Photography Guides

I recently upgraded to a Nikon D90. I purchased a guide for my D40x and was pretty content with the job the author did but he hasn't put one out yet for the D90. I couldn't find any credible alternative on Amazon (which is the whole world, right?).

Then one of my Flickr contacts mentioned a new guide just published by a guy named Thom Hogan. I was a bit skeptical at first because most of these guides/sites run by individuals are pretty lame (Ken Rockwell's, for example). But I kept seeing strong reviews and finally decided to blow a few Hamiltons. These DSLRs are complex and powerful and a good guide can save a lot of time in experimentation in order to get your desired results.

My guide arrived and, as advertised, is comprised of a CD with a wealth of information including the D90 specific guide in PDF format along with a printed "pocket" version. I am really impressed with the PDF content (which is all I've had time to read so far - it is a massive 764 pages long) which covers the fundamentals of digital cameras, file formats etc as well as details on the D90. Even in the fundamentals and general sections of the PDF Thom brings the info home to the D90. It isn't just boilerplate repeated from guides for other camera models.

Thom's guides look well worth purchasing for all but pro users. You can obtain them from his website. Note that his site also has a bunch of lens reviews, articles and tips on photography.

MacWorld - Some exciting news on iLife...

When they started talking about iLife '09 I was completely uninterested because I stopped using iPhoto and moved to Aperture a year ago. Even the iMovie features weren't that interesting to me because my needs are pretty simple. Then - wham - they introduced the video image stabilization feature and that is enough to make me pay for the upgrade. No matter how good your camcorder's stabilization is there are times more is needed and it looks like iMovie '09 can deliver. This may also save me from buying another lens for my D90 as I don't have VR on a short lens (and VR is really needed for D90 video).

I already know how to play piano and guitar but am excited about the new GarageBand as it will be great for my kids, and others, as well as most likely generating a whole new revenue stream for Apple and artists (and of course Microslop will announce an imitation soon to be delivered some day in the distant future). Oh yea, the new feature is "Learn to Play" which can teach you to play basic piano and guitar via video lessons and on screen examples. But wait, there is more. It includes lessons from famous musicians on how to play some of their songs. Folks like Sarah McLachlan, Sting, Norah Jones, and One Republic. You can bet this is gonna generate a whole new class of YouTube videos... You know, I bet my wife will even give this feature a try...

Upgrade price of $79 for the whole suite is sweet!

A Tale of Online Banking

I have been banking online for quite awhile and it has overall been a convenient and trouble-free experience. However a few weeks ago I ran into a problem that got under my skin and it seems worth documenting the experience for others.

I will refer to this particular international banking firm as Slime in this blog. So, over the course of the year I set up a Money Market account and bought a couple of CD's from Slime. These experiences went well enough. They weren't quite as convenient in their online processes as some others but they were paying slightly better interest rates and I didn't mind the extra steps that much. Then one fine day I said to myself - Self, now would be a good time to ladder in one more CD. So I took Self over to their website and checked the rate. Sure enough they were offering a nice 4% for a 6 month CD so I slogged through their process which treats each CD purchase as if they had never heard of me before. 

Fast forward about 10 days and the new CD has been set up and funded electronically from another account. Self logs in and checks the status only to find that the interest rate has been set to only 3.1%! Of course by this time when I check their website the lower rate is the new advertised rate.

Being quite sure I am not yet senile and had properly checked the rate I contacted Slime, electronically of course, and to my shock Slime confirmed indeed I wasn't senile. However they informed me the rate they pay on a CD isn't locked at the time you file the paperwork to open the account. It is instead set when they fund the account and since the rate dropped after I opened the account I was only entitled to the lower rate. This was quite a trap but in reading their fine print it was within the stated terms and conditions. Essentially Slime had written in a clause allowing them to slime their own, in this case loyal, customers. 

I let it go for a day or two but it really was getting under my skin. So I fired off another email saying I found their policy highly unacceptable and bordering on false advertising. They simply responded once again that they were "within their rights" and "helpfully" letting me know I could withdraw my money from the CD if I was willing to pay an early withdrawal penalty. Now I was really peeved! Their "explanation" only served to irk me even more.

So I said to myself - Self, you gotta do something about this. Slime is taking advantage of people and they should be stopped. So I said to myself - Self, visit thy oracle for advice. By which I mean I did a quick Google search and found out which regulatory agency was responsible for overseeing Slime. Turns out it was a federal agency called OCC - no, not Orange County Choppers. I mean Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. I found a handy dandy complaint form, filled it out, and faxed it in. By which I mean I emailed it to Maxemail which turns electronic documents and email into faxes for next to nothing. Being a fair minded guy I let Slime know I was going to file a complaint in advance. Would it shock you to hear - er, read - they didn't respond to that message?

After not very many settings of the sun I get a letter from Slime. They apologized for the miscommunication and restored the rate on my CD to 4%. Now not for a minute was there any miscommunication involved. They're just trying to keep me from pushing my complaint with the OCC further. I feel that in light of the shenanigans perpetrated this year by financial institutions penalties and increased regulation are quite likely. Screwing over your customers isn't going to win you any points with the politicians and regulators.

I'm not sure yet if I will yank all of my money out of Slime as the CDs mature. Frankly money talks and if they offer superior rates I will likely still use them. They did "do the right thing" - with a gun pointed at their heads. However if their rates are only competitive I will take my money away.

And, oh yeah, the OCC promised to contact me after hearing from Slime. I'll tell them I'm satisfied with Slime's apologetic action but ask how I can lobby to ensure such actions become illegal. Any time I get tripped up by something like this I imagine how many times institutions get away with things - because people don't pay attention, because they are elderly or otherwise infirmed or impaired, or just too unsophisticated to know how to fight the system. 

It's a rough world and we need to look out for each other.

PCalc - a free version available now

Awhile back I wrote about a great iPhone utility called PCalc. I wanted to let everyone know that JT has put up a Lite aka free version of PCalc. Don't let the fact there is now a free version fool you. It also packs a ton of functionality and is the best iPhone calc app out there. And don't let the "RPN" in the title of the full version scare you either. PCalc works great as both a traditional and RPN calculator. If you don't know what RPN is you'll be just fine. Check it out!

Retailers and the 2008 Holiday Season

I see and read non-stop about how retailers are worried about the holiday shopping season and about how aggressive they're being in discounting items. Having hit the stores and completed my shopping in the past couple of days I can only say I sure didn't see discounting of much of anything anyone actually wants.

For example, Toy's R Us advertises some heavy discounts but not on anything any of the many kids or adults on my shopping list want (and believe me everyone, young and old, wanted toys). I'll at least give them credit for having staffed reasonably well. I went to a department store to look for a gift and after walking in circles for awhile never found anyone to locate the item for me. Hiked down to another store and was able to find it. A few weeks ago I had seen some shirts I liked for myself but the price was high. Self - I said - when you do the Christmas shopping you can pick those up at a much better price. Well, so far the shirts are only discounted 25%. For a normal year that would be OK but that sure doesn't represent "big discounting". And it was obvious from the tall stack of the shirts, in every size, they are not moving. If they had been discounted heavily I probably would have bought one or two. As it is I walked out spending $0.

I bought a second HD TV a couple months ago. Checking the ads, the price I got back then, with a discount, is less than what you can buy the set for now. And overall this seems to be the case. Other than Black Friday weekend TVs don't seem to have been discounted much at all.

On the other hand you sure can get big discounts on toys no one wants, ugly socks, hideous neckties, and other unwanted gifts. Basically the stores are just trying to move the junk you shouldn't buy as a gift...

Sorry excuse for parenting...

I never, ever would have imagined Chuck E Cheese was a hot bed for assaults against persons... Apparently on a nationwide basis - read the story here.

All they needed to know they learned - or not - in kindergarten.

I don't think the CEC around us serve alcohol. And I don't think they should.

Storming Pogue aka Blackberry Cult

My previous post was on the Blackberry Storm which has been marketing as oh so much cooler and better than an iPhone. As a BB user it was pretty obviously desperation marketing and I saw today that Pogue wrote a negative review in the NY Times. (This is the link but you can't get to it unless you sign up for free access).

Turns out on his blog today Pogue writes that a lot of folks commented in firm agreement with my (er his) conclusion. Not surprising since I'm always right. The amusing part is he has discovered there is a virulent strain of fanboy much stronger than the Apple variety - the Blackberry adherents. Apparently this new strain has never even used the Storm but is quite certain his review was fundamentally (and fundamentalistly?) wrong. Poor David...

N.B. oh, and the iPhone share tripled last quarter (via TUAW).