Olympus Stylus 1

First off, as a photographer, I can flat out say judging a camera by 'pixel peeping' a waste of time, unless you're planning to put your photos on a billboard or the side of a bus. Most images are printed out as 5x7 or 8x10. Also, I've had A3+ sized photobooks printed out using 1600 ISO images, and the noise doesn't translate to the print.

Onto the review:  my old Point and Shoot was having problems focusing in lower light. So, I went out shopping for a point and shoot.

Yes, the Stylus 1 is more expensive than I planned. However, it does a helluva lot more than your average point and shoot. I've taken the Stylus out at night shooting, and haven't seen the blurring, but I think that's because I don't have the in camera noise filter on, or set to the lowest setting possible depending on the lighting, and for such a small sensor, I was surprised at the results. Clear sharp images, even after noise reduction during photo processing.

I like that when on Manual the aperture setting dial is no where near the shutter speed anymore, that you change the shutter speed via a ring round the lens.

Customizable buttons/dials allows you to set your camera up to suit your needs. You can even set which directions the dial turn to suit.

I did notice a problem, that is software correctable. In bright back, or directional lighting situations, the chromatic aberrations are highly visible, and the provided Olympus Viewer 3 can't seem to correct it. (Adobe Photoshop did, using Oly 10-60mm lens profile. I'm using Adobe Camera Raw 8.3 and there is no profile for the Stylus 1).  Olympus Viewer 3 also struggled with making panoramas from shots taken in Panorama mode, whereas Adobe Photoshop stitched them together flawlessly. Hopefully, all these issues could be fixed with a software update.

In the past, I haven't been a big fan of digital zoom, but I have to say that the Stylus does a pretty good job of it, as long as you are shooting low ISO, and make sure you're shooting in JPG/RAW mode, as it only affects a JPG.  Yes, there are some noise artifacts, but no where near as much as there used to be, and easily corrected in photo processing software.

Lightweight, small, and great set up options.  It's great for street photography, as you can not only shut off the beeps, you can also silence the shutter.

Oy, won't they ever go away or just shut up

Creationists just can't get it through their heads. Their "book' is a compilation of stories and fables. You wouldn't give equal time (inferring equal credence) to Flat Earthers during a NASA program, so giving the loonie group from “Answers in Genesis” equal time on a science show is not going to happen.

Creationism - religion
Cosmos - Science

Creationist can whine like toddlers all they want, but it won't change the fact that the bible is not science or even factual data, and has no place in the 2014 COSMOS series any more than it did in 1980 Carl Sagan version.

Another small sign of improvement

Last night, Wing and I went to Cottesloe Beach, to photograph the "Sculptures by the Sea".

The first year, we went, it was hellish for me. Bad back, weak leg, walking on shifting sand. I had to sit down every 10 minutes or so walking because it just hurt so much. Took us close to 4 hours to do the entire loop.  And I was lamed up for about a week.

2nd year. Still caused pain, gave my left leg a lot of grief, and I still had to take breaks but after every 20 minutes or so. Took over 3 hours. Hurting unit for about 5 days.

3rd year, pretty much repeat of 2nd year, but walking break every 30 minutes, lame for about 3 days.

This year, I went from one end of the beach art, to the other end. Took about 2 hours. BUT, the only time I sat down was when I was waiting for Wing to finish taking his 10th shot of the same piece of art work.  A bit stiff today, but once I was up and around, I was fine, and started doing laundry, vacuuming rugs and planning dinner.

Fred Phelps is dying

And I have to admit, I will not shed one single tear for him.  I won't, as he and his cult would do, crow about the death of someone, but neither shall I mourn. He is a vile example of humanity, as is his bred to be his congregation family.

You know what would be great, though? If a hundreds or thousands showed up at his funeral.

Quiet, respectful, everything he and his followers aren't.
People in military uniform, cross dressers, singers, actors. Everything and everybody he and his cult decried as evil, and sickly gleeful about when they died,  show up... and hold up signs saying "Fred... we forgive you."

Have them show up and show humanity towards a man who lost his.

Then go make a donation to the an Equal Rights organization in his name.

Bull$hit from Amazon dot com

I emailed both Amazon Kindle and Amazon, asking why was a certain e-book 4 times the cost, and why was I being forced to use Amazon Australia? I would much rather pay US dollars for my e-books, even with the conversion prices than being forced to the Amazon Australia. These are the duck/dodge/weave but don't answer replies from them (my messages are italic, Amazon's bold):

 

Other info:Being forced to use Amazon Australia
Comments:I'm angry. I spotted an ebook by Andy Borowitz, 18 page short story, for 99 cents. I went to go buy it, and when I logged in, the price almost quadrupled to $3.63 because I was forced to select Amazon Australia?  Oh HELL no.  I know what the exchange rate is, and this is way beyond appropriate pricing.

how to do I stop being automatically shunted to Amazon Australia for my ebook purchases? I would rather find "not available to your geographical location", and pay in US dollars than to be blatantly ripped off.

Message From Customer Service

Hello, I'm really sorry to hear that you are being charged higher than the conversion rate for the book by Andy Borowitz. I wanted to help investigate this problem, and in-order to do so, I will need to know the title of the book by Andy Borowitz. If you can provide the ASIN number of the book, please click on the link below: https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/contact-us We hope you can contact us soon so we can help solve this problem quickly. We look forward to seeing you again soon. Best regards, S***** U. K.

 

Then this one:

 

Message From Customer Service (Amazon Kindle) Hello, I've read your email and I'm sorry for the inconvenience. This is something we don't want our customers to experience. I've checked and found that you have updated your address to Australia, That's the reason your being charged for Australian price. Further to compensate for the inconvenience, I've issued a promotional credit of $10 to your amazon account. Also I would request you to update your country setting.

From your computer:

1. Visit Manage Your Kindle (www.amazon.com/manageyourkindle).

2. From the left navigation, click Country Settings.

3. Under Current Country, click Change to select an existing address or enter a new address.

I am once again sorry for the inconvenience that this may have caused to you. The company is actively working to improve service levels and your feedback has proved to be invaluable. You are our regular customer and we would like to continue our relationship with you. I request you to forgive us as we promise you a better service next time.

If you still have any trouble, I request you to please reach us over chat or phone so that I can transfer you to our live customer support executives who can discuss the problem in detail and perform the real time live troubleshooting to resolve the issue to your satisfaction. I hope you understand our limitation in this case as we'll not be able to do live troubleshoot in email.

If it is not convenient to reach us over phone then please contact via chat for live support. I realize that at this point of time asking you to contact us again would be disappointing, however, we would really like to assist you better.

Your patience and understanding is highly appreciated in this matter. You can reach us by chat or phone directly and toll free from many countries by clicking the Contact Us option in the right-hand column of our Kindle Support pages at: http://www.amazon.com/kindlesupport When you visit our website and select Contact Us, click on the "Phone" tab, enter your number, and we’ll call you right back.

If your country isn't listed or you’re unable to take advantage of the Contact Us feature, you can call us directly at 1-866-321-8851 or 1-206-266-0927 if you're calling from outside the U.S. In addition to our large selection, one of the benefits we try very hard to offer our customers is convenience. I'm very sorry for the inconvenience you experienced in this case. Thanks for using Kindle.

We look forward to seeing you again soon. Best regards, A****** N

 

The above reply is a crock, and I told them so, as I have been buying ebooks on Amazon, not Amazon Australia for years. I have been paying US dollars for them and with the conversion rates, have maybe paid 25 cents over the US price. I don't want a $10 coupon, I want to know what is so different about the digital bits and bytes that it merits four times the price?

Dear Amazon Australia - You suck.

I went to go purchase this 18 page short story, and thought, ok 99 cents...sure. I login to my Amazon account, and get hit with this:
The price almost quadrupled. A short story, 18 pages, on Amazon dot Com US is 99 cents. But once I login, it suddenly goes to $3.63. 4 times the cost. So Amazon dot Com, the next time you try to f**k me, kiss me first.

Marvel DVD/Video Viewing time line/Line-up

Iron Man, Thor, Avengers, Captain America, Hulk

Captain America
Hulk
Iron Man
Iron Man 2
Thor
Avengers
Iron Man 3
Thor - Dark World

That looks about right, yes? 

We did the "Time Warp" again!

It's astounding.. time is fleeting. Madness .. takes its toll. (Please have exact change ready)
I had wondered how they were going to do the opening of the stage production, seeing how the movie starts. They had an old style movie "usherette" with an icecream/cigarette tray sing the opening number.
As much as I love the Tim Curry version of "Rocky Horror Picture Show", I have to say that Craig MacLachlan was fantastic as "Frank-n-Furter".   Not only was he a great singer, but he played the part for all it was worth, and did it with a style all his own.  I would say in many instances, due to it being a stage production, was able to add more to it, with ad libs, hamming up certain scenes (his 'appreciation' of Rocky's... umm 'attributes'... then Brad's.  Then there was the miming of their attributes) He wore the "Sweet Transvestite" costume with panache and looked damned good doing it, too!
Christie Whelan Browne was perfect as "Janet".  Her 'bedroom scene' with FrankNFurter was roll in the aisle hilarious. Especially with Craig hamming up that "Janet" was ummm 'shedding' after he came out from under the blanket.
Tim "Brad" Maddren.. excellent voice and also played the part to perfection.  I think my favorite scene was the "Bedroom" scene when "Brad" realizes that isn't Janet in the bed with him. Somehow, he got struck with a case of the 'giggle jiggles', and it was turning into a "mirth quake", and Craig made sure Tim lost it.  Craig breaking script and giving him a liplock busted up the audience.
"Rocky".. Hey, I'm married, not buried, and he was luscious stack, who sang and performed beautifully. Looked pretty damned good in a corset/fishnet stockings and garters, too!
Columbia, Riff Raff, Magenta/Usherette, Eddie/Doctor Scott, Narrator (Ashlea Pike, Kristian Lavercombe, Erika Haynatz, Nickolas Christo, Tony Farrell)..  amazing actors and singers. 


My only complaint, and it's not at the show or actors.  It was the audience.  What is it about Perth that makes people think when they buy a ticket to a concert, or an audience participation stage play such as this one, that they behave as if their asses are married to that seat?  Half the fun of RHPS live is audience participation. 
"There's a Light"... there might have been 20 people out of the entire audience that I could see, waving glow sticks, and about that many doing the "Time Warp" reprise at the end. Even with the actors/players encouraging people to get up, again, their asses married to their seats.
Not so, I! I got up and had a great time. And I would do it again!

Annoyance: Companies that can't grasp the fact it's a GLOBAL economy, and GeoBlock.

Case in point: Olympus Australia, the micro 4/3s accessories. The Accessory Port and Hot Shoe covers are easily lost. You can't find them on the Olympus Au site at all.

You can, however, find them on the Olympus USA site. BUT you can't buy them if you're in Australia, even with a drop mail address because you have to have a US *billing* address.

Also, in Australia, the price is double for these items, and that's not because of exchange rates. (Accessory Port cover, $7 US, was $15 AUD. With exchange rate, at the time we needed accessory port cover, it was almost at parity).

So, either quit the GeoBlocking, or keep the ^$%%#*%#%# items in stock!

Windows 8 'lets see just how stupid this is' function.

I applied Windows 8 security updates and rebooted. Turns out the security update  wiped my Microsoft Live login password. On top of that, I couldn't remember it, so couldn't login to Windows.

Just under the "wrong password/email" message was their solution:
Login in to Accounts.live.com and reset password.

And just HOW does one do that if they can't remember their password to log onto the computer?

Didn't plan on an early start today

But my dreams has something else in mind. Woke up before 5am due to a nightmare. And here I thought I was too old for such things. *sigh* I did try to go back to sleep, but Keito had other ideas. Nibble Nibble, snog, nip, MEW! *again, sigh*

So, got up, stayed quiet so not to wake anyone else. Got dressed in shorts, baggy shirt, sneakers. Grabbed MP3 player, loaded an audio book on it, and did 30+ minutes of laps in the back yard. While I was doing it, I spotted Wing and Ziggy watching me. I don't think Ziggy understood what I was doing, because she looked very perplexed. (Human, are you lost or something?)

Waited until Wing went to work, then I went to work. Laundry, sweeping, vacuuming, pruning and feeding/watering potted plants.

Now, I feel like I need a nap.