So busy
cetan.org ran out of photos to show 2 days ago, and I just was able to upload a couple more. I'm closing in on 3 months behind on uploading photos to Nathan's photo album. My long-standing web-site design project is so dead it's probably turning into oil by now. Projects at home are piling up and up and up (what will it be like when yard work kicks back in this spring?).
And I have apparently turned this blog into "Rob complains about stuff." It was probably better when it was "Rob talks about obscure nerdy photography things." So, I'll combine the two:
A service advisory update from Canon included my A80 is their list of cameras that may warrant a free repair due to a faulty Sony CCD sensor inside. The behavior they describe is exactly the behavior that our camera has been exhibiting. (see: "Uh Oh")
This, of course, is the best time for the camera to function perfectly and without fault in any condition. Which is exactly what it has decided to do.
So, I'm holding a UPS shipping label (Canon's footing the bill both ways) and an apparently working camera (that has some serious body damage) wondering if its even worth being without a point and shoot over the holidays. In all likelihood the repair people will point to the body damage as the reason for the failure and reject the claim. (That is, unless they too want to screw Sony to the wall as they're the ones paying for all these faulty sensors, in which case go go Canon!)
If the claim is accepted, then I have a good chance of being offered a replacement camera in place of fixing the A80. Owners of the A70 were (I believe) being offered the A530 which isn't a bad trade for them. I don't see Canon offering more, but an A540 would be a nice alternative.
Counterfeit Sandisk Compact Flash Cards
Recently a flood of conterfeit Sandisk CF cards (Mostly Ultra II) have shown up in the marketplace. Ebay and fly-by-night web-shops are the biggest sources of these cards.
Many of the cards are well below the specified storage values (Cards advertised as 2GB actually are 1GB, etc.) The cards will often fail very quickly and take any images stored inside with them.
So, if you're in the market for CF cards and are looking at Sandisk, make sure you buy from someone like Amazon.com, B&H, or a local brick-and-mortar.
well fed
Backyard Growth - 2006
We had two stumps cut down and ground out when we had the trees trimmed earlier this year. Mushrooms love rotting wood, and this area is the mushroom equivalent of heaven.
Nathan Elliot Bernhard
It's astounding that in 9 short months, we have come so far. Welcome to the world little one...
October 15th, 2005
February 7th, 2006
June 30th, 2006
Corporate Green Space
The Quaker Oats company has a roof-top garden area on top of part of their building here in Chicago. It's only the second floor but it's open to the public and is a nice space. They didn't have to open it to the public, but they did.
They didn't have to hire a reggae band, but today they did.
They didn't have to provide free ice cream, but today they did.
It was mostly Quaker Oats employees there but there were others, such as my self, who just wandered over and were happy to find live music.
It's a little thing, it's not some big PR thing. There were not thousands of people there; there was no "sponsored by the Quaker Oats company" signs or flyers or anything. It wasn't even publicized (that I saw; maybe I missed it). A little corporate "here, have a nice lunch" to their employees that took place in a place they own but allow the public to use.
This is not something I could ever see my company doing. Since I started in 1999, the corporate culture has changed here dramatically. Fun is out; good will is out. Do your job, be thankful you have it, and don't make waves, replaced it. My company would never own green space let alone provide the public access to it.
So, cudos to the Quaker Oats company for providing me with a decent spot to eat my lunch. The music was a very nice bonus.
Wisconsin Getaway
As 
helloheather recently pointed out, we made our way into Wisconsin for a relaxing weekend. We stayed at a B&B in Port Washington, WI only a few blocks from Lake Michigan. On Sunday we visited the Milwaukee Art Museum
Overall it was a fun weekend. Port Washington is a nice little town along the lake. Thanks to a recommendation from emilissima we had a great dinner at The Pasta Shoppe. Unfortunately we didn't get to the coffee shop she also recommended, but that leaves something for our next visit.
We also spent time on Saturday in Cedarburg, WI (just south of Port Washington) which reminded both of us of Galena, IL. They were having some big festival on Sunday which we avoided because of the expected crowds and very hot and humid temps.
Monday found us in Elgin at my parents for a Memorial Day/Baby Shower. And speaking of showers, there were some pretty intense ones in the afternoon thanks to all that unstable air.
I'm starting to upload photos to our Gallery from this weekend. Aside from the museum, we also spent time walking out to the end of the breakwall to see the Port Washington lighthouse and I did some longer exposure evening/dusk photography along the lakefront on Sunday evening.
the circle of life
My drive to the train station takes me through a hawks' territory. I see him (or her) sitting atop a large utility pole along the same stretch of road nearly every morning. This morning was no exception (one of these days I will bring a camera along and try and grab a few shots; it's a magnificent creature.)
This morning, however, I noticed that two utility poles down, there was another shape on top. As I passed by I was able to see what it was: a rabbit. The hawk had caught a rabbit (and a good sized one at that) and had left it on top of the utility pole for later consumption (perhaps to take bits back to its young?) It was a bizarre sight, to say the least, seeing a rabbit up a 50 foot utility pole
new guests
A mother fox and her three young have taken up residence under the shed in our neighbors back yard. helloheather spotted them for the first time yesterday. I was able to get a few shots of them this evening after getting home. They're very skittish and were very much aware of my camera's shutter sound.
slowly struggling back up the curve
My main computer at home has fallen far, far behind the curve: A P-III 700MHz box with a ATA-66 card that's not actually supported by Windows , a sound card that stopped being supported before Windows 2000 was released (hurray for fans slamming together some drivers from old code), and a collection of bits and pieces of everything else.
So, some months ago, I received two DOA machines from my mother-in-law's office to do with as I please. Both are P-4 1.6GHz machines. The first one I looked at only had a dead 80GB WD drive (past warrenty) and so I set about making it my new computer. I figured I could use it, re-build the other one for a family member, and keep the 700MHz box as backup storage (it's already loaded with HD's so, why not?).
Well, as I'm a slacker in continual training, it's taken me a while to get all the software and hardware installed on this new box. I did end up settling on new HD's and will probably get a new video card at some point (the Nvidia TN2 that came with it is a bit weak, even for my non-gaming needs) but I should be set for a while. Photoshop runs faster, OpenOffice runs a lot better, and the machine doesn't bog down (as much) when I have ten Firefox tabs open.
But one thing I did notice was how slow the machine has become as more and more software has been installed, especially after Norton AntiVirus was transfered over. Frustrating, but inevitable I guess.
there was no lantern in the shed…
Last night, helloheather and I went to a talk at the CL Public Library. The topic was the architect Daniel Burnham who's most noted for designing and overseeing the construction of the 1893 Worlds Columbian Exposistion in Chicago (but whose accolades certainly do not start or end there).
Chicago has one of, if not the, greatest collection of architecture styles in the world. And this is due almost entirely to the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. While it destroyed over 18,000 buildings in just 3 days time, the fire granted the city a clean slate from which to design and rebuild.
As it turns out, the fire started at the corner of S. Jefferson St. and W De Koven St. which is just about 1.4 miles from work. I couldn't ask for a better excuse to go for a walk during lunch. And so, with the sun out and the temps at 40 deg F, off I went. What's there today, one might ask?
The Chicago Fire Department Academy, where new firefighters are trained.
click for a larger view
The sculpture marks the location where the fire started. Around back, I saw new firefighters being instructed on the use of ladders. It was a neat walk and is an excellent bit of history.
"This American Life" – soon, coming from NYC
"This American Life" the award-winning NPR show from WBEZ is moving to New York City so that they can work on the radio show and a new tv-version of the show for Showtime.
An interview with the show's creator and host is available through Gapers Block.
http://www.gapersblock.com/detour/talking_civic_pride_with_ira_glass/
He talks about the move and about peoples reactions to it. It's a very interesting interview.
And in a less-than-thinly-veiled-attempt-to-be-subtle, I've had a second photo selected for the Rearview section of Gapers Block:
http://www.gapersblock.com/rearview/archives/2006/02/23/
we miss out on all the fun.
Well the east coast got a ton 'o snow/fun this past weekend. If you live there: lucky you. The photos on Flickr with the tag "blizzard2006" are a lot of fun.
Super Bowl Sunday
I'm down in Atlanta this weekend, hanging out with my friends Andy (who lives here) and Joe (who's from the Chicago area). The temps have been decent (upper 40's) and so far it's been a relaxing time. We finished setting up the pool table room (mounting the stick holder to the wall, adding a dart board) and have been hanging out playing a little PS2.
With any luck, tomorrow we'll go to the worlds largest aquarium, The Georgia Aquarium. I'm really looking forward to that, as the GA has two whale sharks in the largest of the tanks, in addition to 500 other species of animals. Hopefully going tomorrow will mean a slightly smaller crowd than on the weekend.
Check out todays cetan.org post, and see if you can spot yours truly in the shot.