Category: Tech

Cameras

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My new camera was delivered this afternoon only 45 minutes before I left work so I didn’t get a chance to charge the battery until I got home. It just finished a bit ago so I quickly configured the settings and took a few test shots.

Canon Powershot SD870 IS

I’ll post an in-depth review in about a week but here are my first impressions –

Small and light, just like I wanted.
The screen takes up much of the back of the camera, therefore I am getting fingerprints all over it! I see that I will need to buy a screen protector.
The door to the battery and SD card seems a little flimsy but then again so do they all and I’ve yet to break one (knock on wood).
Nice clear indoor shots with the image stabilization.

This baby will be going everywhere I go once I get a case for it.

And don’t hate me, but I ordered another camera today – the Canon EOS 40D. I got the kit with the 28-135mm IS lens from NewEgg for $1,130 (no tax or shipping, whee!). I’ve been tossing around the idea of upgrading for awhile now. I’m happy with my 20D but Joe isn’t happy with my old Nikon 5700 that he’s been using. Not only is it inferior to a digital SLR, the batteries – and we have several – are all shot and barely hold a charge so he’s constantly having to swap them. Instead of buying new batteries, we decided he’d get my 20D and we could pretend we’re serious photographers. I also ordered a 50mm lens so we’ll have a few to rotate between us.

I’m pretty excited because lately Joe hasn’t been too interested in going on any photo excursions and it’s not as fun if he’s standing around bored while I’m trying to get shots. He really enjoyed using my 20D last year when we were in Indianapolis so I know he’ll be more motivated with a new (to him) camera.

Now I have two cameras to sell – a Nikon 885 and a Nikon 5700. I wonder how much I can get on Craigslist for them. I might end up selling the 885 to my brother since he says my dad wants a digital camera. Otherwise he was going to buy him some suckass p.o.s. from Aldi’s. Please. Even my 7 year old camera is going to be better than that no-name junk.

Quick bites

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No time to elaborate for now, but…

I really need to book our hotel for next week’s little getaway. Yeesh, talk about procrastination!

I am hearing really good things about The Cure shows so far from not just fans but newspapers too. Apparently they are playing for a full three hours after the opening act. That is 35-40 songs. Sweeeet!

Uva-Ursi is an awesome herbal remedy for bladder infections, and I know this because unfortunately I have one. :(

Have you seen the new Bank of America ATMs? They recently bought our bank, LaSalle and upgraded the ATMs. They take your check without the envelope, scan it, display it on the screen with the amount for you to verify, and then print a small version of the check on the receipt. Talk about high-tech. Maybe they can make me some breakfast too.

FIL #15

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A day late, but that’s par for the course with me.

This is the cutest bunny I have ever seen! The more I see these little guys online, the more I think about getting one of my own. Either that or a ferret. Joe knows someone at work who has one and she said they don’t smell nearly as musky as they do in the pet store. They are cute and playful and they can live in a condo-like three-story cage when you’re not home. Perfect pet (other than a cat).

The world’s greatest elevator rides – not for those with acrophobia! The only elevator I’ve been on in this list is the one in the St. Louis Arch. I can safely say I’d be fine never going on that one again because holy crap is it claustrophobic! Plus if you need to use the bathroom once you get to the top, you’re shit out of luck (pun intended) because they don’t have one. It’s too small up there.

I am looking for an ultra-thin camera to carry around in my purse at all times and while I’d prefer a Canon, their cameras in the price range I’m shopping ($100-$200) are just too ugly and bulky. Right now I can’t decide between this Nikon or this Olympus because there aren’t enough reviews to get a good idea of their true performance. I need to compare features more. Right now I just like the idea of getting a blue camera since I’ve always owned silver or black and I also like that both cameras have image stabilization.

Robert Smith Mii

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I’m trying to create a Mii of Robert Smith and I can’t quite decide on which one I like best. Opinions from any Cure fans out there?


Robert Smith Mii #1 Robert Smith Mii #2 Robert Smith Mii #3

Oh yea, and I ended up getting this CD the other day. I couldn’t resist! I haven’t listened to it yet. Probably one night while I fall asleep. :)

My iPod really likes crapping

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It happened again! Son-of-a bitch! I actually had to listen to the god forsaken radio on the drive home from work!

So I just posted the below text in the Winamp support forums to see if anyone could help me. I’ve been searching online for hours for some answers, but I can’t seem to find anyone who is having the same exact issue as myself.

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Failed to eject iPod, then songs disappear

Sorry if this is long, but I wanted to provide as much detail as possible.

First a little background: I have an 80GB iPod Classic. I use iTunes at home on a Windows Vista machine to load my music onto my iPod. I manually manage my music and I have disk use enabled. At work my computer runs Windows XP and I use Winamp to listen to my iPod.

All had been working fine with this setup until this week. Now for whatever reason when I try to eject my iPod through Winamp, it says “Failed to eject iPod, is something else using it?” Nothing else is using it. The disk use option is enabled but I don’t have any directories from the iPod open, or any programs running that would have accessed the iPod, except Winamp.

At this point I close Winamp and choose safely remove hardware to eject the iPod. Once the iPod returns to the regular menu (on the device itself), it shows I have no music or podcasts anymore. My photos, notes, and games are still present. Also, I can tell the actual music and podcasts must still be present on the device because the used disc space is the same.

I’m guessing a file in the normally hidden iPod_Control folder that allows the iPod to “see” the music and podcasts has been corrupted. But what file? And what corrupted it? Was it Winamp? Or was it something else on my work machine? It might be helpful to note that I used to have administrative rights to my work machine and I no longer do. Is that related to this error? I’m not sure. It certainly doesn’t allow me to change many things to see if I can fix it.

Also, it’s worth noting that if I plug my iPod back into my work machine, I can still play music through Winamp, I just can’t see any playlists. When I plug the iPod into my machine at home and fire up Winamp, I can see my music and playlists, but it still gives me that eject error. Also, when I start iTunes, I’m told iTunes cannot read the contents of my iPod and I have to restore. Of course doing this puts everything back to the factory settings and I have to re-sync all my files. Not such a big deal since I have them all backed up, but it’s an inconvenience, not to mention it wipes clean my progress on any iPod games I’ve played.

I’ve done the restore once already and then the same thing happened two days later. Short of restoring every day, or forgoing using Winamp at all to listen to my music at work, does anyone have any suggestions?

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What sucks is because I’ve lost administrative rights to my work machine, I can’t download another program to use to listen to my iPod (like iTunes) if it is in fact an issue with Winamp. Windows Media Player has never even recognized the device at home or at work, so that’s out too. I might just have to plug some speakers into the iPod itself and listen to it that way. It just sucks because I don’t know if it’s the music program corrupting the iPod, or Windows. I’d like to still be able to use my iPod at work as a portable drive, but I’m weary now. I might have to go back to carrying around a thumb drive.

I’m restoring my iPod right now and plan to do a little testing at work tomorrow. Let’s see if I have to do a restore again tomorrow night!