With the first deliveries of Apple Watch taking place towards the end of last week, it was Apple Watch weekend all over the Internet. Out of the many people who posted their initial thoughts, I particularly enjoyed Jason Snell’s take:

This is a new product. Like, a really new product. It’s not like any product I’ve used before, though it has echoes of my old Pebble and of iOS devices, of course. But my built-up skills in using iOS were no use to me when I started using the Apple Watch. This is not a tiny iPhone on my wrist. This is something new.

It might be good. It’s certainly impressive. But it’s new, and it’s going to take some time to figure out quite what it all means.

I think this is what confuses people the most about Apple Watch. We don’t yet have a way to judge it because it’s so unlike any other product before it — let alone any other Apple product.

Apple Watch will continue to confuse many people, irk quite a few, and hopefully amaze the rest. It may well be the next big thing, but it’s still too soon to tell.

Sam Apple, The New Yorker:

They Said He Would Never Convince Steve Cooper’s Sister to Go to the Prom With Him; Their Assessment Could Not Possibly Have Been More Accurate

Ouch.

Fantastic photo essay by Alan Taylor for The Atlantic:

Across China, where new developments are keeping pace with the rapidly growing economy, reports continue to surface so-called “nail houses”. These properties, standing alone amid the ruins of other buildings, belong to owners who have stood their ground and resisted demolition. Defiant property owners say the compensation being offered is too low. Some of them have remained in their homes for years as their court cases drag on and new construction continues all around them. A few homeowners have won their fights, but most have lost. Meanwhile, these nail houses have become powerful symbols of resistance against the world’s fastest-growing major economy.

It’s unreal, but this is how far people are willing to go to protect their homes.

I always feel a new Apple product isn’t officially real until I’ve seen the iFixit teardown. This is a great one.

Jordan Steele, having lots of fun shooting waterfalls:

Spring is in the air, and the world is turning green once again. Spring is also the time when many waterfalls tend to run at their fullest, so now is an ideal time for photographing waterfalls. I’ve taken advantage of some of the flow already, though a few weeks more will bring brighter and more lush vegetation surrounding these lovely natural features.

If you haven’t tried your hand at shooting waterfalls, or are looking for some help in getting the most out your waterfall photos, here are some important things to keep in mind.

There are some really useful tips in this piece about the proper use of tripods, polarizing and neutral density filters, etc. These are essential tools that can make quite a huge difference in your images, and the gorgeous examples in Jordan’s article make an excellent job of showing their real-world benefits:

Now, take a look at the result with a polarizing filter. The processing on the two images is nearly identical (I did some finer color correction on the one below, since it was the one I finalized for print). The glare on the rocks is gone, showing the texture of the stone. The glare on the water is also gone, allowing the blue color of the water to shine through as well as extra detail in the sandstone gorge bottom. The overall effect is striking.

Striking, indeed. If you enjoy shooting natural landscapes, the polarizing filter should be your best friend.

Mikael Colville-Andersen describes the Cycling Test that kids need to pass in many Danish schools:

The test has been around since 1947. It’s not mandatory but many schools choose to do it. When kids are in the 1st grade they get a week of initial cyclist “how-to” regarding rules of the road, etc. Then, in 6th grade, they rock the test like today. In my opinion, the test is great but it’s also rather symbolic. Most of these kids have been cycling in the city since they were little. Felix has rocked the cycle tracks since he was three and a half. Parents teach them the rules and, most important, give them the practice they need. By the time they get to the 6th grade, the majority have a great deal of on-asphalt experience on their bicycles. Our school chooses to make passing the test a pre-requisite for going on outings by bike when they get older.

It’s such a different story around these parts. I’d love to see my future kids grow up in a bicycle-friendly environment like Copenhagen. But even Copenhagen isn’t perfect:

You can, however, see how the Culture of Fear has influenced things even here in Denmark. In the emails leading up to the day it was stated that helmets had to be worn. I informed the teacher responsible that Felix doesn’t wear a helmet and a longer discussion ensued. It’s clear that the Danish Road Safety Council have influenced a lot of people with their wacko ideology. I was informed that the school’s traffic policy requires helmets. I looked it up - it doesn’t. They merely “urge” students to wear them. I was told he could borrow a helmet. I asked if they were washed and disinfected. They weren’t.

Then I was told it wasn’t up to the school but that I would have to talk to the Danish Road Safety Council or the police. I responded that the Road Safety Council is just an NGO and has no power and the police merely refer to the Danish traffic law which doesn’t require helmets. At the end of the day I was told I could sign a form exempting Felix from wearing a helmet. Fine. Except there is no form and Felix just did as he pleased.

The helmet debate is one of the most annoying, time-consuming “issues” in modern urban cycling, and it’s still far from being resolved.

As you may know, Chile’s Calbuco volcano erupted yesterday for the first time since 1972. This amazing time-lapse footage shows the magnitude of the eruption. Via Coudal Partners:

Interesting article. Not one word about Ilford though, which strikes me as a huge omission. As commenter Daniel Bayer points out:

No journalism piece is ever perfect but leaving out Ilford in this one is like leaving out Jupiter on a story about the solar system.

Fantastic Flickr album with many of the different updates to the Apple.com home page, from 1996 until today. So great.

Via Daring Fireball.

This Lightroom update caught me by surprise. A word of caution for subscribers of the CC version, though: I’ve seen several reports of problems when upgrading via Adobe’s Creative Cloud application. For what it’s worth, I upgraded it on my main machine without any issues whatsoever.

Being a CC subscriber myself, I didn’t give it much thought before upgrading, but owners of the standalone version of Lightroom 5 will have to check out the changes to decide whether the upgrade is worth it for them. I haven’t had much time to play with it yet, but this review by The Phoblographer covers all new features and changes in the new version. They liked it enough to give it an Editor’s Choice award, so it seems like a solid update.