Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Nikon D90, Canon EOS 50D, D300 and D80 Compared Side by Side

Nikon D90, Canon EOS 50D, D300 and D80 Compared Side by Side
With the announcement of the new 15.1 MP Canon EOS 50D and the 12.3 Nikon D90 enthusiast digital SLR cameras coming on almost the same day, there is certainly a lot of excitement (and debate) happening among photographers within the Canon and Nikon communities. We have just posted a side by side comparison overview between the Nikon D90, Canon EOS 50D, and the D300 and D80 and highlighted the major differences in order to hopefully help make the buying decision process a little easier. See full story...

Tigerdirect: Blackberry 7290 Blue Unlocked GSM PDA Cell Phone $80

Tigerdirect: Blackberry 7290 Blue Unlocked GSM PDA Cell Phone $80

Sony Alpha A350 Compared to Nikon D80 SLR Review

Sony Alpha A350 Compared to Nikon D80 SLR Review
We have just posted a side by side comparison review between the new 14.2 MP Sony Alpha A350 digital SLR with DT 18-70mm lens versus the 10.1 MP Nikon D80 digital SLR kit with the AF-S DX 18-55mm VR zoom. To see what real world benefits the latest generation technologies and features incorporated in the Sony Alpha A350 offer in terms of image quality or enhancing the photographic experience, we decided to compare this new camera model against the Nikon D80 which remains one of the predominant cameras in the current Nikon line up. See how these two SLR cameras performed in our tests...

Nikon D300 Image Samples Available

Nikon D300 Image Samples Available
Nikon Corporation has now provided another four image samples from the soon to be released Nikon D300 digital SLR. The full size images include a couple of portraits, one landscape/scenery and one action shot. The images are taken at 200 ISO, except for one of the portraits captured at 400 ISO. The Nikkor lenses used for these Nikon D300 sample image tests include the Nikon AF-S DX VR Zoom Nikkor ED 18-200mm F3.5-5.6G, the prime AF Nikkor 50mm F1.4D and the AF-S VR Nikkor ED 300mm F2.8 IF telephoto lens. Read Full story...

Dell Home: XPS M1530 laptop T5750 15.4in 3GB 320GB DVD+-RW 128MB video $1049 + free Inspiron Mini 9 laptop

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IE7 icon missing On WinXP Desktop

My poor technician must have freaked out earlier today when his boss (me) suddenly burst into fits of hysterical laughter and couldn't stop giggling for at least 5 minutes.

The thing that provoked such mirth was a couple of lines from the Microsoft Help section. It read like a cross between Monty Pythons Cheese Skit and a programmers joke. The lines in question are bolded below.

SUMMARYThe
Internet Explorer icon might be missing after either you upgrade the
Internet Explorer version to 7, or installed through Windows updates.

Back to the top

CAUSEThis
is not an issue and is by design.
Unlike the previous versions of
Internet Explorer, the option to enable to Internet Explorer icon on
the Windows Desktop is not available. The behavior of Internet Explorer
7, which is bundled with Windows Vista is also the same.

[ BTW - HERE IS THE FIX FOR THIS ] -> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555849

As a programmer I know that poor programming practice* leading to buggy functionality is often passed off on the poor unsuspecting customer as a 'feature' or an implementation 'by design'. For Microsoft to state that the ability to put the Internet Explorer icon on the desktop or Start Menu is not an issue and is by design is ludicrous. Further more for Service Pack Three to REMOVE the icon from the Start Menu or Desktop or even worse, to change the functionality of the icon to bring up Internet Properties instead of starting IE is doubly idiotic.

Some claim it is part of Microsoft's anti-trust agreement responsibilities to have the icon removed and to also remove the ability to put the icon on the desktop as part of the display properties. Personally I think that is bollocks too. How long ago were the anti-trust hearings? Years. To take this long is a mockery of anti-trust, if indeed that was the causative action.

Secondly - with the advent of service pack three, Microsoft's IE components and Internet Explorer security properties are more tightly integrated with the system than ever. As an example, to Install Mozilla Firefox version 3 requires IE 7, or at least some of its components to be present. Why? Because without them some of the dialog boxes and under laying componentry is not present causing the failure of Mozilla 3 during installation.

Further more Mozilla Firefox Three is now so affected by the internet settings in XP that in order to tighten IE 7 to stop downloading and running active X ( and other executable code ) in the Internet Zone also disables downloads in Mozilla Firefox Three (Ref 1). It is now impossible to cripple IE's active X vulnerability completely without also crippling Mozilla's ability to download programmes. While some of these problems stem from Mozilla developers tying Firefox into the Internet Security Panel (Ref 2), the rest also points to Microsoft's embedding of IE in the operating system. Again, try removing IE7 and watch how fast Mozilla Firefox, and presumably other applications, fail.

As this blog entry isn't a rant about MS or how IE is such a PITA I wont go into detail about the fact that if you start IE7, after it has upgraded itself, you have no ability to set the default page until you stop pushing cancel and start answering the damn questions about security and settings you have ... eeerrr .. had already dealt with previously and that has now been reverted by MS with the IE 7 upgrade.

Did I mention that trying to tell IE7 to push off and not bother me with Live Search (AKA dead useless) as I am already using Lycos, or google, or yahoo or wiki or ....bugger!!!!!  There is now only live seach - and if I click on - "Go make another search engine the default" - Mozilla pops up as the default browser so I have to enable IE7 as the default browser to get rid of live search tool bar and then re-enable Mozilla as the default browser.

No IE7 tie in to the operating system - hah - my left testicale is less tied in to me than IE is to Microsofts OS.


1 - http://voices.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2008/07/firefox_3_follows_ie7s_securit_1.html

2 - http://kb.mozillazine.org/Unable_to_save_or_download_files#Reset_system_Internet_security_settings_-_Windows



* DISCLAIMER - Not my programming practices - other peoples. I just had to explain or fix up their bollocks - honest injun - it wasn't me.

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Abode CS4 already the victim of software piracy

The ink has barely dried on price tags for the retail version of Adobe Creative Suite 4 image editing and design software, and already it's climbing the charts for number of illegal acquisitions. Read More

Crutchfield: Sony KDL46XBR8 46in BRAVIA XBR 1080p LCD HDTV $5000 shipped

Crutchfield: Sony KDL46XBR8 46in BRAVIA XBR 1080p LCD HDTV $5000 shipped

Ensure your kids are safe on the Internet

Today I had my weekly lunch with Microsoft's Darryl Burling and we talked about kids' computing. He tells me his oldest daughter just got a laptop - and her own e-mail account as well as a Live Messenger account.

We then moved the conversation to the dangers of having kids on-line without proper supervision.

TelstraClear provides an interesting website with information about cybverbulying and tips on how to prevent your kids being victims on-line.

One of the tips is to have a family computer, in a shared location so you can be aware of what's going on. But since you can't be there all the time, and most of these new computers are highly mobile, what can you do?

Enters Windows Live OneCare Family Safety. Add this to the Windows Vista Parental Controls and you have a solution to manage your kids' activities on-line.

It is actually really cool. You can filter the web sites they visit, provide safer e-mail, IM, and blogging with contact management - including built-in contact approval so you know who your kids are talking to on IM, e-mail, or their blogs. You can even approve or reject each new contact for their Windows Live Messenger,

The best thing? Windows Live OneCare Family Safety is free and works on Windows XP SP2 and Windows Vista.

And yes, this came up today, and soon after I found out the Apple New Zealand newsletter touches exactly this subject. It looks like Mac OS X implements some Parental Control, but it's not as extensive as the OneCare Family Safety package.
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New Olympus E-520 - preview compared to rivals

New Olympus E-520 - preview compared to rivals
Today Olympus announced its latest DSLR, the E-520. Successor to the E-510, the new E-520 builds on what was already a feature-packed DSLR. The core specifications of a 10 Megapixel sensor with built-in stabilisation, Live View and effective anti-dust features remain, but the E-520 now features a slightly bigger 2.7in screen, quicker 3.5fps continuous shooting, a new IS mode and the addition of contrast-based AF facilities complete with Face Detection. Also announced is the new Zuiko Digital ED 9-18mm 1:4.0-5.6 lens which delivers extreme wide angle coverage equivalent from 18-36mm. The Olympus E-520 will be available from June 2008, costing 479 GBP body alone, 529 GBP with the 14-42mm or 629 GBP with both the 14-42mm and 40-150mm kit lenses. The Zuiko Digital 9-18mm will go on sale in September 2008, but no pricing is available yet. Check out our Olympus E-520 preview to see how it measures-up against its rivals.

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Buy.com: 4 Pack - Speck See-Thru Sleek Hardshell Case for iPhone $6 shipped

Buy.com: 4 Pack - Speck See-Thru Sleek Hardshell Case for iPhone $6 shipped

Skype surveillance: You can't trust closed-source software

It has been widely reported now that apparently Skype is helping Chinese authorities monitor the Internet. Specifically, TOM-Skype - a joint-venture between eBay and a Chinese provider - is searching IM messages for 'suspicious' words and then sends ... (more in the full post)
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Skype surveillance: You can't trust closed-source software

It has been widely reported now that apparently Skype is helping Chinese authorities monitor the Internet. Specifically, TOM-Skype - a joint-venture between eBay and a Chinese provider - is searching IM messages for 'suspicious' words and then sends ... (more in the full post)
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Eddie Bauer: 20% off

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Abes Of Maine: TOMTOM GO 730 GPS Navigation System $360 shipped

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Canon Lowers Price on EOS 40D, Rebel XS, SD770 and SD790 IS Digital Cameras

Canon has today announced price reductions on two of their digital SLR cameras, the popular 10.1MP Canon EOS 40D and the new 10MP Canon EOS Rebel XS. The price has been reduced on both the EOS 40D body and the Rebel XS body and also on the respective available body with Canon lens kits. Two other Canon cameras that have been reduced in price include the compact Canon Powershot SD770 IS and the Canon Powershot SD790 IS. See full story... Read More

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ28 with 18x zoom

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ28 with 18x zoom
Panasonic has today introduced the 10.1-megapixel Lumix DMC-FZ28 digital camera, featuring a 27mm wide-angle Leica lens with an 18x optical zoom (27mm-486mm). The powerful 18x zoom lens makes it easy to pull in subjects from far away or to take dramatic close-ups. See full story...

WMV - the little format killed by neglect.

WMV - the little format killed by neglect.
Over the last 2 or so years I have witnessed the slow demise of yet another format that saw Microsoft no doubt spend millions on developing. Windows Media Video (WMV) has been a relatively safe format to deliver video content to users as it offered good compression along with pretty much guaranteed compatibilty. Doing post production myself I often have to email a quick proof and would generally use WMV. It worked. It Played - as long as the person recieving it had a PC.
Yet Redmond, with it's infinite wisdom, decided to kill Mac support in early 2006 and then leave it to a 3rd party to continue offering playback support, via Flip4Mac. No DRM support but 99% of WMV content plays. It does the job. Of course the irony is it now plays in Quicktime, and not the ugly Windows Media Player for Mac.

Here's a post from a zdnet blog post on the discontiunueing of WMPlayer for OS-X:


....the decision to halt work on Windows Media Player for the Mac was a matter of prioritizing for Microsoft's Windows Media unit.

"It's basically a business decision for Microsoft," Anderson said. "Like any other company, we have business priorities. Our focus really is in delivering the best experience to Windows customers."

Sure. You want to keep it real. Microsoft has an operating system and want it to be a feature to support playback of your awesome video format. Everyone else can go screw themselves.

But seriously, do they really think a format they hope would displace the original AVI container format (and possibly Quicktime), can really win if it doesn't work everywhere. I'd argue making sure it's as ubiquitous as it can be is one of the main selling points. That means it must be platform agnostic. It's worked for PDF, MP3 - it could have worked for WMV.

 

Windows Media Page @ Microsoft - Circa 2002
A clipping of Microsofts Windows Media page in 2002

 

Via iTunes on Windows, Apple has managed to slip Quicktime on nearly every windows computer - and via that promoted (for better or for worse) it's other Windows applicaitions. Microsoft could have had this same 'in' on Mac's and Linux machines but for sake of "delivering the best experience for Windows Customers" it doesn't.

Of course hindsight is a great thing, and even in 2006 I don't think we could gaurantee that DiVX/XViD/MPEG4 would become the default format of video distribution on the internet and the widespread adoption of Bittorent for media sharing. Heck - we could be downloading files with the RV/RMVB extension now instead - or even *gasp* WMV - but we don't - it's all AVI. Fine AVI a orginally a Microsoft format but I don't think you could say its in anyway controlled or even promoted by Redmond.

But this isn't the only format that Microsoft is killing by it's pigheadedness - lets not forget MODI - Microsoft Office Document Imaging - MODI was introduced and installed by default in Office 2003 but was dropped by Office 2007 - it was a format that could have competed with the functionality of PDF but because Microsoft kept the format proprietry and only offered supported for it within that install it never went anywhere. The legacy of MODI is still around - anyone upgrading to 2007 or still just using Office 2003 will find an extra printer installed - a printer they neither really chose to install, explained to what it did and I gaurantee will ever use. The technology did eventually end up becaming part of Metro and then finally XPS, which on top of being a file distribution format is the foundation of Vista's printing subsystem.

This is of course a direct copy of OS-X's Postscript based printing subsystem - which is also the basis of PDF. Postscript & PDF are the industry standard for printing - on all platforms. Because of this ubiqutousness, one things for sure - XPS will never truely offset PDFs domince. Everyone can open files in the PDF format. The same can't be said for XPS - as of writing, and 2 years since it's launch, I could only spot 1 application that lets you view/edit XPS on a Mac and is a bargin at $US99 (not) and no support at all for Linux. Not a good way to get people onboard you're awesome new format MS.

Microsoft is the king of failed formats.

 

P.S. One last bitch -
Of course with the eventual failure of MODI/XPS, it would be good to see implementing system wide PDF support in Vista. I doubt that will ever happen though. Instead every man and his dog will continue to have to go off to Adobe.com and download Acrobat reader - giving another company an 'in' to the Microsoft system. I'm not condoning anti competitive behaviour, more that if Microsoft had much interest in improving the end user experience and if everyone has to install PDF support - then shouldn't it be on the list of needed features in Windows 7?


SQL DB? No firewall? Weak admin password? That is a trojan coming your way alright

SQL DB? No firewall? Weak admin password? That is a trojan coming your way alright
According to the Symantec Security Response Blog, a new trojan called Trojan.Eskiuel is going around infiltrating SQL servers and causing havoc:


This time we have found a new SQL threat: Trojan.Eskiuel. The main functionality of this threat is to scan the Internet to find machines with poorly configured SQL servers (i.e. with weak or non-existing passwords), gain access to them, and use their stored procedures in order to download new malware from a remote host.


Check your servers...

Samsung Le 40F86B Tv

Samsung Le 40F86B Tv
The Samsung LE40F86B 40 1080p HD Ready LCD TV is one of the latest additions to Samsungs range of

Monday, September 29, 2008

Buying a Digital Camera - Work the Controls Before Buying

Comparing digital cameras to buy? Familiarize yourself with the controls before making a decision. Read More

Pentax K200D First Look and Sample Images

We have had the opportunity to take a closer look at the recently announced Pentax K200D, a replacement to the Pentax K100D entry level digital SLR. The K200D is designed for users who may be unfamiliar with DSLR cameras but want a camera that will allow them to grow as they learn about photography. With 10.2 megapixels and a 2.7 inch wide view LCD, the Pentax K200D features an easy-to-use interface housed in a compact (now weather protected) body. See full story... Read More

Google Chrome - View Browsing History

View the list of websites recently browsed with Google Chrome.

Want to view the most recently-viewed websites browsed with Google Chrome? Pull up the History and see where you have been on the Internet. Each History item is hyperlinked so you can go back to sites with one click. Plus, you can search through your History items to find a particular site.

To view the History, either:...

Read more at MalekTips. Read More

Fujifilm: EXR-equipped camera coming in Q1 2009

Fujifilm: EXR-equipped camera coming in Q1 2009
Fuji's new Super CCD EXR technology has only been public for a day, but this potentially revolutionary technology may soon be coming to a FinePix near you.

Bluetooth-Headset and USB stick combo

Bluetooth-Headset and USB stick combo
Some two-in-one gadgets just don't gel (the microwave TV springs to mind) but others like the Bluetrek “Bizz” Bluetooth-Headset make perfect sense. The device is a headset for making hands-free phone calls that also integrates a USB stick for storing data as well as removing the need for a separate charger...

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Canon Announces 10MP PowerShot SD890 IS, SD790 IS and SD770 IS

Canon Announces 10MP PowerShot SD890 IS, SD790 IS and SD770 IS
Canon has announced three new 10 megapixel compact PowerShot digital cameras, the SD890 IS, the PowerShot SD790 IS and the SD770 IS. The Canon PowerShot SD890 IS features a rounded curve design incorporating a 5x image stabilized lens, optical viewfinder, and a 2.5 inch LCD. The more square PowerShot SD790 IS trades the optical viewfinder away to make room for a larger 3.0 inch LCD monitor, and features a 3x optical zoom with IS. The PowerShot SD770 IS offers a 3x optical zoom with stabilizer, an optical viewfinder and a 2.5 inch PureColor LCD II screen.. See full story...

ePHOTOzine member launches second book

After the praise received for The Dream Enclosure, Victor Habbick releases La Femme, a book all about the female form. Read More

Canon EOS 1000D / Rebel XS - full review and video tour

Canon EOS 1000D / Rebel XS - full review and video tour
Canon's EOS 1000D, or Rebel XS as it's known in North America, is the company's latest entry-level DSLR, and successor to the best-selling EOS 400D / Rebel XTi. The new 1000D / XS shares the same 10 Megapixel CMOS sensor as its predecessor and also the same sized 2.5in screen, but now adds Live View and comes bundled with an Image Stabilised kit lens. Interestingly some specifications have actually been downgraded a little: the AF system now has 7-points to the 400D / XTi's 9-points, and the 3fps continuous shooting rate now only applies to JPEG files. But the core specification of 10 Megapixels, Live View and a lens with anti-shake at an affordable price will greatly appeal to anyone in the market for a budget DSLR. Find out how Canon's latest DSLR compares against others in the range and key rivals in our EOS 1000D / XS review, and as always you can see the highlights in our EOS 1000D / XS video tour.

Suzuki unveils new GSX-R1000 superbike and Gladius 650 naked in Paris

Suzuki unveils new GSX-R1000 superbike and Gladius 650 naked in Paris
Suzuki has given us our first glimpse at a completely redesigned GSX-R1000 for 2009. With very similar looks to last year's model, it's a completely new bike with a new, more powerful shorter-stroke 1000cc engine that's nearly 6cm more compact than last year's from front to back. Thanks to the new engine, the bike's overall wheelbase has been reduced by 1cm and the swingarm has been lengthened for better suspension performance. The Japanese motorcycle giant also unveiled a brand new nakedbike featuring a revised SV650 v-twin engine. Suzuki hasn't announced whether the Gladius will replace the SV650 or whether the 2 v-twin middleweight nakeds will sell side by side...

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