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Wednesday 12 March 2003

Trying to resurrect webby... [lurks]

Given all the hard work we've put into building this site, I don't really want to see it die due to lack of Blog updates. :( So, err, here's an update on a couple of cool things I got in the last week or so. Firstly, I needed a digital camera. I needed one cheap, for eBay shit and arse all else. Well, maybe the pub. I've got one of those tiny L'Espion ones before which was what made me realise the way these things are going. A digital camera on a keychain that costs a coupla score!
Unfortunately it was a bit shit, not image quality (who gives a shit for the web) but the fact that it just refused to take a picture in low light. Which is useless for the pub and pretty stupid given it's a CMOS sensor so it can do it happily. Worse yet, if the AAA battery ran down (and it did all the time), you'd lose your pics.
Enter the Che-Ez Splash! Stupid name but basically it's a micro camera in the vein of the L'Espion that is actually practical. It's a fraction bigger but it's a vast improvement in many ways. How shall we count them? It's got a metal case, metallic chain holder (chain provided), look-through viewfinder, tripod mount screw (heh!), macro focus switch, better lcd status (on the back), 8mb of internal flash mem, 640x480 capture res, good quality USB cable and... get this... a dinky little snap on flash unit!
It takes 54 second AVIs, 219 pics on high compression, 155 on normal. It'll also do full rate video in web cam mode. And this really works, I used it to take a load of pics of my FM transmitter. It even comes in a cute metal tin. Basically it's the best thing evar and it only costs £50 from Amazon! Just the sort of thing you'd keep for the pub even when you've got a proper digicam.
Hmm I was gonna say what else I got then I realised no one would be interested them... Oh yes, maybe this. I'm forever bitching that there's not enough light in my lair when I want to find something or do some electronics work or something. I didn't want to get a big nasty 150W bulb since I'm a bit of a greenie and all that, so I plumbed for one of these compact florescent jobs. A new one which is rated at 22W, supposedly equiv to about 110W of a normal incandescent bulb. Fuck me it is too. We've got one in the bedroom and that's cool but this one is *really* bright. I like the soft start of these things too - especially when you flick on in the middle of the night. :)

1 comment:

  1. On the subject of that Che-Ez, they actually do one similar to it with no flash but a 1.5' DSTN LCD display on the back. Bugger me and it's a tenner less than this one too!

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