Wedding Daze

Went to Iain and Suzanne's wedding bash tonight. Good food, good company and good music. I didn't actually dance (I'm not actually allowed to until the court order is rescinded) but it was a great event. I took the little camera and grabbed a few snaps.

The figures on top of the cake were ace. Although I don't remember Iain having that much hair...

...and they even had their own branded sweeties for us

Congratulations, and the best of luck for the future.

ShutterBug

I seem to be getting back into photography again. I've been selling computers and phones and buying cameras and lenses. And I'm not alone. I was in the newsagents today and there are loads and loads of photography magazines sprouting up.I think part of this is due to the availability of cheap digital SLR cameras, and also sites like Flickr which let you show off your pictures. Either way, it is nice to see, because photography is fun and with modern computer based technology there is no need to mess around in the dark with strange chemicals (unless you really fancy it). At Hull we even have a Hull University Photographic Society now, I'm looking forward to going along to some more meetings next semester.

I've been taking photographs since schooldays, when hiding in the darkroom was a very pleasant alternative to school sports on Wednesday afternoon. I had a developing tank, an enlarger and hands that smelt of fixer. I used to borrow books from the library about photographic technique and learn phrases like "contre jour". In those days taking a photograph was quite an effort. If you didn't have a light meter to measure the brightness of the scene you could use a little plastic calculator to work out the exposure. You gave it the date and time and it worked out how bright the outdoors should be. Then you had to calculate the distance, set the focus and finally fire the shutter. After a session in the darkroom you would get to see your negatives, which you would then convert into prints after another foray into the pitch black. Great fun.

Nowadays you just press the button. The camera decides what you are photographing, sets the focus and exposure accordingly and then makes a noise like old cameras used to do - just to keep you happy. You can look at the picture straight away, and print out copies of the ones you like best, with no darkness at all.

Of course, as someone who used to do everything the hard way, I think this makes it all too easy, but then again you can get nice pictures with minimal effort. I took the new camera and lens down to the marina and had a happy half hour taking pictures. Which I guess is what it is all about.

Lifeboat

Boats and tidal barrier

Flags

Hull Marina

Head Tracking using the Wii Remote

This is amazing. I'm soo going to build one...

Dealing with Bandwidth Thieves

Ian sent me this link about what to do if you suspect the neighbours are stealing your home WIFI.

http://www.ex-parrot.com/~pete/upside-down-ternet.html

Brilliant stuff.

Imagine Cup Last Chance

In response to requests from lots of universities, Microsoft have again extended the deadline for Imagine Cup Software Design Challenge entries to January 16th.

They have also set up a Windows Live Messenger account where you can discuss deas and entries for the competition. This is on imaginecup@hotmail.co.uk and there should be someone on the end of this at most times.

If you are thinking about entering but aren't sure if your idea will hit the spot, you could have a chat with them about it before making your pitch.

I can't stress strongly enough the value of taking part in things like this. We are finding that employers are more and more concerned that potential hires should be "Out of the Box Useful" when they arrive in their job. Entering competitions, preparing and pitching ideas and working with other people are all the kind of thing that help build you up as a useful person, and you should take every possible opportunity to beef up these skills.