Product Review: Glen Burton Wine Red Electric Guitar & Rocksmith on Xbox 360

Cover art (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I bought my first Guitar when I was 17 (a few decades ago :-)) in Pakistan but never had the time to learn, especially as I got more into music synthesis, sequencing, and keyboards.

Arriving in Manhattan to attend Columbia Business School almost 25 years ago I immediately purchased a Yamaha (acoustic) that still adorns my Long Island home for nearly 20 years. During that time I did manage (despite an utter lack of talent and complete lack of training or music education) to create an electronic music CD a few years ago. Email me about nTrance: To The Tunnel Of Love. :-)

Of course, I have to thank Atari for the original experience (Atari 520, then 1040ST and finally Mega4ST) and Apple (various Macintosh desktops and laptops) along with Korg, Yamaha, Casio, Roland, and many others (including Ashar Nisar, as well as whoever wrote Music Studio for Atari, Dr. T for KCS, and Opcode for Vision) for helping but not completely hiding my total lack of musical talent. By the way, I still own those products in running condition 25 years later.

Anyway, back to this review. Despite my love for the Piano and for electronic music and the dual creativity of music tunes and sound synthesis on keyboards, here was something about the guitar that always attracted me. But, lack of time, knowing there was a calloused fingers price to pay, and other obligations kept me from it.

Then I bought an Xbox 360 with Kinect, and my interest in guitar was rekindled (not the Amazon Kindle kind :) ) by the availability of Rocksmith. At the price, for what is elaborate software, including a cable interface for ANY electric guitar to connect to the Xbox, along with licensed music (including the first rock tune I loved as a 7 year old, Can't Get No Satisfaction), and an ability to help even the untalented learn to strum guitar, I had to order it, and I did, from Amazon.

Since Rocksmith required me to purchase an electric guitar, I looked around, on Amazon, and one of my other favorite music stores, Guitar Center. I also checked out Best Buy. There were many great guitars in the several hundred dollars price range but I also knew that the likelihood of it becoming an expensive unused showpiece around the house was high. So I looked downmarket in price. Reading the great reviews on the Glen Burton guitar, I settled on it. Heck, even if it was never used, it matched the colors of my new Yamaha Y-ZF R6 motorcycle :) and would be a not too terrible waste of money. I did email the seller to see if there was a way I could get the Blueburst (gorgeous blue and black body) but I could not get it in time, or with Amazon Prime that I was planning to use. So, I went with this Glen Burton in wine red.

Both Rocksmith and the Glen Burton arrived on time the next day. I love Amazon purchase experiences but this was the first somewhat less than perfect ones.

Rocksmith, a software DVD and cable, came packed beautifully sturdily in the typical Amazon carton. The far heavier, more "breakable" and sensitive guitar, on the other hand, arrived in a carton just slightly larger than the guitar's own carton, with just a few folded layers of brown wrapping papers thrown in for "cushioning". (Others have commented on the poor packaging also). Mine, fortunately was not damaged, but the packaging was not up to par for Amazon experiences, in my opinion.

This is when it got more annoying. The product name clearly states: '39" Inch WINE RED Double Humbucker Full Size Electric Guitar [Fat Style] & DirectlyCheap(TM) Translucent Blue Medium Guitar Pick'.... but, there was nothing in there with a pick. I had to email the seller and was told that is shipped separately! It is "just" a piece of plastic but to get Prime (and pay extra per item for next day delivery) and then find out the pick will arrive later, after I would have left for a trip, was annoying.

Another thing that I was surprised by was the complete and utter lack of anything remotely like an "owner's manual". Even if I buy something for $1.99 at a Home Depot or someplace these days, I usually find even a tiny scrap of folded paper with some usage, or care, instructions. Nothing, zip, nada, for a nearly $100 product that will be used by many beginners. Nothing about a warranty. Nothing about how to care for it. Nothing about not putting it in a washing machine... OK, I say that last piece in jest, but you get the idea.

For less than $100 I am not expecting 2 separate manuals in 20 different languages and colored how-to plug-in instructions. But to have nothing at all in the box, and the seller's advice in an email to go buy a book, were extremely annoying and dissatisfactory. What do I ask for at the book store... "How To Clean Your Wine Red Electric Guitar For Dummies"?

The Rocksmith software, on the other hand, was delightful to set up and use - except for an initial hiccup. As you probably know, the software is basically of the type you've seen people play, e.g. Rockband etc., on their TV consoles. Notes of different colors come down the highway lanes representing different locations on the fretboard. But, no matter how hard I tried, each note made Rocksmith tell me to move one note over to the left. Every note, on every string. I tuned and retuned the guitar, but kept getting the same error.

I then did a Bing search (why Google when using an awesome Microsoft console :-) ) and found others reporting the same problem and found the answer to be exactly what I said. "No matter how hard I tried...." was the problem... When the strings are pressed too hard they stretch enough to change their tone, making Rocksmith thing you played one note to the left. Using a lighter touch I was immediately able to hit the right notes... of course, every 20th note of the actual songs. I have used Rocksmith thrice, once each day for about 15 minutes, so as to slowly toughen the fingertips, without overdoing it.

The guitar itself has been a satisfactory purchase. I will read up more in other places to learn about the upkeep and maintenance of such instruments (manufacturer gets a Fail for not including something in the box).

Overall, I have to say even the seller has been fine, and Amazon, as always, has been great to deal with. The seller's auto-reply says emails may take 24 hours to reply and generally he responded well within that time frame. Amazon was awesome in how quickly they offered to take the guitar back or to otherwise make up for the less than satisfactory experience. So, for that I would make this a 4.5 Star experience. But since there is no half-star option, and I do not want to give 5 stars due to the shortcomings, I will leave it at 4-stars.

I had to be in Seattle for the weekend and only got back to Long Island, New York, late last evening. I will get back on the Xbox starting my learning experience this week. Who knows, in these next few decades ahead, I may actually learn to play, not just own, a guitar. :-)

Rock On!

Summer Dusk Panorama At Heron Pointe NY - IMRAN™

Another Spectacular Summer Dusk At My Blessed Home Beach. iPhone panorama from 28 handheld photos, stitched, then cleaned up on MacBook Pro, Photoshop. 7300x2500 image. IMG_6447

Shades Of Red, White & Blue in/and RGB! - IMRAN™

Shades Of Red, White & Blue in/and RGB! - IMRAN™, a photo by ImranAnwar on Flickr.

iPhone 4S Photo Of A Perfect NY Summer Weekend At Home On Long Island, NY.

It is great to be back after 2 weeks away. Great trip to Seattle, Atlanta, Cincinnati, etc. Great meetings, great new professional connections, great new friends made (esp you TLC & MSM :-)), great weather, great (too much) food, great conference, great appreciation...

Worst part was being stuck at Philadelphia Airport's third world Terminal F and horrible USAir 'service', incompetent clueless people, crappy planes (two separate planes broke down on the same day just for that airport!)...making it just slightly less horrible than the airline I find most disgusting and never travel, AirTran.

But, I am safely home, happy, blessed, thankful, as always!

© 2012 IMRAN
IMG_6704

Product Review: Eikon To Go USB Fingerprint Reader With Apple Mac + Windows Software

I have always believed in the convenience of biometric devices. They have been hard to come by on Macs, but for many years I have used and appreciated a fingerprint scanner (infrared pad to USB) from Microsoft, that only worked on Windows, though sadly now does not work in Windows 7.

This Eikon fingerprint scanner is a USB plug in type for the Mac and comes with Windows software also. I tested and use it on both platforms, after buying from Amazon.

The product itself gets 3 stars, but the 4th star is for the fact that they made the effort to develop it for Mac, and even more so for how absolutely wonderful both the seller (reseller) and the manufacturer were to my emails about the bugs and frustrations I encountered.

It is finicky, it often takes 2-3 slides of the finger(s) or one slow very accurate swipe for it to work. Often I wonder if the 2-3 attempts are worth the hassle of using the device. On the other hand (no pun intended) it does log me in quickly when I do it "right". Using it regularly and getting used to it provide the benefit that you can ( I did) make the password far more complex/long than when just typing it in my hand. E.g. &*mYpa$$word&*43!! Instead of just &*mYpas$$ etc.

The worst thing about the design is that it is useless to plug in to a typical MacBook Pro (i5 15" for this case) when anything else is plugged in. It is too wide. So, it comes with a maybe 6" USB extension, but then it makes it even less attractive, in visual and usage sense.

Now you have loose hanging thing twisted upside down or sideways sitting on the side of your laptop (as the cables often have an inherent 'twist' torque in them that flip the device on its side), and it is now even less usable as you almost have to grab is with one, hold it up firmly enough so you can swipe a finger from the other hand through it.

Since I use external USB keyboards with my MacBook Pros, I tried to plug it into the USB built in to Apple keyboards. No joy, as the device will not fit there and even if it did, it would be under the keyboard body and not usable. Hanging it by the USB tail extension I can use it but it will always move around, still requiring the 2 hand use, unless I scotch tape it. Then, it makes the laptop a little less mobile if I have to remove it every time I travel.

I am also disappointed that despite taking far more repetitions to learn a fingerprint than a 10 year old Microsoft infrared fingerprint reader (sadly not compatible with Mac or even Windows 7 now), it still needs the finger swipe to be so specifically accurate. But, it i doable, and when you get used to it, it does save time.

A plus is that I have it working on an office provided Windows 7 laptop. A disappointment is that it does not store finger prints on the device for MAC users. It does store the fingerprints for the Windows software! So, technically I think I can carry it to different Windows desktops/laptops without having to save fingerprints x 10 x 5 repetitions per finger on each machine, but for each Mac I would have to go through that process.

Based on just how cooperative the seller and the manufacturer have been, and the price, and overall tolerable usability, I am considering getting another unit so I can leave one taped to the desk and one to carry with me or use on the other laptop(s). Or, of course, I will be happy to buy the next great biometric device that comes out for my preferred platforms. 

But please be aware of the shortcomings (and advantages) before you order this or similar devices.

Imran Anwar

Technorati: Apple, Macintosh, Microsoft, Security, Technology, Windows, MacBook, Biometrics, Gadgets

Palm ~ Beach. Far From Palm Beach! - IMRAN™

Palm ~ Beach. Far From Palm Beach! - IMRAN™, a photo by ImranAnwar on Flickr.

Palm Beach, Florida, one of the most affluent, and classy, places in the world, is also one of my favorite places to have lived in. Singer Island, the location of my old Tiara condo, and the mega rich Palm Beach Island, have some of the most stunning Atlantic Ocean waters and beautiful beaches with palm trees lining the roads, and the area.

I finally got to visit the Gulf of Mexico side of Florida several times this year, including a beautiful memories-making trip to the Naples, Fort Myers Beach, and Captiva/Sanibel areas culminating in another visit to Apollo Beach and Tampa Bay.

It was on my first evening in Fort Myers Beach (the island side) that I captured this sunset view from my resort balcony showing a stunning silhouette of trees against the melting pink vanilla gold sky.

A vision of Palm ~ Beach, far from Palm Beach! I am sure you will love this photograph.

© 2012 IMRAN
DSC_1192

Technorati Tags: Imran Anwar, Imran Anwar, Photography, Travel

I ♥ NY. Empire State Of Mind, In 2D, 3D, Or 36D! - IMRAN™

I ♥ NY. Empire State Of Mind, In 2D, 3D, Or 36D! - IMRAN™ -- Unedited iPhone 4S Photo, a photo by ImranAnwar on Flickr.

Empire State. I Love NY. It has an energy all its own, unmatched by any other city. Walking on Avenue Of The Americas (6th Av), at 34th Street, I noticed how the Empire State Building appeared perfectly framed by the other buildings, and, in this iPhone 4S photo, appears almost 3D-ish.

The ♥VS at the bottom of the picture adds, ummm, another dimension to liking the photo. LOL

Unedited iPhone 4S Photo framed in Photoshop.

© 2012 IMRAN
IMG_6393

I, Solitary Soul, Eye Sole, A Tree, See By Sea - IMRAN™

I, Solitary Soul, Eye Sole, A Tree, See By Sea - IMRAN™, a photo by ImranAnwar on Flickr.

Despite living in America for nearly 25 years, and despite having had a second home in Florida for nearly half of that time, I had never been to the Gulf Coast, ever, until earlier this year.

My nearly 2 weeks driving along the Gulf coast of Florida was a fascinating part of a nearly 3 weeks long drive I did along the entire Florida coastline.

This is definitely not a straight out of camera photo. It was during a detour to a remote, nearly desolate peninsula, near Bald Point State Park, that I, a solitary soul, eyed this sole tree stump, standing open in seeming solitary confinement under the punishing sky raining fiery heat on it day in, day out.

The hazy weather, and ironically, a completely accidentally screwed up camera setting led to a photo that was interesting in subject, but boring visually. As I was trying to undo the damage of the wrong settings in Photoshop at home in New York, a few wildly (and randomly) applied settings led to this almost 3D effect, which I thought made it visually, and conceptually, interesting enough to share.

I hope you will enjoy this random output.

© 2012 IMRAN
DSCN0556

Sorry NY Times, "Pakistan's Ménage à Trois" Is Really An S&M Orgy Of Rapists And Murderers On Board The Titanic

The New York Times today (June 22, 2012) published an article by Huma Yusuf, of the well respected Daily Dawn in Pakistan. The piece, titled Pakistan's Ménage à Trois, is a good summary of a bad situation... the political climate in Pakistan.

Every powerful institution is making a blatant power grab, while the common man is melting, literally, from 20 hour power failures. The country is blowing up, also literally, at the hands of the Taliban. They are bleeding to death at the hands of ethnic gangs and fundamentalists.

Without admitting to any experience of Ménage à Trois ;-) , I must sadly disagree with the writer or the newspaper calling Pakistan's political situation by that name....

A Ménage à Trois generally works best preferably with three very loving individuals, or at least two loving people with a third one they also have affection for, all willingly seeking a pleasurable experience which should delight all involved mutually, and provide possibly more than some fun to any onlooker, Peeping Tom, or voyeur.

In Pakistan what we are seeing, and wishing we weren't, is an S&M orgy -- with murderers and rapists  in attendance, wearing masks of faux sincerity, where, instead of overflowing passion, we have blood flowing on the streets, from Khyber to Karachi.

As I have written, and spoken about this on TV and radio,... Pakistan is like the Titanic that has hit several icebergs. But its captain, engine crew, and security personnel are all equally busy fighting over what chair they will sit in.

They fight over who is more sincere, even as they are stealing cutlery, fine china and anything else of value -- while the ship sinks and the passengers drown.

If James Cameron wants to make a much bigger disaster movie than Titanic, and with more weird looking characters than Avatar, that makes him see worse depths than his drop to the ocean floor, he should consider a documentary on The Abyss of Pakistan Politics. I bet he will want to send in The Terminator.

That is the sad, ugly, truth.

Clouds On Fire - IMRAN™

Clouds On Fire - IMRAN™, a photo by ImranAnwar on Flickr.

I have been traveling most of the last several months of this year. So I have not had much time to post photos, even though I have taken many more than usual.

I hope you enjoy this fiery red sky, clouds on fire, above the Great South Bay, at Smith Point Beach, near my home on Long Island, New York.

© 2012 IMRAN
DSC_1067

I Am Amaryllis - IMRAN™

I Am Amaryllis - IMRAN™, a photo by ImranAnwar on Flickr.

Click to see larger!

Two years ago I was at a local home fixtures store when I saw a packaged bulb-in-a-pot offer for what looked like a lovely flower photo on the cardboard carton.

Even for someone who does not actively garden, I am blessed with having a green thumb (except when it comes to enough Dollars… that color green always slips through my fingers too fast LOL).

I purchased it, and planted the included bulb and dirt in the silver-painted plastic container.

I was thrilled when the bulb shot up stem a few months later and a beautiful set of flowers erupted.

I do not think I got a chance to photograph that set. Later, I ignored the instructions on how to take out the bulb and store it and how to revive it next season.

First two, and then just a single long green blade stayed alive for another year.

I just lightly watered the pot every few months. And, just when I got home from a long trip abroad, I was thrilled to see this explosion of sweet, stunning, shining, shimmering pink flowers all bloom within a two day period, shouting….

I Am Amarlyliis!.

Even without any special place to photograph them, I took pictures with the iPhone 4S and the Nikon D300, and they came out looking like an art gallery exhibit of white on white against my simple jacuzzi bathroom wall.

I had to change my usual framing colors to honor this simply stunning pink flowering plant. I hope you enjoy this beautiful flower as much as I am even as I write these lines.

© 2012 IMRAN
DSC_1052_PSF

CURES For Security Challenges In Cloud, Crowd, Big Data And The Big Bad World

An industry colleague and fellow blogger/journalist Mary Jander wrote an interesting article, "Security May Be Too Big a Job for IT" on Internet Evolution. It was a thought provoking post. Though I only see two comments on it at the time of writing this article, I am, for someone often taking contrarian views, quite in agreement with both Kim Davis and smkinoshita who wrote comments there. They talked about collaboration, and where the role of Security in an organization should lie.

With the advent of Cloud Computing, and more and more use of public, hybrid and public cloud converged infrastructures, one of the questions I am asked most often is, "Oh, is the cloud secure?"

Ironically, this is common between a housewife sitting on a flight next to me and a CEO that I may be advising.

"Nothing is secure, unless you make it a collaborative business of everyone in the enterprise to make it so," is what I, sometimes to their chagrin, bluntly tell them.

The problem is how Cloud Security, IT Security, Information Security, Data Security, Premises Security, Perimeter Security, XYZ Security, are still almost islands of imagined security unto themselves. This is not so much a technical limitation as an issue of three major distinct issues.

The first is due to enterprise architectures designed for the last century, or at best, for the last decade.

The second is the human element of doing management by dividing large entities into smaller pieces for easier management. That works great for operations, project management, etc. but is a terrible approach to security.

The third is a lack of collaboration (and integration) where it counts (end-to-end enterprise security) while organizational leaders patting themselves on the back for having rolled out some collaboration platform for sharing Word documents and Excel files.

This problem is not new. It goes back decades.

In 1999, as CEO of EverTrac, a pioneer of location-aware mobile information management & security, I was privileged to speak to top leaders at the United States Space & Missile Defense Command (I still get goosebumps at that name :-) and tell people to envisage Crystal Palace in one of my favorite childhood movies, War Games) at an Undisclosed Location in Alabama :-) .

But, excitement aside, I was surprised (and seriously concerned) when they were surprised at my saying they had to worry more about the information than about how to secure the servers and data centers, as they were focused on.

Even more, I said, they had to start thinking in terms of erasing boundaries between security departments -- not just in IT but even with and within non-IT. At the level of criical importance their Star Wars program was (and the nature of information today must be even more important and the threats even more nefarious and multifarious), not only would there be attempts, I said, to break in over the network, but physically, as well as various combinations.

The advent of mobile devices, global networks, hacking tools, complicated systems with often un-patched vulnerabilities, managed by people either lacking or not interested in keeping up with the latest iterations of technology and security challenges and solutions, all touching the cloud, make for an explosive mixture.

Even in 1999, I declared to my audience that these problems had CURES™.

 

I said Collaborative Unified Realtime Enterprise Security (collaboration was not yet a buzzword then) would be key to solving the problem before it became intractable. Sadly, 12-13 years later, even the top companies in private sector high information value businesses do not get it.

 

I continue to highlight this even more vociferously the more our lives generate, use, and are governed by, floods of big data, accessible to crowds large and small, all in a cloud with nebulous threats and security capabilities. I am glad others are taking up this serious problem.

 

Together, we can find the CURES!

 

Technorati Tags: Cloud, Cloud Computing, Security, Technology, Data, Space, Star Wars

 

25 Years!

25 Years! Back To Commemorate On Exact Date Of First Visit To Europe 19 April 1987 - IMRAN™, a photo by ImranAnwar on Flickr.

I left Pakistan early on the morning of the 19th, for my first flight into Europe, my first trip abroad, landing in Europe on April 19, 1987. It was an incredible April to June trip.

I promised I would return, and I did, visiting France, and Spain, at other times in the past few years.

But, I had not previously made it to Holland, even though I had passed through Schipol, Amsterdam, during my trip to Barcelona, Spain, (ironically with a Dutch born then GF).

By the grace of God, I took a flight that left USA on the evening of the 18th, when it was EXACTLY the same time in Pakistan EXACTLY 25 Years after my first international flight, to again travel to Europe on the same exact date as my first trip.

April 19, 1987. April 19, 2012. Exactly 25 years later, I am back to commemorate that awesome chapter in my life.

God is kind and has blessed me with an incredible journey, every step of the way, Please keep me in your prayers. May we all meet and celebrate such anniversaries another 25 years from now. Amen.

© 2012 IMRAN
IMG_4567

iPhone 4S photo taken by a random tourist who I offered to take a picture of with his camera. This was after 24 hours of travel, and 30 hours awake!

Technorati Tags: Imran Anwar, Europe, Photography, Travel, Travelogue

How To Think Clearly Before You Buy A Motorcycle!

I just read an interesting article in BusinessWeek, How to Buy a Motorcycle by Mitch Daniels.


I love motorcycles. (Of course, I love flying, boating, driving German cars, and motorcycles, in that order!).


My Dad bought me my first (and until recently only) motorcycle, a Yamaha Enduro in Pakistan in 1981-82, when they were still imported from Japan.


Twenty years later, in about 2001-2002, here in the USA, I went to go buy another bike because I wanted to enjoy them while I was physically fit. (I prefer racing style bikes to hogs). I figured the under $200 monthly payment was worth it, but was dissuaded by the shocking price of comprehensive insurance.


The insurance company was treating me like a new rider considering how long I had not ridden officially. (I did take friend's bikes in Pakistan for occasional spins during trips there in that time).


So, 10 more years went by, but as I near 50, I took the leap and last year at my birthday, got myself a gorgeous 2011 Yamaha YZF-R6.


The R1 was just a couple thousand dollars more, and a year older unsold Kawasaki 1400cc was just a thousand more on clearance. It was very tempting. But, I realized the few thousand dollars more was worth the price of the toy but not the almost certain guarantee to have too much power and get myself killed.


However, even though I decided on the 600cc, even after the R6 was delivered to me, I did not ride it until I had taken three riding classes. I was delighted at how the instructors were pleasantly surprised that I did not need classes but took them anyway. And I am glad I did. I still learnt so much more. I had all the mechanical and riding skills to pass my test, but the lessons, the tips, the advice, the stories of how people get in trouble, made the riding classes a great investment.


Fortunately, I realized something a lot of people may rather forget. In the 30 years since my first Yamaha, the bike I owned went from 100cc street legal dirt bike weighing probably 100 lbs to a 600cc monster of power (max speed 165 mph) weighing 350 lbs, while my body, though fairly fit, has gone from that of a 150 lbs. 18 year old to a man nearing 200 lbs. and 50, even if not feeling (or looking, LOL) it.


I also bought, and read, books like Proficient Motorcycling, and others, and learned even more. In about 8 months, including winter in NY, I put nearly 4000 miles on the bike and loved every minute of it.


I believe in the adage that at the end of life we regret the things we did not do more than the ones we did (and shouldn't have). But, keep in mind, there are many cases of people where the purchase of a motorcycle more than they could handle led to a hastened end of life.


So, be very, very careful in making this decision. I did not regret it and am blessed so far. But I realize, one false move, even from an inattentive car driver on the road, can mean the end for me.


Choose wisely. Ride safe. I'll see you on the road. 

Clock Tower, Sea Time - IMRAN™

Clock Tower, Sea Time - IMRAN™, a photo by ImranAnwar on Flickr.

Singer Island, Florida, is a place I fell in love with when I made it my second home in America in 2003.

One of the nearby places I loved going with special people in life has been Palm Beach, the ritzy but understated, island home-ground and playground of the rich and (many choosing NOT to be) famous. In particular, Worth Avenue is a great place to hang out, where old money meets new glitz. Fancy stores of the world's most posh brands stand next to understated elegant dining. Expensive cars that seem to flash irritatingly in Miami appear to be quietly parked along the street as their owners quietly and without pretense walk the sidewalks.

On the East end of Worth Avenue, a maor renovation was done recently, which included the building of this clock tower. Its architecture has elicited diverse comments, but the view from inside and around it is wonderful.

My last trip here recently was on a stormy night, and the rain was falling on me as I stood by the roadside, taking advantage of low traffic at that dusk hour, when the sky was still bright but the lights were turning on, when the clouds were menacing, but the sea was welcoming.

As I stood there, I realized, as the seconds of our lives go by, standing under a Clock Tower, Sea Time and distance merging at the horizon, you see time through a portal, the image merging time gone by and the endless promise of a beautiful life still ahead, despite the storms on the horizon.

Handheld photo captured with my spare Nikon (pocket sized 16MP Coolpix 6200 ISO1600, f/3.2 at half-second 4.5mm), as I did not want to risk damaging the D300 in the rain.

© 2012 IMRAN
DSCN0749

 

Technorati Tags: Architecture, Art, Florida, IMRAN, Night, Nikon, Photography, Tourism, Travel, Palm Beach

Pigeon, Homing - IMRAN™

Pigeon, Homing - IMRAN™, a photo by ImranAnwar on Flickr.

I stood on the shore of Pompano Beach, Florida, more than a thousand miles from the shore of my NY home, and not too far from where I had my second home in Florida.

I was soaking in the late winter sun, the stunning turquoise blue waters, and foaming white surf.

I stopped to take a photo of this wild pigeon, thinking how a breed of this bird can be used as a carrier/homing pigeon that can travel a thousand miles on its own.

It can fly at 50 mph for long distances and even up to 110 mph over short races.

As I contemplated this and looked at the bird, it in turn observed me. It sat there for a while, and then suddenly took off.

I only had an instant to change focus, while the bird focused on the mission at hand.

It was hard to do on a manual focus 300mm-450mm eq zoom which barely had space to focus on the pier wood a few feet from me.

But, in that instant, the shallow depth of field was perfect to catch the pigeon, the moment after it launched, it's wings stretched almost like an eagle's, as it homed in on the Nikon Moment.... Pigeon, Homing!

The Nikon D300 caught the spectacular blue and white rolling surf and sea, the dark grained wood, and the sharp, intensely focused glare of the piegeon's menacing orange ringed eye…. while the sun behind my shoulder reflected its shoulders brightly, making it an intense, interesting and incredible moment.

I hope your imagination also takes off on seeing this photo as you, I, we all, home in our goals in life, in this time we share on this planet.

© 2012 IMRAN
DSC_9283

Sun. At Half Mast. Literally. - IMRAN™

Sun. At Half Mast. Literally. - IMRAN™ -- [SOOC], a photo by ImranAnwar on Flickr.

SOOC. Image Straight Out Of Camera, absolutely unedited and untouched. (Only frame and titles added in Photoshop.)

I am blessed to live on the water, looking at glorious silky satin smooth silver blue waters in the morning and luscious, brilliant sunsets and dusks, from all the windows of my blessed home on Long Island, New York.

The beach my home is on also gives me magical moments to savor, to make memories in, and to photograph sunsets.

But, sometimes the stunning imagery lies to the side of the house, if I walk out the ftont door and head to my boat slip or beach, the setting sun behind the marina to the side makes for interesting combinations, of sun, clouds, and sailboat masts.

This latest photo I captured at the side of the home was of the Sun sliding down behind the sailboat while the clouds seem like wave passing in front of the… Sun. At Half Mast. Literally!

I hope you enjoy this totally unedited SOOC photo. Click to see larger and on black.

© 2012 IMRAN
DSC_9515

The Blame In Pakistan Lies With…..

Basit Jehangir Sheikh Formar President District Kasur with Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Former President Pakistan and the founder of Pakistan Peoples Party (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Benazir Bhutto, photographed at Chandini Restaurant, Newark, CA by iFaqeer (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Did I miss offending anyone with this comment I posted on a Pakistan friend's Wall?

She posted a photo of the front page of the respected Pakistani newspaper, Dawn, of the day power-hungry despot but once popularly elected Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, ousted Prime Minister of Pakistan, was hanged to death by the creator of the ISI, lapdog of the CIA, and purveyor of hate, intolerance, violence, ethnic strife and religious fundamentalism, Zia-ul-Haq.

"I was a big fan of Zulfiqar Bhutto. Met him as a pre-teen (with Col. Qaddafi on the same day!). I'd met dictator Zia several times. The first time was as a student at Aitchison College, Lahore, when, even as a self-imposed President of Pakistan, he was the de-facto Chief Guest.

Later, after leading a protest against his martial law regime, I was arrested, tortured, court-martialed and imprisoned in Lahore's Kot Lakhpat prison. I was 20. And, later, I met the repulsive dictator at media events, when I was working for the Jang Group newspapers.

I recall I was visiting my Karachi home, from Lahore, and was woken up with the news that Bhutto had been hanged. It was inevitable, but still, a shock. It was always said that "There is one grave, and two men. One has to go in."

I was devastated by Bhutto's hanging (which he brought upon himself in his state of hubris) and I had always despised Zia (Islam-thaikedar evil dictator intolerance breeder ko karwat karwat jahannumm naseeb ho) {May he face hell on every turn and twist in his grave… come to think of it… he did burn alive in a plane crash}.

But, to this day, people tend to blame one or other for Pakistan's problems. In my humble opinion, 80% of the root causes of Pakistan's economic problems were because of ONE man, Bhutto and his selective socialism.

He nationalized all that was working in free markets in Pakistan yet let waders {feudal landlords who were lapdogs of the British raj} like himself fraudulently hold on to jageers {estates} and tax free land income.

90% of the intolerance, hate, violence in Pakistan is because of ONE man, evil Zia.

The remaining 20% of economic and 10% of hate mongering problems are because of "ordinary people" like all of us in Pakistan, especially those of us who worship personalities like incompetent Benazir Bhutto, corrupt Asif Zardari, hypocrite Nawaz Sharif, criminal and repulsive Altaf Hussain, and even slogans-without-solutions Imran Khan, instead of doing what WE can to fix OUR own ways.

Not to mention power hungry corrupt Army generals who can only occupy their own country and stinky illiterate spiteful mullahs. Only when the people of Pakistan decide to take control of their own destiny, demand specific detailed plans from their present and wannabe leaders, is there any hope.

Otherwise, Pakistan will continue its path through history like a drunk bull in a china shop.

(Sorry, did I miss offending anyone? LOL)"

[End.]

Technorati Tags: Democracy, Imran Anwar, Islam, Muslims, Pakistan, Bhutto, Asia

Childish Posturing By Pakistan & USA Endangers Both

Obama says, Pakistan Review of Ties Should Respect US Security Needs http://j.mp/HcIIEt . Pakistan's lawmakers (and many civilians want to blow off the USA.

Both postures are dumb.

Karachi (soon followed by Pakistan) went on the path of self-destruction when it could have been the next Hong Kong and Dubai combined.

That was done by the vile dictator Zia setting up the murderous MQM, instigating religious intolerance, terrorism and ethnic strife that was rare in Pakistan in the 1970s.

It is silly of Obama and the US lawmakers to ask Pakistan to decide their policies based on US security concerns when the US blows off Pakistan's security concerns. Ignoring Kashmir is one of the worst moves Obama made (not that previous presidents did anything on that topic).

It is also dumb of Pakistan to expect to remain a basket case economy, torn by strife and domestic issues, and be surprised the US did not take it into consideration in killing the repulsive killer Osama Bin Laden.

Both countries need to be slapped into waking up and dealing with the issues like adult states, not pouting teenagers.

Imran Anwar

Seas, Family, Droppin' Sun Ode To Swiss Family Robinson - IMRAN™

Seas, Family, Droppin' Sun Ode To Swiss Family Robinson - IMRAN™, a photo by ImranAnwar on Flickr.

Many of you will recall the story of Swiss Family Robinson, shipwrecked on an island and having to face some tough challenges.

Because of a very complicated phase of my life in the last three years (in which I basically lost almost everything I had built and acquired,, I did not get a chance to return to Florida until recently. I had missed being in the Tiara, I believe the tallest building on sand, that housed the delightful second (third really if you count Lahore and New York) home I was blessed with having. But, for too many years I had not returned to the building, or even to the area.

Finally, I did, on March 13, 2012 . Taking this photo with the Nikon D300, from the balcony I took some gorgeous shots with my then delightful Nikon 5700 reminded me again why I love Palm Beach and Singer Island so much.

The stunning colors of the water, changing shdes of blue in front of your eyes, changing hues as passing clouds and time of day change light conditions.

As I focused my camera to about 500 feet below and away from my balcony, I noticed how the sun, setting behind my shoulder was casting a reddish glow on the already rich toned skins of this family… hopefully not facing the challenges of Swiss Family Robinson and instead making this moment one of Seas, Family, Droppin' Sun!

I am certain you will love the moment as much as I did.

© 2012 IMRAN
DSC_9331

I Saw Orlando Bloom. Seriously! - IMRAN™

I Saw Orlando Bloom. Seriously! - IMRAN™, a photo by ImranAnwar on Flickr.

This iPhone 4S photo, taken at just past 4AM, after a long night of driving, waiting for the gates to open at Orlando Airport, during my recent Florida trip, is being posted more for word play than artistic merit. But, I hope you will enjoy it all the same.

After completing almost 2500 miles of driving along the entire Florida coast, I drove late into the night to arrive at the airoport several hours too early for my 7AM flight.

Since the security gates weren't open to go to the airline gates area, I had to pass time in the spacious terminal.

I saw several Disney character figures displayed there, including Snow White… a testament to the traffic the theme parks generate.

But I saw nothing, at least where I looked, from Pirates of the Caribbean, another Disney franchise.

Though I did not see Johnny Depp, I did find something to remind me of another well known actor in that movie series… this flower at the airport…. an Orlando Bloom, literally! :-)

© 2012 IMRAN
IMG_4114