In as much as I would like to take credit for this hack, I can’t. Jim sent me the link to the software and after a few seconds of working with it, I managed to get this to work.
CHDK is a “firmware enhancement” that, once placed on the SD card for your camera, allows you to take RAW format pictures. Why would you want to do that? That’s what this picture is to illustrate. The differences should be obvious. The picture is actually color, but I copied out just the blue channel so you can more clearly see what I’m rambling on about.
Any camera that gives you a JPG picture uses compression. There are lots of reasons for that, but the bottom line is that when you compress a picture, you throw away some information. If you have even a half way decent point and shoot, you may never notice this. If you’re a novice photographer and just want pictures of your kids or pets, this is probably fine for you. If you’re like me then you’re still a novice photographer but know enough to wish that your skills and equipment were better. So what do you do you do? The best answer is to say improve your skills. The quicker thing to do is to upgrade the equipment you use.
If you have a Canon Powershot series camera, you can do this. CHDK is free and continues to be improved. Just be sure to read their instructions and FAQ and you should have no problems.
I’m glad to know I’m not the only one who hasn’t seen the majority of the films nominated in last night’s Oscars. For me, it’s not as much a fiscal reason as much as most of the trailers for those films never reached out and grabbed me. Couple that with not really hearing anyone say much about those films and that’s probably why I never saw them.
Over all, I would have to say that this year’s Oscars show was just okay. I’ll probably rent “No Country” since it seemed to take the Oscar for everything except best musical. Any other Oscar it didn’t get was won by some foreign film that I had never even heard of. But there were a couple of those that I even thought looked good and would be worth renting. I’m not opposed to “readin’ movies”, as I once heard them called. It’s just that most of them never make it to Knoxville, but that’s another rant for another day (why can’t this city grow up).
This is a VR of Vegas from the Stratosphere. Just put your mouse over it, click and hold the right mouse button, and then move left or right. If you do it right, you should “turn around” the image.
Robert England has gone on record saying he will not play his most famous character, Freddie Kruger, in the Michael Bay remake of the 80’s classic horror film A Nightmare on Elm Street. While I like a lot of Michael Bay’s work, I’m more than a little worried about remaking such a classic. Yes, I said classic. Nightmare, Friday, and Halloween are all classic horror films from my childhood and I hold them in my heart as such. They were all butchered later on, but that’s true of just about every successful movie franchise (coughGeorgeLucascough).
I was pleased with Rob Zombie’s Halloween, so I am going to hold out hope that Michael Bay does as well. Without Robert, though, I’m worried. Unlike Michael and Jason, Freddie didn’t wear a mask. We’ll just wait and see how it goes.
These lights surprise me. Not only did they arrive from overseas in less than a week, they’re also really fun! I mean, when is the last time you played with a lamp and it actually made you giggle? If this is something that happens frequently, you should probably seek professional help. The exception to that is if you have one of these lights. Philips touts that it’s capable of oodles of different colors, and while I stopped counting just how many I could see, suffice it to say it can do a lot. Click the picture to see it larger, or watch the video here.
Not to revel in others’ misery, but Comcast could be facing a $1.77 trillion fine for messing with their customers’ Internet traffic. As you may be aware, Comcast is being charged with interfering with and throttling Bittorrent traffic. The FCC has agreed to investigate, and should Comcast be found guilty they will have to pay some amount. The groups involved in bringing these charges in front of the FCC have suggested to the FCC that Comcast pay $195,000 per subscriber. Woot! So by the time the feds, lawyers, the groups and everyone else involved takes their cut, I should be left with $5!! I could actually go to McDonalds!!!!
I really hope there’s more to this than just a billboard. I would love to see an ARG tied in with this, but I’ve not researched it to find out. If you live in Knoxville, and probably other cities around the country, you can see what I’m talking about for yourself. As you drive 40 East, just past West Hills exit look to your right. You’ll see this billboard. That’s not my photo, and I don’t want to hot link to someone else’s account, but I’ll try to stop and get a picture on my own this week.
See? I told you I would post in the new year. As usual, I make no resolutions. This way, when I don’t keep them, I’m not disappointed. We brought in the New Year over at Dave and Paula’s. A good time was had by all, I believe.
I hope everyone else had a good and safe New Year. Jump over to my Flickr for some photos from the evening.
What a year this one shaped up to be. So many things happened that I don’t even know where to begin. I’ve moved, traveled, seen new places and met some very cool and interesting people along the way. It certainly hasn’t been the perfect year, but if I had to put it on a scale it definitely tips in my favor.
I won’t drag this entry out much more. I have some new things to look forward in this next year. I’ll probably be moving again, if it all works out. As this new chapter of my life unfolds I’ll strive to post more and keep all of you up to date. I’m working on new things and toying with some new ideas. More on those as time and circumstance permit.
I hope everyone has a good holiday season and a happy new year. See you in 2008.
In as much as I would like to take credit for this hack, I can’t. Jim sent me the link to the software and after a few seconds of working with it, I managed to get this to work.
We brought in the New Year over at Dave and Paula’s. A good time was had by all, I believe.