April 2004

StyleCam DV100

It's a cute little digital video camera that is both a step forward and a step back from my old camera.

Ok, I needed a new camera since my old one was stolen along with my laptop. I've been looking for a while, but most of the cameras that looked like they were worth getting were too expensive. I knew I might have to settle for less, but I think I found a good compromise here.

Good points:

* CHEAP! It was around $80, which is a lot less than the still cameras I was looking at.
* Video, audio, & still images. This camera does it all.
* Small. This thing literally fits in the palm of my hand - it's even smaller than my old camera.
* Tripod mount. This is a must for me when I want to digitize artworks too large for a scanner.
* Takes AA batteries. Sure, I intend to buy lithium AAs, but in a pinch I don't need to buy a $13+ battery.
* LCD screen flips closed. I don't have to worry about getting it scratched up when it's in my pocket.
* Uses SD Media cards. I've already got a Palm PDA, so I'm already using these cards. I don't have to go out and buy new cards.
* Simple & intuitive menu. I haven't even cracked open the manual yet, and I've played with most of the features. Most of them I can get with my thumb on one directional button.
* Still images look alright in low light. This is a must for me, since I don't always take shots at high noon outside.

Bad points:

* Still images are 1.3 Megapixels. My old camera was 1.4 Megapixels, so it's not THAT noticeable ... but still, it's there.
* Video looks like crap in low light. Even at high quality settings the sensor isn't big enough to get a lot of detail.
* No flash. I didn't use the flash on my old camera much, but I still did sometimes.
* Feels cheap. This thing is light and it makes a slight hollow sound when you tap on it.
* 2x Digital zoom. I've yet to own a camera with a GOOD optical zoom - digital or film.
* No regular viewfinder. It's LCD or nothing, not that I ever used the viewfinder on my old camera.
* No AC cord. I can get it to run off the USB cord, but it likes to turn itself off when I'm using that.
* The manual can only be read in Windows. They made the darn thing an .exe file, when they could have easily saved it as a .pdf or html document.
* The built in microphone has almost no range and picks up the sound of the camera MOVING at times. Lucky for me I would rather add my audio in post production.

Overall I'm happy with my purchase. Sure, there are much better cameras out there - but for $80?

Scatterbrained

I'm having trouble concentrating on things.

This will be a short one, since I have two papers due by midnight tonight. Actually, it's about those papers. Lately I've found it more and more difficult to concentrate on a single topic for any length of time. I've never been diagnosed with ADD but I think if I was tested at this point the doctor would give me so much medication my head would spin. I'm writing this just to give my brain time to reboot so I can go back to my paper and write the 2nd sentence.

In other news, I went to a technology conference and got myself a new yet cheap digital camcorder.

Back to work.

Road Trouble

On my way home form my daily trip to the hospital, I ran into some problems.

It's been raining for a while, so the roads were slick. Apparently they were more slick in some places than others.

On my way out of Baltimore, I came to many red lights, and stopped for each one. Sometime around 8:30 I think (I was watching the road, not the clock.) I came to another light, so I hit the breaks.

This time, my car didn't stop.

My wheels stopped, because I felt them sliding across the asphalt. But all my car did was slow down a bit as it went through the light. At the same time, I saw a couple bright flashes. Most likely it was a camera photographing my car. I'm certain a ticket is in the works.

At least while I had no control over stopping my vehicle I was able to keep it going in a straight direction - that, and since the light had JUST turned red there was no opposing traffic that was moving. I'm not sure if that's much of a defense in a court of law, but I'm glad no one was hurt and no property was damaged.

I think I'll be looking back on this entry when I get that letter from the city of Baltimore.

World of Hurt

I feel like crap right now.

Y'see, I slept with my head in a weird position two nights ago, and I never really go the kink out of my neck. My posture became altered due to this and a lack of adequate tables in the hospital waiting room, so now my back hurts as well.

So I'm not sick, just in pain. The fact that I started a diet today doesn't help, either.

A Gift from Heaven

You know that rain I asked for back on march 8th? We got it today, along with some other good news.

It was glorious - sheets of it were pounding my windshield, 50 mph was considered by most to be too fast on the Baltimore Beltway, and we even had lightning! Sure, I hydroplaned once, but for the most part I wasn't in any real danger - especially after I crossed the Baltimore County line into Baltimore City and the POTHOLES were enough to provide adequate drainage.

After not opening her eyes for me for two days, Kelli looked at me, smiled, and hugged me. She wasn't awake for very long, but that's not unusual for someone on sedation. She's a lot calmer now and she's doing a lot more of the breathing on her own. Every now and then she takes a deep breath and holds it, which scares me because it's almost like she's stopped breathing for a moment.

A student of mine that didn't like me and therefore did everything he could to fail my class, insult other students, insult me, and make disparaging comments about Kelli might not be returning to my classroom. A parent-teacher conference is in the works - that is, if the student doesn't keep deleting the phone messages.

Beka will be coming to visit on Monday. Apparently she's got a job interview lined up in Gaithersburg, and she might need a place to crash before the long drive back to PSU. Beka, if you're reading this before you visit, you owe me ice cream. ^_^

One last bullet of news before I end this jumble of unrelated thoughts: My Standard Professional I teaching certificate expires in July, which is 7 months earlier than I thought it would be. Fortunately, the only thing I need to do is take a 3 credit reading course and my requirements for a Standard Professional II certificate are all met. I'll have my Masters within a year, and then it's smooth sailing to an Advanced Professional certificate. Boo-ya! By then I'll be making so much money I'll ... be able to start paying my student loans. Why does grad school have to be so expensive, anyways?

Disciplined Breakdown

I'm going through a lot of stress right now.

Let's just say that pressures from both work and home are combining to perform a crushing blow to my head. I'll say more as things resolve, to keep the whining level to a minimum.

Of bomb threats & blood pressure.

La vida loca, I'm sure.

Check this out - my school was evacuated at 3:00 today due to a bomb threat.

In other news, Kelli was alert for me for a little while, then her blood pressure spiked to 200/110. She's had a fever since last night, which I suppose goes with the weather. It's been hot out. :-P

-=-=-

On a lighter note, I found all the posts for the Ranma RPG that I used to be a part of. I'll be posting them slooowly, since there are literally hundreds of them. A lot of those stories infringed a lot of copyrights, but I'm quite proud of the original characters I created. So proud, in fact, that I've started writing about some of them again - this time without infringing on anything.

Around the bend?

Kelli's getting better!

We're not out of the woods yet, but her respirator settings are for assisted breathing. What that means is the machine takes it's cues from what she's trying to do. Her blood pressure is better and she's awake more often.

I can only hope she continues this trend.

Flash! Aaaa-aaaah!

Shockwave Flash gaming, that is.

I have too much time on my hands. Well, not really, but I'm good at procrastinating at least. Here, play these games:

Penguin Baseball: http://alec.at.tut.by/penguin.swf

Bloody Penguin Baseball: http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/pingu2.php

Make your friends exercise: http://moveyoassets.com/index.html

Escape from the crimson room: http://www.datacraft.co.jp/takagism/index_e.html

End of an era

Leo Laporte, we'll miss you.

Leo's left Tech TV, perhaps for good. It's all explained on his blog: http://leo.typepad.com/tlr/2004/04/end_of_line.html.

Emrys Part II

Who walked in at the end of Part I?

I should specify something: This series is in a fantasy/sci-fi genre. Don't expect all normal situations here.

*Ding! Ding!*
*Ding! Ding!*


"Sorry, we're not ope-" Eric stopped talking when he saw who walked in. "Hope?"

"Hey, hotshot! Didja miss me?"

In front of Eric stood a girl who was almost a head shorter than him, although having half of her long, black hair pulled into a ponytail that arced out from the back of her head at a 45 degree angle did make her seem a little taller than she actually was. The oriental hairstyle was fitting, since she definitely got most of her looks from her mother. The exception was her noticeably pointed ears, which she'd inherited from her father - the one who taught Eric everything he knew about martial arts.

"Um, yeah, but what are you doing here?" Eric did little to hide his surprise. He'd last seen the half-elf when he was living in Tokyo, what seemed like a lifetime ago.

"Well, I'm pretty much done with high school so Mom's letting me start college, with the provision that I stay with someone she trusts. I guess she's afraid her little girl could get hurt in the big bad world."

"More like she wants someone to protect the world from the big bad Hope."

Eric saw the punch coming and easily dodged it. He was still over twice Hope's age, after all.

"So why here? I mean, don't get me wrong, I haven't seen you since Tokyo and it's nice to see you again, but I thought you'd, you know," Eric looked around, although he knew there was no one there, "... find a college in your own time."

"That's what I thought at first, but you know how overprotective my Mom is. She can pop in when ever she wants, unless you're in a different era. I really wanted to get out from under her wing, you know?"

Eric nodded in agreement to that. Training under her father had been a wonderful experience, but the old elf was so powerful he eclipsed everyone around him except Hope's mom. Eric knew exactly what it was like to live in someone else's shadow.

"In any case, you're cooler than your version in my era anyway. The older Eric is all serious and stuff - you and Cyra were a lot more fun to hang out with,"

Eric's smile vanished from his face, and Hope clapped her hands over her mouth. "Cyra's ..."

"Oh no! Eric, that wasn't supposed to happen yet! I mean, I remember Cyra from my time, and I'm not even-"

"Timelines change, Hope. You of all people should remember that. The day you came to this era you stopped it from being your past and turned it into an alternate history. Nothing that you remembered had to happen, and some of it happened a lot faster. Heck, you might not even be born in this timeline."

"You mean Dad's not ..."

"Both Blake and your father are still missing. Thankfully, so's Dimitri. Whatever Blake did to stop Dimitri in Tokyo, he was thorough about it."

"So ... you're stranded here, then?"

Eric gave a short, bitter laugh. More of a bark, actually. "Your Dad planned ahead. If I really wanted to go back I could find a way, but what would I go back to? I promised to take care of Fay, and I can do that better if I stay out of all the craziness for a couple decades."

"Fay ... oh, you mean Faile! She's here? Can I see her?"

"She's upstairs doing her homework, if she knows what's good for her." Eric said that comment louder than he needed to, but there was a squeak of surprise from the staircase, followed by the sound of someone scurrying back upstairs.

Hope moved to follow, and Eric called after her. "We go by 'Fay' here, it keeps the teasing down."

"O.K.!"

Eric turned to the still half full box of books, and decided he'd finish it later. After locking the front door for the evening, he went upstairs to join his daughter & their new guest.

I'm Back, Take 2

What, again?

Long story short:

Wife still unconscious. (:P)

Computer stolen, parents bought new one. (THANK YOU!)

Former roommate & best man came down for a visit ( My M:TG "Rolo-Deck" demands a rematch!)

New layout for this section of the site. (Whew!)