so, a PS to this:
I picked up a new set of headphones via creditcard. They asked me to call them back to verify my identity - anti-fraud measures - and what happens?
My card details get stolen and misused. Yay!
Well over €1000 later, I discover what's going on. Nice. Card is only two months old, it's blocked now.

Bret

.... I have a MacbookPro on my desk at work right now. I'm nonplussed about it. It's a computer. And?
I haven't had a fully working desktop now for five years. Not at work (discounting test machines) and not at home, either. Thinkpads (600E, T23, R40, T60) or now a Dell D600 and E6400. I don't see any problems, though if it was mine I'd want at least a 15" widescreen, preferably something even bigger. The old test box had a 24 and that was great.

I think I might go for a fast dual core with 8GB running SSH at home, that way I could process pics from wherever whenever I uploaded them.

Bret

I'm flattered, but English is my mother tongue. I can discuss photography in German almost as well, but not Finnish. Damned impossible language. Really surprised that I managed to get an hour's conversation together on the train tonight after five years....

Bret

no. Finnish in Finland and Estonian / Latvian / Lithuanian in the appropriate republics. You'll also get pretty far at least in the tourist spots with English.
The languages are similar (but damned difficult to learn, I've been trying for the last five years and at this stage my German was nearly perfect) but far enough away to be confusing. Similar to French / Spanish / Italian or German / Swedish / Dutch / Danish / Norwegian.

Bret

These are with the 10-24. I did go a bit mad with it, but we had pretty much no time (we spent that eating and drinking good food and decent beer for half the price of similar in Helsinki...) and the 28-70 was tucked away. I am tempted to crop the top one to the wall of the building and the bottom - well, I like the mild curvature against the steel of the boat.

The crumbling walls I find fascinating and depressing at the same time.

thanks for the comments; these are just in the old town in Tallinn. If you're in Helsinki, pop on over for a few hours, it's a very, very different feel to the concrete bunker mentality - along with strong classical elements - that happen to populate a lot of Helsinki.

Bret

I was in the old town with Work on Thursday.

A couple of shots I like:







thoughts? the rest of the set is at http://www.23hq.com/bretti_kivi/album/5428484

Bret

every single forum I know regularly bitches about the number of users who are unable to write complete sentences and ask questions in a coherent manner. Doesn't matter what it's about or what language even, it's a regular complaint.

Bret

wir können ja auch noch Deutsch schreiben falls notwendig ...

Sometimes the ability of 'native' speakers to express themselves really does worry me.

Bret

... I have the wacom one and it's pretty damned cool. Multitouch, too.

(zooming with two fingers, this kind of thing). Works a little different to the N900, but not far off. I like it. Makes minimal editing much easier.

Bret

Interesting. I can't remember where I read the static thing. I do it anyway, but don't see why the contacts can't be protected...

Bret