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photo of Lynn Rosentrater

Miscellaneous goo

Posts tagged with "gadgets"

Toy Story

Wednesday, 2. July 2008, 12:39:41

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The Flickr mafia has been after me to upgrade to a digital SLR and, bowing to the peer pressure, I have recently made a pilgrimage to the local photography guru to take some test shots. I tested the Canon EOS 40D (a professional DSLR model) and the Canon EOS 450D / Digital Rebel XSi (their consumer model). Suddenly I saw the power of managing depth of field coming into my control! These are really pretty toys (especially the 40D) and super fun to play with, but the wicked-wants that afflict me just couldn't find a work-around for the hassles of lugging around either of these bricks. The 40D housing weighs 822 grams (!) while the 450D is a more manageable 524 grams; but then you have to add a lens (or preferably two) and suddenly you are hauling around upwards of a kilo, in addition to the other required gear of daily life (like a phone, iPod, books, etc.). No thanks! For as much as I hate to stand out in a crowd, I'll take my puny little PowerShot A710 IS (at just 210 grams) any day.

Then there is this whole business with the iPhone. Since it was introduced last summer I have wanted an iPhone more than I have ever wanted any other gadget. I know, it's completely irrational but it's true. Over the past year I have eagerly followed all news and speculation about its release in Norway, and now that it is finally here (or will be as of July 11) it appears unlikely that I will be queuing up to buy one. The subscription models that were announced for the iPhone are so far a field of my use patterns that it would end up costing me a minimum of kr400 per month for what would amount to be the privilege of simply owning one. Unfortunately, I'm just not cool enough to be able to justify an expense like that. I can count on one hand the number of people I have regular phone contact with so what am I going to do with 100 minutes/messages/megabytes per month? I would gladly pay the kr6,000 annual price tag for the iPhone up front with my current pay-as-you-go subscription, so obsessed am I with this little gadget, but alas I just don't think it is meant to be. Oh well!

My recent disappointment in the acquisition of new toys, however, was rectified yesterday when I plunked down a deposit on a new mountain bike. Since returning to Norway in early June I have explored all the trails in my immediate vicinity. They are great, but with such steep relief around Grefsenkollen and Trollvann they are a little exhausting and I figured a bike could take me more efficiently and deeper into the forest than walking could so why not splurge. It is the height of summer after all and I'm planning to spend my vacation in the area.

My previous bike was a Scott that I regretfully parted company with in 2001 when I moved to Norway. I had so many great adventures on that bike, including my most physically demanding achievement to date: the Boston to New York AIDS ride—300 miles over three days. Oh, what fun that was! Unfortunately, none of the Scott models I've ridden lately have impressed me so I ended up with a Wheeler Pro 69. It was love at first sight, and what a comfortable ride! She's being assembled now but I get to pick her up on Thursday. I can't wait!

3 comments

Geocaching

Saturday, 2. June 2007, 20:26:53

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At the ripe age of 38 I think it is pretty spectacular that my family still insists on celebrating my birthday with gifts; after all, I already have everything I could possibly need so I am not exactly an easy person to shop for. My birthday this year was difficult because I had to spend much of it alone on an airplane after a meeting in South Africa but there was a real surprise waiting for me when I eventually got home, something I have wanted for ages but never thought to buy for myself: a handheld GPS unit.

I'm fairly gadget-happy to begin with and easily satisfied with anything that comes with its own USB cable, but I have really wanted a GPS since learning about the ongoing global scavenger hunt known as geocaching. I was on a skiing trip in 2005 and our guide entertained us each evening with stories of hunting down hidden treasures in downtown Oslo. I had a pretty good sense of what orienteering was all about and had already collected a few posts in the forests around Oslo but it was difficult for me to wrap my head around the idea that similar markers had also been placed throughout the city. It was inconceivable to me that anything like that could exist out in plain view in a city of 500,000 residents but I became hooked on the idea and desperately wanted to play along.

In its simplest form a cache can be just a logbook and nothing else. The logbook contains information from the founder of the cache and notes from the cache's visitors. Larger caches may consist of a waterproof container placed surreptitiously within the local environment. In addition to the logbook, these containers have any number of more or less valuable items (such as maps, pictures, money, jewelry, games, etc.), thus turning the cache into a true treasure hunt.

When I unwrapped my gift in May I was delighted to discover that my fantasy hobby had finally become reality. For the first week I walked around streets that I can navigate blindfolded goofily concentrating on this tiny little screen that reported my every step. Eventually, a better base map of the city arrived by mail-order and I found my way to the right web site inventorying where the local treasures were hidden. I downloaded a set of waypoints and off I went in search of adventure.

My first attempts were pretty anticlimactic. I navigated to the coordinates without fail but there was no treasure to be found. I was convinced that if there ever had been any markers like the kind I had heard about, their existence must be fleeting and I would have to look for caches that were hidden recently. But, as the saying goes, if at first you don't succeed try, try again. My perseverance finally paid off today when I claimed my first treasure at N 59° 54.846 E 010° 44.100. Finding these things requires an amazing amount of stealth (in order to avoid compromising their hiding places), and this is a skill that does not come easily to me, but the treasures really do exist and the thrill of discovering them is absolutely delicious!

5 comments

My new toy

Wednesday, 18. April 2007, 16:42:30

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I have a new camera! For the past six years I have happily used an Olympus C-700 Ultra Zoom. When I bought that camera it was a toss up between the low-light capabilities of the Olympus and the fantastic color depth of the Nikon Coolpix 880. Since I'm pretty good at image processing I only rarely regretted that decision. But as time went by I wanted a higher resolution camera, one that was compact enough to always carry with me yet flexible enough to act as either a point-and-shoot camera or be fully manual depending on my mood.

I've spent the past year agonizing over this decision. My Olympus was a perfectly good camera; it had served me well and I had trouble justifying buying something new since there was nothing wrong with what I had. But I continued to read reviews, asked friends about their cameras, and I tested about a zillion candidates. This winter I had finally settled on the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX2 (I especially liked the pro-looking black body). I would duck into random camera shops from time to time to play with the Panasonic but never managed to get excited enough to fork over the cash to take it home with me. Then I discovered the Canon PowerShot A710 IS and it was love at first sight! I bought it yesterday, 20 minutes after laying my hands on it for the first time.

Today I spent hours snapping away in the Botanical Garden and I'm convinced that this camera cannot take a bad picture. Admittedly, this is a spectacular time to be in the garden but still... I am in love with the camera's optical image stabilizer and the macro feature is incredible, I mean really incredible! I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship :happy:

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