Category — Technology

Well, the wait is finally over.  The age old question of “What’s Next” for Canon’s non-pro digital SLR lineup has finally been answered.  In a fairly odd way, I might add…

Behold, the Canon EOS 50D:

Canon EOS 50D

Canon is a leaky product company, and the 50D is no exception.  Apparently someone inadvertently put up a Chinese web page a few days early, only to have it taken down shortly after.  Then, a scant three days after the first blunder, test shots and product pictures started showing up on other web pages that disappeared fairly quickly.  What could Canon do but finally clean up the mess and make an official announcement?

Mistake or Marketing?  Who cares, as long as the product is real! And, this time, it is…

Here are the specs:

• 15.1 megapixel APS-C sized CMOS sensor (not a full frame…)
• DIGIC 4 image processor, up to ISO 12800 support
• 3.0-inch LCD with face detection Live View
• HDMI output
• 6.3fps burst mode
• same AF system found in Canon’s 40D with new Microadjustment feature

Apparently it will be ready for the holidays (shipping in October) for an estimated $1,599 with Canon’s EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM zoom lens and in a body-only package of $1,399.

Now that this is cleared up, how about something similar happening for the long rumored Canon EOS 7D? Apparently, it is supposed to be a full frame $1900 body-only beauty.

Rumored EOS 7D

Just when I thought it was safe to upgrade… *SIGH*  Still, $500 more for a full frame sensor MAY be worth the extra price and the wait.  The final specs will tell.

Too bad these other items seem to be going on the fritz at the same time:

• Our video camera
• Our main family room 65″ Mitsubishi Widescreen Television
• Our Logitech Harmony 880 Universal Remote that makes all of the techno magic happen with a single press of the button.

Oh, yeah, and I’m supposed to be building a new home office in one bay of my 3 car garage, buying new furniture for our master bedroom so that we can give our older stuff to my baby boy who is due late in October (just like the EOS 50D), AND resurface our pool after this summer season, because the plaster is falling apart right before our very eyes.

Just like me, when I think of all these things we have to pay for.

Oh well… To quote a good friend of mine: “It’s just money.  I can make more.”

**caps off the bravado with a sheepish grin**

Canon EOS, EOS 50D, EOS 7D

There is a lot of advice out there on how best to move your iTunes collection from your old PC to a new one.  This is the best way that I’ve found so far.

The only thing that I would add to the instructions is that you want to make sure to Deauthorize your old computer before you trash it, reformat or anything like that.  If you don’t, the songs that you have purchased from iTunes will always have a fantom “use” out there.  You can usually have Apple wipe them all out, but sometimes they can get finiky, so better to do the housekeeping now rather than having to fight with Apple later.

Happy moving!

iTunes, Moving Your Music Library

Wow, I can’t vouch for the validity of this post, but it certainly makes me question if Asus is the partner to trust.

Check out: 10 Secrets To Getting Better Tech Support From Asus

The sad part is that I don’t think this is so unusual when it comes to the PC market.  I typically do not even assume that I’ll ever be able to talk to a PC part manufacturer.  I count on them to make updates to thier BIOS, etc. but I never beleive I’ll get a response.

Perfect example of this - I bought a CoolerMaster Cosmos case for my last rig build, and it had a few challenges.  I contacted CoolerMaster several times, and have NEVER received a reply.

That’s just fracking sad.

And, trust me, Apple is no better, as many in the post comments mention.  I’m sure you’ve heard the stories of people trying to get iPod or iPhone repalcements.  Not fun!

Asus, Customer Service

If you develop web pages, and are at all concerned about consistency between FireFox and IE, you must read this post!

I have used the Web Developer plugin for FireFox for quite some time.  It is a lifesaver when you are developing web pages, as you can easily see all of the styles and markup that is being applied to a specific area of your page.  The problem is that it only works in FireFox, leaving IE out in the cold.  Since IE is the real pain in the rear when it comes to Web Dev, the lack of a similar tool has been a major PITA.

Well, a two hour witch hunt for an IE only CSS bug lead me to scour the net for something to make the pain go away!  The fix?

IE HTML Element Spy, an IE7 Add-On.  I LOVE THIS TOOL!!!

It works a little differently than Web Developer, but it really gets the job done.  I litterally spent the last 2 hours trying to debug a DIV that wouldn’t line up with the top of a page.  It was completely impossible to find out why - the thing worked fine in FireFox, but not IE.  Installing IE HTML Element Spy lead me right to the problem - a burried IE only CSS rule that put a 30px padding at the top of the sidebar.

Voila!  Problem solved.

So, 2 hours and not a single clue using my own powers of debugging versus 2 minutes and a fix with IE HTML Element Spy.  Which would you prefer?!  Yeah, me too!

Download that puppy now!

Frackin’ IE.

IE HTML Element Spy, IE CSS Bugs, CSS

Well, the title of this post isn’t really fair, as neither AT&T nor RIM have actually given a release date for the new Blackberry Bold.  BUT, according to sources over at Crackberry, its looking like an October release for the Bold on AT&T rather than the nebulous “end of summer” that has been floating around up until now.

AT&T has an exclusive on the phone in the States - whether the exlusive is a permanent thing or only until a certain date isn’t exactly clear.  Doesn’t really affect me either way, as I’m tied to AT&T for the forseeable future.

My reasons for wanting the Bold:

• GPS.  This was the one feature that I had been waiting for them to integrate into the Curve.  My patience ran out and I bought a Curve sans the GPS.  Literally, the day that my Curve arrived at my doorstep, RIM announced the Curve with the GPS.  I haven’t been quite sane since.
• 3G network.   Nice!  Internet speeds that make using a mobile device, well… useable.
• Wi-Fi.   Cool service.  Neat for a quick IMDB while being a couch potato.  I’d say it wasn’t necessary given the 3G network, but see my next comment for why it IS necessary.
• Cell service over Wi-Fi for when I’m in my office.  For those of you who haven’t heard me complain about this in the past, my office is otherwise known as the Bermuda Triangle of cellphone service.  One minute its there, the next minute its gone.  Five Bars!  No Bars!  Two Bars!  No Bars!  Not good for conducting buisness.
• Much faster processor means no waiting for Apps or email to open.
• New BB OS, with such “advanced” features as HTML email.
• The camera is supposed to be a bit better too.

Overall, its a very nice improvement from my current 1st generation Curve.  The Curve made a BlackBerry man out of me - I’d been loyal to my Treo for FAR too long.  I’m hoping the Bold continues the trend, if they ever release the darn thing.

Blackberry Bold, RIM

Not that many folks would ever need this, but I was doing a little surfing on how to stream media to my Wii (more on that later) and came across this really cool idea for keeping sensitive information hidden.  It involves using TrueCrypt and creating a hidden operating system on your PC.

I haven’t tried it yet but its just too James Bond-ish to not mention.  This adds one more check box on my journey to being a super-spy:

1. Sharpshooter.  Check!
2. Lots of gadgets.  Check! Could use more though…
3. Seeing/married to hot chick.  Check!
4. Crazy cool encryption technology.  Check!
5. Svelte and athletic.  Damn.  Not so much.
6. Wins at poker.  Frack.
7. Insanely fast and expensive car (helps with #’s 2 and 3 above).   Aw forget it!  Who wants to be a super spy anyway!  *sniff*

TrueCrypt, Hidden OS, James Bond

Here’s another esoteric tech tip that may help a soul or two who are currently ripping their hair out and cursing Asus with a fury.

If you have Asus’s P5N-D Motherboard, which is based on NVIDIA’s 750i chipset, and are getting a Blue Screen of Death referencing an NVGT.sys error on Windows XP, dispair not!  There is hope!

The problem is a crappy driver for the SATA drive controller, and as of yet, Asus (in their Heart Touching wisdom) has not fixed the problem.  The cure is simple though.

Surf on over to Nvidia.com and select Download Drivers.  Under Option 1 select:

Product Type: nForce
Product Series: 7 Series
Product: nForce 790i  (yes, the 790, NOT the 750)

and, the rest of the stuff that fits your needs.

For quick reference, the English XP version of the above download is here.

The long and the short of it is that you need to install the "Media Shield" portion of the 790i drivers on top of your 750 board.  DO NOT INSTALL EVERYTHING!  Just the Media Shield portion.

After doing that with my own P5N-D, I haven’t experienced a single BSOD.

Maybe Asus will fix this eventually, but I wasn’t going to suffer through the headache while they take their sweet time.  With the advent of the 790 chipset, I don’t expect them to be rushing to fix things on the older/cheaper set.

You can read more about this topic on the NVidia forums here.

Good luck!

NVGT.SYS, P5N-D, Asus motherboard, BSOD