Σήμερα άκουσα — μετά από πολύ καιρό — το Diesel And Dust. Ίσως επειδή — όπως πάντα συμβαίνει με τη μουσική — έχω τόσες πολλές αναμνήσεις, κυρίως καλές, που καλύπτουν το μεγαλύτερο μέρος της ζωής μου, ίσως επειδή η μουσική είναι εύπεπτη (αν και όχι ξεχωριστή) αλλά παράλληλα τόσο διαχρονική (η σχέση μου με τα 80s είναι κάπως ‘περίεργη’, αλλά η μουσική των Midnight Oil σίγουρα δεν χαρακτηρίζεται ‘τυπική’ των 80s όπως και να το πάρει κανείς). Ίσως επειδή το πολιτικό μήνυμα των Oil είναι τόσο επίκαιρο και σημαντικό είκοσι χρόνια μετά τη κυκλοφορία του δίσκου, το άκουσμα των κομματιών του δίσκου αυτού πάντα με ευχαριστεί. Δυστυχώς ο πιο πολύς κόσμος περιορίζεται στο Beds are burning που έχει καταντήσει, μαζί με πολλά άλλα κομμάτια που αποτέλεσαν ‘Best Of’ κάποιας εποχής, χιλιοπαιγμένο τραγουδάκι που στη πορεία έχασε το όποιο νόημα ήθελαν να περάσουν οι Midnight Oil. Ο δίσκος όμως έχει πολλά περισσότερα να προσφέρει σε όποιον διατίθεται να τον ακούσει!

SLR Photo lenses are expensive. Good SLR lenses are very expensive, often exceeding the price of a mid-range Canon or Nikon DSLR camera itself. As I’m about to get a used L-series Canon EF Lens, I thought I’d share with you a checklist that I prepared to help me remember (and guide me on) what to check before buying. This is, by no means, a comprehensive guide or checklist, but rather an assortment of advice I’ve gathered from friends and by reading articles and comments in online forums.

You will need:

• Your SLR (or DSLR) camera
• A lint-free lens cloth or pen
• A rubber blower (not compressed air)
• A light source (a bright sky or well-lit white wall is just fine)
• Patience

Check the contents

Common sense stuff first. Lenses always come with a manual and a box. Ask for them. Ask for the warranty, if any. Also make sure the lens has its front and rear lens caps attached and that they are intact. Spare lens caps are not always easy to find. Good lenses typically come with a hood (cheaper ones usually don’t, but you can buy the hood for most lenses relatively cheaply). If you know that the lens you’re buying comes with a hood, ask for it too.

»

These past few years have been part of a period in which the computing industry, for the first time after many years, has been in flux. The importance of web applications is growing everyday. Alternatives to well-established platforms and application software, often powered by open source software, are challenging the status quo and there was a 5 year period during which there was no new Windows version. While Linux on the Desktop still has a long way to go if it wants to be considered a viable choice for the average, non-technical user, Apple’s Mac OS X is already there.

Where does Macintosh and OS X stand in the new Vista (and iPod) world? It is evident that Apple has resigned from its once-prominent We-Love-UNIX-Open-Source-And-Business-Too position of yesteryear. Since 2003 it has gradually redefined itself as a media-centric company, focusing on the iPod, iTS and its professional series of video and photo editing software. Its hardware lines have not been significantly revamped feature-wise, with the exception of the numerous CPU and memory upgrades they have had, since 2004. The target demographics have changed too. Gone are the days when ads like the one above appeared in print (featuring praise from scientists and public figures like Tim O’Reilly), when the Open Source components of OS X were featured in the front page of apple.com, when the XServes were hailed by the IT press as ‘Apple’s bold and impressive foray into the business and scientific server world’ when there was widespread talk of how Apple would revolutionise the UNIX world on the desktop, when Jobs was mentioning how OS X was the most used UNIX operating system in his keynotes. Nope, that’s all behind us now. Mac OS X has its niche, Apple knows this, and is content with that; it is not really focusing on convincing individuals, companies and the world to switch to the Mac, despite the entertaining (to the existing mac user) but ultimately pointless ads.
»