Drobo评论更新

最近一直在用新版的Drobo –确切地说是运转更快的Thunderbolt版，那是相当好用啊！之后我还更新了Drobo评论 ，感兴趣的话可以来网站看看。

每日一瞥——Facebook新总部

在新的Facebook园区开开心心逛了一下午，送一张快照！

Filed under the categories: California, San Francisco, San Jose, Travel

考虑了许久后，终于决定动笔。太多思路，各种事实，我试着整理出一个头绪来。

在Vic Gundotra家与他共进晚餐非常愉快。他不提，我本来不打算说的。真不知道这种情况应该怎么办，貌似也没什么成文的规矩。我可不希望网上传得到处都是。现在好啦，封印解除，我来给大家讲讲晚餐有趣的小故事。

我们无所不谈——从美学到科技，从时间膨胀到社会学，从弦理论到情感疏导再到创新产品。过程中，我发现了很多之前根本没有留意过的东西。这让我对才华与好奇有了更深刻的认识。

Vic坐在沙发上(把乖儿子送去酒窖玩儿！)，吃着奶酪和饼干，穿个马甲，笑着讲述我闻所未闻的事情。他居然学习吉他多年！甚至还请了个私教来家里传授。他弹得很熟练，然而有一天他问了个直截了当的问题，老师只好实话实说。Vic轻轻挪了挪位置，眼中略显凄凉：“我没那个天赋。”

在那之后一直到晚餐结束，他给我详细介绍了他的旅行摄影装备。他拥有的镜头比整个Nat Geo团队加起来都多——说明他可不是一般的“发烧友”。当说到照出的照片总是达不到他理想的效果，他又有些难过。毫无疑问，他为家人拍摄了很多顶级照片，但是看得出，他还有更大的雄心。他还没达到自己所期望的成功与卓越。然后我就想到这个题目。他知道我的想法还不是很成熟，于是将此升华到了“才华”。

沿着不同的小路前行，我们的话题也一直在变。他谈到时间、人、互联网以及它们之间的联系。与其说这是技术讨论更不如说像诗歌。他的理念化作一团谜云，经他的双手塑造，飘过整个房间，一朵接一朵。

他儿子跑过来，Vic与他一同分享我的照片。他挑着眉毛告诉儿子：“”Trey做这行只有五年哟”他儿子的眼睛越睁越大，我连连挥手：“只要有足够的好奇心，5年可以做很多事。”

Vic回到正题，继续谈论人与人间的联系，以及他和团队的期许——实质上就是为了丰富人性与增加联系交流。他用各种比喻将理论与实际联系在一起。他旁征博引，那些言语与理念可谓字字珠玑，直指未来。

与此同时，我也有了一个想法。说到底，他是一个有“天赋”的人——当然，它可不是人人都有，人们平常都觉得“天赋”是上天神圣的恩赐。没有人会有构建社交网络的“天赋”；没人天生就会与团队合作，重新构建网络与人际间的联系。但可以肯定地说，Vic有这种天赋。也许正因如此，天赋才与好奇发生了化学碰撞。

好奇也许是“趣味工作”的又一表达。我想我们所有人都在生活的磕磕绊绊中寻找共鸣。如果你幸运，好奇心会成为一味催化剂，激发你创造出前所未有的东西。好奇可以帮你找到一个整体的各个部分，重新合成一件独特、惊喜而奇特的珍品。

就是说，Vic对弹吉他和摄影都“感兴趣”，但是他没有任自己的好奇心肆意驱驰。过去的几年中，他将多数的注意力放在了人际交流的技术层面，然而活跃的思维有时也会徘徊，也许某一天他也会探索其它领域。好奇也需要放松，顺其自然。我不想讨论什么禅功，但一定要挣脱现有思维框架的束缚，让你的好奇充分绽放创新。我想这就是他与他的团队在Google+上的成就——任思想驰骋宇际，探寻各种可能。在未来，你可以看到各种空间，一定要选则你想要的融入的一个。

那晚我离开他的家，开车返回。各种想法在脑际盘旋，不禁像个孩子一样兴奋不已——这没什么不好意思的。对我来说，这才是最棒的对话——在理念层面的碰撞与沟通。Vic的思想肆意驰骋，探索各种人际交流可能性——这简直就是移动的梦境。

离开前，我想到他的家庭，那张巨大人际网络的核心与根基，也是他最为珍视的——他的家庭，在他周围给他各种声音、各种启发。

在这个温暖的家中，大家来回穿梭，这让我更加理解他。我明白了为什么他如此快乐而充满好奇。妻子的微笑让他振奋，而孩子带他步入梦境中的王国。

Filed under the categories: California, Nikon D3X, Photography Tips, San Jose, Stanford, Travel

Filed under the categories: California, Nikon D3X, San Jose, Travel

Filed under the categories: California, Nikon D3X, San Jose

New Photos from INSIDE Google – Soon on Buzz!

I am releasing some new photos that I took while inside the Google HQ recently. I had to get them cleared by corporate communications, and now they are free to be released! You can find me on Google Buzz here. They’ll be released at some random time on the 16th…

Google Buzz – List of Photographers

Are you new to Buzz and looking for Photographers to follow? See this Photographers on Buzz list. Note, this is a BIG LIST, but I suggest you surf around it and see some people! You will likely find a few that you like… so many great photographers and artist out there – I hope this helps you to discover some new ones.

Daily Photo – Building 43 at Google

Wow I had a great time at Google! The guys and gals there I met were very nice and cool… After my Authors@Google talk, I stayed around for a while to take photos while waiting on the workshop to begin. There are sensitive areas of Google, of course, and I didn’t even try to take pictures of any of that stuff… Building 43 is the central building of the whole Googleplex. It houses the offices of Marissa Mayer (who did not show up for my talk *ahem*), Larry Page, and Sergey Brin. I wanted to pop into their offices and make unique photos of their offices for fun, but I did not want to ask on my first visit. Wouldn’t that be one of the most interesting things in the world? To see the offices of all these people? They don’t have to be awesome and all James-Bondy — even something mundane would be interesting, if captured in the right way. But I do picture Sergey stroking a white cat…

Filed under the categories: California, Nikon D3X, San Jose, Travel

A Full SmugMug Review!

I recently wrote an article entitled “How to Make an Online Photo Album” about SmugMug. Follow that link to learn more!

I feel a little late to the SmugMug party! Here is the story… I kept hearing more and more about SmugMug. And I was like… What! Why is everyone always talking about SmugMug! What a strange name. Hey… I’m on Flickr… the last thing I need is another place to host my photos… this is what I was thinking.

And then the very kind Candice Cunningham invited me to speak at the inaugural SmugMug meeting here in Austin. It was an amazing group of people and many people in there already had SmugMug portfolios and businesses! As I learned more and more, I became even more impressed. I even got to visit their HQ near San Francisco and I came away really excited about the present and future of SmugMug.

I have linked the “Visit My Portfolio” up there on the top right of the site to link to StuckInCustoms.SmugMug.com. It is really beautiful and I have decided to make it official.

I am very happy with my SmugMug Portfolio. You guys know I always want the best!

Even more Customization!

I wrote a second article on you can further Customize SmugMug. It already comes with a bunch of themes, but if you want something truly unique, you can just pay a bit extra to get something that is completely different. I reviewed four different third-party companies, all of which can give you a custom SmugMug “skin”.

Daily Photo – The Glorious Church at Stanford

During our amazingly fun Stanford photowalk, our entire unit crashed into into the church like the Allies setting up barracks inside a French cathedral.

Right before we went in, as I climbed the stairs, one of the more nervous-types that was on the photowalk said, “Uhhh, I don’t know if they will let us in because they are about to close.” I said something to the effect of, “Who cares, we’re going in anyway until they come tell us to leave!” And with that, we blew in through the front doors and spread out far and wide. I set up my camera and gave a little talk about my settings for the shot. I mentioned that in dark situations, you don’t want your multiple exposures to all be 30 seconds. You need to widen your aperture and increase the ISO so that your all your exposures get finished, with the final one at 30 seconds. In this situation, I shot 5 exposures at 1 step increments with my 5 respective shutter speeds at 2 seconds, 4 s, 8s, 15s, and 30s.

Oh, btw, now that I am one with sweet sweet SmugMug, click on the photo below to see it big and bold and proper. At the top, you can select whatever size you wish.

Filed under the categories: California, Nikon D3X, San Jose, Stanford, Travel

Recap of the Photowalk

It turned out to be a great Photowalk!

I sent out a few worried tweets while en route because of the rain, and I got tweets back that there was a full complement of photowalkers waiting under the tree in The Oval. I showed up, at the very last possible second, and then said hi to everyone. It was a very upbeat crowd, and I was happy to meet all of them! I think we had around 50 there, even though the rain was rather epic, especially by California standards!

After I explained the way I do my Photowalks (half shooting, half sharing online), we set out to hit a few spots on campus. As we were moving about, Arnav Moudgil took this photo (also on the right) for the newspaper. This was taken when we were walking in one of the covered areas of the campus.

We moved around and hit several locations, including the one below. At the end, we went over to an eating area and talked for a long while about photography and stuff! I signed books, gave away all kinds of goodies from Smugmug, and this sort of thing — it was nice to meet such enthusiastic photographers. One enterprising Type A created a “Stuck In Stanford” Flickr group where people are currently sharing their photos… this is my first contribution to the group!

Daily Photo – The Stanford Church in the Photowalk Storm

The rain situation was betwixt sprinkles and torrent.  There was enough rain to moisten my bulbous 12-24 (that sounds dirty), so I wanted to be quick.  Usually, I let people look through my lens to see the composition, but, it would have gotten too wet… so I just fired away quickly then put on my little trombone-cover-thing.

Now, maybe my smart audience can help me figure this out.  Some people on the walk told me that “HDR” was “invented” here at Stanford.  Others tell me MIT.  A few people told me that the first HDRs ever taken were inside this very church (where I also collected some shots, for publication soon).  Anyway, this all sounds very intriguing… and I am interested to know the real answers!

Filed under the categories: California, Nikon D3X, San Jose, Stanford, Travel

Check Out this Workshop near LA

For you are in the LA Area (or willing to travel for an interesting workshop), join my friends Frederick Van and Joeseph Linashke for their workshop at nearby Joshua Tree.  These guys have worked hard to put together a really excellent program… you can visit the website to see everything that is included!

New Interview Up with Ron Martinsen

I had an interview with the extremely nice Ron Martinsen.  Head on over Ron’s photography blog to have a loosee!  He also has a nice discount code on my textures tutorial, in case you have been waiting for a good deal!’

Daily Photo – A Great Day at the Google HQ!

Wow that was a cool experience.  Those guys and gals over there are super-nice.  You never know…  I guess maybe Google seems somewhat intimidating from the outside, but after I met guys like Cliff, Brian, and Chip — I felt right at home.

I gave an hour-long talk in one of their theaters there.  It was super-packed and people were standing all around because seats were gone.  We were graced with the presence of one Sara Jane Todd from @Peachpit to help out selling books – and we sold out!  Also, my Brazilian friend Fabio, the editor of Abduzeedo was there too, so it was great to see him.

The Authors@Google (video link) program has a neat deal where they subsidize books, so Googlers don’t have to pay full price.  I saw all kinds of cool stuff and took a lot of pics.  I have to get most cleared with Google Corp Comms before I can release… but I nabbed shots of a spaceship, a new pseudo-holodeck, and more mysteries await!  We even got to eat lunch there in the Google cafeteria, which had some of the most excellent food I’ve ever had in such a setting… they even have a small organic farm on the campus… well, I could go on and on…  but I was very impressed and happy to meet so many enthusiastic people!

The video should be done in the next 2-3 weeks or so.  We’ve got good-man Brian at Google slaving away on editing the whole thing together!

Filed under the categories: California, Nikon D3X, San Jose, Travel

Here are a few pictures from GDC. Most of the things I did there were fairly boring and not picture-worthy, unless you consider talking to industry magnates in the Fairmont hotel bathroom to be exciting.

Below is a picture of a windswept Will, who is generally more hairy than me in almost every conceivable manner. The second picture is from inside the Fairmont as we are waiting for some sort of meeting that seemed rather important at the time, but I can’t remember what the heck it could have been about now. The third picture is my dad and Will trying out some of the force-feedback steering wheels. In that outfit my dad looks like George Steinbrenner.

Filed under the categories: California, San Jose, Travel

We had a pretty good time hanging out at GDC in San Jose. Last year it was in San Francisco, and I like it a bit better there for some reason. Here are a few pictures from the Hayes Mansion, where we stayed. It was built back in 1904 and its unique construction enabled it to be one of the only surviving buildings since the big quake.

Below that are pictures from around downtown San Jose, including a very expensive tax-supported statue that looks like a pile of dog poop.

Filed under the categories: California, San Jose, Travel

We arrived in San Jose for the Game Developer’s Conference that is going on this week. There are interesting things that happen there, and I always get to meet some cool people with fresh perspectives. I tend to really like and appreciate the creative types, but I have little tolerance for the “tragic artist with false sense of entitlement” attitude that is fairly pervasive. The thing I hate most about the conference is all the incredibly bitter game developers that moan and groan about how horrible the industry is, yet they a) choose to stay in it b) continue to feed the system they hate. I don’t get it…

Will booked us at a place called the Dolce Hayes Mansion – here is a picture below. If you look close, you can see Will scaling a palm tree to get a coconut for our breakfast.

Filed under the categories: California, Musings, San Jose