Dumb dumb dumb

Thieves are not among the brightest bulbs around and this one takes the cake.

DTV

What is the matter with these people? Have they been living on another planet and not taking care of matters here at home? How can anyone NOT be ready for DTV with all the publicity that has surrounded the changeover? They have had more than ample time to prepare themselves for this. Poor reception is another matter however which they have no control over and for which the government and the TV stations must take full responsibility.

My Review of Powershot G10 Digital Camera

Abes of Maine

Advanced amateur photographers are a discerning group, and they've flocked to Canon's G-Series for its ability to meet and exceed their demands. The third-generation PowerShot G10 is a stunning successor, loaded with uncompromising specs like 14.7 megapixels, a 28mm wide-angle lens, and Can...

Powershot G10 Digital Camera

G10 Rocks

Irv San Francisco 5/19/2009

 

4 5

Pros: Comfortable Controls, Great Picture Quality, Bright LCD, Easy To Use, Strong Construction

Cons: Can't find any faults yet

Best Uses: Photojournalism, Fun, Family Photos, Travel

Describe Yourself: Photo Enthusiast

I use the product to document my travels and photograph friends. I like the way it feels in my hands and its weight and its very bright LCD screen and that I can use an eye level viewfinder as well.
Battery life seems quite good as well. Also, this is the first still camera that I have owned which allows me to zoom in video mode.

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Pocketful of Notes

It seems like some people think that Angels and Demons is a sequel to the earlier movie DaVinci Code. It is not. Dan Brown wrote Angels and Demons first and it was published in 2000. Dan Brown's next book, The DaVinci Code, was published in 2003. In fact, there is even a brief reference to an incident in the earlier book. Why Ron Howard decided to film DaVinci Code first is a mystery to me unless he was not sure how successful the movie would be and then when it became very popular he decided to cash in on that by filming the other book.

Did I hear correctly on KCBS this morning that some people are delaying or not going on vacation because they might miss their e-mail messages? How could that be? Certainly in my travels in Thailand and in France I have found quite a number of Internet shops all over the place. Perhaps I heard incorrectly at 6:30 this morning or did not hear more important parts of the story.

I do not understand how the City of San Francisco could let the 49ers get away to Santa Clara. At one time it was mentioned that the toxic clean-up of the old Hunter's Point Naval Yard would take too long and that Dr. York wanted to be in the new stadium sooner than that time frame allowed. Well, even in pristine Santa Clara that will not happen until at least 2014 with a public vote on the proposal not occurring until 2010 and the outcome of that vote is not assured.

And in these financially troubled times Cal-Train is planning service cutbacks. The nature and extent of those cutbacks is not certain at the moment but one proposal would be to eliminate weekend service. That would be terrible to say the least and would even make it more difficult for 49er fans to get to games in Santa Clara where there is a direct VTA light rail connection between the Mountain View Cal-Train stop and the Great America stop.

Even here in San Francisco the Muni is proposing to eliminate N-JUDAH service on the Embarcadero on weekends. They say that the T-THIRD ST. line can handle the traffic there. Well, I don't think so. Currently the T-line only runs single car trains and they need 2-3 car trains on the days when the Giants play home games. Or will they just re-extend their N-line service before, during and after weekend Giants games. They really need to re-consider that proposal as I do not see how eliminating the final four stops would save them any appreciable amount of money.

Everyone is just grasping at straws with no real plans to deal with the financial crisis.

Hot in San Francisco

This was a picture perfect day in San Francisco as our temperature soared to the mid-eighties.

My day began with a walk from Fort Mason along Marina Blvd. to Crissy Field and then out to the Golden Gate Bridge. From there I took the #29 bus (should have been on the #28) and the N-JUDAH Muni Metro to downtown for lunch. Then I went home and crashed on the bed from the heat and exhaustion from the long walk - but I enjoyed it. Tomorrow is supposed to be equally warm and there will be the annual Bay-to-Breakers race. That might result in some heat related problems this time. It is usually cool and windy for that race but not this time. It will probably be the drunks who suffer the most from their craziness.

This beach scene pictured above is near Crissy Field west of the Marina area and somewhat west of the crowded part of the beach.

I see where there is a big rise in the bed bug problem in the U.S., the biggest increase since WWII. They can be dealt with but it takes vigilance and immediate action. There are things available on the Internet to fight them and when I had a small problem about 18 months ago I purchased two products which brought and end to the problem within a few weeks. I also sealed up a couple of holes in the walls where they could have entered from another unit or building. Where the original critters came from is anyone's guess although I do know someone who lives in a residential hotel o Polk Street where that has been a bug problem. He and I used to go to Happy Hour at a local watering hole (now closed) so some could have hitched a ride on him or his clothing and bed bugs are notorious for doing that.

Unsafe foods?

I don't really know if I have ever eaten anything which has made me sick. Sure, I have had diarrhea from time to time, but who hasnt, and how do you connect a particular episode of that with a particular meal? Given that the intestinal tracts is so long that what one eats today may not make one sick until a day or two later. In the meantime we eat many different things from many different sources.

Hubble Telesope

It is images like this that make the Hubble Telescope so exciting. We can't travel there but this amazing piece of machinery has brought us sensational photos of far distant space.

As I write this the first space walk to repair the telescope has apparently gone well despite a close fly-by of some space junk from a Chinese satellite.

Title Change?

At this time I am thinking of changing the title of this blog page. I have several things in mind and among them are simply "Brief Random Notes" on the first line and "from the city, state, and the country" on the second line, or "Notes from Nob Hill" (where this is written), or "Nob Hill Rambler", or something similar. The URL will not change no matter what the title changes to.

Anyway, a few very brief notes for now.

Spotted near the Cal Train Depot during the lunch hour a Smart Car painted yellow with a black roof with personalized license plates reading CBUMBLB.

When using the public restroom of a major downtown office building with a food court, I am again reminded of the poor aim of some men. Why do I have to wade through this stuff? Shouldn't there be a tray outside the door with disinfectant of some sort like they had a few years ago in airports during the SARS scare.

I, for one, am glad that Adam Lambert continues on to the finals of American Idol. As for the two runners - up, Danny and Kris, it did not really matter much to me but I was leaning towards Kris. Now it will be battle between Adam (my favorite) and Kris. And by the way, I am not particularly a rock fan but Adam has such an incredible range that I think he should go far no matter what happens next week at the Nokia Theatre in L.A.

By the way, if you have any ideas regarding a name change for this blog page, please let me know. Unfortunately there will be no prizes given out for the winning entry. LOL

Manny and Barry

Earlier this year it was reported that the SF Giants were pursuing Manny Rodriquez but could not work out a deal with him. Just as well now that Manny has been suspended for using performance enhancing drugs. The Giants certainly don't need Barry II.