Monthly Archives: January 2012

Apple scoop!

Photographs

You read it here first.

I’m pleased to be the first to bring readers this global scoop with my spy photograph of Apple’s new product, snapped on San Francisco’s Market Street yesterday. This will be announced, along with iPad3, in Q1/2012.

The Apple Shoeshine stand. G3, kit lens @20mm.

I have it from two reliable sources that Sir Jony Ive has said it still needs a bit of work, but remains confident that the final version will be available for sale in April. As you can see, the prototype has taken quite a beating, having been in development for over a decade. It will have the unique distinction of being the first Apple product to be made in America, using American labor, in a generation.

Rumors of a competing Microsoft version abound, but the last three prototypes collapsed, significantly delaying time to market. Microsoft’s CEO Steve Ballmer, who insisted on personally testing what was intended to be the final version, is recovering well from his injuries. While still in a coma, and given to frequently screaming “Developers!, Developers!, Developers!“, his vital signs seem fine. We wish him well.

No details on pricing of the Apple version yet, but expect little change from $10,000, which will make it competitive with the much missed Apple Lisa.

Ruchi

Dining

Southern Indian food.

Ruchi, located in the SOMA district of San Francisco, is not much to look at, outside or in. Almost under a freeway overpass, it serves Southern Indian food. The plain interior has a few mediocre photographs taken in Andhra Pradesh and you order at the counter, with the food delivered to your table. Yet I must say the whole experience was thoroughly worthwhile. The people working in the restaurant are most charming, as gentle and well mannered as one could imagine. And the food I ordered, the Lamb Thali, was simply delicious, suffused with a thousand fragrances and gently spiced.

474 Third Street.

The Lamb Thali.

The crowd is 20% Suits, 80% software types, and the noise level is low.

The whole thing, with a Maharaja pilsner, ran me $17.

As usual, lunch inspired me and I lucked out with a snap of the only attractive Parking Warden in the United States, around the corner from the restaurant:

G3, kit lens.

My desk

Photography

Ordered chaos.

Inspired by Kate Donnelly’s site, referred to the other day, here’s a snap of my desk:

G3, Oly 9-18mm @ 9mm.

No punches have been pulled, no cosmetic arrangements added and, clearly, I need to do some dusting, as the cleaning lady is not allowed to touch anything here. The overall ethos at work here is consonant with my belief that ‘tidiness, like consistency, is the bane of small minds’.

This workspace reflects two of my interests – managing money and photography. Here’s what’s going on:

  • Three Dell 2209WA 1680 x 1050 21.5″ displays, color matched using an EyeOne colorimeter. I prefer the older coarser pixel pitch to the finer pixels in the latest ones, as it makes reading easier on my eyes. Supported on reams of paper because the world has yet to see a monitor that is as well designed as the one on the old iMacG4 ‘screen on a stick’ of ages past. Obligatory 3M PostIt notes come and go. My HP100 Hackintosh powering the Dells sits under the desk.
  • One artisan-made cup (the cup and the contents) of French Roast coffee.
  • The HP12C RPN calculator, used by Real Men whose ordered minds understand that input of variables must precede input of operators. 25+ years on that one. I occasionally badger HP for replacement rubber feet when mine fall off and, amazingly, they reply with free ones.
  • A classic Bic ball pen which is the only writing instrument I use.
  • The only phone in the house I use – the iPhone 4S.
  • A couple of inexpensive Logitech speakers whose sound blows away anything a stock Mac or PC can deliver.
  • An ancient DLO iPhone1 belt case, much repaired, and still fitting the latest model fine.
  • A Logitech USB Desktop Microphone, between the two displays on the right, used for emails and voice overs in the occasional video I make for this site. Outstanding voice quality for very little, putting the built-in microphone in my MacBook Air to shame.
  • My ‘wallet’, comprised of a small holder for a credit card, DL, etc., with some 25 years on it.
  • A couple of flash memory sticks under the center monitor, the ‘macho’ one being my son’s.
  • An iPod Nano in a LunaTik watch band which I never use but my son loves. I prefer a throwback to analog, mechanical days, one of the few concessions I make to ‘old times’.
  • An Edirol R09 digital sound recorder, in the $1 green canvas case at right, largely obsoleted by the iPhone.
  • A Kensington wired ‘Slim Type Keyboard for Mac’. With mechanical scissor switches for the keys, this one puts Apple’s offerings to shame and comes complete with the obligatory key pad numerate people demand. The keyboard cover protects against costly spills from the second item above.
  • An ancient Logitech MX900 bluetooth mouse, recommended by a fellow photographer, which goes through 2 AA rechargeable batteries in four days and that’s the only bad thing about it. The mouse rests on a 3M Mousepad, quite outstanding. I have experimented with tablet pads and they do not work for me.
  • Scribblings, jottings and prospectuses.
  • A magnificent Sligh pedestal desk with keyboard drawer – a rare concession to luxury.
  • No Border Terrier visible. I asked Bert, the resident hound, to put in an appearance but the modeling fee demanded was too high. These are hard times. You can just make out his little bottom on the snuggle ball at the right!