy Yummy) [pic] — http://t.co/wzFGxJXA #
  • Wow. Apple TV 2nd gen units are going for more than 3rd gen units on eBay. Must be jailbreak status. #fb #
  • @imranm I suppose that most downloaded content is still 720p. If you're downloading and dumping to drive and using XBMC, AppleTV2 is best. #
  • Stayed up making my Stanford Reunion class book page. Loved the class book from the 10 year reunion! #fb #
  • Giving Google Drive a try… #fb #
  • Lytro t-shirts look better on the other sex http://t.co/8K0KiBR1 #
  • Stupidest comment I've gotten all year (scroll to the bottom). http://t.co/EJSYDaZg #
  • Wow. It is so easy to get derailed in eBay and lose the listing you are composing. Go back? Lose your draft. cc @adamnash #
  • Queued up 17 auctions on eBay this afternoon. Extremely gratifying, for some reason! #fb #
  • FS: Seac Sub Icaro BCD http://t.co/1ITeltXA #
  • For sale: Sony NEX-5N camera, Fuji X100 camera, Sony HDR-CX550V camcorder, and a few other things. http://t.co/N9PM2RHF #
  • Headed to the SF Symphony with my peers @ Herbst Theatre http://t.co/VHjo573y #
  • San Francisco City Hall at dusk @ Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall http://t.co/Zv2fJe3q #
  • The SF crowd went nuts for Beethoven 7 by Joshua Bell and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields. It was great! #fb #
]]> http://echeng.com/journal/2012/04/30/weekly-twitter-digest-2012-04-30/feed/ 0 How to take a Lytro picture of a dude holding a CD http://echeng.com/journal/2012/04/26/how-to-take-a-lytro-picture-of-a-dude-holding-a-cd/ http://echeng.com/journal/2012/04/26/how-to-take-a-lytro-picture-of-a-dude-holding-a-cd/#comments Thu, 26 Apr 2012 22:37:29 +0000 echeng http://echeng.com/journal/?p=5411 Internalizing Lytro light field photography techniques can take time and practice, but there’s an easy one that you can master in no time at all. Get a friend to hold an interesting object out in front of him and take a picture, holding your camera really close to the object. We call this picture “the present” (as in the verb, not the noun).

Here’s a living picture of Alex, one of Lytro’s handsome designers, presenting his friend’s band’s CD:

Here’s a picture of me taking that shot. I’m zoomed out all the way (full wide), and the front of my camera is about 4″ away from the CD. Note that 4″ means 4″—not 6″, 8″ or 12″. I’ve had Alex tilt the CD so it takes up less of the frame.

You can shoot from further away and still get great refocus by moving backward and zooming in. Here’s a shot taken at about 2x zoom (just over half zoomed in everyday mode).

Here’s a picture of me taking that picture. I’m zoomed in just over half way in everyday mode (about 2x).

Mastering “the present” gives you an easy way to take highly-refocusable living pictures of your friends. Give it a try!

]]> http://echeng.com/journal/2012/04/26/how-to-take-a-lytro-picture-of-a-dude-holding-a-cd/feed/ 0 Weekly Twitter Digest: 2012-04-23 http://echeng.com/journal/2012/04/23/weekly-twitter-digest-2012-04-23/ http://echeng.com/journal/2012/04/23/weekly-twitter-digest-2012-04-23/#comments Mon, 23 Apr 2012 07:01:00 +0000 echeng http://echeng.com/journal/2012/04/23/weekly-twitter-digest-2012-04-23/ Tweets posted by @echeng during the week of 2012-04-23.

]]> http://echeng.com/journal/2012/04/23/weekly-twitter-digest-2012-04-23/feed/ 0 Lytro eye battle http://echeng.com/journal/2012/04/17/lytro-eye-battle/ http://echeng.com/journal/2012/04/17/lytro-eye-battle/#comments Tue, 17 Apr 2012 15:47:36 +0000 echeng http://echeng.com/journal/?p=5405 Here’s my eye (self-portrait with a Lytro camera):

Here’s a lovely Italian woman’s eye, taken today at a Lytro press conference at the Trienalle in Milan.

Mine looks kinda dead in comparison!

Here’s a picture of me taking that picture:

[
Source: @ocalao

]]> http://echeng.com/journal/2012/04/17/lytro-eye-battle/feed/ 2 Weekly Twitter Digest: 2012-04-16 http://echeng.com/journal/2012/04/16/weekly-twitter-digest-2012-04-16/ http://echeng.com/journal/2012/04/16/weekly-twitter-digest-2012-04-16/#comments Mon, 16 Apr 2012 07:01:00 +0000 echeng http://echeng.com/journal/2012/04/16/weekly-twitter-digest-2012-04-16/ Tweets posted by @echeng during the week of 2012-04-16.

  • @tammyloh Has he checked the jobs page? :) #
  • I hate driving. 25 minutes on the road, and I've gone a few miles. #fb #
  • Played chamber music for 3 hours tonight. Brain recharged! #fb #
  • Google+ just revved their layout. It looks great! Congrats, everyone… http://t.co/1Mfzt2Hv #
  • A tarantula peed on my mouth about an hour ago. @ East Bay Vivarium http://t.co/V2bINijp #
  • I think I'm going to have to get back on coffee. I won't survive, otherwise. #
  • I'm giving Audible a try—driving so much these days that I need to listen to something that will keep me awake. This Am Life + Audible. #fb #
  • @blam I'm also going to start using Instacast to stream Radiolab. #
  • Getting ready for #MontereyPhotoWalk with @Lytro and @treyratcliff. See you at 9:30! http://t.co/oyWMRNW1 #fb #
  • Topher takes risks with his priceless employee @Lytro camera #MontereyPhotoWalk http://t.co/qH5VCIOo #
  • Stopped by Backscatter and checked out the Nauticam NEX-7 housing @ Backscatter Underwater Video & Photo http://t.co/ug9K0Q9k #
  • With Frans Lanting #montereyphotowalk http://t.co/Hc9JJeSE #
  • @hahatango hey, tango. We still have your license. Where are you? :) #
  • Ren Ng trading card at #EG @lytro @ Monterey Conference Center http://t.co/YIEwZcMp #
  • Holy shit. Jim Meskimen, impressionist, is good! #EG #fb #
  • Ren Ng is onstage at #EG @Lytro #
  • The @lytro 3D demo on the Sony RealD 3D projector looked amazing! #EG #fb #
  • @zackmctee thanks! It was great to meet you. :) #
  • Misool and Raja Ampat is being featured in a talk about leeches! #EG cc @misoolecoresort #fb #
  • Wow. #EG is insanely inspiring. #fb #
  • @kalebaskew hey, kaleb. It was nice to meet you, as well! Stay creative. :) #
  • Took 297 shots with the @Lytro camera today and gave a bunch of demos to people at #EG Battery only ran down to 52%. #
  • My MacBook Pro is drawing 1 amp of power, and IT IS PLUGGED INTO AC POWER. I guess I'm making it do too much. #fb #
  • Here are some living pictures from the @treyratcliff / @lytro photo walk today at the @egconference #egconf http://t.co/weHBmC8r #
  • @blam How was the thunderstorm last night from your camper van? :) #
  • @blam You should make self videos when that happens. #
  • Classical music at @eg. Refreshing! #
  • Neal Stephenson at @eg #egconf (at Monterey Conference Center) [pic] — http://t.co/Stm1CvWW #
  • I want to do everything. #fb #
  • More pictures from #egconf http://t.co/au9pwNfs @eg @blam #
  • @dfinglas You will have more control over the G12, but they are all roughly equivalent. #
  • Military latrine http://t.co/x6vWww0A #
  • Took about 1,000 pictures with my Canon 5D Mark III today. This camera continues to totally amaze me. #fb #
  • @blam Check out what one of my friends did today: http://t.co/ePojf4VA #
  • @shashachu Have not noticed anything like that… #
  • @ZachCumer Yes, but I sold my M8. Like the idea of a M9, but don't have an investment in Leica lenses. #
  • @juliekw14 Julie, your Twitter avatar icon is awesome! cc @Lytro #
  • Wow. The worst screaming baby I've ever heard is on this plane. #fb #
  • @Theremina I've seen that video. they sound very similar! #
  • @Theremina I get along with babies these days, but some are still quite loud. :) #
]]> http://echeng.com/journal/2012/04/16/weekly-twitter-digest-2012-04-16/feed/ 0 Classical music at e.g. http://echeng.com/journal/2012/04/16/classical-music-at-e-g/ http://echeng.com/journal/2012/04/16/classical-music-at-e-g/#comments Mon, 16 Apr 2012 00:31:52 +0000 echeng http://echeng.com/journal/?p=5400 I spent Thursday and Friday at the e.g. conference in Monterey, California, which was incrediblly inspiring. I feel really lucky to have been a part of it.

Each day, the roughly 300 attendees were given the opportunity to hear hours and hours of presentations by talented people who have done incredible things. While I found the content of the presentations to be fascinating, what I really loved was that everyone involved was doing something driven by passion, and while there were many paths to the discovery of a particular passion, they had all figured it out (some were born into it, and some only discovered it after having gone through meandering paths of adventure in other fields).

There was, however, one thing that stood out, and not in a good way: classical music.

Music at conferences like TED and e.g. are often based in the avant-garde and experimental, which can, of course, be interesting and thought-provoking. Classical instruments like the piano, violin and cello are usually part of some kind of crossover performance. The musicians are often quite talented, and the audience loves this stuff. During the 2 days I was at e.g., there were exactly two purely-classical performances, which starkly contrasted in quality when compared to the other presentations. The first was a short solo piano piece that wasn’t very well prepared, and the second, a Brahms piano trio that was pretty much sight read on stage. After the piano trio sight-reading performance, something incredible happened: the crowd gave a standing ovation! I was thoroughly confused and disappointed. If this same performance had taken place in a concert hall, all of the musicians in the audience would have walked out.

Curators at conferences like e.g. and TED need to feature classical performances that are as high in caliber as the rest of the presentations—or, leave them out entirely.

]]> http://echeng.com/journal/2012/04/16/classical-music-at-e-g/feed/ 0 Weekly Twitter Digest: 2012-04-09 http://echeng.com/journal/2012/04/09/weekly-twitter-digest-2012-04-09/ http://echeng.com/journal/2012/04/09/weekly-twitter-digest-2012-04-09/#comments Mon, 09 Apr 2012 07:01:00 +0000 echeng http://echeng.com/journal/2012/04/09/weekly-twitter-digest-2012-04-09/ Tweets posted by @echeng during the week of 2012-04-09.

]]> http://echeng.com/journal/2012/04/09/weekly-twitter-digest-2012-04-09/feed/ 0