Friday, December 28, 2012

Slik Pro 340DX Tripod with 3-Way Pan/Tilt Head (SH-705E)

Amazon.com has the Slik Pro 340DX Tripod with 3-Way Pan/Tilt Head (SH-705E) for $79.99 + FREE Shipping

This is a great tripod for still and video.
It is light at just a little over 3.5lbs.
Great for traveling.


Slik 340DX Specifications

Head Type3-Way Pan Head
Tripod Head MountThread Size: 3/8 & 1/4"
Quick ReleaseYes
Tripod MaterialA.M.T Super titanium alloy legs
Max Height with extended column57.9" / 147 cm
Max Height with closed column45.7" / 116 cm
Center Column TypeSliding
Column SectionsOne
Center BraceNo
Minimum Height18.1" / 46 cm
Folded Length19.3" / 49 cm
Leg SectionsFour
Leg Lock TypeFlip lever
Max Load Capacity8.8 lbs.
Weight3.5 lb / 1.58 kg
Notes and Special FeaturesBlack Finish
WarrantySlik 3 Year

-->

Monday, December 17, 2012

Cheetah Mounts APMFB Black Universal Projector Ceiling Mount

Amazon.com has the Cheetah Mounts APMFB Black Universal Projector Ceiling Mount for $16.96


Product Features

  • 100% Universal Design with four fully adjustable arm components
  • 360° Swivel
  • 30° Tilt 90° of Rotation
  • Ceiling plate pass through for Cable Management
  • Adjustable Extension Poles available Separately


-->

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Perot Museum of Nature and Science (Dallas, TX)





Dallas finally has a museum for kids.

We went there yesterday during the preview day for members only. The museum won't be officially opened until December 1, 2012.

Architecturally, it is one of the strangest looking building that I have ever seen.
It has a Dallas theme play area for kids. High Definition 3D movie theater. The picture was the best I have ever seen in 3D anywhere. I almost felt like I was in the movie. There is an exhibit with Dinosaur fossil display with giant mammoth fossil and other real and replica dinosaur fossil.
Kids can experiment with a number of things in the Texas Instruments Engineering and Innovation Hall including build your very own remote control vehicle. And many other things.

Food was expensive. $7 for a cold sandwich. I hope that is not their regular price. I would recommend eating before going to the museum.

VL Rating: Excellence (for kids)

Website: http://www.perotmuseum.org/

Address:
2201 N. Field Street
Dallas, Texas 75202

Phone:
214.428.5555

-->

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Setuid/gid script is writable by world. when executing a perl script on a cifs mount

Wow. It took me a few hours to figure this out. Doing search after search on Google but did not find any solution. By chance, I saw the 'file_mode' and 'dir_mode' in the Google search results. I set them to 0777 and the script started to run fine.

Here is what I used:

mount -t cifs //servername/sharename -o username=username,password=password,file_mode=0777,dir_mode=0777 /mountpoint


-->

Saturday, October 20, 2012

Nikon D600 24.3 MP CMOS FX-Format Digital SLR Camera

Amazon has the Nikon D600 24.3 MP CMOS FX-Format Digital SLR Camera (Body Only) for $2096.95 + FREE Shipping.

This is a great FX format camera for a great price. A great gift for Dad this Christmas.



Specifications

  • Type
    Single-lens reflex digital camera
  • Lens Mount
    Nikon F bayonet mount
  • Picture Angle
    Nikon FX format
  • Effective Pixels
    24.3 million
  • Sensor Size
    35.9mm x 24.0mm
  • Image Sensor Format
    FX
  • Image Sensor Type
    CMOS
  • Total Pixels
    24.7 million
  • Dust-reduction system
    Image sensor cleaning
  • Dust-Off Reference Photo
    Yes
  • Image Area (pixels)
    FX-format
    (L) 
    6,016 x 4,016 

    (M) 
    4,512 x 3,008

    (S) 
    3,008 x 2,008 
    DX-format
    (L) 
    3,936 x 2,624 

    (M) 
    2,944 x 1,968

    (S) 
    1,968 x 1,312
  • File Format Still Images
    JPEG: JPEG-Baseline Compliant; can be selected from Size Priority and Optimal Quality 
    JPEG: JPEG-Baseline Compliant with fine (approx 1:4), Normal (approx 1:8) or Basic (approx 1:16) Compression 
    NEF (RAW): Lossless compressed, compressed 12 or 14 bit
  • Picture Control
    Landscape 
    Monochrome 
    Neutral 
    Portrait 
    Standard 
    User-customizable Settings 
    Vivid
  • Storage Media
    SD 
    SDHC 
    SDXC
  • Card Slot
    2 Secure Digital (SD)
  • File System
    Compliant with DCF (Design Rule for Camera File System) 2.0 
    DPOF (Digital Print Order Format) 
    EXIF 2.3 (Exchangeable Image File Format for Digital Still Cameras) 
    PictBridge
  • Viewfinder
    Eye-level Pentaprism Single-Lens Reflex Viewfinder
  • Viewfinder Frame Coverage
    FX (36x24): 100% Horizontal and 100% Vertical Approx.DX (24x16): 97% Horizontal and 97% Vertical Approx.
  • Viewfinder Magnification
    0.70x Approx.
  • Viewfinder Eyepoint
    20.6mm (-1.0m¯¹)
  • Viewfinder Diopter Adjustment
    Built-in diopter adjustment (-3 to +1 m¯¹)
  • Focusing Screen
    Type B BriteView Clear Matte Mark VIII with AF Area Brackets (grid lines can be displayed)
  • Reflex Mirror
    Quick-return type
  • Lens Aperture
    Instant-return type
  • Depth-of-field Control
    Yes
  • Lens Compatibility at a Glance***
    AF-S or AF lenses fully compatible 
    Metering with AI lenses
  • Compatible Lenses
    AF NIKKOR lenses, including type G and D lenses (some restrictions apply to PC lenses) and DX lenses (using DX 24 × 16 1.5x image area), AI-P NIKKOR lenses, and non-CPU AI lenses (A and M modes only). 
    IX NIKKOR lenses, lenses for the F3AF, and non-AI lenses cannot be used.
  • Shutter type
    Electronically controlled vertical-travel focal-plane
  • Shutter Speed
    1/4000 to 30 sec. 
    Bulb
  • Fastest Shutter Speed
    1/4000 sec.
  • Slowest Shutter Speed
    30 sec.
  • Flash Sync Speed
    Up to 1/200 sec. 
    Synchronizes with shutter at 1/250s or slower
  • Bulb Shutter Setting
    Yes
  • Shutter Release Modes
    Continuous low-speed [CL] mode; 1-5 frames per second 
    Continuous high-speed [CH] mode; 5.5 frames per second 
    Mirror-up [Mup] mode 
    Quiet Shutter Release 
    Self-timer mode 
    Single-frame [S] mode
  • Continuous Shooting Options
    FX-format
    CH: Up to 
    5.5 frames per second
    CL: Up to 1-5 frames per second
  • Top Continuous Shooting Speed at full resolution
    5.5 frames per second
  • Self-timer
    2, 5, 10, 20 sec. Timer duration electronically controlled
  • Exposure Metering System
    TTL exposure metering using 2,016-pixel RGB sensor
  • Metering Method
    Center-weighted: Weight of 75% given to 12mm circle in center of frame 
    Matrix: 3D color matrix metering II (type G and D lenses); color matrix metering II (other CPU lenses) 
    Spot: Meters 4mm circle (about 1.5% of frame) centered on selected focus point
  • Metering Range
    0 to 20 EV (3D color matrix or center-weighted metering) 
    0 to 20 EV (spot metering)
  • Exposure Meter Coupling
    CPU 
    AI
  • Exposure Modes
    Aperture-Priority (A) 
    Manual (M) 
    Programmed auto with flexible program (P) 
    Shutter-Priority (S)
  • Exposure Compensation
    ±5 EV in increments of 1/3, 1/2 or 1 EV
  • Exposure Bracketing
    2 or 3 frames in steps of 1/3, 1/2, 2/3, 1 or 2 EV
  • Exposure Lock
    Yes
  • Mirror Lock Up
    Yes
  • ISO Sensitivity
    ISO 100 - 6400
    Lo-1 (ISO 50)
    Hi-1 (ISO 12,800)
    Hi-2 (ISO 25,600)
  • Lowest Standard ISO Sensitivity
    100
  • Highest Standard ISO Sensitivity
    6400
  • Lowest Expanded ISO Sensitivity
    Lo-1 (ISO 50 equivalent)
  • Highest Expanded ISO Sensitivity
    HI-2 (ISO 25,600 equivalent)
  • Expanded ISO Sensitivity Options
    Hi-1 (ISO-12,800 equivalent) in 1/3, 1/2 or 1 EV 
    Hi-2, (ISO-25,600 equivalent) 1 EV
  • Long Exposure Noise Reduction
    Yes
  • High ISO Noise Reduction
    Low 
    Normal 
    High 
    Off
  • Active D-Lighting
    Auto 
    Extra High 
    High 
    Normal 
    Low 
    Off
  • D-Lighting Bracketing
    2 frames using selected value for one frame 
    3–5 frames using preset values for all frames
  • Single-point AF Mode
    Yes
  • Dynamic AF Mode
    Number of AF points: 9, 21, 39 and 39 (3D-tracking)
  • Auto-area AF Mode
    Yes
  • Autofocus System
    Nikon Multi-CAM 4800 autofocus sensor module with TTL phase detection
  • Detection Range
    -1 to 19 EV (ISO 100, 68°F/20°C)
  • Lens Servo
    Autofocus (AF): Single-servo AF (AF-S); Continuous-servo AF (AF-C); auto AF-S/AF-C selection (AF-A); predictive focus tracking activated automatically according to subject status 
    Manual focus (MF): Electronic rangefinder can be used
  • AF-area mode
    9, 21 or 39 point Dynamic-area AF 
    Auto-area AF 
    Single-point AF 
    3D-tracking (39 points)
  • Focus Lock
    Focus can be locked by pressing AE-L/AF-L button 
    Focus can be locked by pressing shutter-release button halfway (single-servo AF)
  • Focus Modes
    Auto AF-S/AF-C selection (AF-A) 
    Continuous-servo (AF-C) 
    Face-Priority AF available in Live View only and D-Movie only 
    Manual (M) with electronic rangefinder 
    Normal area 
    Single-servo AF (AF-S) 
    Wide area
  • Maximum Autofocus Areas/Points
    39
  • Autofocus Sensitivity
    -1 to +19 EV (ISO 100, 20°C/68°F)
  • Autofocus Fine Tune
    Yes
  • Built-in Flash
    Yes
  • Flash Bracketing
    2 to 3 frames in steps of 1/3, 1/2, 2/3, 1 or 2 EV
  • Built-in Flash Distance
    39 ft. (ISO 100)
  • X-Sync Speed
    1/200
  • Top FP High Speed Sync
    Up to 1/4000
  • Flash Control
    TTL: i-TTL flash control using 2,016-pixel RGB sensor are available with built-in flash and SB-910, SB-900, SB-700, or SB-400; i-TTL balanced fill-flash for digital SLR is used with matrix and center-weighting metering, standard i-TTL flash for digital SLR with spot metering
  • Flash Sync Modes
    Front-curtain sync (normal) 
    Rear-curtain sync 
    Red-Eye reduction 
    Red-Eye reduction with slow sync 
    Slow sync
  • Flash Compensation
    -3 to +1 EV in increments of 1/3, 1/2 or 1 EV
  • Flash-ready indicator
    Lights when built-in flash or optional flash unit such as SB-910, SB-900, SB-400, SB-80DX, SB-28DX or SB-50DX is fully charged
  • Accessory Shoe
    Yes
  • Nikon Creative Lighting System (CLS)
    Built-in flash Commander Mode 
    CLS Supported
  • White Balance
    Auto 
    Choose color temperature (2500K–10000K) 
    Cloudy 
    Direct Sunlight 
    Flash 
    Fluorescent (7 types) 
    Incandescent 
    Preset manual (up to 4 values can be stored) 
    Shade
  • White Balance Bracketing
    2 or 3 exposures
  • Live View Shooting
    Photography Live View Mode 
    Movie Live View Mode
  • Live View Lens servo
    Autofocus (AF): Single-servo AF (AF-S); full-time-servo AF (AF-F) 
    Manual focus (MF)
  • Live View AF-area mode
    Face-priority AF 
    Wide-area AF 
    Normal-area AF 
    Subject-tracking AF
  • Live View Autofocus
    Contrast-detect AF anywhere in frame (camera selects focus point automatically when face-priority AF or subject-tracking AF is selected)
  • Live View Scene Auto Selector
    Auto mode 
    Auto (flash off) mode
  • Movie Metering
    TTL exposure metering using main image sensor
  • Movie Maximum recording time
    20 minutes at highest quality 
    29 minutes 59 seconds at normal quality
  • Movie File Format
    MOV
  • Movie Video Compression
    H.264/MPEG-4 Advanced Video Coding
  • Movie Audio recording format
    Linear PCM
  • Movie
    HD 1,920x1,080 / 30 fps 
    HD 1,920x1,080 / 25 fps 
    HD 1,920x1,080 / 24 fps 
    HD 1,280x720 / 60 fps 
    HD 1,280x720 / 50 fps 
    HD 1,280x720 / 30 fps 
    HD 1,280x720 / 25 fps
  • Movie Audio
    Built-in microphone, monaural 
    External stereo microphone (optional)
  • Monitor Size
    3.2 in. diagonal
  • Monitor Resolution
    921,000 Dots
  • Monitor Type
    Wide Viewing Angle TFT-LCD
  • Monitor Angle of View
    170-degree wide-viewing angle
  • Monitor Adjustments
    Brightness, 5 levelsBrightness control using ambient brightness sensor
  • Virtual Horizon Camera Indicator
    Yes
  • Playback Functions
    Auto Image Rotation 
    Full-Frame and Thumbnail (4, 9, or 72 images or calendar) 
    Highlights 
    Histogram Display 
    Image Comment 
    Movie Playback 
    Movie Slideshow 
    Playback with Zoom 
    Slideshow
  • In-Camera Image Editing
    Color Balance 
    Color Outline 
    Color Sketch 
    D-Lighting 
    Distortion Control 
    Edit Movie 
    Filter Effects 
    Fisheye 
    Image Overlay 
    Miniature Effect 
    Monochrome 
    NEF (RAW) Processing 
    Perspective Control 
    Quick Retouch 
    Red-Eye Correction 
    Resize 
    Selective Color 
    Side-by-Side Comparison 
    Straighten 
    Trim
  • Image Comment
    Yes
  • Interface
    Accessory Terminal: Remote Cord: MC-DC2 (available separately); GPS unit: GP-1 (available separately) 
    HDMI output: Type C mini-pin HDMI connector 
    Headphone Connector 
    Hi-speed USB 
    Stereo Microphone Input
  • Wi-Fi Functionality
    Eye-Fi Compatible 
    WU-1b Wireless Mobile Adapter
  • GPS
    GP-1 GPS unit 
    GP-1A GPS unit
  • Save/Load Camera settings
    Yes
  • Total custom Settings
    50
  • My Menu
    Yes with customization
  • Recent Settings
    Yes
  • Supported Languages
    Arabic 
    Brazilian Portuguese 
    Chinese (Simplified and Traditional) 
    Czech 
    Danish 
    Dutch 
    English 
    Finnish 
    French 
    German 
    Greek 
    Hindi 
    Hungarian 
    Indonesian 
    Italian 
    Japanese 
    Korean 
    Norweigan 
    Polish 
    Portuguese 
    Romanian 
    Russian 
    Spanish 
    Swedish 
    Thai 
    Turkish 
    Ukrainian
  • Date, Time and Daylight Savings Time Settings
    Yes
  • World Time Setting
    Yes
  • Battery / Batteries
    EN-EL15 Lithium-ion Battery
  • Battery Life (shots per charge)
    900 shots per charge (Battery Life) (CIPA)
  • AC Adapter
    EH-5b AC Adapter 
    Requires EP-5B Power Supply Connector
  • Battery Charger
    MH-25 Quick Charger
  • Tripod Socket
    1/4 in.
  • Approx. Dimensions
    Width: 5.6 in. (141mm)Height: 4.4 in. (113mm)Depth: 3.2 in. (82mm)
  • Approx. Weight
    26.8 oz. (760g)
    camera body only
  • Operating Environment
    0–40 °C (+32–104 °F)
  • Supplied Accessories

    • EN-EL15 Rechargeable Li-ion Battery
    • MH-25 Quick Charger
    • UC-E15 USB Cable
    • BM-14 LCD Monitor Cover
    • DK-21 Rubber Eyecup
    • AN-DC8 Strap
    • DK-5 Eyepiece Cap
    • BF-1B Body Cap
    • BS-1 Accessory Shoe Cap
    • NikonView NX2 CD ROM

-->