After a month's wait, after numerous debates, I finally bought THE phone- iPhone today. I had had this feel that iPhone might not be all that useful to me. I already have an official phone and that was more than enough for me for the purpose of staying in touch.

But, When I saw the iPhone released, I know my reason, logic and sense wouldn't be all that strong and it wasn't all that strong, the other day when I had been to Apple store and was carrying some hard cash ;). I had pull myself out of the temptation to buy it. I was saved that day- but as time would testify now, not for long- just for a couple of weeks.

Today morning, woke up pretty early and with all the devotion of a pilgrimage, started to Apple Store. It is pretty irresistible once you see the beauty. I was just not able to contain myself when I saw it and asked the guy to immediately pack me one. It was as if some take away packing that I had ordered. A card, swipe and a signature later, my darling was in my hands.

Leaving you with the album, while I debate whether to take a new connection or transfer my official number to the new instrument- if that is the case, I am sure, there is going to be a lot of waxing and coaxing around for sure!

Had been to white water rafting near here- in the Lehigh River. It was a Class III rafting- enjoyed every bit of it. While I am waiting for the film rolls to be developed [Yeah- its better to use a water proof cheap film camera than the digital ones ;)], I can't but wonder at the complete corporatization of everything that I can see here. While I was surfing through some information about the White Water Rafting, I came upon this blog. I am linking to the page that I found most interesting...The Water Level Control- In India, I have come across controlling water level only for purposes like Irrigation and Flood Control- there are no apparent industries that use the water flow in the rivers to make money and create employment. There might be reasons to it- there might be no great demand for a service- but as such, the demand in many cases is to be created, rather than expected to develop.

The rafting industry seems to be huge and very well organized here in US. The near consistent water levels in the rivers, as opposed to mostly seasonal flow in Indian rivers might be a reason. Last heard there was a rafting service available near Mangalore- Hadn't been there though. There is one Class IV rafting course near NY in Hudson- thinking of planning for it sometime.

One more interesting thing that struck me was, the style of managing the raft through the obstacles and the team spirit. When we boarded the raft, we were told that we are to arrange ourselves in such a way, that the heavier people of the group are to be at the back- since it is easier to maneuver from the back and that there is a leader for the raft. The underlying assumption being that the leader would be in a better position to instruct the team and thus stay clear of the obstacles. This also would mean that the team should trust the Leader and follow his words. What emerged out of the rafting exercise is something more interesting. We were able to find, that the less control is with the leader, the easier it was to maneuver the raft, than when it was just the leader who was taking the decision. The more individuals took decision based on the information they had, the lesser rocks we had to face.

Thinking about it, this is more like the Self Organization- where the decisions are localized, whereas the purpose is a global one. The individuals take decisions based on the information that they have and they are the best decision makers with that information. Most of the management principles that we use today, have been assembled from the WW-II. I just wonder, if it is time to change all those principles on their head and think about something more reflective of the times we live in. May be the "General-Soldier", "Leader-Follower" model had seen its day.

The recent article that I read in Fast Company had outlined the quest and thirst we seem to have with bottled water- While in India, I think it can atleast by justifiable with a notion that not all tap water is safe to drink [provided there is water available in the tap in the first place], I find it really surprising when people gobble up bottles of packaged water when they do get safe drinking water in tap.

It is indeed surprising why people wouldn't trust their tap water- is it some sort of a psychological barrier, that the tap water brings in? Is it some collective intelligence that runs against the tap water? I don't know for sure, but this mentality seem to exist everywhere. May be it is because, we tend to value anything that is free (not to mean that the tap water is free- I assume it is being taxed- not sure about how it works in US, but for sure it is taxed in India) or atleast cheap, lesser than we value that is costly? Is the mere monetary value the end of all value?

With that in the backdrop, just check out what the New York State had been up with. They are trying to promote tap water- bottled water's cost is much more than the price that you pay at the store to get it. There are other environmental costs- not to mention the plastic waste that it generates after use.

Seems like atlast we are waking up to the reality of environmental screwup that is being termed as Life Style and Development!

After much waggling around and much more confusion on the lens that I am to buy, I have decided on the Canon 70-200mm f/4.0 L USM lens. No doubt its a bulky one- the other day as I had been to get my camera back after a sensor cleaning exercise, I noticed the Sigma 70-200mm there at the store, and out of curiosity asked for a test use. Boy, did I say I was thoroughly impressed? The image quality, the auto focus and the near silence (well, I was on Broadway and so the lens might not have been all that silent) while the lens zeroed in on the focus was pretty impressive. The lens did was hunting for focus at far ends of the zoom- at 200mm that is. But it was also possible that there wasn't much to focus in a bland background.

I am already not satisfied with the hunt that my 18-55mm "with kit" canon lens offers- but I can live with it. Hopefully, the 70-200 would let me do some serious and good shooting. But, I would have to space my purchase for sometime. I can't buy the lens right away. Need to plan- may be in another couple of months I will be a proud owner of a canon 70-200mm f/4.0 L USM lens.

Offlate, especially after I had bought the SLR, most of my spare time is spent on reading about lens, checking for deals on lens, lens accessories, camera accessories, tripods, monopods etc., It is indeed an exciting experience to get to know the basics- but as always, my "hands-on" brain is not very comfortable in understanding the apertures and focal length lessons, unless I am able to shoot some snaps in the conditions mentioned and see the difference for myself.

Having given my camera for some sensor cleaning, I am without the luxury of trying hands on and have to be satisfied with some theoretical understanding. The camera wouldn't be back for another 4 weeks at the least and I want to buy a lens in the July 4th sales. I am not sure if there would be any discounts available for lens and accessories during the sale- but then no harm in trying your luck. If there are any, I can very well afford to buy a better lens. That leads me to the most important of all questions- what and which lens to buy?

I am torn between a Macro lens and a telephoto lens. I want the best of both worlds, and then there is this budget constraint. This is a perfect trade off world, how much ever I think I am unable to decide on the trade off component. I am actually looking at under 400$ lens. That set, the things that I need to decide are- the nature of the lens- macro or telephoto and the make. There are Tamron, Canon and Sigma. There are pros and cons of all these lenses and that is precisely what makes my decision making even more tougher. I am sort of positively disposed towards Sigma. The range is good, the reviews are better and the price is excellent[;)]. But not yet decided on the lens.

Let me wait for the July 4th.