A Tip for Canon G10 Owners: get around The 1 Second Aperture priority Mode Limitation

If you have a Canon G10 and like to shoot in Aperture Priority (Av) mode, you’ve probably become aware that the camera limits the shutter speed to 1 second, max.

That’s quite a limitation for a nice camera like the G10.

Anyhow, there’s a little workaround (or at least something that’ll be enough for most of us, proud owners of a G10).

The trick can be found here (you should read it for details):

http://g10tipstricks.blogspot.com/2009/01/getting-around-canon-g10s-1-second-av.html

Basically it consists in 3 steps:

1. Change your mode to Shutter Speed (Tv) priority  (weird, I know, but keep reading)
2. Point your camera to your subject and take a quick meter reading (press that asterisk button in your camera)
3. Rotate the control ring. The LCD will display a dual meter (aperture and shutter speed) which you can change according to you criteria
4. Take your shot

Although not exactly what you were looking for, it’s still a pretty nice cool workaround, don’t you think?

Getting GPS Coordinates from Google Maps, The Easy Way

It’s a pain in the ass every time you need to get the GPS coordinates from a location in google maps, right? You’ll find yourself “googling” about methods that will do the trick (hopefully you’ll land in this page) like pasting javascript in your address bar or installing just another extension in your firefox.

You’ll probably do it every time you need it because you don’t remember the trick you used last time. I find it hard to remember complicated javascript sentences or the name of that specific extension too, don’t worry.

Well, I found an easy way to get your gps coordinates easily, in 2 steps. And I have pictures of it, too :-)

Step 1. Go to google maps and find the location you desire. Right click the exact location you need and select the option “What’s here?”:

Step 2. Click the green arrow (not the red indicator) to get your GPS coordinates:

Voilá.

Gameboy is 20

Gameboy is celebrating it’s 20th birthday today.

Benj Edwards from www.vintagecomputing.com published an article in arstechnica taking a look at the top 6 reasons why gameboy was so successful:

Happy 20th b-day, Game Boy: here are 6 reasons why you're #1

The top reasons he pointed out are:

1. Tetris
2. Battery Life
3. The Nintendo Brand
4. Price
5. Pokémon
6. Flexibility

I think he could have merged points 1 and 5 into one called “Great games” but read his explanations. They kind of make sense.

Oh, well, I think I’ll have to spend the next few days looking for a nice and cheap Gameboy Advance on eBay. There goes my “try not to buy fun but useless things” new year’s resolution.

Well, maybe not useless…

Can be fun, you know?…

And useful when in a doctor’s waiting room.

And on the train.

Quick Reference Cards

Here’s a short list of some quick reference cards that I keep in my bookmarks. It’s good if you’re someone like me always shifting between languages like javascript, c#, xml, xslt, vb6, vb.net, pl/sql, t-sql, etc., etc#, etc++, and keep forgetting some syntax details:

• Core C# and .NET Quick Reference
• JavaScript Card
• .NET Quick Reference Card
• XML Schema DataTypes
• Regular Expressions for JavaScript
• XML Schema Structures
• JavaScript Quick Reference Card
• Oracle PL/SQL Quick Reference
• Visual Basic 6 Quick Reference

And here’s a nice link with a few Quick Ref Cards:

• Quick Reference Cards

Stop writing www and .com

I’ve been using this shortcut for a while, and recently I became aware that almost no one is using it.

If you’re entering an address in your browser and it starts with www and ends with .com, you can avoid writing it completely. For instance, if you want to navigate to youtube, just write youtube in your browser and then hit CTRL+ENTER. Your browser will auto-complete the address (http://www.youtube.com).

I’ve tried it with Internet Explorer 7, Firefox 3, Chrome and Safari. It works in every browser.

Car Record Player

Earlier today at work, we were chatting about old audio players and I happened to say that once there were in-car record players. Yes, record players. Everyone laughed at me and thought that I had gone completely insane. Of course everybody in this industry is in the process of going mad but I still have a few years of sanity to enjoy... 2 at least. Maybe less after I finish this post.

Well, here it is, behold the Chrysler Highway Hi-Fi:

And here is a video of the Philips Car Record Player:

Watch it, Kenwood, you never know... Philips may be planning a retro comeback with this hi-tech gadget.

I'm also starting to consider trading my Creative Zen 16GB with this useful portable player. I'll have to carry a backpack with 30kg worth of vinyl discs, though.

Virtual Water

Professor John Anthony Allan (University of London), the Inventor of the Virtual Water concept, was awarded the 2008 Stockholm Water Prize last week.

I had never heard of this concept but it's very interesting. It is a method of calculating the amount of water spent in the production of certain products, particularly food products.

Did you know, for instance, that it takes 140 liters of water to produce a cup of coffee? (this is a calculation based on the water that was consumed to grow, produce, package and ship the coffee beans). That is the same amount of water that is consumed daily by a person in England by drinking, bathing, cooking, etc.

Take a look at these links:

http://www.reuters.com/article/inDepthNews/idUSL1850227220080319

http://www.worldwatercouncil.org/index.php?id=866

Head Tracking for Desktop VR Displays using the Wii Remote

I just saw this video and I had to share it.

This guy, Johnny Lee, has been developing very interesting projects with the Wii Remote. His last project, shown in this video, is a head tracking system which creates a very interesting 3D experience. Just see it.

Don't forget to check Johnny Lee's website and blog.

Online Javascript Formatter

Every now and then I need to format some javascript code that I find online.

I have been using this online javascript formatter. It's simple and it usually fills my needs.

How to make sexy buttons with CSS

I just found this article on how to make sexy buttons with round corners with CSS. It's a little hard to customize your own buttons but if you comprehend how they work, you can do it.