Monday, January 21, 2008

LOLCODE

Here's one programming language that you won't find in many resumes: LOLCODE. More on the LOLCODE home page.

Sample code:
HAI
CAN HAS STDIO?
PLZ OPEN FILE "LOLCATS.TXT"?
AWSUM THX
VISIBLE FILE
O NOES
INVISIBLE "ERROR!"
KTHXBYE

For the non-geeks, there's a project to translate the Bible to lolcat slang. Any guesses on who the Ceiling Cat is? That site has a guide to speaking lolcat. The next time I get one of those e-mails written in txtspeak (E.g. "cn we mt now? rgds, xxxx") I'll reply in lolcat. Srsly!

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Zzzz....

Some interesting links I followed from the LifeHacker blog today:
  • Lucid dreaming. I'll control the script now. The next time there's a crazy cow after me, I'm going to whip out a bazooka, or grow horns and counter-attack. And no more hiding behind the podium when making a presentation to a packed hall. I'll materialize size 34 pants from thin air :)

  • Waking up without an alarm clock. This is something I have been doing for a while now. I've got into a rhythm for the working days. What amazes me however is that when I need to wake up much earlier on some days I wake up before alarm rings.

Thursday, January 10, 2008

My Best Macro Shots of 2007

Here's a showcase of my best macro shots from last year. Used a Tamron 90mm f/2.8 macro lens on an EOS 350D for all of them. I couldn't have got any of these shots without the external flash that I used to light the subject. I had the Tamron lens with me for quite a while before I got satisfying pictures with it. Without the extra light from the flash, I couldn't stop down the lens to f/11 or f/16 to get the depth field required to keep the interesting elements in focus. If you are getting into macro photography (especially moving subjects like insects), you should learn about off camera flash photography. The Strobist Blog is one of the best resources on the net for that.




The biggest difficulty was finding someone to hold the light for me, or in some cases shooting single handed. That involved manual focussing by moving the camera since I would be holding the flash with the other hand. I have since got a flash bracket with a flexible arm to take care of the flash, but my priorities have changed. Now I don't get any time to chase bugs between the nappy changes :)