Famous in Dublin
How often do you run into a famous people in Dublin? Is it even possible? I don’t mean to see them when they playing a gig or match or when they signing the book in the bookstore. I mean how often do you run into them on the street? Someone would say rarely or never. But I wouldn’t say so. Not after I ran into some famous people in the streets of Dublin.
Today, I’ve walked by one of the coffee shops in Ballsbridge and there was Gordon D’Arcy sitting outside of the coffee shop, enjoying his coffee. Just like that. (For those who don’t know, Gordon is a rugby player playing for Irish National Team and Leinster). Nobody seems to make a big deal of it. Why would they? He is a guy like any other. Just famous for playing professinal rugby.
Aother famous rugby player, also playing for Ireland and Leinster, Shane Horgan live just around the corner. And I used to see him around almost every week. I didn’t even know he live there. I have seen the car full of Leinster clothes and gear inside and I thought this car belongs to a serious rugby fan. Week later, I ran into Shane parking his car in front of his house. I met him many times since that.
Do you say these guys are not so famous like singers or people from TV? All right. How’s this. The office, I am working at, is in the same building as one of the Dublin’s radio stations. About a two months ago (maybe three), I met a lead singer of Stereophonics (Kelly Jones) in the lobby of the building, coming to radio for an interview. Or Brian McFadden, also coming to radio, while I ran into him just outside of the building the other day.
And there were others. I have also ran into Louise Walsh, one of the judges in X Factor show and creator of boys bands like Boyzone or Westlife, or TV/Radio presenter Eamonn Dunphy. Yep, here in Dublin.
All of them I have met in the streets and at the places where me, or other people walk every single day.
Weekend…
I’ts Sunday evening, end of rather quiet weekend. I didn’t do much. Cinema on Friday night, seeing two movies – National Treasure, The Book of Secret and In the Valley of Elah. The first one, easy watching movie, and the second one really good one. Enjoyed both.
I’ve had a breakfast with the friend of mine Leslie on Saturday morning and then I watched 6 Nation Rugby match between France and Ireland. The game was mostly in the hand of french for the entire first-half (19 – 6). The final result 26 – 21 for french is honestly bitter pill to swallow, after an impresive and highly entertaning second-half, where irish players completely change the course of the game and almost seized the win in the closing minutes. But it wasn’t ment to be today.
We had a hill-walking planned for the most of the Sunday, but due to unfavourable weather we stayed in Dublin. We had a nice Sunday breakfast in the near by coffee shop instead, and got some shopping done too. For the rest of the afternoon I was working on the web sites, building links which was quite a bit dull work, but has to be done.
Not one of the best weekends this one, but I am pleased.
Polaroid
Polaroid is dropping the technology it pioneered long before digital photography rendered instant film. It became obsolete to all but a few nostalgia buffs.
The firm is closing factories in Massachusetts, Mexico and the Netherlands and cutting 450 jobs as the brand synonymous with instant images focuses on ventures such as portable printers for images from mobile phones and digital cameras, televisions and DVD players. The company stopped making instant cameras over the past two years and is now trying to reinvent Polaroid so it lives on for the next 30 to 40 years.
Polaroid failed to embrace the digital technology that has transformed photography, instead sticking to its belief that many photographers who did not want to wait to get pictures developed would hold on to their old Polaroid cameras.
Global sales of traditional camera film have been dropping about 25% to 30% per year and instant film has been falling as fast if not faster.
Polaroid got its start making polarised sunglasses in the 1930s and introduced its first instant camera in 1948. Film packs contained the chemicals for developing images inside the camera, and photos emerged from the camera in less than a minute.
Polaroid’s overall revenue from instant cameras, film and other products peaked in 1991. The company went bankrupt in 2001 and was bought four years later by Minnetonka, Minneapolis-based consumer products company Petters Group Worldwide.
New €2 coin design
I have come accross this interesting news this morning. To celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the launch of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) and the creation of the euro, European officials have asked the public to vote on the design of a 2-euro coin. The new 2-euro coin with a common design, will be issued across the euro-zone at the beginning of 2009.
Pre-selection of 5 designes presented at eurodesigncontest has resulted from the design competition held within the euro area and the final winning design will be selected by public votes.
Voting will be closed on 22nd February 2008 and a set of high-value euro collector coins is to be win by a participant chosen at random from those who voted for the winning design.
Digital vs. Film
For the past few years, digital cameras have revolutionised photography. The photography become more popular as more people has been inspired and sharing the passion for photography. And there are still some of them asking the question if digital photography is better then film.
I have been using film cameras and the digital ones too. For me, the most important criteria was the quality of the printed photograph. Film provides superior quality enlargements, even though darkroom printing has all but died out. These days, you can get a high-resolution scan from the original film, and print photos digitally. This process gives you a better quality enlargement than a print from a digital camera. And I am talking about big enlargements here – A2 and larger.
But let’s face it, how many of us will ever print a photo larger than 8×12 inch? Or in fact, how many of us ever print the photos at all? The day of the photo album has passed. Most photos today will only exist as digital files. We share them in emails, on websites, use them as screensavers. For many people the idea printed photo is little more than a novelty.
So what does film has to offer? Not to much. Except the high cost of developing and printing (you have to pay for each exposure, even the bad ones). There is a long delay between taking the photo and seeing the result. And if you want to use your photo for any practical purpose, you will probably have to scan it to turn it into a digital file anyway.
Does this mean the digital photography is better than film? In the modern world demanding speed and convenience, yes. You can take all the photos you like at no cost, and see the results instantly. You don’t have to pay to print photos you don’t want, and you can simply delete your unsuccessful images from your camera.
But that is still far from perfect. You already know that digital files are not as good as film for very big enlargements. And there is more to it. The quality of a digital print is a little flatter than a film print. It may have plenty of colour and detail, but for all its advantages, digital photography lead to compromises in quality.
The solution for this, is editing program. It is not difficult to fix your photos to a standard that is as rich and three dimensional as a film print. So where does all this leave us? Is digital better than film? For your purposes, most likely yes. If you are not going to print large, high quality prints, there is really very little reason to stick with film (other than nostalgia). If you are shopping for a camera, make it a digital and take the time to learn how to use it. Photography (film or gigital) is still about focus, aperture, shutter speed, composition and lighting. The digital vs. film debate means nothing, if your camera is switched to auto all the time. Oh, and get to know your computer…you’re going to need it.