Archive for the ‘Photos’ Category

Japan earthquake-tsunami-nuclear disaster: photo remembrance

Sunday, March 27th, 2011

At last, the death toll from the triple disaster in Japan has passed 10,000 – with 17,000 more unaccounted for. Many people like myself are tremendously saddened by the tragedy.

Here’s a simple collection of photos that I’ve taken over the years in Japan – photos that bring back pleasant memories of a beautiful country with a wonderful culture, and most importantly hospitable and kind people that I’ve had the privilege of encountering.

In the sea of depressing scenes depicting the horrors of the disasters, hopefully these photos will help remind us of the beautiful Japan.

I love visiting Japan. It is a wonderful place to bring a family with young kids. It is clean, safe and systematic. No need to worry about food poisoning, walking late at night, or the trains to be late.

As you can guess from the many photos taken in Japan that I’ve used as illustrations for my photo-editing stories, I visit Japan an awful lot – almost every year with the family. My wife and I have lived in Japan before and we love the culture and the food, and especially – the sincerity of the people we’d met during our stay.

Most of the photos had appeared in previous photo-editing articles. I know there are a lot of workers and volunteers out there risking life and limb to help with disaster relief right now. This is just a little something that I’d like to contribute in my own way.

Each of the photo contains a link to a charity for victims of the disasters to make it convenient for you to make a contribution should you wish to. None of the charities linked to are related to me in any way. Please do your own checks on those charities before contributing.

Help the victims of the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disasters in Japan

http://www.redcross.org.sg/Japan-Disaster-2011.phtml

http://www.savethechildren.org/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=8rKLIXMGIpI4E&b=6478615&ct=9170883&msource=wellpaqkf311

http://www.convoyofhope.org/go/headlines/entry/earthquake_and_tsunami_strike_japan

http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/japan-earthquake-tsunami-relief/

http://www.shelterbox.org/

http://www.give2asia.org/japantsunami-2011

http://www.internationalmedicalcorps.org/Page.aspx?pid=1970

http://www.savethechildren.org/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=8rKLIXMGIpI4E&b=6478615&ct=9170883&msource=wellpaqkf311

http://jasonkelly.com/helpjapan/

https://www.mercycorps.org/donate/japan

http://www.medicalteams.org/sf/Home.aspx

http://www.msf.org/msf/donations/donations_home.cfm

http://www.redcross.org.sg/Japan-Disaster-2011.phtml

http://www.convoyofhope.org/go/headlines/entry/earthquake_and_tsunami_strike_japan

http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/japan-earthquake-tsunami-relief/

http://www.give2asia.org/japantsunami-2011

http://www.google.com/crisisresponse/japanquake2011.html

Adobe launches Photoshop Express 2.0 for iOS

Thursday, March 17th, 2011

Adobe has announced the release of the free Photoshop Express 2.0 for iOS devices, as well as a new $3.99 Adobe Camera Pack that you can purchase from within Photoshop Express.

Photoshop Express 2.0 (free) and Adobe Camera Pack ($3.99) Adobe Photoshop Express has more than 20 million subscribers on iOS and Android devices. It provides easy-to-use features for capturing, organising, editing and sharing of photos on popular social networks like Facebook, giving users on the road the ability to work on their digital photos on smartphones and tablets.

Adobe Photoshop Express 2.0 for iOS devices can be downloaded free on the Apple iTunes Store. From within the app, you can purchase the new Adobe Camera Pack which includes the following features.

Reduce Noise: Removes and smooths out grain and speckling from photos to improve them.

Self Timer: Set a camera timer to three or 10 seconds to control when a photo is to be recorded.

Auto Review: Provides a quick look at photos taken before saving or deleting it.

Photoshop Express 2.0 requires iOS 4.2 or later. To use the Adobe Camera Pack, customers must have an iPhone 3Gs, iPhone 4, iPod Touch (3rd or 4th generation), or an iPad or iPad 2 (note that Photoshop Express does not include support for the iPad 2 camera at this time).

Snapshots of IT Show 2011

Friday, March 11th, 2011

An hour into the IT Show 2011, and the exhibition halls are jam packed as anticipated. I jumped in and got what I wanted and jumped out again. Here are a few snapshots during the foray.

View from Level 6 of Suntec Singapore at the IT Show 2011Looking down from Level 6 of Suntec Singapore, you can see the sea of people going up or down the escalators and milling around. It’ll probably get much more jam-packed later in the day when people knock off from work and come visiting. The weekends will be even more crowded.

Many creased furrows can be seen as visitors pore over reams of brochures and price lists to sniff out the best deals. Many can be seen on the phone, checking prices elsewhere, or asking friends whether they needed something that’s been offered at an irresistible promotion.

The motley crowd at the IT Show 2011 at Suntec Singapore
Some early birds have already bought what they wanted, and I can see some buyers who are not waiting till they get home to unbox – some are whipping out their purchases and powering them up there and then – right outside the exhibition halls.
Standing talking advertisement for iPhone accessories
Perhaps if you find you’ve bought a lemon, you can immediately pop back in for a replacement or a refund. But the security was not as sympathetic – shortly after this snapshot, the guard was seen going around evacuating them from where they’d been squatting. 

Prior to this, I’d only seen walking, talking placards on the streets of London. But right here in Singapore, we have our very own standing, talking advertisement selling iPhone accessories hanging down his neck. Bravo!