As promised, another pic from this beautiful Saturday night. This one is shot from the East River Park, a probably less known spot on the East River Waterfront. It's a little rougher there (as a matter of fact we avoided this place for a while after we almost ran into a guy with a gun in his hand), but it offers fantastic views on the industrial part of the Brooklyn waterfront. Enjoy it while it's still there - rather sooner than later, luxurious condominium residences will replace the old factory buildings.

A Fotolog Classic and then again Not

What a day! Not only have I been battling with some PC viruses and reinstalling and securing lots of software but actually two very nice things have happened too and should put me in a better mood! First, there's Adam's post and picture with Oliver and me in it - http://www.fotolog.com/cypher/50920963 And then, there's Warren's post and picture with one of my fav colleagues and me in it -http://www.fotolog.com/fotologcto/31463202 and the colleague is Andrey - http://www.fotolog.com/andreyk Thank you Adam and Warren :) @ YOU guys - REMEMBER - [b]Only NON-SPAM makes a good guestbook comment[/b]. Thanks!

The Moon and the Waterfall

Remarkable evening yesterday: it began with a beautiful sunset (more pics to follow), then with the full moon set over the NYC waterfalls and finally with a piece of sports history, which we witnessed at Paris Bar near the South Street Seaport.

Notes everywhere, forever

Evernote is a simple idea very well executed. It's a place to store notes, text, pictures or audio. There's a website and native clients for Mac and Windows as well as the iPhone. Which basically means you can take notes wherever you want and it all synchronizes as soon as an Internet connection is available. It also indexes all notes, including text it can identify on pictures and makes them searchable. Sweet.
So what can you do with it? It's like a programming language: a basic principle can be used to support many ideas. I haven't figured it out myself, so I'm trying various things. For example clipping screenshots (there's a handy utility included for doing that) and websites for later references. Or I write down ideas, text snippets and blog entries (like this one), knowing that it will conveniently sync and be available, when I need it. While I haven't done it so far, I also thing that taking visual notes with the iPhone camera could be very useful as well.
Of course everything is absolutely free at Evernote, which is very welcome, but also little a worrisome. They have to make their money somehow and the optional subscription with slight advantages cannot pay their bills. So they either sell to Google, put more advertising everywhere, charge everybody or going out of business. Which makes the "ever" part a little questionable.

Recently @ the MoMA

Even @ the MoMA - people talk about Fotolog guestbook SPAM. Be part of it and say NO too! Have a great weekend and see you on Monday :)

Rainbow over Manhattan

These days the weather in NYC is picture perfect - dramatic skies, crisp light and always something unexpected happening - such as this rainbow. It is somewhere over our place, so a treasure should be right here.

Public Library

In front of the Public Library on 5th Avenue on a very lovely Saturday afternoon. And guess what she was thinking? NO SPAM! Yeah, really :)

5th Avenue, Saturday Afternoon

We haven't done this in a while: spending a Saturday afternoon in Mitdown, including a lunch at the Rink Bar in the Rockefeller Center, which is a blend between tourist trap and a really cool place. Tourist trap, because it's twice as expensive than what you would pay in, let's say, an Irish pub in the area. Cool, because it's a very New York location and it has somehow the feeling of a beach bar.

Ella dice NO al SPAM en los libros de visitas

This is another one from our recent walk through Greenwhich Village, trying to capture "blue". There's obviously not too much "blue" to be seen but I liked the atmosphere. --- Say NO to guestbook spam. Say NO to guestbook robots!

This is from our recent walk through Greenwhich Village, trying to capture "blue". And this is also a posting to let all the Fotolog SPAMMERS know that their accounts will get deactivated if they continue to clog guestbooks. Say NO to guestbook spam. Say NO to guestbook robots!

Is he following me?

Or running away? Since I am the one who's taking a picture of him from behind... The assignment was BLUE and I took quite a few cool "blue pictures". Oliver is participating an a group of photographers who have new topics on a weekly basis. How much do YOU like this photo as "blue"? I'll get back to you once I am back from my Summer Vacation in the HAMPTONS! Woohoo - I am so happy now and off! Have a great time, until next week :)

More from the Waterfalls

Since I pass them a couple of times per week on my way to and from work, the NYC waterfalls are my favorite picture project. But other than The Gates and Chihuly this installation is more difficult to photograph. First, it's summer and so far it was difficult to find a day without too much haze and good light. Then, unless you have a boat, the number of different perspectives are very limited. Luckily the installation lasts until fall, so there will be some more opportunities.

Look here to see what I could get so far.

Back to the Waterfalls

Finally I managed having a) the D80 with me b) kind of nice weather and c) the waterfalls actually turned on in the morning. So the first couple of shots are here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nydiscovery/sets/72157605727363984/. More are to come.

Trifecta of Apple Disappointments

You can wish as hard as you want, things are not just perfect, especially not in the world of technology. Here's why I don't like Apple too much this week:

The iPhone 3G just doesn't have enough battery power to get me comfortably through the day. Yes, I could turn off features and use it less, but that would be half the fun. This means to charge the phone wherever possible during the day. On the plus side: the 3G comes with the tiniest charger ever. I guess, there's a reason for it.
iTunes 7.7 does not continue to play music after fast-switching to another user. That came exactly in the moment, when we decided to install our Aperture library under a separate user, so the Elke and I can both use it. But without music, of course.
After a fast-user-switch, Aperture doesn't quit at all or crashes while quitting. So far it seems that this doesn't do any bad, but, in any case, it doesn't feel good.

So it would be a good time to switch, if I just knew where to...

Snatching an iPhone 3G

Well, that was a lot of stress this time. I was totally wrong with my assessment that it would be much easier to get the iPhone 3G than the original one. The lower price seemed to make it attractive to more people and the convoluted activation process extended the lines. So by Friday it still took 5 hours to make it into the store on 5th Avenue and being handed a new phone.

But I bit the bullet and not a day too early. While many probably think it's crazy too wait that long for a freakin' cell phone, it is actually a real happening. At one of the most beautiful places in the city and with a lot of like-minded people around you. It gives you also (a somewhat false) sense of accomplishment: make it to the next loop, being the next person to enter the store, then being escorted finally downstairs and finally the moment where the activation happens and a phone is handed to you.

Is the 3G upgrade worth the effort? Not so sure about that. The 16 GB is the most exciting feature for me and they were available for the old iPhone as well. This means that I can load it with all my favorite music instead of just a narrow selection. 3G network speed is nice to have, but ironically with all those local applications there's less need to go to the web at all. Let's see how it goes with the battery life.

One thing I'm really excited about, though, is the wireless syncing with Mobile Me. I work on different computers and it's just convenient if changes propagate magically to all devices without the need to do a manual sync. That is amazing, but sure as hell the moment came where a change doesn't get synced, not matter what I do. There is a lot of components involved and it's not surprising that there are some kinks to be ironed out, but Apple better hurries - I need to rely on the fact that my calendar is current and I don't want to double check every appointment, just to make sure that has been synced correctly on all systems.

One more thing that doesn't work as smoothly as it should is handling invitations to meetings. Elke and I want to use the system to maintain our common activities (this is necessary, because we have a lot of activities and need to budget our time), but I'm not sure yet if this is going to work out. For starters, the invitation functionality is neither available on the iPhone nor on the Mobile Me website. I'm sure that Apple is fixing that soon, but I was also sure that we'll see cut & paste on the iPhone very soon and we're still waiting.

Sunset over New York City

Here's a picture from Monday, where - for a short time - the sunset painted the sky in amazing colors.

No iPhone for Me - But Life Goes On Anyway

That didn't work out too well. First I tried to get the new iPhone at the AT&T store, just to be told that they ran out of phones after a short time. I gave it a another try at the Apple Store, which seems to have an endless supply on phones, but were not able to process my contract with a corporate rebate. Move on to plan C: the Palisades Mall upstate. No luck: the sight of some guys in camping chairs in front of the AT&T store which was out of stock was more than disheartening.

Whatever. I can still enjoy the 2.0 software and in a few days, I probably just walk into a store and grab a phone. In the meantime there's a lot to do. For example three live acts and a weekend in the Catskills and the Hudson Valley. Starting with The Statues of Liberteh! (how promoter Frank Wood likes to announce them) in there last NYC appearance until fall, because lead singer John Law goes to Hollywood (literally). We will miss them.

On Saturday we had the pleasure of the Sugar Bees at the Holiday Inn Kingston, one of approximately 8,263 cover bands that played a Holiday Inn, Best Western, Hilton Hotel or similar across the nation that night. However, they had an excellent singer and the remnants of two family gathering to be entertained. Cool families, by the way, because granddaughters were partying next to their grandmothers, long after we went to bed.

On Sunday we visited Saugerties and ran into a historic car show. Now, Elke and I have that talent that, in the summertime, we somehow always stumble over a historic car show. A pretty useless talent, because usually we couldn't care less about cars. But it's hard not to get nostalgic about a time when petroleum was abundant and beauty and luxury trumped always function and economy. A lot of pictures were taken before we headed back home on the east bank of the Hudson River.

This time we had a little more time and after stopping at our favorite Cold Spring, we learned that there's so much more to see: There's Monteverde , an apparently excellent restaurant in unbelievable pretty setting that also offers unaffordable suites. A little bit more down to earth is the Peekskill Inn where the pool offers a breathtaking view over the Hudson Valley. Both places were noted for future weekend trips.

The evening then brought us back to the music: John Carpenter, a friend of Elke's (see her own blog) opened for The Crimea, a band you would not expect in the intimate setting of Union Hall.

Am I Mobile Yet?

Not quite yet. Mobile Me, the successor to Apples .Mac online service, is still down, even though it was supposed to be online by this morning.

Now given the high profile of the Mobile Me launch, I would think that Apple has thrown all necessary resources on this project and has planned and tested it as careful as possible. Still, so far it's a failure.

Maybe this means that it's just not possible to launch a global website the rock-hard way that Apple usually prefers: without a public beta, without somebody outside the company or not bound by an NDA has ever seen the service. Google, for example, is well known for carefully introducing their applications to a growing audience (and then keep them stuck in beta for years).

Since I waited for a service like Mobile Me for a long time, I really hope that Apple gets it together soon.

Recession? Which Recession?

The much talked about significant decline in general economic activity must be happening elsewhere but not Greater New York! Has my Fotolog job ad received more than 100 responses last year in October, it got responded by a meager 23 people this time of year. Same company, same job, same duties, same pay - even same manager - me:) Maybe something has to change here. .. With less people to choose from, I activated my own networks (webgrrls, linkedin, etc.) but to no avail. I even searched resumes on craigslist for interesting candidates and sent emails to more than 10 people and only 2 so far responded.

Is everybody digging summer, not wanting to work, left alone changing jobs which means even more work at least at the beginning?

Bottom line: I don't think there's a recession happening in New York City, people seem to be just fine! Rents are still high, concerts and other venues sold out faster than you can spell "ticketmaster" and over all there seems to be a big, fat saturation laming each and everybody! And the temperature is not even in the hundreds yet!

Speaking of concerts, I made it to the free Battery Park concert of the Sonic Youth which was pretty amazing, especially given the thunderstorm backdrop. The 4th of July fireworks was affected even more. But Oliver, Volkmar and I had much fun - nonetheless!

My favorite not-yet-famous-but-soon-to-be New York band, the Statues of Liberty, played the Knitting Factory, last Sunday and there will be another chance to catch John, Hal and Hitomi live this upcoming Friday at the Delancey! And just announced, my "Union Square Market" friend John plays Union Hall this upcoming Sunday. He's opening for The Crimea, a fairly popular UK band. I am looking forward to all these shows!

Also, John Law (Statues) is currently on TV, Fuse that is, with a show called Rock'n Roll Acid Test - Check it out - It's fun and it is unique!

Since we're at "TV" - I am very much looking forward to the new season of MadMan - hands down the best TV show to date! And that on AMC - and not the more likely players HBO & Co! Have you seen MadMan? What do YOU think? Share your thoughts!

iPhone Week All Over Again

This could become a tradition: every summer there's a new iPhone model with hype building up until it's unbearable. Last year I was standing in line, just to find out that the AT&T shop has only a few units to sell. This year, well, I don't know yet what to do best.

Should I try the same AT&T store again, at 8 am in the morning, before work? But I won't have time to stand in line for long, so maybe the Apple Store in Soho after work is the better choice? In any case, there's a backup plan: We're going to the Catskills again (same as last year, purely coincidental), so I can do a stop at the Palidades Mall again. Also much better this year: Elke wants to snatch the old iPhone and hence has a vested interest to get this transaction going as soon as possible.

All pictures

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