Let's play some Tetris, mother******

A compilation.

Trolololololo

In case you missed it, this is a clip from the Jimmy Kimmel Live show that aired after this year's Oscars. It's a parody of a recent viral video, which I'll embed below...

Dicapac Waterproof Camera Case

Back when I was checking the prices of the ZS3 with Google for price drops, I would always see underwater cases listed. Of course, their prices being almost as much as the camera itself (and now with the camera's prices having dropped, they cost more than the camera) meant that I would never consider them. I would rather just buy a waterproof camera than have to deal with the extra hassle.

However, recently I decided to see if there were cheaper alternatives, and found the Korean-made Dicapac. They're not so much camera "cases" as they are camera "bags." But they are waterproof (up to 10m/33ft), and much more affordable, so I decided to give it a try.

The bag is quite a bit bigger than the camera, but it was basically designed to work with almost all compact ultra-zoom cameras, rather than for one model specifically, which I'm sure also factors into the lower price. With exception of the mode dial, the camera's buttons are fairly easy to operate, but of course more difficult than if the camera wasn't in the bag. The camera's flash is partially blocked by the lens enclosure, but this will most likely be used mostly in the daytime, so probably won't be an issue. For recording video, audio will be somewhat muffled, which is hardly a surprise--you're basically wrapping the microphone inside a bag.

Moonshot

As previously mentioned, I got a new camera. And with the full moon tonight, it's the perfect time for another moon photography test.

The first picture was taken with my new camera, while the second picture with my previous camera, taken last year. The pictures were cropped to 1600x1200 to keep the original size while getting rid of some unnecessary blank space. I should probably adjust the focus settings for a clearer shot next time.

Edit: Took a few more pics after the aforementioned adjustments. Much clearer:

Class 10

So last month I bought this new "Class 10" SDHC card by Patriot Memory... "Class 10" means that it's supposed to have a minimum sustained write speed of 10MB/s. Unfortunately, it didn't perform like a "Class 10" card, so I had to contact Patriot Memory to get a replacement. The replacement arrived today, and so far, it seems to work fine for the most part, although my camera still starts up slower with this card than my other cards.

Camera focal length comparison

A quick comparison of how wide-angle compares to regular cameras. Shot from the same spot, from left to right, is your (equivalent) standard 35mm, to a wider 28mm, to an even wider 25mm.

I've commented on the benefits of wide angle before, but perhaps an actual photo might make a better point...

I took this picture standing at the very edge of the corner of the room, not able to back up any further, and was barely able to squeeze everyone into the picture. This was with my 28mm camera. That means none of the standard 35mm cameras would have been able to get everyone in the shot, while it would have been much easier if my camera was 25mm.

New camera time!

So FedEx delivered my new camera today. I'd been waiting to get this for almost a year, but I had been holding off for the price to drop low enough. It's the Panasonic DMC-ZS3 (known as the TZ7 outside of the US), which is two generations newer than my previous camera, the DMC-TZ3.

It's still got some very similar physical aesthetics, although it's a bit smaller now, while Panasonic has succeeded into making the angle both wider and longer, from 28-280mm to 25-300mm. Of course there's also the increase of image size, up to 10.1 megapixels, and better video quality. There are many other changes that I'm excited about for this camera, which remains the top of its "compact ultrazoom" class in digital photography reviews, although I'm sure Panasonic will announce their next generation replacement before or at the upcoming Photo Marketing Association trade show.


For my own edification, this is my current history of digital camera purchases:

Jan. 2010 - Panasonic DMC-ZS3 (10.1 megapixels)
Jan. 2008 - Panasonic DMC-TZ3 (7.2 megapixels)
Nov. 2005 - Konica Minolta DiMAGE X50 (5.0 megapixels)
Dec. 2003 - Panasonic DMC-FZ1 (2.0 megapixels)
~May 2000 - Olympus D-460 (1.3 megapixels)

A wingman I can wear

Last night, CBS aired the 100th episode of How I Met Your Mother, which involved Stacy Keibler as a new bartender at the gang's local bar, who hates men in suits, causing Barney to choose between her and his suits... The episode also featured Rachel Bilson, looking cute as always.

'Tis the season for new toys

So I bought the "new"* Jawbone Prime...

*Jawbone Prime, the third iteration of Aliph's Bluetooth headset with noise-canceling technology, was released seven months ago, while the second iteration was released last year, and the first a year prior to that, so at this point, Prime is likely to become the older version in five months, making its "new" status somewhat dubious.

There are several reasons why I decided to retire my Jawbone I.

1. The ear loop kept on breaking. Now, because the original Jawbone I bought broke on the first day and Aliph sent me a replacement, I had twice as many sets of ear loops as one would normally have. But even those supplies are running low.
2. The noise-canceling functions of the replacement doesn't seem to work as well as the original I bought. This was most likely a quality control issue, but based on my phone conversations with other people on both headsets, it seems most people still heard the noise in the background with the replacement unit, whereas with the original I bought, most background noise were not audible.
3. The Bluetooth connection between JB1 and my phone has recently been dropping and reconnecting. Although infrequent, it has still happened enough times for me to take notice, and each time the phone was less than a quarter inch away from the headset.
4. The price of the Jawbone Prime has been lowered enough online that it's within a range that I can accept. There's no way I would spend the full price of $130 (+possible shipping and/or tax) for a Bluetooth headset.
   

All of which contributed to my decision. As you can see, JB Prime is significantly smaller than JB1. That's not saying much, however, as JB1 was massive. Aesthetically, it's also a slight improvement, though I'm still of the apparently minority opinion that it's an ugly piece of hardware.

More importantly, Aliph has added the function of reducing wind noise to the unit, something sorely missing in the first two versions (though I hear that foam windscreens work much better). One also hopes that they've improved upon their noise-canceling technology, and reviews I've read suggest that while it wasn't true of JB2, it is with Prime.

Having learned their lesson regarding the charger being too tight and causing damage to many Jawbone units, the new proprietary charger uses magnets, and retains the ability to connect to an USB port for charging purposes. Still, many people suggest that a standard USB to mini-USB cable would have been much better and more convenient.

Prime now gives you many more ear gel options than JB1 (don't know how it compares to JB2), and the new ear gels are much softer, and thus more capable to providing a more comfortable fit. My ears are somewhat sensitive, and still itches slightly after prolonged wear, so your mileage may vary on this particular front.

Aliph claims to have an 8-day standby time battery life, and since I only just received the new unit in the mail on Thursday afternoon, I'll have to wait a few more days to see if it lives up to that claim.


Edit: Well, that was quick. I just noticed at around 1:00PM today that the battery indicator was now blinking red, and that was the first time I checked it after waking up. Who knows how long it had been doing that? At any rate, that means the standby time is actually less than 3 days... and I'm a very light phone user. I guess I shouldn't have expected much from a smaller headset when the much larger Jawbone could only be on standby for less than 5 days...

Edit 2: I did a bit of searching regarding Jawbone Prime's typical battery life, and found Aliph's tech saying that if it's using multipoint (meaning if it's paired to multiple devices--Jawbone Prime can be paired with up to 8 to switch between, and active on 2 simultaneously), and you accidentally press the "talk" button, you may cause it to look for other paired devices, which would drain the battery. I did try to pair it with other things (my laptop, the PS3), just to test out that function, so as per their recommendation, I performed a reset on the Jawbone Prime, and this time the battery lasted about 5 days, with some very light usage. Much better.

Jillian

CHUCK LORRE PRODUCTIONS, #270

Jillian had a urinary tract infection... again.

That sentence appeared in my head a few days ago, just as you see it above. I have no idea what it means, other than the obvious, and I don't know anyone named Jillian. Regardless, I thought it'd be interesting to begin a vanity card with it and just see where it goes.

Jillian had a urinary tract infection... again. Her doctor liked to abbreviate the condition to UTI. She liked to abbreviate it to TMH - Too Much Humping. Regardless, the road back to vaginal happiness was always the same: cranberry juice and abstinence. Thankfully, her boyfriend, Dudley, was always very understanding. He'd just smile, hold her in his arms and say, "Well, babe, when one door closes, another one opens up." She'd always giggle and blush when he'd say that, but deep down she wished she had the courage to cover his mouth and nose with a chloroform-soaked rag, and then, while he was unconscious, snip off his testicles with the little scissors she uses to groom her schnauzer.

All of which explains why the next sentence popped into my head recently.

Nobody sang Bee Gees songs on karaoke night like Dudley.

You just got slapped... across the face my friend

You just got slapped. Yes, that really just happened.
Everybody saw it. Everybody laughed and clapped.
'Cause it was awesome the way you just got slapped.


A fake commercial from the TV show How I Met Your Mother...

V

ABC began airing their remake of "V" this week. I was just a little kid in Taiwan when the original aired, and I don't think I've ever watched its reruns after I came to the US, although I'm pretty sure I've watched some of it when they aired it in Taiwan.

I don't remember much of the original series, aside from the basics--Reptilian aliens arrive on earth, disguised to look like humans, with peaceful pretenses, but have sinister plans. Over time, there are some alien/human couples. I remember one scene where, after a kid spray-painted graffiti on a wall, an old man took his spray paint and made a "V," saying it's for "Victory."

I've downloaded the first two V miniseries, guess I'll be watching it over the weekends, for nostalgia's sake.

Joey Yung??

So I tried this celebrity look-alike morph thing, and the closest they got for me is Joey Yung? Hmm.

Two Whedon references in one

On tonight's Halloween episode of Castle, there were at least two references to former Joss Whedon shows.

First, we see Nathan Fillion's title character dress up in full Captain Mal Reynolds browncoat wardrobe, declaring to his daughter that he's a "space cowboy," exactly what what people would have consider Mal to be. And his daughter replies, "Didn't you wear that, like, five years ago?" (After her comment about there being no cows in space, of course.)

A fun little ribbing at the last time he donned the getup for the filming of Serenity, the movie followup to canned TV series Firefly. (The Halloween theme was the perfect chance for Firefly fans to see Nathan Fillion as Mal Reynolds again, so why not?)

Then, with the episode having to deal with vampires... or at least people who like to dress up like vampires, it was the perfect opportunity to get in a Buffy reference, which Castle did upon seeing a man with a stake rammed through his heart.


...There might have been a reference to Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, as well, what with Castle mock laughing as a mad scientist, but as I have not watched it, I cannot comment.

Who has ever used Windows 2?

So, Microsoft's latest operating system, Windows 7, was officially released yesterday. And Apple was quick on its heels to release its latest Windows-bashing commercial.

In it, John Hodgman, portraying "PC," is seen claiming over and over again about a new iteration of Windows would be better than its previous version, starting, of course, with Windows 7, to Windows Vista, Windows XP, Window Me, Windows 98, Windows 95, and finally, Windows 2.

Windows 2?? WTF? Why didn't they just go with what everyone actually used, namely Windows 3.1? Nobody used Windows 2... at least, not the general public. I was using computers before Windows 3.0 was released, and I never used Windows 2--I was using DOS 4.0 at the time.

And it's almost a certainty that, of the few people who did use Windows 2, none of them would have upgraded their computers from Windows 2 to Windows 95--whatever hardware was running Windows 2 could never be powerful enough for Windows 95.


Please, someone tell me, why did Apple decide to use Windows 2 instead of Windows 3?