To be a bee in Bethesda

I was walking through the plaza over Bethesda metro station and saw a nice bee swarm on one of the maple trees. It is right on the plaza and they have yellow 'No Parking' tape blocking off the area so it is easy to find. these swarms only last a few days before they move on, so this is a rare chance to see a swarm in a very convenient place. Bees aren't as aggressive as they are swarming, so you can probably get fairly close without any problems, but if you are allergic, you might want to bring your epipen.

Location: Bethesda Place Plaza, Bethesda, Maryland
What: Bees, glorious bees
Why: Because it's spring

I view perl like..

I see perl as much like a leatherman tool, except, in addition to the usual complement of screwdrivers, pliers, and knives, it also has a lockpick set and a microscope. And a chainsaw, and an arc welder. And a limitless supply of duct tape.

And just in case you don't know, perl is a programming language, though, if you don't know that, this post probably isn't relevant to you.

The War on Photography

Bruce Schneier has a good essay on the increasing restrictions on photography and how the reason given is security and preventing terrorism, but it really doesn't do either.

We've been repeatedly told to watch out for photographers, especially suspicious ones. Clearly any terrorist is going to first photograph his target, so vigilance is required.

Except that it's nonsense. The 9/11 terrorists didn't photograph anything. Nor did the London transport bombers, the Madrid subway bombers, or the liquid bombers arrested in 2006. Timothy McVeigh didn't photograph the Oklahoma City Federal Building. The Unabomber didn't photograph anything; neither did shoe-bomber Richard Reid...

You can read the full article about Photography and security on his web site.

Even if terrorists did photograph something what do you think they would use, a big obvious camera, or a cellphone camera, or maybe one hidden in their sunglasses? The people who are hassled for taking a picture aren't terrorists, you'd never notice the bad guys taking pictures.

South Beach Livng: Savory Pork

One of Kraft's South Beach living microwave meals. Chunks of pork, onions, and celery in a savory sauce with pecans. The pork was nice and firm, the chunks neither too large or too small. The pork depended on the sauce for flavor, not having much of its own. Suprisingly, the celery retained some of it's own flavor, usually you don't see that. The sauce was thin and lightly flavored, but this wasn't a bad thing, it went well with the other flavors in the dish. The pecans were more of a garnish, but added a nice bit of crunch now and then. They were a welcome addition. The Vegetables are green beans with yellow bell peppers. The green beans were decent, the yellow peppers were, as is often the case, mushy. Some of the sauce from the meat side spilled over and livened up the vegetables quite a bit.

The dish is split into two sections, the smaller one was filled to the brim with the meat, the larger one was less than half full with the vegetables. I have to wonder if this was deliberate or if the just mixed something up. I think this tv dinner ended up being ok, certainly not a standout, but not bad either. (230 calories, 9g fat; 13g carbs; 22g protein; 28% sodium)

South Beach Living: Kung Pao Chicken

One of Kraft's South Beach Living brand of microwave meals. Diced meat chicken, red peppers and peanuts in kung pao sauce with a side of broccoli, water chestnuts and Yellow peppers. The vegetable side is mostly broccoli with a a decent number of slices of water chestnuts and small squares of yellow bell pepper. The broccoli was firm, not too overcooked, but not crunchy either. For some reason, many of the flowers were removed from the stems, it didn't affect the taste, but was unexpected. The water chestnuts added some nice crunch, there was no sauce on the vegetables.

The chicken was diced, not cut in strips like the box said, but that is probably for the better, as I didn't need a knife it had a decent texture but not much flavor. Once piece of chicken I got had a piece of bone in it. The box says it is mildly spiced and they aren't kidding, there isn't a whole lot of flavor to the sauce except some bites would be a tiny bit hot. The peanuts add crunch, but again, not much to the flavor, and the red bell pepper bits add color only.

Overall, I'd say they have quality control issues (for both the broccoli and the chicken). The tv dinner was bland, certainly not the rich flavor I would expect in Kung Pao Chicken. (250 calories; 9g fat; 14g carbs; 25g protein; 26% sodium)

Thimian Thai: Chicken Pad Ka Pow

This is a pretty new Thai restaurant in downtown Bethesda. I went there for lunch and had chicken Pad Kapow, thin strips of chicken stir-fried with thin strips of red and green peppers, onions, and basil, all in a brown sauce. This dish is somewhat spicy. The peppers and onions were perfectly cooked, still with some crunch to them. The chicken was also good. The sauce was really, really, good. Just enough heat to really let you know it was there, but nowhere close to overwhelming it. It was also very flavorful and really soaked into the rice. The yellow walls of the restaurant don't add to the atmosphere, but the food was excellent and I plan on going back there.

Thimian Thai is located at 7525 Old Georgetown Road, Bethesda, MD. Directly across the street from the Clark Building. Restaurants in the location prior to this one include Gator Alley and Uncle Jed's Roadhouse.

Rice Paddies Grill: Chicken w/ Ginger Sauce

This is a small restaurant, where you walk up to the counter to order. There is seating but a most people going there seem to take out. There is a big window into the kitchen where you can watch them make the food. Since they cook everything when you order it, it can take a while when they are busy.

I got the Chicken with Ginger sauce, chunks of chicken stir fried with onions and green and red peppers (and is gluten free). It also came with a side salad and steamed rice. I think the chicken had been grilled before it was stir-fried and that added a nice taste to it. The sauce was smooth and the ginger didn't overwhelm the dish. There was plenty of everything and I briefly considered not finishing it. At first I thought it was a little on the high side, given that it wasn't really a sit-down restaurant, but, the taste, plus the quantity, plus the side salad changed my mind. I think the price was perfectly acceptable given what you get. I liked it and will probably head back another time, the lemon grass chicken looks appealing.

Rice Paddies Grill is located at 4706 Bethesda Ave., Bethesda, MD 20814. It is next to a Starbucks.

The Future of Video Cameras

At the pro and prosumer level, I don't know. I don't have any experience in that area, but I would expect them to have their following. People who are really into pictures use DSLRs and I think people who are really into video will want high quality gear.

Consumer video cameras are in for some hurting. The market for them will shrink considerably. Point and shoot cameras will tread deeply into their market.

Consider this: Most video cameras today are tape based. when you are trying to tape your kids entire recital, this is fine, it's nice to get the whole thing in one go. However, few people actually do this, and fewer still actually watch these videos. Most videos are short, no more than a few minutes, and tape can be a real drag since it isn't random access.

More and more they are going to hard disks or flash memory, giving people random access to their clips. This trend will continue.

But let's think here. What other kind of camera uses flash memory, has a nice optical zoom and is taking better and better video as time goes on? That's right, point and shoot cameras. Why take a dedicated still camera AND a dedicated video camera when the still camera can do a decent job at both? The rare times when a dedicated video camera will do better just won't justify their cost, weight, and hassle.

My predictions for the next 5 years:

• Video cameras will continue to increase in resolution. 1920x1080p full HD will be the standard.
• Few, if any, will use tape, most will use flash memory (16 or 32 GB cards maybe?) some will use hard disks (large enough to get your whole vacation on, 200+ GB)
• Their market will be smaller than it is today.
  

The Future of Cameraphones

Cameraphones have a bright future. Pretty much everyone has a phone, almost all of them have a camera already, so even if people don't use them, they will remain a check-off feature that everyone has. Given this, you can't really judge the success of them as a camera just by sales.

The real advantage that they have is that you always have them. You don't have to debate whether or not to take them or make sure you remember to grab it. You just have it.

The downside is the picture quality is fairly poor and I don't see that changing a whole lot. The sensor is just too small, and if you make it bigger, then it and the lens take up more space and add weight, both of which are at a premium on phones.

In the next five years I predict:

• the pointless megapixel race will continue 2MP now, probably 4 or 5 in five years. Mostly useless over 2MP and totally useless over 3MP, the quality just isn't there, even in bright light.
• LED flashes: This will help things a little. More and more phones will get white LED flashes on the camera. They will actually help a lot of shots where camera phones are used, a group of friends taking a picture from a few feed away, like at a party or sitting around a table at a restaurant. As a bonus, they can be used as a flashlight.
• Video: They currently have pathetic video (mine does something like 176x144 at 10 frames a second). This will get better, but who knows how much. I think in 5 years, most phones will be doing 320x240 30fps and high end ones will do 640x480 @ 30fps.
• Phones with real cameras will remain a small niche. There are a couple of them now, with real flashes and zoom lenses. Here's the problem. The bigger camera parts add weight and bulk, and you have to carry them around all the time, even when you don't need the camera. Better to have a smaller, not as good camera with you all the time for those spur of the moment things and bring a point and shoot when you know there will be photo ops. There are some people who carry a point and shoot everywhere, and a camera like this would be an advantage for them, but I doubt that is a huge market segment.
  

The future of Point and Shoot Cameras

Point and shoot cameras seem to be in a dismal spot, with cameraphones eating at them from the bottom and digital SLR cameras pushing down on them from the top. However, think that they will have a strong niche for the foreseeable future. Their growth will probably slow, but they are far from extinct.

What's going to save them? Size, picture quality, and video.

Picture quality: Seems like an odd strength, given that it is much worse than a DSLR, but instead compare it to a cameraphone. Cameraphones have tiny sensors and tiny lenses, which means that they only take decent pictures in bright light. P&S cameras, with their larger sensors and better flash can take better pictures. Plus, the more advanced feature like face detection work better when you have more processing power to dedicate to them. And Zoom, how many camera phones have a 3x or 4x optical zoom?

Size: Seems like an odd strength too. They are much bulkier than a camera phone. You actually have to remember to take them with you instead of always having them around. However, compared to a DSLR, they are much, much smaller and lighter. You can put it in your pocket or bag without it being uncomfortable.

Video: Given that we are mostly talking about still cameras, video may seem like an odd strength, but really, it is the point and shoot camera's secret weapon. 5 years ago, they took 320x240 video at 15 frames a second without sound. Now almost all of them take 640x480 video at 30 fps with sound. That means that today's cameras take good enough video that you don't need a video camera for you 30 second to several minute clips. Where will they be in 5 years? Definitely taking HD video, probably at 1920x1080. For short videos they will be perfect. Longer ones will be fine, there will be plenty of flash memory, but I think they will compress things too heavily to do much editing, still, for most people, this will be all they need.