Tag Archives: Blog

Malware sucks!

Posted by on January 10, 2012 No comments

Well, not sure if anyone noticed, (given that I probably only have like 3 people that read this) but my main site came under attack recently.  Apparently there was a wordpress exploit that someone got a hold of and it set up all kind of weird re-directs in my site and in Sarah’s food blog.  This cause some posts/pages to browse to some Russian malware site.  So, yea, huge apologies for that screw up.  BlueHost (my hosting company) help me clean out the junk and get things updated and fixed.
 
I took this opportunity to clean things up around the site and try out a new theme/look.  This only affects the main site, not my Tumblr site (which usually has the same posts).
 
As per usual, I am going to try and do some more posting with the new year.  So far 2012 looks like it’s going to be a busy/crazy year.  That is, if I can get off my butt and not play Star Wars: The Old Republic so much.  I’ll see if I can get a post up about that in the coming few days.
 
As per usual, Stay Tuned!  (and sorry for that Malware thing, really….you may want to see a Doctor and get checked out)

One Year of DSLR

Posted by on October 13, 2011 No comments

A year ago I posted to my blog about a new gadget I picked up.  My Nikon D3000.  Thus began a full year of getting back into Photography.  As I have mentioned to many friends, I ended up a Nikon guy by chance.  I like to kid with my Canon friends, but the truth of the matter is that if the Pawn shop I went into had an in-expensive Canon instead of a Nikon, I would be singing a different tune.  Plain and simple, both brands have their merits and flaws and really I am not sure that any one is better.  But anyways, I was talking about me now.

So, a year ago I started tinkering with an entry level DSLR with a single Prime 35mm lens.  I look back on that now and realize how much I ave learned (and re-learned) over the last year.  The first big outing I did with the D3000 was to the Pumpkin patch. No post processing, and I think a few of those shots may have been on the big Green Auto.

Since then I have learned to use Lightroom 3.x, Upgraded my DSLR to the D5100, Purchased more lenses/equipment  than my wife is happy with, and expanded on my know-how for artistic shooting.  I have also gotten the opportunity to attend an official Model shoot, attend a sporting event as a press photographer, do Wedding and Engagement shots, Concert photography, and a slew of other incredible life experiences.

I am extremly happy with how this hobby has ended up for me.  There was a scare early on that I may just be doing it as a fad, but I think the last year has really cemented it into my life now.  I hardly leave the house without my camera in tow, because you never know when there may be something.

This weekend we will be venturing back to that first pumpkin patch.  I am excited to see what kind of shots an eye with a little more experience will churn out.

Workin for the Man

Posted by on February 6, 2011 No comments

So here I am working on Super-bowl Sunday.  I have a bit while I wait for some code to compile and figured I would write up an update to say what I have been doing for the last few weeks.  I mean, that’s what the blog is for right?  Lately it seems like my blog is more of a place where I forget to write things.  I guess that’s what Twitter has done to me.  I think ‘Oh I already updated folks on twitter so I don’t need to post to the blog as well”.  The downside to that is that I really like writing.  When I look back at all my posts from last year and beyond I realize that some of them get crazy long.  I see other peoples blog posts and wonder how they can cram so much into so few paragraphs, then I realize that they have left out so much detail.

Perfect case in point for this, I have downloaded and started reading Stepto’s (Stephen Toulouse) new book, “A Microsoft Life”.  It’s a compilation of a number of blog posts he wrote throughout his career at Microsoft.  All of the stories are fascinating, but I am left wanting more details.  Each chapter is a post from the blog but I read one and am left with the feeling that there could be so much more that could be fleshed out.  I guess that could be seen as a complaint about the book, it was so good that I wanted to know more.  If you are a geeky type of person and interested in the more inner workings of the MS world, I highly recommended it.

Meanwhile back on the gaming front, I mentioned last time that I picked up a new laptop.  The ASUS beast, or Tumbler, has been an awesome addition to the house.  I have found myself playing more PC based games in the last month, just because I could.  Yeah, it could be a little more portable, but I love that it’s big and powerful.  Because of this I picked up both Civilization V and Starcraft II.  SCII is great for a quick 30min to 1 hour map, while Civ V is awesome if I want to kiss my weekend goodbye.  It’s amazing, I feel like I have discovered time travel.  Seriously!  I start playing Civ V and suddenly I am teleported to 6 hours in the future where the dog is whining because he wants food and the plants are dying.  I also realized how much I suck at SC II.  I bought the game because I love the storyline and am I steeped in the single player game.  I tried to play Multi-player though and was just swamped.  I guess it’s because I love the building aspect and hate the idea of just fast building stuff to throw at the enemy.  I want to build my troops up so they will survive the attack and that takes time!

On the photography side of the house, I am pining over a new camera.  Unfortunately it doesn’t exist yet.  I have seen lots of rumor reports of a Nikon 5100, and everything I see in the rumors lead me to believe that it’s the perfect camera for me.  I really want to replace my D3000 before DragonCon, so while I still have a few months to figure it out.  I love that the D5000 has the flip out screen and better everything than the D3000, but not as good as the 3100, the D90 is about the right price range, but lacks some of the newer features like an auto-focus while filming movies, the D7000 has all the best features (except the flip out screen) but is well over $1k.  There is a great site that has been helping me compare models of cameras: http://snapsort.com/compare. There is some speculation that the February 9th press conference may bring an announcement, but even more rumors saying that the 5100 won’t be announced for a while still.  Either way, I will be giving the D3000 a true test at PAXEast.

So for now, I sign off.  I hope to finish up here soon and head home for some chili and Super-Bowl action.  Not really a football fan, but I love watching the big game.  Weird right?