There are no drivers for the Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT camera in Windows 7 64-bit. However, if you own one there is a quick fix.
All you have to do is change the camera’s Communication setting from “PC Connection” to “Print/PTP“. I found the solution here.
The AeroGarden is in full bloom! It’s a really awesome gadget to have in the kitchen, especially if you cook a lot and like using herbs.
…when you have a Wii!
I just found out how awesome the “Internet Channel” feature on the Wii is. Previously, I dismissed it as useless, since I already have a couple computers around the house with access to the internet. However, because of YouTube and similar sites, now I can watch digital video on my old television via the Wii. No need for AppleTV! It costs just $5 to download from the WiiShop channel.
Now I just have to figure out how to set up my computer as a video streaming server so I can watch any video file that’s on my computer over the network through the Wii. Any ideas?
We had a little get-together on New Year’s Eve to celebrate the coming of 2008. Naturally, we wanted to take some pictures, so we brought out the new Canon Powershot SD850 IS we got for Christmas and snapped a few shots on the 35MB SD card that came with it. We got some great pictures while the 35 MB lasted.
Last night I plugged the camera into the computer to marvel at our exceptional photography… and all the pictures were gone! Erased from the camera somehow!
Luckily, I am a computer nerd.
Before I start babbling about the technical details, let me first explain a few things.
Both your computer and your camera store documents and pictures the same way. Deleting a file on your computer is just like tossing it in the waste basket. Then when you empty your computer’s Recycle Bin, that’s just like taking out the trash and setting it on the curb for the garbage truck to pick it up. Erasing the pictures from your camera is just like throwing the pictures in the trash and then immediately putting it out on the curb for pickup (because your camera doesn’t have a Recycle Bin). So, when you erase your camera accidentally, you still have a chance to recover the pictures if you act fast – before the garbage truck hauls it away. You’d have to run outside and dig through your trash. Now, on to the technical babbling…
I did a quick Google search online and found a number of “Shareware” SD card recovery programs available for download. I tried the first one I saw, CardRecovery. I plugged in the camera, loaded up CardRecovery… and found out that it couldn’t find the attached camera because the camera doesn’t load in the computer as a new drive letter. Hmm…
Then an idea came. What if I plugged the SD card into another device that would load as a new drive letter? I have a another camera, my Canon Digital Rebel XT. Nope, that won’t work because it uses a CF card instead of an SD card. What else is there? Thank God (or whatever you might believe in) that Garmin decided to add the useless feature of viewing pictures on your GPS device. I plugged in the SD card and connected the GPS to my computer, and it loaded as a new drive letter.
Then I loaded up CardRecovery. Awesome. It dug through the trash and found the pictures. I clicked the “Recover” button… and a pop-up dialog box informed me that I need to send them some cash before they’ll hand over the pictures. I guess “Shareware” is akin to blackmail.
I uninstalled CardRecovery.
That’s when I went to SourceForge and found a free open source SD card program. CardTest detected all the pictures and downloaded them from the card. It took about half an hour for CardTest to rescue those 12 pictures, and 3 of them were already damaged, but it’s better than losing them all outright.
Phew! The new year might turn out alright after all.
When I was little, every kid had (or really wanted) the original Nintendo game console. These days, a generation later, Nintendo still has a strong following among kids. You might think that the modern equivalent to the original Nintendo game console is the Nintendo Wii, but if you take a look around, what every kid has these days is a Nintendo DS. The Wii is marketed for everyone, and it seems that mostly teenagers have it. But every kid seems to have a DS (or really wants one).
My wife recently bought a Crimson & Black Nintendo DS Lite with Brain Age 2 bundled. She loves it, and I have to say, it sucked me in too. It’s truly a wonderful piece of technology. It has two screens, one side is a display, and the other side is a touch screen that you can manipulate with a stylus. It also has a built-in microphone to take voice input, Wi-fi connectivity, and traditional Nintendo controller buttons.
Kids love the Pokemon and Mario games, but adults can enjoy the numerous puzzle and brain-building games out there. The DS is at the very least one of the nicest electronic Sudoku gadgets on the market. You can even surf the ‘net with it! Watch out iPhone… Nintendo has a touch-screen Internet device for under $200 
Steve’s Rating: 9/10
I wasn’t getting any signal at my home from Cingular/AT&T, so I switched to Verizon. This is my new phone, which replaces the LG L1400 I had before. Since I don’t use the phone for much other than calling, I don’t have a data plan and don’t use any of the advanced features, so this phone fits my purposes just fine.
It’s just like my last phone, but with noticeably more features. The built-in camera has flash and a bunch of effects you can apply to photos. The tools that come with it are also more useful. I especially like the Calendar, EZ Tip Calc, Notepad, World Clock, and Unit Converter. It has Bluetooth as well. I hope that means I can actually transfer stuff between my phone and computer, but I’ve yet to investigate that aspect.
Steve’s Rating: 7/10
HoMedics SBM-300 Therapist Select Shiatsu Plus Massaging Cushion
Bought this as a gift for my wife. Works great and we both love it… not much else to say about it. Although these cushions advertise “Shiatsu”, I have my doubts as to how close to real shiatsu they are. It’s a great product regardless.
Steve’s Rating: 8/10
I just received my Weber Q 300 propane gas grill over the weekend… and have used it to cook every dinner since. I chose this grill because it was one of the best-selling and highest rated grills on Amazon.com. I was not disappointed.
So far I’ve grills steaks, chicken, asparagus, veggie sausages, mushrooms, broccoli, onions, bell peppers, tofu… this grill does it all. It even looks cooler than my neighbors’ grills
The Weber website has a large recipe section that I can’t wait to try. Even if your grill isn’t from Weber, you can still use those recipes.
Scientific-Atlanta WebStar DPC2100R2
Several weeks ago my Internet connection started going to hell. It was dropping the connection every so often, then it started becoming more frequent and wouldn’t pick up the connection again for longer intervals. Eventually the cable modem just wouldn’t pick up the cable signal. I called Cox and they sent a couple dudes to my house who determined that my cable modem had died. They gave me this Scientific-Atlanta DPC2100R2 as the replacement.
So far so good, though there’s not much you can say about a cable modem except whether it works or not. My old cable modem that died was also a Scientific-Atlanta WebStar modem, though I don’t know what model (it looked exactly the same). It’s also interesting to note that Scientific-Atlanta was recently acquired by Cisco Systems, the highly respected company that makes routers and also recently acquired Linksys.
Steve’s Rating: 6/10
NewEgg is where I buy all my computer parts to build my own computers. Though these days it doesn’t really save a lot of money to build your own computer, it’s still more practical if there is specific hardware you want in your computer (like graphics cards or sound cards). When I buy parts from NewEgg, I usually buy the ones that have a lot of high ratings. I haven’t been dissatisified yet.
eXtreme Outer Vision provides some tools computer hardware enthusiasts might find useful. I found the eXtreme Power Supply Calculator particularly helpful. It estimates how much wattage your computer needs.
