You'll need to download the .zip file with the original .PNG files here. They're obviously Fujifilm themed, as you can see, since they're for my Lightroom and Capture One scratch drive and high speed backup. If you're not familiar with how to change the folder or drive icons in macOS, start by saving the picture to your Downloads folder. Open the picture in Preview, hit CMD+A then CMD+C to copy the image. Right click/2-finger click the drive or folder icon you want to change and choose "Get Info" from the menu. In the upper left of the window that pops open, click the image so it's highlighted, then hit CMD+V to paste the icon, replacing the old one.
Let Me Be Clear: Apple’s M1 CPU Signals a Revolution in Desktop Computing Unlike Anything We’ve Previously Experienced
The M1 does what Apple promised during the PowerPC transition 15 years ago but failed to deliver. What you hear coming from a millennial's face on YouTube is not hyperbole; the M1 clearly has processing power to spare since its able to translate/emulate non-optimized code at a speed where users don't even realize there's an extra computing layer in-between. In many cases, it's actually faster. Let me repeat: the M1 is running non-native code, through an emulator, faster than an Intel chip running the native code, natively, and is doing it with substantially less power consumption and with no active cooling. If a millennial is shocked at the performance of the M1 when compared side by side with an Intel equipped MacBook, they can't even imagine what I, and others my age or older, are experiencing. Our minds are completely blown. For those who aren't as tech savvy, a metaphorical example: imagine 2 people trying to read a book in Japanese. One of them can read Japanese while the other doesn't understand Japanese at all but has a device they can use to translate it for them. What's happening here, basically, is the person who needs to use a translation device is able to read the book faster than the Japanese person is able to read it directly. We witnessed first-hand this sort of wholesale transition before from the very same company. We cursed Rosetta. That was a hard shot of reality after being massaged with marketing hype, promises and a near total failure to deliver. This also came on the heels of the painful transition from Classic MacOS 9 to the Unix-based OS X, where little was offered and even that didn't work well. Once we get past the fact that we have software running in emulation at a pace that's faster than the same software being run on native hardware, we are then confronted with the fact that it's doing it cooler and more efficiently. The M1 runs harder for longer and with much less energy consumption and our imaginations are running wild at the prospect of just how much more performance we'll get once our entire workflows are coded to run natively. Even faster(?!?) and more efficiently, possibly gaining as much as 50% more battery life once Rosetta 2 is eliminated? We can't even fathom it. Hell, most of us can't even fathom what Apple has already delivered.
The Upcoming iPad Pro Magic Keyboard. A Lifestyle Choice…?
Coming soon from Apple is the recently announced Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro. Like before, it's a combined protective case and keyboard, but this one will have 2 dampened hinges and a secondary USB-C port for passthrough charging. The headline feature though is the inclusion of a trackpad and accompanying, underlying changes to iPadOS and the UI to accommodate the use of a pointing device for navigation. Basically, the iPad is becoming more laptop-like since the diversion from a unified iOS code base to separate iPadOS and iPhoneOS. Now the hardware will begin to reflect that change.
Has Fujifilm Abandoned X Raw Studio?
Maybe you've heard of Fujifilm's mostly ignored software companion, X Raw Studio. It was released sometime after the X-T2 and advertised to leverage the power of their X-Processor Pro image processing engine, aka onboard CPU, to post process your photos on a desktop or laptop computer. It did this by connecting your X-Pro2, X-T2, X-H1, or X-T3 via USB 3 or USB-C's superspeed bus and would allow you to edit your RAW files on a computer but would leverage the high speed bus and X-Processor Pro's power to process the images. Since it's release, it's sat collecting dust with only minor bug fix updates since, while Fujifilm has established partnerships with brands like PhaseOne's CaptureOne and Skylum Luminar to natively support the X-Trans system. All of this seems to be the result of traditionally poor support from Adobe, the long-standing leader in the industry. But I have a vision.
Jet Blast Bash 2018 at The Museum of Flight, Seattle
Every year for the Seafair air show, the Boeing Museum of Flight holds their Jet Blast Bash, inviting fans of aircraft of all types to watch the U.S. Navy's Blue Angels preflight demonstration and takeoff. Although you don't get a view of the actual air show demonstration that takes place in the box over Lake Washington, it's a great alternative to the endless crowds at Genessee Park if you care more about the airplanes than the hydroplanes.
Back to my Nerd Roots: Upgrading my iMac
After 7 years, it was finally time to replace my mid-2011 21.5" iMac with something larger and more powerful. The transition to using Adobe Lightroom to process my photos, and the slow performance even when exporting JPEGs from the original RAW files was the driving factor toward making the purchase. It's my declining eyesight that convinced me to go with a 27" iMac over another 21.5" model, not to mention the lack of user-accessible RAM in the current 21.5" iMac.
Quick Thoughts After 24 Hours: Fujifilm X-T2 v4.0 Firmware
Just a quick little non-review of my first 24 hours with the v4.0 firmware for Fujifilm's X-T2.
How to Connect Your Fujifilm X-T2, X-T20, X-Pro2, X-E3, X100F or GFX-50S Camera with X RAW Studio
The question, "why don't the photos on my (insert model) camera show up in X RAW Studio?" has popped up far too frequently but wrong answers have been popping up even more. The X-T20's firmware was updated recently, bestowing upon it compatibility with X RAW Studio, leading to a surge in people downloading the firmware but not downloading the updated user manual linked directly below it. So now they seek people to give them the answer to their boggle in exchange for minimal effort expended, their keyboards lacking a button to activate any "search feature." The most popular response has been, "you must transfer the RAW files from your camera to a folder on your computer first." Wrong.
#SeattlePlayedOut: Skagit Valley Tulip Festival Edition
Hitched a ride with Craig and Brianna to Mount Vernon to find a tulip farm on Monday evening before the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival of 2018 came to a close. We figured Monday would be the best day of the week to avoid large crowds, while going as late as possible would afford us the widest range of natural light and hopefully include golden hour. Our needs were met by Roozengaarde Tulip Farm: They were open until 7pm and ejected patrons at sunset, far later than the oft shared Tulip Town, which closes at 5pm. As a welcome surprise, the weather was exceptionally nice as high temps crept to nearly 70 degrees Fahrenheit and mostly clear skies...
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