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In the thousands of posts and many years I've had this blog, I've only ever mentioned my Mastering Regular Expressions book a few times, most recently perhaps six years ago when I announced that the third edition was complete and available.
僕が書いた本「正規表現」は今週、英語版のe-bookは半額セールです。
For those not steeped in computer science, despite the linguistic feel to the name, it's a computer book about a very thin slice of text-processing technology of interest to a certain kind of programmer.
I don't generally mention it here because this blog is about me, and not about artificially fanning sales for something I did; I want the book to do well because folks that might find it useful actually find it useful. I guess I want it to do however well it does organically.
The book has been well received these last 14 years, through three editions, and currently enjoys an excellent 4.5-star rating at Amazon.com, and 5-star ratings everywhere else I can find a rating online, such as in Germany, Japan, Korea, and Poland (though that last one seems to be out of a possible six). Besides those translations, it's also been translated into at least Chinese, French, and Russian, though I can't find ratings for those. The publisher doesn't tell me when they contract a new translation, so for all I know it's expanded further since I last checked several years ago.
They also didn't tell me when they made an e-book version, but they apparently have because I've heard that the e-book version is currently on sale for half off along with other regex-related books at the publisher, O'Reilly Media.
They asked me to help spread the word, and I figure that having written a technical best-seller that has stood the test of time garners me the right to toot my own horn once a decade, so here's this decade's toot: “regex e-books at O'Reilly half off until September 4th”.
Toot toot.
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Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24mm — 1/1250 sec, f/9, ISO 200 — image data
Ready to Burst
over Kyoto, Japan
最近めっちゃ忙しい、新しいアドベライトロームのプラグインの開発で。それ一寸割り込んで、一枚アプをさせていただきます。
I've had my head buried in yet another new plugin for Adobe Lightroom (soon to join my 30ish other Lightroom plugins), but thought I should come up for air to post at least something. Took this quick shot the other day of a cloud pregnant with rain, with a nice silver lining from the late-afternoon sun behind it.
I'm not all that happy with the picture, and it's really better as part of a sequence telling a little story, but I don't have enough energy for that now, so I'll save that for another day.
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Nikon D4 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 420mm — 1/2000 sec, f/11, ISO 1800 — map & image data — nearby photos
Pale and Layered
Went up again to Kyoto's Shogunzuka overlook (京都の将軍塚) for the sunset, as I often do. Wasn't too bad... a bit better than two days ago.
Like in that post the other day, I'm dusting off the Sigma 50-500mm “Bigma” lens. As a challenge, I practiced hand-held manual-focus tracking on birds, at 500mm. For those who've never tried it, this is ridiculously difficult; the point was general practice, not to get good shots (because there's little hope to get a good shot under these conditions without about 100 years of experience under your belt).
Nikon D4 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 500mm — 1/2000 sec, f/11, ISO 8000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Silhouette
practicing manual-focus tracking at 500mm
Nikon D4 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 50mm — 1/200 sec, f/11, ISO 320 — map & image data — nearby photos
A Bit Dynamic
Nikon D4 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 500mm — 1/50 sec, f/9, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Relaxing
can you find the guy sitting outside, taking a break from work?
Nikon D4 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 500mm — 1/2000 sec, f/11, ISO 1250 — map & image data — nearby photos
More Manual-Focus Practice
didn't hit focus, but the result still has some appeal
Nikon D4 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 500mm — 1/2000 sec, f/6.3, ISO 1800 — map & image data — nearby photos
More Ridgeline Shots
Nikon D4 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 500mm — 1/2000 sec, f/6.3, ISO 1000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Looks Like a Bridge
power-line tower is 14.3km (9mi) away
Nikon D4 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 116mm — 1/160 sec, f/13, ISO 10000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Pasty Salmon Pink
view toward Osaka was decidedly drab, though the odd color was.... interesting
The air was more clear for the 19,000-pixel-wide Osaka-skyline panorama that I posted on Monday, but the color here was definitely more odd.
Nikon D4 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 78mm — 1/320 sec, f/5, ISO 1100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Starting To Look Promising
but sadly, this was as good as it got
The sunset didn't get better, but my evening did... I packed up, went home, threw the computer into a satchel and walked to Uroko and processed these photos while enjoying my favorite dinner: their unbelievably savory “蛇の目焼き” chicken and a draft beer. Yum!
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Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/100 sec, f/2.5, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
I've been wanting to post this for the last three months, and was finally prompted to do so today. This past spring, Fumie's mom celebrated her kanreki, her sixtieth birthday. It's a big deal in Japanese culture (much more so than, say, 50 or 70), a cultural milestone not quite on the level of wedding, but up there.
義母の還暦のパーチー。
We had a ritzy lunch at Beaux Sejours, the French restaurant at the Grand Prince Hotel Kyoto (which I've always known as the Takaragaike Prince Hotel, so they must have changed their name somewhere along the way).
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 40mm — 1/125 sec, f/2.8, ISO 1250 — map & image data — nearby photos
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — 1/125 sec, f/2.8, ISO 1600 — map & image data — nearby photos
Nao-chan
Anthony's youngest cousin
Nao-chan was about 9½ months at the time.
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/320 sec, f/2.8, ISO 2000 — map & image data — nearby photos
We asked the waiter to snap a photo with my camera. He had clearly never touched such a big camera before (I had the D700 + vertical grip, with the 24-70mm f/2.8 zoom), but he took a great shot...
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 29mm — 1/250 sec, f/2.8, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Family Portrait
Fumie's mom is seated and Fumie's dad is behind her to the right. At left are Fumie's brother Shogo and his wife Namiko and their daughter Nao.
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/320 sec, f/2.5, ISO 1400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Knowing I would want to post about it, I tried to remember to snap shots of the food, but I think I forgot a course or three...
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/320 sec, f/2.5, ISO 1100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/320 sec, f/2.5, ISO 1800 — map & image data — nearby photos
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/320 sec, f/2.5, ISO 1800 — map & image data — nearby photos
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/250 sec, f/2.5, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Lashes
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/160 sec, f/2.5, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Cousins
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/160 sec, f/2.5, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/125 sec, f/2.5, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Five Dozen Roses
60 roses on her 60th birthday
present from Shogo and Namiko
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/250 sec, f/2.5, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Hamming it up when asked to hold the roses
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24mm — 1/250 sec, f/2.8, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Birthday Card
from Anthony
We don't eat at such ritzy/pricey places often, but did again this evening to celebrate Anthony getting the pins taken out of his broken finger, the last major step to returning to normal. We had the dinner buffet at the Westin Miyako's AquaBlue Cafe. Anthony picked it because he wanted a buffet of some sort, and it turns out that they had a great selection for kids, including all kinds of candies and other junkie stuff that's as delightful for the kid as it is bad for them, but it was a special celebration so we let him pig out.
But frankly, I have never liked the pretentious arrogance that seems to pervade every nuance of hotel restaurants, and this experience reminded me why. The price is advertised as ¥5,000 per person, high by any standard but not as ridiculous as the translated US$63 price sounds, but they sneak in a 10% “service charge” on top of that, and drinks are not included. I paid ¥670 for a Coke-Cola, which after the 10% bonus translates to $9.30. They brought a normal can, just like you'd get from a vending machine for ¥100. $9.30 for one can of Coke. At least it was an “Official Sponsor of the London 2012 Olympics” can. Sigh.
But like I said, the food was good and we all had a good time, and most importantly, the weight of a month's worry about how painful the pin-extraction procedure would be has been lifted.
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Nikon D4 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 50mm — 1/200 sec, f/7.1, ISO 400 — map & image data — nearby photos
My First Picture This Evening
it was all downhill from here
I made yet another quick trip up to eastern Kyoto's Shogunzuka overlook in hopes of a nice sunset. Half an hour before sunset it looked promising, and in particular Osaka 30 miles away was clear, and the skyline lit up in orange.
京都市東山区の将軍塚からの４７km遠い大阪市のスカイラインです。シウマの50mm-500mmレンで。
Today I was using my Sigma “Bigma” 50-500 OS, which I haven't used in ages. I wrote about it extensively back when I got it (starting here). I really liked it when I first got it, but after some electronic issues and having it replaced twice, the version I have now seems positively mushy and blah. But I've been giving it a try lately in hopes of finding a spark, so I was up at the overlook with it and it's massive 10× zoom to 500mm.
I made a quick hand-held seven-shot panorama of the Osaka Skyline at 500mm, ending up with a somewhat better result than a similar attempt two months ago:
Nikon D4 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 500mm — 1/2000 sec, f/7.1, ISO 4500〜9000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Osaka Skyline From 30 Miles Away
relpete with airliner on approach to Osaka Itami International
or click through to a 19,000-pixel-wide version
The large wooded hill in the middle of the panorama (be sure to scroll) is only a third of the way to Osaka (about here), actually quite close to the Suntory Yamazaki whisky distillery that I posted about in the spring.
The tall building beind that hill is at Tenoji Station (天王寺駅), more than 29 miles (46.7km) away (here).
But that was the highlight of the evening, colorwise, and it went downhill to “blah” from there.
At least the feral kitties frolicking in the parking lot were cute...
Nikon D4 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 500mm — 1/160 sec, f/6.3, ISO 10000 — map & image data — nearby photos
One-Sided Hug
Nikon D4 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 500mm — 1/160 sec, f/6.3, ISO 10000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Hey, Someone's Watching
Nikon D4 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 500mm — 1/125 sec, f/6.3, ISO 10000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Talk To the Paw
At sunset, there was nada...
Nikon D4 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 78mm — 1/320 sec, f/10, ISO 1000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Not quite the nice sunset I was hoping for, despite many of the signs pointing toward one.
However, a passing plane made for a nice “500mm vs. 50mm” comparison...
Nikon D4 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 500mm — 1/2000 sec, f/10, ISO 8000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Scene at 500mm
Nikon D4 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 50mm — 1/200 sec, f/10, ISO 1000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Scene at 50mm