There’s an article on Rob Galbraith’s that has more information about Aperture. Some key points:

• Aperture’s RAW converter is based on the Mac OS X RAW converter (see iPhoto)
• Aperture’s Library is really a Mac OS X Package
• One Aperture Library at a time
• Aperture is designed for a single user
• The Library cannot span multiple hard drives
• Files that you “import” into the Library are copied to the Library package
• Exporting a RAW image does not export metadata

My image collection is currently at 313GB on a 1TB NAS box running RAID 5. That’s a limitation that I hope will get worked around in the future. I figured that Aperture would let you store your original images wherever you wanted, instead of placing them into a duplicate and separate location, ala iPhoto.

Aperture is a 1.0 product, and some of these points make it very clear. I’m sure that they’re iron them out in a year and a half when Aperture 2.0 is released. Until then, it’s up to the early adopters to suffer the growing pains of being on the leading edge.

Update: PDN has another good article on Aperture.

It’s time for another Rotten Tomatoes Halloween Party! We’ve been going to these events for the past several years, and each subsequent time, the event is at a bigger venue with even larger crowds! Last year, Rae and I dressed up as characters from Hero. Last night, we harkened back to our recent wedding and went as bride and groom. The only difference is that I was the bride and Rae was the groom!

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Salim borrowed my old PowerBook Lombard the other day, and when he returned it, he brought over an identical Lombard. Both laptops would not boot up, however, giving me identical error messages. Following the initial gray Apple logo, a circle with a slash appeared. I tried restarting multiple times, resetting the PRAM, and opening the CD-ROM tray to no avail.

After spending a few hours banging my head over the problem, I held down the ‘C’ key at startup. This forces the computer to boot from a CD. It also unlocks the ability to open the CD-ROM tray. I was then able to restart using the Panther Install CD, run Disk Utility, and set the hard drive as the new startup volume. Though Disk Utility did not find any errors on the hard drive, the computer now starts up and restarts properly.

Initially, my Lombard was running Mac OS 9. I had installed Mac OS X for Salim, who was running some browser compatibility tests. OS 9 on a G3 is snappy! OS X, on the other hand, feels so sluggish. My G4-powered computers have regained some of the snap, but at times the interface still feels a little slow. Perhaps the new G5 that I ordered will make me feel like it’s 1999 all over again!

I finally got around to installing SecureImage to deal with comment spam. I had been using SpamKarma for some time until it started spewing PHP warnings all over the place. We’ll see how well the new system works to prevent spam floods on the site.

My old version of ImageMagick didn’t work for some reason, so I had to install the latest version of it this morning. Now, it’s time to start enabling this plug-in on the other sites that I manage. If there was an easy way to maintain multiple WordPress sites from one control panel, let me know! Upgrading 5-6 sites at a time can be very time consuming!

Update: Running into some compatibility problems between SecureImage and WP-Cache. Anyone using both WP Plugins experiencing issues with the SecureImage’s captcha graphic not appearing properly on cached pages? I’ve set my expiration times to the same value, so we’ll see if it continues to occur.

Update #2: Using WordVerify plug-in for WordPress now.

Today, the 2006 Tour de France route has been revealed by its organizers. I am very excited about this edition, the first in seven years in which Lance Armstrong will not be participating and dominating. The 2003 Tour was the most exciting in years, primarily because Armstrong was at his most vulnerable. Next year should be a free-for-fall, with no clear favorite among the contenders: Ullrich, Basso, and Vinokourov.

Biggest change from last year is the exclusion of the Team Time Trial (TTT), which has been won by U.S. Postal/Discovery Channel the past three years. There’s also a short 7km prologue taking place of the Stage 1 Individual Time Trial from 2005.

The course goes counter-clockwise this time around, with two days in the Pyrenees before heading to the Alps. That’s where the fireworks should start, with Stage 15 ending at the top of L’Alpe-d’Huez, one of three mountaintop finishes in 2006 (Stages 11, 15, and 16). The penultimate day is a 56km time trial that is sure to shake up the overall standings should no one emerge victorious after three days in the Alps.

Read off the newswire that Sulu from Star Trek is gay. George Takei and his partner, Brad Altman, have been together for 18 years.

Takei, a Japanese-American who lived in a U.S. internment camp from age 4 to 8, said he grew up feeling ashamed of his ethnicity and sexuality. He likened prejudice against gays to racial segregation.

“It’s against basic decency and what American values stand for,” he said.

Takei joined the “Star Trek” cast in 1966 as Hikaru Sulu, a character he played for three seasons on television and in six subsequent films. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1986.

In the Star Trek movies, he was married (off-screen) and had a daughter, Demora Sulu. That actress, Jacqueline Kim, was in a horrible movie that Rae and I saw a while ago. Lieutenant Sulu! Full impulse power! Keep the ship clear of Charlotte Sometimes!

Update: Another good article on Takei on sfgate.com.

The November 2005 meeting of the Camera Owners of the Bay Area (COBA) user group will be held on Wednesday, November 9, 2005 at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) from 7:30-10:30 pm.

• So, you want to enter a Photo Contest…
• Underwater Photography

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I have decided to place an order the Power Mac G5 Quad. I’m still deciding what monitor to get. Should I go all-out and purchase the gigantic 30″ Cinema Display or be conservative and get the Dell 24″ display, which is similar to the 23″ Apple Cinema Display?

Alex has decided that the 30″ is for him, while Eric and Rae are suggesting I get the 24″ (or dual 24″ in Eric’s case). I can certainly see the case for both choices, so I’m opening up this post to comments from readers! Which display would you get?

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Many people have come up to me asking about my photo workflow. I’ve given presentations on the subject at COBA meetings in the past and in informal emails, but here’s my first stab at it on the Web. With the upcoming release of Aperture and iView Media Pro 3, it’s possible that my workflow will change dramatically in the coming months.

My current workflow for managing my images can be broken down into 5 components:

1. Transfer
2. Rename
3. Annotate
4. Select
5. Process

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I watched the Chargers-Eagles game on ESPN GameCast and on TV, when CBS televised the last 2 minutes of the game. Stupid Chargers! We had the game in-hand except for three critical plays during the fourth quarter:

• Bob Hallen’s Offensive Holding penalty at the Eagles 1-yard line on first-down. We settled for a Kaeding field goal at that point.
• The block field goal returned for a touchdown. Nevermind the block, how do you let that guy run all the way back for a touchdown?!?
• Reche Caldwell’s fumble. I seem to recall him doing this in the past, trying to get extra yardage and fumbling the ball or not going out of bounds. Hold onto the damn ball!

People say that we’re the best 3-4 team in the league. We have to learn to finish these games! Think back to the 49ers during the 1994-1995 season. They were lit up by the Eagles early in the season. Seifert pulled Steve Young out in that game, and he blew up on the sideline. After that, the Niners went on a tear, winning all but one of their remaining games on their way to a Super Bowl rout of the Chargers. It was a dream Super Bowl for me, since I love both teams. Today, the 49ers suck, but the Chargers are contenders. They’ve got to find the fire and take it to the next level.