The iMac trauma continues. It spontaneously shut down overnight again. I spent a big chunk of the morning trying to troubleshoot. Started with RAM because the initial Genius Bar diagnosis pointed that way. After hours wasted moving DIMMs around and inconsistent, unrepeatable behavior, I threw in the towel. Went back to Apple, resigned that I’d have to leave it for a power supply swap. I was stunned and delighted when the manager simply exchanged my bum CPU for a new one. Let’s hope that one iMac really was just a lemon.
The iMac spontaneously shut down overnight and would not start up this morning. Dragged it down to the Apple Store only to find out that the troubleshooting instructions at support.apple.com are wrong. Thanks. If that’s not enough fun, construction began on our window replacement. It sent the cats into full panic mode. Stay tuned for more fun tomorrow.
Lazy day for me. Didn’t get out of pajamas until afternoon. Worked out a bit then rambled about Memorial Day and its meaning. If you think America is great and never question what our elected officials do, stop right now. You’ll hate what I say and me.
A better day. The washer remains non-functional but I have a pretty good idea of how to fix it. Found info and a video at a UK site that describes the problem we’re having and shows how to do the repair using our exact machine model. Parts are ordered and should be delivered on Wednesday. That said, we did go spend the afternoon with Matt, Miguel and Aaron so Rich could do this week’s laundry. Managed to avoid the crowds and madness around the Golden Gate Bridge 75th Anniversary. And Rich explored his holiday-character fetishes on the Grindrs.
Yes, a quick installment. Day began badly because we ran out of milk so I was forced to resort to Starbucks across the street for the morning cappuccinos. Then I show you how the pre-cancerous skin is looking. And two gratuitous shots of the cats. After that I didn’t shoot much because the washer stopped working on Rich again. He was stressed so I didn’t want to add to it by having a video camera in his face. Without being too much of a spoiler, I can say that the situation improves on Sunday. Stay tuned.
Odd Friday because I have to go in for the annual Commencement ceremony. Didn’t record much during it. Do have a behind the still from onstage and a bit from the post-event lunch. Tiring few days though so we had a quiet night at home. Cold one, too. I can tell our usual foggy, windy, chilly summer will be here soon.
You’re wrong. Take your mind out of the gutter. It’s just time for my annual head-to-toe skin check. The fun aftereffect of having skin cancer. Yes, I had a small basel cell on the back of my neck when I was 30. Every year since, I’ve taken my clothes off to allow a medical professional to eye me up and down. If that doesn’t wear down the inhibitions, I’m not sure anything can. A few squirts of liquid nitrogen and I’m certified for another year. Err, four months since I opted out of a couple of places on the face this time. Also got to buy two new tires for the BMW. Surprise. And the cats were freaked out by construction. Not necessarily in that order.
It was Bay to Breakers so we stayed in the apartment most of the day. But I made an exception and went moron hunting just for you, loyal viewers. Never fear, no public urination or defecation was found this year. Probably went out too early. I also rant about a horrendous Kraft salad dressing commercial that’s been playing incessantly on the ABC iPad app. It worked. I’m never going to buy Kraft products again. Ever. Join me. It will be fun.
Day of errands and other tasks so that we can just hunker down at home Sunday. The goal is to avoid the insanity on the streets when Bay to Breakers invades our neighborhood. I had to get out while Rich cleaned the apartment then spent some quality time with Alice. In the evening, we went to a healthy dinner with Aaron, Matt and Miguel. Counterbalanced with cupcakes and our favorite guest star Puck.
Recently my pal Keoshi inquired whether the new-ish Lytro light field camera is “worth the money.” Good question. I’ve been pondering it myself as I play with the device and the resulting images.
First, it’s not just another digital camera. Certainly not a replacement for a pocketable point and shoot. The Lytro creates images that are more dynamic than still photos. The company has dubbed them Living Pictures. Not sure I like that name because the images captured are static even though the light field capture method allows the viewer to refocus or zoom into an image. You can play with any of them here, too. Click or tap once—the Lytro viewer is iOS compatible—to refocus. Twice to zoom.
There is something very cool about light field capture. Theoretically you don’t have to be very concerned about focus as you’re capturing the image since you can alter it after the fact in software. Imagine the implication if your cell phone camera allowed that. You could just snap, snap, snap knowing that you’ll refine the shots later. Only problem is that the current Lytro camera doesn’t quite fulfill that promise.
Don’t get me wrong, the Lytro camera comes off as a quality device. There’s a solidness that’s reassuring. With the exception of the very low-resolution display, the hardware looks and feels flawless. The problem I’m having is with the images themselves. Most of the initial two dozen or so that I’ve captured remind me too much of the shots I got from the first digital camera purchased in the mid 90’s. Small, overly-sharpened and contrasty. Something about them just feels artificial. As with any type of photography, the best images result from careful composition and thought about the subject.
My gut reaction is that’s antithetical to the promise of light field capture.
All that said, I don’t regret buying the initial Lytro camera. The company has already delivered one firmware update that improved the device’s functionality. I’m hopeful they will continue to refine it.
So is the Lytro worth $400? For me, yes. I find the technology fascinating. And I’m enjoying trying to figure out what I can do with it.