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New Photography Blog

With the New Year upon us, I've decided to start a new blog, dedicated to my passion for photography.

check it out, over at http://unrealshots.blogspot.com, which I'll move to www.unrealshots.com soon.

Happy New Year to everyone!

Farewell to an IT Icon

After 18 years, Microsoft has finally stopped supporting Windows 3.x ... Oh the days of running an ISP and supporting Windows 3.x... Windows 9x was such a change in mind set, as were Windows NT, Windows 2000 and XP, and here we are now with Vista... Incredible, the change in user experience in the past 20 years...

I've used every version of Windows from 1.0, which was a runtime version that came with the first versions of Excel and Word, and most recently, I've had a play with a preview release of Windows 7, and I'm still mostly impressed with what Microsoft deliver in the end user experience in their OS.

Ski Buller

We Headed up to Mt Buller for the day yesterday - we had initially decided to go on Saturday, but the forcase was crappy, so we put it off for a day. Just as well, as it was a beautiful day, with better visibility that I've ever experienced at Buller in the past.

I managed to ski every single run on the mountain, while Michelle had a boarding lesson, and watched the Olympics in the bar.

Managed to get a very nice view back towards Stirling in the late afternoon...

Da Dum Da Da....

I asked Michelle to marry me last night... And the answer was a resounding "YES" Happy Days... :-)

Tag Clouds

Just a very cool Tag Cloud generator while doing some random surfing...

Wordle

This blog comes back with:



and my friend Andrew's Blog returns:



Very cool, and fun to play with...

Played with one, Want one

Need I say anymore?

I Incited a Road Riot, and am ALMOST ASHAMED to be a Cyclist

Riding home last night, and one of the more considerate motorists on the roads of Melbourne decided to stop right in front of me, half way up a hill, in a No-Standing zone, blocking a Bicycle Lane...

See where the problem is starting?

I had to throw out the anchors, given I was doing about 30 km/h up the hill, had a quick peek over my right shoulder - yep - all clear, and went around the offending vehicle, asking if he'd care to stop somewhere other than a bike lane next time (or words to that effect)...

Driving behind me, by this stage, was a middle aged gent and his wife, in their gold Nissan Pathfinder, complete with the King Charles Spaniel in the back seat. Clearly showing his appreciation for the Road Rules for Cyclists set out for Cyclists by Vic Roads, old mate, then proceeded to follow me up to the red light I was now stopped at, next to a tram, and yell his head off about f'ing cyclists, and how we have no right on the road. My response? "I wasn't talking about you, I was having a go at the guy parked across the bicycle lane"... End of story, or so I think...

Not so, thinks the guy on the bike NEXT to me at the lights, who had no involvement thus far, who then proceeds to rant and rave, using the F-bomb, the C-bomb, abusing the driver of the Nissan (clearly my fellow cyclist has had a bad day - hell, he TOLD the motorist this, and wants an avenue to vent).

The light goes green, the tram moves off, I tell the antagonist to settle down - he's got the wrong end of the stick, and head off up the hill.

Get to the top of the hill, and old mate has been held up by the other guy on his bike, who has ridden up the middle of the lane, blocking the Nissan in beside the tram. So, we get to the next red light, and the guy who's had a bad day now resorts to physically attacking the Nissan, who's driver has now decided that he's not as brave as he initially thought... At this stage, old mate winds his own window up, and I yell at him through his other window that I'm sorry for this other guys attitude, and that if he had not automatically assumed I was inferring he was in the wrong, he'd now NOT have 2 fist sized dents in his bonnet, a shaken wife, and an over excited Spaniel.

To the motorist, not that I have any reason to suspect you read my blog (does anyone? Please let me know if you do!!!), I apologise for my fellow cyclist - please don't make the next one in front of you a target. And to the other cyclist - stay the hell out of it next time - you've just made EVERY cyclist on the road a potential target for the guy in the Nissan next time HE is having a bad day...

Which Superhero are you?

Based on an experience from this morning at the Melbourne Airport, I'm clearly the Invisible Man - although not a Marvel super hero, H.G. Wells may be near enough!

It's about time you move on people, and accept accept that everything happens for a reason. Had that decision not been made, at least two people would be leading miserable lives...

Get over yourselves - you have a collective age of over 150 years - start acting them...

Useful Canon Software info!

If you're like me, and you like to only install certain aspects of software that come with hardware, in this instance, the Canon software that ships with most of their cameras, this may come in handy.

I have a Canon PowerShot S1IS, and one of the features I use often, is the PhotoStitch function, which allows me to take several images, then "stitch" them together using the very good software that Canon ship with the camera. The gotcha that I've found, is that Canon like you to install all their shipped software, which means you then need to remove the bits you don't want...

The following aids you in only installing what you want, using the "Upgrade" packages available from www.canon.com.au ... It's also useful if you "lose" your Canon CDs

Hope this is of use to more people than just me!

1. Visit your local Canon website, and download the software "Upgrade" you require.
2. Open the Registry Editor (regedit.exe) - I take no responsibility for your ability to use the Registry Editor btw
3. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software
4. If it does not exist, create a new key called Canon
5. Create one of the following keys, dependent on which software you are "Upgrading"
   Zoom Browser: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Canon\ZoomBrowser Ex
   Digital Photo Professional: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Canon\DPP
   EOS Capture: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Canon\EOS Capture
   EOS File Viewer: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Canon\EOSViewerUtility
   PhotoStitch: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Canon\PhotoStitch
6. Install the "Upgrade" and you're away!