tech, news, productivity, views and stuff
Digital Photography Review has posted a review of the Nikon Coolpix P5100 and it didn’t go down well with the reviewer.
Ultimately, for us, the P5100 was a disappointment, but not a surprise.
I really like the Digital Photography Reviews as they are so thorough including sample and comparative shots, if you want to get a camera, I would check the review on Digital Photography Review first before anywhere else.
Recently I have been having a few issues with the connectivity of my Airport Express base station.
I have had to power cycle the base station a couple of times now, as the wireless network just seemed to stop working.
My Airport Express is quite old now, I bought it when it was first released and on the Apple Discussion Forums there have been quite a few people who have had issues with their Airport Express units “dying”.
I am not sure why I am losing connectivity, there doesn’t seem to be a pattern.
I am not too worried as I have a spare wireless base station or two hanging around, it’s more the hassle of reconfiguring the wireless network and all the clients.
When checking to see if something works, one of the first things you should do is check that all the cables are plugged in…
There was me thinking my EyeHome had died, the reality was that I had previously unplugged all the cables (except the power cable) in preparation for changing my under-television configuration.
It’s looking like my EyeHome media streamer has stopped working (again).
The last time it stopped working it was the power supply, which was replaced. I have no idea what the problem is this time. The standby light is on, but the green light fails to come on when I use the remote to power it up!
Trouble is that Elgato no longer make the EyeHome and I don’t think that the new(ish) Apple TV will connect to my (not so) old television without spending extra on expensive cables.
There goes my plans for using my new Airport Extreme.
Updating the wireless driver on my HP TC1100 seems to have done the trick. I have maintained a wireless connection for ages now without it dropping.
If you are having wireless connectivity issues and you have an Intel 2200BG adapter, check to see if there are new drivers as this could make a big difference, it did for me.
Appleinsider are rumouring that Apple will be releasing a sub-notebook at MacWorld in January.
The 13-inch portable, which AppleInsider first detailed back in February, will mark the Cupertino-based Mac maker’s re-entry into the sub-notebook market — arriving in a form-factor that’s approximately 50 percent lighter and strikingly slimmer than the company’s current 15-inch professional MacBook Pro offering.
I am quite disappointed if this is going to be the form factor.
I would really like a 10″ model, I have always liked the Sony VAIO 10″ models and would really like to see something similar running OS X.
Oh a touchscreen would be nice as well.
According to the Guardian, there is a conference next week in which scientists will be discussing how best to achieve warp speed.
Captain Kirk and his crew may someday be followed on their travels across the universe at warp speed by the rest of us. If scientists meeting for a one-day international conference next week have their way, the starship Enterprise’s warp drive will no longer be the stuff of science fiction but a viable means of travelling vast distances at faster than the speed of light.
Really?
I have been using my old HP TC1100 Tablet PC recently and was very annoyed with the wireless connection which would drop on a regular basis.
Knowing that there was nothing wrong with my wireless network, I put it down to the wireless flakiness of Windows XP, but wasn’t entirely satisfied with that.
I then wondered if there was a driver update for the wireless adapter, so I ran Windows Update.
After taking an eternity to download Windows Genuine Advantage and other updates I finally got round to downloading the wireless adapter update.
So far so good, no dropped connections.
Here are some of the digital video tools I use.
Part of the iLife suite which comes pre-installed on every Mac. It is a quick and easy video editing application.
I have not used the latest version (part of iLife ’08) however it should be noted that this new version has a very different workflow compared to previous versions.
iMovie ’08 makes viewing and working with video as intuitive as enjoying your photos. A built-in library automatically organises your video, so all the clips you’ve captured and movies you’ve created are just a click away. With its revolutionary interface, iMovie makes it quick and easy to browse your library and create new movies. And iMovie is built for sharing. In just a few steps, you can add movies to your website, publish them on YouTube, and create versions for iPod and Apple TV.
I also like Keynote which is the Mac presentation software, presentations can be saved as movies or can even be sent direct to YouTube.
I have used Final Cut Express, but for quick videos I prefer the simplicity of iMovie.
This is part of Windows XP (and Windows Vista) which allows simple video editing.
With Windows Movie Maker, you can use your computer to create and edit home movies with a few simple drag-and-drop moves. Then you can share your movies through the web, e-mail, your computer, or CD.
Generally I use this only if I don’t have access to my Mac, or the files are all in WMV format.
Exporting can be somewhat slow.
An excellent tool for converting video into various different formats, very useful if converting video for mobile devices and Windows PCs, note this is Mac software.
VisualHub bridges the gap between numerous complicated video formatting standards, and people that just want to get the job done.
Primarily a DVD burning application, it also have video conversion functionality.
Online video conversion tool that doesn’t require you to install anything. I have also been recommended zamzar.com, however due to the plethora of pop-ups and the fact you have to give an e-mail address means that I for one would not use it.
The infamous video website that allows users to upload and share their video.
I recently replaced my older HP PhotoSmart 6″x 4″ printer with a new model.
The HP A618 PhotoSmart Printer is slightly bigger than my previous model, but it can print up to 7″x 5″ as well as the standard 6″x 4″.
It comes with integrated Bluetooth which is useful for printing from a mobile phone and from a computer, avoids the need to find that USB cable.
It doesn’t come with a battery, which is an optional extra, but I will be getting a battery, as I found that really useful on my older printer.
The quality is excellent and I am certainly impressed with the quality of the prints.
When it comes to printing photographs, I know I could use my Canon MP600r, but personally I have found it much easier to use a dedicated photo printer such as the A618. Not only is it quicker and easier especially in terms of setup, and choosing the right paper, the fact you can just plug in your camera or the camera’s memory card avoids many of the problems that I have had when printing photographs from my regular printer.