Jewel of the Summertime - (2022 edition)

I don't even know where or how to start the post this time. So I'll just start off with a bit of news that proves we are being governed by idiots, and it's not just annoying, it is dangerous.

https://www.cnet.com/news/privacy/india-orders-vpn-companies-to-collect-and-hand-over-user-data/

And, it's not just India. Apparently, in an effort to block TikTok, the US is also rolling out a bill that is way overpowered and straight-up ill-conceived for a neutral internet.

https://www.vice.com/en/article/4a3ddb/restrict-act-insanely-broad-ban-tiktok-vpns



Moving on...

For the people who are waiting for an update on the braiding robot thing, I would have to, unfortunately, disappoint you again, for now at least, as I am still not 100% sure what I can publish into the public domain without affecting the IP / critical rights of the project. But, once I am certain I have the required clearance, then I would definitely like to share the work that has gone into it. If nothing else, it is pretty interesting.

But, I hear you say, what can you share then this time? Well, I ended up traveling near and far quite a bit in the past year, and that means I have a lot of photos to share. So maybe I can do a photo story-based thing, along with random rants mixed into it?

Let's try to attack it chronologically, starting from where I left off, April 2022

For a photo shot with a mobile, it is pretty neat!

After having the drone on my radar (pun-ception) for quite a while, I decided to go ahead and get the DJI Mini 2. God bless Ebay Kleinanzeigen again.

There is nothing really that I can add about the drone that already is not on the internet. I was torn between waiting for the Mini 3 or just going for the Mini 2. Based on all the leaks I got at that point, it said there was only a "Pro" version coming out, and it would be 699 USD, which was way out of my budget. Hence, Mini 2 it was.

I also read that like a GoPro, it would end up being a novelty, meaning that I would use it 3-4 times and then it would just be tossed around the house. While it has been true to a certain degree, I have been very happy with whenever I went somewhere that was potentially drone worthy, especially anywhere close to a water body. The contrast between the foliage and vegetation with the (hopefully) blue water is always mesmerizing.

The thing that is like the double-edged sword is the software developed by DJI for the drone. On one hand, it has been pretty reliable, and there are a lot of safety checks that are built in, like for example if the drone loses signal mid-flight, or the battery management features, automatic return to home, amongst many other creature comforts. The control system for the drone is also pretty intuitive, and I was able to get the basics down in maybe 2-3 flights. Complex maneuvers naturally will take slightly longer, but they are definitely doable. Also, I feel like someone who is used to game controllers with analog sticks might be better with the controls.

But the problem is no open access to the software. One time I had my drone on a bike trip but the app wasn't updated, and I did not check it before hand. At the destination, when I tried to fly the drone, the app straight up refused to start. Just a hard crash every time. Even an app reset was not able to resolve it. Back home, without using the drone, I had to update the app and after that, everything seemed to work fine. This is a bit upsetting because it locked me down completely, and made a product that I own practically useless unless updated. If I can bitch about windows breaking devices with updates, I also can and will bitch about drone software taking my hardware hostage. I understand it is a somewhat critical piece of equipment, but there has to be a better way.

Also regarding the same software problem, there was a notification that new firmware was available for my drone, and based on that previous experience, I decided to update it ASAP so that I could try to get some snow covered shots of my city with the drone. For whatever reason, the firmware update ended up bricking the drone, and I had to send it to Hungary to get it repaired. DJI does have a center in Germany, but probably due to logistics reasons, only the Hungary center deals with the Mini 2.

Credit where it is due, the shipping was covered by DJI both ways, because the drone was still under warranty, and their customer service was pretty good. They actually ended up sending me a brand-new drone, which was a great surprise. It makes sense from the point of turnaround times and logistics, where it probably would have been much faster to hand out a new drone rather than opening up and repairing my faulty drone. Again, something like a ROM flash over USB from a computer to fix small firmware issues should be a thing, so that the whole shipping to hungary process can be avoided, but I can see why they are heavily obfuscating everything about their drones, and probably other products, that are not customer facing.

Overall, the Mini 2 has been fantastic and I am amazed every time I fly it. Such a tiny little thing, and it can go up to 40 kmph with a tested range of over 1.5 kilometers. Yes, I lost the signal, and then after 5-10 seconds, the drone automatically goes into Return to Home mode, so you get the connection back. I also totally drained the battery mid-flight and had to chase the drone down. That was quite a bit more panicky, but all's well that ends well. If you have some money to burn, are curious about drones, and would like to see the world from different perspectives, I can highly recommend getting a drone. I would also suggest sticking with DJI just because of their software lead. 

One of the main selling points of the Mini 3 is the flipping camera
the bump to 48MP is very very nice, and the option to record videos vertically is (personally) nice to have...

But I hate vertical video and the so-called "shorts" and I hope it dies a fiery death.

Now that I have 2 cameras, 6 lenses, and a drone, I obviously cannot fit everything in my old 3 sectioned camera sling. So it was time for a new camera bag. 

My old camera sling was from a company called Vanguard, and it has served me exceptionally well. Fantastic build quality, good padding, and plenty of storage for its size. So I decided to stick with the same company and went for their (now discontinued) Alta Rise 49. Brand loyalty is a thing after all.

Test fit didn't go that well here, so I had to reconfigure the partitions.
I love partitions, in bags at least.
Countries? Not so much.

I personally do not like the bag designs that are available now, that's why I went with the older version. 

This was also the first time I got what you would call a proper camera backpack. And it is just so thoughtfully designed, I love it. Everything has a place, every strap and hook has a purpose, it is massively comfortable, and it protects all my gear. For the price, again, I would highly recommend anyone in need of camera bags, to check out Vanguard. They do also make tripods and other stuff, but I can definitely vouch for the quality of the bags.

So now, I have a bike, I have pretty great camera gear, and a bag to carry all of that gear. Guess what I did.

It is June now, and I have the EuRegio cross-country ticket for the weekend.

One interesting thing that I would like to record here is the story of the one guy I met while I was utilizing my EuRegio ticket for a visit to Roermond. Since it happened almost a year ago, my memory isn't that great, but I do have notes.

So while struggling to decide in which direction to head once I got out of the railway station, I was gawking aimlessly at the street names and boards. I consider myself to be reasonably decent at maps and identifying possible locations of interest, but it was my first time in Roermond, and I was kind of short on time because it was already noon and my day was planned to end in Liege.

I like those shorts bro, Where can I get them?

It was my first time on the Nederlandse Spoorwegen
Nice trains!

While I was going through all this, a guy came over pointing at my camera and seemed to ask something in Dutch. I was obviously clueless, but he quickly switched over to English. Then he proceeded to ask me about the camera, the lenses and the gear that I had with me, where I came from, what my background was, and so on and so forth. Now, as an introvert from India who is mentally trained in such a way that if anyone approaches you, be on your guard, double-check everything, and give minimum information, this was a very uncomfortable situation for me. I had no idea what to do. I honestly still don't, and maybe that is a problem. 

But then, Marcel introduced himself. He is a photographer of 44 years who owns a Canon 7D mkII, the holy trinity of lenses (16-35mm / 24-70mm / 70-200mm f/2.8 set) has been all over the world, is a fan of the Elfia festival of Utrecht, and he also told me a very interesting story about how he was (almost) arrested for flying his drone on a visit to China. And I was hooked, and also totally unaware of the time constraint I was falling deeper into.

I think we talked about things for at least 25-30 minutes, discussing cameras, events, what we like to photograph, differences in cultures, how I'm enjoying my stay in Germany, and so on... and then, he went into a bit of his personal history, and revealed that he is blind in one eye.

And I (clearly) still think about that almost every day. A photographer of 40+ years, who has been all over the world, but his own vision system isn't properly functional. You, sir, are an inspiration, and I hope I also find something that I can do with as much passion and perseverance as you have for photography. I remember your invitation to the Elfia festival, and although it is very unlikely I will meet you again, much like the Syrian doctor, it is also unlikely that you will be forgotten.

The guy with the headphones was doing a sit-up on every step of the Montagne de Bueren. That's 374 situps.
He was rightly cheered by applause when he got to the top.

Just when you think, you left me blind,
I will be creeping right up behind...

Another Audioslave masterpiece, if you don't know.

Notice that there is a solid rail instead of wire for the catenary system, I'm not sure why that is, and it also seems much closer to the trainset. I know Belgium also uses a different voltage system for the trains...

Deux Moi?

It's not too obvious that I like trains, is it? 

c.) Can't tell

I also got a chance to climb on top of a wind turbine, or a Windkraftanlage, as the locals call it. For some context, it was an older turbine, set up in the late 1990s, I think 1999 actually, and is not that tall when compared to modern fiber-based turbines. But it was still ~60 meters above ground, and the tower was made of ~2cm thick metal. After a safety briefing, we started the climb. Although it was not a ladder and was only a spiral staircase, that was enough to give me a little bit of vertigo, because you spiral climb the stairs for 4-8 minutes depending on your speed, and that disorients you a little. But that is not the most unexpected part.

Now, I know that the blades of the turbine are meant to flex, and the newer ones flex by unbelievably large amounts. What I did not expect was the tower base itself to swing. I mean it makes sense if you think about it, but even in mild winds, the whole assembly on the top of the tower, along with us 6 humans, was swaying and swinging almost 2 meters side to side in the air. That was disturbing, but we were told that it was well within spec.

The other thing most people don't realize is just how loud they are. Just the wind-shear noise from the blades is significant enough that you have to basically yell anything that you want to say. And remember, the whole turbine pivots on the tower, so that it best aligns with the airflow. That motor is also pretty loud, but thankfully, that motor and thus the resultant noise is more of an exception than the norm. Our guide also explained quite a lot of things to us while we were up there, and also explained the economics of the wind turbine. One thing he said that I remember is, apart from the maintenance cost of wind turbines, every single rotation of the turbine is making money for the company. If you think about it, that is crazy efficient, and you will quickly understand why solar and wind have been massively profitable and cheap.

This might give you a scale of things happening here
Unfortunately, I can't share a video of this, but again, if you ever get the chance to do something like this, DO IT.

July is here, and so is the 9 Euro ticket. So my next destination was Hamburg.

Now, if you know anything about Hamburg, it would be one of the following 3 things. Miniatur Wunderland, Elbphilharmonie, and/or the Reeperbahn. (In the order of popularity, probably)

I had already asked my neighbors (who are from the area) about places to check out when in Hamburg, and was informed that I should keep at least 3 hours for the Miniatur Wunderland.

Shrinking commenced

777, 747, A380, and probably an A350, and the furthest away is definitely my favorite, 787-9
Knuffingen airport is quite busy considering how small the town is...

No this is not the Finkelwerder factory of Airbus, Sadly.

Daytime

Nighttime

Do you see the TEE?

As you can probably guess from the photos, I ended up spending over 6 hours there. It is THAT good.

It is the largest model rail network, what else do you expect? But that's not all, the whole thing is computer controlled and monitored, and they seem to have cracked self-driving cars in Knuffingen town before Tesla, which is saying something.

Another place that words cannot do justice, so if you get the chance to visit, DO IT!

Since this is not a travel blog (yet), I will not share the whole itinerary, but Hamburg is a very nice city, with lots to see and do, and one very effective public transport, which is always a nice thing to have. But another spontaneous thing that happened was a tour of the Airbus Finkenwerder final assembly plant. For aviation engineering nerds like myself, that was also a very interesting albeit (understandably) secretive and rather short tour of how airplanes are made. The most impressive and disturbing thing that I learned was just how massively mass-produced aircraft are, especially the narrow-bodied A320s. Airbus is supposedly producing and delivering 7 A320s every week, and the backorder is so huge, that if you were to order a plane now, the delivery is in 2030! What the actual hell? Who is flying so much? And this was before Air India swooped in with the 470+ aircraft order. What was also interesting to see was all the theory of lean management and factory planning being implemented on the shop floor practically. Up until now, I was only told of its existence but had never seen it in action. And that is always nice.

There are lots more travel and pictures and drone flights that happened, but as you can see, this post has again ended up being too long. For the more curious ones, I got a chance to visit Paris again, along with Luxembourg. What a fascinating little country you are! Sadly, there was only 1 day to spare, and the weather did not support our plans, so the photos are middling, but it's okay. I'll save those for later perhaps.

What color grading can do for you

There were massive problems with the GPS lock for the drone here, probably because of the valley. This was the safest I could manage. And yeah, because of the 120m altitude limit, this was the highest I could go, because the takeoff was from the river.

Look who's living on the edge

I also did a bike trip to the highest railway bridge in Germany in Solingen, drone shots of the beautiful viaduct of the missing country of Moresnet, and general tomfoolery in and around Aachen.


In my next post, miraculously, I already know what I am going to write about. Despite Fakk Yuu's deep protest, I regrettably have to inform you that I was in fact in India again at the end of 2022 and have a 1-year update on the things observed last time on my visit. And well, if anything, India is a colorful country with colorful stories. So I hope you enjoyed the photos, enjoyed the stories, and this post wasn't a total waste of time for you. In the wise words of Richard Ayoade, often there is a tendency to reach for excellence, but a life of excellence is a boring life, and we also need comforting mediocrity. And that dear reader is why I am writing this blog, sporadically as it may seem, for almost 10 years now.

Because Mr. Ayoade also said, and I quote "consistency is key, in light entertainment", I would like to end the post here with music and movie suggestions. For the movie, I would go with the extremely famous "A Silent Voice" and I would not say anything else about the movie, so you can experience it in the purest way possible if you haven't already.

For the song, quite a lot of new music was discovered, so much so that I don't even have a good recollection of all of it. So I am kind of in a "Little Dark Age" and thus need to improve my "MGMT" skills.

Of course, Jewel of the Summertime is also a song on the 3rd album by Audioslave, which I felt was apt for this decidedly summer-themed post. Again, consistency in light entertainment.


Thank you for your time, and I will see you soon. Questions and comments are, as always, very welcome. I just request you to think a little before posting comments, otherwise, you might also become immortalized on the internet, like Fakk Yuu.