Since I’ve been a lazy bum and not updating the blog, I figured it’s time to get it rolling again. I got the photo gallery completed and ready to go. I’ll be uploading photos in large batches on a weekly basis. I’m starting with some of my older photography, and I’ll move towards the more recent shots.
Full resolution of each photo is available, but you’ll have to email me for copies.
I had a couple of great days to take some good photos. My wife finally took control of the Canon this time around, and she wanted me to be sure to inform the readers that “it’s the most amazing camera she’s ever owned.” I think she likes it.
Here’s some of the shots from yesterday’s outdoor adventure. Click the pictures for full resolution (15mp) images.
Focal: 55mm, Aperture f/5.6, Shutter 1/500, ISO 1600
47mm, Aperture f/5.6, Shutter 1/640, ISO 160
43mm, Aperture f/5.0, Shutter 1/640, ISO 250
Cropped View of a wasp that tried to eat me. Click to open cropped high-res image.
Read the Pre-Review first if you want my initial thoughts about this camera.
I’ve been using the Canon T1i extensively over the past week. At first, I was having a hard time taking decent shots due to lousy weather conditions, but it was a beautiful day today and I finally had a chance to really get down and dirty with the T1i. Pretty pictures at the bottom.
Some things to note: I am not a professional photographer, but am a photo hobbyist/enthusiast. The T1i is designed for someone in my category, so this may be a good thing. My previous Digital SLR was a Minolta Maxxum 5D 6.1mp, so you may see me comparing the two cameras on a few points. Also, I read the Canon T1i manual from cover to cover, so I would be well prepared to go over every aspect of this camera and make sure I am using it properly before thinking about reviewing it.
I strongly recommend reading dpreview.com’s first look at the T1i to get a really good idea of how the camera looks and it’s capabilities. While they don’t have a hands-on review at the time of this writing, they have a great rundown of every part of the camera. EDIT: I found that they do in fact have some sample photos of their own, viewable here: http://www.dpreview.com/previews/canoneos500d/page13.asp
So let’s get to it.
EDIT: See note at bottom
I recently purchased Canon’s latest Digital SLR, the Canon T1i. After i give it a heavy workout, I’ll post a full review here in the next day or two. So far I’m loving this camera, and it has definitely lived up to my expectations. I took it out yesterday for some test shots, but the conditions were pretty frustrating to get decent photos. The area had overcast clouds, and the sun kept coming and going. I’d get the shutter and aperature set, and then the lighting would change, making it tough to get the settings where I wanted them.
Here's a shot from yesterday's test run. Not the greatest since there's little color and it was incredibly windy (blurred slightly), but you can still check out the resolution. Click for a full 15 megapixel view.
My next post will be a dedicated page with full resolution photos as well as the review. Stay tuned!
EDIT: I took extensive photos yesterday, but we were having 30 to 40 mile-per-hour winds, which made the conditions even worse than the day before. No matter how hard I tried to keep the camera steady, I had to fight the wind blowing my target subject, my camera (even on the tripod), and myself. These pictures do not do the camera justice, as they appear blurred when it wasn’t the camera’s fault.
Here’s a good sample – this bee was blowing around so much that it was nearly impossible to get a focused shot. I’m also including a half-resolution cloud shot to show the contrasting of the sensor.
Click for full resolution image
Half-resolution clouds - Contrast Example
Today is supposed to be a relatively calm day with no clouds, so I’ll try to get some better shots to show. If you have any requests of shot types you’d like to see, let me know and I’ll see what I can do on my next photo shoot.
At my old job, we did whatever it took to save the company money, and this ended up as extra cash in the employees’ pockets in the form of bonuses. One way we saved thousands of dollars was to set up a Linux server, and kept our Windows 2003 server simply for file storage. We installed open source software such as GIMP and Inkscape on ten workstations, and in the end, it saved us over $14,000 for the first year.
You could literally save over $7000 per new employee or software upgrades by utilizing open source software. This isn’t including a Linux operating system. I realize that it is difficult to integrate Linux into the mainstream operations of a business since few people know how to utilize it (or are simply afraid of it), but there is other software that could still save thousands for a company.
In this economy, I would figure that companies would swoon over the idea of free software versus spending thousands of dollars. If you are such a company or just an everyday computer user, then you should check out this excellent list of free software alternatives.
http://www.nothingbutsoftware.com/blog/2008/11/8-linux-apps-to-save-you-money/
I know the link above mentions that this is all Linux software, but many of these programs have Windows versions as well (Gimp, Blender, and OpenOffice are a few good examples). I have personally tried most of the software in that list, and can say they are downright awesome. The average person who uses Photoshop can find GIMP to be just as powerful, and free. Now you don’t need to pirate…er…buy Photoshop if you’re doing basic to moderate photo editing.
Also, check out this rocking site: http://www.osalt.com/
You can find free alternatives to almost any program out there, for both Windows and Linux alike.
Save a few bucks during these bad times — it may be good for your sanity. Now to work on an open-source oil product…
Honestly, I think both sides of the political spectrum have it wrong (one side blaming the other and ignoring the facts). However, after watching this video, I do have to question the decisions of the Democrats back in 2004 to ignore the corruption going on at Freddie Mac. The Republicans request to have more regulations imposed on Freddie Mac due to corruption, and the Democrats promptly claim the Repubs are nitpicking.
Democrats claim there is nothing wrong with Freddie Mac, 2004
No, I’m not a registered Republican. I’m a registered Independent. It’s crap like this that keeps me independent. You see it on both sides — there is corruption in both parties. I admit that I probably do lean more to a moderate-right stance on most topics, but both parties royally piss me off. How do the Democrats explain this, anyway? You can read the Youtube comments, and there are still hard-core political left-wingers who defend this. How can you defend this with an honest face?
Some of you may recall that a few months ago, I posted naked pictures of Tasha on the forums.
For those of you reading this blog who are unfamiliar with Tasha, she is an AI script that I wrote for Starsiege Tribes. She answers questions, talks about different things, insults people, and even plays the game. The problem is that most of the younger kids who play on my server only talk to Tasha about one thing — Sex. It would figure, though. Seems to be the sort of mentality you get in online games.
I decided to make these kids happy by posting nude pictures of Tasha here on DeadTaco.com in all her glory. She isn’t wearing ANY clothes, and she has some very dark skin. These pictures will be familiar to the Forums crowd. I am reposting them for the newer tribes players who need naked pictures of the chick they are talking to in the game. Click the pics to enlarge them. Enjoy.
Oh baby, she's hot! I mean this literally. She's running two massive heat-reducing fans just to keep her cool!
She doesn't love long walks on the beach (she has no legs), she hates talking on the phone (there's an ear issue), and she loves cake. You should see her in lingerie.
If you want to talk to a very old version of Tasha, just click here.
I was just reading about a fairly amazing development in GIMP. If you’re unfamiliar with GIMP, it is an open source graphical editing package similar to Adobe™ Photoshop. The biggest difference is that GIMP is free, and Photoshop is not. In comparison, however, Photoshop has always been more powerful with what it could do — especially its filters.
Well, it looks like that has changed. Now GIMP can use Photoshop filters. This is an awesome development, because this brings GIMP up a notch in the photo editing platform battle.
Read more about it here
I’ve become a fairly large advocate for Open Source software ever since I spent thousands upon thousands of dollars on software for our office, only to find out we could have saved a ton of money by looking at free alternatives. Open Office vs Microsoft Office, GIMP vs Photoshop, Citadel Groupware and Mail Server VS Microsoft Exchange server, Ubuntu Linux server VS Windows 2003 server, etc. I figure we could have saved over $15,000 over the last year if we had used the open source alternatives instead of the expensive, over-priced big-name software.
I suppose the biggest item on my wish list is something to compete with AutoDesk’s Civil 3d (Autocad 2008) software. The software is severely bloated, buggy as hell, and over priced. When you post to their support forums about the wide range of bugs in their latest version of Civil 3d, their answer is almost always “Just spend $2,000 per employee and upgrade to the new version.” A new version comes out each year…
Boring, yes, but there have been quite a few concerns about the new forums that I figured I’d respond to:
Agreed. I am going to be adding this. Unfortunately, this requires some programming so it may take a day or two.
I will be adding this to the very bottom of the forums. Again, this will take some programming to accomplish, so give it a few days. Remember, you can click the ‘View New Posts’ button at the top-right of the forums to see all new posts since your last login.
I may go back to the old blues and grays style that I had at the old forums, but they were getting a bit old. We’ll see. Hey, at least I added a nice, shiny Taco logo to the main forums page 
The migration was successful, but the way Suddenlaunch keeps their posts organized, the script only grabbed the first 20 topics in each forum category. Bummer…
This means quite a few posts were lost in the transition. This isn’t a big deal since the old forums are still available, but I was really hoping for a full conversion.
The lost posts also caused the number of post counts per person to drop quite a bit. If you have a ton of posts in the old forums, it will probably show you having a lot less now. This was unavoidable, and it sucks.
I am in the process of rewriting the conversion script to try and get the rest of the posts, but so far it isn’t looking too good.
All registered users were transferred over from the old forums, so you should be pre-registered here. However, your password was probably vaporized. You can tell the new forums to send you a new password for these forums if you’d like, or send me an email at thedeadtaco[at]gmail.com and I will reset your password for you (I need your full user name / login name from the other forums, though).
You can get to the new forums from the link to the right, or click here