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Flip Mino – Some Final Thoughts

Posted on December 8, 2008 By Tom No Comments on Flip Mino – Some Final Thoughts
Gear

Don’t bother. Seriously. If you’re purchasing this thing for personal use, you can do much, much better. I’ve had several weeks to work with the Flip Mino, and the results have been consistently disappointing.  It never seems to be in focus, or, more correctly, it focuses on something other than my main subject.  Camera shake … Read More “Flip Mino – Some Final Thoughts” »

Diminution

Posted on December 7, 2008 By Tom No Comments on Diminution
Gear

We got new cell phones all around yesterday. Laura’s phone was about to fall apart, so we decided to replace all of them. I’ve not been a fan of all-in-one devices, and I’ve never had to have the latest and greatest.  Functional is fine with me.  I don’t think a cell phone’s camera is ever … Read More “Diminution” »

Photo Navigation

Posted on December 3, 2008 By Tom 6 Comments on Photo Navigation
Gear, Geocaching and Maps, Photography

First a caveat – I try not to review or discuss specific gadgets here at RandomConnections unless I actually have the device in hand and have played with it, either having purchased it for myself, for work, or having swiped it from a friend for a test run. I don’t like to speculate on a device’s capabilities unless I’ve seen them myself. Also, especially this close to Christmas a favorable review might be taken as a “wish list”, and that’s not necessarily the case. So, I tend to stick with what I’ve actually seen.

Today I’m going to break with that policy somewhat. My intent was to discuss a capability rather than a specific device or brand, but it turns out that only one brand has this feature (so far.) I’m talking about photo navigation, the ability to navigate to a geotagged photo via GPS as an inherent capability of the device.

Read More “Photo Navigation” »

Taylor Family Singing

Posted on November 30, 2008 By Tom No Comments on Taylor Family Singing
Music

Since I was hanging close to home over the Thanksgiving holidays I had some time to work on some overdue projects. One of these projects was to process some of the audio from my mother’s 80th birthday party. We sat around and sang hymns and even did our a capella rendition of Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus. … Read More “Taylor Family Singing” »

A Wishlist for Online Audio

Posted on November 30, 2008 By Tom No Comments on A Wishlist for Online Audio
Internet

Back in May I wrote about Houndbite.com as a sort of “YouTube for audio.” Since that time I’ve had tons of problems with the service. Half the time the webpage won’t load. However, my embedded links still seem to work. The same thing happened this weekend – yesterday I couldn’t get Houndbite to load for … Read More “A Wishlist for Online Audio” »

The Cafe @ Williams Hardware

Posted on November 29, 2008 By Tom No Comments on The Cafe @ Williams Hardware
Local

While we were out taking the Subaru on its maiden voyage, we found ourselves in Travelers Rest and decided to stop by the Cafe at Williams Hardware. Our good friends Nancy and Joyce McCarrell purchased a block of buildings in downtown Travelers Rest right on the northern terminus of the Swamp Rabbit Trail, including the … Read More “The Cafe @ Williams Hardware” »

That New Car Smell

Posted on November 28, 2008 By Tom No Comments on That New Car Smell
Miscellaneous

My love/hate relationship with my VW Jetta has finally come to an end. This morning I traded it in for a 2009 Subaru Outback Wagon. When the car left me stranded Tuesday morning, and with the economy like it is right now, we decided the time was right. I had been considering the Outback as … Read More “That New Car Smell” »

A Question of Ancestry

Posted on November 27, 2008 By Tom No Comments on A Question of Ancestry
History and Genealogy, Internet

Over the weekend I signed up for a free two-week trial of Ancestry.com. I guess I fell prey to their recent marketing campaign, which shows users discovering new things about their families as “leaves” appear on their family tree. I had already amassed quite a bit of data on our family, so I was curious to see if I could add to my list.

It has been several years since I’ve done any serious research on our family’s history. Even then I’ve been more of a collector than actual researcher, depending upon the prior research of several cousins and some nice folks that I’ve met online, such as Dan Ellenburg in Pittsburg, with his excellent website on the Ellenberg family. By using several sources I’ve found some conflicting data, and have had to do some verification before merging various data sets. I figured that would also be the case with Ancestry.com, and I was certainly right.

Read More “A Question of Ancestry” »

I Hate Volkswagens

Posted on November 25, 2008 By Tom 1 Comment on I Hate Volkswagens
Miscellaneous, Rants

I really do. And I speak from experience, having owned several over the past decades. Right now we own two VW products, and both are a pain in the posterior. This morning I was about ready to take a shotgun to my VW Jetta. The battery in my car is on the fritz, and has … Read More “I Hate Volkswagens” »

Sick Day

Posted on November 24, 2008 By Tom No Comments on Sick Day
Uncategorized

Not too many updates this weekend. I’ve been battling a head cold and cough. No explorations or photo rambles this time. I felt this coming on Thursday, then it hit full-force Friday. Saturday I took it easy, but Sunday I made the mistake of thinking I was better. I went out to rake leaves, and … Read More “Sick Day” »

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