Dictionary of Algorithms and Data Structures is an excellent place to learn and refresh your memory. It is a huge resource that covers a whole bunch of algorithms and data structures, compiled by National Institute of Standards and Technology.
Searching and sorting, trees and graphs, arrays and hashes, big O notation, travelling salesman, recursion, and much more…
I am not by any shot a football fan. But there are times, when I cannot ignore the happenings on the football arena. It is about 4am here, and it has been just about an hour when the massive horning, singing, and shouting finished after Greece has won Czechs 1:0 tonight. Thousans of people were outside celebrating a great victory. I think that if I will stay in this country, I will have to tell about this day to my grandchildren. :)
Plenty of people outside, plenty of cars, traffic jams everywhere. All sorts of horns (including huge trucks) make sure noone is sleeping and missing this great day.
Few pictures that I took can be see here.
Finally, after almost a week of suspending and half a year of waiting, we went to see “Kill Bill: Vol. 2” today. Both Hazard and Olga liked this movie. Pretty much. I loved it! Tarantino is genious. In my book, he went over himself. In the middle of the film I realized that I way underestimated the first part and that I want to see it again.
If you read anywhere that the second part is totally different from the first, then you better beleive it. Some people do really see these two films separately. For me though, they were shot differently, they perfectly unite. Actually, these two films should be watched together with a smoke break in the middle. Not a half a year. I am getting both of them on DVD and rewatching it.
If there was something you didn’t like in the first part – don’t see this one, because here Tarantino goes in full depth of what he was giving a glimpse of in the first part. In my opinion, it’s rathy typical of him. He usually gives a fast and furios type of thing in the beginning just to start you off and prepare you for explanations of the main points by the end. When you are ready. And this was taken pretty far in “Kill Bill”.
Kudos to Q&U for the ultimate satisfaction! I don’t really remember when was the last time I enjoyed the movie this much. :)
Translating from one language into another is not an easy job. Translating from one language into another without losing some part of the meaning is an impossible job. There are few films and stories illustrating these difficulties. One of them, of course, is “Lost in translation“.
If you need another example, check these “lost in translation” web site. What goes on there is you can try any phrase you like to be translated by computer into few languages and then back to English. See if you notice any differences. :)
Congratulations go to Vladimir who graduated today with his Bachelor of Computer Science degree from Intercollege. Pictures from his graduation are available here.
Here are few things that I want to write down regarding photographing an event like this. I should read this the day before next time. :)
First of all, it is good to have a scenario of the event. Something that I didn’t have this time. With scenario it is much easier to plan locations to shoot from. Also you will be aware of things about to happen. For example, when graduates were entering the hall, all spectators were requested to rise. This created a kind of coridor for graduates to follow, and kind of walls for photographers around. Timing for throwing hats in the air after confirmation of degrees is another example.
Secondly, one should get full media clearence. I naively assumed that as a guest of the public ceremony I will be allowed to shoot from anywhere I liked. WRONG! I was asked to leave about every place that I tried. Press people were moving around freely though.
Third, but equally important – be ready for lots of people and poor lighting conditions. People are an obstacle. They move around and get in the frame more then you want them too. Lighting is yet another problem. For better visual experience of the audience, the stage is better lighted than the audience, so it might get tricky if you want to photograph someone in the crowd. This time around I had only an on-camera flash with me, which is weak, so I had to use ISO 800 and ISO 1600, which is noisy. Still I had to throw out a few shots. Red eye reduction should be on too (something I forgot to check).
The good tip that was suggested many times – try sticking to gether with press people. They are pros, they know what they are doing and they have full clearence. They tend to shoot from the best places, and if you lucky, you will not get separated from them by the security/organizers.