Canon PowerShot ELPH 300 HS

With Black Friday looming large and the holidays following close behind, its time to roll out some gift ideas that are guaranteed to put a smile on the face of that special geek or geekette in your life. First up is the Canon PowerShot ELPH 300 HS.

This is a great little point and shoot camera; small, solidly built, and chock full of features. The 300 is a 12.1 megapixel digital camera with a 24 mm ultra Wide-Angle lens, 5x optical zoom, full 1080p HD video with stereo sound, and an optical image stabilizer. Canon’s HS system provides fast image processing and great low light performance, and it can capture 8.0 frames per second in high speed burst mode. Not bad for a camera you can slip into your front pocket.

I’ve been playing around with one of these for about 2 months now, and I’ve been very pleased with the results. Nice sharp photos, short time between shots, very decent battery life, and although it’s capable of all kinds of magical image processing, the thing I’m most impressed with is its Smart Auto setting. It reads the situation and adjusts accordingly, giving you the best picture possible with a minimal amount of effort. Just point, and shoot; as it should be.

That being said, I’m looking forward to trying out the Movie Digest mode this Thanksgiving. In this mode, the camera pre-captures a 4 second video clip before each still, and then stitches the whole day together in a file that you can play back as a montage. Cool.

There’s a nice review here on the Hunt’s Camera website, and I’ve posted a video review from infoSync below, because the only way to appreciate how tiny this thing is is to see it in someone’s hands. It’s tiny, but it’s solid. There’s a nice heft to it in your hand, and when it’s off, it turtles itself into a sleek, sturdy little package.

Hunt’s just dropped the price from $199 to $179, and I’m expecting them to bundle it with an extra battery or a nice memory card and case for the same or less this Friday. If they do, jump on it, you won’t be disappointed.

Fair Weather

Not Such Deep Thoughts: Epic Fail Edition

This was originally going to be the “Early Fall Edition”, but since last Wednesday night’s Sox meltdown, it’s become the “Epic Fail Edition”. I’ll still be voicing my thoughts on the pros and cons of early fall, but in another post. The Sox collapse, and its subsequent fallout, will be the main topic of discussion here, mainly because it’s all I’ve been thinking about, so let’s dive right in:

The Sox ended the season just the way they started it, badly. They actually played worse in September than they had in April, as hard as that is to believe. They just flat out sucked, and it was all the worse because we’d seen what they were capable of. On September 3rd they had a 9 game lead over the Rays in the Wild Card race, and a 99.6% chance of making it to the post season. Check out the graph below of the Sox and Rays chances of reaching the playoffs throughout the season. It’s painful to see, but it’s the only way to truly understand the magnitude of their collapse.



Now that’s a picture that really tells a story.

How do you blow a lead like that? Well, you can’t blame it on any one person. An epic collapse like this takes a village, or a team, in this case. Everyone from the top of the organization to the bottom needs to fail to pull off something like this. If I could look at it objectively, it would actually be quite an impressive feat, but I can’t.

Terry Francona was the first casualty of this debacle. Actually, he was the second; Red Sox Nation was the first. We had to watch this slow motion train wreck unfold. Terry paid a bigger price, though. While we were just uncomfortable, and ultimately disappointed, he had to walk away from something he loved. Was it the right decision?

Undoubtedly.

He lost the clubhouse, and you can’t continue on as manager once the people you manage become unmanageable. That being said, you can’t really fault the guy. He was the perfect manager in the Dirt Dog days, and he did a masterful job of guiding them to not one, but two championships. This team has moved on, though. They’re not the Dirt Dogs anymore, or even the band of Idiots they morphed into. Matter of fact, they’re not even a team. They’re just a bunch of overpaid, overindulged, selfish wonks.

You have winning seasons and losing seasons, victories and disappointments; it’s all a part of it. Both fans and players have to roll with it, because ultimately, it’s just a game. What’s inexcusable is when the players don’t do their job. They get paid a fantastic amount of money, quite a bit of it coming from the pockets of the Fenway Faithful, and for that they only have to do two things. First, they have to play to the best of their abilities, and second, they have to pull together as a team. They have no chance whatsoever of succeeding if they don’t do both. Doesn’t seem like such a hard concept to grasp.

How do you fix something like this? In my opinion, you need to start by cleaning house. Some of the players need to go, and whoever takes the helm needs to be ruthless about it. Where was the captain through all of this? I really like Tek, he’s a great guy who’s done a lot for the team and the city, but you can’t stay on as captain after being a part of this mess. The captain’s role is to lead by example, or if that fails, through good old fashioned ass kicking. Didn’t happen, as far as I can see.

There are quite a few others whose time has come, maybe even a portly pitcher or two, even if it means the Sox take a huge hit in the pocketbook. Examples have to be made, and whoever doesn’t get shown the door needs to understand in no uncertain terms that not being in shape, not trying your hardest all season long, and not being a team player, is unacceptable. That’s not a lot to ask of men who make more money in a year than most of us see in ten, and without a doubt, it’s the only way to get this team back on track.

That is all.

For now.

More Extreme Tech - Rigid VP2000 Wet Vac Pump

I found this baby at Home Depot this weekend while I was looking for a replacement squeegee head for my Rigid Wet/Dry Vac.

I love my shop vac, except when it’s full of nasty water and I need to empty it. I could drain it into the sump pit, but that would be kind of counter productive. Instead, we ladle some off with a bucket, and then we lift it up and pour the rest down the basement utility sink. Back breaking work. No fun at all.

With this baby, you pop it on before you start, and then when the unit is full you connect a hose and you can pump the water up to 50ft at a rate of 10gpm. Nice!

I know, I know, I should have done these last two posts before and not during Irene. Can’t be helped; busy, busy, busy.

Backyard Tech – Extreme Edition: Generators

Having a basement that’s prone to flooding, we were way overdue in adding a generator to our flood fighting arsenal. We’re fine as long as the sump pumps run, but if they stop working, disaster ensues. We finally bit the bullet after we remodeled Man Town this past year.

I knew nothing about generators when we started looking, but after a little research, and some professional electrical advice, we came up with a plan. Our main concern was the pumps, but we also wanted something that would help us out during those ugly winter Nor’easters that we’re prone to around here. There’s a great Wattage Estimation Guide on the Honda Power Equipment website that helped us out a lot.

We settled on the Honda EG5000. It’s big enough to hook up to your house via a transfer switch and run quite a few devices, and yet small enough to still be considered a portable. It’s from Honda’s Economy line, which means it has the power of the more expensive models, just fewer frills. No key start, no wheels, no fancy panels. It does, however, pump out 5000W (4500W rated) of power, both 120/240V, via a nice variety of outputs (two 20A 125V outlets, one 20A 125V locking plug, one 30A 125V locking plug and a 30A 125/250V locking plug).

It’s powered by Honda’s commercial grade 389cc engine, which is relatively quiet (73dB), and it has some great features that you won’t find on cheaper generators, like DAVR (digital automatic voltage regulation witch prevents power fluctuations) and Oil Alert (the unit shuts down the engine before you hit the add level). It also comes with a 3 year parts and labor warranty that’s valid for both commercial and residential use.

I bought mine from a Honda dealership (Parkway Cycle), rather than on line, because I wanted one that was assembled, bench tested, and ready to rock and roll. It has an important job to do, so I did it right, and you should too.

Coronal Mass Ejections and You

This past week there were several medium to large Coronal Mass Ejections, otherwise known as solar flares. As the resulting electromagnetic pulses, travelling at about four million miles per hour, collide with Earth’s magnetic field, there will be increased Northern Light activity, and also sporadic disruptions of Radio and Satellite signals.

So what does that mean for you and I?

Well, if you’re far enough north (Maine), and the conditions are right, it means that you may be treated to some strange and beautiful light shows in the night sky. It also means that the satellite feed your cable company gets could suffer periodically, as well as the signals from the GPS satellites.

We we’re up in Maine this weekend and we went down to the beach to star gaze, but it was too overcast to see any Aurora activity. We did however suffer from some strange tics in the cable feed, and when we started our car to leave, the GPS put us squarely in the Atlantic Ocean. It stayed pegged to that spot, just off the coast, until we hit the Hampton tolls, then all of a sudden it came back to life, plopping us on I95, where we belonged.

Phew.

Anyways, it seems we’re in a period of increased solar activity that won’t peak until 2013, so keep a weather eye to the sky, just be sure you have those polarized Ray Bans on, can’t be too careful. Matter of fact, I just finished fashioning myself a jaunty little tin foil cap, and I think I have enough left to line a couple of pairs of shorts.

That is all.

Backyard Tech - Aquabot Turbo T

Vacuuming the pool is one of those chores that you start off enjoying, but quickly run out of time and patience for.

Early in each pool season I’m gung ho to clean it by hand. It’s a great feeling to do something that shows such obvious results, and it can be an almost Zen like experience; standing quietly poolside, hypnotized by the rhythmic motions and the sighing, woodwind like sounds as the air escapes from the pole on each down stroke. It slows things down and gives me time to think and relax.

As the season goes on though, my thoughts increasingly focus on what a time consuming pain in the ass it actually is. The setup, the breakdown, the backwashing, the standing in the hot sun during the day, or trying to keep my focus while swatting mosquitoes in the evening, and as the summer heats up and the algae starts blooming, each vacuum becomes longer and more tedious. You never hit every spot either, no matter how much time and energy you put into it. Consequently the pool liner starts to get that slimy “Slip and Slide” feel to it, especially on the down slope to the deep end. It’s hard to put enough pressure on the pole to really scrub those deep angled places.

A couple of years ago I purchased a rechargeable pool “dust buster”, the Pool Blaster. It attaches to the end of your pole and does a great job. It’s a self contained device, so it cuts out the setup time and the backwashing part of skimmer vacuuming, but you still have to go over every square inch of the pool. It’s great, but it’s not the ultimate solution to vacuuming, it’s more of a spot cleaner.

We also thought about having the pool cleaned on a regular basis by our pool people, but that gets costly. We have them come by when we’re away and they do a great job, but its $70 bucks a pop, and that’s just too rich for my blood over the course of the summer, so we started to look for a pool cleaning robot. There’s a ton of them out there, but after much research we settled on the Aquabot Turbo T.

Aquabot has a whole line of pool bots, one for every type of pool and every budget. The Turbo T model is on the high end of the spectrum, but it pays for itself in time, chemicals and results. It motors around the pool like a little submersible Sherman Tank, scrubbing, vacuuming and power washing every inch of the pool, and leaves it sparkling clean. By the second use we started noticing that the vinyl liner felt like it did when it was new; firm and textured instead of smooth and slippery.

This baby is amazing. It even climbs up the wall and moves along the water line,defying gravity while it scrubs the liner all the way up to the coping. It picks up everything; sand, leaves, rocks, and I’m always amazed at the amount of debris inside the filter bag at the end of its cycle. I run it about twice a week, and the pool has never been so clean. I’m even saving money on earth and chemicals because I don’t need to backwash as much, plus I now get to do my Zen like thinking while seated and watching the bot clean the pool. Much better.

I got my Aquabot online from In the Swim, who I found via GoodSearch. GoodSearch provided me with a discount coupon and made a donation to the charity of my choice based on a percentage of the sale price. Nice. Check them out, they do great things, and check out the video below of the bot in action.

Not Such Deep Thoughts: Special Stanley Cup Edition

Well, it’s that time again; the old noggin is filled to ‘esplodin’ with unvoiced thoughts, so let’s get right to it, and there’s no better way to start this off than by saying:

How ‘bout those Bruins, eh?

They took us for a long and wild ride on their quest for the cup, and the victory was made that much sweeter by its sheer unexpectedness. Sure, they were a pretty good team this year, but after their epic collapse in last year’s playoffs, I just didn’t think they had it in them. Boy was I wrong. In retrospect, it played out a lot like our other sports team’s recent championships; the dark horse team that rose to every occasion, time and time again, always managing to get the job done. No trash talk, no false bravado, just blood, sweat and hustle. It’s become standard operating procedure for our Boston teams. Shut up and play is our mantra here, and it’s served us well.


Speaking of the Bruins, could these guys be any more likable? They just keep surprising me with the things they do, mainly because they’re so down to earth. Out and about with the general public after the victory, walking the streets, stopping in at a barber shop to have their beards buzzed, putting the Cup in a baby stroller and taking it down to Tia’s to hold court, beautiful. You just don’t see that type of behavior in professional sports these days and it’s very refreshing.


Anyone know where I can get one of those Locker Room hats? Damn they’re hard to find.


Not to diminish this year’s feats in any way, shape or form, but while we’re on the subject of the Stanley Cup, I’ve been weighing this years Championship victory against what I’ve always considered to be the most exciting hockey moments of my life; the 1970 Bruins quest for the cup.

Orr, Sanderson, Espo, The Chief, Hodge, Pie and The Cheese, that was quite a team, my team, and they were having an incredible season. My Dad and 2 of my Uncles were long time season ticket holders back then, so I got to go to a lot of games, but when it came to the playoffs, nuh-uh, no one was giving those babies up, so my buddy, his little brother and I packed up our lawn chairs, sleeping bags and street hockey sticks and headed on down to the Gah-den to get us some tickets.

We spent three days waiting in line; two camping in the alley between the Garden and the Registry, and one night sleeping in the Garden itself. Our parents would come by a couple of times a day to drop off food and generally check on our well being; it was long before the cell phone, no way to check on Junior except in person in those days. We kept ourselves busy playing street hockey in that alley, there was always a game going on, or playing cards with our neighbors in line. Barrel fires lit the night, and the only thing to fear were the rats (great big rats). We’d sit there at night clutching our sticks, trying in vain to stay awake.

On the last night they herded us all inside and sat us in sections according to our place in line. We ended up exploring every inch of that place before the night was through, us and about a thousand other kids. Pure nirvana for a 15 year old Bruins fan. We walked out of there the next day clutching tickets to games 3 and 4 of the finals, feeling like we had just hit the lottery, and we had, of course, because we were standing high in the gallery during the game 4 overtime period, screaming and yelling ourselves hoarse, when we all learned that number 4 could fly.

Ah, memories. As I said before though, I don’t bring this up to diminish what this year’s team has done; it’s just hard to think of any Bruins team without measuring them up with The Big Bad Bruins of my youth. This season was just as exciting, but for much different reasons.

That 1970 team seemed predestined for coronation; the Orr era Bruins were akin to the Montana era Niners, you just knew they were going to win, and we ate it up. The excitement they generated with their spectacular play and bloody fights, combined with the unabashed hero worship of my youth and the new found freedom our parents had afforded us that spring was totally intoxicating, and it left an indelible mark on me.

This 2011 Bruins Championship was exciting because the outcome was always in doubt. Close, hard fought games, incredible plays, incredible hustle, and incredible determination. They personified team, and made you proud to be a fan.

As I said; just as exciting, but for much different reasons.

On a sad note; I lost 2 of those Bruin loving, larger than life Uncles during this past season, one of them passing just before game five. I like to think they went to join my Dad, and they were all watching from the gallery as that final horn sounded and bedlam ensued. In my mind’s eye I can see the pure joy and excitement on their faces. It’s such a clear and beautiful image that it has to be true.

That is all.

It's All In The Water!

I Love That Dirty Water!





and Nathan Horton!

Welcome to Boston, boys.

Bruins 8, Canucks 1

That is all.

Nook Color Firmware Upgrade

Barnes and Noble recently released their long awaited firmware upgrade for the Nook Color, Version 1.2. It’s based on the Android 2.2 OS, and it brings all kinds of new features to the already cool and functional device.

With the addition of Email, Adobe Flash Player and the availability of productive Apps like Quickoffice® software, as well as time wasters like Angry Birds, it’s got the whole package now, and at half the price of an iPad, this device has become pretty hard to pass up.

Check out our previous review of this device for more details.


That is all.


Oh, wait… Angry Birds anyone?

Mother’s Day

Mother’s Day:
we turn over the fresh earth
growing flowers for you to see