Jesar|Arts News

Canterbury at Night

Sat, 26 Nov 2011 00:14:01 +0100

Last weekend Canterbury City had its Christmas Lights Big Turn On and I decided to go check it out and take a few photos.

This was a good test for my current camera which does not perform very well at night and I thought it would be a good opportunity to get some night time practice before getting my new camera.

Apart from all the Christmas lights there are quite a few market stalls which have opened up for Christmas selling all sorts of goodies, such as Belgian Waffles, sweets, toffees as well as hot dogs :)

As its getting into winter now the sun sets at around 4 o'clock. However, it has been a surprisingly mild Autumn, this time last year there was huge amounts of snow already.

A Week in Paris

Mon, 07 Nov 2011 22:39:29 +0100

Arrived in Paris on Sunday last week, which feels like ages ago already. We were only in Paris for 5 days and thus had a lot to get through each day.

Unfortunately I made some serious misjudgements concerning my camera equipment, including forgetting to find my 4GB memory card and thinking a 512MB would be sufficient. Thus I have no photos of the Euro Star.

Anyways, who cares about that. This my largest post so far and thus has taken ages to upload, edit and document.

After arriving at Gare du Nord, we decided to walk to our hotel as it was only about 15min away.

View Gare du Nord, Paris in a larger map

This turned out to be a fantastic idea as it gave us time to drop our bags off at the hotel and find some good pizzas. Which we sat and ate while watching the rest of our architecture group walk to the hotel about an hour after us.

We also had enough time to find a Metro station and get a pack of 10 Metro Cards for about €12. Would have actually have been a better deal to get a Navigo Pass as this would have covered the entire week for only €18, though some told me they had to pay €22.

Was surprised to learn that the Hotel we were staying in was three stars which turned out to be strange as personally I think it should have only been two, though the breakfasts were pretty good.

I shall now just let the photos do the talking ;)

At about three we met up with our architecture tutor for the trip and caught the Metro to Champs-Elysees, were we walked down towards the Musee du Louvre.

Bubbles^^

Was only around 5 and the light was fading fast.

If there was one thing this trip confirmed for me was my need for a new camera, something on the lines of an EVIL Camera also know as a compact system camera or maybe even a DSLR. Something that can handel night time photography better than my current Sony H3.

Which would you go with the Lumix-HF2 or the Nikon D3100, leave a comment or give me a tweet @JiPaton, esspecially if you think another camera would be better!

Ah, Paris at night...

Finally made it to the Musee du Louvre and it is already almost pitch black.

After heading through the Louvre we walked to the Centre Pompidou, which actually looks quite beautiful all light up.

The following day was one of our best days in terms of weather, cleat skys and warmer.

Today we were headed for the Palace of Versailles.

We needed to catch the RER to Versailles, which we caught at Saint-Michel Notre-Dame.

The train trip was about 40min.

At Versailles there where these gigantic iron archways, which were part of some art installation, which I unfortunately did not find any explanation of. But they did make for some great photography subjects.

Heading towards the gardens, which was one of the main reasons for coming to Versailles.

The Palace and the Kings Room in the center.

One of the largest gardens I have ever seen, it was designed to extend all the way into the horizon which it almost does and stretches on for about 5KM.

More of those mysterious arches.

From this view point the ponds appear to be circles however, in fact this is an illusion and they were designed in ellips forms so as to appear circular at this viewing angle.

They where also filming something today, not sure what it was though.

As its late Autumn the sun is setting early in Europe, which did give me the opportunity to take this lovely sunset shot as well as keep trying my hand at night photography.

Taking the RER back to Paris.

The following day was awful as it rained the entire day and everything was shut because it was a public/bank holiday. However, we did get into Notre-Dame.

After Notre-Dame we had the afternoon free and we decided to head up the Arc De Triomphe.

Now if we could only figure out how to cross the circle.

Turns out there is a tunnel which leads to the island where the arch is located.

Many steps to the top.

PARIS!

Avenue Des Champs Elysees, which goes on forever.

View of Paris's CBD.

Paris is full of these Boulevards, which stretch on for miles, in every direction.

This kid is actually rollerblading down the Palais de Chailot stairs, backwards!

Contemporary architecture in the middle of Paris which was a bit of a surprise and I actually really like the building, which is The Quai Branly Museum.

Another interesting building.

The Petit Palais ^^

After looking at the Petit Palais and the Grand Palais we headed back to Notre-Dame, where we visited the La Mémorial des Martyrs de La Déportation.

And then we headed up to the Pantheon, in the area I stayed in Paris last year.

The Pantheon^^

The Institut Du Monde Arabe ^^

As well as an interesting structure next to it.

Some more, poor quality, night time shots of the Bibliotheque National De France.

The following day we decided to go up the Eiffel Tower, which presented an opportunity for some fantastic shots of the city along with the Quai Branly Museum.

Its been a very long time since I saw a tram, I am certain this would solve public transport problems in South Africa.

Ah and that was the end of my cameras pathetic 512MB memory.

Windows Phone 7.5

Sat, 29 Oct 2011 18:19:20 +0100

When I first got my HTC HD7 I was a bit sceptical about the fact that it was one of the few devices running the Windows Phone OS.

Though I did enjoy the first incarnation of WP7 I was not thoroughly impressed with it, even though the Metro UI was something new and interesting.

Microsoft spent a good 2 months teasing consumers, like myself, with short videos and reviews of WP7.5 which made the wait feel like eternity. Being able to see just what my phone was capable of, for so long, with a decent version of WP7 was a really annoying experience.

However, the wait has definitely been worth it. I would even dare say that my phone feels like an entirely new phone, like comparing the first iPhone to the iPhone 3Gs.

Windows Phone 7.5 Mango has introduces about 500 new feature to the WP7 OS and has skilfully integrated Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin directly into the OS.

They have also improved the Metro UI experience with what is known as Live tiles. Basically each tile can now display live information in a multitude of different methods, such as flipping the tile to display new content.

There is simply no getting away from, just how much more useful tiles are over icons.

As stated earlier Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin are now integrated into the OS, this provides what is known as the "Me" tile which allows you to post directly to FB and Twitter as well as checking in, checking notifications and seeing what's new.

There is also the People Hub which shows you all your contacts, Twitter & Facebook streams and also allows you to create groups of contacts such as friends, family and colleagues.

Facebook chat has also been integrated into the OS and works particularly well on wi-fi and 3G but not very well if you only have 2G coverage.

Here is an example of a group, each person is represented by a tile which can be pinned to the home screen and also changes to show live information such as tweets or Facebook status updates. The group as a whole can now also be pinned to the home screen as a live tile.

Here you can see the What's new screen in the people hub which can be sorted to show all your accounts streams or just a certain account like Facebook or Twitter.

Holding down on a tile on the home screen will allow you to unpin or move the selected tile.

Live tiles are a great way for news applications to give you breaking news just at a glance, as well as new updates to apps from the market place.

Internet explorer 9 Mobile works very well and displays sites quickly and accurately, unfortunately it is still Internet Explorer which, as a web designer, I can't stand.

Updating the WPCentral app.

Xbox Live Games has also been improved and makes playing games on your phone that much more rewarding.

Another big feature which has been added to WP7 is multitasking which makes switching between running applications much faster, than on the original Windows Phone 7 OS.

Desk Diary 2011/10

Sat, 29 Oct 2011 15:19:49 +0100

The last Desk Diary that I posted was in September and since then I did not get around to uploading Octobers. These photos were taken just as I was starting university, which is actually the reason I have posted so little of late as well as me not feeling so wonderful for the first week of term.

Since starting university we had to get a whole lot of architecture kit, which were finally handed out in the second week of term. The kit consists of a whole bunch of equipment including pencils, rulers, set squares, etc.

We also got given one of these ^^. Which I have actually been meaning to get for a while.

Besides university, Microsoft finally launched the update to Windows Phone 7 named Mango which actually now makes the OS Windows Phone 7.5.

Which I had been eagerly waiting for, for what seemed like an eternity. And I must say that the new OS version is fantastic.

As you can see university is in full swing.

I will review Windows Phone 7.5 in the next post ;)

Marlowe Theatre: Canterbury

Fri, 07 Oct 2011 23:41:30 +0100

Today was the official public opening of our new Marlowe Theatre, after its £25.6 Mill revamp. As I was in Canterbury I just could not miss the opportunity to go check it out.

In the post I am mainly focusing on the interior, partly due to the weather as well as lighting. Will do an outside post some time soon.

Here it is on the map:

View Larger Map
The info on Google Maps still seems to be quite old.

The first thing which I find apparent about the theatre is just how beautiful and well designed it is. It "kinda" has that new Lamborghini feel to it, stunning, striking, bold. - Love the orange theme^^

The seats are comfortable and the attention to detail is obvious, each seat is actually at the correct height to see over the person in-front of you.

The theatre is three tiered with seating for 1200 people and is one of the most impressive theatres outside of London.

Apart from the spectacular stage, the theatre boasts possibly the best views of Canterbury and its Cathedral.

I would also like to take this chance to address those not in favour of the new theatre... "Your lose, my gain!" and people the year is 2011 and personally I like glass buildings.

The theatre also offers a full restaurant.

again those fantastic views^^

Ok, nobody panic, its just a firework! :D

Had to go back inside and get a look from above.

Ah, a few black and whites^^

And as I mentioned the theatre boasts some incredible views not only of the Cathedral but also of the city. Definitely gives one a different perspective on the town.

Outside area would be lovely on warmer days, just like last week... ah 29°C ;)

Back of the theatre plus the offices.

A Day in London 3

Sat, 17 Sep 2011 20:03:03 +0100

So as I am visiting Paris at the end of next month, I needed to organize myself a Schengen Visa. Thus this months visit to London started bright and early at 6:30 as we had to get to the French VISA agency by 10:00. Also as I did not go to London last month this post is quite a big one.

First off I must advise anybody travelling to London to avoid Peak travel times as this will result in your ticket costing double, yes double... I feel very sorry for all the commuters. Commuters are actually paying 3-4 months worth of their salary's just on commuting.

And just like that we are in London, to be more precise we are at South Kensington Underground station. We are catching the District line to Earl's Court, on our way to the French Visa agency which is actually known as the TLS Contact centre.

So now we are at Earl's Court heading for Kensington (Olympia) which is also on the District line. The TLS Contact centre is located at Exhibition House, Ground Floor, Addison Bridge Place, London. Lets see if we can get a map of that:

View Larger Map

So we have just left Kensington (Olympia) the agency is less than a few hundred meters from the station.

Here we are ^^

Unfortunately as is with many of these places Photography is strictly forbidden, so as not to be confused with a deadly terrorist I decided to refrain from taking any pictures.

Its now about 11:30, having just finished at the agency we decided to spend the rest of the day in London. Quickly passing through St. James's Park.

Still surprises me that many of the street lights in the parks still run on gas.

Its autumn so there are plenty of squirrels around, collecting nuts for the winter. Things are getting a bit cooler, however, today was a pretty hot day.

Yes I do believe he is walking his pet ferret 0_o

This restaurant was a bit pricey, so we decided to keep walking and look for another place.

Unsurprisingly we found our way to a Pret a Manger.

Plenty of good looking, freshly made, tasty baguettes ready for some nom noming.

It can be difficult to choose sometimes.

I decided to stick with a baguette :)

It was one of the employees birthdays and the place was quite lively. I believe this was the manager of this Pret.

The National Gallery had on a new temporary collection, so we decided to visit that plus its free entry, but no photography.

Trafalgar Square^^

As I come from South Africa its slightly surprising to see Spar's in London. I did find though that the quality of these Spar's are substantially better than their African cousins. A bit like the Nando's restaurants here, which are great.

Cool Britannia, more like tourist trap :P

Ooh look an original mini^^

Decided to take a look in Lillywhites Sports Clothing store as they were having a massive sale.

The walls were literally covered with shoes.

Would have loved to get a pair, however, mine are still in pretty good condition, considering I have had them for about 4 years.

Beanies anyone?

More Puma Ferrari gear, not sure how much these were going for though.

Ah, yes, been having a few problems with the my camera, auto focus is taking forever to kick in, so apologies if some of these are a tad un-sharp.

Piccadilly street under constant work, seems like they will never finish this street for the Olympics.

Quick look through a small market located off Piccadilly street.

So my mother told me Fortnum and Mason's already have their Christmas decorations up on one of their floors, which I could not believe this early in the year.

That tree is worth over £1000 in Fortnum and Mason decorations, kinda makes me feel a bit ill ;(

Also allot of Halloween food goodies...

Brand new entrance to the Green Park Underground Station.

Clearly its autumn.

Back to the Underground.

Found a Superdry Store who sell some great clothing.

Desk Diary 2011/09

Sat, 17 Sep 2011 19:14:18 +0100

The Day in London series has been a great way for me to personally look back at my life to see what things I've been doing since moving to the UK. If I didn't document what I did over the years I'm sure I would forget a lot of what went on.

What I don't have at the moment is a diary of what's happening to me right now at home. Thus I've decided to start a new series of Desk Diary's ^^.

Its a week into September 2011 and much has been happening, getting ready for University and continuing working on the site. As you can see the site has undergone a major rebranding and design change.

So in these series I will also show you a little of the behind the scenes development of the site. Such as the kit that we have to develop this site amongst a few others.

Currently I develop the site by my self though on occasions I get my brother to help out with a few things. I try to keep my working environment as tidy as possible, which allows me to keep track of where things are and what I am currently working on.

I use a combination of Windows and Apple products to develop the site, my desktop is great for resource intensive tasks like graphic design, etc. However, having my MacBook pro is a huge help for being able to work on the go.

So one thing that has definitely changed for me living in the UK is the cost and quality of our DSL. The speeds have however, not been a huge increase and many other British residents are complaining about the slow speed of UK internet, compared to other first world countries. The UK is currently ranking at 34th highest average broadband speed with an average of 10,5Mb/s which is what my line runs at.

However, the cost of DSL and the data usage allowances here in the UK are one of the best in the world, on average we download +150GB per month. The cost of broadband here is also significantly lower than back in SA.

My home network back in SA was a constant nightmare to maintain, from cables being chewed on by rats in the roof to slow speeds, etc. Thus when we moved to the UK I made sure to put together a robust and fast home Gigabit network.

Which has definitely been a worthwhile investment and has saved me a tonne of time from copying to backing up data.

Almost forgot we use BE as our ISP and they have been brilliant thus far!

A recent addition to the network is a 1TB Network Attached Storage unit from Wester Digital, which has been working beautifully for the past week. It is one of the fastest consumer NAS units around and definitely has the best UI of any network device I have used.

I have always made backing up data a priority of mine, though it has been difficult to maintain this when you have to do it manually. This NAS has solved that problem and has definitely saved me time in the week and also makes formatting one of our PCs a much simpler and faster process.

Decided to also show you guys Liam's work area, which he actually spends more time watching anime and gaming :P However, he is a very talented guy and is getting better each day, check his work out over here: moondogie.deviantart.com

He uses a Wacom Bamboo Fun Special Edition and Adobe Photoshop to produce his anime/manga.

Unfortunately I did not manage to go to London last month and as such did not have content for a Day in London series, however, I will be going to London next week to organise a VISA for Paris.

London Parks 1

Sun, 28 Aug 2011 21:36:36 +0100

One thing that I really love about London are all the small parks dotted around the city. Most people know about Hyde Park and I thought I would share some images of some of the parks in and around London.

Starting with Green Park which is adjacent to Hyde Park and right next to Buckingham Palace.

The parks are a fantastic place to spend time in, especially if it's a warm sunny day. Fortunately we were treated to a lovely day about 2 months ago when I took these pictures.

Most of the parks in London have some kind of coffee and snacks stall, just like the one in this picture.

You can get good coffee, tea, cold rinks as well as sandwiches and ice cream here. However, the prices are aimed at tourists, but they are not terrible.

On a sunny day you will often see these deck chairs set out, in parks, which you can rent for a few minutes or hours.

The parks thrive with wildlife, there are plenty of ducks, swans and squirrels.

The parks are also a great way to get around London without having to go anywhere next to a road or Underground and one can cycle through them.

You can cut through Green Park right the way through to Hyde Park.

Apart from the thriving wildlife, on a hot day there will be hundreds of people in the parks.

We are now in Hyde park, after walking from Green Park past Buckingham Palace.

At this time of year the parks are very green and filled with flowers.

The Serpentine is the lake or river within Hyde Park and in this photo we can see the Serpentine Bar & kitchen, which is right on the banks of the lake.

The Serpentine Lake which is also know as The Serpentine River. Which was constructed in 1730 and is one of the largest bodies of water in London besides the Thames River.

London Transport - Cycle Hire

Mon, 22 Aug 2011 16:38:07 +0100

Continuing from our previous London Transport post about Trains, today I am sharing some pics of a new addition to travel within London: Cycle Hire.

Take a cycle, ride it where you like, then return it, ready for the next person.

Available 24 hours a day, all year round. It's self-service and there's no booking. Just turn up and go.

Each docking station is indicated by one of these, the logo is similar to that of the Underground.

These Kiosks show you alternative cycle stations nearby, as well as average cycling distance and you can also pay at them.

There are hundreds of docking stations all over London which makes this system so easy to use. However the docking stations can take up a lot of space.

London Cycle hire has been organised and sponsored by Barclays Bank.

To unlock a bicycle you will need a membership key, which costs £3.

A few other costs to use these includes an Access Fee which is £1 per for 24 hours. You can also get annual Access Fee rates. As well as a Usage Charge depending on the time you need the bicycle.

For an up to date list of costs head over here: www.tfl.gov.uk/roadusers/cycling/14811

The bicycles are a great way to get around London especially if you are travelling short distances and they have become very popular.

Cycle lane.

I first saw this idea in Paris about a year ago, and it was only a few months later that they started appearing in London.

I love this method of storing bicycles, I wonder if it could ever been used in the UK?

London Transport - Trains

Sun, 14 Aug 2011 19:08:49 +0100

I have decided to put together a few guides on transport in, out and around London. These will include posts about the London Underground, Cycling and Buses.

However, dealing with train services in and out of London is going to require a few posts as there are many different services running to different parts of the UK.

So we shall start with my train system: South Eastern Trains.

South Eastern trains consist of the Metro, Mainline and the High Speed, which is the one in these photos. To see the route of each line simply head here: www.southeasternrailway.co.uk/your-journey/lines-of-route/

Each row of seats is equipped with a standard 3-pin British charge point. Which is great if you are like me and always forget to charge your mobile before you go to bed. Or if you need to work on your laptop.

The high speed service is unfortunately not very cheap. Individual tickets range from about £33 all day return and includes all zones on Underground and Buses.

Traveling in large groups helps to save money as if you travel with 3 people you pay the same as traveling with 2.

There are also concessions of the elderly and children under 15. Also if you are commuting you can get a season pass.

There are main luggage compartments on each coach as well as over head storage for smaller bags.

All the stations which are international are brand new and have access to the Euro Star.

I notice as so many people commute to work in London many people only get into London by mid day, this may be due to many people working part time.

The high speed takes about 59 minutes to get to London from Canterbury and terminates at St Pancras where you have assess to Kings Cross Underground.

The South Eastern high-speed trains are currently the fastest trains in Britain.

Very rare that the trains are this empty.

Each compartment has about 4 table areas.

Notice about the power sockets.

Image of the South Eastern Lines routes.

Decided to test out the Windows Phone 7 Speedometer app. This was about the fastest It indicated during the journey.