Puzzle

Puzzle
Originally uploaded by Alejandro Ramírez

The fall is finally here and its colors are all around us. Today Nikki and I went around looking for good shots of tree colors.

We parked somewhere randomly in Redmond and walked for about an hour and a half.

Midnight Madness Google Earth Video

A segment of my video submission is featured (watch at the 1:19s marker).

Yay!

Behind this steel curtain lies a part of my past

Behind this steel curtain lies a part of my past
Originally uploaded by Alejandro Ramírez

Who says that cell phone cameras don't take good pictures? I was in the public storage the other day getting boxes in and out and as I was about to open the curtain, my right eye wondered down and caught this interesting view. So I pulled out my camera and snapped a couple of shots until I got this one.

Chemical Brothers Competition: Midnight Madness

This is my 2-20sec video for the Chemical Brothers' competition "Midnight Madness" and if it gets selected it could be added to the official video to be released in their new album "Brotherhood" which will be available very soon.

My video shows is a series of takes of me painting with light in front of the camera, spelling the words M-I-D-N-I-G-H-T M-A-D-N-E-S-S.

Hope you like it :-)

background music is The Chemical Brothers' Hey Boy Hey Girl, my favorite song.

Just in time

Just in time
Originally uploaded by Alejandro Ramírez

Last Sunday we met with a good friend -Eric- and went on a photo stroll in downtown Seattle. He knows a lot about photography and gave us really good tips.

It was really fun and relaxed that day.

Cascadas de Snoqualmie

Snoqualmie Falls
Originally uploaded by Alejandro Ramírez

Durante la visita de mi cuñado Tyler fuimos de paseo a estas hermosas cascadas.

La caída mide 83 metros y se puede caminar alrededor y hacia el pie de la cascada.

www.snoqualmiefalls.com

Macro Photography

Blue Fly (Profile)
Originally uploaded by Alejandro Ramírez

This is one of my first shots with a 90mm macro lens.

I have to say that it's not very easy and you need a very steady hand. The lens is also a little heavy (400g), and the hand gets tired fairly quickly.

It's simply amazing to look through the lens, it feels like having a microscope and being able to enter into another dimension.

Tulip Festival

Trio
Originally uploaded by alexkywalker

Today we went to the Skagit Valley, about 60 miles north from home to see the tulip fields and took a bunch of great pictures.

The day was sunny and warm, the colors of the flowers were surreal, you could just feel lost admiring their beauty.

Blurred Water Creek

Blurred Water Creek
Originally uploaded by alexkywalker

I have a new hobby: photography.

This picture was taking really near my place and it was taken using a very slow shutter speed setting to run the running water and with a high ISO setting to lighten up the scene since it was late in the afternoon.

This hobby is not exactly new to me, this is my second digital camera and I took a photography class during my master's degree.

My first digital camera was a Sony Mavica FD5, which used de 3 1/2" floppy disks to store pictures (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_Mavica).

My new camera is a Canon Digital Rebel which is an entry-level camera but very amazing!

On my Mac: Adios Safari, Hola Firefox

I resisted the temptation for many years to use anything other than Safari on my Macs, but I just had it with its (poor) ability to display some web sites.

I don't care who it is to blame (poor web design or poor browser rendering capabilities), but Firefox on my Mac gets the job done.

So it's adios Safari, hola Firefox from now on.

Microsoft's Mac BU

This is where my new office is on building 115 of the Microsoft campus in Redmond, WA.

The post-its were a decoration created by some of my co-workers to commemorate 10 years of Microsoft Office for Mac.

Last day of work in St Louis

Last meal with my buddies from GMACI


Everybody


This is it. Last day at work in St. Louis.

2/1/2007

Counter of Days to begin working at Mac BU

[01/26/2007] 10 days...

Counter of Days to begin working at Mac BU

[01/17/2007] 20 days...

T-50

Installing Bootcamp on a Mac Pro using Windows XP Pro Upgrade

I almost gave up but here is my how-to-guide for those of you who are still wondering:

WHAT YOU WILL NEED
- Intel Mac Pro
- Bootcamp software
- Original Windows XP Upgrade CD
- Original older Windows Operating System CD (i.e. Windows NT 4, Windows 2000, etc; find out about elegibility requirements for the upgrade right in your XP Upgrade box).

TOOLS
- A twisty tie (that's right, get one from your bread bag, your original Mac package, or wherever)
- Perhaps a flashlight.

PROCEDURE
1. Follow the instructions to install the Bootcamp Assistant, Create the partition and begin the Win XP installation (included with the Bootcamp download).

2. As you already know, the moment of truth is when the XP Upgrade installation asks for your older Operating System disc you were not able to open your Optical Disc (Combo Drive/Superdrive) unit.

3. Fold the twisty tie at the top to create an "L" shape.

4) Open your Mac Pro's optical drive unit cover with one hand by pushing the cover down and hold it there.

5) Turn on your flashlight and locate the Optical Drive open button towards the lower right.

6) Slide the twisty tie folded tip around the middle and then slide it until it is in front of the Optical Drive open/close button.

7) Push the twisty tie

8) Ta-daa!

9) Now follow the instructions and repeat the procedure above to reinsert the Win XP upgrade CD when asked for it.

I hope this helps!

George Lucas on 60 Minutes tonight

Tonight at 6pm Central George Lucas will be on 60 Minutes talking about the "final" episode of the Star Wars saga.

Never before seen scenes will be shown, and who knows what surprises he will disclose during the interview.

I hope it's a spoiler-free show so I don't learn too much of the movie; I also wonder if he is going to talk about Episodes VII, VIII, and IX.

MTFBWY

Star Wars Episode III Theatrical Trailer on TV tonight

We Star Wars fans will gather tonight and watch the Episode III theatrical trailer on Fox.

It will be playing at the time of the series "The OC" (8:00 PM).

Also, the theatrical poster can be seen at www.starwars.com

My SGI 330 

Upgrades are good!

Today I took a day off from work, stayed home and upgraded my 4-year old computer. I have to say that I am very satisfied with the results, it really feels like a new computer.

I remember talking to my friend Andy B. a couple of years ago about the upgrades while looking at Pricewatch.com, but it didn't happen until now.

Here is the summary of what happened:

Silicon Graphics Visual Workstation 330
Before
Dual Pentium III at 800MHz
512MB Ram
64MB Video - VRPro3 (GeForce 256 Quadro)
18GB SCSI Hard Drive at 7,200 rpm
CD Rom
CDRW/DVD Combo
1600SW LCD Flat Panel Monitor
Win2K Pro

After
1GB Ram
256 Video - ATI Radeon 9550
70 SCSI Hard Drive at 10,000 rpm (+ the 18GB drive as a secondary)
DVD Burner
Dropped the CD Rom and kept the CDRW/DVD Combo
WinXP Pro