Tony Wu&#039;s Underwater Photography Blog

Archive for 2008

My iPhone

Sun, Nov 30th, 2008 | Musings No Comments

I’ve had my iPhone for a couple of weeks now, and I love it. Since I’m taking a break from work, I thought I’d jot down the reasons why.

I use the iPhone less as a phone and more as a mini-computer. I expected this, as I’ve never been big on talking on the phone, but the iPhone is much more useful than I ever anticipated.

All my contacts and calendar items on synced between my iPhone and laptop, which is so incredibly convenient I can’t put it into words. In Japan, where I’m spending most of my time these days, you have to enter every single contact and all the contact details into your phone manually, and the phones generally keep the contact details in the order in which you entered them, not in alphabetical order or any other easily sortable order. So with thousands of contacts (and more every day), I’d have to spend years entering data, which meant I never entered data into my previous phone and never had any contact information available.

On top of this, from my phone now, I can access email, sms, IM, skype, twitter and facebook; I have photo albums so I can show people photos from recent trips; I have podcasts that I watch and listen to for up-to-date news and information; I’ve got reference applications for time zones, dictionaries, unit conversions and the like; the list goes on and on.

The phone’s functionality is constantly being extended with apps too. My favourite apps right now are eReader and Stanza for reading ebooks, Instapaper for filing away online articles to read offline, NatsuLion for updating Twitter, and Fring for using Skype.

The bottom line is that my iPhone is increasing my productivity and helping me to keep in touch with everyone. And it just looks so damn good too.

Like many other people though, I’m hoping Apple will incorporate cut-and-paste functionality and horizontal typing for email and sms soon.

Perplexing Placard

Fri, Nov 28th, 2008 | Musings No Comments

elevator sign This sign, which I came across this morning in the elevator of a new building in Bangkok, really made me stop and think.

The fact that I was still in a sleep-deprived, semi-conscious haze resulting from an overnight bus ride from Phuket to Bangkok (during which I sat behind a woman who snored like a mountain gorilla) meant that it took me a few moments to figure out which button corresponded to which floor level.

You gotta wonder why the elevator buttons don’t simply reflect the actual floor levels, which would obviate the need for this complicated instructional diagram to ~~confuse~~ assist you in navigating the intricacies of elevator operation.

I’m sure there’s a perfectly reasonable explanation (?).

Stuck in Phuket

Thu, Nov 27th, 2008 | Musings 10 Comments

The fact that I’m posting this photo now is a bad. I’m supposed to be on a plane flying from Phuket to Bangkok, but the airports in Bangkok are closed due to political protests.

As best I can make out, political protestors (the PAD), who essentially want to keep Thaksin and his friends out of power, decided to blockade the new Bangkok airport in order to prevent the current Prime Minister (who is Thaksin’s brother-in-law) from returning to the country after the APEC meeting. What this would achieve I’m not certain, but it has caused a considerable degree of confusion.

Realising at some stage that the old international airport in Bangkok was still a viable landing option, the protestors blocked that one too.

The Prime Minister eventually landed in Chiang Mai, which sort of screwed up the protestors’ plans, but they’re still blocking the airports, ostensibly in order to prevent other ministers from flying to/ from Chiang Mai to meet the PM.

Or something like that.

In any case, the main thing this seems to be accomplishing is hitting Thailand’s economy smack in the middle of the peak tourism season. All flights are unable to land, whether domestic or international, just as peak season is supposed to go into high gear.

I’ve seen the effect in Phuket. There are certainly tourists here, since it’s possible to fly directly into Phuket from international gateways, but there are fewer than there should be. Talking with dive operators, I’ve learned that trip, course and other queries are down significantly, so it looks like tough times ahead (as if the international financial meltdown weren’t problem enough).

Before I left Bangkok, I snapped the photo below at the airport, which seems to capture both the confusion and antagonistic mood of the moment.

confusing

Note: I just learned that the Prince of Denmark is stuck in Thailand and can’t leave too, so I guess I’m in good company.

Three of a Kind

Fri, Nov 14th, 2008 | Marine Life 4 Comments

Check out this photo of three different goby species sharing a single burrow. From back to front, the fish are: Stonogobiops yasha, Stonogobiops nematodes, and Amblyeleotris yanoi.

three gobies

Photo taken in Menjangan, Bali at POS 2 dive site, 23 metres, by my friend Takashi Nagamatsu, who owns underwater camera shop Aquaforum in Japan.

Wish I had been there to see this!

Humpbag

Thu, Nov 13th, 2008 | Musings No Comments

humpbag Word play is fascinating in any language, even more interesting when it extends across two languages. A friend brought the bags pictured here to me last night, at a gathering of people I’ve met via whale, dolphin and sea lion trips.

The army-green bag on the left caught my eye when I was in Tonga earlier this year (a few friends from Japan had the bag). The bag is made of canvas, which is written as 帆布 in Japanese, and pronounced “hanpu”. The writing on the green bag (which you can’t read from this photo), says 帆布バッグ, which is pronounced “hanpu bag”…which sounds almost exactly like the way you’d pronounce the word “humpback” in Japanese. In other words, nearly the same pronunciation for “canvas bag” as “humpback whale”, for a bag that has a humpback whale on it.

The cuteness and cleverness of this probably loses something in translation, but it’s a terrific example of aligning concept, design, form and function.

The blue bag on the right has an adorable drawing of a sperm whale, which is another of my all-time favourite animals.

Humbling Experience

Tue, Nov 11th, 2008 | Marine Life, Musings No Comments

front view I had an opportunity today to see the skeleton of a north pacific right whale (Eubalaena japonica). The skeleton is on display at the Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology.

At 17.1 metres in length, the skeleton is enormous. It’s from a 67.2-tonne male that was caught in 1961 near Kodiak Island, Alaska as part of the International Whaling Commission’s activities. Whether I was standing beside the skeleton, in front of it, underneath it…anywhere…the sheer bulk was overwhelming and awe-inspiring. It’s difficult to convey just how humbling the experience was.

Of course, the sad part of the experience is knowing that northern pacific right whales are in a bad way. Depending on which estimates you refer to, there are an estimated 300 to 500 of these animals alive today…not exactly a booming population. In fact, the whales are listed as Endangered by the IUCN.

I’ve spent dozens, if not hundreds, of hours with humpback whales in the water, and I’ve had a few awesome encounters with sperm whales too. But I’ve never seen a right whale in the water, and somehow, I had imagined that right whales would be smaller, which no doubt contributed to my open-mouthed, dumbstruck reaction when I saw the display.

Hopefully, I’ll have a chance to be dumbstruck and humbled by the sight of a living right whale in the water one day.

side view

Ambon Adventure

Sat, Nov 8th, 2008 | Marine Life, Places, Adventures, Video, Multimedia 4 Comments

Instead of writing a trip report about my recent visit to Ambon, I played around with a web 2.0 service I’ve been watching for some time to put together a multimedia essay of sorts. The service is called Vuvox, and essentially, it allows you to combine various media forms into online shows and presentations, which you can share on the Vuvox site and also cross-post to other places on the net.

I created what’s known as a Collage in Vuvox, with a series of photographs and a bit of text, supplemented by a few video snippets and hyperlinks. The photos and text carry the story line, and the video segments help give you a feel for the particular animals and locations. The hyperlinks take you to additional information.

Vuvox is still in beta, so there are a few quirks here and there. I had a minor problem while putting this together and emailed Vuvox for help. A representative responded within minutes, which tells me they’re on the ball.

After playing around with the service, I can say that I really like Vuvox. It’s a slightly different way to tell a story, and the final product you come up with can take many forms, depending on the content, the intent and your storytelling skills (as well as how much work you want…or don’t want…to put into it).

The primary drawback I see is that whatever you create lives “in the cloud”, to use the parlance of the times, which means you can’t download it and keep it on your computer, iPod or other media player. That’s kind of a bummer, but it’s a relatively minor point, and perhaps they’ll figure a way around this at some point in the future.

To all divers and fish buffs: take particular note of the segment on the newly identified Maluku frogfish. The embedded video may be the first evidence of a frogfish using toxins or some other noxious substance to ward off a would-be predator. As far as I know, there is no other documented instance of a frogfish being toxic. (If someone out there knows of such a case, please send me a message.)

The video of the Maluku frogfish fish was taken by Chutinun Mora, who is the graphic designer of FiNS Magazine.

One cautionary note: You may need relatively high bandwidth to watch the video clips. If you experience stuttering, let the clip load, then hit play again.

If you want to see a wider view of this, go directly to the Vuvox page here. The collage effect is arguably nicer with a wide screen.

What Kids Know About the Ocean

Thu, Nov 6th, 2008 | Funny Stuff No Comments

A friend emailed this to me. I searched around, and found that it’s been posted a few times around the net. I’m not sure if it’s genuine (I can’t find any references to an original source), or if it’s the product of an adult with a lot of spare time, but it’s funny.

1. This is a picture of an octopus. It has eight testicles. (Kelly, age 6)

2. Oysters’ balls are called pearls. (Jerry, age 6)

3. If you are surrounded by ocean you are an Island . If you don’t have ocean all round you, you are incontinent. (Wayne , age 7)

4. Sharks are ugly and mean, and have big teeth, just like Emily Richardson. She’s not my friend any more. (Kylie, age 6)

5. A dolphin breathes through an asshole on the top of its head. (Billy, age 8 )

6. My uncle goes out in his boat with 2 other men, a woman and some pots
and comes back with crabs. (Millie, age 6)

7. When ships had sails, they used to use the trade winds to cross the ocean. Sometimes when the wind didn’t blow the sailors would whistle to make the wind come. My brother said they would have been better off eating beans. (William, age 7)

8. Mermaids live in the ocean. I like mermaids. They are beautiful and I like their shiny tails, but how on earth do mermaids get pregnant? Like, really? (Helen, age 6)

9. I’m not going to write about the ocean. My baby brother is always crying, my Dad keeps yelling at my Mom, and my big sister has just got pregnant, so I can’t think what to write (Amy, age 6)

10. Some fish are dangerous. Jellyfish can sting. Electric eels can give you a shock. They have to live in caves under the sea where I think they have to plug themselves into chargers at night. (Christopher, age 7)

11. When you go swimming in the ocean, it is very cold, and it makes my willy small. (Kevin, age 6)

12. Divers have to be safe when they go under the water. Divers can’t go down alone, so they have to go down on each other. (Becky, age 8 )

13. On vacation my Mom went water skiing. She fell off when she was going
very fast. She says she won’t do it again because water fired right up her big fat ass. (Julie, age 7)

14. The ocean is made up of water and fish. Why the fish don’t drown I don’t know. (Bobby, age 6)

15. My dad was a sailor on the ocean. He knows all about the ocean. What he doesn’t know is why he quit being a sailor and married my mom. (James, age 7)

Ambon Slideshow

Fri, Oct 31st, 2008 | Places, Adventures, Video, Multimedia 2 Comments

I posted a few images from my recent Ambon trip on Flickr (slideshow below). I’m still working on a summary of my trip (“contemplating” is perhaps a more accurate representation than “working on” at this stage), which I’ll post when I finish.

Meeting Mark

Tue, Oct 28th, 2008 | People 4 Comments

me and mark One of the most fulfilling aspects of doing what I do is that I have a chance to meet cool people from all over the world.

Last night, I managed to hook up with Mark Thorpe, who’s an excellent videographer and has been involved with many fascinating projects.

I first met Mark in Palau, then we grabbed a few drinks in Singapore, and now, dinner in Yokohama. We’ve decided that each successive meeting needs to be in a different country, or city at least.

Mark was accompanied by his lovely bride-to-be, which meant we behaved in a reasonably civilised manner (i.e., we didn’t get completely sloshed). Congratulations Mark and Terue!

More Me At Work

Sun, Oct 26th, 2008 | Marine Life, Places, Adventures 4 Comments

I just received another photo of me with a couple of whales from another person who was with me in Tonga earlier this year. This photo was from the same encounter as the photo I received last month.

whales