Movies seen in 2011

Following on from the lists in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 here is a list of films and documentaries I saw in 2011. This only includes movies seen on the big screen, not what I have watched on DVD or TV.

• Stone
• Unstoppable
• 127 Hours
• True Grit
• The Adjustment Bureau
• Due Date
• This Movie is Broken
• Lao Ma Ti Hua (老媽蹄花) [at Urban Nomad Film Fest]
• Voices in the Clouds (眾族同聲) [at Urban Nomad Film Fest]
• Winnebago Man [at Urban Nomad Film Fest - Taichung]
• Source Code
• No Strings Attached
• Tree of Life
• Wu Xia
• Hanna
• Real Estate 4 Ransom

Unfortunately my rate of cinema going declined rapidly after I moved from Taiwan to Australia in the middle of the year.

Upgraded from Canon 400D to Canon 60D

I purchased a Canon 400D in April 2008. It served me well, but after three years I was beginning to feel its limitations and decided it was time to upgrade. I bought the Canon 60D a bit over a week ago. After using it for a short time I have already found it to be an excellent camera and I’m very happy with the decision to buy it.

One of the main reasons I chose the 60D over the 600D or 550D was the larger body and better ergonomics. All these cameras have the same sensor so at the basic level are going to produce very similar images. The 60D’s larger body gives more camera to hold onto, although I still find it slightly small in my hands. The LCD on top of the camera is also a feature not found on the Canon Rebels. This is one of a number of features that makes it easier and faster to change key settings such as ISO and exposure compensation.

Understanding the ecological crisis

Many people focus on environmental problems as a single issue. Some claim that climate change is the single greatest problem that the world faces. It is indeed a great problem, but it is also a symptom of an even greater crisis. The roots of this crisis lie in human population and consumption exceeding the limits with which the Earth’s ecosystems can cope. I have collected together three videos by experts in this field discussing some of the multi-dimensional aspects of the ecological crisis.

Johan Rockstrom’s TED Talk on nine planetary boundaries is based on the paper “A safe operating space for humanity” published in Nature in 2009. The nine boundaries are (1) climate change, (2) biodiversity loss, (3a) biogeochemical nitrogen cycle, (3b) biogeochemical phosphorus cycle, (4) ocean acidification, (5) freshwater consumption, (6) land use, (7) ozone layer, (8) chemicals pollution and (9) atmospheric aerosols. According to Rockstrom we have already exceeded the boundaries in the first three systems. 

The costs and risks of different forms of energy

I came across some graphics which help inform the debate on nuclear versus renewable energy. The first graphic relates to risk, the second graph relates to cost and the third graph shows the remarkable growth in wind energy.

The graphic above comes from an article titled Charting the Human Cost of Different Types of Energy on ProPublica. It shows the number of people killed in accidents related to different forms of power generation compared with the number that could potentially be killed in a catastrophic accident. It shows that fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas) have caused far more deaths than nuclear and hydro. While the risk of a catastrophic accident is much greater from nuclear and hydro. (Please note: the data is from developed countries and doesn’t include the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.)

The graphic doesn’t include renewable energies such as wind or solar photovoltaic (PV). However, in terms of both actual deaths and potential deaths these forms of power generation would have low numbers. It is difficult to imagine a situation where a wind farm could kill hundreds or thousands of people.

Canon release two new Rebel DSLR cameras

Canon have announced two new additions to its Rebel line of DSLR cameras. The Canon 600D and Canon 1100D are upgrades of the 550D and 1000D respectively. Both bodies are aimed at entry level DSLR users.

The new 1100D is an upgrade of the 1000D which was released in June 2008. The camera has a 12 megapixel sensor which is likely to be the same or similar to the sensor in the 450D. The 1100D adds video recording capability, although it is limited to 720p compared with 1080p recording found in the more expensive Canon DSLR models. It weighs a mere 495 grams (without lens) which is pretty light for a DSLR. See dpreview.com for a hands-on preview of the Canon 1100D.

New camera: Panasonic LX5

I just bought myself a new camera: the Panasonic LX5. For quite a while I have been pondering over buying a smaller camera to complement my Canon 400D DSLR and finally I plonked down the cash for the Panasonic.

Movies seen in 2010

Following on from the lists in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 here is a list of films and documentaries I saw in 2010. This only includes movies seen on the big screen, not what I have watched on DVD.

• Avatar
• Invictus
• Monga (艋舺)
• Alice in Wonderland
• Green Zone
• Tears (眼淚)
• 9
• Au Revoir Taipei (一頁台北)
• The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
• Kick-Ass
• The Cove (Taiwan premiere at Urban Nomad)
• Iron Man 2
• Taipei Exchanges (第36個故事)
• The Land Has Eyes (and others at 2010 International Indigenous Film Festival)
• Samson and Delilah
• Pinoy Sunday (台北星期天)
• Bullshit
• Favela on Blast
• Inception
• SALT
• Formosa Betrayed
• The Ghost Writer
• The Fourth Portrait (第四張畫)
• The Social Network
• Fair Game
• Seven Days in Heaven (父後七日)
• The Experiment
• Love and Other Drugs

*Also see my review of Taiwanese cinema in 2010.

Yahoo dumps delicious and I explore some alternatives

Various tech news sites such as ReadWriteWeb and TechCrunch yesterday reported, on the basis of a leaked PowerPoint slide, that Yahoo planned to shut down the social bookmarking service delicious. 24 hours later delicious finally provided an official response to the news on its blog. The post suggests that Yahoo is seeking a buyer for delicious.

I have been using delicious for several years but have never actually explored the social side of it. For social sharing of links I use Twitter and Facebook. The links I save on delicious tend to be interesting articles or websites that I would like to refer to again in the future. Whereas the links I share on Twitter and Facebook tend to be more about current news and events.

delicious is also a wonderful storehouse of carefully selected and tagged webpages. Searching the site can be a great way of finding some very relevant sources of information. I hope delicious finds a good home outside Yahoo. With a developer dedicated to improving the site it should live on. It also has the potential to develop new features (I have suggested some at the end of this post).

Robert Fisk on gendercide

Robert Fisk has a series of articles in The Independent on a form of gendercide referred to as “honour” killings. I don’t think we should use the term “‘honour’ killings” because there is nothing in the slightest bit honourable about systematic murders whose victims are mostly young women. Gendercide is a more accurate term. All the articles are linked to below.

• One woman’s nightmare, and a crime against humanity
• Honour killings: Crimewave that shames the world
• Relatives with blood on their hands
• Lie behind mass ‘suicides’ of Egypt’s young women
• The truth about ‘honour’ killings
• A place of refuge from fear and guilt

Thoughts about the Canon 60D

When the Canon 550D was released earlier this year I wrote a post comparing the Canon 550D and Canon 7D. Now Canon has just released a new DSLR, the Canon 60D, which sits right between the Canon 550D and 7D in its specifications and price.

Digital Photography Review has a hands-on preview of the 60D which gives a good look at what the camera has to offer. The most interesting new feature that hasn’t been seen on a Canon DSLR before is the fold out LCD screen. It won’t necessarily appeal to everyone, but it would be very useful for shooting video or taking a shot above your head in a crowd. I would be a little concerned about the potential for it to break, but I guess 95% of the time the screen would be folded away out of danger.

The 18 megapixel sensor is the same as the one in the 7D and 550D. Image quality is likely to be very similar between these cameras. The real difference is in a range of other specifications.

The buzz on various photography forums seems to be that the 60D is a dissapointment. I think this largely comes from owners of the 40D or 50D who had been waiting for the 60D as an upgrade. In some specifications the 60D is not as good as the 50D. For example, the 60D has no auto-focus micro-adjust, a plastic body compared with a magnesium body on the 50D and a slightly slower frames per second (5.3 fps vs 6.3 fps). The 60D takes SD memory cards compared with CF cards on the 60D. It seems that CF cards are now only for professional models with all lower priced cameras having SD cards.

On the other hand the 60D has some features that are not found in the 50D. For example, the 60D has a wireless flash control and can capture 1080p video. The plastic body also makes 60D a bit lighter than the 50D and it is also slightly smaller. Overall the basic design of the 60D is much like the 50D with an LCD on the top and scroll wheel on the back.

One interesting feature is the in-camera RAW conversion. While I wouldn’t necessarily use this a lot it would be useful in situations where you didn’t have access to a computer with the necessary software for RAW conversion and post-processing. There are also JPEG “creative filters” which in my opinion are a bit of a gimmick. It is also possible to give photos a rating from one to five in camera. This can be used for slide shows in the camera and is retained in the metadata after downloading. This would be great for quickly finding your best shots after you have downloaded the photos.

Overall the 60D looks like a very interesting camera and is well placed between the 7D and the 550D. The professional or user upgrading a 40D or 50D might be better served by the 7D. However, for anyone who owns one of the Canon Rebel series (400D/450D/500D/550D) then the 60D looks like a significant upgrade with much better ergonomics and some great features like the wireless flash control. I will certainly strongly consider buying a Canon 60D when the time comes to replace the 400D I am currently using.

Update: Bob Atkins has compiled a very useful table comparing the Canon 60D with the 50D, 7D and 550D. The Phoblographer compares the 60D, 7D and 550D. A video from DigitalRevCom on YouTube asks which of the Canon 60D, 7D and 550D is better?