tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-343011132024-03-13T19:56:09.105-07:00C. GarisonCGarisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02033465497420896159noreply@blogger.comBlogger53125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34301113.post-14964922163050583182011-04-26T19:26:00.000-07:002011-04-26T20:02:27.169-07:00Back to the Basics - The EOS Digital Rebel XT<span class="Apple-style-span" >Canon introduced the Digital Rebel in 2003 and revolutionized the world of digital SLR cameras with the model when it retailed for just under $1,000.00. What really shocked the camera critics was the fact that lightning did indeed strike twice when Canon released the totally redesigend second generation of the Digital Rebel line, the Rebel XT. With an 8MP sensor, it was a serious competitor of the EOS 20D and with the price around a grand as well, This camera could actually serve as a "disposable" DSLR for professional photographers to take into areas that they did not want to risk their more expensive gear.</span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >I picked up my Digital Rebel XT in March 2005 and I have been impressed by what this little camera can do ever since. Even 6 years later, this camera (with the very inexpensive kit lens) continues to take great photos that compete on the level of my 5D (Classic and Mark II) bodies. For this reason, I selected this camera for the project to showcase the ability of entry level DSLRs.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >Here is a summary of some of the Digital Rebel XT features:</span></div><li><span class="Apple-style-span" >Eight megapixel CMOS sensor</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" >DIGIC II image processor</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" >Instant power-on time, faster shutter release, shorter blackout time</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" >Continuous shooting speed increased (3.0 fps)</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" >Buffer increased (14 JPEG frames)</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" >Image processing time decreased (thanks to DIGIC II)</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" >Small, light weight body </span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" >Re-designed control layout (drive mode button, new metering mode & AF buttons)</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" >Metal mode dial</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" >Harder rubber finish on hand grip </span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" >Smaller and lighter NB-2LH battery (same as PowerShot S60 / S70)</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" >Flash pop-up slightly higher than Digital Rebel (just 5 mm)</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" >E-TTL II flash</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" >Nine custom functions</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" >Customizable SET button</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span"></span><span class="Apple-style-span">Control noise reduction</span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span"></span><span class="Apple-style-span">Flash sync speed in Av mode</span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span"></span><span class="Apple-style-span">Shutter button / AE button</span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span"></span><span class="Apple-style-span">AF-assist beam control</span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span"></span><span class="Apple-style-span">Selectable 0.3 or 0.5 EV exposure steps</span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span"></span><span class="Apple-style-span">Mirror lock-up</span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span"></span><span class="Apple-style-span">E-TTL II mode</span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span"></span><span class="Apple-style-span">Flash shutter curtain sync (1st or 2nd)</span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" >Selectable Metering mode</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" >Selectable AF mode</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" >Flash exposure compensation</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" >Independently selectable color space</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" >Two preset and three custom image parameter sets, B&W mode (same as EOS 20D)</span></li><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /><span class="Apple-style-span">So as you can see, it was a pretty easy pick to select the Rebel XT as it was several hundred dollars cheaper than the 20D and had a better feature set than the competing Nikon D70. Plus with the feature set included in this camera, it was an easy step up to the bigger offerings from Canon like the 5D.</span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" >Still today, this camera is a great bargain with the used kit packages selling for $400.00 prox. For the first time DSLR user, this is a perfect camera to begin learning the basics of photography. Add to the equation that this is also a Canon body that is compatible with the complete lin of EF and EF-S lenses, then you have a real bargain for a starter camera that will grow as far as you want to take it. This may not be the best Canon camera ever made, but it is on the list of memorable models that put Canon at the top of the pack in the now highly competitive DSLR camera category.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div>CGarisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02033465497420896159noreply@blogger.com223tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34301113.post-56062117283538690342011-04-24T06:49:00.001-07:002011-04-24T09:12:26.773-07:00New Project Now That Spring is in the Air<div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Spring is in the air and may I never have the pain of ending winter with a broken wrist from falling on ice. It took four weeks of being trapped in the house to heal and another two weeks of modified work with a cast, but two months later, I can move my wrist without too much pain.</div><div><br /></div><div>So with that disclaimer out of the way, I am back and ready to roll on a new photography mission this year. My goal is extend my knowledge of photography and also explain more about what I learn in this blog to make others a better photographers as well. "Back to Basics" is a project where I am going to hit my favorite photography spots with my first DSLR, the Canon Rebel XT Kit.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kQTGc_9fOHo/TbQsRt_yqmI/AAAAAAAABPk/aE2_ksiAG14/s320/IMG_9943.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5599148919644924514" /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>The purpose is to demonstrate the power of these little Rebel series cameras (even this 6 year old, second generation Rebel DSLR from the lineup) if you us the creative mode and not the fully automatic settings. I will work through how to set the camera and explain the accessories used in each shot.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-p_Z5jjEs3qM/TbQtz9lYHXI/AAAAAAAABPs/ZP3kHUFNBRY/s320/IMG_9950.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5599150607456279922" /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The one accessory that I recommend is good tripod with a easily manipulatible head. Many stores like Best Buy and Ritz Camera carry a selection of tripods that are perfectly sized for the smaller kits from Canon, Nikon, Pentax, Olympus, etc. so it is not necessary to spend as much money as I have on my tripod legs and ball-head to support the weight of my 5D and EF 70-200mm F/2.8 L IS lens. But in later features, I will showcase where better features on tripods come to be a benefit in shooting.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ubfv3JOkA2I/TbRJs1EnBlI/AAAAAAAABP0/fLtF_s3MRok/s320/IMG_9947.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5599181271237854802" /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">So this is where it begins. I will document my settings and show the camera setup to pull the images that I display. I will also describe my post processing, but the final post processing edit will have to be up to the photographer taking the image. Over the years, I have developed a taste for vivid colors and HDR that may not be appropriate for all DSLR shooters. But the concepts on how to capture the base image will be the same. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>CGarisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02033465497420896159noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34301113.post-78476028981588559182011-02-13T09:59:00.000-08:002011-02-13T10:00:12.298-08:00Deciding to Stick with Sandy Bridge<p style="margin:0in;font-family:Calibri;font-size:11.0pt">One of the hardest decisions to make is to stick with something after it has been recalled by the manufacturer.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Do I still want to purchase a Toyota automobile after the throttle sticking during acceleration last fall?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>What about Chevy trucks after their side saddle gas tanks were deemed a fire hazard.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Or even continue to use my Ford panther daily driver even though it also is considered a fire hazard in a certain type of collision.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>And such was the decision that I made to keep my Sandy Bridge based parts despite having the recall from Intel for a bad SATA II (3.0Gb/s) controller.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It took many hours of work and trouble to determine that the machine I built would be worth effort and I would not be severely impacted by the choice.</p> <p style="margin:0in;font-family:Calibri;font-size:11.0pt"> </p> <p style="margin:0in;font-family:Calibri;font-size:11.0pt">I need to reference the most comprehensive article on the web as to the nature of the Sandy Bridge issue and what it means for the people that own this product.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Special thanks needs to go out to Ryan Shrout for compiling the most informative source on the web as the news was breaking on January 31st.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span><a href="http://www.pcper.com/comments.php?nid=9694">http://www.pcper.com/comments.php?nid=9694</a><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Other articles of note are also available on PC Perspective regarding the situation with the Chipsets and what is happening throughout the tech world to either solve the problem permanently or work around bug to keep the parts in the stream without customer impact.</p> <p style="margin:0in;font-family:Calibri;font-size:11.0pt"> </p> <p style="margin:0in;font-family:Calibri;font-size:11.0pt">So my new Sandy Bridge Beast has been built and I have to say that I have learned a few lessons along the way about everything from setting the bios to the effectiveness of CPU coolers when testing systems for reliability.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>In the end, it is an extremely fast PC that dramatically speeds up my photography workflow and I have high hopes that the 8 threads of overclocked calculating goodness will make quick work of pivot tables that are slicing and dicing a million lines of raw data for statistical research.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>When not running full bore, the system does seem to be on the radical side of overkill to type a blog post or read my Facebook feed.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>But when comparing this to other items that I own, do I not need 300 Ft/Lb lightly modified<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>torque monster under the hood of my daily driver when I rarely run Milo at any level to take advantage of all those ponies and torques?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Do I need a 21.1 megapixel full frame camera when my 12 megapixel<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>5D is just as capable of taking a stunning photograph?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The resounding answer to all of these questions is a resounding "Yes!"</p>CGarisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02033465497420896159noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34301113.post-1912830364257310672011-01-29T13:41:00.000-08:002011-01-29T16:48:36.496-08:00The building of a new "Monster" PC<span class="Apple-style-span" >In December 2007, I began the project to build a new PC out of the ashes my old Gateway GM5266E which lasted 10 months. I wasted the majority of November trying to find which piece was bad, but after having checked all the parts that are bolted to the motherboard, I came to the conclusion it was time to walk away from the corpse and as start stripping the case for parts because the obvious part that has failed in the motherboard. </span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >The first part of my journey to build a new PC was to determine the cause of the failure. At the time, the obvious culprit was the weak power supply that came with the kit which was not capable of sustaining the operation of the PC after I added a second hard drive and doubled the RAM to 4GB. Also, the heat that was generated by the system could not have been good for the health of the PC. Pretty much, it is obvious that one has a problem when the heat coming out of the back exhaust fan was so hot that it was uncomfortable to hold your hand in front of it for any amount of time. So, I think I had a basis to begin looking for parts.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >The foundation of the PC now known as Monster was a new Asus P5K motherboard with the leftover RAM, CPU, hard drives, etc. from my old Gateway. To hold this new MoBo, I selected an Antec Nine Hundred case because it had way too many fans to make sure the computer stayed cool under the most stressful of load. I selected a CoolerMaster 500W power supply for a good level of clean power and modest price. Finally, I tossed a ThermalTake CPU cooler on top of this as I felt this would be best to keep the CPU cool.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >As time passed, I added more stuff to the PC including a new ATI 2600 series video card with 512 MB of RAM, a new ATI TV Wonder Tuner, and even a new Core2Quad Q6660 CPU running 2.4 GHz. Eventually, it was upgraded to 8GB of RAM and is sporting 5 TB of hard drive space. In all, a pretty good system that can keep up with the Jones while surfing the web.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >Now it is time to move on and build another machine of even better caliber. The goal is to attempt to double every specification (except HD space) that I can with the new system. More of everything is the rule and the goal is to do as much as possible in a single big bang. Plus, I want the cabling to be neat as the always visible parts of Monster looks pretty ratty. I think with the technology offerings that have hit the market in the last 3 years, I can find plenty of gear to generate the amount of performance game that I need to justify the purchase of this much gear. Short of the introduction of Sandy Bridge, the bang for the buck factor never equaled the outlay of cash needed to make the upgrades. So now I have revealed the secret ingredient to the new PC build.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" > </span></div><div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><br /></div></div>CGarisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02033465497420896159noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34301113.post-10842805279159205532011-01-09T19:43:00.000-08:002011-01-09T19:45:32.396-08:00Still Cleaning out 2010 to Prepare for 2011<span class="Apple-style-span" >More times than not, it is common to throw out and clean up the year before the beginning of the new year. I guess this means that I am not normal, but there are more than a few that already know that fact.</span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >I am hoping that the last of my projects associated with implementation of the new system at work have wrapped themselves and I can seal up some other things that are hanging on right now. Then I can clean up the pile of gear in the floor so I can focus on some new projects in February.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >My first goal for the year is to attempt to build a DSLR remote from netbook to aid in my HDR photography. I love the controls and capability of my Canon 5D Mark II, but they could work much better and be a bit more user friendly. Then their is the the Promote camera remote, but it is so manual that I might as well be shooting with my AE-1. Actually, the Promote is more backwards than my AE-1 because it does use any of the automatic features such as auto-focus and light metering. As a response, I am going to make my own version of the promote using equipment around the house and either the Canon software or maybe another program. Once I get a direction on this project, I will write up my findings and results.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >Until then, it is (looking around the office) time to get back to cleaning up from 2010. It is almost complete and one of my little netbooks is ready to get blown away in the name of photography experiments.</span></div>CGarisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02033465497420896159noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34301113.post-3898526091055952752011-01-02T13:53:00.000-08:002011-01-02T14:03:30.949-08:00100% More Blogging in 2011 than 2010I have decided to keep my goals for 2011 in line with simple expectations as 2010 ended with much more work and much less time for me. With a marathon run of work for December, I have decided to keep my personal goals in check as post implementation work continues to drain time from my personal life.<div><br /></div><div>This year, I hope to blog more about the joys of running Windows 7 64 bit and how to work around all those annoying situations where the system is still not fully compatible with the rest of the world. I want to get more into my photography habit and develop some new ways to shoot HDR and complete all the photos on the Hard drive that need finished. Finally, I would like to find more awesome free applications that can help computer user complete tasks without spending thousands on software. </div><div><br /></div><div>And all the while, I am going to include observations and other notes of interest. Funny pictures, observations from the places I have visited, and snapshots of day to day life from my cell phone. Hang on... It will be a fun ride in 2011.</div>CGarisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02033465497420896159noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34301113.post-37272737127953759232010-04-25T08:05:00.000-07:002010-04-25T08:08:47.652-07:00It's spring so back to bloggingI find it really funny that my blogging seems to go on hiatus every fall. Maybe it is the fact that big changes take place in the autumn around my life. Maybe the holidays get in the way coupled with all the travel that is involved. Maybe it is the record snowfall that hit Philly this past year. Perhaps it was me going back to school and picking up my Master Black Belt in Lean Six Sigma. Whatever the cause, the class is over and I am back. Time to get back into blogging.<br /><br />I let many great ideas whither, but I am not going to let them die. Time to dust of the innovations and kick this blog in gear.CGarisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02033465497420896159noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34301113.post-72352368966193734292009-10-15T14:45:00.000-07:002009-10-15T20:14:07.881-07:00I had to come home to see this.I can see many sights in Philly. The Liberty Bell, Boat House Row, the steps Rocky ran up at the art museum, Pat's and Geno's Steaks, and even the 2008 World Champion Phillies (NLCS Plug - Go Phils!), but I could only see this when I got back to my home in Ashland, KY.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2514/4015939430_3e0315f241.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 566px; height: 376px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2514/4015939430_3e0315f241.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Yes, that is an honest to goodness late 1990's Ford "Escort-achero" that I found less than a mile from my house. My girlfriend thought I was nuts when I saw the car and came unglued over the fact that I had found an "-Amino/-Chero conversion in the flesh. Maybe I have been too much of a fan of Jalopnik or perhaps I am a child of the 70's and 80's when the El Camino ruled my thoughts (especially the El Camino SS) and I always thought the concept of a car that had the utility of a truck was so neat.<br /><br />I just wonder if this creation was brought to us by the fine folks that brought us the "El Camar-amino" that was featured on the web earlier this year. I did find this in the same county as the El Camar-amino and within 20 miles of where the Papa Johns Camaro was located.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mxmbers.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/500x_six-wheeled-el-camaro-21.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 581px; height: 397px;" src="http://mxmbers.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/500x_six-wheeled-el-camaro-21.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Maybe.CGarisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02033465497420896159noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34301113.post-61808757243943325072009-10-11T13:15:00.000-07:002009-10-11T14:06:18.200-07:00Then Disaster Strikes!<span style="font-family: arial;">The biggest fear of anyone who uses a computer is that of a hard drive failure. I have had a few in the last few years and a couple of them have been big. In 2005, I had to purchase a program that would recover the boot sector of my hard drive and then I could recover my data and rebuild the computer. In 2006, another failure was much more easy to recover and I was able to get back up and running with an afternoon of work. Last year, the hard drive crashed on my company laptop which is encrypted and it took several days of running SpinRite to correct the errors on the drive before it was able to be recovered. But because this laptop belonged to my employer, I was not worried due to the fact that I back up to the network regularly and it was up to the wonderful techs to recover the drive while I moved on to another laptop.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">This summer, I knew the primary drive on Monster was not in the healthiest of states (no snide remarks about Pennsylvania meant in that statement either.) I had planned on not using it as the primary hard drive as I upgraded to Windows 7 and pushed the hard drive to back up status outside of the PC using my eSATA interface. I was relieved when I had installed Windows 7 and migrated the majority of information to the other drives inside of monster. I had about 90% of the information backed up and migrated when I turned on the PC the other day and discovered that the disaster had occurred and the drive was not going start because the data stored on the boot sector was damaged beyond repair or was missing. I downloaded some recovery software and it failed to recover anything. I downloaded another program and again, same results and no data. After trying about five try before you buy programs I had limited success with those with on 1 actually pulling file names but could not recover any data. The rest of the products did not get that far.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Hmmm..... What to do now? I was not in a total jam, but two of the files that I could not recover were the taxes from this past spring for my mother and me. I really wanted those files back. I am glad most everything else was backed up on a MyBook or another external drive. What next?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">So, I decided to purchase SpinRite and go against all my training on recovering a damaged hard drive. The first rule is to never wite back to a drive that cannot be read by a PC because it can cause further loss of data, but considering everything else had been a loss, what did I have to lose. So I Googled SpinRite and was directed to Gibson Research and I bought a copy. I burned an ISO to a bootable CD and prayed it would work.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">After running SpinRite, I was not able to see the hard drive as a mountable device, but I did have success with the one tool that worked a little. Instead of just seeing the file name, I was able to recover the directory tree and see the files. Whew! SpinRite did the trick.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Now, this is not a recommendation of SpinRite as a data recovery tool because it is not a tool to recover data. But if nothing else will work and you are not going to send the drive out to a pricey data recovery company, then trying SpinRite might just be the trick to make everything work. But, I guess you would be better off running SpinRite more often and preventing the crash from beginning ion the first place. So, I have my tax files back and I have learned a lesson. Take care of your hard drive because even if it is not on the verge of a physical failure, the data on it may be corrupted and may cause a failure down the road.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">The moral of the story... Back up your data all the time and don't worry about hard drive failure.</span>CGarisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02033465497420896159noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34301113.post-59761382672852414682009-10-04T18:23:00.000-07:002009-10-05T09:57:25.155-07:00Free Essential: ScreenHunter 5.1I have to begin the Free Essential series with the one free program that has been the best staple that I have used for the last 4 years in my work as a consultant and business analyst. Wisdomsoft ScreenHunter has been a part of my PC's start menu since I began my second round of delivering setup and training documentation because of its many settings on window selection criteria.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_u9D6KiucZdA/SslMW8d8BgI/AAAAAAAABNQ/upucqUM-ipg/s1600-h/ScreenHunter_01+Oct.+04+21.30.gif"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 239px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_u9D6KiucZdA/SslMW8d8BgI/AAAAAAAABNQ/upucqUM-ipg/s320/ScreenHunter_01+Oct.+04+21.30.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388922386198038018" border="0" /></a>As can be seen in my start menu, ScreenHunter 5.1 is on my Windows 7 system that I am using for this review. It is also installed on my work laptop (against the wishes of corporate IT), my spare desktop computer used as backup rig to my current system, my 4 year old and battle tested consulting laptop, and of course, the Intel Atom powered netbook aka Virtual PC. When launched, it takes a minimal amount of space in the memory so a computer with as little as a meg of ram runs fine without even knowing that it is in the background.<br /><br /><img src="file:///C:/Users/CGarison%20Monster/Desktop/ScreenHunter_03%20Oct.%2004%2021.49.gif" alt="" /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_u9D6KiucZdA/SslQ8IRc3cI/AAAAAAAABNY/tUca_Y_exZU/s1600-h/ScreenHunter_03+Oct.+04+21.49.gif"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 322px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_u9D6KiucZdA/SslQ8IRc3cI/AAAAAAAABNY/tUca_Y_exZU/s320/ScreenHunter_03+Oct.+04+21.49.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388927423068560834" border="0" /></a><br />The interface when launched is quite intuitive. From the "From" menu, the single F6 hotkey works well for me, but at times I have needed to change it to a CRTL-ALT-F6 so ScreenHunter would not interfere with another application. Very rarely do I select the Full Screen option in the "Capture What" menu, but I often use the mouse pointer as a tool to point to a feature in the captured image.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_u9D6KiucZdA/SslUycgtjnI/AAAAAAAABNg/N8Xe_qvS-0Y/s1600-h/ScreenHunter_03+Oct.+04+21.49.gif"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 321px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_u9D6KiucZdA/SslUycgtjnI/AAAAAAAABNg/N8Xe_qvS-0Y/s320/ScreenHunter_03+Oct.+04+21.49.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388931654749097586" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Clicking the "To" Button displays another screen that allows the user to pick the type of screen capture image (gif, jpeg, and bmp), color and grayscale, and location to save the files. Just the stuff you need to get the job done.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_u9D6KiucZdA/SslWKwBVVTI/AAAAAAAABNo/OGP7X_hIVI0/s1600-h/ScreenHunter_05+Oct.+04+22.09.gif"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 322px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_u9D6KiucZdA/SslWKwBVVTI/AAAAAAAABNo/OGP7X_hIVI0/s320/ScreenHunter_05+Oct.+04+22.09.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388933171814683954" border="0" /></a><br />Even the "Advanced" Button reveals a set of options in which the defaults work very well. Because I very, very rarely capture full screen, I do not use the Hide system tray icon feature although I do see a purpose for that. Although, hiding System Tray icon is not an issue in Windows 7 as the tray icon is not even present until the tray is expanded. As you can see by the image below, you have to click the expand arrow to see the hidden icons.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_u9D6KiucZdA/SslXG6HnCuI/AAAAAAAABNw/N5E58nCWJGs/s1600-h/ScreenHunter_06+Oct.+04+22.16.gif"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 319px; height: 93px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_u9D6KiucZdA/SslXG6HnCuI/AAAAAAAABNw/N5E58nCWJGs/s320/ScreenHunter_06+Oct.+04+22.16.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388934205317516002" border="0" /></a><br />Once the menu is expanded, then the tray icon is visible.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_u9D6KiucZdA/SslYCopvLYI/AAAAAAAABN4/eCMCCujhLaI/s1600-h/ScreenHunter_07+Oct.+04+22.18.gif"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 321px; height: 171px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_u9D6KiucZdA/SslYCopvLYI/AAAAAAAABN4/eCMCCujhLaI/s320/ScreenHunter_07+Oct.+04+22.18.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388935231420968322" border="0" /></a><br />So in short, that is a review of the most essential piece of free software that I use on a weekly basis. ScreenHunter 5.1 has not found paid option that works any better and I have yet to be convinced that SnagIt is a better option.<br /><br />ScreenHunter can be downloaded from the <a href="http://wisdom-soft.com/downloads/downloadfiles.htm">WisdomSoft Website</a> and be sure to select <span style="font-style: italic;">ScreenHunter 5.1 Free</span>. If you have a convincing reason as to why to pay for one of the other options, please let me know and I will consider purchasing a better version, but after this many years of not being let down, I doubt if there is a feature that I need.<br /><br />One side note does need to be made on ScreenHunter 5.1 for those that run more than on monitor and that is this program will only capture on the primary screen. I have tried to capture on the secondary screens on more than one occasions and quickly shifted my image to the proper screen and captured the image. With that being the only caveat, this program is an essential in my book.CGarisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02033465497420896159noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34301113.post-53512801532324246702009-10-04T05:57:00.000-07:002009-10-05T09:58:28.691-07:00New Series: My Free EssentialsWhen you purchase that brand new PC, it is hard to figure out what software to purchase. The aisle at Best Buy with all the programs can be nauseating at best with all the options available for anti-virus, utilities, productivity, creativity, and other software options that do not fall easily into categories. So, I have decided to come up with a list of free essentials for the PC. These are programs that have served me well for many years in addition to wonderful discoveries that I make all the time.<br /><br />So why purchase a PDF creator package when one is free? Why purchase a Mac for iPhoto when a PC clone is available for free? Anti Virus? Norton and McAfee, we don't need to spend $50.00 a year with the free options available today. Need to burn a CD or DVD but don't have the cash for Nero or Roxio? There is even an option for that which covers those who don't have Windows 7.<br /><br />So stay tuned for this new series. And don't think I forgot that Windows 7 is less than 3 weeks from launch. I am ready for this event and Microsoft is also ready by revving up IT professionals around the nation at kickoff events that began this past Monday. Official previews of Server 2008 R2 , Exchange 2010, and Windows 7 were shown to registered audiences across the nation. It was a good time, but the apple in the boxed snack (it was lunch so include a sandwich) was a bad idea.CGarisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02033465497420896159noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34301113.post-62710290278317975212009-09-22T20:27:00.000-07:002009-09-22T20:56:42.736-07:00I Have Your Virtual PC Right Here.<span style="font-family: verdana;">So all of this confusion over XP mode in Windows 7 has really made my head spin. Do I purchase a business class notebook for thousands of dollars or do I purchase a less than personal use laptop that will run Windows 7 but not in XP mode for hundreds of dollars and possible still breaking a grand on the setup if I go for my dream machine????</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">I have my big desktop PCs that can run Windows 7 w/XP Mode and they work just fine. I also want a very small PC to be my laptop and break away from my need to keep a desktop replacement notebook of choice and leverage it for blogging, uploading photos on the run and surfing the web while I am not at home. So how do I accomplish that without breaking my back and the bank at the same time? Well that would be a netbook.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">The quest actually began with the desire to get a 13" MacBook or a Lenovo Thinkpad X200, but those two PCs are quite expensive and the Lenovo does not even include a DVD/CD drive. So the home market PC became the avenue of choice, but HP and Dell just did not have the combination of size and power that I wanted. The HP DV2 was as close as they came, but I was very uncertain of the AMD Neo Duo chip that does support virtualized PCs, but does not have the power to run multiple applications at once. Dell had a couple of options, but they had Intel processors that were unknown to me and for the money, I wanted a piece of hardware that had a bit of a track record. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">Now, truth to be told, I really thought that the 12" screen was a bit big for what I wanted in my new mobile workstation. For that matter, I thought that the 11" netbooks that are all the rage would also be a bit big for what I wanted. So I started looking at the different stores and was trying to see what was available for the money that would fit the bill and suit my needs. The Intel Atom processor at 1.6 GHz was going to be enough to do what I needed considering its power level to PCs that I have owned in the past. The Intel 945 chipset for graphics was also going to be more than adequate because this computer is going to be frozen at the XP level for backward compatibility down the road. And the 10" screens was more than large enough to handle the work that I want to do on this PC. If I need a big screen for a big spreadsheet, I have a pair of 24" monitors that can handle that work on my desktop. For my portable work, I need as small as I can get. And battery life is not a "must", but it would be nice to get more than two hours out of the life of the battery.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">The answer came when I found the Acer Aspire One netbook with an 8.9" screen. I was lucky enough to get hold of a model that had a 160GB hard drive, a Gig of ram that is upgradeable, and a few other features (like multi touch track pad) that were rather desirable for a PC that was under $250.00. In fact, even with the carrying case, it was still under that price. Not too shabby considering that this is enough power to run Office 2003, MapPoint with a GPS dongle, and connect to any Bluetooth device that I have with my USB dongle. To say the least, I am quite pleased. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">Now, I don't have to worry about having virtualization as a process that is activated on my CPU because I have a tiny little virtual PC in my hands. I have to admit that the tiny keys are a bit tough to hit. Also, I had to remove a bunch of shovel ware include MS Office 2007 to get the little booger to not be too sluggish. I don't mind the extra weight of the 6 cell battery, but it added nearly a half inch to the thickness of the PC. And speaking of batteries, this netbook easily runs for 3.5 hours with most of the power saving features (like dim backlight and low power WiFi) disabled. Not a bad little computer. Most of all, coupling it with my 3G internet service makes it one of the best, most portable computing solutions that I have used. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">Kudos to Acer for making the Aspire One a brilliant little computer. The screen is bright and crisp and the PC is rather fast for a micro machine. I am going to enjoy using this netbook for many years to come.</span>CGarisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02033465497420896159noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34301113.post-53288605104569736082009-09-05T06:09:00.000-07:002009-09-05T06:49:38.070-07:00XP Mode: I Love You, I Love You, Not<span style="font-family: verdana;">One of the biggest advantages of Windows 7 is that the Professional, Ultimate, and Enterprise versions come with the ability to run Microsoft's XP Mode virtualization software. So, we get the best of all worlds. The Windows 7 desktop, Vista Kernal, and the ability to run legacy enterprise software like TCF programs that require IE 6.0.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">My first attempt at installing the software was a blazing success. I was able to create a 512 MB Windows XP machine that could use all of the internet connections within my primary test PC and run legacy enterprise software without any of the bugs that were present with Vista and hiccups using IE7 or IE8. Brilliant!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">So, lets continue on this success and see where things go with a little less powerful PC and less robust version of Windows 7 (32 bit). Then the pain of of the upgrade began to hit home. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">Arrrrgggghhhhh!!!!!!!!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">My first test was built around Monster PC which has an Intel Core2Quad Q6600 processor. Because this CPU was a "high end" processor in 2007 when I made the purchase, it supports virtualization. When I moved on to install on my backup box it would not work because I was running an E7200 Core2Quad CPU I purchased last summer for less than a hundred bucks which is considered an Intel entry level CPU which does not have the VT coding built into the CPU. So this means that my upgrade of SpareParts from a leftover E6400 processor (purchased in 2006 and supports VT) to the budget beater E7200 CPU (which is a Core2Quad CPU built with only 2 of the four cores present) I downgraded my CPU by upgrading in performance because of its placement in Intels CPU lineup at the time. I cannot say that I am mad, ticked, or any other means of angered, but I can imagine that IT pros are going to have a hard time trying to implement this technology in the enterprise where more times than we like to admit that budget constraints control the type of hardware that is purchased.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">So where is this list of CPUs? Ed Bott did lots of research to put together a list of Intel CPUs and compatibility that can be found </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/?p=946">here</a><span style="font-family: verdana;">. Page 2 has the desktop CPUs and Page 3 has Mobile processors.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">Good luck with XP mode if you choose to make the adventure and may your CPU be compatible.</span>CGarisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02033465497420896159noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34301113.post-24953652027142732742009-08-30T05:40:00.001-07:002009-08-30T05:57:18.487-07:00Windows 7 Rocks!<span style="font-family: verdana;">Windows 7 has to be the best Windows yet. It is much faster than Vista </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/164485/speed_test_windows_7_may_not_be_much_faster_than_vista.html">(despite what the experts say)</a><span style="font-family: verdana;">. The install has to be the easiest of any Windows to date. And the look and feel is just much better than Vista. In fact, I have moved my taskbar and start menu to the top of the screen to have more of an Ubuntu feel than that of thoe traditional Windows feel.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">The 64bit version appears to be the best with the least amount of issues with drivers and hardware. The 32bit is also good, but lacks the perfection found in 64 bit. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Memory:</span> Windows 7 64 bit comes to life past 4 Gig of ram. Memory is relatively cheap so stock up and enjoy the pain free love of Windows 7. As far as 32bit Windows7, I have had no problems with my 2 Gig laptop.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Processor:</span> Dual Core, Quad Core, Core i7????? I have found that Windows 7 runs just fine on and older 1.86 GHz Pentium M Centrino with an Intel 945 Graphics chipset. It does not have Aero, but Windows 7 does not need Aero to feel good.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Screen Size: </span> Bigger is always better, but I am doing just fine with Windows 7 on 1366X768. Yea, 1280X800 is the sweet spot and my dual 1980X1200 24" monitors rock. But this OS works just fine with smaller screens.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Compatibility and Drivers: </span> I have not found a piece of hardware that would not work with Windows 7. Printers, scanners, sound cards, video cards, all appear to work just fine. If the hardware worked on Vista, it will work on Windows 7.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">So more is to come with the testing. I need to look into XP Compatibility mode and running Office 2003 in a virtual environment. After mixing 2007 and 2003 on the same PC for the last 2 year, that mistake will not be repeated.</span>CGarisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02033465497420896159noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34301113.post-15718225712076185102009-08-16T09:13:00.000-07:002009-08-16T09:15:41.216-07:00How To Kill A Panther<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_u9D6KiucZdA/SogwO2l8C3I/AAAAAAAABMY/V96rY-uDHMQ/s1600-h/crash.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; clear: both; float: right;" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_u9D6KiucZdA/SogwO2l8C3I/AAAAAAAABMY/V96rY-uDHMQ/s320/crash.jpg" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family: verdana;">Think clunking a Grand Marquis is the only way to kill the car. This poor car driven by a thirty year old Philadelphia lady was severely smashed when it was driven into the Philadelpha Iquirer building at 4:oo am this morning. From the looks of the carnage, she must have been going at a pretty good clip to sustain that much damage to a body on frame hulk like the Grand Marquis.</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://cbs3.com/topstories/Philadelphia.Inquirer.Crash.2.1130698.html">From CBS3 Philly</a><br /><div style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><br /></a></div>CGarisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02033465497420896159noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34301113.post-38561596141276018922009-08-16T08:59:00.000-07:002009-08-16T09:02:16.338-07:00What a Wreck!<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_u9D6KiucZdA/Sogs8RQC4cI/AAAAAAAABMQ/g34OHJCGvA0/s1600-h/motorcycle---01.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; clear: both; float: left;" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_u9D6KiucZdA/Sogs8RQC4cI/AAAAAAAABMQ/g34OHJCGvA0/s320/motorcycle---01.jpg" border="0" /></a> <span style="font-family: verdana;">This is proof of the concept of lost in translation. Captured at the Woodward Dream Cruise this past weekend, this bike is proof that everything that can be done to a chopper is not necessarily the right thing to do. From the photo, the bike looks well made, but the question of why still persists.</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://www.autoblog.com/2009/08/16/woodward-2009-dream-cruising-on-two-wheels/">From <span style="font-style: italic;">Autoblog</span></a><br /><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2009/08/16/woodward-2009-dream-cruising-on-two-wheels/"><br /></a><div style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" alt="Posted by Picasa" style="border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: border; -moz-background-origin: padding; -moz-background-inline-policy: continuous;" align="middle" border="0" /></a></div>CGarisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02033465497420896159noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34301113.post-19834619437388200962009-08-16T08:23:00.000-07:002009-08-16T08:32:52.472-07:00Miles 2.0 a.k.a. MILO<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_u9D6KiucZdA/SoglabRxyXI/AAAAAAAABLw/-h1WMcLBTz4/s1600-h/IMG_0980.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 138px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_u9D6KiucZdA/SoglabRxyXI/AAAAAAAABLw/-h1WMcLBTz4/s320/IMG_0980.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5370583691568466290" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">I have owned Miles 2.0 now for 4 and a half months and have yet to post about the fine lad on my blog. Despite the problems that I had with the original Miles, my 2003 Mercury Grand Marquis, I had to put that aside and move up with the 2009 model when it was time to purchase a new car. I picked him up on the day before Easter and I have never been more thrilled with a car. Milo has a bit more "push" on the road than the other GrandMa on the highway, but that will be remedied with Ford HPP 21mm sway bar to be installed on the rear. Milo now has a bit more growl under the hood thanks to the addition of a P71 ziptube for the air intake. Plus, by the end of the year, it will have dual exhausts installed for a touch more high end ponies to compliment the 278lb. ft. of torque generated by the 4.6 liter V8. The car is truly a classy ride with its additional 1" height courtesy of the 17" wheels and the brakes are even bigger than the monsters that brought Miles to an easy stop from any speed. It is a model produced before mandatory stability program is required on cars so it is a bit fun to slide around the corners like any proper rear drive car. And as should be with every touring car, gas milage is a dream with a mixed city highway number around 22.5 MPG (if I drive with a soft foot.) But the neat feature is the trip computer that tells you when you are driving too hard so you can adjust you style to maximize efficiency</span>.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_u9D6KiucZdA/SoglZzKxnjI/AAAAAAAABLo/JDp_i_B00sM/s1600-h/IMG_0979.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 170px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_u9D6KiucZdA/SoglZzKxnjI/AAAAAAAABLo/JDp_i_B00sM/s320/IMG_0979.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5370583680801676850" border="0" /></a> <span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /><br />Quite simply, this is the finest car I have ever owned. Hopefully, it will last as long and be as trouble free as my 1992 Jeep Cherokee a.k.a Murphy (March 14, 2002 - October 7, 2005 R.I.P.)</span><div style="clear: both; text-align: left; font-family: verdana;"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><br /></a></div>CGarisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02033465497420896159noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34301113.post-43396945467922805752009-08-14T17:37:00.000-07:002009-08-15T07:25:42.584-07:00Preparing for Windows 7The preparations for Windows 7 continued tonight. I have a big project on the deck currently so I cannot tear into "Monster" until August 25th, but that does not mean that I cannot start prepping. I buzzed into MicroCenter in St. Davids, PA and picked up some essentials for the build. I grabbed an extra 4GB of ram bringing the total memory in the computer to 8GB and the primary hard is going to be increased from the 500GB unit purchased in December 2007 for a 1.5 TB, 7200 RPM drive with 32 MB of onboard cache. This should make Monster fast enough to handle everything in Windows 7 as compared to the struggles that I have had with 32bit Windows Vista Ultimate. The overall speed of the current configuration is not slow, but it definitely has moments of being sluggish when first booting the system and when launching media center. The widgets ate up much of the resources at startup and I have needed to disable them to make the computer usable in less than 4 minutes of starting the PC.<br /><br />More inforamtion to come later on the overall build.CGarisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02033465497420896159noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34301113.post-55294583507461690382009-08-14T12:13:00.000-07:002009-08-14T12:41:25.953-07:00Almost time to throw out Vista<span style="font-family: arial;">Out with the old and in with the new. I must say that Vista, you have stayed around a little too long and have worn out the welcome. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Microsoft's operating system that was designed to be the system to topple the OS X migration of PC users and revolutionize how we use our PCs did not turn out as planned. The OS was released late after many delays in development. The hardware manufacturers were slow to develop new drivers for the OS. Next, businesses were staging a boycott of the system because they feared incompatibilities with existing Windows based systems. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">In order to convince everyone that Vista was good, MS took the phased roll out approach and offered licensing to MSDN subscribers and businesses two months ahead of the consumer release. This worked a little but still users were afraid of the OS. And properly so because most hardware was not compatible. Issues with transferring large files plagued the OS. Most newer PC and the majority of laptops were not even capable of running Vista with the Aero interface and snappier looking graphics even if they had a Vista capable stickers on them. The problems for Microsoft did not get much better even with the release of SP1 and even SP2 . The operating system is still relatively slow and sluggish to react. The release of Internet Explorer 8 also was a bit of trouble of Microsoft because it was much slower than Firefox and Chrome.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Now, the phased rollout of Windows 7 is taking place and MSDN Subscribers, MS Partners, and Enterprise users are testing the OS to see if it has what it takes. From what has been seen so far, the results look promising. Some Mac fans and Google clones are talking some misinformation, but for the most part, things are looking pretty good. In the next few weeks, I too will begin the build of a Windows 7 PC and let all know how it goes. The anxiety is pretty great for the build that will begin in about 2 and a half weeks. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Until then, it is clearing out projects until I can get things ready to start the project.</span>CGarisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02033465497420896159noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34301113.post-82814774676320138922009-06-07T16:11:00.001-07:002009-06-07T16:14:30.414-07:00Massacre at Washinton's HQ Valley Forge<div style="float: right; margin-left: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cgarison/1572759528/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2352/1572759528_1a80ab691e_m.jpg" alt="" style="border: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);" /></a><br /><span style="margin-top: 0px;font-size:0;" ><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cgarison/1572759528/">Washington's HQ</a><br />Originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/cgarison/">Garison C. Garison</a></span></div>The blog post sounds like a battle took place at the Washington HQ site at Valley Forge, but that is further than the truth. The Massacre the Washington's HQ was on the surroundings. The federal government decided to move the parking lot on top of the hill, re-route the foot traffic through the train station, and then take out the path and put in concrete sidewalks to Washington's HQ. The cute little fence seen in this photo is gone and the area has gone from historical site to "Tourist Trap" look/feel with areas for tour buses. It is a really sad site to see history reversed for the sake of tourism.<br /><br />Although, I have to say I have always called Valley Forge National Park "made up history," but the use of concrete and asphalt to move the parking area really made this a sad day for me. I liked the old way of the Washington's HQ site without the guided ranger tours and the self paced way around the area.<br /><br />More pictures of the old Washington's HQ can be found at:<br />http://www.flickr.com/photos/cgarison/sets/72157602317764838/<br /><br />and at<br />http://www.flickr.com/photos/cgarison/sets/72157602420958220/.<br /><br />I hope to have photos of the disastrous landscaping in the next few weeks.CGarisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02033465497420896159noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34301113.post-82023792728373135842009-05-24T09:28:00.000-07:002009-06-07T16:36:53.339-07:00Pope2You<div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_u9D6KiucZdA/Shl1uMvJp0I/AAAAAAAABI0/jFPLbQecL6s/s1600-h/ipope-orange.jpg"><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_u9D6KiucZdA/Shl1uMvJp0I/AAAAAAAABI0/jFPLbQecL6s/s400/ipope-orange.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a> </div><br />Remember this.... It is now true. Details at http://www.pope2you.net<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />In an attempt to lure more young parishioners, the catholic church has launched new social media applications for Facebook, the iPhone, a social Wiki, and of course YouTube. This is in addition to associated podcasts on iTunes.<br /><br />George Carlin is laughing and Kevin Smith is doing an "I told you so!"<div style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" alt="Posted by Picasa" style="border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" align="middle" border="0" /></a></div>CGarisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02033465497420896159noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34301113.post-34739735670185045622009-05-20T08:49:00.001-07:002009-05-20T08:49:00.633-07:00Test Image From Flickr<div style="float: right; margin-left: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cgarison/2399262503/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2415/2399262503_7eff22611e_m.jpg" alt="" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" /></a><br /><span style="font-size: 0.9em; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cgarison/2399262503/">Vegas-7680</a><br />Originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/cgarison/">Garison C. Garison</a></span></div>I am trying out the Flickr to Blogger connection to push photos to my blog. Of course, I grabbed one of my favorite photos from Las Vegas as my push test, but this might just be the tool that I need to make everything link the way I want without having to maintain stuff on Picasa as well.<br /><br />Here goes!<br /><br />(Clicking post entry)<br clear="all" />CGarisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02033465497420896159noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34301113.post-634263945542002202009-05-18T07:20:00.001-07:002009-05-18T07:20:33.252-07:00Jalopnik Recommendation: GM Registers Bankruptcy Web Site Ahead Of BankruptcyFrom: Jalopnik has sent you a link to a post on Jalopnik:<p>Title: GM Registers Bankruptcy Web Site Ahead Of Bankruptcy<br>Link: <a href="http://jalopnik.com/5259260/gm-registers-bankruptcy-web-site-ahead-of-bankruptcy">http://jalopnik.com/5259260/gm-registers-bankruptcy-web-site-ahead-of-bankruptcy</a><p>From: Jalopnik says: Looks like GMs toast is almost done and the ding on the toaster is 15 days away. <p>Hang on to your skives. This trip may leave a skid mark or two.<p>C. Garison From the Web @Jalopnik.ComCGarisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02033465497420896159noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34301113.post-27532339510958657952009-05-18T06:33:00.000-07:002009-05-18T06:34:33.933-07:00It is everywhere<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_u9D6KiucZdA/ShFj6uyuzkI/AAAAAAAABIE/qnE06P6ARwc/s1600-h/Photo01-773934.jpg"><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_u9D6KiucZdA/ShFj6uyuzkI/AAAAAAAABIE/qnE06P6ARwc/s400/Photo01-773934.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337156894055124546" /></a></p><p class="mobile-photo"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_u9D6KiucZdA/ShFj6-aetaI/AAAAAAAABIM/TjCoPXEc_Fg/s1600-h/Photo02-774732.jpg"><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_u9D6KiucZdA/ShFj6-aetaI/AAAAAAAABIM/TjCoPXEc_Fg/s400/Photo02-774732.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337156898248373666" /></a></p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">I remember seeing a car that look like a rolling trash can many years ago in Ashland. Well, I know these people are all over the nation, but to my shock, the Honda Odessey rolling trash can in Wayne, PA really took the cake. <br> <br> This appears to be the start of a recycling nightmare. Most of the trash appears to be recyclable and the back of the van was filled with boxes. Had the whole van been filled like the passenger sheet, the suspension would be trashed.<br> <br> So now to find better sites to capture with my camera phone.<br> </font><div id='MAILCIADB033-5c374a116399bf' class='aol_ad_footer'><br/><font style="color:black;font:normal 10pt arial,san-serif;"> <hr style="margin-top:10px"/><B>A Good Credit Score is 700 or Above. <A HREF=http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100126575x1221322941x1201367178/aol?redir=http://www.freecreditreport.com/pm/default.aspx?sc=668072%26hmpgID=115%26bcd=Mayfooter51809NO115>See Yours in Just 2 Easy Steps!</A></B></font> </div> CGarisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02033465497420896159noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34301113.post-27100950828017316992009-05-17T19:55:00.000-07:002009-05-17T20:02:03.359-07:00HallburnedMark Hallburn has become a topic of discussion around some blogs and message boards.<br /><br />Well, I will not kick a man when he is down, but I sure will light the path. Here is a link to the best of the battle.<br /><br />http://www.girlofwords.com/?page_id=1579<br /><br />And now I see the Girl of Words is fanning the flames.<br /><br />http://www.girlofwords.com/?p=1694<br /><br />This is going to be good.CGarisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02033465497420896159noreply@blogger.com0