March 19th, 2006
N.A.D.D. stands for “Nerd Attention Deficit Disorder.” I suffer only partially from it, but there are times when I clearly exhibit symptoms, such as being in “The Zone” when programming.
Read more here: http://www.randsinrepose.com/archives/2003/07/10/nadd.html
Update: Here’s a screenshot of my computer – showing the program switcher and all open windows in Exposé. Lots of stuff going on.

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March 19th, 2006
Here is some collected (human) wisdom for those wanting to venture out into creating a business:
http://radar.oreilly.com/archives/2006/03/entrepreneurial_proverbs.html
Of course, this should be balanced with Biblical principles, but for the most part, the suggestions don’t sound too far off. I especially liked this admonition to be prudent with your resources (say, when tempted to rent office space or purchase expensive furniture):
“Start with nothing, and have nothing for as long as possible”.
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March 18th, 2006
“Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow” is an innovative movie which pushes the boundaries of technology — a fact that is not evident at first sight. The look and feel of “Sky Captain” is reminiscent of classic comics from the 1930s. However, the actors (a well-chosen cast of Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie) play entirely on greenscreen stages. Everything else is computer-generated. This movie is the first work of its director, which is even more astonishing. Well worth watching!
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March 18th, 2006
Something I have always dreamt of inventing. Just imagine a table like this, used in the same manner as the writing tables of the monks who copied the Bible. Especially intriguing is the ability to use several fingers and both hands at the same time, which makes for a much natural interaction but also requires new interface paradigms.
http://cs.nyu.edu/~jhan/ftirtouch/index.html
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March 8th, 2006
For some time now I have been listening to the weekly podcast Understanding the Times by Olive Tree Ministries. This radio show offers background information on current political and social problems from a biblical view, especially regarding the topics Israel, Islam, etc., as well as critical evaluations of developments in Christianity.
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March 6th, 2006
After about 600 shot images I noticed a couple of things that I had been handling wrongly in my photo workflow until now. The following is a detailed description of my solution to these problems, including code excerpts. I hope that this will be useful to some of my readers, be it for photo editing or other areas.
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March 5th, 2006
I have learned a new photography term: Bokeh (pronounced with equal stress on both syllables since it is Japanese and not French). It describes the quality with which a lense reproduces out-of-focus areas. I am excited that my new Nikon AF 50mm/1.8D lense, one of the sharpest and at the same time cheapest Nikon lenses, has a very beautiful bokeh. In this picture, this is best seen on the vibrant twigs of the trees in the background.

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March 4th, 2006
Quote from an interview with nature photographer Tony Sweet:
Tony [Sweet] tells his workshop students that they’ll know they’re getting better by the number of frames they’re shooting—and the number they’re keeping. “The better you are, the fewer frames you shoot,” he says. “When you come back from a vacation or a field trip with five thousand pictures, you’re not a photographer, you’re an editor. The better you get, the fewer pictures you come home with. Fewer frames, more keepers—that’s photography.”
More about and from Tony Sweet can be heard in the first Nikonians Podcast, which I highly recommend.
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February 28th, 2006
(Note: I post this to just lay out my thoughts, without supporting them with appropriate scriptures. Because of time constraints, I will add them later. A computer bible would be just the right thing now …)
In new Christian songs you can often hear that God loves us just as we are, without conditions. I recently noticed that trend and I wondered whether this is true and what the consequences of this thinking are.
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February 27th, 2006
To illustrate 1 Timothy 3:15b (“[The] church of the living God, [which is] the pillar and ground of the truth”) for our church newsletter, I was told to take a picture of a bridge pillar. Though I don’t get anything for it, it was well worth the experience. The Augustus Bridge here in Dresden made the perfect motive. After making a couple of dissatisfying attempts in daylight, I remembered the beautiful evening lighting on Brühlsche Terrasse. With tripod and remote release, I was able to take a good picture with four seconds of exposure which rendered the evening sky nice and blue. The ubiquitous tram cables were removed later in Photoshop. (Clicking on the picture opens a larger version in new window)
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