Its a Nou Day!

It may come as no surprise that I like photography! Since I also like computers, the only photos I take are digital. When I purchased my first digital camera (I think it was a Ricoh) I took a TON of pictures but never really liked the quality. So I returned it and waited until the image quality was much better. In the late 90’s I finally ended up getting an Olympus C3030 which, at the time, had an amazing 3 Megapixel sensor with a really good lens. I used it for years then realized I was missing out on a lot of pictures due to the fact that it spent more time at home than in my pocket; It was a pretty bulky camera to lug around. During the past few years, as you may have noticed, cameras have become smaller with better quality electronics. The only problem with these pocket cameras is that no matter HOW big the imaging sensor, your limitation is the small lens.

Last year I purchased a Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W90 and while I’ve been pleased with the quality of the Carl Zeiss lens and 8.1 Megapixel sensor, it still doesn’t compare to an SLR (Single-Lens Reflex) camera. So this past week I broke down and got a Canon EOS 40D digital SLR and let me tell you, this camera is absolutely AWESOME! (Here is a link to some of the first pics I took with it) I will say, however, that if you are the type of person who does NOT like to read manuals, then this camera ISN’T for you! It does have an all AUTO mode but if that is all you will ever use then save some money and pick up a less expensive model. The beauty of the Canon 40D is that it is forgiving enough to make you look like a semi-pro photographer yet sophisticated enough to be used by a pro! As I’m typing this, I’m looking at the 400+ photos I took yesterday and am still amazed at how brilliant they look. Not to mention that it appears I could have easily taken another 400 before the battery was exhausted. Now the only problem is when do I find the time to enroll in a class or study online about things like f-stop, aperture, ISO, etc.? My goal is to start framing some of my photos so I guess its best that I study and practice before I spend money on developing!

Stay tuned for some really cool photos…

As someone who tried Bluetooth when it first came out a few years ago, I’ve never put much faith in the latest low range wireless gadgets. For some reason, every time I would see a friend with one I would ask how they like it then wait for the bad press to dissuade me from buying another. One day I even went so far as to try a friends headset while I did my best to try to get the phone to drop the connection…the signal didn’t drop. BUT, that wasn’t good enough to convince me to buy one. Then, it finally happened! A friend was at our house and I saw her putting one on her ear as she walked out the door. I commented, “Wait, is that the headset you talk through when we are on the phone?” She looked at me funny as she shook her head yes and asked why I’m curious. I had just realized that of the umpteen conversations I’ve had with her, not once did I feel like I was listening to someone talk in a tin can. At this point I told Nousha that I needed to give Bluetooth ONE more chance. Apparently it takes two friends to convince me to buy something. Then again I tend to be a perfectionist and need to have excellent quality on my cell conversations. :) Needless to say, the hunt was on for a Motorola H700C which had been proven to me would be better than the old headset. BTW, the old headset was a Jabra BT200. Aside from the fact that it would never stay synced to my phone, took forever to turn on, would only last about an hour’s worth of talk time and was very uncomfortable, the Jabra made a great collection to my old-technology-box-in-the-garage.

Now that I knew what I wanted, here comes the fun part…waiting for the BEST deal to get one. Last Saturday the opportunity presented itself as we were driving to IKEA to return some lights when I noticed a sign that said “CompUSA going out of business, everything 10% - 30% off.” I looked at Nousha and figured I needed to do some serious convincing to get her in the store so I pulled out the “Sale” card :) Come on, who can pass up a SALE? Somehow my convincing worked and we quickly found ourselves surrounded by a bunch of other happy men standing next to women with the look on their faces as if all saying “how did I let you bring me here again????!!!!” Luckily for Nousha, we walked in and found the Bluetooth section within 30 seconds. Low and behold, the EXACT model was on the rack with a big sign that said 30% off (regular price was $99). As you can imagine, it wasn’t even a question at this point, I had to have it!

I brought the unit home and quickly plugged it into the charger. I was quite impressed that it had a full charge in less than a couple of hours. Keep in mind I have CLDS which stands for Charge Lapse Disorder Syndrom, which is an impatient tremor that persists between the time you plug a brand new electronic device in the charger and the moment you actually get to use it. Once the disorder subsided and the unit was fully charged, Nousha wasn’t excited when I proceeded to call her from the garage as it was paired to my Iphone. Nor was she excited when I paired it with my other phone, a Nextel i880. But I can tell you I sure was happy to find out that my decision was worth it…Bluetooth REALLY is a lot better than it used to be!

This particular Bluetooth ear piece is MUCH more comfortable, has a clearer and louder speaker and it doesn’t seem to drop the connection, no matter how much I juggle the phone while talking. One thing I like about it is if it’s turned off and the phone rings, you can open the microphone (which turns it on) and answer the call quickly enough so the caller doesn’t go to voice mail. The users guide says that you can leave it turned on for a day or 2 in standby mode but I figure if it’s not on my ear then no sense leaving it on.

I guess you can say I really like this new head set. I would have to give it 2 thumbs up and say that it was definitely worth the money. With that said, of course I came home and looked up the price online to make sure I got a good deal. Sure enough I found it cheaper on Amazon…but I would have paid more for it anyway due to the quality!

Nousha and I get along extremely well with one minor exception…directions! Even though we have both lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for MANY years, we still find ourselves getting lost from time to time. This, however, is not the problem…what happens at the moment of disorientation is the issue! Of course I say to go one way and she says to go the other. The reality is that we often find that we are both wrong (ok, so IM the one who is wrong…she would never admit that she is lost :) It was clear that in order to avoid relationship counseling, we needed to do something about this! I, being a numbers guy, did the quick calculations and discovered it was cheaper to buy a GPS than to spend the money on therapy. Since I’m the type of buyer that has to review EVERYTHING before purchasing, I felt that the best bet was the TomTom 920T and sure enough, I was right! Let me tell you, this thing is absolutely AMAZING! I have used others in the past and am completely convinced that this is THE best unit to buy!

Nousha and I used a Garmin GPS that was loaned to us from her cousin (Reza) for our Spain trip. For those of you that have been there, you know that their city roads are very small and frequent. We coined the term “Calculation Frustration” during our visit to Barcelona. What this means is when you miss a street that the GPS tells you to turn on, it will then “calculate” a new path. As the GPS is calculating, the car is getting further and further away from the correct path and your partner is blurting out “go left, go right, stop, turn around”. This, by the way, can also turn into expensive couples-counseling bills if you let it get out of hand! The Garmin we used was highly prone to the dreaded “Calculation Frustration”. So, while looking for a new unit I wanted to make sure we minimized this factor. I’m please to say that the TomTom 920T does just this…it is super fast at calculating a new path. Also, another really cool feature that comes in handy in big city’s (with tall buildings) is its ability to continue plotting directions when it loses satellite communication. This, by the way, is very rare! And, unlike the Garmin I used, this one picks up the signal almost instantly when you turn it on.

Another key feature of the TomTom 920T is the fact that it comes PRE-loaded with maps of the United States ALONG with Canada and Europe on its 4 GB internal memory. Most other units make you purchase the maps after the fact and they tend to be expensive!

User input is really simple with this unit as well. You can either enter your destination address by touching the touch-sensitive screen, speak to it using its voice recognition capabilities or use the supplied remote control. Im please to say that it also does a good job understanding Noushas Persian accent…although she still feels funny talking to an inatimate object :) However she has no problem talking to people via the Bluetooth connection between the TomTom 920T and her cell phone!

All in all, I can’t say enough good things about it and I’m excited to now be able to drive in the car without having any GIRS (Geographically Induced Relationship Syndroms)! As with the above links, this will also take you to a product description page at Amazon. If you end up getting one, I suggest going through them since they are fast and you tend to get the best deal online!