It has been kinda annual visit…but, this time i can see a remarkable increase in awareness and most importantly, everybody out there seem to have a DSLR…are they cheap now? And everyone out there had good awareness as well – with Sturdy Tripods, Long zooms…felt like visiting a race track actually…in the pit area…with professionals…but, they were not…why else would they be with us commoners? Read the rest of this entry »
Archive for July, 2006
OMG – I just ordered a DSLR!
Like most desis, living in the US of A, i have been doing my part of justice in participating in the “usual” desi things…..piligrimage to the usual places such as Niagara Falls, NYC, DC, SFO, LA, Disney World etc…and play tennis…and dabbled in photography….and did my MS….and so on…
And desite not saving up (thank god for credit cards), managed to watch the B&H website like a hawk, and ordered one soon as the much anticipated D70s showed up in the used section. B&H gives it a 9+, so i am happy….looking forward to sell my G3…any takers? See pictures below!
Hacking my NetDisk
Netdisk, for people who dont know about it, is a consumer grade, cheap network storage device. The problem is how cheap is it? With internal harddisk now as cheap as $100 bucks for a half terabyte capacity (look out for it…on Black friday day sale) i would rather hack my old 80G drive. You can get these on eBay for $40-$60 bucks – in a sense cheaper than their enclosure.
Well..now that you have it, here is how you hack it. Note that you lose warranty if you do this on a new device. If you say warranty schmaranty…proceed…
PXDP2 Tip
Having had it for 4 days now, i havent figured out why the Fast Forward/Fast Rewind doesnt work. The Up arrow/Down arrow are the keys to use as per the manual…but just doesnt work…Also, if you like to listen to Podcasts, create a smart playlist called Podcasts…the limitation of their user interface restricts Podcasts from being available in the menu (although you can access podcasts from the Album or Genre menu). Another tip is to prepend 1, 2, 3 or A, B, C etc to the playlists so that they appear in your preferred order…i have them named as “1 Podcasts”, “2 Favs”…
Consumer Product Convergence
A collegue recently asked me buyer advice on Video Camera – his requirement was simple – Be able to handle Videos, Photos & Mp3.
Nowadays, you get Digital cameras that capture pictures and video, Video cameras that capture video and pictures, GPS for navigation and mp3, and Cell phones that probabaly handle everything you throw at it…video, pictures, mp3 and possibly some phone as well…
If there is one thing that we owe to Apple and its famous iPod is that Convergence is not everything…it just does one thing, and it does it pretty well…which is why i got it in the first place…and which is why, i love DSLRs as well…they take pictures and pictures only, and does it well. I am waiting for the new Nikon…
PXDP2 Review
Well, now that i have had it for 3 days…i thought i would post my review about it.
For one, it works as expected, and you have no other choice anyways. Installation was easy and smooth, it works great, i can now turn up the volume on Pink Floyd, and hey, no distortion! Beats my iTrip anyday – i drove all the way to work with no radio inteference…wow!
Peripheral took the iPod, known for its user interface, and decided to disable it…and gives you to its rather clumsy user interface with 4 high level categories of “browse” modes – Playlists, Artist, Album and Genre. It took a full 20 minutes of learning to figure out how to control it…AND had to RTFM…
My advise is to create playlists and pre-pend numerals for it to appear sorted…example “1 Podcasts”, “2 Favs”, “3 Rock” etc…that way, you dont spend too much time looking for your songs/podcasts…
iPod Adapter Installation
Well, i am not sure if this interests any…but, Ford Fusion 2006 finally has an ipod adapter…get it here or on eBay – Its made by Peripheral Electronics. Once you get it, installation is a snap…although you can get it done at your local audio shop. I did install it myself…if you are curious on how to do this yourself, be sure to check out the manual from the seller’s website link above. Its however, does not have one thing – how to remove your stereo. So, here goes…thanks to Mauricio from Bridgewater Autobody, this is easy…
Lessons from Dad
Ever since my dad came here to visit us, he being a photographer by profession, has given me much in terms of seeing things differently, besides the usual garb about equipment, exposure, focus etc…well, i do know these when i took a NYIP course about 8 years ago….
I was very angry at him at first when i saw the picture from a recent travel. My dad took it. Take a look:
I know exactly how i would have taken this picture – zoomed in all the way just to get the White House – but that would have made the picture exactly equavalent to million other pictures found worldwide…Now, this is unique, because he did not see the picture like i did – he saw the construction equipment, sign, traffic light, fence, and the light post!
Now why didnt i see that?
Check out all of his other pictures by clicking on my Photos link on the right.
Sandy Hook, New Jersey
While this is not exactly my favourite beach, i do make at least a few trips down in the summer every year. This is my first trip to the battery arsenal and up the light house there though. This picture was taken from the top of the lighthouse…The view you see is that of the North Beach (clothing optional)…
Vacation Notes
The long weekend called for a vacation – and i finally did it – My annual piligrimage to the Niagara Falls! 
While not one of my best shots, it still amazes me everytime i visit it. The sheer power of the falls is incredible. Well, thats not all that i am amazed about… Read the rest of this entry »
