Encarta 2004 on DVD

Want to get Encarta 2004 for super price? Check out this link. $20 rebate comes inside the box, so total cost is $8.80 delivered ((I got it in just a couple of days via Fed Ex). Incredible price - installs easily (I put the whole thing on the HD for faster access). Grab one while they're still available. Once installed, you can download all the latest updates (I downloaded 23MB worth of them). You continue to get free updates through 10/04. After that, you need to buy the 2005 edition, but I always wait till the Spring of 2005 when I can find deals like this one.

Paranoids Need Not Apply

I find this article in the Times interesting in regards to Google's new email program. People get so freaked out over some of these privacy issues, when their privacy can be invaded by a number of other ways, as the article points out. Sounds like a pretty nice service to me - if you're that paranoid, I have a suggestion for you - toss that computer in the dumpster and return to snail mail. As the author points out, these are robots using artificial intelligence to scan emails for ad opportunities, not humans. Darn, and here I thought Google was gonna be hiring me to spend all day reading emails - wonder how many I could get through in a day? Bet Google would sure have to hire a lot of folks to do that!

Photography
Looking for a neat DOF(depth of field) application? Check out this one (you will need javascript enabled)

Microdrive for Cheap

Need a 4 Gig Microdrive for your camera and don't want to pay the big bucks? Get a Nomad MuVo mp3 player (seen on the left) with 4Gig Microdrive and strip the microdrive out and use it in your camera. Instructions on how to do that are here. Slick - unbelievable price for a 4 Gig Microdrive ($199). The MuVo itself isn't all that great of an mp3 player and you could do better with some of the Creative 30 or 40 Gig models for not that much more, but as an additional super sized microdrive for those big 6-8mp digital SLR's, tough deal to beat.

8x DVD Writer
Looking for a hot burner for dirt cheap? ($80) This NEC drive gets outstanding reviews. Will write DVD +/- R's at 8x and DVD +/- RW's at 4x. Will write CD's at 32x and read them at 40x

Photography - Lenses
Tokina has a nice prime 17mm lens for around $375 delivered per Outdoor Photography - looks to be a nice lens - would translate to be about a 25mm lens with the 1.5x multiplier effect on some digital SLRs. Much cheaper than a wide angle high quality zoom. If you like the dramatic depth of field that wide angles give you (Muench fans?), then this may be the ticket without breaking the bank. You can buy it with mounts for Canon, Nikon, Minolta,etc. The AT-X 17 AF PRO lens features the exclusive "Focus Clutch Mechanism", a signature of the Tokina PRO series lenses which provides a faster, smoother autofocus operation with a smooth manual focus action not normally found in autofocus lenses. The updated PRO features a floating element autofocus system, an all-glass aspherical lens element, & an aluminum lens barrel with a chrome-plated brass mount plate.

Word of the Day
peremptory adj.Putting an end to all debate or action: a peremptory decree.
Not allowing contradiction or refusal; imperative: The officer issued peremptory commands.
Having the nature of or expressing a command; urgent: The teacher spoke in a peremptory tone.
Offensively self-assured; dictatorial: a swaggering, peremptory manner.

Quote of the Day
"If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion."
The Dalai Lama