My luck with Canon Digital Cameras has been less than stellar recently, I would say.

Last time – not all that long ago, either – it was a Canon SD870 that saw fit to severely underexpose all images when at 80% zoom or more, regardless of actual lighting conditions (like, say, outdoors on a bright sunny day). This time it’s at least not a software problem, but a mechanical problem: the lens seems to be “stuck shut.” When I try to turn it on, the lens tries to extend out, and fails.

I say “at least” in reference to the hardware failure because that’s easier to troubleshoot; the software failure leaves the “techs” on the other end to question whether you are ‘doing it right,’ with ‘it’ ranging from “turning on the power” to “do you even know what the hell a camera is?” Yes I do, dumbass, probably better with them than you. But I digress. This makes it a simple “oh ok well the mechanism appears to be broken, please send in for warranty repair.” OK I can do that.

What’s really weird about it is that I had the camera out, took some pics, put it away and walked around for a bit, maybe a whole 2 minutes, before a chance for a ‘Miles Movie’ presented itself and I pulled it back out. I am not sure if I by chance had anything to do with its demise, as I pulled it out and hit the on button, then was holding the zoom function down as it was starting up. Could that have confused it or jammed the mechanical mechanism? I don’t think so, but maybe if two gears are fighting to go different directions when they shouldn’t be…

Anyway, a call is to be placed on Monday. Wish me luck.



Tomorrow’s Workout: A marathon affair
It’s going to be some 3 hours. Really. See I had planned to do my shoulders today and my biceps & triceps tomorrow with a day off on Sunday, but I’m so sore today from my chest & back workout yesterday, that the whole shoulder thing was not close to a possibility this evening. Clearly. I could not even feint the appearance of a full range of motion today.

One option was to move everything back a day, but that binds other things from Sunday on forward, and moving them back further means more than two days for some stuff, making my workout routine far too spaced for my liking. So the other option was to combine things that I could get away with, and just lengthen the hell out of the schedule. I opted for this as tomorrow I have nothing going on after work, save for dinner @ The Girl’s work, so even though I never ever do it, I’m going to go the marathon workout route.

I expect it will run anywhere from 2-½ hours to 3 hours long. Wish me luck.

Luckily I have the next day off, for my workouts anyway. Still gotta get up and go to work though, so it’s not like it’ll be a cakewalk of a day still. And I wanted to take the dogs out when I got home too, so we’ll see how it goes.

Peace.

Tags: Gym, Technology

Yesterday our trust iPod Nano died. It was a first-generation model, white, with a custom inscription. We mourn the loss. Mostly me though.

I was working a few nights ago, but I noticed on the way home the battery was running low, so I took it in to charge it. Yesterday I grabbed it on the way out the door, and sadly I noticed that it would not respond to any button commands. I tried to recharge it. I tried to reload the software. No dice. It does not want to recognize any button presses.

Sucky. Because my antenna is and has always been busted on the 4Runner, so the signal I get is lousy at best. That and even if it did magically get decent signal, there’s not much in the way of radio worth hollering about around here.

Sigh. May finally be time to look into a new iPod. Sad.



Clinton Wins Penn
I really wish that people would wise up. What are you voting for? Did you decide who to vote for based on looks? Did someone talk a good game?

No I’m not saying that Obama is a bad contender. I’m actually more referring to the fact that recently it was polled as such to reveal that McCain is about even in the race to the White House with the Democratic candidates.

Seriously America, where have you been the last eight years? Been around long? Not sure if you noticed, but nothing good has come from our “war” in Iraq. Al Queda is now a presence where it was not prior, and gas? Oh yeah, while our servicemen die, our prices for gas go to $4 a gallon. Nice.

I need to convince the area I call home to secede. We could be our own country. Or maybe convince us and everyone in between to just join Canada. I would not be opposed.

Peace.

Tags: Politics, hate

What’s most suitable for the average user? Should you opt for the desktop or the laptop equivalent? The difficult part is deciding what is an equivalent for your needs. This is a case for Apple’s machines because they don’t have actual equivalents. Their bottom-tier desktops – the Mini – is not the equivalent of the MacBook, their bottom-tier laptops, at least not in whole. Their top of the line Mini is probably close to their bottom-rung MacBook though, and from the MacBook it’s quite a jump to the next most powerful machine, the iMac, Apple’s flagship consumer desktop machine. From there it jumps to the iMac lineup, and then you have on the laptop side you go to the MacBook Pros, which then leads back to the desktop side, with Apple’s pro-grade Mac Pro machines – towers not built for the average joe, but rather for video editing houses & big-production businesses.

There’s lots of blur about what’s “equivalent” and what’s not. If you’re looking at a Mini you’d probably also take a gander at the MacBook as an alternative, but then again if you were looking at the low-end iMac you might also look at the MacBook too. And if you were looking at a top-level iMac you might eye the MacBook Pro models, so it all really depends on your pocketbook and what your preferences are. But we’re not going to weigh the individual machines here, we’re just going to sort of gloss over some basic fundamentals of what type of machine may be more suitable to the average user. And although it’s framed around Macs, the basic idea of “laptop or desktop” applies equally well if you’re on Windows, though really you shouldn’t be, get with the times people :-)

Anyway. There’s going to be tradeoffs. Some of them are going to be easily spotted on the specs page comparisons, others are not, and you have to be careful to weigh all of them. To start, yes desktops will always be faster & roomier. This is a “well duh” sort of idea, as it stands to reason that with more internal room in the case, there’s more room for higher-powered hardware – faster CPU’s & GPU’s, and more spacious, larger Hard Drives. This comes at a cost mind you, as typically these also require more power consumption. So even though you may pay less for the desktop with a slightly faster CPU rating, you’re going to be paying more with every hour that goes by, as it sucks down more power to fuel that machine.

The spec page comparisons are easy to see; you can see technically what you’re going to get for your money. Laptop A is going to give you 2.4ghz, Desktop B gives you 2.6ghz, etc. You can see that. But what about the stuff not on the sheet? How valuable is it to be able to use a “computer” away from a desk? I have been laptop-only for 4 years now; I know what a desk looks like because I pile things on it to file later. That’s it. It’s one of those things that you don’t realize how valuable it is until you try it for a couple of weeks then try to go without it again. It’s nice to sit comfortably and do my work (or whatever you call it anymore). It’s nice to be able to take my computer with me and work while I eat at a café somewhere. Or how nice it is to be able to sit outside in the shade and get my work done, not confined to a single space when something needs to be done.


It’s very liberating, actually. You don’t realize how useful a computer can be, or even how well you can integrate its usefulness into other areas of your life until you have the ability to take it with you everywhere. Mobile address book. Mobile internet access (and thus mobile shop ‘n compare!). Mobile typewriter. Mobile data store. That information that’s sitting there somewhere in your documents folder that you need right now? With a laptop, it can be at your fingertips no matter where you go. And it doesn’t stop there, either. I use mine as a remote control for my music. My computer stores all my music and it plays through my stereo system wirelessly. So when I want to change a song, I reach over and change the song. Washing dishes? Not a problem, just reach over and hit “next.” Hell you may not want to read this, but I can type up or research what it is I am curious about while on the john (the lower-case, figurative john. You get it, right? Oh come on. It’s a toilet folks).

You do give up some power, and usually some screen size too. Not only that, but typically you give up some hard drive space as well. You lose on the spec sheet war. But the thing is, especially with today’s advanced computers & internals, how much does that really impact you? Most of us – including me anymore – do not do much more than mail, documents, pictures, and watching videos. Oh and the internet thing, too. That does not require a fast processor, nor a gaming-centric GPU. Of course if you are a gamer, then of course you need to look at what specifically will support your habit – er, addiction – er, uh, hobby, but those that require the top of the line rarely realize that they’re not the norm, they are the fringe.

I can say that because I have been the fringe, I have needed the higher-powered machines in the past, and I have also seen the improvements technology has made in a short time, seen it erase the needs for higher-powered machines, and also been victim of the desire to have better than I need.

I used to shoot RAW images until not so long ago. It was fun, and it required better programs and hardware than the typical consumer-level stuff. I shopped around when it was time to get new hardware as mine was aging and showing it, and I made the mistake of thinking that I would again need “Higher-level” equipment. This of course would cost me, but I was shooting RAW, dammit! Anyway, my significant other got a consumer machine for herself – a MacBook – as she did not have the same needs I did. Well I played with hers since it was there, and it turned out that today’s bottom-end was more than enough to run the higher-end needs of just a year ago. So take it from me, unless you’re doing serious video editing (think Pixar) or messing around with 14 megapixel images in Photoshop, or manipulating Gene decoding in a Harvard Medical Lab somewhere, don’t fool yourself into thinking you need the 800lb gorilla.

Weigh your options. Think about how much space you need on the machine. Think about how much a desktop weighs you down, in the sense that the seat you select for your desk is the one your butt will be planted in whenever you need to compute. Think about that especially hard, as that’s the biggest of the specs not listed on a sheet.

It would be my recommendation that for most people, a laptop is more than powerful enough. And though you give up some “power,” it’s like getting the Accord instead of the Mustang – yeah it’s less powerful, but if you’re only doing 55mph, will you even notice the power you give up? Probably not. The hard drive can be upgraded easily – most times before you order it – meaning that you can more than likely get room to grow for many years out of it, if not just a plain excess of space! Though you give up some spec sheet stuff, you gain all the intangibles that a desktop unit cannot grant. Mobility. Lower power consumption. Accessibility (tied to mobility). Convenience. Couple this with the fact that price differentiation between the two has fallen; it used to be that a laptop was two to three times more than a “comparable” desktop machine, especially in the windows world, and they were also far less reliable. However the growing pains of the mobile computing revolution seem to have settled; most come with multi-year warranties, and pricing has fallen as such to be close to in-line with desktop machines. Yes you give up a little, but remember all you stand to gain.

I say this as I post from a laptop of my own, of course. Maybe I’m biased? Hey, maybe it means something that I have done it, and chosen to do it not just once, but twice, with my own money. It might mean something.

Peace.

Tags: Technology

So a few nights ago we went to the symphony. They did Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake (remember I had said that it was Mozart; I was wrong – that’s next month). It was very pretty.

I have lots of classical music in my collection. But nothing can really compare to the depth, the power of the live orchestra. It’s magical. The music is alive, you feel it and it’s a wonderful experience, it really is. Tonight was the first that I have ever been to see an orchestra live. I liked it. I liked it a lot. I – I think we may make this “Our Thing,” as it were. It’s just too bad that they’re off the charts after next month. I think the “season” opens up again in October. Nice. Hopefully in time for my birthday. Buy me a present, btw.



Dairy farming: Organic vs “Conventional”
I was reading some “Did You Know” facts about a local dairy co-op while on lunch @ work the other day. They were saying that 19 of their members were “conventional” dairy farmers and 24 were Organic. And it got me thinking. It’s a simple question, and it’s a simple answer.

What is “Conventional?” And what is “Organic?” Conventional is by definition what is done ‘normally.’ Organic is taken to mean that the product is raised/groomed/created without the use of synthetic chemicals. Up until sometime around the middle of the last century, there were not many synthetic chemicals to bother mentioning. And it seemed to me, isn’t ‘Organic’ actually ‘Conventional?’

I mean, that’s the way it’s typically done, in nature for sure, and also around most of the globe and throughout history. Conventional is Organic. At least it should be. I am not sure why it’s perverted now, though.

They should rename ‘Conventional’ to more accurately describe what it is: “Hormone- & Unnatural Antibiotic-infested farming.” Or they could just shorten it to “Unnatural Farming.” I’d be OK with that too.

Seriously though, think about that next time you hear the word ‘Conventional.’ It sounds very low-key, very tame, something that you could take for granted. But really think about what it’s being applied to. It seems to me that just like “No Child Left Behind” was a victory of title over substance, they are using language to quell any fears that what they’re really doing might arouse. No one wants to buy milk that comes from “Hormone- & Unnatural Antibiotic-infested farming,” or even “Unnatural Farming.” But hey, Milk from “Conventional” farming methods? That doesn’t sound so bad!

Yeah. I’m all-organic, baby. And proud. And healthy. Thanks, I’ll pass on the “Conventional.”

Peace.

Tags: Politics, earth conditions

I said earlier that I wasn’t going to get to play with my new weed wacker until tomorrow. But I lied.

Around 3pm or so the rain cleared and never came back. So I changed my schedule around to accommodate a workout that was unplanned (did chest & back yesterday; usually too sore to do shoulders the following day), and in between sets I managed to get in some wacking of weeds. Yes, now the back and front yards are completely edged, and everything’s looking just that much better! Yay.



Organic Chicken: it haz a flavur
You know those jokes, everything tastes like chicken, chicken tastes like everything, everything tastes like nothing…? Well if you’d never eaten fresh, organic, free-range chicken, you might agree with this. God knows we (me and The Girl) did. She so much as disliked chicken before.

But now? Now it’s a staple. We don’t even marinate it. Just throw it on the grill, baste it, and serve. It’s that good. Its has an actual taste, so once you get below the top layer that actually absorbed the baste, it still tastes wonderful.

Really. You should try it. Remember, though: Organic, free-range. Those are important. They will make all the difference. Trust me. Trust the ‘bob.

Peace.


PostScript: The “it haz a flavur" is slang from “teh intarwebs,” in reference to “lolcats.” just in case you were wondering. You weren’t but I thought I’d share.

Tags: Gym

Problem was, it was hard/difficult/impossible to edge any area that (a)the grass was lower than the sidewalk, so nothing “laid over” it to cut, or (b)there was no sidewalk to walk it along. I did the scissors/shears thing for a while, but as I recently hoed the back to give it a break betwixt grass & fence, I had much, much more area that fell into category (b).

I haven’t tried to yet. It’s raining. But I’m so happy already. I play tomorrow.



Movie for the night: Michael Clayton
I keep getting lucky with my Netflix Queue. Last week I got pushed ahead to see No Country for Old Men, which was a ‘Long Wait.’ This week, I get Michael Clayton, another well-received flick that was listed as a ‘Wait’ title.

Well at least I hope I’m getting lucky. I mean, I didn’t particularly care for No Country, so I’m trying to lower my expectations for Clooney’s outing here.



Edit:
Actually I should say that I did not break down and buy a week wacker; rather, I sent The Girl out to to get me one. So I caved and she bought. That’s more correct.



Edit:
Someone on the web pointed out to me a typo on my Miles Bio page yesterday. I was missing a period (oh no I’m late!) at the end of the first paragraph. I thanked this person, and they requested that I give them proper credit. So here it goes:

The random bob, a.r.c. Miles Bio Page Proofread & edited by Action Jaxan, WEE (Web Editor Extraordinaire). Real name redacted to protect the innocent.

Personally I just like having made up the 'WEE.' Makes me laugh every time. I imagine a wee little tyke going down a slide. WEE… How fun.

Oh and I also took the time to add some more pics, since I was there fixing typos. Added some to the Family Album, as well!

Peace.

Tags: Entertainment, Technology

They’s a-crumblin’, folks, don’t know if you’ve read the news on the matter or not. But if you’re being swayed by folks saying that now is the time to buy, you better just shut those ears of yours down.

Oh no, this is a major correction we’re in the midst of, people. This ain’t no 1-2 month slide before it rises again, this is going to take the better part of years to get back to normal. In under 10 years, the housing market rose some 400%, while median wage rates remained almost flat. It was unsustainable, and if you put your money in now, you’re really just throwing it away.

Why do these people say that it’s going to bounce back? They’re trying to think positive thoughts, that’s what’s up. They’re losing their shirts in the market, they bought in hook-line-and-sinker, and of course, misery loves company. You don’t want to be that company.



Smart money move?
Rent for now. Find a decent place that you can afford and live out of for the next 3-4 years, maybe even 5-6 (yes, years). Yes, it will take that long. You don’t lose 75% of the current cost overnight; people want to believe their homes are still worth close to what they paid, so houses on the market will go gradually down the price slope, trust me on this.

Hey, I was right about Iraq, right? Right? Trust me on this.



Gross but I’ll tell you anyway
The dogs have worms. Eww. Yes, it’s eww. Sorry you had to experience it vicariously through me like that, but don’t worry, I’m going to try and get them taken care of today. And if not today, then definitely tomorrow.

But probably today. Because that’s just ewww.

Tags: Animals

First is its keyword structure. In iPhoto, each keyword is its own keyword and its own keyword only, whereas with Aperture, there’s a Hierarchy. So for illustration, say you have a Keyword called Redwoods. Redwoods are trees of course, and suppose you also have Trees as a keyword. So you put Redwoods under Trees, but Trees is already under Nature, which is itself under Outdoors. What this means is, when you apply the Keyword Redwoods to that shot you got of The General Sherman during your Summer vacation, that photo automatically inherits all the keywords above Redwoods. Make sense? See, this way when you go and search for Outdoors (or Nature or Trees for that matter), the shot of that magnificent General Sherman will pop up, even though you didn’t apply that keyword directly to that photo; since it was a Parent in the hierarchy of the keyword you did use (Redwoods), it’s applied automatically, or assumed.

Second, is the fact that I still do tend to tweak my photos. Yeah it’s not as much as when I was shooting RAW, but since this camera shoots a little more “full-frame,” instead of a more widescreen format, I find I like to spend some time cropping some pics here & there to add a little more ambiance to them. In iPhoto, when you edit a picture, the program keeps the original, but then creates a copy of the picture with the edits you made. This means, if you change the brightness of a picture, now you have two almost identical files, with two almost identical File Sizes, essentially doubling its drain on your Hard Drive space (if the original was 2MB, you make an edit and now you are taking up 4MB for the edited & original files).

Aperture doesn’t do this, it instead displays onscreen what the commands you input for edits will produce. In this way, the original file is kept, but no ‘duplicate’ is made, rather just the instructions for creating it, which take up far, far less room (orders of magnitude less).

So yes, iPhoto is more friendly by a smidgeon than Aperture (especially 1.5, the original version that I own), but it would also lead me to expanded disk usage, and I’d also have to be much more Johnny-on-the-spot with my keywording. Hey, maybe the next iteration of iPhoto will inherit the “non-destructive” editing of Aperture and the keyword hierarchy too, but until then I think I’ll be sticking with Aperture.

Peace.

Tags: Technology

You know, those beasts I paid nearly $200 for? Yeah, those, they showed up yesterday.



So of course, I just had to wash the 4Runner
The mighty 4Runner did get a bath today. It needed it. The last time it had been bathed was in August of last year. Was it dirty? Yeah. It wasn’t like it was mud-covered though, just all-around grimy.

And I decided that at least once a year from now on, after the rainy season, it will get a professional wash/wax/buff/detail job. Not that I can’t do it, I most definitely can.

I just don’t want to. I’d rather take a nap while my 4Runner gets prettied up for me. Then I can just sort of wash/maintain throughout the rest of the year – or at least the Summer – until the rains come back and I give up washing again.



Wasn’t that bad, though
No, it was most definitely nasty, don’t get me wrong. But it had been since August of 2007 since it was last cleaned. And in that time, I have been off-roading in it multiple times, gotten it stuck axle-deep in muddy waters, blazed trails through bug country, seen nightly frosts & freezes, and not once so much as hosed off.

Thank goodness for that clean rain we get, otherwise I don’t think I’d be able to see through the windshield.



Yeah but how do you like the mats?
I was getting there! Geez… They’re not bad. At first I was thinking I paid $200 for these? But they will do just fine. I had anticipated a softer, more rubber-like material that was thicker and heavier, but these are a little more rigid and light that I had expected. But, hopefully that will aid in their longevity (The Girl has the sort of rubber in the way of floor mats that I was expecting these to be made of; her floor mats are deteriorating). They’re a really good fix, and the raised lip all the way around will keep everything on top where it is, including water (looking at you, dogs).

When I first put them in, they looked sort of out of place. But I continued to clean, and within an hour they looked right as rain. I even tried to place the old carpet mats over them, thinking maybe…. Best of both worlds? Nah. Didn’t seem right, I had already grown to like the “rubber” mats more.

And hopefully it will mean I only have to clean the inside of the 4Runner for like 5 minutes at a time, once a year from now on. Instead of the 15 minute cleanings twice a year, which is my current schedule :-|

Peace.

Tags: Technology, Vehicles, Animals

A Scanner Darkly
Have you seen this film? If you have, then hey, we have something in common. If you have not, then don’t bother trying to be a random bob copy, it’s just not worth it. It’s not that it’s a bad movie, so if you find yourself trapped in a room with it on, don’t try to scratch your eyes out to avoid it or anything. But if you’re in a room that has this movie playing, and there’s a door? You’ll be best served to use it.

It wanted to be very dark and disturbing, have plot twists, et cetera, but the thing was: I guessed the basic plot twist within the first 5 minutes, and I guessed the second major plot twist almost as fast as it was introduced. And I’m not good and guessing these things, so they were obviously not very well masked. And they went about making it a lot more confusing than it really had to be. Double-crosses, regular-crosses, triple-crosses, a few bridge-crossings for good measure, all so they could make it 2 hours long instead of, say, 25 minutes.

If they’d have done this as an episode of Batman the Cartoon or something, it’d have been much more enjoyable. That’s how much material they had. C-



Oh yeah, one more thing about it.
So if you’ve seen it, you know it’s shot live-action, but then they “animated” it. I asked myself, did they have the idea to do that from the onset? Or did they decide at some later point to introduce that effect? What are your thoughts? Me & The Girl both had the idea that they probably went with it so they could make their “identity suits” work. Because I think without those as a plot device, they really had half the material (and ‘plot twists’), and they couldn’t figure out a way to get those things to look even halfway decent.



Netflix experience workin’ out OK, with hitches
So I blogged about it before, so you know we took the plunge and got Netflix and have been using it for awhile now. It’s working OK for us, since we upgraded to the 2-discs at home plan, which basically translates to “one disc at home, one in transit,” but that works out well for us so not complaining.

But we have had more than our share of issues, too. And what’s more, it was on the same disc. We wanted to put our Blu-Ray player to the test, so we put the BBC Planet Earth discs on our queue. A couple of weeks ago I had seen that Disc 1 (of a 4-disc set) was supposed to ship that day – a Thursday. Sweet, I thought, we’ll have it here on Saturday to watch! Friday rolls around and I log on to my Netflix queue and I see that now they’ve changed it to shipping on the following Monday. What. The. F*ck.

Monday rolls around and I give a call. They explain that it was discovered the disc in the nearest shipping center was damaged, sent out a courtesy disc (so I would have 3 out at a time), and gave me a 25% credit on my next bill, along with scheduling the same disc to arrive from a different location. Cool, that’s good customer service, make the situation right and take ownership of it! We’re good, and I should get the Disc 1 of the series in a day or so anyhow.

Cue this last Monday, a week later when we finally got time to sit down and watch it together. I go to pop in Disc 1, and instead of purdy moving pictures of Earth, I am greeted with this message: “Cannot play: Wrong Region Code.”

OK, so Netflix is US-only, right? How the hell did they manage to send me a disc that won’t play in a US-coded player? What gives?

C’mon, Netfix, I’m rooting for ya. Get it right, OK?

Peace.

Tags: Entertainment, Technology

Yesterday I spent the better part of $200 on floor mats for my 4Runner. Yeah, floor mats.

But these ain’t no sissy floor mats, y’all. No, I bought an entire set (front, back, cargo area) of rubber, form-fitted, lipped mats from Husky. Why? Because we take the dogs out frequently (as you may have read about a few times before) and they get wet. When this happens, they get the carpet wet. When that happens, it creates a nice, musty, mildewy smell that takes forever to go away. Oh yeah, and the mildew itself sort of sucks a bit.

The only way to avoid this is to either a) take the carpet up after each trip and let it air dry or manually dry it (2+ hours labor each time), or spend the money to essentially waterproof the damn 4Runner.

Waterproofing ftw!



Cleaning imminent
I haven’t cleaned the 4Runner in quite a while. It’s been at least 6 months now probably. So when the new mats arrive, I’ll take it as an opportunity to clean the hell out of the ‘runner. Thing is, though.

You see, it’s been so long since I cleaned it in the first place, that before I do that I have to weed it. No I’m being serious, I have to weed it. It’s got plants growing on it. Well, out of it, I guess. From the undercarriage. Yeah. No I’m totally not joking. You may recall that awhile back I ran aground and needed a tow? I took some of that fine roughage home with me as a souvenir, and it’s still “hanging out,” so to speak. I’d have figured it to fall off by now, but it’s still hanging on. And thriving I might add. Kind of a mobile garden I guess.

So maybe I did turn into white trash like I had feared.

Eh, probably not. Real white trash wouldn’t spend $200 on custom flooring solutions; they’d just take all the carpet out.



Media bias
If you are paying attention to the Obama-Clinton Race, then this may be a little bit of insight for you into the recent upswing in Obama’s campaign: SNL Debate.

Yeah I was talking about this online with another gent even before this skit came up. Don’t know why they’ve taken to him, but apparently as far as the media’s concerned, he can do no wrong.

Hilary Clinton ftw!

UPDATE:
I was informed by “Joey N.” (see below) that the SNL link is no longer active… Sadly, this is true. Sorry guys, SNL didn’t want to play.

Tags: Vehicles, Animals

Which turned out ot be alright, as that gave me time to figure out some of the features of the camera by Reading the f*ckin' Manual, what they were and how to get to them. And with camera in-hand, able to compare to The Girl’s feature-to-feature, and get an idea of what I’m paying for, really. First on the list for me?

IS. That’s Image Stabilization, if you didn’t know. My camera has a feature built-in that works to steady hand shake by spinning the optics and bending the light slightly, making pictures come out in better focus. Nice. This is a good feature, and compared to hers, taking the same picture, while hers will show the shaky image icon, mine won’t. This is good. This is worthwhile. Next on the list?

Auto-ISO Shift. This feature allows you to keep the ISO – that’s the equivalent of the film’s light sensitivity – as low as possible, and the camera will still be able to “shift” that to a higher ISO if and only if it deems it necessary to combat a too-slow shutter speed that might result in blurry images. It’s a nice feature, but honestly hers has it to an extent as well. With The Girl’s, it doesn’t automatically shift it, it warns you and then you can press a button to switch between the two modes – regular and ISO-shifted – as you see fit for the situation. Mine can do that do, but it can also be selected to just do it without having to press a button. Nice, because trying to hold the shutter button halfway down whilst reaching for another button can be a real challenge, one that results in failure often. Not so nice, because now even if you wanted to keep the ISO low for a no-noise photo, the camera’s going to basically decide that that’s not a good idea. I’m torn on this one. I mean, yeah I have the option to work it like hers anyhow, but her buttons are easier to press if I was interested, and I’m not sure that I really want to use it in auto mode, you know? This one’s debatable. Next on the list?

Wide-Angle Lens. I can get more into the picture frame from the same distance. This is sweet, right? Yes, it can be, but just how much extra goes into the frame? Well it depends on the distance of your subjects, but if it’s a crowd of people at about 10 feet, let’s say an extra two peeps on each side. Nice, but the drawback is that it cuts into the next feature’s usefulness…

Almost a full 1-point better zoom. Yes, it zooms in further than The Girl’s, but since it is starting from wider anyhow, it’s not quite all it is advertised as. Still though, it’s a wider range overall, and that’s a good thing. Next on the list?

8 Megapixels. Yeah, hers is a lowly 7.1 Megapixels, so mine’s a clear choice here. Well kinda. Honestly, both still capture more pixels than my old DSLR used to, which is sorta a sad statement, and really shows how long I held onto that thing.

But the price of admission is a good $100 more. Is it worth it? I’m not sure yet. And that could be a problem. I mean, if I am going to return it, sooner is better. But it’ll take time to really get an idea of whether I’d want to pay that price of admission for the collection of niceties that it provides me. What do you think? Honestly, I’m leaning towards keeping it since I already have it, and it is better in the ways decribed. I mean, it’s not like there’s anything missing. Save for the extra $100 in my wallet, right?

Peace.

Tags: Technology

MACBOOK AIR
No it’s not the Michael Jordan Edition with the “Air-ness” logo instead of an Apple, it’s Apple’s latest, smallest, most ultra-portable laptop ever. Ever.

For all it’s coolness, I just don’t see it. And I don’t mean that I can’t see it literally, but that I can’t see it being a worthwhile purchase. No optical drive (that means no CD’s, DVD’s, etc). Non-replaceable battery. Only an 80GB hard drive. Slower processor than what’s otherwise available. For me (and I am guessing many others), losing less than ½” in thickness and two pounds of weight over the MacBook “Normal” (is that what it’s called now?) just doesn’t compute, what with all you lose. Faster processor. Larger hard drive. Optical drive (yay DVD’s!). Plus, for the privilege of having Apple remove all the nicer stuff, they’ll let you pay them an extra $500? Seems like a sore deal all around to me.

Not to take away from its innovation, however. I mean, technically? C’mon! It’s a half-inch thin! Runs for 5 hours on a charge with wireless ON! Weighs three whole pounds! Comes equipped with software to allow you to control optical drives on other machines on the same network! It’s amazing! And I’m glad Apple released it, as it will drive innovation in everything else. We’ll see some of this tech, some of that same R&D come to other lines as well. And for that, I’m very happy.


ITUNES MOVIE RENTALS
About damn time. Too bad they’re overpriced. Look, you’re getting less than a DVD or less than an HD-DVD or BD disc if you try their HD content. Yet you’re paying about the same as you would at a video rental shop, but with more restrictions?

Let’s put this in perspective:

They are competing with Blockbuster, Netflix, and any other similar competitor. If you rent a movie one at a time from any of them, it’ll run you on average about $4-5. The new iTunes movie rentals are no different. Same cost.

On the side of convenience, iTunes wins. Hey, it’ll never be checked out when you get there, guaranteed. Compare to the rental shop, that you have to drive to in order to check and see what they have, and hope it’s not checked out once you actually get there. Netflix? Well kiss spontaneity goodbye, huh? You better have what you want picked out a week or so in advance. But of course, Netflix has no late fees, you can keep it as long as you want it, and watch it however many times you want to when it's in your possession. iTunes? Well, you have only 30 days to view it (better than the store, worse than the Netflix), but once you Do start watching it, you only have 24 hours to actually do so, then it's gone. Oops, accidentally hit Play when you didn't want to watch it until tomorrow evening? You're screwed, sorry. Oh and don't try to rent any new releases within 30 days of wide release. They won't be on iTunes until 30 days after the DVD has gone on sale. So we see that here is where iTunes excels, if you only care about a "need something right now, I don't care what" kind of night. Otherwise, it still loses to the entrenched veterans.

Content. Well, here iTunes loses. The question is how bad, and the answer depends on how much you inlcude in the argument. If we restrict it to just what material is actually viewable, then it loses quite handily, as there’s more room on disc than what they are going to send you, and you get special features, etc. But if we include everything, then it loses handily times 10. If you are still on a Standard Def TV doing DVD’s, now you only get stereo as opposed to Dolby Surround on the disc. But in reality, you're not losing as much as some... If you are in the new Millenium like me and are watching HD content, you’re limited to 720p which is inferior in quality to 1080p, what is otherwise available on Blu-Ray discs, and you don’t get the same high-quality audio options, either.

So in the end, you pay the same price, gain a debatable amount of convenience or lose a lot of convenience or both, and lose quality of content. To me, that’s the recipe for a loser. I’m sorry, but if you want me to shell out the same amount of money (oh yeah, you have to buy the Apple TV too, at the minimum of $229), you either have to up the convenience factor that I already have going, or up the quality factor I already have going, or both. You can’t charge me the same or more, then take away quality and give in return a minimal amount of convenience or none really at all. Sorry, I’ll wait out the Microwaved Burrito and opt for the slow-cooked steak on this one, guys. Especially if they’re the same cost, am I right?


Apple TV
Ah, the Apple TV. Tied closely to the aforementioned iTunes rentals, I give it a thumbs down. No DVR? What? Still? Still can’t play discs? No slot? Can’t output anything above 720p resolution? What?

Wait, what’s that? It’s the same exact Apple TV from last year, but with a new software interface? Yeah OK you lost last year, you lose again. What. The. Hell.

I want 1080p, full audio quality, I want cheaper rentals for everything and TV shows included, and DVR functionality. I want it to be a c