PhotoWalkPro

I’m sitting here in a Kentucky Fried Chicken resturant in Petaling Jaya at about 2:15 in the afternoon, passing the time with a quick bite to eat and enjoying the free Internet access as I wait for my driver to pick me up at 4:00 for my trip to the airport.  I can’t believe that 2 weeks have already come and gone since I got here.  Probably because I had such a great time and met so many wonderful people.  Malaysia is a wonderful mix of cultures and the Malay people that I have been working with were such gracious and kind hosts that it makes it even harder to leave.  Of course I am even more excited to get back home to my family and friends to share my stories and images.  One thing that always makes my trips special is being able to share them with my family and, of course you, my readers.  Although I didn’t get to shoot as much as I would have wanted to, I still have a ton of images that I have not even begun to process and I look forward to sharing them with you when I begin my regular blogging schedule next week.

Before I go I would just like to take this opportunity to thank all of the wonderful people here in Malaysia that made my trip so memorable.  I have made many new friends and I look forward to keeping in touch in the future.  I can honestly say that I have never met a more wonderful group of people and it was an honor for me to work with each and every one of you.  Your generousity and friendship will be with me always.

Now that I have finished my cheezy fries and colonel burger, I can head back to the hotel and get ready for my short 24 hour trip back home.  Have a great weekend and I’ll see you next week.

Yes, it’s true, I am half way around the world in Malaysia.  I have been here for a couple of days and just now got hooked up with some Internet access (I simply refused to pay the $20 a day that my hotel was charging for wi-fi access).  I’m actually staying just a little West of Kuala Lumpur in Petaling Jaya but I can see the Petronas Towers from my hotel window.  Yesterday I took a train ride and a bus out to the Batu Caves.  Batu Caves is part geologic wonder and part Hindu temple.  To enter the temple you have to climb the 272 steps up the staircase past the gilded statue of Murugan (it’s hard to miss at 142′ in height).  While I was there I had the pleasure of being blessed by a holy man and watching a monkey steal a baby bottle and drink it dry.  I did manage to take a couple of photos as well.

I am going to be here for a couple of weeks, which is why my blog posts will probably be a little sporadic but I will do the best I can. So to kick things off, here’s a few photos from my trip to the Batu Caves and a couple from China Town as well.

I love my MacBook Pro but lately I have been giving some thought to purchasing a new computer strictly for travel purposes.  The issue for me is that my MacBook is big enough that it can pose some problems when I am on the road.  First off, I don’t like leaving my laptop in my room while I am out, especially if there isn’t a room safe for me to secure it.  This means that I usually have to take it with me when I leave my room.  My photo backpack is large enough and has a padded laptop sleeve but that means that I have to have all that added weight on my back while I am hiking around.  It’s not just hiking but anytime I have to be on my feet all day, like at Photoshop World.  I like the convenience of being able to log in and check email and post quick updates to the blog but, once again, this means that I have to take my backpack and all the associated weight.  Enter the Netbook.

Netbooks are all the rage these days and for good reason.  At only 3 pounds, these little laptop computers allow you to stay connected to the world without the hassle of carrying a ton of computing power with you.  The downside to the Netbook is that it is small.  Most of them have screens that are around 10″ measured diagonally.  They also have slightly smaller keyboards so typing can be a bit more challenging.  As for computing power, most of them are a lacking in horsepower.  The majority of them use the Intel Atom processor, which does a great job at basic operating system, web browser, and email operations but really can’t handle the processing needs of a program like Photoshop.  They also lack any usable amount of RAM for image processing with the majority of Netbooks topping out at 1GB of RAM.

This weekend I did find one though that might just suit my needs.  Acer makes a Netbook called the Aspire One that is a little beefier than most of the other Netbook offerings.  First off, it has an 11.6″ screen, which is about an inch larger then most other Netbooks.  It does have an Atom processor but it has 2GB of RAM.  The other cool thing is the 6-cell battery that will power the small notebook for an impressive 8 hours (although I’m sure that it would be closer to 7 hours with normal use).  It also has a built-in card reader (SD, not CF) and a massive 250GB hard drive for storing images on the road.  There’s no optical drive but that is typical for all of the Netbooks.  Finally, the most enticing feature to this Netbook is the price, a stunning $329.99 from Amazon with free shipping.

My idea is that I could use this for all of my mobile email and blogging needs and also load Lightroom to process my shots while I am on the road.  I know it would not be the fastest way to go but it would allow me to shoot, store, and process images without the pitfalls of a big laptop.  And it’s small enough that I could comfortably carry it with me anywhere I went without needing to always take my backpack.

If you have any experience with using a Netbook for something other than email and Twitter, I would love to hear from you.  Especially if you are using it for any sort of imaging.

Please drop me a comment and let me know what your impressions are.