Random Ideas

Here's an awesome release of one of the components from my upcoming game! It's a Lua interpreter! It doesn't work perfectly yet. I've added a command so that you can print out variable contents (since lua can't write out to the console normally using the print command): it's called consolewrite – and all you have to do to use it is type ‘consolewrite(variablename)' and it'll print out the contents of the variable no problem.

It's a great piece of software – very minimalist user interface (I love command line programs). You'll need .NET Framework 3.5 (grab it here if you don't have it installed) installed on your computer to run it.

Download it here (Mediafire) 129kb

Have fun playing with it! I've hidden a command in it (it's real easy to find, trust me – so you don't have to worry about spending hours trying to decipher a crazy puzzle – that's for next year).

A few things you should know before trying it out:

If you've got a Lua script that's purely Lua and nothing else, it should run perfectly using the dofile command (I've made sure it works.)

I believe the program shouldn't crash just because you're typing gibberish into it. It may be rudimentary – but it should have pretty OK error handling.

To exit the program, type ‘exit' or ‘quit' and the command prompt and the program will close itself. It doesn't leave behind any log files and the error messages are generally unhelpful – although that's probably something I'll work on.

If you find any bugs in this very early alpha version, report it!

Update - I made a small mistake during compiling which may cause problems for some people. Not sure if it'll fix anything, but I've updated the EXE anyway. I've called the new version 0.02 although it's only a hotfix.

Like just about every crazy purchase, you must have your excuses. (I won't say reasons, since they are indeed excuses.)

There is are quite a few reasons why I bought this particular model, and I am quite sure many people, even Canon users can come up with them too.

1. Access to more lenses – the D90 comes with the AF motor needed to drive many older design lenses – using them could save you a fair bit of money over the equivalent newer ones. If you buy plenty of lenses, this pays for itself bloody fast.

2. Wireless flash system – the D90 comes with the ability to use wireless slave flashes – no need to lug around an extra flash like on the D60 to do the same commanding. (the extra flash can now be a wireless slave too!)

3. The ability to keep ADR on Auto at all times – this might not matter to most people, but this is a lifesaver on many occasions for a newbie like me. The overhead of ADR on the D60 is just way too high to bother.

4. Live view – no need to go blind when taking those high angle shots – you can now see what you're doing.

5. More buttons – the nikon D90 has plenty of buttons so you can change just about about setting that matters to you. No more weighing pros and cons of assigning the Fn button – instead you'll be busy looking for something to assign to the Fn button instead.

6. The screen – the 3 inch screen gives dSLRs what would probably be the biggest gripe of upgraders from p+s a big kick out the door. The screen is brilliant, sharp and shows you so much more. It's less a matter size than it is resolution.

7. Faster autofocus – it ain't the D300, but the AF system is faster than the D60, it is however more confusing to use. Coupled with a fast focusing lens – the camera feels crazy fast compared to the D60′s occasional hiccup. (Of course, while it is indeed more confusing – it's faster – and actually means you can just point and shoot  - less recomposing required. )

8. Movie mode – not really a reason for me, but it does mean i don't have to bring a p+s around to take the occasional video – i can just go all over the place with merely my D90 and 18-200 VR.

9. Better battery life – unlike the D60, the D90 does have an official battery grip for it, in addition to having a longer battery life to begin with.

10. Sensor – the sensor is ISO 200 to 3200, more sensitive than the D60. This essentially means better lowlight performance, not to mention this sensor should be highly similar to the D300 – giving us plenty of bang for our buck.

Although I'm technically on holiday, I've been as busy as hell running around getting stuff done, and as of such haven't had much time to blog. Running errands has kept me very busy just about all the time, so I thought I'd spend some time blogging here.
uranium238 went through similar camera changes – although my schedule was vastly accelerated due to certain coincidences, so to speak.

I went through quite a few cameras in the past half year, all of which you'd agree are progressive upgrades – and the surprising stories behind them.

The first upgrade occured when my Sony CyberShot DSC-S40 point-and-shoot camera just died on me. It didn't actually die of course, just a series of malfunctions that renders the camera difficult to use – the lens cover started having mechanical problems, although nothing a little ingenuity couldn't fix. Soon after, the LCD just failed to operate altogether. I did have a viewfinder, and I could indeed use the camera viewfinder style, but having no way to set flash settings or anything, I set about looking for a new camera.

Now, at the time, I had the misconception that dSLRs were difficult to use and that I wouldn't get my money's worth spending the several hundred extra dollars on an dSLR – I wasn't much of a photographer and I didn't spend all that much time taking photographs. Why buy a complex dSLR that would cost me over double and do less and cover less zoom range? I did a lot of research – running all over the place, considering most of the superzooms (with the exception of the Canon Powershot S5 IS, which has since been superceded by the Canon Powershot SX10 IS – which is a superzoom.)  - since they gave a lot of control over the how the camera worked, and were both smaller and cheaper than dSLRs.

I ended up settling with a Panasonic DMC-FZ18 for a short while. It was great – 18x zoom and a 28mm wide end for the less gave a lot of leeway for getting stuff done – and the close focusing for macro was great. I took several hundred shots with this camera. There was something wrong with it though: it was a great camera, but like many point and shoots (no matter how glorified and how big) – taking photos in low light just sucked. Still – it was the first camera I had with image stabilisation: and I was amazed at how well it worked for those crazy shots at 18x (504mm).

The next upgrade was much a surprise – someone had put up a Nikon D60 + twin VR lens kit up for sale for cheap. I quickly snapped it up (egged on by chewxy), whether for the opportunity to sell it for profit or just for use myself was a matter for another day. It took a while to get used to using a viewfinder again (I used to use my dad's film SLR.) after so many years of using an LCD to compose and shoot. Of course, now I love using a viewfinder so much that even when I picked up my FZ18 again, I looked through the viewfinder to compose. What was I surprised by? The camera was actually easier to use than a point and shoot. Sure, you have to hold the camera to your eye, and yes, you no longer have a 100% viewfinder to compose with – but guess what, the camera actually makes it difficult for you to screw up. Photos are rarely too dark or too bright, the camera knows when to fill flash (so you don't have to),  that's not even mentioning there is quite a gain in sharpness and detail from the mere camera change. And of course, I finally found the feature I was looking for all along – great high ISO performance. Life was good. Well, for a while.

Forking out the extra money on the D60 was indeed a problem:  this actually threw a spanner into my plans to eventually acquire a Nikon D90 sometime in 2009 or 2010. This caused me to accelerate my plans. I quickly sold my D60 and my FZ18 (and several other odds and ends). Amazingly enough – this raised me just enough cash to buy a Nikon D90. The jump from the D60 to the D90 may not seem like much. The D90 has 2 more megapixels, an AF motor, live view, movie mode, slightly better viewfinder, better AF system and so on. That's of course, all in the specifications. Stuff you don't see in the specifications? On the D60 – you had to consider whether or not to turn on ADR – on the D90, it's a no brainer – just turn it on. The D90 is so much faster at processing photos, even slower shutter speeds actually seem faster. It's also a lot more aggressive at keeping the LCD off – no wonder it no longer has an eye sensor.

Nikon D90 with AF-S 50mm f/1.4G attached

Now that I'm back on my original plan – I don't think I'll be changing cameras for the next few years. Heh.

You'll notice the mention of a 50mm prime. What the hell is that?

If you haven't already noticed – I've gotten plenty of control over depth of field recently – and my photos have somehow gotten sharper. The flash has somehow become more diffused than it used to be.

Yep – that's right, I went through a few cameras – and now I'm finally settling with a DSLR – just a year after my 3-year-old Cybershot point-and-shoot decided to leave this world for a better place. I've gone through two cameras – and soon, I'll have the camera I have been planning to buy ever since it was announced. Which one? I'll wait until I can get a good shot of it with a friend's dSLR.

What might surprise you? I'm in the Nikon camp! Aha – that might give you a great clue as to what it is!

It's just another new hobby, together with speedcubing.

A flower from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne, Australia.

Taken with an 18-55mm DX VR at 22mm, f/4 with a shutter speed of 1/250

I have a long way to go before good photos do show up. Heh.