Archive for the ‘Technology’ Category
Saturday, July 19th, 2008
Ok, I just took a few quick sample photos with my new Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W300 digital camera. The first one I am going to show you was taken on one of the lowest settings. Basically, you can take poster-sized (print quality) photos with this camera. I set it to the 3MB setting, which is one of the smallest print quality settings.
Take a look…
Next, I tried out the “Burst shooting mode” on Michael the cat. There are two sequences here. The first one is where he is pretty much laying there and the second one is where he is biting me.
I would say that both the quality and the “Burst shooting mode” are very good.
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Saturday, July 19th, 2008
A few days ago, I noticed something strange happening to my Sony Cyber-shot 4.1 mega pixel camera. It was kind of the same thing that happens to all my Sony digital cameras after a few years…I had to start smacking the side of it to make the display correct itself. Before I smacked it, I noticed horozontal lines across the display, and strangely enough, in the photographs themsleves.
Now, if you have been following this blog for any amount of time, you certainly know how fond I am of taking pictures. With this in mind, I walked over to the wall and saw the writing on it. A few moments later, I was on CircuitCity.com ordering a new camera.
It really doesn’t take me very long to do these types of things. I basically visited the camera section and narrowed it down to show just Sony cameras. I like Sony cameras because they plug in easily with a USB cord. I looked at the 12+ mega pixel cameras and saw that only point and shoot one on the page. It’s the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W300 13.6-Megapixel Digital Camera. I read a few reviews and bought it.
I recived the package today and opened it. One of the first things I noticed is that, while it does use a USB cord to connect to the computer, the connection that fits the camera is not a traditional USB connection. This was a little disappointing because I really like to have things that use USB cords. I don’t want to have to worry about forgetting this special cord when I am traveling. Oh well.
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W300 13.6-Megapixel Digital Camera - front view.
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W300 13.6-Megapixel Digital Camera - side view.
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W300 13.6-Megapixel Digital Camera - rear view.
I installed the battery and turned the camera on. Then, I took about three pictures. I tried to take a forth picture, but was notified that there was no more memory on the camera. Good thing there was a deal at Circuit City where they gave away a 2GB Sandisk memory stick with the purchase of this camera. Also, the problem was that the camera was set to the highest quality. You can imagine how large the file sizes of the photos on a 13.6 mega pixel camera can be. If you can’t, they are about 4MB each.
I installed the 2GB memory stick and took a few more photos. I then plugged the camera in to the USB cord and opened the folder on the computer. Oddly, I could only see the photos on the memory stick (mass storage). I deleted them. Then, I took the memory stick out of the camera. I re-plugged the camera in and saw the first photos I took (internal storage). I tried to delete those photos from the folder in the computer and it wouldn’t let me. I learned that if you are using internal storage on a digitial camera, you can only delete the photos by using the camera’s delete function. If you are using mass storage, you can delete them from the computer.
There are many features on this camera, such as:
- 13.6 megapixels
- 3x optical zoom (which people don’t think is all too great for the price)
- 2.7” LCD display
- Dual image stabilizers (which I need because I have a bad habit of taking blurry photos)
- Face detection (detects up to 8 faces and focuses on each one of them)
- 9-point auto focus
- Smile Shutter mode (the reviews say this really works)
- Dual aspect ratios (normal or widescreen)
- HD slide show with music
- Image optimization
- Easy shooting mode
- In-camera image enhancements
- Scene modes (this camera actually has a description on the screen when you change modes - this is good because I really never knew what any of them meant)
- Burst shooting mode (up to 100 shots consecutively at almost two shots per second)
- Shoot movies
- 15MB of internal memory
If all these features work as described, you will start noticing higher quality photos in my blog posts.
Peace out.
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Monday, July 14th, 2008
Offshore Wind Farm Locations Found Via Satellite
Using a NASA satellite that indirectly measures stresses on the ocean’s surface, researchers highlight areas of the ocean that have a high amount of wind energy that could be harnessed using floating wind farms.
Argentina Will Produce Massive Wind Power Turbines
Argentina will produce massive wind power turbines. This country of South America is using some of the biggest generators with de Eolis-15, that has 1,5 megawatts of power and almost 80 meters tall.
Schwarzenegger Slams Bush for Not Believing Global Warming
In an interview this morning with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, Schwarzenegger laments that the Bush administration “did not believe in global warming.” He adds that even if officials had done something on Friday, he would have thought it “bogus anyway…because you don’t really have an effect by doing something six months before you leave office“
Geothermal Energy Will Help Power Anaheim, CA within 1 year
After six years of research, Raser Technologies will deliver geothermal energy to the city of Anaheim, California. The geothermal generator, which is located in Beaver County, Utah, will produce 10 megawatts of energy (enough to power 9,000 homes). It should be completed in about 12 months.
Honolulu to Air Condition Buildings with Seawater
A new green project called Honolulu Seawater Air Conditioning (HSWAC) proposes to cool down buildings with seawater, rather than fossil fuel-based air conditioning units, and it is getting some serious green to back it.
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Thursday, July 10th, 2008
Well, I decided to upgrade my old Treo 700w for a nice, new BlackBerry Curve 8330 Smartphone. I thought it was about time to jump on the email-on-your-pda bandwagon. We are planning some activities and vacations this Summer, so this will cover one base.
So, let me tell you about my experience.
I have many email addresses, all forwarding to one Gmail address. It makes life a bit more simple. When I got the phone, I went through the quick setup. After that, I went in and configured an email address. It was basically inputting the email address and password. After that, I logged into Gmail and clicked “settings.” I clicked “Fowarding and POP/IMAP.” There, I enabled POP.
Then, I sent myself an email. Low and behold, I received it in my Gmail account and my Blackberry. Truly, I thought this was amazing. Then, I clicked delete on the Blackberry. I had the option of deleting the message from just the phone or both the phone and the Gmail account. I deleted it from both the phone and the Gmail account. A few seconds later, I noticed it disappear from Gmail. Again, I was stunned.
After that, I did the whole thing again, except this time, I deleted the message from Gmail first. I waited and waited for the message to disappear from the Blackberry. After a little research on the web (and customer support), I found out this is not possible. The messages stay on the Blackberry until they are deleted from there. Why? I have no idea. This is going to be kind of a pain in the butt, but I’ll figure something out. I did a search for “blackberry curve won’t reconcile” and I think I read somewhere that if you are using the BlackBerry Enterprise Server (or something like that), you can reconcile your messages with your email client. Until I find some information, I don’t know how to reconcile the email on the Blackberry with Gmail, or Outlook for that matter.
The other issue I was having was that whenever I would send an email from the Blackberry or from Gmail, I would receive a copy of that email on the Blackberry. I needed to find out how to stop that. I called customer support and, while on hold, did a search for “blackberry getting copies of sent email” on Google. I found a nice website that instructed me to login to the Verizon Wireless Blackberry Internet Service (BIS). No one seems to tell you these things from the company. At this point, customer support picked up and we both created an account and created a filter for my email address. Basically, the filter stops my own email address from sending me email. This forum post will tell you exactly how to do that.
Otherwise, everything is very smooth. The Blackberry syncs up with my Outlook 2007 so I can have my tasks, contact list and calendar on both my PC and the Blackberry. This is not too much different from the Treo 700w.
I’ll let you know how it works on the streets when I have had it for a while.
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Monday, July 7th, 2008
Web 3.0 - Could it unseat Internet giants like Google?
Microsoft’s acquisition of Powerset signals the building of a future when the world could have access to virtual “software agents” who “roam” across the Web, taking care of the day-to-day hassles of humankind. It’s called a “Semantic Web” and it really could change the Internet at a fundamental level.
Move Your Business from Windows to Linux
If the cost of Windows is getting your small business down, consider shifting to Linux.
10 Tips for Securing Linux Desktops
You might find these suggestions to be pure common sense, but maybe you’ll see a means of security you never thought of before. If you’re a new Linux user, these tips are a great place to start to ensure that your Linux experience is a good one.
Social Media Sites that Deserve Your Affection
There are so many websites out their that serve the same purpose as Digg, Twitter, and Myspace. The question is; which of these websites are actually worth your time? Since time is one of the most valuable resources that us humans try to utilize, I’ll explain some of the social media sites that are worth using, and why.
Why Don’t More People Use OpenOffice?
Why don’t more people use OpenOffice, the free and open source alternative to Microsoft Office? Microsoft has spent years and dollars engineering creative ways to keep people using its costly software and preventing them from switching to OpenOffice — that’s one explanation, writes Lou Dolinar.
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Wednesday, June 25th, 2008
Boy, that title is pretty long.
Yesterday, Laura and I went shopping. We first went up to Home Depot in Enfield, CT. I got a bunch of stuff, most of which I can hardly remember right now. I am sure I’ll write about it when I start using it.
Then, we went to Circuit City and got some stuff. After that, we went to Costco for food shopping. Just to let you know, Costco in Enfield has a gas station for members. Gas around here is $4.39 per gallon. I paid $4.05 yesterday at the Costco gas station. It averages about 30 cents less per gallon than regular gas stations.
Back to Circuit City. While there, I picked up some Sony bookshelf speakers that I am going to use for the new downstairs. I also picked up some new computer speakers. The computer speakers I was using up until yesterday were Altec Lansing and getting pretty old. I gave them to Laura as a hand-me-down. I got a hand-me-up to the new Bose Companion® 2 Series II Multimedia Computer Speakers.
When I was looking at them in the store, I kept asking the guy (kid) if they had an amp in them. I was worried that they might be like those cheap Dell speakers you get with a new computer. You should probably have someone standing next to you hitting two pans together than using those Dell speakers. Man, if I had a nickle for every pair of them I threw away.
He never gave me an answer. He just kept saying that these Bose speakers were the best brand they had in the store. Since I never quite got an answer out of him, I just bought them and decided that I would return them if they were horrible.
I got home and hooked them up. Right after that, I hooked up the Altec Lansings to Laura’s computer, which made her very happy. Now she can pump the bass. Back to my speakers. I turned on Media Player and was quite impressed. All that stuff Bose says about themselves is pretty true. The speakers are very clear and I can now hear sounds I never heard out of my old speakers. It’s pretty amazing what they can do with half the size and weight of something.
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Friday, April 25th, 2008
Back in the old house, we had DSL for about 2 1/2 years. It worked well with only a few minor issues. Towards the end, I did begin inquiring about more upload and download speed. I called Frontier and they said I was maxed out…that’s all they had. The reason I needed more speed is because I have a few weekly chores I need to do which required downloading about a gig’s worth of files. It has gotten pretty nonsensical.
Yesterday, we had the guy from Comcast cable come over to hook up the TV, phone and internet package. After a while, he got it all hooked up. I did some work last night and then some again this morning, but didn’t notice all that much more speed. I think the DSL we had before had a download speed of 1.5 Mbps (short for megabits per second). I am not sure what we have now, but I do know that a file that used to take about 10 minutes to download now takes about 3. That makes my life doing chores a heck of a lot faster. I think I heard something about 6 Mbps, but I’m not sure.
Come to find out, after talking to my hosting company today, I need a static IP address, not a dynamic one. This is for one reason or another. I called Comcast regarding this and was connected to the business area. I may have to get my package split up…the internet under a business account and the TV and phone under a residential account. They are going to call me on Monday.
What’s the point of this post? I think cable is faster than DSL.
Ok, bye.
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Saturday, April 12th, 2008
I ran out to Circuit City this morning to pick up a new router and wireless card for my desktop computer. We already had a wireless router, but I am afraid that one won’t go the distance in a larger house. Also, I wanted to make my computer wireless like Laura’s and the laptop.
When I got to the store, I browsed through the equipment. I had some stuff in my hand, but then started really looking through everything else. As I understand it, there are a few different speeds and ranges that routers and cards offer. There is the “b” speed that came out first. Then, there is the “g” speed that is now a few years old and a lot faster than the “b.” I thought that was as fast as things got, so that is what I was looking for. After reading boxes for a bit, I realized there is now a “n” speed. This offers 4X the range and 12X the speed of “g.” That’s what I’m talkin’ bout.
I bought the WMP300N Wireless-N PCI Adapter here…
…that came with this massive antenna…
Now, that’s no wimpy little antenna that sticks out of the back of my computer. That sucker sits on top.
The recommended product to go with this card is the WRT300N Wireless-N Broadband Router, which I got too. Now, remember, this router offers 4X the range and 12X the speed of its predecessor. It will also wash your hair in the morning. Here’s a pic…
I hooked everything up and it works well. I like the fact that there is a security feature that stops my neighbors from using my far reaching bandwidth. If you want to connect to my network, you need a long password key. I already set all the computers up with it. I don’t notice any extra speed with my current DSL because I was hardwired into my old router, but once we make the switch to cable, we should see a big jump.
Please write your opinions on this topic, I will try not to argue.
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Saturday, March 29th, 2008
First Algae Biodiesel Plant Goes Online April 1, 2008
PetroSun has announced it will begin operation of its commercial algae-to-biofuels facility next month. The facility will produce an estimated 4.4 million gallons of algal oil and 110 million lbs. of biomass per year off a series of saltwater ponds spanning 1,100 acres.
80 Excellent Adobe Photoshop Video Tutorials
80 excellent Adobe Photoshop video tutorials which you can use as a starting point to improve your skills or observe how other professional do their job. This posts present Photoshop video tutorials about speed painting, design of buttons and interfaces, beauty retouching, digital matte painting, photo manipulation, effects and much more.
ZeroHouse: Automatically Generates Power, Collects Own Water
This completely self-sustaining prefabricated house generates its own power, collects its own water, processes its own waste and is 100% automatic. Versatile, durable and site-sensitive, ZeroHouse can be erected in almost any location in one day with steel frame components and a helical-anchor foundation system that requires no excavation.
Canada Goes Nutso Over Earth Hour
For some reason the entire country has gone a bit crazy over Earth Hour. Earlier this week more people had signed up for it online in Canada than in the entire United States, with ten times the population. The US has slipped ahead by a few thousand right now, but in Canada one in 606 citizens is on board; in the US it is one in 5,347.
Solar Thermal Electricity: Can it Replace Coal, Oil & Gas?
Some people are starting to believe that Solar Thermal Technology can supply over 90% of grid power, while reducing carbon emissions. High-efficiency is achieved because solar thermal plants do not need to convert energy to another form in order to store it. The future certainly looks bright for solar thermal technology!
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Thursday, March 27th, 2008
Top 15 Unexpected Uses For Biodiesel
While virtually everyone is familiar with the use of biodiesel as a substitute for diesel fuel, there are a few novel uses that may not have crossed your radar. Biodiesel can produce hydrogen, clean up oil spills, degrease your tools, heat your home, and more.
Does the Human Brain Possess Potential Super-Powers?
Some of the most incredible minds on Earth lack the ability to filter irrelevant facts and can retain information at incredible rates. Somehow their brains are able to store & access incredible loads of info, even perceiving & relating to this info in an entirely different way. Some scientists even believe that our brains could possess super-power.
Top 10 2008 Hybrids
Hybrid rankings have often been simplistic: Most are little more than lists of the highest-mileage models on the market. Here, we ranked hybrids based on how much fuel savings they get when compared to their non-hybrid version, as well as how much all that saved gas is going to cost you.
Vista SP1: Threat or Menace?
But given how customers who have upgraded from XP have struggled with driver and application incompatibilities, it’s no surprise that many are gun-shy of the latest update.
Paint on Solar Power!
The idea is to coat every piece of steel cladding with a solar cell paint. As steel is passed through the rollers multiple coatings of of the solar cell system are applied to it. Based on the preliminary research, the materials that are being applied are suited to capturing low level solar radiation, which means that they should work just as well.
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