Random thoughts
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
.net special issue about Google
The .net magazine has a special issue about Google. Looks pretty interesting judging from Matt Cutt's totally unbiased comments about it :-) and I haven't read .net for a while, the only problem is that this issue has sold out! I had tried to order a copy from www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk (nice and easy to type URL!) but the Website was acting strangely when I tried and insisted that I had placed an order for the wrong continent, and when I tried again -- gone. Sooooo, if anyone happens to have a spare copy of the May 2007 issue of the .net magazine ...
Labels: google
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Nikon D80 battery woes continued
The battery problem I had last week is back and occurring with increasing frequency, so apparently it wasn't the lens mount. Nikon support suggests to have both the camera and battery checked, which probably means a few weeks without the camera. It may be faster to get another battery first (I need a spare anyway for traveling) and see if the new battery works any better.
Labels: photography, technology
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Nikon D80 battery woes
So far I have been pretty happy with my Nikon D80, but a weird problem has started to show up more frequently: At first the battery appears full, then after taking one picture the battery shows as almost empty and the camera refuses to take pictures. Turn the camera off and on, and the battery appears full again ... pretty annoying.
Google doesn't find any reports of exactly this issue, but some Websites suggest that this may be a problem with the lens mount. For some reason the lens waggles a little and seems to have been in awkward position causing this behavior, and joggling the lens seems to indeed resolve the battery problem.
Now the lens shouldn't waggle in the lens mount but that's a different story ...
Google doesn't find any reports of exactly this issue, but some Websites suggest that this may be a problem with the lens mount. For some reason the lens waggles a little and seems to have been in awkward position causing this behavior, and joggling the lens seems to indeed resolve the battery problem.
Now the lens shouldn't waggle in the lens mount but that's a different story ...
Labels: photography, technology
Sunday, April 8, 2007
The ten hour power strip project
How long does it take the average person to install a power strip? Probably less than ten hours, which is about the time I spent under my desk today.
When I had my apartment renovated some years ago, the electrician wondered why anyone would need as many as six power outlets in one corner. I should have insisted on at least twenty then. Over time I have accumulated several power strips, and when I ran out of outlets recently I bought another one, which was too large and bulky to place on the desk (where I needed more outlets) so it was time to shuffle the cables around.
While under the desk I figured that I could finally label all my cables (a long-term cleanup plan) so unplugging a device wouldn't be an adventure of following nested cables and eventually picking the wrong one anyway. And before I could do that I obviously had to untangle the snarl of cables, which meant unplugging all devices, and clean off the pile dust that had accumulated over time. We did go for shopping in the afternoon and I got ahold of nice cable binders, so after hours under the desk everything is nice and clean now, all cables nicely labeled and ... everything still works!
When I had my apartment renovated some years ago, the electrician wondered why anyone would need as many as six power outlets in one corner. I should have insisted on at least twenty then. Over time I have accumulated several power strips, and when I ran out of outlets recently I bought another one, which was too large and bulky to place on the desk (where I needed more outlets) so it was time to shuffle the cables around.
While under the desk I figured that I could finally label all my cables (a long-term cleanup plan) so unplugging a device wouldn't be an adventure of following nested cables and eventually picking the wrong one anyway. And before I could do that I obviously had to untangle the snarl of cables, which meant unplugging all devices, and clean off the pile dust that had accumulated over time. We did go for shopping in the afternoon and I got ahold of nice cable binders, so after hours under the desk everything is nice and clean now, all cables nicely labeled and ... everything still works!
Labels: home