New Camera

I went out and splurged on a new compact Canon camera, the SD40 Digital Elph.

This baby is really small, about half the size of my palm.

The flash is a little small too, only illuminating to about six or eight feet, which is a bit short for a lot of the stuff that I do. Still it should work fine for a second camera. It does seem to handle low light pretty well, and there are in camera adjustments that I can use to improve that.

I wasn't too impressed with the documentation, particularly the setup descriptions; and I would rather not use a cradle, but I guess that's the trade off you have for the small size.

There is supposedly some anti shake technology built into the camera, but I didn't notice that it made a marked improvement in the inside shots I took without a flash. I probably need to experiment a bit more, and compare to some shots taken with another camera to get a better idea of how it's actually doing.

There does seem to be more of a learning curve than I really want with a second camera though. I don't want to be spending all my time experimenting, I just want some good point and shoot pictures. --gk

St. Patrick's Day Silliness

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We had this bagpipe band at the Zoo to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. After listening to them for awhile, I know why the Irish are such heavy drinkers. I don't really have anything against bagpipes, they look and sound great in military parades, but they aren't what I'd call easy listening either, and I'm Irish.

Anyway we got to listen to the greens instead of the blues for a change, but I think I'm going to stick to the blues until next March 17th. Takes a lot of Guiness to love a bagpipe tune.

New York Times Letters on Libby

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These are portions of some letters from the New York Times in response to an article about the Scooter libby verdict. --gk

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To the Editor:

The conviction of I. Lewis Libby Jr. on perjury and obstruction of justice charges presents a serious dilemma for President Bush. How does the president now pardon a convicted felon who once worked for the very White House that the president repeatedly promised to restore honor and integrity to?

Jack Nargundkar, Germantown, Md., March 7, 2007

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I. Lewis Libby Jr. has been called the fall guy for the Bush administration. His guilty verdict and eventual appeal will probably do little to assuage that argument.

But it is worth pointing out that Mr. Libby simply lied when he should have told the truth. Perhaps he was lying to cover for someone else, but only he will know the truth about that.

But on the same day that Mr. Libby’s guilty verdict was splashed across the headlines, it was reported that nine more soldiers had been killed in bombings in Iraq. Like it or not, our soldiers and marines are the true fall guys of this administration, not Mr. Libby.

Dan Shea, Seattle, March 7, 2007

The writer’s brother, Lt. Col. Kevin M. Shea, was killed in Falluja on Sept. 14, 2004.

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The Libby verdict reminds us that after much painstaking effort, one may be convicted of lying to the F.B.I., but not yet of lying to the American people.

Howard Popper, Phoenix, March 7, 2007

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If they jailed everyone who lied to the American people, who'd be left running the country. I guess we'd get to give anarchy a try. No government at all. --gk