I’m 32 today. Remarkably, I still feel like I’m 25, and that’s a good thing. Even though I’m a slug and I don’t excercise at all, my body is holding up well, and more importantly I feel like I’m ten years younger.
Today is another research day; I’m immersing myself in the world of underwater photography, hoping that I can learn as much as possible before they throw me off the boat into the water. For those that are interested, I found a few good sites and a few forums for underwater photography enthusiasts.
Present. Oh, and I also ordered a Canon G3 from buy.com this afternoon, with a 256MB card, for a total just over $680. Not bad, considering local stores list them for $700. There’s still other things I need to pick up for this before I go diving:
- One or two extra batteries
- Straps for attaching the unit to my BC
- An extra PCMCIA adapter for SmartMedia
- Possibly new foam inserts for the Pelican to fit all this stuff
I’ve given up on the solar recharger for the PowerBook; it just is too expensive and bulky. Especially considering I’ll be lugging two Pelicans thru the airport—one for the housing/flash units and one for my laptop and camera.
cayuga lake, 3.16
Jen sent me this link to a story on Shane McGowan, the toothy, drunken ex-frontman for the Pogues. It’s funny, I didn’t think he was still alive, but aparently this woman made a documentary about the band which will air on TV. God bless, Shane.
Continuing to do work on the camera front, I’ve narrowed the search down to the Canon model, and made recommendations to the company for the accessories. I’ve also been doing work researching solar recharging and power options for laptops, thinking that I may be visiting more than one overseas destination. There are several premade solutions, and they all hover around the $200 mark for panels, charge converter, inverter, and DC meter. There are also several sites which offer tips on building your own solution, which to me is a little riskier.
I also added a set of pictures from the weekend in the sidebar at left.
Jen, her bosses and I all went to the Baltimore Addy awards on Saturday night; despite a great showing, Jen’s piece did not win. Bastards. I do have pictures, and I will post them tomorrow when I can get the PCMCIA carrier for the memory card. After leaving the award show in disgust, we met up with Jason and Shelly and proceeded to get pleasantly squiffed at a few different places downtown. It’s always great to get out with those two. This morning, however, we paid for it dearly…
We did get out of the house after noon, however, and walked to Fell’s Point to get to Bonaparte’s cafe, which serves traditional French (not freedom) pastries and breads, as well as great coffee. Sipping our decaf—this was recovery, remember—we relaxed and watched the folks walk past the water in the sunshine. I stopped in to the Sound Garden and picked up the new release by Massive Attack, and we walked home through the cool breeze to nap on the back bed with the cats.
All this crap about “freedom fries” and banning French wine is pretty stupid, and that’s just a basic fact. But this story has me really annoyed at the current political grandstanding by Congress and other legislators who should have a clue. Digging up war graves to make a point does nothing but diminish the sacrifice these brave men made. Bringing them home to spite a country who, for right or for wrong, is speaking their mind, is assinine and short-sighted. These men were sent to liberate a country under the rule of a dictator. They were buried on its soil to commemorate their loss and pay tribute to their heroism. They should not be disinterred to make a political point.
Report. I went to Best Buy and laid hands on the Nikon 5000 and Canon G3, and the results are mixed. Here’s a basic rundown of the featuresets and the pros & cons:
| Feature | Nikon Coolpix 5000 | Canon G3 |
|---|---|---|
| Megapixel | 5 MP | 4 MP |
| Interface | serviceable | better |
| macro | 2-20 CM | 5-50 CM |
| Lens/Zoom | 3x Optical, 4x Digital | 4X Optical, 3.6 Digital |
| RAW Support? | No | Yes |
| Custom shoot modes? | 3 – thru Menu | 2 – on Dial |
| Movies | 60 seconds Quicktime | 3-minute 320×240, audio |
| ISO Settings | 100-800 | 50-400 |
| Price | $800 | $600 |
I loved the feel of the Nikon, and compared to the 4500, its menu operation was much more intuitive. The controls were easily found, the layout felt good, and is a solid camera. The Canon is much easier to figure out from an interface and layout standpoint (I went back to the 4500 to play with it this morning, thinking it was just my ineptitude, but damn, that thing is hard to figure out without the manual) but it feels less solid—more like a plastic toy. The Nikon had more of a standard SLR feel to it. I know that feel is not as important as the feature set, but for me it goes a long way.
Even so, for the things I’m going to be doing with it, I think the Canon is the way to go. The fact that it can write RAW files, the simplicity of the interface, and the layout of the camera are all strong bullet points in its favor, vs. the feel, picture size, and macro abilities of the Nikon. Plus, it’s several hundred dollars less than the Nikon.
Which is more disturbing—this music video, or the fact that Crispin Glover is still getting work in Hollywood? (via Todd)
Over time, I’ve noticed that the screen on my Pismo has gotten looser, to the point where there’s about 1/2″ of play at the top of the case. I did some reading online to find some fixes for the problem, and it appears that other folks with older machines have had the problem before me. There are some links to parts dealers, but it looks like the issue will be at least a $180 problem to fix (est. pricing on left and right clutch assemblies.)
Let us all hope this is the end of our nightly timeshare and telco sales pitches.
Geek Update. My attempt to get the AppleTalk printer working is successful. I hooked up the 8500 and re-connected the cabling (AppleTalk -> DaynaPrint -> AAUI transceiver -> RJ45) and magically, the printer appeared in the Chooser. Now I just have to bring it to Jen’s house and set up her laptop.
Anybody remember this show? For some reason this popped in my head this morning.
Album of the Day: I’m between the Pogues’ Peace and Love and Rum, Sodomy, and the Lash. Ah, this brings me back. (one of the many things that originally drew me to Jen was the fact that she had a lovingly worn, paper-thin Pogues Peace and Love concert shirt.)
Hint. I got prescription lenses put in my diving goggles today. Besides a slight pull to the left eye (a mild astigmatism), they are like looking through my glasses. I can’t wait to try them out underwater. Also in the works is a plan to get an Ikelite housing for one of the digital cameras—either the company’s Nikon or a (possible) Canon G3.
So the company bought a digital camera on my advice. It’s a really nice camera—a Nikon Coolpix 4500, and it has all the features you’d want in a camera if you were interested in doing more than snapping shots of your dog. The problem is, it has so many features, you have to be a computer scientist to figure out the menu system. (it took me a while to figure out how to get out of the idiot mode into the program mode, and only then could I edit the menus to change the ISO and other settings, which left me taking pictures that looked like blurry snow.) Ordinarily, I’m pretty adept at figuring out interfaces (okay, not quite that adept) but this one is just cryptic, man. So I go into the box and find the manual, and it starts talking about “Conozca la Coolpix 4500”, and continues from there. To their credit, I got a Nikon lady on the phone and within minutes she ordered an English manual for me, but based on some of the C|Net reviews, I’m now seriously considering a Canon G3 instead.
Nate just bought himself a Canon S230, and in a few minutes I understood the interface and enjoyed the pictures it took, so Canon has won points for usability. Plus, it’s about the size of a carton of cigarettes. I’m going to wait for the user’s manual to show up for the Nikon, and go lay hands on a G3 and then report back as to what my thoughts are.
Okay, i don’t have $400 just laying around, and the security is a joke, but this offering from Martian Technology is strangely appealing.
I found this hilarious link this morning on the SXSW site in the humor/satire section: Behind the Typeface.
Have you ever seen a pile of text somewhere and couldn’t identify the font? Do you look at signage, TV commercials or cereal boxes and consider how you would have designed it differently? You should try identifont. It’s a stepped-question site which attempts to identify a font based on a series of questions about the letterforms you can see. (e.g. “Does the G have a downward-pointing spur?”)If you don’t remember what some of the letterforms are, it allows for that, but it might take you longer to find your font. Its companion site, fontscape, has organized faces into categories so that you can easily find a particular look, and provides links to the font houses that sell them.
Craptacular. Jen sent this link in reply to my bitching about the Addy information yesterday. You might as well not even go there, because it sucks.
peter's inn, 3.8
We had a good weekend. Freelance work is out the door, we did some volunteer work for the AIGA, and bought some nice clothes for Jen. And ate lots of sushi. She also takes over the digital camera this week in hopes that it will spark a little creative energy. I have to dig out the cables and manual for her tomorrow morning.
You may need to register to read this (it’s free) but I think it’s right on the mark. I still remain unconvinced that war is the only option, and frankly, I’m embarrassed by our current foreign policy.
Also, seen downtown, Saturday morning: a plane towing a sign that read: THOU SHALT NOT KILL. —GOD
Keep your fingers crossed for Jen; she has a piece selected as a finalist for the Baltimore Addys this year. She’s listed as designer, copywriter and illustrator, and the piece is a contender. I just hope that this year is not a repeat of last year. One of the things that annoys me though is that there’s no site I can find with a listing of any of the finalists, an event schedule, or even an invite online. Nice going, guys.
john w. brown, canton waterfront, 3.4
Today Slashdot provided a link to an article by Robert L. Park, who wrote a book on voodoo science. The article discusses “seven warning signs of bogus science“, and it remarkably has many connotations outside its intended realm. (I have not read the book, but provide a link for your information.)
Also from Slashdot, this excellent summary of the Internet. I found this point interesting, until I read the explanation: 4. Adding value to the Internet lowers its value. Stop and think about it for a minute, then read the explanation. It does make sense.
From the ever-knowledgable Macintouch, this article on printing from PCs to Apple printers contains a ton of good information.