Yup! I took the plunge!

Bought a new digital SLR camera to play around with…. try to get a little more professional with my photography. I decided on the Canon EOS 40D.

There’s not really much I can say about it right now, since I’ve just barely opened the box, but from several reviews on the web it seems to be among one of the top notch prosumer level cameras out there. 10 megapixel, 6 frames/sec, and a host of other cool features. I’m sure I’ll be posting some new pics here and on my Flickr account soon!

Until then, here’s more specs:

Canon EOS 40D Kit W/ EF 28-135mm IS

The Spirit of Photography.

• Superb image quality: 10.1 Megapixel CMOS Sensor, extensive noise reduction technology, and 14-bit conversion for outstanding color tones and gradations.
• Outstanding performance: 6.5 fps, burst rate up to 75 consecutive JPEGs or 17 RAW images and DIGIC III Image Processor.
• Strong, rugged build quality: magnesium-alloy exterior, shutter durability-tested to 100,000 cycles, top speed 1/8000, top x-sync speed 1/250.
• New AF system with 9 cross-type sensors, and world’s first diagonal high-precision cross-type AF at center point with f/2.8 and faster lenses.
• EOS Integrated Cleaning System, Picture Style settings, Spot metering, and Highlight Tone Priority for advanced in-camera image control.
• Large 3.0-inch LCD monitor and advanced Live View Function with new options for reduced shutter time lag and quiet operation.
• Wide range of accessories, including interchangeable focusing screens, extensive remote control options, and new battery grip BG-E2N.

Welcome to the next generation of digital SLR photography-the Canon EOS 40D. The EOS 40D combines Canon’s tremendous know-how in both the digital and photographic worlds, creating a camera that not only does everything one would expect of a traditional digital SLR, but one that incorporates staggering leaps forward in technological innovation. With new features like Canon’s EOS Integrated Cleaning System, Live View Function, a more powerful DIGIC III Image Processor, plus a 10.1-megapixel CMOS sensor, a 3.0-inch LCD monitor and more, the EOS 40D elevates digital photography to new heights, enhancing the shooting experience, and delivering images one could only expect from a Canon. (http://www.camerax.com/show_item.php?140-19017@1794)

For the past several years I’ve found it VERY important to keep a good credit score. Not only for the obvious of being able to buy something on credit, but I’ve found that potential employers might look at that information too, as well as other establishment, housing, etc. With identity theft so rampant these days, and your credit score being so important for more aspects of our lives than most people know… I do highly recommend you keep tabs on it on a regular basis. I am set up with a site that allows me access to my score and report at any time.

This month, it looks like this:

Your Current Equifax Score is: 777

Over time, your score has changed as shown:

738   743   746   777   Apr ‘07 Jul ‘07 Oct ‘07 Jan ‘08

Well, I’ve decided it’s probably best to start meeting new people again, and trying to spend a little time hanging out with old friends I haven’t seen in a while.  So, I met up with someone new last night.  Totally out of the blue, after exchanging a couple flirty emails, a brief phone call, and before we knew it… off to… uh.. where.. let’s see.. it’s already 10pm!  We decide on IHOP.  I thought that if she flaked out, or turned out to be someone totally different than her profile, at least I could eat some dinner.  But no.  She turned out to be very fun and interesting and cute.  We just chatted for a bit, and then decided it probably best not to be sitting around and went outside to walk around some nearby shops.  Of course I HAD to tease her about a little thing here and there, and she played right along.  After a couple hours (it was already midnight!?!) I decided it best we continue on another day.  Yeah, not a whole lot of details here, but that’s not my style. The bottom line is that it felt good to get out, have fun playing around, being flirty and have them flirt back, being spontaneous, etc.  We are planning our next get together for Sunday. :)

As I’m starting to travel a bit more again I have been looking for cool/fun toys for being MOBILE.

twittervision:
I have talked about the twittermap.com site before, but actually I think my page on twittervision.com is more cool.  (Yes, both sites are from Dave Troy).  Not only does it show where I am at on the google map, but also shows SEVERAL of my last posts, in case you missed one or two.  Id REALLY like to embed the twittervision map and log to my rock808.com front page some how.  I looked at the API page a little, and found a cool way to update just my location from the Linux command line, but nothing about embeding the map and log…. yet.

facebook:
I have also decided to do more on facebook rather than MySpace.  I think they are providing more interesting things for people to do, and do together, and the fact that facebook has a mobile app for my BlackBerry, as well as a tool for using twittervision has just really boosted my desire to make the switch.  Facebook also seems to have a way for directly accepting my uploaded images.  I’ll have to see if I even need my ITookThisOnMyPhone account any more….. I’m really not happy about having to use all these various external websites for mobile social networking.  I know we are REALLY headed in that direction fast, but I’m technologically impatient.

More on all this later.  I’m pretty worn out from a couple days of long hours, so heading to bed.
Be sure to check out the map to see where I’m at and what I’m doing !

David

Personal:
Good thing this April first was fairly uneventful. For some reason I’ve never really enjoyed some of the surprises played on me over the years, although occasionally I there are years I really can’t resist setting a good one up for friends or family. If YOU were involved (giving or receiving) some hoax for April 1st, add a comment at the bottom. Sometimes they can be a blast to hear about!
I was too busy with work to get any exercising in during the week, but AM planning on getting out for my jog right after I finish this blog post!
Also, I’ve really been trying to keep up with my twitter posts, and auto-posted phone pics, so if you want up to the minute details, be sure to check those out. I’m still very torn about posting relationship stuff to this blog. Of course that’s a very big part of anyone’s life, and so how could I leave something like that out of MY page? But at the same time, if I were to write, I would want to be able to write WHATEVER I felt at the time, and often that could be painful to one or more people, and that’s just not me either.
Later this evening I plan to get back over to Leslie’s and help her hand Michael finish up some computer set-up stuff we didn’t finish last weekend. I got her running on Fedora Linux and she’s really been enjoying it, but still needs a bit of help trying to set up her new home network, and other light admin stuff. It’s fun. I enjoy helping her out with Linux stuff. However, Traci has some new play, that it sounds like is ONLY going on tonight. It also sounds interesting and I’d like to go, but probably not alone, so well see if Joy or another friend is up for it. Maybe I can push around my Linux stuff with Leslie a little.

Work:
Very stressful Monday morning, trying to get set up for the class I’m suppose to teach in just a couple hours, and not having complete documentation as to how to do some things, and also not having a few needed files! Some of it I could have (should have) avoided by grabbing the files and shooting an email to a couple folks last week, but even last week was busy. Still, not really an excuse. In the end the class got set up, and from that point on everything fell in to place perfectly! Back in my element…. and by just Tuesday, I was feeling happy and alive again. Teaching really does do it for me. :)
Had a cute girl in class this week!   Cute girls and Linux are a rare combination.  Some how those classes always just seem a little more fun.  However, I must also say I’ve never taken it beyond a light flirt, hardly enough to be noticeable, as to not single anyone out or disrupt class.  There has only been one time in 10 years I met up with someone who had been in class, and it was she who contacted me afterward.  We tried to date for a few months, but the distance was an issue.  Anyway, class ended a bit after lunch on Friday (as usual). Made it to the airport, caught my flights back home, and nothing extremely exciting to report.

House:
Nothing really new on the house front. I am getting a daily report of various property on the market, and have looked over a couple, but need to spend more time doing that. Thanks to my mother’s help, my current house has still made a little progress toward being ready to rent out, even with me gone last week. Hopefully I can find extra time to put in to it this weekend.

Wrap-up:
Well, looks like it’s about time for my 2 miles today! I’m looking forward to getting the job route back up to three miles, but that will take a couple more weeks at this point! Whenever I get out of it for a while, and back in, I always feel like such a big fatty…. not because I think I’m fat, but just because some muscles have loosened up and everything seems to jiggle around a lot more… hmmm… at least it won’t be too much longer and THAT will stop.. heh (EDIT: 1st mile in 10 min flat.  2nd mile… oops.. still having to walk a quarter to half of that… hmmm)

Lots of other things I want to do today (shopping for travel items, lunch with family, re-pot some pepper plants, pack up things in house, etc), so I’m off!