Well, just as I predicted a few days ago it was a 5-0 drubbing of Thailand at the hands of Lleyton Hewitt, Peter Luczak, Chris Guccione and Paul Henley. The win guarantees Australia a spot in the September playoffs, with the strong win sparing them a showdown with Serbia, who last year bundled the Aussies out 4-1.
Cowboys enforcer Carl Webb looks set to meet Willie Mason in the ring! With the raw power and boxing skills he showed me yesterday while shooting him for the Daily Telegraph I can tell you one thing, I wouldn't want to be facing him in the ring!
See more of my pics of Webby by clicking this link
Lleyton Hewitt will lead Australia against Thailand in a Davis Cup tie to be played over the weekend. My prediction.... Australia in three matches - last two will be dead rubbers.
Lleyton certainly looked to be taking this tie seriously though when I shot him this morning.
Townsville's new look council was sworn in today led by former Thuringowa chief Les Tyrell. Only five of the twelve councillors have had council experience but they make up for this with their enthusiasm. Go Guys!
(Seated from left) Mayor Les Tyrell, Cr Brian Hewitt, Cr Suzanne Blom, Cr Natalie Marr, Cr Deanne Bell, Cr Jenny Hill
(Standing from left) Deputy Mayor David Crisafulli, Cr Ray Gartrell, Cr Dale Last, Cr Rob McCahill, Cr Jenny Lane, Cr Vern Veitch, Cr Tony Parsons
Photo: Cameron Laird
Looks like Trent Reznor, front man for Nine Inch Nails has come up with a business model that will help artists break free of the blood sucking record companies and the RIAA 'nazis'. Radiohead got things started by releasing their latest album totally free, asking listeners to pay whatever they thought was fair. Not a bad start but a bit risky?
Nine Inch Nails have used this concept to come up with a way of distributing their album that is pure genius.
Ghosts I-IV is a brand new 36 track instrumental collection available right now. Almost two hours of new music composed and recorded over an intense ten week period last fall, Ghosts I - IV sprawls Nine Inch Nails across a variety of new terrain.
Trent Reznor explains, "I've been considering and wanting to make this kind of record for years, but by its very nature it wouldn't have made sense until this point. This collection of music is the result of working from a very visual perspective - dressing imagined locations and scenarios with sound and texture; a soundtrack for daydreams. I'm very pleased with the result and the ability to present it directly to you without interference. I hope you enjoy the first four volumes of Ghosts."
I have never really listened to Nine Inch Nails so I am currently downloading the Free Download to see what I think of them. If it is something that appeals to me then the $5 download will be a given. And I'll bet that $5 is a hell of a lot more than Nine Inch Nails would have made if I had bought their CD at a record store.
Who knows? I might become a big fan and the $75 Deluxe Edition will be mine next time they release an album!
Click here to choose from five ways to wake up the music industry! - http://ghosts.nin.com/main/order_options
Justin Smith speaks to the press prior to the Cowboys pre-season home game against the Canberra Raiders - Video: Cameron Laird
Yes, every Australian over 18 is forced to vote whether they like it or not. These are some of the classic excuses smart Aussies come up with!
Clean your computer screen through the internet!
Click here to give it a try | digg story
While Greg Vanderjagt is doing a great job at the Crocodiles this season I can't help but think that Kenny George from the University of North Carolina - Asheville would be a handy addition in the pivot position!
7' 7" (231cm) and 360lb (163kg). As a matter of a fact he would probably be ok playing prop for the Cowboys, so long as you only needed him for a couple of minutes! Go Kenny!
London's Telegraph reports that the inventor of this kite claims it will cut diesel requirements of ships by up to 20%, saving cash and the planet at the same time!
More info at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/earth/2008/01/20/eakite120.xml
Couldn't quite get to the Burdekin Dam today either by road or air due to a massive low that hung around the area most of the day. The kind folks at Sunwater were kind enough to shoot some pics of the flow. The dam is currently holding well over 100% of capacity and is reported to be dripping 80,000,000,000 litres (80 thousand megalitres) of water a day over the wall!
See all my flood pics at http://www.cameronlaird.com/gallery/4170198
I took a helicopter from Giru down to Airlie Beach yesterday to photograph flooding in the region. Apart from many sections of the highway being cut the damage didn't appear to be too bad. At least I managed to get a page one pic that helped alleviate the cost of the charter! I have put a bunch of pics on my site so wander over and have a look (link below).
UPDATE 15 JAN 2008: Conditions in Townsville were terrible this morning with a massive low centred directly over the city. I have added pics from today as well to my site.
See my pics of the downpour at http://www.cameronlaird.com/gallery/4170198
The coolest hack is now available in the installer and it works like a treat. Simply open the program, hold your iPhone near a speaker and it will tell you the artist, song and even the album that the song appeared in! Here are a few screen grabs from my iPhone to show you a couple of the results. (You can tell it is mine by the music and the iFartz application!)
I'm simply going to post links to some very cool things on display at CES 2008 that I would LOVE to get my hands on! (updated regularly)
Tiny laser projector plugged into an ipod
http://gizmodo.com/341927/video-microvision-pico-projector-throwing-ipod-videoon-some-dudes-back
Tiny projector built into a cellphone!
http://gizmodo.com/341915/video-texas-instruments-wee-picoprojector-for-projecting-on-the-go
150" Panasonic plasma!
http://gizmodo.com/341909/panasonic-150+inch-plasma-next-to-that-tiny-103+incher-from-last-year
A great video featuring Bill Gates with surprise celebrity appearances! Unfortunately it was the only thing I enjoyed in Bill's keynote speech webcast at the 2008 CES Convention.
Bill Gates Last Day Of Work - Watch more free videos
If you are ever feeling like you have a tough job then spare a thought for this little guy and his work buddies!
Just found these guys while trawling around the net - check out the 'live on stage' video below (or the film clip at bottom), if you like them there are plenty more videos on YouTube at this link
Townsville/Thuringowa's new stadium kicked off with a 20/20 cricket match between the Queensland Bulls and the Victorian Bushrangers. Despite the heat it was a full house and hopefully we will see plenty more sporting events of this calibre in Townsville. I smell an AFL pre-season game!
See a selection of my pics from the match at http://www.cameronlaird.com/gallery/4086092
News gathering websites around the world have posted their popular annual "Photos of the Year". I'll make it super easy for you to find them - click the links below
MSNBC - 2007 Year in Pictures
International Herald Tribune - 2007 In Pictures - (Interesting blog post at the IHT readers blog)
AOL - People's Choice - Editor's Choice
Time - Year in Images
Reuters - Pictures of the Year 2007
Sports Illustrated - 2007 Year in Pictures
USA TODAY - 2007: The Year in Pictures
National Geographic - Best Wildlife Photos
The New York Times - 2007: The Year in Pictures
The Washington Post's - Best of Post 2007
Los Angeles Times - Best of 2007: Photography
Source - www.robgalbraith.com
Is it just me or are we in the wifi dark ages in Townsville? Hopefully someone can point me in the right direction because I don't know of a single coffee shop in Townsville that offers free or even paid wifi. One caveat however - you can't count the rip-off Telstra wifi at McDonald's restaurants!
Well, I have "activated" the iPhone using a bit of internet trickery however due to it having the latest baseband firmware I can't "unlock" it to use on Australian networks. However this crack is only days away so it should be up and going before Christmas........hopefully!
UPDATE / 1 JAN 2008 : Nup, not going as a phone yet but a TurboSIM is on the way so that will definitely solve the problem!
I'm pretty damn excited, ordered a new Apple iPhone a couple of days ago and it is winging its way from the U.S as I write this. Hopefully my geek knowledge should allow me to successfully crack it to use on the Telstra network - I'll report back when it is done! Bring it on! I am sooooo looking forward to this I bet there ends up being a problem like.... I receive a box full of nothing or it is smashed or I fail at cracking it and end up turning it into an expensive paperweight!
Updates:
Electronic Shipping Info Received, December 14, 2007
Acceptance, December 14, 2007, 8:32 am, AMES, IA 50010
Processed, December 14, 2007, 2:27 pm, DES MOINES, IA 50318
Processed, December 15, 2007, 4:42 pm, CHICAGO, IL 60666
International Dispatch, December 15, 2007, 4:42 pm, O'HARE APT/CHICAGO
Your item is being processed by customs in AUSTRALIA, December 18, 2007, 2:20 pm AEDST
Your item cleared customs in AUSTRALIA at 9:19 PM on December 18, 2007
Your item arrived at the delivery Post Office in AUSTRALIA at 12:49 PM on December 19, 2007
And... it has arrived at my house in AUSTRALIA at 1:01 pm on December 20, 2007 (and it is the real thing!)
While working on the Gold Coast earlier this week I was invited along to cover the opening of an Ed Hardy store at the Chevron Renaissance, Surfers Paradise. I hadn't seen much Ed Hardy stuff before but was pretty impressed with their clientele. Apart from Tara Reid (who was in attendance at the opening) their clothing is worn by the likes of Madonna, David Beckham, Paris Hilton and Britney Spears. My pics below show Tara Reid, Tania Zaetta and Deni Hines at the launch.
See my pics of the opening at http://www.cameronlaird.com/gallery/3988320
The Singapore Slingers gave the Crocodiles a bit of a scare tonight in their NBL clash in Townsville. Whilst the Crocs prevailed 117-105 over a feisty Singapore lineup, their first half was woeful and something that coach Trevor Gleeson wouldn't want repeated anytime soon!
See my pics from the game at http://www.cameronlaird.com/gallery/1180378#229902843
This truly is very cool. Weird Al has put together a parody of Bob Dylan's twelve bar blues style and written it using ONLY palindromes. Fantastic!
I don't know about you but when you call a reality television program "Can Fat Teens Hunt?" I think you may have gone too far!
From the BBC website:
"Ten dangerously overweight teenagers embark on a journey that could save their health in this six-part series. In an attempt to turn their backs on potentially fatal eating habits, they spend one month with the Iban tribe, former headhunters, living deep in the harsh and remote jungles of Borneo, South East Asia."
Townsville fans of Sir Elton John must have everything crossed as they pray for the rain to stay away on a one night only performance tonight by Sir Elton. The North Queensland Cowboys home ground, Dairy Farmers Stadium, has been transformed to accommodate over 20,000 fans in an intimate concert atmosphere. I will be shooting from the front row, but only for two songs and hopefully will have some nice pics in metropolitan newspapers tomorrow to show for it.
I shot this panorama yesterday as they were putting the finishing touches on the set.
I was sitting at my desk about 1/2 hour ago when a hatchback with Google Maps signage and a contraption on the roof zipped past. Never one to miss a story on my doorstep I chased him down the road and around the corner and photographed the car for my newspaper clients. Had a quick chat to the friendly driver and had a peek at his gadgetry inside the car. Basically it consisted of a midi tower PC in the trunk with a GPS processing unit, a Dell LCD monitor in the front screwed to a plank of wood, a GPS receiver and a pole with 5 cameras sticking up on the roof from the centre of a roofrack.
Whilst I have seen Google Maps of my local area it is nice to see that it is being updated and that "Streetview" is going to be included soon! I thought only "big" streets like 5th Ave, NY and Rodeo Drive made it into "Streetview". Too cool!
Hard to believe that during the Townsville Crocodiles upset 97-93 win over the Perth Wildcats last night Corey "Homicide" Williams didn't even flinch when this ankle roll occurred! Bet he didn't even know he did it - I'm sure he'll get a surprise when he sees it however!
See my pics from the game at http://www.cameronlaird.com/gallery/1180378#227567256
I recently changed from Nikon over to Canon at what seemed the perfect time for me. The aussie dollar was strong which meant the prices were great and the products were just what the doctor ordered. I originally changed from Canon to Nikon back in early 2000 and took delivery of one of the first D1's into the country. I worked my way through D1H, D1X, D2H, D2X with an F5 thrown into the mix. They served me well over the past seven years however Canon's stranglehold on low light performance and focus speed and accuracy eventually got the better of me and I took the plunge.
Blow me down recently when I had a call out of the blue from Rick Slowgrove at Canon Australia advising me of a fix that needed to be done to the EOS1DMkIII and guaranteeing a 24hr turnaround time and offering a loan camera if required. The fix is pretty widely known around the web (Canon Aust info at http://www.canon.com.au/support/customer/default.asp?DXI=KnowledgeBase/Customer/KBArticleForm&File=KB01650&productID=eos1d_mark_III) however full credit to Rick and the Canon guys for their personal attention to this fix.
Great work!
Explain this to me Dell? I bought one of your XPS m1210 notebooks recently and ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT! I am hooked on the 12" form factor - it is very transportable, has plenty of grunt and a great screen, all the things a photographer who is on the road a lot needs. So, recently while interstate on a job a journalist eyed off my notebook and instantly fell in love with it. He decided then and there he had to have one and so went to the Dell site and .................. discontinued. But not replaced with another 12" but now a 13.3". Apple have done a similar disservice to their 12" Macbook Pro fans except they have dropped the small form factor totally and just left 15" and 17" sizes.
Dell and Apple - do you realise that now there really isn't a decent 12" notebook on the market?
Luke was back in the gym recently showing that he has fully recovered from a sickening 2007 injury that saw him miss much of the season. He looks to be back fitter than ever!
See my pics of Luke over his Cowboys years at http://www.cameronlaird.com/search/index.mg?searchWords=luke+o%27donnell&searchType=InUser&NickName=camlaird
What great news for the Cowboys! Matt Bowen signature on a new three year contract seeing him through until the end of the 2011 NRL season. Now we have the most exciting fullback in the game joining the best halfback in the game, what a great combination for the next couple of years at least!
See all my pics of Matt over the years at http://www.cameronlaird.com/search/index.mg?searchWords=matt+bowen&searchType=InUser&NickName=camlaird
I thought I would do a bit of my own research into the difference in speeds between various card readers as I have been a bit disappointed in the transfer speeds of my photos when working on deadlines on my laptop. My test consisted of an arbitrary 1.36Gb of files transferred using three different card readers. A Sandisk Extreme USB2.0 reader, an Apacer MegaSteno USB2.0 all-in-one reader and another badged "mrgadget.com.au" 12-in-1 USB2.0 reader. I did all the tests using a brand new Sandisk Extreme IV 4Gb CF card.
| Transfer files to computer using | (seconds) |
| Sandisk Extreme USB2.0 | 88 |
| Apacer MegaSteno USB2.0 | 174 |
| "mrgadget.com.au" 12-in-1 USB2.0 | 207 |
| Transfer files to CF card using | |
| Sandisk Extreme USB2.0 | 139 |
| Apacer MegaSteno USB2.0 | 171 |
| "mrgadget.com.au" 12-in-1 USB2.0 | 265 |
I also gave the quickest reader (Sandisk Extreme USB2.0) a try with a Sandisk Ultra II CF Card with the results listed below.
| Transfer files to computer using | (seconds) |
| Sandisk Extreme USB2.0 | 136 |
| Transfer files to CF card using | |
| Sandisk Extreme USB2.0 | 154 |
So all in all, pretty happy with the transfer speed of the Extreme card reader when combined with the Extreme IV CF card. The Extreme Firewire reader is quite a lot quicker however unfortunately it only works with 6 pin and 9 pin firewire connections which rules out a LOT of laptops on the market (those equipped with only 4 pin connections)
What a cracker of a front page! How could you walk past a news stand without picking this paper up! :-)
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