2004

Saved for posterity, or maybe for no particular reason at all. Here are some of the previous things that I blathered on about.

December 6, 2004: A cool GenCon SoCal meets Firefly story.

December 1, 2004: Hobbies: Okay, I'm putting this here because otherwise I'll forget it. Basically, it stems from a conversation with Rob, in which I explained something incorrectly. I knew something wasn't quite right when I was explaining it, but I was having one of those brain-blocks when you can't quite tell why something you know is wrong. I'll start with a question, to provide context for those that weren't involved in the conversation, and to allow you to quickly abort reading if your eyes start to glaze over ;-):

Why don't digital SLR cameras use the LCD for lining up shots like other digital cameras do?

First off, for those who don't know, SLR stands for Single-Lens Reflex, which is the type of camera most folks think of when they think of a 35mm camera. So, why don't they use the LCD? Basically, it's because of the way they work. On a non-SLR, the light passes through the lens, onto the film (or CCD for digitals), while the view-finder is a different part of the camera that doesn't go through the same lens that the final picture does. You may recall with older cameras that this means you often don't get the picture on film that you had in the view-finder. With an SLR, though, the light passes through the lens, and is reflected up to the view-finder, so the exact same image you're seeing in the view-finder is the one that will appear when you click the button to take the picture. On an SLR, when you click that button, the mirror is lifted out of the way, allowing the light to pass through to the film (or the CCD for digitals).

Now, after that, perhaps you can see why the LCD can't be used for lining up the pictures: the light that would go to the CCD in most cameras, never gets there, because it's reflected up to the view-finder instead. Since there isn't any light reaching the CCD, there's nothing to be displayed on the LCD. In order to allow the LCD to be used to line up photos, you have to eliminate the mirror system, which means you no longer have an SLR! There are actually a number of cameras out there now that look like SLRs, but are actually regular digital cameras, using the LCD to line up the shot exactly as you see it on the LCD. From what I've seen, I think some of these even have interchangeable lenses, which is one of the biggest advantages to the SLR systems. In any case, there are some very nice fixed-lens systems, with optical zooms of 8x or more. Those should provide very nice pictures for a lot of different situtations, without having to deal with SLR issues.

November 17, 2004: Work: Huh, imagine that.

November 13, 2004: Life: Well, taking the note to the manager did seem to have an effect. Things have improved, in that the people upstairs are making noticeably less noise at night and early in the morning, and are therefore keeping me awake much less. I've actually managed to get nearly enough sleep the last couple of days. This does make it clear, though, that they could have stopped or reduced the noise when I asked them to do so, but that they just didn't care enough to bother.

November 10, 2004: Life: Apparently, I live in Hell now. I'm now going on my third consecutive day with four hours or less of sleep, thanks to some jack-ass who lives above me. Last week, I had this problem Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday nights, and so far this week has followed suit (although last week I was able to sleep in a bit after being woken up in the morning, which I wasn't able to do this week due to lasting noise issues). I put a long note on their door Monday morning asking for them to be quiet, but it had no results. This morning I took a note to the apartment managers, so we'll see if that helps.

I wasn't doing too badly yesterday, actually, with some trouble concentrating. Today, however, I'm finding that I'm even having trouble writing coherent sentences, and my typing has slowed to nearly hunt-and-peck speeds, with many, many errors. It would be kind of interesting, really, if it didn't suck so much. In addition to the inability to concentrate, I'm also feeling light-headed and disconnected from the world.

October 11, 2004: Electronics: Last Friday I received my new Bose QuietComfort 2 Acoustic Noise Cancelling Headphones. They cost $300, and I think they may well be worth every penny. These are the lightest, most comfortable headphones I've ever worn--I really could see wearing them for hours without any trouble. Actually, I *do* wear them for hours without any trouble. My previous set of headphones started hurting my ears after a while, but that doesn't seem to happen with these. And the noise cancelling technology is pretty cool, drastically reducing most of the annoying noises that I have tormenting me here at the apartment (it actually eliminates completely the traffic noises and appliance humming that I'm normally subjected to). All told, a very happy buyer here.

October 3, 2004: Work: GCA 3 begins an open beta Preview period soon, probably today. I'll not be announcing it anywhere but my GCA related areas, but that'll be enough for a lot of folks to hear of it, and word will spread. I hope my site doesn't get hammered too hard. I can buy extra bandwidth if I need it, but if things disappear for a while, that's why.

Added note: I checked my site package at my ISP, and it looks like I should have more than enough bandwidth to handle things.

September 17, 2004: TV: Keen Eddie is available on DVD. I thought I'd managed to see all the episodes when it was repeated on cable after being canceled from it's network run, but there were still three (out of six, apparently, that weren't aired on the network) that I'd never seen.

September 8, 2004: Movies: I finally went to see Garden State on Tuesday. It was a very good movie. You should see it. Yeah, you. (Waddaya want from me? I'm not a critic.)

Fine, a bit more detail. Zach Braff (who you may know from Scrubs) wrote, directed, and starred opposite Natalie Portman. It's basically a character driven story about a guy (Braff) who feels emotionally numb, and has for years, returning home for his mother's funeral. While there, he meets up with friends old and new (Portman). There are no explosions or martial arts, just good characters living their lives, and entertaining us in the process. Portman is at her most charming, and Braff is surprisingly good at bringing us along on his character's journey. The supporting cast is all believable and fits right in; nobody feels out of place (well, except for Braff's character in the start of the movie, but that's supposed to be the case).

Yes, you'll probably be able to borrow it from me on DVD some day.