Ricoh Firmware 1.33 for GXR

It is nice to receive firmware updates for your toy that upgrade rather than cripple. Ricoh has been consistently doing that and for the GXR, it has been pleasantly surprising.

This firmware is not a big improvement compared to when the focusing speed was improved tremendously, but one might prove an asset for people who take pictures of their children or pets.
Just tested the Target Follow function and it seems to be working, but would need a real moving target to  fully test it out.
The extra scene modes are just bling bling for the camera, but hey, the GXR can be a little fun too.

Alternative Camera

Let me just say this about the iPod Touch Camera.

It SUCKS!

Either that or it does interpretive photography by default.

No the photo above is not of some paranormal phenomenon, it was taken at a concert. Sure the person has a divine voice but definitely he does not glow divinely. (Though some fans would probably say he does.) Ironic that I was lucky to get so close but the iPod Touch decided the personality was dazzling and interpreted as such.

Ok, some may ask, where was my Ricoh?

Well unfortunately, being the naive sheep that I am, I thought since photography and videography is "banned", I didn't want to chance having to foster out my Ricoh in some forsaken cubical and risk some harried staff member giving it away accidentally. So much for the ban, people actually came in with a DSLR bling-bling around their neck.

Still while I did take some shots, I do respect the artist and avoided capturing actual performances.

So much for using the Touch as a standby camera. It is only for sunny days and motionless objects unless you like interpretive photos.

Too slow too late

Raise your hands, how many of you have had ideas that has been tossing and turning, always on the verge of coming into being, but it just never does. Then someone else makes it into a full 3-D working model.

Of course being at the equivalent of secondary school level physics is hard to compare with the geniuses behind these companies.

Of course I had not thought of making a radio, it was more making use of all that raw kinetic energy that flows through our pipes as we preen and clean. Multiply by all the toilets that flush around the world, it would make a green symphony.

Venusian female and Martian male

"Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus"

What nonsense.

Men would have never made it from Mars as they will never ask for directions and end up circling back. Women would have asked for directions and still made the wrong turn at the moon.

What the heck were they thinking?

In this day and age of eco design and high oil prices, it is surprising to find this packaging. The only important content of this box is the 5 ink cartridges the same size as you see on the box photo, all snuggly packed into rectangle envelope in the middle. To put it in context, you can throw 2 iPhones inside the box and still make plenty of rattle.

It doesn't make sense at all.