On the lens front, Canon has been very quiet for the past year with only 18-200mm IS and 2 tilt shift lenses. At the same time, the current lens catalog is now full of aging lens (with many from the film era) waiting to be replaced. If I’m to make a “bingo sheet” for Sep 1 announcements just like Macworld ones, these will be on my sheet.

EF 50mm f/1.4 USM II
the old one has been plagued with USM focusing problem

EF-S 35mm f/1.8
going back to the classic focal length following Nikon

EF 24-70mm f/2.8L IS USM
perhaps the most requested out there, with new IS

EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM II
new IS (but the lens is only 4 years old!)

EF 100mm f/2.8 IS USM
also with new IS, Nikon already put VR in their macro

Result: EF 100mm f/2.8L IS USM
almost right except the L

EF-S 17/18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM
my request, replacing EF 28-135mm IS USM (and EF-S 17-85mm IS USM?)

Result: EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM & EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS
almost got 18-135mm right except that Canon left the USM out (so disappointed here… I’ll keep using 28-135mm for now), 17-85mm is being replaced by 15-85mm instead

EF 24-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM
similar to above for affordable walkaround FF zoom lens alternative to 24-105 f/4L IS USM

EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM II
overdue IS update

EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM II
a decade old IS needs refreshing, better dust sealing

EF 300mm f/4L IS USM II
another aging residence of the family

EF super-telephoto from 400mm to 600mm L IS USM II
for the Olympics, most of them a decade old

When I’m creating a website for a client, instead of spending time making the site better, I have to spend that exact time making sure the site would work on every browser including the big ugly blue “e.” While you’re using IE, you’re like a parasite to us: making our lives unproductive and inefficient. So please, make the switch or at least give it a spin as a portable app.

January 20 was a day to remember for 2 reasons: inauguration of Barack Obama and the release of Ustream iPhone app to watch that historic moment. The app was more than great… it was groundbreaking as the first popular video streaming app for iPhone.

Fast forward one week later, new version was released. For other apps, an update would mean to iron out kinks and pimp up features.

Not this app.

Ustream 1.1 was more like a downgrade. Now, you no longer have the access to live streams other than “approved” featured and popular shows.  Even worse? I found out that some live shows won’t even show up on the “popular” list! For example, the bottom of the “popular” list has the show with less that 10 viewers yet I couldn’t find the show with 20+ viewers on the list!

So, what’s on the “popular” list instead of the shows I want to watch?

Puppies and kittties. FUCKING PUPPIES AND KITTIES!

Of course it makes sense that Ustream would prefer to limit only those show on the list. Face it… there’s no way puppies cam would break the copyright! No songs, no videos, no unauthorized usage of licensed materials.

Too bad you can’t copyright dog breed!

The app itself has limitless potential. It’s the perfect platform for broadcasting historical moments to the mass. We did it with the inauguration with 100k of live viewers. Yet, we may not be able to repeat the same massive feat with Super Bowl because of potential copyright infringement.

We’ve come so far from the age of stick and stone, and to be defeated by our own greed is a step backward for us.

Let us watch what we want!