Movie News, Concerts and Other Local SF Events

It's been a while since I've made an honest to goodness blog post. I mean, these rambling diatribes about stats and facts and specs and all just get long...

First some local events to peep. Dine About Town is winding down, ending on Wednesday, Jan. 31st. So get out there and eat! Howard Jones is playing Red Devil Lounge on 1/31, tix are sold out, but I wonder if they'll release some at the door? Hmmm. Not to worry, things can only get better. lol. The Abigail Morgan boutique store on Union Street is having a clearance sale up to 80% off, thru Sunday (1/28).
Drift Denim Essentials Boutique is where you really ought to be shopping if you're in the know and scopin' for some swank new denim. They just recently opened at 815 Washington St. in Oakland... Yes, Oak-town makes my blog for a fashion boutique no less. fer real real, don't hate.

The Castro Theatre is having a Film Noir festival (Noir City 5), showing many 19040's and 50's films that have never been panned and scanned to VHS nor DVD. Then, there will be some double features offered... And at the end of the month, Wed. Feb. 28th is a noteworthy double-bill of Alfred Hitchcock: The 39 Steps and The Lady Vanishes. Both are true classics shot masterfully, with plenty of Hitchcock suspense, drama, and tension. I personally think these two films comprise some of his best slightly lesser-known films.

Never to be outdone, The Red Vic Moviehouse has plenty o' goodness on tap (well, not that kind of tap)... Sun- Tues. Feb. 4th-6th The Wild Blue Yonder is showing. Use unseen footage from the NASA space shuttle program, blend it with ice-diving scuba footage at the Antarctica, and add in a score including a Senegalese singer, Dutch cellist, and Sardinian shepherd choir... That about sums up this movie- kinda. I am down like Charlie Brown with how this film sounds.

Sunday and Monday, Feb 18th & 19th, The Red Vic is screening Tideland by Terry Gilliam. This film seems And then, they move on to offer Brazil- still my favorite movie of all-time. I can't stand the revised one sheet (er... movie poster), but that's just me.

More planning ahead might just include Valentine's Day for some of you. Yoshi's at Jack London Square is featuring Branford Marsalis Feb. 12-15th. Only prollem is 2/14 shows are already sold out. All tix are $26-30, so a great deal if you like the sweet saxophone sounds of Branford and his quartet.

Now, some movie news. I've blogged about just how hot 300 is going to be, I'm saying right now that it'll make top-twenty for box office opening weekend (March 9th) release fo' sho'- prolly landing 5th-8th on the all-time records list. Rotten Tomatoes has an article claiming that 300 is now slated to also be released for IMAX! Yes, as the first IMAX feature film released for 2007. wow. See, things can only get better. lol.

So what else am I interested in? Well, along the lines of Tideland, Wild Blue Yonder, and Twelve Monkeys (kinda topic-wise here), is Darren Aronofsky's The Fountain. I was totally impressed with Aronofsky's first film, Pi, which reportedly had a budget of $60k. Well, that was before it was bought and screenplay was revised and whatever, so who really knows? Anyways, I liked Requiem For A Dream well enough, but The Fountain looks stunning. Waiting for the DVD release... There is a feature article on RT, but I must warn you: it kinda includes spoilers, if you don't wanna know too much, don't read it. Cheers.

image credits: Drift from DriftDenim, Tideland from Red Vic Moviehouse, The Fountain from imdb.com.

Internet Security, Fraud and Protecting Yourself

I've been dealing with some unfortunate fraud claims and figured I'd share a bit of info. I might lose some credibility here just based on the fact I've still had credit card fraud issues and my thoughts are not bulletproof in keeping the bad guys away.

For the record, I will reiterate, that I am in no way compensated for any content I provide on my blog, and have no incentives to post anything. Further, I check EVERY single site and page I post a link to. I have never linked a page I have not visited myself, and I will never do so to maintain security. I believe the links I post to be safe and accurate to the descriptions I give.

For a while I got calls nearly daily from 727-471-1418. Just a quick Google search shows that many others got these same calls. While I'd never answered the phone, I have some words of caution I would share with any/all readers (see below).

Last week I got a call from 602-624-4919 and heard nothing but dead air on the line for a few seconds before the call was disconnected. If you get any type of call like this, I'd strongly suggest you only say "Hello" or "who is this." Don't offer ANY information like, "Hello, this is Mathilda, is anybody there?" That could be the beginning of a Social Engineering structure...

I also had several fraudulent charges on my credit cards... Here's an example: Mfire Internet Services. I Google'd them to find the phone number matched that on my credit card statement. I called (use caller ID blocking here!). Here's my full conversation summarized:

Mfire rep: "Mfire Internet Services, this is Anthony. How can I help you?"
(First sign of trouble, a live "agent" answers... How many times does THAT happen with a real ISP or Domain Hosting Service... HA HA.)

me: "I'm calling to find out if you have any other names you do business as?" The idea is these days with technology, one never knows if my current internet company (ISP or domain hosts) has merged. I was trying to find out.

Mfire rep: "Hold on, I'll try to see... No, we don't."

me: "Okay, I was recently billed by you, and I figure this must be an error."

(here's where this person is trying to earn trust and confidence...)
Mfire: "It sounds like this might be an unauthorized charge we can look into."

me: "No, I'll look into it myself thank you."

Mfire: "I can check on that for you to confirm your account, if you'll give me the first 4 and last four numbers of your card."

me: "What card?" (I'd never mentioned a "card," I could've received a paper "bill"... hmmm).

Mfire: "The card you had the charge made to."

me: "No, I'll file a claim on my own. That won't be necessary."

Mfire: "If you'd prefer we can look you up to confirm your account using your last name and phone number..."

me: "No, thanks. I'll be dealing with this independently. Good bye."

Here's the deal: I do not and have not ever had an account with Mfire. From the phone service I have had with my ACTUAL ISP and Domain Hosting companies, I can tell you this... The first piece of info they ask for is your domain (your "account" number for ISP and your domain name IS usually your "account" for hosting). Only after this, would they ask you to confirm any personal info.

Here are some steadfast rules to apply:

1. NEVER click a link in an e-mail that is asking for financial info... I have all my financial account log-in pages bookmarked in Firefox. I go to Firefox and open a new browser page to log-in. The e-mail may be a good reminder a bill is due- especially if it coincides with your billing cycle, but why trust it when you've got your site log-in bookmarked?
2. Don't fill in more personal info than you need to. If a phone number is not required for a site registration, don't fill it in. It's simple really.
3. Be careful with your password reminders. These may give other people that learn personal info about you unknowing access to your secure info by circumventing the passwords you use.
4. If you EVER get a phone call that is regarding financial or personal info, find out what it is regarding (give little to no info during the conversation). Ask if the person has a phone number that you may call back before sharing personal info or financial info. Before calling back, use the internet to confirm that the number given is the ACTUAL number of the company they claim to represent. It's a simple step, and very worthwhile.
5. If you are using your cell phone in a public place, be EXTREMELY cautious when talking about sensitive information. A common verification with accounts is the last four digits of your Social Security Number. If you can enter using the keypad, do so... Otherwise, lower your voice as much as possible. There is no reason to give out personal info over the phone to strangers (like the verification code on the back of your card, your zip code, or last four of SSN).

Understand this... E-mail links are NOT always what they claim to be. I have received many that "show" a different target e-mail address (like PayPal or Bank of America) but send to a different address altogether. I have a basic understanding of html coding, so I can glean this from the full headers in a mail message usually... It can often be a simple line of code to makes something appear to be something it is not. (see the Microsoft link below for an example).

You may think it is not a big deal when you are repeating your zip code for account verification to your stock broker or whatever over your cell phone. But many purchase points (like gas stations) ONLY require this 5 digit number to authorize your card for use. No PIN, no code off the back. This can create a dangerous situation you don't need to be a part of.

Use the internet as a research tool. If you're getting calls from numbers you don't know, or billed from companies you've never heard of... Look them up using Google or reverse telephone directories!

I would suggest using caution when making internet purchases. If one seller offers a new electronic product for 25% less than any other, I'd be kinda worried. If you have good experiences, continue using the same sites. Most likely, the price differences aren't worth fiddling with multiple shipments from multiple suppliers- all for a couple bucks.

A HUGE element is participation. Rate the sellers you use and have experience with. Not only will you gain a historic profile of those sellers (after some time you may forget if your experience was good or bad with them), you help others gain better insight. It doesn't matter if you rate them on Amazon, PriceGrabber, Yelp, epinions, ResellerRatings, Shopzilla, Smarter.com, any other site, or all of the above. Just do a small part... It really helps.

Here are a few links to recent fraud threats and useful tips:

• Microsoft's advice and definitions of fraud threats, a very useful page. It defines phishing, social engineering and many of the processes people use to try to gain your trust.
  
• A page dedicated to awareness of bank e-mail scams and phishing.
  
• Info about phone number: 602-624-4919, and a resource for others to post about phone numbers that may be phishing threats.
• Info about phone number 727-471-1418, while this link has a domain that looks iffy (like why would the "g" be missing from the key layout in the domain name?") at best, I have visited it and it appears to be very credible site.
• Another site re: 727-471-1418, and dedicated to stopping junk phone calls.
  
• Mfire Internet: from the above example that I believe is a social engineering structure.

That's it for now... Sheesh I've been making really long posts this week. I hope some find this helpful. Drop me a comment if you have something to say... I do spend my own personal time creating this blog and really do appreciate feedback. Cheers.

Apple iPhone, iPod, iTunes: I'm No Longer a Mac Power User

This here post is not gonna be too Apple friendly. See, I was a Mac power-user for ages, since I was first introduced to the Mona Lisa (pre-cursor to the Classic) by David Kelley (founder of Ideo). But no longer, and I doubt if Apple could ever win me back- here's why.

This is a watershed time for Apple. Prolly the first time they have captured more than a 5% market share for computers since the late 80's. iTunes and iPods are selling like hotcakes of the grizzle fo' shizzle. But what is really going on? And why did I convert to PC's when more people are converting to Macs?

First, let's look at the history. Apple has always had a better, more user-friendly interface. It's just a fact; the drag-and-drop functionality, double-click open folders, and no command-line. Well, I'd say since Windows 2000 or certainly XP, Microsoft has emulated the Mac interface pretty well, so Apple has somewhat lost this former competitive advantage.

Second, graphics industry professionals stood by Macs. They've always been pricey, but their graphic interface held better color and resolutions than the average PC. Now, PC's are getting closer, I'd say a slight advantage still goes to Apple here. But the universality of Macs in the "professional" world is gone. Now with all the app's and hardware offering "true native" program suites like Adobe Photoshop and Adobe CS2 Premium, there is little reason to buy expensive Macs.

Apple wants to own you. The don't want you to get under the hood and upgrade a motherboard, or swap your hard drives out for 10,000 rpm drives, or try to overclock your rig. You'll void your warranty (same as PC), but... If you ever need repairs, you'll have to pay Apple to fix/modify just about anything.

This also is why Apple will prolly never offer mp3 players with memory slots. They don't want shareware getting onto their precious proprietary iPods. They don't want hacks. True, the argument can be made this is a reason it's a more secure platform, with less viruses and invasive threats... But now with Intel chips and running Microsoft OS's natively let's see if that holds true forever.

I saw this coming... When I first learned about the switch to Intel chips, I saw the writing on the wall. Let's understand something. Apple has pretty much never been about manufacturing their own technology. They've always used IBM and Motorola processors, Hitachi and Seagate hard drives, and Samsung flash memory (iPods). Now, choosing Intel was in my opinion, a step behind. I think they should've gone with AMD as a better fit, smaller guy against goliath, great performer, strong justifications for consumers.

Technologically, Apple was kinda slipping behind PC's when I was shopping for a new puter in August/September of 2005. Their bus speeds were particularly behind, bottlenecking the blazing performance of their cpu's. Memory speeds were not that fantastic either.

And again, price. A serious G5 Dual processor Desktop would've run me over $6000 with a 20" monitor from Apple. I just couldn't afford that in order to remain a Mac loyalist. The PC rig I built cost less than $2000 with 19" XGA display, XP Pro OS, and performance to match an almost-top-of-the-line G5 Dual at the time.

Now, Macs were gonna try to merge into the PC market, what they've should've done in the 80's. Understand my reasoning, IF Apple allowed "clones" at their inception (1984), they would now dominate the computer hardware market. Without question. But they dint so, let's move on.

Apple is far superior in industrial design and marketing. Here, they rule. And prolly always will. It is their Sustainable Competitive Advantage (SCA) as venture capitalists would say. Is iTunes the best way to own music? Far from it, you don't really own full rights to use it as you would an actual CD album. Are iPods the best mp3 players? Not a chance. No replaceable battery, the most expensive in each respective category, usually not the best battery life, and no external memory slots. Sure a better user interface than most, I recognize that.

I believe Apple has strayed from a focus on hardware. They are now selling what appeals. Their Mac Pro Desktops are now Intel machines, iTunes and iPods are their money makers... And look what's next, the iPhone. Let's get on that subject.

Here is the CNet article Thirteen Reasons to Doubt the iPhone Hype. And these are VALID reasons people. Before we get all huffy and defensive just 'cuz it looks cool (like iPod loyalists are prone to do), let's be objective here.

• A full touch-screen. Yeah, just try to access anything (like dialing a phone number) without looking directly at it. Driving your car couldn't get more distracting.
• No memory slot. And prolly never will be on future generation iPhones.
• No full-version of iTunes. What? Can't xfer my playlists directly? This bites.
• Watered-down OS X. Multi-tasking? It is said that you prolly cannot watch a video at the same time as making a phone call, or use a "desktop application" while on the phone. So where's the multi-tasking? I can drink a milkshake and listen to the mp3 player?
• No replaceable battery. All I can say is you'd think Apple has learned their lesson... And they have. Consumers continue to allow them to get away with this costly consumer disadvantage, so it continues... Ughhh!
• How much? At $500 for 4GB and $600 for 8GB models, it's more than a Treo or Blackberry, right? And way less user functions and features IMHO. Just don't step in this, it's not a good idea.

Once again, Apple does what they do best. Bring a new, unique product to market... In a very pretty package... Market it perfectly... offering less and costing more. I'm guessing these will sell okay-ish to early adopters, but not tremendously overall. You want to own it, until you actually own it. Then you'll prolly wish you owned just anything else.

For more info check out the Apple Discussions Boards for iTunes and iPods. Check the Cnet reviews and my CNet forum post regarding iTunes. Before deciding to buy Apple, check the alternatives for available offerings . You might just be glad you did.

Okay, you certainly don't have to agree with my rant. Feel free to drop me a comment. This is all just one person's opinion. Cheers.

image credits: iPhone from apple.com (they really need a better hand model here, those nails are just icky), Sansa e260 (a serious iPod-killer contender) from SanDisk.com.

Muppets: Manamana Video repost.

Manamana Muppets Video

I've had several visitors searching for this Muppet vid clip I posted many moons ago, so here it is again for your viewing pleasure (from Google Video). A true classic.

Gadgets, Gizmos, and Old Skool.

First off, you may have noticed I've added a Clustr Map to the sidebar. Now you too can see where everybody visits from. And how sadly my traffic numbers have dwindled off, oh well.

I'm not really endorsing a website, it's just that there is so much goodness there that it darn near takes over my blog. It's not like I haven't done this before (Target and The Cool Hunter come to mind)... And this time it is ThinkGeek.

C'mon, from a USB Beverage Chiller to the Logitech MX Revolution mouse... Waitasec, that quote there really got to me:

"On average, people have six applications open on their computer at any one time, and the active window switches or new windows open every 50 seconds in an eight hour day. To navigate the vast content at their disposal, people spin their mouse's scroll wheel approximately 26 feet in an eight-hour day."

Well, I always knew I wasn't average. I mean, I get whole 24-hour days, gosh some peeps really are getting cheated and oughta talk to The Big Boss.

The Super T-Amp is supposedly Class T certified and only $140 bones. Wow, "save energy, save the planet," right? Now, if I could get to using AMD Athlon 64 X2 60nm 65Watt CPU's and Class-T amps, I'd be living large on a smaller eco-footprint. Well, someday perhaps.

Saving the best couple for last... The InstantMusic Vinyl & Cassette Ripper is for those who are still on analog format and wishing to step up to the new digital age. Yup, eight track, cassette, vinyl lp's, whatever... this is taking on all comers. Uh, just be sure you know, it's only a converter, it don't include no player, playa.

The 20Q Mind Reader may not be exactly what you wanna pull out of your pocket at your next birthday party bash, but... if it's more of a LAN party, then all bets are off. I think I mentioned (re: Pleo Designer Dinosaur), I'm not allowed to own toys smarter than me, and that certainly includes this. I mean, 20 Questions and how exactly does it come up with tank, platypus, and fetish as correct answers? That's just downright scary... and wrong.

You want Tru Old Skool? Ain't nuthin' say that better'n a Bluetooth Retro Handset. Start growing that hi-top fade out now... While we're at it, let's bring back the wall- clocks- worn- around- the- neck (a la Public Enemy).

Oh but the hits just keep on coming. You ever think of sprucing up your kitchen counter with something different? Well, this would be that. The Ex - Unique Knife Holder. I'd hate to be the model that posed for this sculpture. Ouch, that's gotta hurt, I hope they got hazard pay.

My last little tidbit is about Adobe's Photoshop CS3 Beta Release. Yup, never in the history of Photoshop has there ever been a beta available like this, nor has there ever been a FREE release available. Ever. You just gotta have a valid serial number from a previous release- and you got it chum. Cheers.

image credits: Super T-Amp from ThinkGeek.com, 20Q Mind Reader from ThikGeek.com, Bluetooth Retro handset from ThinkGeek.com, The Ex Knife Holder from ThinkGeek.com.

Headphone Buying Guide & Info

It seems (sadly) that I go through headphones pretty frequently, and with only 90-day warranties on most, I end up seeking better performers. In this instance, I am not always a fan of "expensive is better."

I can pretty much tell you, that if you look at specs prior to buying, you should be able to tell if they'll sound decent, very good, or excellent. Of course, some of it is just based on how their sound reproduction hits your ear and whetherit suits you... So I just start from here.

I'd done some research on headphones, so here is an overview of what to look for while shoppin' for new ears to rock your mp3 playa.

Three main factors are gonna make you happy (…or not):

• In-Ear Sensitivity. Think of the SPL (Sound Pressure Level) rating as how loud one milliWatt of power gets. This is important stuff. You ever plug in some phones and Max Volume Level is sooo much lower than another pair of headphones? 100 dB is prolly the low cut-off in my opinion. 106-110 dB will do nicely. Over 112 dB is best right now.
• Impedence. Very important for portables. If you plug ‘em in, how much current gets used by your phones? It depends on impedence. Think of it as efficiency…Lower impedance means less battery drain and longer battery life! Something like that. LOWER impedence (20-35 ohm) is better, match w/ Higher Sensitivity for best results.
• Dynamic Range. You still want your small drivers to go low and hit high. Most mid-priced headphones get about 20-20,000 Hz. I want better, like 12- 25,000 Hz (for the lows to get balanced mostly). The high frequencies can tend to get “tin-ny” on headphones so I'd opt for better low response (12-18 Hz).

I'd say you couldn't possibly go wrong with the AKG K-27i (iPod) Heaadphones (above) from DJdeals.com for $58 with free shipping. 126 dBA SPL, 32 ohm impedance, and 11 Hz to 28.5 kHz!

Another solid choice is the Sennheiser PX200 closed ear headphones. 10-21,000 Hz dynamic range, 32 ohm impedance, and 115 dB Sensitivity. They are foldable, light, and comfortable enough to wear all day long, fer real. Best part, these performers cost only about $50 these days.

If you want something for home theater use that will blow your ear canals to wimpy little bits, the AKG K-181 Headphones are right there for ya. Sure, they're $164 (free shipping), but at 120 dB SPL and 42 ohms what else gets low like 5 Hz low and high like 30,000 kHz ? That's like... under-the-rug limbo low, and high like... um... Snoop Dog...ummm. Oh, never mind.

Further choices:

• Do you want noise-canceling? I don’t. It’s simple… Safety demands that I have a small sound input from the outside world while walking along or whatever. Plus size/weight. Noise canceling has to generate a sound wave that counters the audible levels we are sensitive to. That means a battery. That means heavy. It also means your headphone battery may expire before your mp3/cell phone. That would suck if you can’t listen to music ‘cuz o’ your headphones. Oh, the irony of it all.
• Open Air or Closed Air. Contrary to noise-canceling arguments I’ve just made… I prefer closed ear. The sound is much, much cleaner. And I trust myself to know when to turn ‘em down if I need to hear a little ambient sound from my environment.
• Ear buds? No way. Unless your shelling out hundreds for the customs… They don’t fit well enough and get uncomfortable after a while. Plus, if you snag the cord on something your ear can get kinda hurt/sore… Just not for me, others like the portability of them. Your personal call here.

Other features:

• I’d always prefer a shorter cord- like 3-4.5 ft. A 6+ ft cord is only good for studio (“monitor”) headphones I’ll mostly use at home.
• I also would prefer a volume control on the headphone cord. Just another feature you can actually use. I find it indispensable when I get used to it.
• Folding: only helpful if they are durable enough and fold into a fairly compact size. Still, a small benefit, but mostly my headphones remain on my neck when not in use, so not a big dealio.
• Around the neck phones? Nah, I can never get comfortable with these. Wearing most mid-profile baseball caps pushes these HARD against the top of my ears. Wearing a knit cap/skully/beanie means these have to go UNDER them most likely. You'd look like a phreak with earPods. These can “pinch” against eyeglasses or sunglasses around the top of your ear. They also get very, very tangled around the speaker, it’s the shape of the plastic molded into something that will take lots more untangling after they’ve settled into your backpack or handbag.

There you have it, most of these stats and facts were gleaned from this webpage. Check it out if you want more deets. Oh and this site Buyer's Edge has a great price search engine for audio and tech stuff.

If you just can't do without sporting the hottest headphone on the planet, I suggest you check out the DJ headphone stylings at DJdeals.com. Their prices are amazing, and their selection rox0rz!

Just don't get the Sony MDR-V700's. Ask any DJ, they've prolly broken their first pair in no time at all. They break almost as crazily as Crazy Legs in Beat Street. They may look cool, and be fairly priced, but even their sound isn't up to par for monitor phones. Cheers.

image credits: AKG K-27i Headphones from DJdeals.com, Sennheiser PX200 headphones from PriceGrabber.com.

Digital Photography Tips and Links.

I’m really missing my my Canon S3 IS digital camera. It had some prollems and is back w/ Canon for a warranty repair. The lens mechanism froze, it wouldn’t fully retract, nor would it extend. Bummer.

I’ve been trying to shoot several days every week. We’ve had amazing light here in San Francisco, with some spectacular sunsets. After nearly 7 months with this camera, I feel like I have an inkling of what I’m actually doing. And I love some of the results. This isn’t to sound boastful. I mean, anybody can take some good shots with digital, provided one is willing to spend time understanding how their camera works & what features it offers.

Here are some interesting digital photography tidbits:

Flickr is about the best, most amazing resource one can find. Free membership, photosharing, and tons of useful features- I paid the $25 for a “Pro” account. I cannot communicate how tremendous Flickr is. Search others’ photos and prepare to be inspired by what’s possible.

I’ve gotta find a better way to upload my photos to Flickr. This is a time consuming task when selecting them one-at-a-time using the “upload” page. I’ve narrowed it down to two options.

Flock is a full web browser that has a user-interface for Flickr and Photobucket websites. Drag and Drop and batch upload images in a pinch. Just don’t expect me to leave Firefox anytime soon… or ever.

jUploadr is a photo uploader that offers rich features for flickr users. I’ll prolly give this a shot first, just haven’t yet. Remember, I need my camera back first before I have anything new to upload.

Wanna add some interestingness to your profile page? fd’s Flickr Toys can you. Go to the “Profile Widget” link and type in your user name, and cut ‘n paste the given code to your profile. You’ll have one of those swank widgets on your profile that includes your pics and some of your more interesting stats.

Also of interest is Flickr Inspector. This easy tool gives you great insight into your profile and usage… And… you’ll get a Flickr Score! oh. Not that any of us are competitive or anything… (okay, my current score is 1192). I guess scores are like golf, you’re trying to go low. lol. Anyways zee stats zat zees ”eeen-speck-tohr” offers are worth a look.

Another thing to do is GEO-TAG your pics. Put ‘em on a map and let people search them geographically. Here’s a short screencast video explaining how to map your pics.

If you wanna see what I’m talking about, you can always peep my flickr profile and my flickr map. By the way, I’ve had 850 new & unique visitors so far this month (total 3,350 now). Thanks for coming by!

I’ve mentioned dpreview countless times as a great resource for photogs. But I just found this article on correcting barrel distortion. Definitely visit if you’ve got a long zoom or shoot lots of wideangle.

…I’ve decided my camera is too valuable to not protect better… So, I’m getting a bodyguard for it. Yup, you read right. I’m figuring it’s time to invest a little.

Many Canon S3 IS users swear by using a lens adapter to protect the body and lens element/mechanism of this precious 12x optical zoom camera. Yeah. I’ve been reading up on this stuff. And about that 6-72mm f/2.7 lens… (quote from Luminous Landscape Canon S3 IS review)…

“The lens on this camera is a 12X zoom with a focal length of 6 – 72mm and an aperture of f/2.7 (wide end) to f/3.5 (long end). The focal length needs to be put into context with its 35mm equivalent; 36 – 432mm. This is a huge focal range, and a very fast aperture for such a long lens. If this lens had been designed for a 35mm full-frame camera it would weigh 25 lbs and cost more than most cars.”

Go ahead, argue this point if you like. The fact is: that’s some pretty fast glass, almost impossibly compact while it extends only 1.1” out of the body, and is included on a point & shoot (P&S) digital camera for under $360 from solid retailers these days. Sheesh.

But can this P&S do all I want? I dunno. But I’m planning to get a lens adapter to help make sure I don’t ever have a problem with the lens again, but I won’t get a UV lens (like most get) to cover their lens. Nah, I’m planning to go with a Hoya HMC circular polarizer. I figure we get some pretty hazy & foggy light in SF, so this should be a winner. It’s a solid performer and way less than the ($100) B+W MRC CP I’d think about if money was no object.

I also plan to get a rubber lens hood to help when shooting towards the sun. And it will further help to Cover My Glass.

Alright, it doesn’t stop there. Since I’ve got a lens adapter (uh, not yet, please just follow my stream of consciousness here)… I’m gonna use the 52mm front threads. I’ve been very interested in IR photography. That’s Infrared for those not in the know. I’ve simply gotta see this stuff happen. Tons more info about IR photography here.

While I’m not planning further upgrades, lens, or filters… I wouldn’t be opposed to considering a wide angle converter, prolly the Raynox HD-4500P .45x ($90), and maybe a Raynox MSN-202 Macro Lens ($65). But I doubt I can afford to get that carried away, maybe not even all that necessary.

So, here’s what I hope to order this week, to have in time for my S3’s return:

• - Lensmate 52mm (black) lens adapter ($23)
• - Lensmate 52mm slip-on lens cap ($5)
• - Hoya HMC Circular Polarizer 52mm ($59)
• - Hoya R-72 IR filter 52mm ($39)
• - Lensmate Rubber Collapsible Lens Hood ($5)

Now, with $7 USPS Priority shipping from Lensmate totals $131. That’s a cheap “bodyguard” for a precious camera. And adds heaps of new features I simply don’t have without the lens adapter. I can’t wait to start snapping to see what I can push (-bad pun!) this thing to do. Just the thought makes me shutter (-worse pun!).

Do I need to consider a DSLR? Wow, that would be fantastic, but we’re talking a $1000 body and at least $1000 in glass. Prolly more like $1500 minimum for some relatively fast glass (like f/2.8 or better). I can safely admit, that is so NOT in my budget right now.

Anyways, I want a dSLR that simply doesn’t exist yet. But might in the next iteration of either the Canon EOS 30D (I’m thinking Canon EOS 40D here) or the Nikon D80/D200 (I’m thinking Nikon D90 here). Basically, here’s my future DSLR wish list and prognostication (I’m hoping Canon gets this right).

• - 10.2 megapixel or higher. While MP’s don’t always matter, they do when you start cropping a frame. I want as much flexibility as possible.
• - I’d ultimately want the Canon DIGIC III processor in this camera, I think it tops everything else on the market, period.
• - Secure Digital/ SDHC card format. Dontcha know SDHC is taking over the flash mem market? Currently an 8GB Transcend 60x SDHC card is $91 shipped, an 8GB Ritek 80x CompactFlash Type I card is $132. Personally, I trust Transcend (I use them now) and I don’t know hoot about Ritek.
• - 5 fps in high-speed continuous “burst” mode.
• - 1/8000 shutter speed capable - I don’t care if ISO 3200 is listed, it’s prolly not gonna be usable for anything. But a decent ISO 2400 would be great indeed, and a good ISO 2000 would be fantastic. Wow, that sounds weird just saying it.

The following features would just be gravy, but less “essential” to my decision:

• - I’d like to have the option of using AA batteries “in-camera.” I know Nikon currently offers an option to use AA’s in their extended MB-D80 battery pack.
• - I wouldn’t be opposed to a slightly larger screen, maybe 2.8” LCD with 270,000 pixels. I don’t care if it hurts battery life a tad. Seeing what you’re shooting is kinda important IMO.
• - I’m really rooting for Canon to bring this dSLR to market, so I can also wish for a swivel LCD. It’s immensely useful, when you need it. I almost can’t imagine not having this feature anymore.
• - Now, get all this into a package for $995 for the DSLR Body Only. That would be something amazing. I think that’s a goal all the mfr’s have right now, stay under a grand for a solid DSLR opener, and make money continually on lenses…

I think it’s all possible. Granted, I have no way of buying this dream camera, even if it were announced at PMA 2007 at the front of March. I’m not asking for a full-frame DSLR. I’ve totally dropped my wish for the Foveon X3 chip. I’ve gotten over the fact that a $1000+ camera body comes w/ only a 1-year warranty (that sounds iPod-ish to me, which is certainly NOT good).

I also need many good reasons to buy a DSLR, like features that aren’t available on my S3: Higher ISO’s, 5 fps shooting, more megapixels, 8000 1/f… some of these features would directly relate to having a Canon DIGIC III sensor.

I’m thinking this will be the new Canon EOS 40D, you heard it here first. Basically, an EOS 30D updated with 10.2 megapixels, a DIGIC III chip, ISO 2000 and 2400, sD/SDHC card format. It might have a 2.8” LCD, I doubt it will swivel. I also doubt AA battery use in-camera will arrive.

Do I care if flash recharge time improves, or if I can get 18 RAW shots vs. the real 13 RAW shots now in continuous? If AF goes to 11-point to compete w/ Nikon D80? If Direct Print or wireless connection is offered? Nah, not much. Who uses a dSLR and doesn’t at least color calibrate (proof) their images to a printer?

For anybody shopping, the current street on a Canon EOS 30D is just over $1100 for body only, about $400 less than it was 5 months ago (? I think Canon dropped retail price a whiles back). A better deal is Costco, where you can pick up the 30D body w/ 18-55mm lens & 75-300mm lens for $1230 after $220 in rebates (includes ship, doesn’t include possible sales tax). I pretty much won’t settle for less than the DIGIC III and 10MP- and I cannot afford $200+ in CF cards (2GB + 4GB) when I have 4+ GB of sD cards already.

Hey, the last time I went out on a limb, I was prognosticating X-Men 3 and the box office returns it would do. It (pretty much) nailed my estimates (only 3 days counted in official weekend for $102.7 million, I figured 4 days would be counted for between $105-120 million). It finished at $122.8 mil for 4 days. It also holds the #5 spot on top-10 weekends of all-time. Here's to hoping anyways... Cheers.

image credits: Flickr logo from Flickr.com, Flickr Profile Widget from fd's Flickr Toys, Canon S3 IS w/ Lensmate 52mm lens adapter from LensMate, Canon EOS 30D from Digital Photography Review.

My Dual-Core PC Build Reviewed.

Okay, it's now been over one year since I delved into bulding my own PC from scratch. Not that I had any right to do so. I had been a Power Mac guy my entire life. Yeah, this is a long post. Don't be scared. It's not usual for me... (well, kinda not).

Long story short(er-ish): I bought an HP Pavillion from Costco and realized almost as soon as I first turned it on, it wasn't gonna be able to live up to my needs. Not enough memory, video memory, no extra drive bays, very limited upgradeability... And it was UNDERCLOCKED from the P4's spec of 2.4 GHz to 2.16 GHz! (No, you cannot get into BIOS in this HP, ...absolutely positively not allowed for that board and chipset- believe me).

Did I know anything about PC's? Uhhhh. Well... Maybe enough to log-in. lol. But the decision was made easy for me. Getting a new Apple Mac desktop with the performance I wanted would've cost over $6,000 with a monitor, OS, and performance components. Remember, you can't really alter/upgrade parts in a Mac without: a) usually voiding your warranty and b) usually it's just not an available option. So there.

I did a gaggle of research, prolly a couple months worth. Reading forums, reviews, and how-to's. I priced out parts and components and figured I could get it done for well under $2,000 with MS XP Pro SP2- including a solid 19" LCD display. And I did.

I describe the build as costing under $1500 w/ XP included- that's no LCD and some money I've made back since the purchase (sold one hard drive, sold the stock case fans, sold some of the games the Audigy came with).

Before getting into the deets and spec's, let me just summarize by saying, I think I'd always build desktops myself from now on. My system is still running strong and has lost only about 10-15% of its street price today compared to 15 months ago when I built it. I'm serious. I might've had a couple of hurdles along the way, but really not major things.

This list contains the same or most comparable currently available products. Prices are close estimates (incl. ship, after rebates), I may not remember exact amounts and am unwilling to gather the specific deets.

• mobo: DFI LP nF4 SLI-DR, Socket 939, w/ 1000 base-T ethernet, tons of features and overclock abilities most other boards couldn't match ($130)
  
• cpu: AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ 2.0 GHz, 2 x 512MB cache, 89W, I happened to be shipped a Manchester core ($320)
  
• mem: OCZ Dual-Channel Platinum DDR-PC4000 (250 MHz) 2 x 1GB sticks running 3-3-2-7 timings ($200)
• psu: OCZ 520ADJSLI, 520W power w/ dual rails and amazing 20+4 pin user friendly set-up, cables, everything ($110)
• hsf: Zalman CNPS7700-AlCu, huge fan for cpu ($50)
  
• case: Aspire X-Cruiser RED, plenty of drive bays, 80mm fans: 2x front, 1x side, 1x top, 1x 120mm fan rear. I drilled and added another two 80mm side fan across from the gpu ($70)
• sound: Creative Labs Audigy 2ZS Gamer, with like 8 games included and a $40 rebate, cost nearly nothing for a sound card ($80)
• gpu: ATi All-In-Wonder X600 Pro, got low-mid card to lower costs, definitely the bottleneck in my system's performance (duh!), 256MB 4 pixel pipes, DDR, 400 MHz clock, 600 MHz effective, tons of input options, and HDMI ($125)
• hdd's: Western Digital SE16 250GB Caviars w/ 7200 rpm, 16MB cache, SATA II, three drives: two in RAID 1 (mirrored array) and one separate ($210)
• optical: NEC 3540A Dual Layer DVD+/- RW easy choice for performance and cost ($45)
• reader: Mitsumi FA404A, USB 2.0, 7-in-1 card reader. Still pretty much the only multi-card reader to include floppy for loading BIOs for the mobo ($25)
• monitor: Philips 190B6CS/27 19" LCD: 600:1 contrast, 250 nit brightness, 0.294 dot, w/ USB port and stereo speakers ($320)
• fans: Thermaltake Thunderblade 1 x 120mm (rated about 72CFM & 21dBA) ($10), Logisys 6 x 80mm rated about 32CFM & 24dBA) fans ($25)

• OS: Microsoft Windows XP Professional w/ SP2: between this and home or Media version it seemed a no-brainer... Plus wanted to mirror my drives, so only Pro could offer that ($110)
• Adobe CS 2.0 Premium Suite: Photoshop, Illustrator, Acrobat, yada, yada ($750)
• Macromedia Studio 8: Dreamweaver, Flash, etc, etc ($450)
• MS Office 2003 Professional: Word, Excel, Outlook, etc... ($180)
• input: Logitech LX 300 wireless keyboard + mouse combo ($45)

Now, I had some shipping and quality control issues, so I ended up getting some money back from companies, but spent more time... Like I'd only bought 2 WD Caviar HDD's, ONE of which failed, a second warranty exch "refurb" sent to me failed, then had a 3 week wait while WD was out-of-stock)... They ended up shipping me THREE total (I sold one on eBay). I bought lots of parts w/ rebates, ATi takes the record for taking 10 months to get me my rebate check (submitted 12-28-2005, received it 10-15-2006). Monitor was supposed to cost $370-ish but was out of stock (said "in-stock" when ordered), this mistake cost the company money (price dropped nearly $50 before shipment); but cost me a vital 4 weeks during my build.

I decided to save my money by not getting a high end video card. The 256MB cards were really starting strong and a few 512MB's were out. Most of these were running $350+ as a starting point. I could see that within 12-15 months I should be able to get a much, much better card at a better value. I know this is always the case, but I just wanted my rig to boot, and also liked the fact the ATi X600 Pro AIW: could convert my analog video tapes to digital, included a major software bundle, and included a tv tuner!

I clearly spent money on cpu, motherboard and RAM memory. This is the heart of the performance, and what I would've paid dearly for with an Apple Mac. Dual-core AMD, amazing RAM, and a high-performance mobo... I'd been running my rig stable at 2.68MHz (the AMD X2 4400+ 2.4 GHz processor was $950 at my time of purchase!) for about 5 months, but decided to "chill" and run at stock because the fans got LOUD... More later about this.

Mirroring my hard drives (RAID 1) was no easy task. Microsoft XP just doesn't want to let you do it. I figure, I run two hard drives that mirror, I have instant back up. Partitioning my drives was a trial and error method, I had a hard time finding permissions to partition AND mirror my start up disk(s). But it got done eventually.

The case fans definitely DON'T run at spec'ed noise levels. The Thunderblade 120mm never runs at 21 dBA, more like 32 dBA, I'd guess. The Logisys are relatively quiet (maybe 26 dBA), but one of my front fans is "out-of-balance" or something and makes kinda a 'whacking' sound that is VERY loud, I should disconnect it and replace it. But haven't.

The Aspire case is pretty great. Lots of drive bays, pretty decent cooling. But the front (hinged) door has a lip that "catches" the drive bay trays all the time when they are extended out. Annoying is all I can say. It also really should have the side case fan by the gpu, but has it much higher, like over the cpu. The second side fan I added was lower, to push air from around the hard drives, where it seemed to get trapped pretty low, below my audio card and lowest hd.

The optical drive and multi-card reader work great. I've used the sD slot in the Mitsumi to always xfer my photos and I get a great speed. I'm not sure, I haven't timed it in a long time, but my 2GB 150x Transcend card transfers somewhere well under 2 minutes per GB I think.

I'm looking to replace the graphics/video card. Obviously I knew what I was getting into. I don't really play any games, so I'm okay. But it definitely bottlenecks my system. I'm looking to figure out how much I can spend, prolly a $260-ish nVIDIA 7800 GS (256MB, 16-pixel pipes, 1200 MHz effective, 38.4 GB/s, no HDMI). I might try to go with a $380 eVGA GeForce 8800 GTS (640MB, 96 pixel pipelines, 1600 MHz effective, 64.4 GB/s, HDMI capable). But that's a lot of clam-ollas. I'd figure the 8800 GS would keep my system fighting strong against obsolenscence for another 3 years. Not a bad investment if I could just find the cheddar for it.

I can only say that my system lags sometimes due to the vid card. I get weird/ugly ghosting when dragging/re-sizing images in Photoshop & Illustrator. I have cache lags sometimes when multi-tasking. But (I figure) virtually everything would be solved with a new graphics card. Considering I spend so much time using my puter each day, I could use the upgrade. Seriously, my card pretty much stops workflow like a big rig accident in the Holland Tunnel.

What would I do differently?

• Don't EVER base buying decision solely on price. Use only reputable sellers with strong ratings- even at a slightly higher cost. This would've saved me the majority of my troubles, and maybe cost me another $30 total out of pocket. Definitely a lesson learned.
  
• I'd opt for the AM2 board now, allowing DDR2 RAM speed ratings up to 800.
• I'd use a AMD Athlon 64 X2 low power chip. Like the AMD X2 4600+ ADO4600CUBOX (2.4 GHz, 2 x 512MB cache, 65W). Preferrably the AMD X2 4800+ ADO4800CSBOX (2.6 GHz, 2 x 1GB cache, 65W), which doesn't seem available. "O" stands for 65W, "S" is for 2 x 1GB cache in p/n. I've read an obscure note that AMD pulled production on the ADO4800CSBOX because the cost of 2x1 GB cache is not worth the miniscule performance benefit. I dunno if any/all of that's true.
  
• I'd NOT buy a sound card. My mobo has a GREAT audio processor on-board.
• I'd buy a mobo that doesn't use a Marvell LAN controller, it lags sometimes and is certainly rated lowest-in-class.
• I'd prolly skip spending money on a second party hsf and get a case that supports more air cooling, I'd have my eyes on the NZXT Zero case if I built anything new. Sure it costs $160-ish... But it includes EIGHT fans and reduces your need for a hsf. You can run a stock heat sink fan with no prollem. That all makes this case a bargain IMHO.
• I'd try to save for a Dell Ultra Sharp 2407 WFP 24" widescreen LCD ($700-ish). I look at my monitor ALL freakin' day. And coming from Mac graphics, PC's just about blow chunks. I'd love to have something easier on my eyes (less eye-strain puh-leeze).
• I'd never buy an ATi video card again. Not because of the rebate delay... The install process sucks worse than a grapefruit through a snorkel. And their driver updates are about as frequently as the deceased have birthdays. nVidia for me from now on, and prolly eVGA or PNY exclusively at that, maybe BFG. I'm going with eVGA for slightly better feature sets and prices.
  
• Now, I'd go 400 GB hard drives, a sweet spot for price and performance.
• I'd partition more than 24 GB for my boot drive. I've filled it so much, I can't defrag it properly. I should've used about 40-48 GB for the boot drive partition.
• I would buy Trend Micro's PC-Cillin FIRST for security. It works great and is an much easier interface. I originally bought the highly rated/raved about Zone Alarm Pro Security Suite. I couldn't believe how difficult Zone Alarm was to use; always having to decide if some file/program/application should be "allowed" permission? I am soooo NOT a sys admin/techie. I pay for my security thugs to know what I don't know (and bounce the 'bad guys' to the curb like bad checks).
• Don't buy Norton Ghost 10 to back-up drives or do full drive images. It doesn't work with mirrored array. Period.
• I've had issues with the Logitech keyboard, which is now dead. I'd strongly consider buying a different brand of wireless keyboard, prolly buy a better resolution optical mouse separately.
  

What would I keep for future builds?

• OCZ is a company I love. Products, performance, lifetime warranties, prices. Memory, power supply unit... I'm a loyal customer now. 520W or 600W psu would be plenty and I'd get premium speed memory again, absolutely.
• Spend the small premium on the motherboard. A mobo is what runs the system, don't overlook it's value. My mobo ensures my cpu can run a nearly 40% overclock (I've run stable at 2.72 GHz on air cooling), how much is it worth to have that? A LOT.
• I'd go with a strong video card. Smart money would be on one GeForce 8800 GTS rather than a SLi set-up. I don't have a need for the 8800 GTX, I'm not a gamer, and Photoshop would run screamingly fast w/ 96 pixel pipes, 1600 MHz, and 64.4 GB/s.
• Use SATA II hard drives. I'd even consider running 10,000 rpm drives for the boot or separate drives (for photos, movies, files) or BOTH... but only if prices came down enough on 200 GB or larger.
• Maintain at least 2 x 1GB memory. Today's app's are memory intensive (you'd better believe it). All the talk about mem timings getting "slower with larger memory modules" doesn't make much real performance difference. Not having enough memory does. I'd even consider 4 x 1GB for a new build, again knowing that filling all four slots slows down timings further. That's a sacrifice I'm very okay with.
  

Additional Notes to Self:

• I'd consider lining the inside of the case with an acoustical foam to soundproof it even better. I dunno, maybe Acoustiblok. It's worth it if it helps, I read some success stories.
• I'd purchase a router straightaway for my internet connection. It's a good firewall and allows some useful options for expanding later.
• With all the wireless capabilities, and video recording options, I would definitely choose a graphics card capable of HDMI. Although I don't have (nor have near-future plans for) a flat-panel HDTV, getting a gpu that could handle it would be a stellar amount of foresight.
• I'd plan to spend more time to allow for the build... About two months. For problems that occur, and to take full advantage of great deals (like sales and rebates). Prices constantly change, this would allow the best opportunity.
• I doubt that I personally have a need to ever think of building a PC in a form factor other than full tower desktop. I can't imagine a micro-ATX, cube, or BTX rig is gonna be a good choice for me. Stick with full desktop for max. versatility, value, and performance options.
• I hope Vista allows clusters larger than 4096 bytes/cluster for the boot partition (w/ operating system). I am using 32kb clusters on my second partition and I think it is dreamy. It lowers fragmentation too! I'd prolly like to go 16kb clusters on boot, 32kb or 64 kb clusters on second partion.
  

Famous last words... The build itself could hardly have been any easier. You screw in a few places to mount the mobo to the case. You attach the pins from the psu to the mobo. You attach all the SATA cables and USB doohickeys. You install the case fans and screw in the hard drives. You start with one mem module in slot #1 and then install your BIOS and then OS.

Well, okay I've left out lots of the research and some steps... Like how some boards perform better from mem slots #2 and #4 than 1 & 3. Or how to determine which mem controller to use for your SATA hard drives (I use the nVidia) on your mobo. Or which direction you should have each case fan blow to get maximum air flow through your case. You definitely require some sort of software utility to operate your optical drive, like Nero.

Actual build time is a few solid hours. Doing a full software INSTALL can take almost a day. I mean: utilities, security, hardware devices, drivers, operating system, applications, application suites, settings, extensions, internet connection settings, network settings, user id's and passwords... Don't think you get off easy on this part. In my opinion, this is why you save big. But you get a much better performance rig for your needs for a much, much lower price than something from Dell or Alienware. And don't forget those System restore points along the way.

A couple basic links of mine:
http://forums.cnet.com/5208-6142_102-0.html?forumID=26&threadID=128545&messageID=1456010&tag=mcnt#1456010
http://forums.cnet.com/5208-6142_102-0.html?forumID=68&threadID=142636&messageID=1607796&tag=mcnt#1607796
http://forums.extremeoverclocking.com/showthread.php?t=222635

This is NOT a normal post for me. I've taken time to write this to archive my experience- as much for myself as for others. If you have any questions, drop me a line or feel free to add a comment. Cheers.

image credits: Apevia (Aspire) X-Cruiser-RD Steel ATX case in Red from NewEgg, OCZ PowerStream (520W/600W) from OCZTechnology, nVIDIA SLI ready from Tiger Direct.

Beckham in Los Angeles!

Maybe some saw this move as inevitable. Anyways, since the (re)inception of MLS, America has always tried to woo top names to domestic pitches... To better promote the most popular sport in the world. Here, I believe it falls somewhere around the rank of 5th in national viewership (Nascar or wrestling is #1 & #2, NFL football is up there, MLB baseball is up there, NBA basketball is also up there; whether NHL hockey is higher I don't think so, but I am uncertain about these exact rankings anyways).

Well, here it is. Beckham will be the highest paid team sport athlete in the U.S., reportedly around $250 million for a 5 year contract. Is it a good move? Time will tell. I think it may be, if they use him to help promote the League as much as his home team the Los Angeles Galaxy. We will need to see stadiums sell out, and jersey/merchandise sales soar.

Don't think other top players will now be drawn immediately. I think the league cannot support squads of$20+ million/year footballers until it shows the audience is really excited about it (with their wallets).

I've been a big fan of Dave Eggers since his first book, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius- which I've blogged about before. Well, now his content is coming to the big screen... Well, sorta. A new documentary narrated by Nicole Kidman is focusing on some Sudanese refugees that Eggers wrote about in his recent book What Is What. Read more about the film project, God Grew Tired of Us, at Gothamist.

The Cool Hunter has some interesting info about what Adidas is up to these days (speaking of D. Beckham and all). Look for new infra-red technology to hit the street this year from ol' Adi Dassler's original brand.

Lastly, here's a link from Mozilla defining all your keyboard shortcuts and hot keys for Firefox. Sure to help if you aren't already using all these to help navigate your way. Enjoy your weekend. Cheers.

image credits: David Beckham from AskMen.com, God Grew Tired photo from Gothamist.

New SF Events, Deals, and Stats.

Hi all. I've just checked my Technorati ranking and it's jumped to a ranking of: 655,785 that's over 75,000 better than last time I checked a week or so ago (12/22 was 723,707 before it dropped a bit). I'm almost in the top 1% of all blogs out there. Hmmm... I'm not sure what that says about the state of the bloggosphere, anyways. My flickr photo gallery has seen exactly 431 new & unique visitors this year, with 306 coming in the last 4 days alone (total 2,931).

My point isn't to boast... It's to acknowledge this and say thanks for visiting. If I get visits, comments, or e-mail subscriptions it helps me justify posting more regularly. Otherwise, I just post when I need to archive some major detail for myself.

I'll start with a few internet deals I've found.

I may not be a big fan of Circuit City these days, but a good deal is always, well... good. Circuit City Outlet Blowout has prices up to 85% off, like outdoor speakers for under $12. Some deals are good, others are well above the regular price elsewhere, so be cautious.

The Sharper Image Half-Yearly Sale also has outlet prices up to 50% off.

Staples has a $20 off $100 purchase coupon (expires 1/14).

ZipZoomFly (one of my all-time fave online retailers) has an amazing deal on a 2 GB Secure Digital card. The Ultra 60X 2GB card is $14.99 (plus tax if in CA, but FREE shipping) after $30 mail-in rebate (rebate expires 1/31). Thanks DealCatcher for above deals.

40% off at: Footlocker (code: FF7JL307), Champs Sports (code: FF7J6307), and Footaction (code: FF7JV307). Did I mention these are good for 40% off already reduced clearance items? yup. they are. it is. fo sho.' Each expires 1/15 and has a few brand exceptions.

Restaurant.com is back with another great offer. 60% off restaurant.com gift certificates. That means a $25 GC that is usually $15 is now $4. Wow. (Coupon code: Member). Thanks Slickdeals.net for above deals.

Now, weekend events. Not much to say. In Lieu is a small fashion boutique for ladies that is having a moving sale up to 50% off fall styles. 2420 Polk St, sale starts today (Friday 1/12).

Yesterday (1/11) kicked-off the 12th Berlin & Beyond German Film Festival at the Castro. I can't find anything screaming out for me to get to, but you might feel otherwise. I'd say Valerie (showing Sun 1/14, 6:30 pm) is the most intriguing to me.

Another suggestion is the Japanese Tea Garden at Golden Gate Park. While I find it smaller than I would expect (if I were a tourist, specifically visiting this site)... It is pretty. Right now they seem to be doing some construction, so no koi to be found in their ponds. However they do offer free admission on Mon, Wed, and Fri for the first hour they're open (open at 9 am). Saves you the $4 cover (no drink minimum... ha ha just kidding).

A quick note definitely worth putting on you calendars. March 3rd & 4th is the Oakland Museum's White Elephant Sale. It's a huge event that is one of the largest rummage sales in Northern California. Lots of great deals, amazing stuff, and for a very good cause. Plan ahead.

I've added 35 new pics to My Flickr photo galleries. A few of which I'm actually somewhat proud of. So please come by and visit. I always appreciate comments and feedback, so please feel free to drop me a line.

Enjoy your weekend. Cheers.

image credits: Ultra 2GB sD from ZipZoomFly, Valerie from the Castro Theatre program list, Japanese Tea Garden Entrance is my own original photo from my Flickr photo gallery, White Elephant from museumca.org the Oakland Museum of CA's website.