I came across this little gem from a few months back while cleaning out some old pictures from my phone. I had just left a meeting on Pittsburgh’s North Shore and saw this while crossing the Roberto Clemente Bridge:
The picture was taken looking at Downtown Pittsburgh from the Roberto Clemente statue right outside PNC Park.
As a self-proclaimed car nut, I have always wanted to see the North American International Auto Show which takes place in each year in Detroit, Michigan. This year I finally had an opportunity to get there.
Companies like Ford and Mercedes had exhibits which were particularly impressive and featured historically significant models. I was underwhelmed by BMW’s effort (especially disappointing as a BMW owner myself), and was surprised that they didn’t have a model from each line. Most cars were open – or at least accessible – to the public. The only exception was Bentley, which had a gated-off, invitation only exhibit – but it’s certainly understandable when their cheapest model starts at $185,000.
Here are some shots I took of cars I found particularly interesting. Among them are:
Kennywood Park in West Mifflin, PA – a suburb of Pittsburgh – is consistently ranked among the top amusement parks in the United States, and features some of the world’s best-rated roller coasters including the Thunderbolt, Jackrabbit, Racer and Phantom’s Revenge. The park has an old-time, nostalgic feel with its wooden roller coasters and historical landmark merry go round, while still offering newer attractions and modern concessions. For more information about Kennywood, you can visit the park’s website or Wikipedia page.
These pictures were taken during a recent trip to the park in June, 2011.
Independence Day is right around the corner, so I thought I would post some pictures I took during a recent trip to the US Capital.
As in my previous post, all pictures were taken with the Hipstamatic iPhone app. Enjoy.
Like many people, I have almost completely done away with my digital camera and instead take most of my pictures with my smartphone. My iPhone’s 4′s 5 megapixel camera takes pictures that rival the quality of those taken by my point-and-shoot digital camera that I bought only a few years ago, so it’s one less device to carry around.
While the quality of the pictures taken by my phone is good, I often like to edit them. Adjusting the brightness. Adjusting the contrast. Changing color photos to black and white. Adding vintage effects. To accomplish this, I take photos with the ProCamera app (I like it much better than the iPhone’s native camera app, and it’s well worth the $2.99), and then edit them directly on the iPhone with apps like ProCamera, Photoshop Express and SwankoLab. While this is hardly time-consuming, I have recently been using an app that does it all in one step, and with a bit of flair.
It’s called Hipstamatic, and it’s probably the best $1.99 I’ve ever spent on an app. Acting as both the camera and the virtual darkroom, Hipstamatic applies effects to photos to give them a vintage, analog feel. And the app itself is styled to resemble an old toy plastic camera.
Within the app, the user can select different lens and film combinations to give just the effect he/she is looking for. I have had a lot of fun playing around with the app, and I love the way it can turn a picture of an everyday object or scene into something interesting. The viewfinder isn’t as precise as I would like, but it just adds to the vintage feel.
Here are some pictures I’ve taken with the app over the past couple weeks. Enjoy…
It was around 7:00 PM on a Wednesday night when I left the house to meet a friend for dinner. I pulled out of my driveway just after some pretty decent rain had fallen on my town of Canonsburg, PA, and the sun was peeking out from behind the rainclouds as it started to set.
It was the perfect recipe for a rainbow, and sure enough, that’s exactly what I saw. Naturally, I did what any sensible person would do: I drove straight for the end to find the pot of gold.
Imagine my surprise when I found this waiting for me when I got there:
Not exactly the pot of gold I was expecting to find, but it was a photo opportunity I simply couldn’t pass up.
So you got up way earlier than usual to make sure you got to the airport on time. Had your personal space violated by a TSA agent or two at the airport. Sat in the middle seat on a cross-country flight between two guys who look like they could give an NFL offensive line a run for their money at an all-you-can-eat buffet. Waited at the baggage claim for half an hour for your suitcase. Waited another 15 minutes for a taxi. Then FINALLY you made it to your hotel and dragged your suitcase and computer bag up to your room.
Before turning it in for the night, you search high and low for somewhere to plug in your laptop. And your phone. And your iPad…only to find that there are only two electrical outlets in the whole room – one of which is a single jack in the base of the lamp on the desk and the other is pinned behind the mattress.
But since you’re a savvy business traveler, you’ve come prepared. You reach for a simple, cheap solution to your multiple device charging woes. The Belkin Mini Surge Protector with USB Charger.
I picked one of these little guys up a few months ago, and for as simple as it seems, it’s really an impressive little gadget. The plug on the backside rotates a full 360 degrees and locks into place, so you can point it in whichever direction best suits the location of the outlet it’s being plugged into (trust me…this is way more useful than you might think). On one end are two USB adapters which will charge an iPhone, Blackberry or similar device so you can leave the bulky power brick at home and just bring the device’s USB cable instead. And this charger has a built-in surge protector to keep your stuff from getting fried in the event of fluctuations of electrical current (which have claimed a few of my electronic devices over the years). It’s relatively compact – a little bigger than a stick of butter – so it’s easy to find space for it in your computer bag or suitcase.
Belkin’s website shows an MSRP of $24.99, but I’ve found it for as little as $10.99 at places like OnSale.com. While this certainly isn’t the most sophisticated gadget you’ll ever use, it can make your life a lot easier and help you get more enjoyment out of your other cooler devices. Because struggling to pull a hotel bed back from the wall just so you can plug in your cell phone is no fun at all.
Work recently took me to London for the better part of a week. I had a little time to kill one day, so I bought myself an Oyster Card, hopped on the Underground, and saw as many sights as time would allow. It had rained a bit the night before, but it was sunny with beautiful blue skies and a few clouds when I headed out in the morning. It was a bit foggy later in the day, and then rained in the early evening, but fortunately I had already gotten back indoors by then.
It has been 11 years since my last trip to London, so to refresh my memory about the lay of the land, I bought a handy map app of the Underground for my iPad (a luxury which wasn’t available to the late ’90s version of myself). I eventually decided that my best bet was to hop out at the Westminster station which put me within walking distance of some of the sights I most wanted to see.
Here are some of the pics I snapped on my iPhone that day. For what it’s worth, the quality of the pictures my iPhone 4 takes has allowed me to all but abandon my digital camera. It’s nice to have one less thing to carry around…
My work took me back to Scotland in June, and despite a busy week spent mostly in the office, I did manage to see some sights before heading home. I was able to see more of Glasgow and Edinburgh than I had seen back in February, and I spent some time in a town called Stirling, home to Stirling Castle and the Wallace Monument.
The weather was absolutely beautiful the entire week with blue skies and temperatures in the low to mid 70s. The more I see of Scotland, the more I love it. Hopefully I’ll have an opportunity to return soon so I can plan a day in St. Andrews for a round of golf.
Here are some pictures. Enjoy.
I’m a gadget guy. I stood in line the day the iPhone hit the market. And the day the iPhone 3G hit the market. I sign up for as many software betas as I can. I like getting in on things early. I guess I’m your classic early adopter.
When I started my new job in February, I had to switch my mobile phone service from my iPhone to a BlackBerry (a Bold 9700 which I like a lot more than I thought I would). I told myself I wouldn’t be one of those people who dragged around two cell phones, and while I never bothered to sign up for new service/a personal number on my iPhone, I still found myself carrying it around with me almost everywhere. I had tons of movies, music, podcasts and audiobooks on my iPhone (not to mention all of the apps I had accumulated since the 1st generation iPhone hit the market), and while the BlackBerry is a great workhorse, I travel a good bit for work and was finding it hard to part with the iPhone’s apps and media capabilities. Still, it always felt a little strange carrying around a mobile phone with no SIM card and no ability to connect to the Internet outside of WiFi.
When Apple announced the iPad back in January, I knew it would be the perfect traveling companion and a great replacement for my iPhone. It was slim, so I could slide it in my laptop messenger bag easily. It had great battery life, so it would be ideal for watching movies on international flights. It used many of the same apps I had downloaded or purchased for my iPhone, which meant they didn’t have to go to waste. And it was going to be available with 3G, so I would be able to take advantage of the tremendous web functionality when I traveled domestically.
Nevermind that some people were calling it an oversized iPhone/iPod touch. To me it made a lot of sense.
I put my iPhone up for sale on eBay, and once it sold, I turned my attention to finding an iPad. With the goal of finding a 3G model in mind, I called the Apple stores in my area to see what they had available. Not surprisingly, they were sold out as the iPad had only hit the market a week or two earlier and demand for the 3G version was high. Eventually, I spoke to someone at the Apple Store at South Hills Village just south of Pittsburgh who told me I could put my name on a waiting list and would be e-mailed when an iPad became available. Ideally, I wanted the 32GB version, but put my name down for both a 32GB and a 64GB just in case. I had a trip to the UK coming up and was hoping to get my hands on one before I left, so I would have been content with either one.
I put my name on the waiting list on a Sunday, and on Tuesday I got the following e-mail:
The iPad you’ve been waiting for has arrived, and it’s ready for you to pick up. When you come in, we’ll have Specialists ready to help you set up your iPad so you can start enjoying it right away. We can’t wait to see you at the store.
As it turned out, the 64GB model arrived first, so i took it. I had a few days to load my iPad up with apps, movies and music before taking it on its maiden voyage – a long flight to Scotland with two connections – so I’ve had ample opportunity to formulate an opinion on the device based on plenty of real-world use.
A screenshot of the WordPress app
The form factor is fantastic. It’s slim and barely takes up any space in my laptop bag. I initially thought it felt a little on the heavy side for its size, but the most I use it, the more I would describe it as feeling “substantial.” Whatever adjective you want to use, it’s a tradeoff I’m willing to make in exchange for a metal housing, a glass screen and a big battery. The display is incredible. I ripped an HD movie from a Blu-Ray disc and the quality is stunning. The battery life is impressive. I used it almost the entire way from Pittsburgh to Scotland and never ran out of juice. The core apps are extremely well executed and more robust than their comparable iPhone counterparts. Much of that is due to the additional real estate available on the ipad’s screen, of which they take full advantage. The third party apps which have been specifically designed for the iPad are equally impressive, in fact I wrote the bulk of this blog post using WordPress’ iPad app. My only real complaint (if you can even call it that) is the relatively slim selection of iPad-specific apps, although that’s sure to change soon enough.
Despite my high expectations for Mr. Jobs and company’s latest game-changer, the device has managed to exceed them. It has been everything I thought it would be, and then some. The more I use the device, the more ways I find to use it instead of a laptop. It’s easier to carry, the battery lasts longer, it has that “wow” factor that most laptops are still lacking, and it’s only getting better.
I feel the same way about the iPad as I did about the iPhone when it first hit the market: If Apple’s first crack at a brand new product is this good, then it’s a great sign of things to come. The iPad and its immediate success have already forced the rest of the market to try and follow suit, and that’s good for everyone. It has certainly been good for me.
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