http://zachfine.com/blog (formerly In Beijing) Thu, 04 Sep 2008 18:17:13 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I'm finding it fun to watch the Breaking News Map scroll around and display bits of world news over the appropriate spot on a world map. It gives a god-like top-down sense of place to each story. http://zachfine.com/blog/2008/09/04/neat-web-app-breaking-news-map/ A nice cup of espresso at Panini Di Ambra served to test the DMC-LZ8's macro focusing capabilities. Some very fine detail in the foam is visible at full resolution. Nice. Click the photo to visit a gallery of my DMC-LZ8 test photos. I received my Panasonic DMC-LZ8, and shot a few ... http://zachfine.com/blog/2008/08/30/first-impressions-panasonic-dmc-lz8-digital-point-and-shoot-camera/ You knew that fortune cookies are an American invention, right? They're related to a Japanese pastry, and were either invented in San Francisco or LA early last century. They do not exist in China. Armed with this knowledge, please to enjoy youtube clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bp4IGgQoVQE Thanks to boingboing.net for bringing this video to ... http://zachfine.com/blog/2008/08/27/video-of-chinese-people-encountering-fortune-cookies-for-the-first-time/ I just took a little online quiz that attempted to determine which US accent I have based on my responses to a number of questions. The questions actually seem pretty clever, and the result matches up with what I've been told in the past. I guess my Minnesota accent has ... http://zachfine.com/blog/2008/08/27/apparently-i-have-a-midland-american-accent/ The Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ8 camera. Available through the magic of the internet, for $111 shipped. People often ask me for advice on what camera to buy for taking snapshots and other general-purpose purposes. My criteria for a point-and-shoot camera would prioritize small size (convenience is key), a well-designed user-interface, a wide-angle ... http://zachfine.com/blog/2008/08/24/a-good-deal-on-a-digital-point-and-shoot-camera/ I've become a little obsessed with the band Freezepop for the past week. It's one of the bands I've recently discovered using the internet radio application Pandora, which combines streaming internet radio with the music genome project in order to suggest and play tracks it thinks the user will like based on a minimum amount ... http://zachfine.com/blog/2008/08/17/royalties-killed-the-net-radio-star/ Mount Muztagh Ata, Lake Karakul, and an animal bone (probably sheep, possibly yak). Shot in China's Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region on 10/6/2006. It has been a long time since I really set myself down in front of some inspiring subject matter and carefully composed some photos. Now that my new lenses ... http://zachfine.com/blog/2008/08/15/i-miss-photography/ .flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; } .flickr-yourcomment { } .flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 0px; } .flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } Pausing with the Leaders - North Korea, originally uploaded by Eric Lafforgue. Eric Lafforgue returned from a trip to North Korea with a set of 205 amazing photos. Wow. Click the ... http://zachfine.com/blog/2008/08/15/incredible-images-from-north-korea/ The US Census bureau (( Motto: "Page Last Modified: May 20, 2004" )) has come out with a report which states that ethnic and racial minorities will outnumber the majority by the year 2042 (( Perhaps not coincidentally, 2042 is also the year in which a computer-generated Charles Grodin will ... http://zachfine.com/blog/2008/08/13/white-people-wont-be-the-majority-in-2042-which-white-people/ "Move and I'll make you breathe funny," he said, his leathery mouth all stretched out at the corners. The gun looked pretty comfortable in his little black paw. "I'd be pleased to teach you how to blow red bubbles out of your shirt," he went on. "It's a little trick I learned last week. ... http://zachfine.com/blog/2008/08/11/a-fun-bit-of-future-noir/ A Kyrgyz Girl washes dishes after breakfast. Photo shot near the border of China and Pakistan. Canon Rebel XT, original 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 kit lens.I love my Canon RebelXT, and I actually really like the fact that the slow 18-55mm plastic kit lens that came with the thing goes reasonably wide ... http://zachfine.com/blog/2008/08/04/fantastic-plastic-machine-canons-new-cheap-lenses/ One of the free apps in Apple's new "app store" for iPhone and iPod touch is "wordpress". Looks like it is not only free, but nice. Without me ever telling them my idea, they've set it up to post a mostly blank blog entry, and then snarf in the entry ... http://zachfine.com/blog/2008/07/30/testing-the-iphone-wordpress-blogging-app/ A still of Her Royal Highness Teri Garr (( She has multiple sclerosis, and has said she now hates the letters M and S, "and I certainly took the Ms. off the front of my name. I now go as your Royal Highness Teri Garr." )) from the fantastic film ... http://zachfine.com/blog/2008/07/30/teri-garr-kicks-ass/ I'm a little behind the times –you've all probably seen this already, but I really appreciated this music video. Please note before clicking: as far as music videos go, this one's on the more violent and disturbing end of the spectrum. And if the imagery doesn't disturb, you may not ... http://zachfine.com/blog/2008/07/26/deranged-justice-music-video-for-the-track-entitled-stress/ I don't think the press usually focuses on teaser trailers ((a teaser trailer is a very early advertisement for a film, usually shorter and less expository than the trailers that screen closer to a film's release date)) for films whose release dates are months away, but the teaser for The ... http://zachfine.com/blog/2008/06/24/la-times-on-the-curious-case-of-benjamin-button-teaser-trailer/