by Veit on February 27, 2007
DCviews.com compiled a list of statements from camera manufacturers regarding compatibility of their cameras with Windows Vista.
Not to nit-pick, but a camera has nothing to do with an operating system unless you connect it directly to one of your computer’s USB ports (mostly done for transferring images). For downloading pictures from your camera, we always recommend to take out the Compact Flash or SD card from your camera and insert it into an internal or USB card reader. Much faster and easier.
So what the site really highlights is statements by camera manufacturers regarding compatibility of the software that comes with your camera. With the exception of some high-end professional applications (e.g., remote capturing an image in a studio setting by pressing the release button of your camera from your computer, or some RAW converters, such as Canon’s DPP and Nikon’s Capture NX), almost all of the software that comes with your camera is “shovelware” – older versions of popular imaging tools or trial versions of newer imaging software. You will be much better off using free imaging tools (see also my entry on the best free imaging tools) or spending some money on software tools such as Adobe Photoshop Elements. So their support of Vista is what matters, not the camera’s support!
Personally, to sum up the importance of the software that came bundled with my last three cameras: I have not even unpacked the CDs — they are still in the box.
by Veit on February 17, 2007
Here are my three favorite photo/imaging tools, all for free:
1. Irfanview
If you try out just one free tool, this is the one. It’s the best free image viewing tool in the world. Period. Viewing images, printing, converting them between different formats, slide shows, minor adjustments, thumbnails, image organizing – all of these can be done fast and easily. There’s hardly an image format that is not supported by Irfanview. It’s not an image editor, though.
I’ve been using Irfanview since the mid 1990’s and it’s my default application for file extensions such as JPG and TIF. It’s one of the first applications that get installed whenever I get a new PC. Try it out and I bet it will stick. Sorry, Windows only. Available in many languages.
2. Pixmantec Raw Shooter Essentials
Although Pixmantec was bought by Adobe least year and its Raw Shooter engine is now part of the new Adobe Photoshop Lightroom product, you can still google it to find copies on the net. If you bought a Digital SLR in 2006, chances are that Raw Shooter Essentials (RSE) supports its RAW format. In short, RSE is a full-featured software package to convert RAW images to TIFFs or JPEGs and it does a great job of doing so. Intuitive interface, easy adjustment capabilities and superb image processing make this a great value. Personally, I use the Premium (RSP) version, but I used RSE before RSP came out. It’s by far the best free RAW converter. Again, Windows only.
3. GIMP
Not ready to shell out hundreds of dollars for Adobe Photoshop, but still want Photoshop-like functionality? Try the GIMP, an open-source image editor. While its functionality is a bit short of Photoshop’s, it still offers way more than most other free “image editors”. Plus, it’s available on Windows, Mac and Linux/Unix. It would be my image editor of choice, if I would go the free route!
by Veit on February 14, 2007
According to a story on NPR Morning News, the owner of a gas station in Omaha, Nebraska, has started to advertise the gas he sells as “terror free”. As a result, sales have tripled, with customers willing to go a long way to just come to his station for a fill-up (isn’t that a self-defeating purpose?)
Apparently, the gas station owner buys most of his gas from a local refinery that gets its oil supplies from U.S. wells only. Hence his promise to his customers that none of the Arab nations that finance terrorism would see a penny of oil revenue from his station. Whether he can live up to this promise or whether it would even be legally defensible if he gets sued over his claim is a totally different issue given the lack of traceability of oil and gasoline supplies.
Nevertheless, it’s a good (Marketing) idea. I hope he will expand to California soon!
by Veit on February 12, 2007
The U.S. Mint released a new $1 coin today. According to a recent survey by AP (Associated Press), three out of four Americans do not want to give up the $1 bill. To which I say: Good so! If you ever walk around Europe with your pockets weighted down by 1 and 2 Euro coins, you really start to value a low denomination bill such as our buck! Of course, I understand the economics behind the Mint’s decision, but I would definitely not want to give up my $1 bills!
An interesting side note: As reported in a blog on the NY Times online site which references PBS Frontline as the source, half of all the latest dollar coins were shipped to Ecuador which adopted the U.S. dollar as its official currency in 2001. Maybe we should just ship all the new ones down there as well, keep the dollar bills and be done with it?
