My keyboard has dedicated volume and mute keys. I usually check the system tray to see the level of my master volume since I don’t touch the [physical] volume control on my speakers.
Now, 3RVX gives me a slick on screen volume indicator like Macs. Sweet! (Hat tip: Lifehacker)
Brian Auer[1. Epic Edits Weblog] and Tomas Webb[1. a.k.a. The Wolf Brigade on Flickr] just launched a photography website dedicated to film: Feeling Negative?
They’re both good friends that have inspired my photography in some way and deserve a huge amount of love, support, and new visitors. In other words, get over there! 
See “Feeling Negative? Check Out This New Film Photography Blog!“
I had to upgrade my computer since my Shuttle SN68SG2 died on me. Well, sort of. Let me explain.
I’ve noticed 2-3 times that my computer wouldn’t turn on, but linger in some sort of standby mode. I removed the CMOS battery for a bit, then the computer started up just fine.
Last Friday, while I was in the middle of processing photos, my computer just shut down.
Here’s my logic:
It might’ve been capacitors inside the power supply or capacitors on the motherboard that weren’t showing obvious symptoms.
To save money, I could’ve bought a replacement power supply; that’d take more work and time that I didn’t have, nor was there any guarantee that Mwave had any in stock. (I had wedding photos to process and two photo sessions coming up over the next three days.)
Saturday morning, I drove to Mwave[1. Why Mwave? They offer will call pick up for $5.], timing myself so I’d arrive when they opened.
I initially ordered a Shuttle SA76G2 (barebone system) and AMD Athlon II X3 435 2.93GHz. Why AMD?
If you can refer to some articles that explain the differences in processors between AMD and Intel, please leave a comment.
After 20 minutes, I was told that the barebone system wasn’t in stock and needed to be special ordered. The only barebone system they had was Intel-based. So, I ended up with:
The memory, hard drive, and DVD burner would carry over to the new system.
Don’t worry. My data is kept on a different partition that’s synchronized nightly (Karen’s Replicator) to a folder on my Drobo. A lot of my data is also backed up to Amazon S3 via Jungle Disk.
Within safe mode, I was able to copy the program settings and profiles onto the other partition in safe mode.
Sunday, I spent my last few hours with the Shuttle SN68SG2. I tried testing the memory (MemTest86+), then clean installing Windows XP with one of the two memory sticks[2. Thanks for the suggestion, Arnold!]. Several attempts to restart would result in the system going into “standby.” I could open/close the DVD drive. Holding the power button down for a few seconds would power off the computer completely. (Not normal.)
Fed up, I finally opened the sealed box to the new processor and Shuttle XPC barebone system.
After an hour of installing the new parts into the barebone system, Windows XP[3. I need to save up for Windows 7 Professional 64-bit. This situation didn't help.] was installed.
The Shuttle SG31G2-V2 included a driver DVD. Unlike my last USB-only system, this one had PS/2 keyboard and mouse connectors.
Windows installed just fine. When I got to the chipset drivers, I couldn’t use my keyboard or mouse to finish the install. I found a USB to PS/2 connector for my mouse, then did another clean install.
After the chipset driver was installed and the computer restarted, my DVD drive wouldn’t read the driver DVD. (It would read regular CDs, and there wasn’t a problem with it in device manager.)
I had to run yet another clean install!
Immediately after the clean install, I:
Now, all is well again. I have a few more programs to install and I’ll be back to normal.
If you’re following me on Twitter (@bryan), thanks for putting up with my rants the past couple days. I try not to do that often.
Wait. Did I test the DVD drive for reading DVD media? Doh! If it doesn’t work, to be continued…
Update 2010-03-02 — I returned the Intel Pentium Dual-Core E6300 2.8GHz to Mwave for a refund (minus the 15% restocking fee) and bought an Intel Core 2 Quad Q8400 2.66GHz 4MB L2 Cache Quad-Core Processor. Lightroom was pretty quick this past week, but it should be even faster now. When I upgrade to Windows 7 Professional 64-Bit, I’m sure it’ll be off the hook.
I’d like to share my ideas for using Smart Collections in Lightroom 2.
The past two years, I haven’t touched collections. What are they?
Collections are a great way to organize photos into groups for easy viewing at a later time. Matt Kloskowski
My workflow consisted of picking (P) the best photos, processing those, then exporting low-res JPEG files for Flickr (or hi-res JPEG files to Zenfolio).
How about figuring out if photos were on Zenfolio? I’d open the Metadata library filter and change one of the sort columns to display “Uploaded to Zenfolio.”
Photos were sorted into folders by year, month, and day. I’d append the event/location after the day.
I had to make things easier for myself.
I finally added collections and smart collections to help me find photos that need to be processed and/or uploaded. I keyword and geotag my photos liberally, so that’s the driving power behind these smart collections.
The main one is the Workflow collection set.
Processed — Photos labelled blue.
Processed without title — Photos labelled blue, but without a title. Since you can’t use an “is empty” modifier for Title, entering these vowels is a workaround.
Unprocessed — No labels.
The Flickr/Zenfolio collection sets are based on the color label and the “Uploaded to Zenfolio” tag.
I’ll need to add smart collections based on stars/picks, especially if I want to make it easier on myself to share my favorites at the end of the year.
I have no smart collection for rejected (X) photos. I’m more daring when it comes to deleting photos I’ll probably never touch again.
Since you can sort photos by date (Library Filter > Metadata), I might move away from date-based folders. It’s all open to discussion.
For now, please leave comments related to Lightroom 2 smart collections.
Do you have any ideas for smart collections?
P.S. I’ve heard of “The DAM Book: Digital Asset Management for Photographers.” I’ll eventually get it, but if you’d buy it for me, I’d appreciate it!
The check engine light[1. CEL; also known as MIL (Malfunction Indicator Lamp)] has been pestering my 2003 Toyota Corolla S since May 2009 around 96,000 miles[2. Slightly educated guess. I had it reset at 87,413 miles on August 2008, and passed a smog check February 2009, but I didn't write down when it turned on again.]. Over 11,000 miles later, I was able to get the oxygen sensors replaced by my mechanic.
I also had my spark plugs replaced.
I’m also overdue for changing my transmission fluid[3. I'll get it flushed.].
I’m not sure about the price of the parts. The other night, my uncle (former mechanic) told me it should only cost a couple hundred dollars for the oxygen sensors. After looking at these numbers, I figure that being charged labor rate of $50/hr makes up for it. Or does it?
After searching for those parts online, here’s the bad news:
[amtap amazon:asin=B0013TNMY8]
[amtap amazon:asin=B00199BWTE]
I couldn’t find the spark plugs part number.
I’ve been going to this shop for almost ten years, so I didn’t question the quote for the parts. They’ve been really nice, but what’s with that price discrepancy?
If my schedule on Thursday allows it, I plan to visit the parts department at Longo Toyota to ask for the pricing on these parts. If the Amazon prices are close, I’ll reluctantly talk to my mechanic.
At the bottom of the invoice/receipt, it says:
We want you to be completely satisfied with every job we do. That’s why we back up all work with a 100% satisfaction policy. If for any reason you are not satisfied, give us a call and we will personally take care of any problems you have.
I’m not sure if this falls under that statement. I’m satisfied with the work so far, but not the price of the parts. Sure, I agreed with the stated prices beforehand. Wouldn’t you?
What would you do?
*****
Update 2010-02-18 — Ryan Duff convinced me that this is, essentially, normal. Next time, I’ll buy the parts online and bring it myself.
I’ve been listening to Story of the Year‘s latest album, “The Constant,” for the past week. They’ve made it accessible through their Myspace for the last week or so.
Now, it’s officially out.
I won’t lie. I really dig it.
Last week, I worked on getting my college transcripts sent to a couple four-year universities[1. Cal Poly Pomona and Cal State LA.].
Rather than drive to each college to deliver my transcripts by hand, I opted for mail. I’d save on fuel/time, take one day to get there, and I’d be well ahead of my deadline.
That brings me to my mom. Whenever she sent a letter through USPS and wanted to know when it arrived, she added Return Receipt ($2.30 as of this writing) along with the required Certified Mail.
But, if she didn’t need a signature, she wasted money for that extra service.
When you use Certified Mail, you receive a receipt stamped with the date of mailing. A unique article number allows you to verify delivery online.
If you don’t need that signature, mail your letter First Class with Certified Mail.
P.S. Save your comments if you’re going to say “duh.”
I bought a few Uni-ball Signo 207 pens earlier last year. They’ve been through a hectic year (2009) of school, and they still write incredibly smooth (for the price).
Lately, I’ve been trying to write ideas on index cards for future blog posts. Oh no, the two pens I have left are almost out of ink! Fortunately, they’re refillable. I just bought a pack at my local stationary store. It feels good not adding more cheap pens to a landfill.
Oh, and if I ever write checks, I know they can’t be washed.
Tip: Medium and micro refills are interchangable. I prefer micro.
I finally made a Userscripts.org account for my favorite Greasemonkey scripts[1. The list is slowly being built.]. Why not just use Delicious? Because Userscripts.org can send me an email when any of my favorite scripts are updated.
If you’re unaware of Greasemonkey’s powers, Lifehacker will get you going.
