A French court has fined Google whopping US$ 660,000 for providing Google Maps for free to businesses in France, because the complainant; a French Mapping Company, Bottin Cartographes, charges a fee and thus saw Google’s free service as predatory and anti-competitive and thus filed a case against it in the French Court and won! (You can read more about it here)

While the court ruling sounds silly to say the least and majority of the people seem to be opposing or laughing at the French Court verdict, it is surprising to say the least, that when Microsoft was prosecuted by the European Union for bundling Windows Media Player and Internet Explorer in Windows, almost everyone was welcoming the move!

I know Google isn’t Microsoft, but at the end of the day, every company exists to make profit and it isn’t too far fetch of an idea to imagine Google someday actually charging for some or all of the services or at least for the premium variants of the services it provides for free right now (which it has already started doing with Email and Apps).

So if European Union verdict was right, then why isn’t the French one?

Guess it has a lot to do with the fact that Microsoft is seen as evil by quite a few techies and Google for the most part, isn’t! Add to that, people and techies alike, use Google Maps and love them because they are good and free and would want them to remain that way.

In any case, I really do hope that such stupid verdicts (dependent upon perception of what might happen in future) being delivered by the so called anti-completive Courts are not only frowned upon by the society at large (irrespective of whom it is delivered against), but also struck down in due course of time to ensure that end users can take benefit of free services and at the same time, force the companies who wish to charge for their services, to actually think outside the box and innovate to justify their often hefty price tag!

Ever since I came back from my winter trip to Ladakh, I have been trying to print some of the photographs at home (to send them back to our driver), using my Canon MP 287 Printer.

It is an inkjet printer and not really all the economical either, however the last thing I want to do is take some of my best photographs in high resolution, that too without any copyright marks and hand it over to some stranger at the local photo lab or an online one (call me paranoid, but with so many rampant copyright violations, I am just not willing to take this chance).

Biggest problem with printing at home is that you are never sure how the colors and sharpness would turn out, especially in case of RAW photographs and an uncalibrated monitor (haven’t been able to get it right by manually calibrating it, hence have left it as it is for the time being).

Thankfully, out of the several photographs I have printed in past few days, only one has turned out bad and only one which wasn’t sharp enough and that was before I got working on the below workflow, which has not only made printing at home easier for me, but also gotten my quite decent results.

So at this moment, this is what my printing workflow looks like:

1. Adjust the color temperature, exposure, picture style (standard looks great) and remove CA and color blur using Canon’s Digital Photo Professional Software and then export the processed RAW image as 16bit TIFF to Photoshop.
2. Adjust levels and curves (usually only slight correction is needed).
3. Resample the photograph to 6”x4” using the image size tool with pixel density set to 300 per inch.
4. Sharpen the photograph with USM with the following settings; 0.7 radius, 300% strength and 1 threshold.
5. Convert the image to 8bit and CMYK color profile.
6. Export as JPEG with maximum quality.
7. Open the processed image in Canon’s Easy PhotoPrint EX software and print a border less photo with high quality and image enhancement feature turned on, on a HP Glossy 6”x4” Photo Paper.

While I am sure professionals would likely do a slightly better job, this way I am not only in total control of the output and learning how to process for print, I can also be sure that my photographs aren’t going to turn up in some table top calendar, without my permission!

Hunt is on to find BCMTouring’s Travelogue of the Year 2011 and with several hundred new travelogues added last year by fellow BCMTians, it is no easy task!

It is also the time when best of the best come to the fore and members as well as the moderation team gets to see some of the really jaw dropping, hair raising and enchanting travelogues, which we might have otherwise missed. That is one of the reason, I eagerly await each year for January to arrive and for the hunt to begin.

Of course this year (like always) we have gone ahead and tweaked the rules a bit. Well, actually we have completely flipped the rules upside down and come up with a new format to lessen the pain and tension for the members and raise it several times for the moderation team, who would now be forced to pick 10 travelogues as best of the category/region, which is going to be no easy task, especially due to the love and passion with which BCMTians share their experiences, which not only reflects in the writing itself, but also in the photographs.

So come be a part of the hunt, and let us know, which travelogues took your breath away by participating in the Nomination Round of BCMTouring’s Travelogue of the Year 2011.

Bajaj Auto today unveiled the Pulsar 200NS (Naked Sports) at Mumbai. For those who do not remember, Bajaj Auto in 2009 had phased out Pulsar 200, making it the first Pulsar to be phased out.

However, they have turn a full circle now, and relaunched it in a new avatar with a 200cc liquid cooled engine with 4 valves, 3 spark plugs, monoshocks and an underbelly exhaust, like the KTM 200 Duke.

While the 2012 Pulsar 200NS produces more power than the current Pulsar 220DTSi (23.52bhp vs. 21.04bhp) and is 5kg lighter as well, it loses out on an important features that people like me loved in the original Pulsar 200; good range in a tankful of fuel, due to the decently large 15 liter petrol tank and good fuel economy.

Add to that, the underbelly exhaust would probably make crossing deep nallahs and rivers a little more difficult than earlier and the fact that the new headlight is as dim as the one on the original Pulsar 200DTSi and isn’t going to be able to rival the 55w projectors on the current Pulsar 220DTSi (which I love).

But then again, if you are a city slicker or someone who only indulges in short rides/trips, then these things aren’t all that important and the new Pulsar 200NS represent a good value for money option (although the price hasn’t yet been disclosed, I suspect it is going to be somewhere around 80k ex-showroom).

Overall it is nice to Bajaj Auto not yielding to the temptation and developing its own 200cc engine, rather than copying the engine design of the 200 Duke and trying to undercut it’s sales!

2012 Bajaj Pulsar 200NS Technical Specifications:

Engine Type: SOHC 4 valve Liquid Cooled
Combustion system: Triple spark plug
Ignition system: Independent spark control through ECU
Crankshaft Type: Integral
Max Power: 23.52 PS @ 9500
Max Torque: 18.3 Nm @ 8000
Bore: 72 mm
Stroke: 49 mm
Displacement: 199.5 cc
Fuel system: Carburettor, UCD 33
Air filter: Paper element
Exhaust system: Exhaust TEC enhanced centrally mounted
Frame Type: Pressed steel Perimeter Frame
Wheel Base: 1363 mm
Length x height x width: 2017 mm x 1195 mm x 804 mm
Seat height: 805 mm
Ground Clearance: 167 mm
Vehicle Kerb weight: 145 kg
Fuel Tank capacity: 12 L
Front suspension: Telescopic Front Fork with Antifriction Bush Dia 37
Rear Suspension: Nitrox Mono Shock Absorber with piggy back gas canister
Front Brake: Petal Disc with floating caliper 280 mm
Rear Brake: Petal Disc with floating caliper 230 mm
Front tyre: 100/80 – 17, 52 P, Tubeless
Rear tyre: 130/70 – 17, 61 P, Tubeless
Front Rim: 10 spoke 2.5 x 17, Alloy
Rear Rim: 10 Spoke, 3.5 x 17, Alloy
Max Speed: 136 Kmph
Acceleration: 0-60 kmph 3.61 sec, 0-100 kmph 9.83 sec
Braking Distance: Both brakes (60 – 0 Kmph) 16.33metres
Electrical System: DC Ignition
Battery: 12V 8AH VRLA
Head Lamp: HS1 35/35W
Tail/Stop Lamp: 0.3/3 W, LED

It has become almost a daily occurrence that I am seeing rumors about the impending launch of the Canon 5D Mark III and varying specification lists are coming to the foray, with the latest hinting at a 22 megapixel sensor and 7.5fps burst rate.

While I have no idea, how much of this is true, however since I am planning and hoping to add Canon 5D Mark III to my kit sooner or later, I do hope Canon gives the 5D Mark III the following updates to make it a much better option than 5D Mark II, at least for me!

Here is my Canon 5D Mark III wish list:

• Better dynamic range.
• More usable ISO range.
• 7D’s focusing system or something better i.e. 19 Cross Type AF points with better and faster AF during Liveview and Video.
• 5fps burst rate while shooting RAW with a buffer good enough for at least 20 RAW images.
• 100% Optical View Finder Coverage with 1x magnification.
• Bigger and higher resolution LCD screen.
• Dual memory card slots, with preferably 1 CF Slot and 1 SDHC slot and with ability to use the secondary card for backing up images in JPEG.
• Radio Transmitter for controlling flashes (not that high in priority list).

Of course it is anybody’s’ guess, what Canon will decide to include in the 5D Mark III and what it decides to leave out, in order to make the 7D replacement and 1Dx looking as delicious as they look at the moment in comparison to Canon 5D Mark II.