So, here are 10 minutes of total fractal travel:

The zoom is so intense that the original fractal is larger than the known universe, but the last image gives details smaller than the smaller of nuclear physics particle.

Astonishing mathematics via Boing Boing.

Admire the wonderful work of art!

In the beginning was Google which installed its servers in China in 2006. The “do no evil” company accepted the conditions of the government of the PRC and included heavy filtering and censoring of its search results (looking for Tienanmen will produce wildly different results in and out of China). But in January 2009, Google discovered that some hackers obtained some detailed information out of its own servers at this was targeting both American companies and Chinese political opponents or partisans of free speech in China. Subsequently, Google announced its intention of both lifting the censorship and leaving China.

What is still very unclear:

• Is Google really serious about these two options?
• Is the main reason for its ire, the political chase or the technological spying? (the US government including Hilary Clinton pushed hard with Google)

What is clear:

• The breach of information seems limited (only email subject lines have been breached, not contents).
• The hackers were affiliated to Chinese official bodies and did not only target Google.
• The hackers used some social engineering and security issues present in Internet Explorer and Adobe PDF, which were probably known but not closed by Microsoft and Adobe.

So, when such information appears in wide open channels of the world press, what happens? Most experts started commenting on the security loopholes in Internet Explorer 6 (and about Adobe PDF reader, too). Many people observed that Internet Explorer 6 is rather old and it is unfortunate that so many people still use it despite the known fact that it is a security liability when browsing the Internet. With such a rush, some very official people also asked for replacement of Internet Explorer (mainly v6) to be replaced with more modern browsers. Even representatives of the German, French and Australian governments asked their countries to replace Internet Explorer with something else.

3x Firefox

The competition has seen this as a godsend since it created a rush for the other available browsers. For example (see the graph on the side), Firefox saw a brutal explosion of its downloads in Germany (nearly 300,000 Germans have downloaded Firefox in four days): about three times more than usual. It has been true in other countries even if it was not measured as precisely, and it has been observed by the other browsers Opera, Safari, Chrome (currently profiting from heavy advertising in some European countries like France).

This was definitely a good thing since it was bringing better browsers to many computers. It could have stayed there but there were several reaction and parallel events happening at the same time. The first one was that Firefox was preparing a major upgrade to the successful browser (in many parts of the world Firefox is now used by more Internet users than Internet Explorer). Named v3.6, this new version is bigger than what could have been expected from its small number increase (from 3.5 to 3.6 should have been a minor upgrade). This major event accelerated the rush, with people looking for features like:

• Built-in skins, to make it more personalized
• Faster, more stable
• More security conscious with the addition of user-level messages about risks, including reminders about what plug-ins are outdated and must be upgraded.
• Visual tab previews, which show you the tabs when you press Ctrl-Tab
• Aptitude to browse without leaving too many footsteps and traces in your PC (good for clean browsing like when you visit Adult sites)

This version is also appreciated by developers who will find a bunch of little improvements (like CSS gradients).

This is not only a great story to read. This is a great browser and you should consider downloading Firefox 3.6 now!

If you are not completely convinced, you should also consider downloading the newest Opera browser. Opera v10.10 has been available for a few months now and it also offering these advantages, plus some neat features like:

• Opera Unite: to easily share information between Opera users and browsers, without using a web site or a share folder on some social network.
• Opera Turbo: to adapt Opera to very slow Internet connections.
• Speed dial: to get a faster access to some web sites you choose (bookmarks on steroids).
• Mouse moves for faster commands.
• Opera link: to share bookmarks, speed dial configurations between several machines where you use Opera.

Opera is clearly my preferred browsing solution (even if I need to test my web sites on everything I can find, Opera is the central hub of my Internet browsing). Go and download Opera v10.10 now.

And, if you are not sure yet, I can also offer the small and fast browser from Google: Chrome. Since it all started around Google and China, it was worth mentioning, of course.

All this has been going so fast that Microsoft needed to do something. Of course, they have a newer version of Internet Explorer (IE8 is included in Windows 7 and can be downloaded freely. But this was not enough, too many people were starting to complain that Microsoft may wait about a month before updating IE6 in the normal update cycle. Even worse, some experts started telling the world that Microsoft actually was aware of this flaw in IE6 for many months. In such conditions, not doing anything usually turns out to produce a public relations nightmare and prepares for bad wind.

So, Microsoft rushed an out-of-band update to IE6 and Windows Update is now offering the correction to all Windows users still using IE6 (of course, you still have to use Windows Update and it is well known that too many people do not have this configured or do not accept the proposed updates – this is wrong and one the reasons so many PCs are infected with Trojan horses, virus and adwares). Now, if you did not move to a later Windows version and if you did not take advantage of the much better IE7 or IE8, it’s time to upgrade your old hag.

We can expect to see a few more updates to this story in the future, but there is a lesson to be learned (by Google, and most Internet users):

Always keep your browser up-to-date and refrain from clicking on any link in a mail message you did not expect.

Additionally, there is a lesson for Microsoft:

Sorry! but even the older software has to be kept alive when you are or have been the near-monopoly on this technology. This comes with responsibilities.

Go to the web site for more: Old jews telling jokes.

You can join the competition for the beard holding the largest number of wooden toothpicks:

2222 toothpicks in a single beard!

If you feel a pinch, don’t accuse the beard!

In order to stay on the competition field, there was this beard contest in Alaska in May 2009. The new champion: David Traver.

Isn’t it a nice beard?

But must must also know when to be serious about beards. This is why “The Language of the Beard“, published in 1913 in London, presented (and ranked) poets by the mass of their beard.

John Burroughs

John Burroughs (1837 – 1921)
Beard type: Claus-esque
Typical opus: Waiting
Gravity (UPI rating): 43

But I was also mentioned a darker side of beards in our society so afraid of terrorism.

But some wanted to tell us about the more troubling side of beards in our society now permanently afraid of the possibility of terrorism.

So, there is no surprise in seeing super-heroes (this epitome of the American popular culture) turning to beards (would you recognize them?):

Last but not least, shouldn’t I mention the attention drawn to facial hair in Mafia Wars (the online game in Facebook)? There, you can collect beards, barber tools, etc.

You love books, you love all about old books, stock paper, engravings, intaglio printing, hollow back binding, etc. The electronic book cannot satisfy your thirst for reading and touching books. So, here I am with some weird news for you.

First, the journal Analytical Chemistry teaches us that, even if we love the smell of those old books, this is the perfume of Death itself. It goes as far as using the identification of some chemical substances to determine which book is most in need of protection and help before too early a decease [1]. And, for this, researchers from the University College London’s Centre for Sustainable Heritage now use a chromatograph/mass-spectrometer.

But, by Jove! Old books will loose their odor? Of course not! Here come the replacement smell. I dare say: Luxurious perfume for the old restored writings, for the savorless new e-Book, for the amateur of foreseeable bibliophily! Here comes the new book smell in a pressurize can.

SmellOfBooks.com has it for $28.99 only!

In order to close with something a little more tasteful, I advise you to discover these ex-libris plates (famous or not) which will bring you back into past ages and will not make us walk in giant’s footsteps but somewhat visit some giant’s reading habits: The Extraordinary World of Ex Libris Art.

Bookplates from Amy Sacker (XIX/XX century)

Here are a few images of the city.

Click on the thumbnails in order to enlarge them

Tomorrow, I’ll come with pictures of the small shops and skilled tradesman I have seen in its streets.

Back from a few days of photo trip to Nepal, I feel it is time to share with you some of this astonishing experience organized by Amawanda and guided by Alain Pons.

I am more or less a wildlife photographer attracted to the African wide-open spaces. But I had been attracted mostly by the presence of a seasoned pro photographer (Alain Pons) assisted by a very serious organization (I had been able to appreciate them in a previous trip to Kenya in 2008). I had also noticed that costs were relatively moderate (taking into account that this is a wildlife trip – which is often very expensive) including -we could check this later on location- a significant share reserved for local actions for development and nature protection in full coordination with the local structures and the local wildlife organizations.

The flight to Kathmandu was without surprise on Qatar, despite the long night stop in Doha airport where the only Duty Free shop cannot be considered as a commendable tourist spot (but they have a nice stock of alcohol or cigarettes for those who prefer to prepare themselves for later needs).

The Kathmandu-Bardia journey requires about 20 hours of bus or car. The stops provided in the program are a good way to break the inevitable monotony. A faster plane journey would be possible (it is included on the way back) but it would be a pity to avoid the view in the valleys and from the mountain roads out of Pokhara.

All along this journey, I will try to make a few recommendations about what a photographer might find more interesting to stop for.

Recommendations in Kathmandu (Nepali: काठमाडौं, काठमान्डु, nepâlbhâsa: यें)

Take a flight from the Nepal capital city to the Everest and shoot a panoramic view of the mountain range from the cabin window (beware of color correction). More advice in my article about plane photo.

You should try the visit of the old city but instead of the going from temple to temple or shooting all shades of colors, stop to collect images of the many handicraft shops open on the streets (metal work, barber, potter, cloth and dressmaker, etc.)

Recommendations in Pokhara (Nepali: पोखरा)

The Annapurna range panorama from Sarangkot (an elevated viewpoint at 1600m), if the weather is clear, but you must arrive well before the sun rise to avoid traffic jams (yes, really).

The Lakeside/Baidam street (near Phewa Lake) could be considered a honey pot for tourists where price negotiation must be mastered but some other active streets could attract your attention, and even the lake shore offers some interesting perspectives at the end of the day.

The road to the South is marvelous in the morning light. You will be able to find paddy fields and various scenes of the daily life in step with the seasons. Then, crossing the deep valleys of the Tinaau and the Adhikhola will offer you vertiginous perspectives (if you do not travel through them too early or too late, light having some hard time diving so deep).

Recommendations in Lumbinī (Sanskrit: लुम्बिनी, “the lovely”)

If you want to spend some time among the temples of this renowned Buddhist pilgrimage, don’t wait. But be prepared for the most colorful experience. It may be interesting, but you’d rather spend some time playing with the loungtas (lungtas) or « wind horses », those prayer flags floating in the wind and the light.

The Sarus cranes which make some of the city’s wildlife fame are difficult to approach out of the “international” temple, where they are domesticated, is still being built and is not open to the general public [Ed. written in 2009]. The digiscoper will feel more at ease with her very long focal lens.

The road with their heavy traffic could also be a reason to stop and collect pictures of the joyful and colorful displays of the many vehicles (bus, trucks and even some cars or taxis).

Recommendations in Bardia

You must not miss the Friday market in Thakurdwara and the farms all around host very poor people but men and women smiling and welcoming: Everybody will return your hello ( “Namaste !” in Nepalese), sometimes with a “Bye bye!” often resounding with fun but always pleasant.

Rafting down the Karnali river is done without even thinking about it (a few splashes at most) and allows to go near the animals from a different side. This is particularly true for the birds if you are not too far from the shores (to be discussed in advance for an easier journey). The stops for safari walks a few yards from the river break the monotony (think about 2 days to go from the Chisapani bridge back to Thakurdwara, along the full width of the Bardia National Park).

Notice: If you use the services of the Racy Shade Resort or of Christophe Bouchoux, the surprise at the mid-journey camp in Gola will long stay in your memory as a great time.

On the opposite, the safari on elephant back is not easy to recommend to photographers: If more than 2 people share an elephant, the photographers have a hard time (don’t count on more than 200mm or 300mm focal length to compensate for the very limited stability of the animal and the uselessness of a monopod; A wide-angle lens or a 50mm could also serve for landscape shots, but switching lenses is very perilous: Take a second camera well strapped around your neck). Nevertheless, the elephant will go where no road vehicle can even dream of driving into.

I only tried one lodge, the Racy Shade Resort booked by Amawanda for this safari, among the dozen offered on location. It is very correct even if the warm water is only available upon request by the tub. But the beds are very hard and will only attract the most tired customers. The others will try not to move too much during the night…

However, comparing with all other countries, it is quite unusual to find a local guide organization as well integrated into the local life and as directly involved in the common development of the park and the local community. This is exceptionnaly perceptible as a large part of the revenues is used in local actions for a coordinated development of the National Park and the surrounding villages. This is so unusual that it must be commended. Everything tells me that it is not only a marketing move but a a daily priority for the whole team.

Inside the Racy Shade Resort, birds and butterflies are very present because of the trees, the flowers of the central patio and the rice paddies all around: woodpeckers, peaks, drongos, tits, etc. The digiscoping photographers will find find pleasure without traveling further but also can cross the little river in front of the resort to enter the Community Forest. I would recommend to keep a camera handy to easily satisfy a few simple pleasures. I will publish here some of my images in the coming days.

Conclusion

The low point of this photo travel has been the near total lack of wildlife during the “safari” tours. I did not see more exotic animals than in most West European forests. But the weather conditions of 2009 (a very long monsoon followed by dramatic storms) had pushed all animals under cover and even deeply transformed the topology (shores pushed by the violence of the bulging rivers) to a point where wildlife observations were rendered improbable despite the best efforts of the guides. So, we learned that the best time period would have rather been March-April to take advantage of dryer conditions susceptible to push animals back to the rivers. For what I could observe, the recent rain storms were a real roadblock for the wildlife lover and photographer.

On the contrary, the innumerable animal footsteps we saw on the ground confirm the original density of the local wildlife population… So, be prepared to shoot less shy animals: Spiders maybe, dragonflies for sure (Waiting for one-horned rhinoceros at a lake side, you can easily shoot dragonflies and damselflies – macro-photography with a 400mm tele-lens was definitely not something I had found in the initial program).

In the end, I have found deep pleasure to being in a country so far from my own culture, Nepal, which felt very attractive because you find there the colors of India with the fun of shooting pictures of people who accept the photographer, do not take poses nor hide, but who share many things with you. The back LCD screen of our digital photo cameras become an intense source of shared pleasure with children as well as adults.

But when you let your camera at your neck, it is also time for sharing with men and women very open if you know how to smile and how not to jump in. Walking alone (or in a group of 2 or 3) is even easier because there is nearly no violence and insecurity (inside and outside the cities, Nepalese people are never aggressive and will often try to exchange with you even when you do not have many words in common).

Google decided to celebrate with an anti-latin graphic to great their visitors.

I say to you, this morning, that if you have never found something so dear and precious to you that you will die for it, then you aren’t fit to live.

You may be 38 years old, as I happen to be, and one day, some great opportunity stands before you and calls upon you to stand for some great principle, some great issue, some great cause. And you refuse to do it because you are afraid.

You refuse to do it because you want to live longer. You’re afraid that you will lose your job, or you are afraid that you will be criticized or that you will lose your popularity, or you’re afraid that somebody will stab or shoot or bomb your house. So you refuse to take a stand.

Well, you may go on and live until you are ninety, but you are just as dead at 38 as you would be at ninety.

And the cessation of breathing in your life is but the belated announcement of an earlier death of the spirit.

You died when you refused to stand up for right.

You died when you refused to stand up for truth.

You died when you refused to stand up for justice.

DemocracyNow via BoingBoing.

20 foods you should not eat together

You can’t read Chinese? That’s a pity. You would learn from this official announcement that some foods should not be eaten together (it is not clear how the exact risk was identified, though).

According to Xinjiang, the list of terrible mixtures is:

1. Pork + water chestnuts = a stomach ache
2. Beef + chestnuts = vomiting
3. Lamb meat + watermelon = a decreased vigor for life
4. Dog meat + green beans = poisonous to the body
5. Rabbit meat + celery = loss of hair
6. Chicken + celery = a decreased vigor for life
7. Goose meat + chicken eggs = a decreased vigor for life
8. Turtle meat + amaranth (a nutritional herb) = poisonous to the body
9. Carp + liquorice (not the candy) = poisonous to the body
10. Crab + persimmon fruit = diarrhea
11. Chicken eggs + saccharin = poisonous to the body, potentially fatal
12. Brown sugar + preserved eggs = poisonous to the body
13. White wine (白酒) + persimmon = chest pains
14. Onions + honey = damaged vision
15. Radish + fungus = dermatitis (a skin disease)
16. Bean curd + honey = makes you deaf
17. Potatoes + bananas = (not translated)
18. Bananas + sweet potato = a bloated belly
19. Peanuts + cucumbers = harmful to the body
20. Sweet potatoes + persimmon = lithiasis (formation of stones, such as the kidney stone)

I knew that you wanted to know about it…

Next time, I’ll bring a cobra flash in order to lighten a little the shadows… and I recommend having clothes which will tolerate being drowned into coco milk.

Windows 7 official wallpapers

Look at the full set of the Windows 7 wallpapers. This is the upcoming version of Windows (after Windows Vista, it seems that Microsoft intends to switch back to a numbering scheme). Most of them may be colourful, but with very smooth surfaces where your icons will be appearing quite neatly and they offer a nice contrast.

Fresh Impact Crater Formed between February 2005 and July 2005
Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

So, I was quite interested when I stumbled upon the collection of pictures taken by the HiRise (High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera installed on board the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter). Shooting photos of Mars surface, this photo camera brings extraordinary color images that provide nice patterns to be used as background for your Windows desktop (or even Linux or Mac desktop) and can be renewed quite regularly: Their catalog is available on the University of Arizona web site.

Furthermore, they provide an enormous resolution for their images which is a very good way to extract any size you may need for your extra-high-resolution background or to cover your 2- or 3-LCD display. Or even more. If you feel that there own selection of wallpapers is not enough:

• 800×600
• 1024×768
• 1152×864
• 1280×960
• 1440×1080
• 1600×1200
• 1920×1440
• 2048×1536
• 2560×1600

You can still stick to the original size (JPEG-2000 format images range between 0.5GB and 3GB).

And the good news is that there is no copyright restrictions, so you could do pretty much what you want with them: Really free desktop wallpapers.

Charlie Sorrel wrote a piece of article for Wired.com, titled “Gallery of Sawn-In-Half Cameras” that I intensely recommend reading.

Water cutting machine

Now, if seeing them is not enough for you, I suggest that you cut a few of your lenses. The most difficult part is obviously to saw, cut and hack these fragile devices. You need a very powerful and precise saw. I found one at Mainly Metals, a company offering cutting equipment (I no longer can name them “saw”) providing water jet machining.

They cut metal, glass, stone, plastics, wood, with a high-power jet of water filled fine-grain garnet. And, this is environment-friendly!

Knowledge is always free.