Tralfaz

Month: October 2017

  • Photo Management – 2017

    Photo Management – 2017

    As a quasi-serious photographer, I have at multiple times posted about the trials and tribulations of photo management, here, here, and here as I struggled with the zigging and zagging that Apple has done on native photo management on OSX. The net result was me going all in on Adobe Lightroom that I got as part of my Photographers Bundle from Adobe. It is an amazingly powerful package with many built in capabilities that are immensely useful, and it got me completely out of the iPhotos/Aperture/Photos morass.

    I also did a little diversion into the Google world with the now defunct Picasa, shudder no, Google photos is not a product that I am willing to use. They already can mine too much of my data, no need to add a couple hundred gigabytes of personal information, thankyouverymuch.

    (more…)

  • Dying Drobo

    Dying Drobo

    My old Drobo, a second generation, 4 drive unit that I bought new in 2008 has been a faithful servant. It spent a lot of its time as the time machine backup and deep storage for music, photos, and videos. A couple of failed drives (easily replaced) and not a single byte of lost data in the 9 years that I have had this tethered to my Mac(s), it is hard for me to point out a fault. (more…)

  • New music – The Source

    New music – The Source

    I was listening to music last week, the “For You” selections on Apple Music. After clicking through to a couple of albums that I was grooving to, there was this title “Aryeon” and the album name “The Source“. What the heck, I clicked on it.

    Before I go further, I must confess that I am a fan of “Project” albums. Like the rock operas of old (think Tommy, or Quadraphenia from The Who, or “Operation: Mindcrime” from Queensryche), and this was an epic in that mold. The brainchild of Arjen Lucassen, Aryeon is one of his projects, and spans more than 20 years and now 13 albums, each having its own character.

    Listening to this, I knew that a) I wanted to support this effort more than the mice-nuts that streaming pays, and b) I needed to own this. It had some kick ass guitar riffs, always something I am grooving to, and in general, the album just “hangs” together. It tells a story, very dynamic, and just lovely music. (more…)

  • Netflix Original – The Killing

    Netflix Original – The Killing

    I have often bashed the Netflix Originals, as they in general don’t appeal to me. Either I am not the right demographic, or I am picky, or as some readers say, I have no taste. No arguments there.

    But I recently found a show that is pretty solid. The Killing turned up in a search for shows similar to my last binge watching, “Broadchurch”.

    If you want to avoid spoilers, you should probably stop reading now. (more…)