If you've read my recent post bloody computers you'll know the problems I had with my DVD drive, well it's not over till the fat lady sings they say.... And obviously she's got bloody laryngitis cos it ain't over yet!
Yes the second drive does work... But it's bloody choosy what disks it'll write too, I've bought several lots of disk and the beggar will only write to one type.
Friday, May 31, 2013
The lonely wellies
Some poor children must have taken these off to get in the car and forgotten them.
Sunday, May 26, 2013
Topaz Clarity
What is does is add a clarity similar the the clarity options in Lightroom or photoshops camera raw, but it offers much more control. The contrast range is devided up into 4 sections, micro, medium, low and high, and different amounts of clarity can be added to each as required. It also has a masking palette, making selections by contrast range selective as well (take note adobe) They have even added a hue/saturation palette with the masking palette options. The masking palette has options to brush on the effect and select by colour range, giving you a fair range of selective options for applying the clarity/hue sat effects.
At time of writing it's on special offer around the $30, if your a Topaz fan it's worth getting.
Star Trek into the darkness. (film review)
After the crew of the Enterprise find an unstoppable force of terror
from within their own organization, Captain Kirk leads a manhunt to a
war-zone world to capture a one man weapon of mass destruction.
The second instalment of the Star Trek prequel.
From the word go the films action packed, with great visual effects. The action centers around an old/new enemy with lots of twists and turns, some you'll see coming, some you probably won't.
The cast are much more comfortable in their roles this time out, Chris Pine looks and acts more like the old Kirk we love, he's getting the mannerisms off much better, so much so I pretty much forgot it wasn't William Shatner playing the part. Karl Urban is still superb as Bones, and it's nice to see more of Scotty played by Simon Pegg in this film.
Sadly for me my enjoyment of the film was spoiled by three things, none of which was a fault of the film itself. The movie theatre I went to was terribly cramped, so much so I had to get up and go for a walk during the film to stretch my legs, secondly I was very very tired (I actually wanted to go another night but couldn't) and lastly for some reason the movie theatre had the volume on full all evening, my head was ringing when I came out, won't be going back there again.
Waynes rating 8/10 Well worth a watch on the big screen.
The second instalment of the Star Trek prequel.
From the word go the films action packed, with great visual effects. The action centers around an old/new enemy with lots of twists and turns, some you'll see coming, some you probably won't.
The cast are much more comfortable in their roles this time out, Chris Pine looks and acts more like the old Kirk we love, he's getting the mannerisms off much better, so much so I pretty much forgot it wasn't William Shatner playing the part. Karl Urban is still superb as Bones, and it's nice to see more of Scotty played by Simon Pegg in this film.
Sadly for me my enjoyment of the film was spoiled by three things, none of which was a fault of the film itself. The movie theatre I went to was terribly cramped, so much so I had to get up and go for a walk during the film to stretch my legs, secondly I was very very tired (I actually wanted to go another night but couldn't) and lastly for some reason the movie theatre had the volume on full all evening, my head was ringing when I came out, won't be going back there again.
Waynes rating 8/10 Well worth a watch on the big screen.
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Dog owners! Whats wrong with some of them?
Twice in the last week I've had moronic dog owners walk across the road in front of my car. The worse part is these idiots had their dogs 30 foot behind them on those extending thin string leads. The first one I saw in plenty of time, the second one (today) I bloody nearly ran over the dog. I simply couldn't see the thin black lead and the dog came out from behind a parked car, the owner wasn't paying any attention to the dog and had his back to it.
To be honest these leads should be banned from the streets, I saw an elderly lady tripped over by one a while back in a busy shopping centre, again the dog was one side of the path and the owner the other, the thin lead all but invisible again, they've nearly had me a few times, I've spotted the leads in time.
They should be either a tape type that can be seen easily or made a bright colour, and theres no place for these anywhere near a public place. lets face it a dog 30 feet away isn't under proper control.
To be honest these leads should be banned from the streets, I saw an elderly lady tripped over by one a while back in a busy shopping centre, again the dog was one side of the path and the owner the other, the thin lead all but invisible again, they've nearly had me a few times, I've spotted the leads in time.
They should be either a tape type that can be seen easily or made a bright colour, and theres no place for these anywhere near a public place. lets face it a dog 30 feet away isn't under proper control.
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Cardiff bay area evening shots
I had to visit Cardiff bay area a few days ago and took a few shots, here they are.
Sunday, May 19, 2013
Bonnie Tyler Eurovision bid 2013
Now I have to confess I didn't see Bonnie (a local girl) on last nights Eurovison contest, I stopped watching years back after the voting got all silly and political, you, know certain countries always voting for certain other countries. Well it got so bad dear old Terry Wogan used to take the mickey out of it by saying things like 'Ahh Finland... I wonder if they'll be voting for Denmark again' and so on. I suspect thats why the got rid of him, pity really, he was miles more entertaining than the competition itself.
Anyway, back to Bonnie. I was a bit puzzled by the choice of her, and indeed almost every year I'm puzzled why we don't use popular up and coming artists, but Bonnie a 61 old gave it her best shot. Ok she came in 19 out of 26, but personally I thought the song was better than that, mind you with the voting the joke it I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised, it's so biased the song/singer hardly matters any more.
Well done anyway Bonnie!
Anyway, back to Bonnie. I was a bit puzzled by the choice of her, and indeed almost every year I'm puzzled why we don't use popular up and coming artists, but Bonnie a 61 old gave it her best shot. Ok she came in 19 out of 26, but personally I thought the song was better than that, mind you with the voting the joke it I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised, it's so biased the song/singer hardly matters any more.
Well done anyway Bonnie!
Saturday, May 18, 2013
Bloody computers... Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr !!!!!!
Yes you guessed it I'm angry! My trusty old PC's DVD drive failed, which it has several times before (I read/write a lot of disks) that wasn't what made me angry though. I popped down my local computer shop to buy a new DVD writer. First problem, they dont sell IDE DVD writers any more, only the newer SATA ones. Ok no big deal, off to my second nearest shop.... Ahhhh thats now closed and gone for ever... Bugger!
Back to the first shop, 'I'll have an external DVD writer please?' Not what I really want but it'll make life easier till I get a proper one. 'Ahhh, bad luck we've just sold the last two'says the man behind the counter. Bugger!
Ok, now this is getting to be a pain!, my brother is supposed to be getting me a sata pci card so I can fit a sata drive, but he's fallen of the end of the earth and I can't find him anywhere.
I can still burn disks but it means copying the files to a pen/zip drive and transferring them to my new super-duper computer, (which being 64 bit wont work with my favorite DVD writing software) so I have to faf about figuring out how to write the beggars using Windoze (yep that's how I spell it) Not ideal and bloody time consuming.
Next step into the nearest BIG city and another computer shop, 'have you got any IDE DVD writers please?' 'Yes' was the reply, 'I sleep with them their are so hard to find' he says. That worries me slightly, but not enough to stop me buying the thing.
Back home I fit the drive and ..... Yes you guessed it, the bastard computer cant see the bloody thing, it see's it as a CD drive not DVD (I did check it was a DVD drive)
Sod it I'll try writing a disk and see what happens, the bloody draw comes out I put a disk it and the bloody draw stays out.... BUGGER BUGGER!!!!
Phone shop, 'bring it back' he says, well what the hell did he think I was going to do with it, use it as a paper weight?
Back the the big city I go, back to the shop. He tests the drive?, of course he did!, I always take back perfectly good stuff to change it. And besides the bloody draw is still stuck out. There's a clue there for Gods sake. 'Yep it's fried inside says Einstein. 'No kidding' says I, 'I wonder if thats why IT DOESN'T BLOODY WORK?' I shout He swop's drive and in the confusion damn nearly gives my my old broken drive back (he pushed the draw back in) Back home with new drive, fit it in computer and ....... Thank God the PC see's it and writes fine.
Now all I have to do is worry about what happens next time it goes.......
Back to the first shop, 'I'll have an external DVD writer please?' Not what I really want but it'll make life easier till I get a proper one. 'Ahhh, bad luck we've just sold the last two'says the man behind the counter. Bugger!
Ok, now this is getting to be a pain!, my brother is supposed to be getting me a sata pci card so I can fit a sata drive, but he's fallen of the end of the earth and I can't find him anywhere.
I can still burn disks but it means copying the files to a pen/zip drive and transferring them to my new super-duper computer, (which being 64 bit wont work with my favorite DVD writing software) so I have to faf about figuring out how to write the beggars using Windoze (yep that's how I spell it) Not ideal and bloody time consuming.
Next step into the nearest BIG city and another computer shop, 'have you got any IDE DVD writers please?' 'Yes' was the reply, 'I sleep with them their are so hard to find' he says. That worries me slightly, but not enough to stop me buying the thing.
Back home I fit the drive and ..... Yes you guessed it, the bastard computer cant see the bloody thing, it see's it as a CD drive not DVD (I did check it was a DVD drive)
Sod it I'll try writing a disk and see what happens, the bloody draw comes out I put a disk it and the bloody draw stays out.... BUGGER BUGGER!!!!
Phone shop, 'bring it back' he says, well what the hell did he think I was going to do with it, use it as a paper weight?
Back the the big city I go, back to the shop. He tests the drive?, of course he did!, I always take back perfectly good stuff to change it. And besides the bloody draw is still stuck out. There's a clue there for Gods sake. 'Yep it's fried inside says Einstein. 'No kidding' says I, 'I wonder if thats why IT DOESN'T BLOODY WORK?' I shout He swop's drive and in the confusion damn nearly gives my my old broken drive back (he pushed the draw back in) Back home with new drive, fit it in computer and ....... Thank God the PC see's it and writes fine.
Now all I have to do is worry about what happens next time it goes.......
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
London flooded by three feet of water!!! (well not quite)
Yes, the headline was London flooded by three feet of water! The truth was a little less dramatic however.
The story is referring to a recent report that suggests sea levels could rise by three feet as a result of melting ice, what it fails to mention though is that the report is based on the old flawed climate model ( remember the one that said sea levels would have risen 30 feet by now) Secondly it fails to mention that there's only a 1 in 20 chance of it happening even with that model. And Thirdly most climate scientists now agree we're actually entering a cooling phase not a warming phase, so even less lightly.
Lastly it's not due until around the turn of the century, 87 years away, so London has a bit of time (say 40 years) to raise the flood defences a bit just in case.
The story is referring to a recent report that suggests sea levels could rise by three feet as a result of melting ice, what it fails to mention though is that the report is based on the old flawed climate model ( remember the one that said sea levels would have risen 30 feet by now) Secondly it fails to mention that there's only a 1 in 20 chance of it happening even with that model. And Thirdly most climate scientists now agree we're actually entering a cooling phase not a warming phase, so even less lightly.
Lastly it's not due until around the turn of the century, 87 years away, so London has a bit of time (say 40 years) to raise the flood defences a bit just in case.
Sunday, May 12, 2013
Whale Wars the farce continues
Well what can I say about this program! While I do applaud the efforts to stop the Japanese whaling, these guys are never going to stop it. They couldn't run a bath never mind a campaign, so far they are two months into the three month season and they haven't even found the whalers yet!
They've left crew stranded in a broken down rib, they weren't too keen on even going to help the trimaran when the pontoon broke off, they have failed miserably at disabling the whaler security ship (and I'm not convinced disabling a ship at sea is safe in the first place) They did managed to get three people to board the security ship to stop it.... that didn't work either, the poor sods had to spend ten days on board the ship and were lucky not to get jailed in Japan after achieving the sum total of bugger all.
Now the Sea Shepard crew and complaining the Japenese ships crew are getting violent and aggressive, well supprise supprise!!! what did you expect, you've boarded their ships, tried to disable them, and the programs name is Whale WARS!!! Think yourself lucky they haven't turned really nasty yet, God help you when the break the guns out.
If I were the Japenese I'd be trying the prop foulers on your ships to see how well you cope with it, not as well as the whalers I'll bet.
They've left crew stranded in a broken down rib, they weren't too keen on even going to help the trimaran when the pontoon broke off, they have failed miserably at disabling the whaler security ship (and I'm not convinced disabling a ship at sea is safe in the first place) They did managed to get three people to board the security ship to stop it.... that didn't work either, the poor sods had to spend ten days on board the ship and were lucky not to get jailed in Japan after achieving the sum total of bugger all.
Now the Sea Shepard crew and complaining the Japenese ships crew are getting violent and aggressive, well supprise supprise!!! what did you expect, you've boarded their ships, tried to disable them, and the programs name is Whale WARS!!! Think yourself lucky they haven't turned really nasty yet, God help you when the break the guns out.
If I were the Japenese I'd be trying the prop foulers on your ships to see how well you cope with it, not as well as the whalers I'll bet.
Thursday, May 9, 2013
The real housewives of.....
Well I saw this today and I'm baffled! Which bit exactly of these plastic surgery, botox-ed, hair extensioned, boob jobbed women is still real? Very little from what I could see. The expression mutton dressed as lamb comes to mind.
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
Welsh govenrment madness!
The Welsh government are giving an American company 125m pounds to create 100 jobs. Are they mad!!! they could have just given 100 local people a 1m pounds each and told them to go and sit in the garden and we would have saved money ( and the money would have been mostly spent in Wales). Or better still we could have given 250 Welsh people £500.000 each to start up local business, that would have created at least 250 jobs (probably a lot more) and kept the money here. Why give the money to a US company when there's people here struggling to keep local business afloat.
The company they have given the money too will probably not even employ local people, half of them will be from England or the US.
Our money wasted by the shower of wasters that pass themselves off as the Welsh govenment... govenment, they couldn't run a bath never mind a country.
The company they have given the money too will probably not even employ local people, half of them will be from England or the US.
Our money wasted by the shower of wasters that pass themselves off as the Welsh govenment... govenment, they couldn't run a bath never mind a country.
Sunday, May 5, 2013
Oblivion (film review)
I saw the film Oblivion last night and here's my review.
Earth is a wasteland after an alien war, all that's left are a few machines and maintenance staff, Tom Cruise is one of those men, while repairing the drones that guard the power plants he finds more than he bargained for.
The film has stunning visual effects, and wasteland earth is very convincing, Tom Cruise is at his best and in my opinion this is his best film.
There is a love story running through as well ( like all Tom Cruise films, boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy finds girl again while flying a jet/driving a racing car/ flying spaceship etc etc etc) and I found the film a little slow in places.
There were also a few plot holes,but not enough to worry me too much.
Waynes rating 7/10 worth a watch.
Earth is a wasteland after an alien war, all that's left are a few machines and maintenance staff, Tom Cruise is one of those men, while repairing the drones that guard the power plants he finds more than he bargained for.
The film has stunning visual effects, and wasteland earth is very convincing, Tom Cruise is at his best and in my opinion this is his best film.
There is a love story running through as well ( like all Tom Cruise films, boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy finds girl again while flying a jet/driving a racing car/ flying spaceship etc etc etc) and I found the film a little slow in places.
There were also a few plot holes,but not enough to worry me too much.
Waynes rating 7/10 worth a watch.
Saturday, May 4, 2013
Is the number of photos you take related to the amount of kit carried?
Is the number of photos you take related to the amount of kit carried?
I can't help but wonder, for many years I carried 3 bodies and 7 or 8 lens around pretty much everywhere, now I've cut down to 2 bodies and 4 lens, but it's still too much for my aging body to carry, so I'm finding I carry my small compact everywhere (it lives in my pocket) The courious thing is I find the less kit I carry the more pics I take.
I first noticed this years back when I would nip into town and just take the one camera and a 28-85mm zoom, I suspect the fact you can just take the camera up to the eye and shoot rather than wonder which lens to fit or shall I use this or that filter is the reason. I'm finding the same with the compact, I'm shooting pics pretty nearly every day with that, haven't taken the big camera out for a few weeks.
Makes me wonder.....
I can't help but wonder, for many years I carried 3 bodies and 7 or 8 lens around pretty much everywhere, now I've cut down to 2 bodies and 4 lens, but it's still too much for my aging body to carry, so I'm finding I carry my small compact everywhere (it lives in my pocket) The courious thing is I find the less kit I carry the more pics I take.
I first noticed this years back when I would nip into town and just take the one camera and a 28-85mm zoom, I suspect the fact you can just take the camera up to the eye and shoot rather than wonder which lens to fit or shall I use this or that filter is the reason. I'm finding the same with the compact, I'm shooting pics pretty nearly every day with that, haven't taken the big camera out for a few weeks.
Makes me wonder.....
Friday, May 3, 2013
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