Tuesday 26 October 2010

Mobile Posting #20101026

If you're reading this then I'm horribly jealous of you. This is because in order to read this post you must have the internet, something I've been without for five days now. FIVE! That's an eternity in my world. Let me regale you all with the tale of how this all came to pass:

There's a company out the called TekSavvy Solutions who offer internet and telephone services and very competitive rates. However, since Rogers controls all of the cable lines, and Bell all the telephone lines, they are really just reselling those other companies services. The other companies are obliged by anti-monopoly laws to allow this. That said, there's nothing in the law books that says they need to be helpful about it, and companies like TekSavvy are, to an extent, at their mercy.

I had arranged that last Thursday my internet service with Rogers would terminate and I would be picking up service with TekSavvy. Rogers was quite punctual in cutting off my services with them, however the setup of my TekSavvy account is also handled by Rogers, and for some reason they haven't got around to it yet. Believe me, in this household you could cut the frustration with a knife.

There you have it folks. A gripping tale of terror just before Halloween.

In other, more exciting news, Gray, Susan, and I all participated in the CN Tower stair climb on Sunday. That was great fun! We were meeting the rest of the Computershare team at 9:00 that morning, and so we made our way to the subway around 8:00. Fun Toronto Travel Tip! Don Mills Station doesn't open on Sundays until 8:45. Write that down, it could be important someday. As it was raining quite steadily we were pretty wet by the time we got back here and jumped in the truck to drive down. Fortunately that was the only hiccup in the morning's adventure. It was still early enough in the day that Toronto's traffic was slumbering and we had a smooth drive down, managing to arrive on time despite the delay.

We met up with our team, got checked in, and lined up to get to the tower all very smoothly. In the end I was very impressed with how well organized the whole event was. Pretty technically impressive too; we were all given disposable bracelets with an electronic I'd tag in them. At the start of the stairs you passed your arm through a small scanner, the twin of which was that the top, and together they recorded the time it took you to climb. I was extremely happy with my time of 19:19 given that I'd been quoted half an hour as the average. My only regret is that Gray managed to post a time of 19:16, and I'm certain that I'll never live down this embarrassing loss.

It had been many years since I'd visited the CN Tower, and it was unfortunate that the weather was so poor; with all the rain and low cloud cover the view from the top was just a swirling sea of fog. Another Toronto Travel Tip! If you'd like to visit the CN Tower, ensure that you've got a few days in your trip that free so that you can afford to wait for clear weather to go up the tower. Also, visit in the summer so that actually stand a chance of getting the aforementioned good weather. A really nice, clear winter day might be interesting too, I may have to test that theory this winter.

Well my friends, with my computer deprived of an internet connection I'm typing this out on my mobile phone and my typing speed isn't particularly great. The time has come again for me to get to work. I hope you're all doing well, and I'll talk to you again next week.

Tuesday 19 October 2010

Show Me Your Camera

Hello there my friend, how is everyone on this fine day?

As promised I attended the Digital Photography Show this weekend to gather more useful information for myself and all you other enthusiastic photographers out there.  The show was hosted by Henry's Camera, so their sales counter dominated a significant section of the room, and was a major focal point for a lot of the hustle and bustle.  They've got a lot of knowledgeable sales staff, and since I was with Richard, whose father works for Henry's, I was able to get a bit of face time with one of their gurus.

One piece of advice that my new pal Brian was able to offer was really a confirmation of something we'd discussed earlier: point-and-shoot cameras and DSLR cameras really do fall into the "apples and oranges" category.  They are two entirely different types of machines with very different niche markets.  So, when presented with my dilemma of wanting the ruggedness of my current little camera but the extraordinary quality of an SLR, he told me that what I really need is both cameras.  Given that I'm already in possession of an adventurous point-and-shoot, I should keep that for when I'm in situations where I'd be afraid to have the more fragile SLR our, and have an SLR for the times where it can be safely and conveniently carried so that I can capture some really stunning photos.  It was a fairly obvious conclusion, and one that had already been suggested to me, but it's still nice to have a professional tell you that you aren't missing a significant piece of data in your analysis (i.e. "BEHOLD!  This is the new fully waterproof DSLR coming out in June...")

This brings me to another serious debate that I'm having.  Assuming that I'd like to break into the SLR market, what one do I buy?  I had actually thought that I had the answer to this question already prepared, but I may have been mistaken.  You see, Nikon has just released it's new D3100 to replace the ageing D3000 as it's entry-level DSLR.  This means that, predictably, the price of D3000s is dropping as the D3100 becomes the more desirable camera.  I present to you Exhibit A, the price of some entry level cameras from Henry's website as of the time of writing:

Nikon D3000, no lens: $419.00 (assume more like $550 after you've got an 18-55 lens on there)
Nikon D3100 w/ 18-55 lens: $699.99
Canon Rebel XS w/ 18-55 lens: $579.99

Given those price points, and the little bit of information I'll impart in a moment, it's easy to see why Brian, when asked about the D3000, told me to buy the Canon Rebel XS.  You see, the D3100 has burst on to the scene with a host of incredible features and specs which make it an incredible camera for something that's been priced as an entry-level offering.  I was of the opinion that I didn't really need those extra megapixels, or cool little features and that I would be well served by a cheap D3000.  However, the D3000 uses what's called a CCD sensor to capture the image.  As you can imagine, the image sensor in the camera is, from a digital hardware perspective, everything.  (Note, from any other perspective the lens is everything.)  Well, most modern DSLR cameras are using a CMOS sensor which, without getting too technical, is apparently a LOT better.  What Brian mentioned as being specifically damning of the CCD sensor is a tendency to perform very poorly in low-light situations.  I'm sure that all of you who have used a simple point-and-shoot have noticed a lot of graininess in low-light shots, and I was told that you can expect the same thing from any camera, be it point-and-shoot or DSLR that's using a CCD sensor.

That said, the Canon Rebel XS, which was always in competition with the D3000, features a the more desirable CMOS sensor and isn't really that much more money.

In the end this is all just interesting food for thought, since I'm not really in a position to be buying a new camera right now, but you can see all the considerations that go into a purchase of this magnitude.

Getting away from the DSLR world, I was also eyeing up the "rugged" cameras.  In other words, the ones that feature limited waterproofing, shock proofing, and freeze resistance.  Olympus, who has been making a line of "tough" stylus cameras for years now, is still making a pretty big deal out of this tech.  They had their booth setup with an aquarium for storing their cameras underwater.  The other manufacturers seem to be creeping into this market a bit more quietly, and one camera grabbed my attention in it's own understated way.  Sitting at the end of a shelf at the Fuji booth was a little point-and-shoot with all the "proofs" that attract me to that kind of camera.  It didn't have many bells, and was a bit short on whistles, but it was solid, durable, and (I'm told) capable of taking a photo.  What really jumped out at me was the $179.99 MSRP, which I thought was incredibly low for one of these tough little cameras.  It was thin, the buttons and menus were easy to use, my only real complain was a lack of image stabilization.  Still, for anyone with steadier hands than mine who happens to be in need of an adventuring camera, this may be a good option.

Lastly, just as we were leaving a cool little camera caught my eye.  Actually, that's not true.  It was actually a Honda CBR1000 (picture my bike on steroids) that caught my eye.  They just happened to have a cool little camera attached to it.  It wasn't the first time I'd heard of a GoPro camera, but it was my first chance to get a look at it.  It's a brilliant little device that would fit neatly into my palm, and comes encased in an underwater housing.  This housing is equipped with a variety of mounting options which allow it to be securely affixed to your bike helmet, handle bars, car dashboard, really just about whatever you could want.  It then takes still shots, video, or timelapse video of whatever insanity you happen to be engaged in.  It's marketed at the outdoor sports crowd, and I personally found their suggestion of using the suction cup mount to affix to the front fairing of a motorcycle quite appealing.

Well, I am once again running out of time my friends, and so I must bring this post to a close.  I hope someone out there has found this information at least moderately useful.  See you next week.

Tuesday 12 October 2010

Long Weekend Stay-cation

Good morning everyone!

I'm just coming off the Thanksgiving long weekend and getting ready to head back to work.  I actually made a conscious decision not to go anywhere or do anything with my long weekend.  I believe the new term for that is a "stay-cation."  Some people are really promoting the concept of spending your vacation exploring your own home town, cutting out all the hassle and expense of travel.  This weekend though I was taking things a step further.  I didn't vacation in Toronto as much as a I took a vacation in my living room.

Gray and Susan went to Boston for the long weekend.  Apparently they managed to consume all of the lobster and Champagne in the entire city, so if you're planning a trip there I recommend leaving enough time for them to restock.

Jay went home to Sarnia to visit family, and Paul headed the opposite direction, visiting his family in Kingston.

All of this left a quiet house for me to occupy, and I did so with gusto.  I love being on the go, and I crave adventure, but sometimes you just need to recharge your battery.  Some people love a good movie, or a good book.  Some people garden or knit.  Me?  I play video games, and oh did I play video games.  Call it a wasted weekend if you will, but I whole-heartedly disagree.  I think that there is great value to be found in setting aside time to pursue our hobbies with single-minded purpose.  I may not have any great, lasting legacy left behind from this epic tribute to digital entertainment, but I feel rested and ready to face a new day.  In the end, I can't think of anything more that you can ask from a long weekend.

Unfortunately all of this rest has slowed my natural pace quite a bit and it's looking like I'm in serious danger of being late for work!  Time for me to hustle.  The Henry's Camera camera/photography show is this coming weekend, and I'm hoping to report back next week with some fresh and interesting info on all things photographic.  Wish me luck, and have a great week everyone.

Tuesday 5 October 2010

CN Tower

Well it appears to be Tuesday, I'm up and ready for work, and I believe that means it's time to get back in to my regular blogging routine.  I do miss having something noteworthy to write about every day, but I'm pretty sure you'd all get fairly bored with a detailed description of my daily life when I'm not on vacation.

It may not be travel, but I do have an interesting adventure on the horizon.  I've decided to participate in the "2010 Enbridge CN Tower Climb for United Way" at the end of this month.  I'll be ascending the CN Tower in lovely downtown Toronto, but instead of taking the leisurely elevator ride up to the top I'll be climbing to the 346 meter high Main Deck via the staircase which is normally reserved for emergency exiting of the structure.  I believe that I will be using 1776 steps to accomplish this goal.  Apparently 2579 steps would get us to the Sky Pod, but I don't think that's on the menu... sadly.


Basically this is one of those fundraisers where the participant is meant to put themselves through something physically gruelling while their friends and family pay money to encourage this suffering.  It's a fairly long-standing tradition amongst fundraisers I believe.  I see a slight problem with this logic, unfortunately.  I actually WANT to climb the stairs of the CN Tower, and have in fact been quite interested in doing so for some time now.  I'm not sure if that makes me a lunatic, or just a bad fundraiser, but there you have it.  If you'd like to get back to the old traditions and think of this as some sort of torture for me I will mention that they won't let me bring my phone, camera, or MP3 player on the climb.  Not being able to photographically document my fun, and having no music to help propel me up the tower seems a bit inhumane to me.  So there you go, I'll suffer for your amusement, please give generously.


All joking aside, the cause is worthy and I'd appreciate the support if any of you would care to sponsor me on this venture.  Please click the following link to donate electronically:


http://my.e2rm.com/personalPage.aspx?SID=2776475

I'm afraid that the time has come for me to head in to the office, so I'll bid you all a fond adieu for the week.  For those of you in Canada please have a lovely Thanksgiving long weekend, and for my American friends have a happy Columbus Day.  I will see you all again next Tuesday.