F-Stop Junkie

Again Pete, you're misreading what I'm saying. Do I say anywhere that you don't or haven't worked for Canon? No. What I'm disagreeing with is the testing of a secret camera at Reigate, and one that is potentially 18 months ahead of production. At that point, it would be undergoing testing and development in Japan, not elsewhere.

I'm not doubting the existance of SCSI, I've used it myself, it's that you can't have three disks in a RAID n+1 set.

A swing and a miss.

Putting aside the revolving nature of Mr Wright's camera bag, a 160 megapixel image would translate - very approximately - to a 160MB image, not 1GB. That's still only 25 shots on a 4GB card.... Also the price is very reasonable compared to a Phase One medium format back. From memory the 44MP back retails at about £35k, so this actually looks like something of a bargain! Aside from the fact that I doubt you have any of these drives as they've not long been announced, and only will be in the hands of significant OEMs, you can't have three drives in a 5+1 array. It must be an even number, and you can't mix and match with magnetic hard drives as they have to have identical capcity. Unless you want to divulge all the drives you've got? Sorry Pete, but I've just gotten in touch with a couple of friends of mine who work in the Canon precision optics group on site - You'll probably know them as the medical imaging group or MedImg - and they've just confirmed to me that there is no 'blue room' in Reigate. More over, there's no precision testing which goes on in the UK in the consumer camera category, that being completed in either Shizuoka Japan for the bodies, or Tochigi Japan for the lenses. Also, since the 400D has only just been announced, and the Rebel line is traditionally on an 18 month product cycle, the 450D - if such a camera were to exist - would have yet to be signed off, and hence developments would not have been released outside the labs in Japan. But then, you knew this.

Cool! I used to quite enjoy doing those. It was like my own, private, in joke. Hmm, that's quite sad really.

Common misconception - tighter spokes = stronger/stiffer wheel. It's just not true. A wheel has an ideal spoke tension where it's strongest, anything more or less and it's weaker.

Go to Google and type in "turn on cookies" and then the name of your browser.

Co-op used to be good for bikes. Enquire about including it with possesions as well as on their own.

Endsleigh covered my bikes when I was at Uni, and not too unreasonable prices. The only problem is that you have to insure each bike separately at a cost of about of 10% of the value of the bike per year.... When I was sharing a house, I tried to get my bikes covered on my possesions cover, but that would have cost a fortune. I just didn't bother... Now I'm just sharing a house with my girlfriend, and we have one policy for all of our stuff, I asked about bikes. "How much is the most expensive one worth?" A grand "Yeah, that's fine." I've got more several bikes "They're all covered, as long as they're all worth less than a grand" Sweet!

Slim to none. Stock bikes having gears is a pretty fundamental rule, and there's no good reason to drop it. "But there's loads of riders who only run one gear and a tensioner" There's 'loads' of riders who ride 24", but don't complain about not having a proper class to ride in at comps. (arn't they technically classed as mod bikes?) The the gears rule was dropped, then people would start demanding bashplates on stock bikes, and it'd end up with both 26" and 20" bikes being damn near identical except for the wheelsize. The other knock on effect would be to make trials bikes even less like standard mountain bikes, and alienating the rest of the cycling world even more. We're marginal enough as it is, we don't need to be more so!

Good idea Partz, but one which may not be workable. Selling calendars to Clintons and WH Smiths requires a wholesale price of just a few pounds, and quantities in the thousands. Also I'd doubt that my shots are really suitable for the general public. They're OK, but I'm no Steve Behr...

I hate the current glut of 'celebrity' which is now plaguing our culture. Take Chantelle Houghton - previously known for impersonating another person who's only reason for being known is that her grandfather setup a global chain of hotels. After 10 minutes on TV, she's sufficiently famous to be 'a celebrity'. Now she's considered a 'celebrity' and this thick bint is now asked her opinion of things, and is paid money to appear places so that other equally impeded people will come and gawp at the person who isn't that pretty, but that they've heard of. An extract from this page: Celebrity these days is taken as an achievable aim. Kids will drop out of school for it and, even worse, some large percentage of American teens belive they will become famous. Like everything in life though, celebrity has been cheapened. It's no longer something of prestige for the few, it's something that can incorporate the many. Of course, some people are bigger celebrities than others. Brad Pitt will outshine Jordan any day of the week, unless it's in an Essex night club where male youths in pink shirts get so randy that the smell of testosterone becomes overwhelming. Ultimately I think that society has lowered the barrier to entry for the wannabes of the world by accepting people who do little or nothing to achieve their status. On the flip side, some people will lower themselves to increasing depths to try and achive this magical elixir. They're selling themselves and their dignity for little more than a handful of beans, which turnout not to be the magic ones they expected. While most are as bad as each other, the group that my goat are glamour models. They arrive at some premier or party - probably having slept with the organiser - norks out and the slavering pack of press hounds are all over them like a rash. Suddenly they have an agent and they're getting offers from Maxim, FHM and Nuts to bare all. This is then followed by calenders, posters, a fitness video and they're done. Some like Jodie Marsh, Jordan and Abi Titmuss may be able to stretch out their tenure, but it's always based on the same premise. Boobs, bums, and the feeling that they're cheap enough that'd you'd have a good chance with them, despite the stunned-looking freshly signed premiership footballer they're clinging to. Throw in a couple of interview where you declare your love of sex and naughty undies, and you'll have them eating out the palm of your hand, despite the fact they're not actually that attractive. Once you've had enough of trying to chill your nips or waxing to within an inch of Kojak-ness, throw the tabloids some story of heartache, past or present, and try to show you have depth and character. All proponents of this forget though that once the huge bra comes off, you've paid your entry, the ride won't stop, and there's only one conclusion. You're back being the girl who'd show her knickers at school for 50p. You've tarred yourself with the bimbo brush, and very little short of a PhD or Nobel prize will change that.

Well, you either come up with a new concept - like The Matrix - or you tell it in an unusual way - like Pulp Fiction, or seeing Star Wars unfold through the droids eyes. What I always like as a device is following a lead character(s), but showing other things going on so that the audience know the conclusion early on then either throw in a twist, or just keep putting off the lead characters realisation of what's going on as long as possible.

Hey, it wasn't that bad! Could have been worse...

1 boy, 4 girls? Hmm... Boy and girl 1 going out, but boy confides in girl 2 about being gay, girl 3 is friend of girl 1, and girl 4 is friend of girl 2. Girl 2 and 4 also know each other, but not the other friends directly. Chinese whispers occurs, so girl 1 tells girl 3 that she thinks her boyfriend is gay, she tells girl 3 in confidence that she thinks her boyfriend is gay, she tells girl 4 in confidence that she thinks her female friend is gay, then she tells girl 2 and she tells the boy. Boy thinks that they're both closeted, and you build to a scene of: Boy: Look, I know we've had problems, but it's ok that you're gay, I am too, I just couldn't tell you. [beat] Girl: What? Boy: We're both gay. It's ironic isn't it? We both come to this realisation at the same time! We can support each other! Girl: You're gay?? Boy: Yeah, it's obvious now. The awkwardness, it makes sense now. I thought I was just a bad f**k. Girl: Well, you were, but not enough to make me a lesbian. Boy: [chuckles] I know, I know, you've always been gay... Girl: [realising the insinuation] I've never been gay. I never... I'm not... Boy: [interupting] It's ok, I'm... Girl: [interupting, annoyed] Gay, I get it. You're a great big fairy, the queen of the castle, the next f**king Graham Norton, but I'm not gay. [softens] I'm straight, always have been. [beat] Girl: Have you told anyone else? Boy sits slowly, shaking his head Girl sits, putting her arm around him. Girl: Thank you for coming out to me. I love you, I'll be here for you, heck, we'll even go out on the pull together. [beat] Girl: I'd make a great lesbian though... How's about a tale of teen angst, 1 boy and 1 girl are one clique, 2 other girls the other with one trapped inbetween. First clique are slacker emo types - we're using broad generalisations here, and the second are working hard types. One trapped inbetween has to reconcile the lifestyle of one group, against the work ethic of the other. Initally they try to lead a dual life, with comprimises to try and please both groups, but then decide that they can just be themselves, and be slacker emo who works hard, and both groups accept them.

It would have been better if you'd seen a split second later when he was flat on his back in the mud...

I love the shuffle. All I do is stick the player in my bag or pocket, put tracks on that I like, and job done. Don't care what comes next, I know I like it all. Oh, and it's small and light, and I wouldn't worry about losing it. I like my Nano too. iTunes isn't great, and other software is available, but the Nano sounds good with decent earphones. I've got a soft case for mine, and despite being dropped and so on, it's never had a hint of trouble. I agree though that the screen is somewhat pointless, and having had Sony devices which have battery lives measured in days, 8 hours or less from a Nano charge isn't great. Ultimately though, it plays music well enough, it's small, light and shiney. Works for me.

Sadly not, a long drive home where I didn't get home till 11pm meant I had to dash pretty quick!

Here's a few quick and dirty shots from Sunday... Ali C showing what happens when tree rides go wrong Dave Marshall redefining arm pump... Chris Walker maxing everything to stay on the backwheel And Tim Stedman, doing what he does best! Proper ones next week hopefully!

Eh? EF-S arn't just cheap lenses, the Sigma DC range will work just fine with a 10D. Plus there's plenty of Canon lenses which are reasonably priced which it will take just fine. There are also some damn expensive EF-S lenses! Don't forget that non-EF-S lenses will also work on Canon film bodies, as well as the more expensive 1.3x and full frame dSLRs. I think the 10D is a wonderful camera. It produces great images, has improved ergonomics and functionality over the 300D/350D, as well as a better built body. It may be a few years old now, but it's still as good as many other similar bodies. If you have the choice of a new 350D, or a used 10D in good condition, I'd take the 10D.

Ok, I've had a look at a couple of places for prices, and it may not be all that cheap. The thing I'm most concerned about is quality. It'd be cool to have something where you could potentially cut out a picture or two and frame them or put them up somewhere. We'll see. I'm still at the stage of getting prices, so I'll keep everyone posted!

Ah, I was wondering why your arms were so big... Photos - Calendar Some have made it onto my photo site but I'm a couple of events behind. Hopefully I should have some free time coming up, and I hope to be all caught up by the end of the month...

In any case, it'd be a mix of images. However, the majority of my images are natural, so there would probably something of a bias that way.

Following on from discussions elsewhere, a thought has come forward to do a calender of trials photos to raise money for BiketrialUK and also look nice on people's walls... Potentially we could do a bit of a selection. One images of 2006, one images from my collection going back to '99, and one of images from TF users. So the big question is, would people buy a calender of trials photos? I'll check on prices once I get home, and profits from the calenders would go to BiketrialUK.

It won't go super high. It'll top out at maybe £20-£25. For that price, it's almost disposable.