Maybe their overlays aren't as accurate as Google Maps, but Windows Live Local has much more detailed pictures than GMaps does (even if a bit outdated). I only checked our current residence and the city of Steamboat. Our place in Houston can zoom in all the way, but then the street overlay is off by about half a block (whoops!). But in Steamboat, the road maps seem to overlay over the satellite pictures pretty accurately, and the pictures are MUCH more detailed than what Google Maps has to offer (even if only in B&W).
Not sure about how "open" the MS version is (don't know if they let you hack around with it), but I intend to find out...
Fine! Here are some pictures I took last night. With my fixed camera.
Actually, when I tried to copy them off, one was "corrupted" (um, that never happened before). I did manage to get these four pics off the camera, though. You only get three. Then I reformatted the memory card. Hopefully THAT doesn't happen again!
So, without further ado, the photo stylings of me, last night, at Rice. I tried to get the GPS going too but one can't hope for too much success in one evening, can one?
(And as for Pablo's comment, what's not "real" about beer can chicken?!?)
Attempting to fix the camera...
2/27/2006 01:27:00 PM
Here are some pics from while I had the cover off the camera (it was pretty much completely externally disassembled). I didn't disassemble any of the innards for fear of breaking it (more).
The first thing I did was to print out the PDF I found detailing how the camera is kept in one piece. Then I started taking out screws. I was going to try to just remove the back of the camera (thinking, the less I take apart the better), but no joy there - I had to take the back and the front off to get at the darn shutter button assembly.
After removing all the screws I could find, I got the back to come off with relatively little effort (read: I didn't feel like I broke the thing while taking the skin off). And I snapped the pic above.
There was one screw under the back cover that I thought released the front (more on that later), so I removed that one and took off the front cover. This took a little more wiggling than the back, but it came off OK, and again, I didn't feel like I broke anything. Snapped the pic below...
After this, I saw what it was I was after - the shutter button assembly, and noted that the screw I thought I needed to remove so I could get the front cover off was actually the screw holding the shutter button assembly on. So having already removed it, I saw where a little tab was holding the assembly on, and tweaked it off.
These pics suck, by the way, because they're from my cameraphone. What you're looking at above is a top-down view of the camera with the shutter button assembly removed and upside-down on the table above it. If you follow this link to the picture on flickr, you can see my notes about what was broken.
I noticed that from the inside looking out, the hole where the shutter button would typically pass through to engage the nub that tells the camera to take pictures had a kind of beveled cone that narrowed as it got closer to the outside of the camera (if you follow what I'm saying). So I went into the other room and found Dana's OLD (film) Canon, and took IT apart (sorry, no pics of that) to see if I could hijack the button (or parts of it) for my purposes here. I couldn't, but that didn't stop me. I noted that if I was lucky one of the case screws from her camera would fit through the hole, and it did. So, I replaced the button with an old Canon camera screw, facing out. (Picture it - instead of a button to press now, we have a threaded screw poking out - so I can screw ON to it anything I like to use as a shutter button).
BRILLIANT!
I tested my screw-as-button to see if it worked, and it was able to press the nub reasonably well. But before putting the sucker back together, I decided to try it (why put it back together only to realize it doesn't work and open it back up again?).
So I put the battery back in, and...... nothing. No smoke, no grinding noise, no nothing. Took out the battery, let it charge for a little bit, and tried again. Nothing.
Put the case back on (didn't screw it in or anything) thinking maybe the case itself was holding some vital bits together... popped the battery back in, and... nothing. Crap, I broke our camera.
So I took the cover off again and noticed that when I shook the camera, there was something quite obviously loose inside. Awesome. Took a glance at it and realized there was no way I was actually going to take the camera ITSELF apart (as opposed to just removing the case) to find out what it was. At least not NOW.
So, I resigned myself to putting the case back on (and screwing it in) thinking again that MAYBE by some miracle the act of simply screwing it back together would create a magical shell around the otherwise useless innards that somehow causes it to work properly. But this time, some little plastic bit popped out (out of nowhere). I was kind of put off, but kind of excited. I thought maybe THIS was the part that was rattling around inside, and gave the camera a shake. Damn. Still rattles. Oh well.
So I studied the schematics and saw where this little weird plastic bit went (between the flash and the viewfinder. It is seemingly useless), put it back in, and continued with my reassembly.
Surprisingly, there were no extra bits and no missing bits while I put the thing together. I credit my ingenious little screw tracking method: I taped the buggers to the printout of the exploded camera I had where they had come from. And actually, the spring-activated door where the CF card goes now works better than it has for a year (it was dropped during a VERY drunken evening in Ireland about a year ago; probably the same injury that caused the shutter button to go AWOL).
Last screw in, I popped in the memory card and battery for one last hurrah - and it WORKED! Aha! I RULE! Call me the Dr. Frankenstein of cameras, I fixed the bastard.
Now that I found this (WARNING: PDF link, just look at the pretty picture above if you're not really interested), I finally feel confident enough to open up the camera and try to fix it. (Sending it TO Canon would cost $$$, and is a lot less geeky). I found the replacement part (see the "see what I'm talking about") link, but dang it's not cheap. But it IS decidedly cheaper than buying an entirely new camera. And we DO need it for the Florida wedding in March..
So, time for me to get a jeweler's screwdriver (itsy-bitsy) and bust this thing open! Thank you, Canon, for making a camera that I can take apart with a screwdriver.
You probably haven't noticed (because I've only just made the change), but my blogroll has been updated. Now we're featuring Houston Amy, a prolific updater and fine person with which to get drunk (but whose template may be a bit too pink for some); Bauer, the newest addition to the Fitz family in Chicago; and of course, the inimitable MC Hammer, who defies description.
So last night I cooked my first "TV" recipe - of course, I had heard of Beer Can Chicken before, and I can't say the thought of it didn't appeal to me, but I never thought to actually give it a try.
Until I saw them do it on my newest TiVo addition, Ham on the Street (I think I was initially intrigued by the name). A dumb, but fun cooking show - and only 30 minutes long!
The recipe, quick and simple, yielded one freaking tasty chicken. I'd give it a strong 4/5 stars. I think Dana would give it a strong 2. She wasn't really enamored with the idea of picking apart her own half chicken, I think. (and to think she loves hot wings so much! Maybe because someone else already pulled them off for her.)
The rub was EXCELLENT. VERY tasty.
Either way, I loved it and will make it again. Someday.
Came across this beauty today. Basically, list anything (everything!) you have in your bar/mixers/etc and it will create a list of drinks that you can make with those ingredients. Easy to use, a bit slow, but functional none the less! Enjoy!
Scott (my estranged brother) notified me yesterday that he recently built a synthesizer that for some unknown reason picks up french radio. I move that Scott should go truly analog and build a new, more painful (for the kitties, of course) Cat Piano.
Before last Monday, I hadn't been to the dentist in years. And to cut off the comments at the head, no, it wasn't a way to spite my dentist ex - it was laziness, pure and simple.
Well, when the whole "get a job from IBM" thing went down, I upped my dental benefit to the max (knowing fully that some work would be needed) and opted to plop down the $13 a month (or so) for the "Dental Plus" plan. Two weeks from now, I'll have spent most of my yearly maximum benefit.
I first made an appointment two weeks ago, and showed up on Monday. They took films (dentist-speak for head-irradiating tooth pictures) and lamented on how very, very dirty they were. So much so that they decided to split my cleaning into two separate appointments. The first one, they gave me an ultrasonic (ultra-uncomfortable) gum-rending, and asked me to come back for the standard scrape-and-polish. When the hygenist was done with me, the dentist proper came in to have a look-see, and saw 5 or 6 cavities. (A new record?) So, for my follow-up yesterday, they did the standard scrape-and-polish as planned, then numbed half my face for three of their target teeth (all on the right side).
That was lots and lots of fun. Now I'm scheduled to go back in two weeks' time for another appointment, wherein they'll give me a permanent cap for one of the cavities (it was much worse than they thought), and I think get the remaining ones (on the left hand side). I'm really looking forward to it.
So, let me be a lesson to you. Go see your dentist! Twice a year! Seriously!
Let me also recommend that you don't schedule a dentist appoinment on a holiday. It sucks to cap off a long weekend with a painful visit to the dentist.
"16 million iPod sales in 2005 alone. Nearly one billion songs purchased from iTMS. 90% and 70% market share respectively. Just thought I'd remind you that the market has spoken and you're old. In closing, screw you.
Should be fun! Other than that, not much planned for this weekend. Dana's got a TSU basketball game to cover on Saturday (before the museum event), and a soccer game on Sunday that she might not be going to due to a running injury she's trying to recover from so she can get back on track with training.
I'm not going to feel guilty for blogging all these things I've read this morning - I had to wake up early to fix a work problem.
So, as a finale to my blog-entry-trio this morning, I thought I'd say that I like this idea Timberland has of putting "Impact labels" on their products listing energy consumed in the manufacture, environmental impact associated with that manufacture, etc. 5% renewable energy isn't exactly something to write home about, but I imagine it's better than most manufacturers out there, and any disclosure is good. Hopefully Timberland's competitors step up and we start to see a lot more of this kind of thing.
Originally I wouldn't have clicked through on the CNN link, but since Timberland just bought a company in Steamboat (Smartwool), and I heard people there were worried about a fairly significant employer heading out of town, that it might be related.
For some reason, I feel like I've blogged about something just like this before.. Odd.
Favorite quote: "I breathed into its beak, and its dadgum eyes popped open"
Extra credit to anyone that can find an entry where I have. If anyone cares enough to do that for me, I'll... I don't know what I'll do. Maybe bust out the Photoshop skills on you.
So, Dana and I didn't have dinner last night in favor of Velveeta-chili dip (the chili I made a couple weeks ago and froze has been thawed) - it was delicious, but it was hardly a "complete dinner", and as a result I'm starving right now. Well, as a result of skipping dinner in favor of chips and dip, and my having just finished the marinade for tonight's flank steak ("secret" Fitzgerald marinade recipe). By the time I was rinsing out the bowl I made the marinade in, my stomach started to really complain. Wow, will it be good tonight. Yum!
We're sure to have leftovers, and the picture above looked appetizing enough to make me consider flank steak breakfast burritos tomorrow morning. Oh, but I have swimming.. Maybe I'll make them Wednesday - we'll see. Otherwise, I might just have a flank steak wrap for lunch tomorrow... We'll see.
In other news, our eating/cooking lives have recently been complicated by the fact that our disposal isn't working any more (horrors!), and the kitchen sink has been draining pretty slowly as a result of that (though we have been pretty successful in no longer throwing food down the sink, which I think helps).
This weekend was the most productive in a long time. So as not to bore you, I'll list off my accomplishments in bullet form (and this should make them seem a lot less impressive at the same time, thus making myself feel bad for your enjoyment). So, in no chronological order:
got a new tire put on the CRV's spare wheel,
bought locking lugnuts for the CRV's spare wheel (the reason we needed another one was becuase the original was stolen, oh, a year ago at least),
cleaned the bathroom. REALLY cleaned it,
did all the dishes (seems like no large feat, until you realize they hadn't been cleaned in a long, long time
fixed the antenna in the CRV,
fixed the latch on the glovebox in the CRV (notice a theme here?),
Saw a movie (The Matador, 3/5 stars),
90-minute swim,
80-minute ride,
grocery shopping,
made killer dip for the Superbowl,
Made a Home Depot run for stuff to make a bench (long story) but ended up just buying a little pin for our snowboard carrier since the TSA stole our old one.
Overall, not too much a failure of a weekend.
Then watched the game with D last night (wasn't too enthralled - I feel like Seattle mostly outplayed Pittsburgh but couldn't close the deal, had some pretty dumb penalties, but I wanted the Steelers to win anyway so it didn't really matter), and the commercials pretty much all stunk (biggest duds: Burger King dancer girls and the weird Empire Nuts or whatever that was for). Anything with monkeys usually wins, the Bud commercial with the "streaker" was pretty good, and there was one that Dana and I decided would have been Mikey's favorite but we can't remember which. Something with animals, I think, but I don't remember it now.
OK, that's the end of this long ramble. And now it's 10:59 so I can eat! I have a weird, unwritten rule that it's wrong to eat before 11, but after 11 anything is fair game.
Maybe their overlays aren't as accurate as Google Maps, but Windows Live Local has much more detailed pictures than GMaps does (even if a bit outdated). I only checked our current residence and the city of Steamboat. Our place in Houston can zoom in all the way, but then the street overlay is off by about half a block (whoops!). But in Steamboat, the road maps seem to overlay over the satellite pictures pretty accurately, and the pictures are MUCH more detailed than what Google Maps has to offer (even if only in B&W).
Now that I found 
You probably haven't noticed (because I've only just made the change), but my 
Until I saw them do it on my newest TiVo addition, 
Came across 
Where have all the good musical instruments gone?
I have been very bad. Very, very bad.
Yay. From some random newsbit on 
"16 million iPod sales in 2005 alone. Nearly one billion songs purchased from iTMS. 90% and 70% market share respectively. Just thought I'd remind you that the market has spoken and you're old. In closing, screw you.
And to think I avoided 
OK, I don't often link to ads, but I like this Nike one, so the rest of you have to watch it. 
While our plans aren't quite as... cultural as 
I'm not going to feel guilty for blogging all these things I've read this morning - I had to wake up early to fix a work problem.
For some reason, I feel like I've blogged about something just like this before.. Odd.
Dude, I loved transformers when I was a kid. 
So, Dana and I didn't have dinner last night in favor of Velveeta-chili dip (the chili I made a couple weeks ago and froze has been thawed) - it was delicious, but it was hardly a "complete dinner", and as a result I'm starving right now. Well, as a result of skipping dinner in favor of chips and dip, and my having just finished the marinade for tonight's flank steak ("secret" Fitzgerald marinade recipe). By the time I was rinsing out the bowl I made the marinade in, my stomach started to really complain. Wow, will it be good tonight. Yum!
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