hmatt's blog

I bought a SLR camera at costco a couple months ago and I made a deal with myself. If I didn’t use it like I wanted, I’d return it.

Well, I’ve been trying to take my SLR out and about, but I’ve noticed something. Being the only one with a camera is a hassle. I am always fiddling with the dials (and getting blurry pictures). I am also never in the photos because I’m always taking them. When I do hand it off the pictures look like they’ll turn out great but then are all blurry.

I’ve been toying around with the idea of returning the camera and getting a video camera. That is something that may fit my needs better. The unfortunate part is that I’d be returning yet ANOTHER camera. I bought a small still camera a while ago. Then I returned it to get the Nikon, which I returned after a few weeks because it went down $100.

Hmm, that little digital camera I bought was okay, but I thought I could get better pictures by attaching a lens. The lens is the key I suppose. Even though it had a great portable size, the pictures were blurry. Also, low light conditions prevented a great shot. SLR cameras don’t fare any better. Well, at least in my case. One feature that I may like in the Canon HD camera is the way I can take a 2 megapixel still from the video. That might be nice.

The canon doesn’t have a manual focus ring. That seems like a bummer. It is the one thing I enjoy about my sony camera. Although that tape needing monster of a camera is rarely carried around. I want something small enough to take places, and easy to archive data.

That is where that hard drive will come in. At least that is how I imagine it. Video cameras are intimidating to people though. I could get candid shots on the SLR, but a video camera always makes people act all edgy. A lot of people kind of freeze up, as they feel like they are put on the spot.

Hmm. I still have another month before I need to return it or keep it.

Oh, but my family is coming down to California. So maybe I should get a video recorder to record the action when they come down.

I think I’ve just talked myself into getting the Canon tomorrow. Or ordering it if Costco is out of stock.

• at Elysian Park for the fourth; a Mosaic event #

I just visited http://nowwhat.com/ and was impressed by the layout. The content=lame, but I like the cardboard cut-outs.

I kept seeing the site advertised on http;//hulu.com and I became curious on what was on it.

Anyway, tonight I’m going swing dancing. Tomorrow I’ll go to a park with (hopefully) some friends from improv.

When I first began going to digg.com , there was a variety of websites. Now a few are ALWAYS there and I wish I had a way to block any posts from a few domains.

– huffingtonpost.com – sometimes they have great info, but their opinion posts are ridiculous.

– theonion.com – some people love this fake news site, but I’m not really into it. It get confusing to see fake news next to real news.

– cracked.com – I used to collect these as a kid, but a lot of their stuff is too silly or top 10 posts.

– XCKD.com- I don’t mind this webcomic, but I’d rather let a month go by and read a bunch at once.

There has to be a way to filter digg, but I haven’t found it yet.