Great Carlin Quote in Kawasaki's 'Reality Check'

I'm currently reading Guy Kawasaki's Reality Check. I'm enjoying the book immensely, as expected. However, I had my first LOL moment today when I read this introductory quote to Guy's chapter on e-mail etiquette:

Brilliant.

Snowplay - New Years Day

Here are a few pics I took during our afternoon playing in the snow here at the cabin - we've got a bit of snow!

Laptop Shopping on the Cheap

If you're looking to shop on the cheap, check out the online outlets for buying your next computer.  I had the unfortunte pleasure of laptop shopping recently, and if you've done the same - it is a real pain!  After a few days of crunching the numbers of what I was looking for vs. what was out there, I ended up checking out the certified refurbished machines from different online distributors (Apple, Dell, Gateway, Sony, ...).  As far as I can tell certified refurbished is a fancy way of saying "Used with a Warranty."

In the end, I ended up with a Dell Latitude E6500 laptop, which as configured runs over $2200 at Dell.com, but was sub-$1K in the outlet (there was only 1 available at the time).  This particular laptop came stock standard with a 3-year warranty, but I was still a bit hesitant that there might be something generally "wrong" with it - and I was wrong (whew)!  It's a great computer, blazing fast, and perfect for just what I need.

The E6500 is a new model from Dell, so think of it like buying a us ed car.  If you purchase a certified-refurbished machine that was new 3 years ago, it's like buying a used vehicle from the early 90s.  But if you find one that's relatively new, they've likely replaced the defective part and are trying to recover the funds of building the original machine.  Win-win.  That being said, I highly suggest keeping your search in the realm of newer computers, since as we all know older ones are... well they're older, and are unlikely to hold up as long as you'd hope.

If you need new, shop new.  Otherwise, check out the following outlets:

• Dell Business Outlet (where I found the E6500)
• Dell Home Outlet
• Sony Outlet
• Apple Outlet

If you check the Gateway outlet, there isn't anything listed at this time, not because Gateway builds the Rolls Royce of computers.  I'm not sure what their deal is, but you can find plenty of refurbished Gateway computers at CompUSA.com and Buy.com.

Craig Dugas

Food Photography with Point n Shoot Cameras

I've taken photographs of food with my point-n-shoot camera for some time now, but none seem to capture the food as I see it in person.  Sure, every once in a while I get a diamond in the rough, but the majority are plagued with odd saturation and other anomalies.  After a bit of research, it turns out I don't need to invest in an expensive SLR camera, but with a few tips, food photos with a point-n-shoot can turn out pretty great.

These connected articles were helpful in providing essential tips for any food photographer - a food porn discussion on flickr and blog post with many helpful comments by Kyle Cassidy.  Both touch on my biggest food photography fear, lighting.  Anyone with a day job can relate that most of their photos will be taken at night, and lighting is sub-par.  There are suggestions for full spectrum natural lighting, but that's quite an investment. A few of the other tips include:

• Use the greatest optical zoom the camera supports to better frame the object
• Read cooking magazines for styling ideas
• Use a tripod

Okay, so the last two tips seem kind of obvious, but I found the first tip intriguing.  The camera I use is a Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5K 9MP w/ 10x Optical, so I set up my cheapo tripod a ways back and zoomed on in. I'm pleased with the framing acieved, so I'll keep this tip in my bag-o-tricks for a while.  If using a smaller 3x optical zoom (which seems to be more of a standard these days), I'd probably pick up a Gorillapod Flexible Tripod to set closer to the food.

The other 50% missing from my shots was plating.  A small amount of effort went into making the food look decent, but not nearly enough.  If you read food magazines or watch the Food Network, more effort is put into making the food look good than making it taste good.  Crazy.  Nobody's going to eat the pretty leaves and scraps tossed around the food on those plates, but it sure does bring some life to the party.  I tested this out a bit by placing some leaves from the celery stalk around and on top of my Creamy Vegetable Beef Soup.  It seems to help a bit, but I didnt eat the leaves on the plate :)

Similarly, I took a single shot of Jessie's Wheat Waffles with Spiced Apple Topping from over her shoulder as she was eating, and she fortunately had a small pile of spiced apples near the waffle.  It brings diversity to the plate, if nothing else.  I would've taken more photos, but she ate it all.  As for my last shot of the day, I attempted to sauce the plate and stack some jalapeño peppers on top.  It's a step in the right direction, but saucing a plate straight from the bottle is a bitch.  The photo here was my second attempt.  I ate both attempts.  If you've any suggestions on saucing a plate, I'd love 'em.

The last thing I should include is rarely talked about in photography... post-processing.  Nobody wants to admit to doctoring up their photos, but if you want the colors to be just right, 99.99% of the time you'll need to adjust saturation, contrast, and all sorts of other levels to make sure the picture you took looks like it does in person (or better!).  I used my trial version of Adobe Lightroom which was recommended by photo guru Tim Leonhardt.  Google's free Picasa software can help if you're on a budget.  I find that even if you think the picture is fine, using an "auto-correct" feature can bring some life to your food.

Craig Dugas

A word/question about shipping 'plonk' wine