Selecting a camera

04/27/10 - During our Costa Rican trip, my Sony DSC-H7 15x zoom digital camera broke. It was just over two years old.

I had become quite comfortable with this Sony camera with it dual stabilization zoom delivering very clear pics of birds and animals at maximum zoom.

After some research, I decided on the replacement which is a 26x zoom.

If you are wondering about which camera to buy, here are some details about the four I looked into, as well as the Sony I had been using.

Part of this process is deciding if a DSLR is right or a pocket digital or a high zoom digital.

For some, the DSLR is the answer for high quality pics ... but they do come at a fairly high price and then you need to buy a telescopic lens.

For others, the convenience of a pocket digital (like Helen's Canon PowerShot SD780 IS) is the answer, as it is quite small but does take a very clear picture and has a optical viewfinder (very useful is bright sunlight).

If you want something for half way between the two but able to take pictures of distant objects (birds or animals) without the necessity of an additional lens, the answer might be a high zoom digital camera with very good stabilization.

The critical factor of a high zoom digital camera for me are:

1. high zoom

2. very stable at high zoom

3. large megapixel (10 or more)

4. lithium high capacity battery  

5. good warranty (at least 2 years)

6. wide angle lens

7. cost    

The cameras I tested/reviewed:

1. Sony DSC-H7 

2. Nikon Coolpix P90

3. Nikon Coolpix P100

4. Olympus SP-800UZ

5. Pentax X90

6. Sony DSC-HX1 (not tested)

7. Fujifilm FinePix HS10 (not tested)


Here is a side-by-side comparison of the above cameras.

Although the Sony DSC-HX1 is only 9MP and 20x zoom, the 2.8-8.0 creates the best wide angle I have seen so far. 

I tried a few max zoom pics (with same settings) while moving the cameras and the Pentax X90 was the clearest.

I had hoped the OLYMPUS with 30x zoom (28-840mm) would get clear maximum zoom pics as it would be better for birds and animals and the 2gb storage is a real bonus. However, I tried a few times and could not get a clear max zoom picture.

The Nikon P100 was a close second to the Pentax X90 at mox zoom - but was $150 more and heavier/larger. If it was the same price, I would have selected it due to the CMOS sensor ... no defined winner yet between CCD and CMOS but I would have liked to try it.

I bought the Pentax X90 with a 3 year Henry's warranty, for less than just the retail price of the Nikon P100 (before tax).

After reviewing the street price, I dropped the the Fujifilm HS10 from consideration but it does have CMOS and the 2nd highest zoom (24-720mm) and the only one with RAW uncompressed format (allowing more pic alterations) and it is the heaviest and largest.

The Sony DSC-H7 is older, 8 megapixel and not enough zoom. One year warranty.

The Sony DSC-HX1 was only 9 megapixels, lowest zoom, the lowest storage included (31mb), and uses memory stick Duo/Pro Duo instead of SD/SDHC (I would need to buy one and it is not compatible with my PC). One year warranty.

I did a series of tests on the others (Nikon P90, Nikon P100, Pentax X90, and Olympus SP-800UZ) at Henry's. 

The Nikon P90 is 24x zoom (26-624mm), aperture 2.8-5.0, not as good lithium battery, SD card, 50mb storage, and CCD sensor. 

Comes with a 2 year Canada warranty.

The Nikon P100 is Is 26x zoom (26-678mm), aperture 2.8-5.0, same battery as P90, SD card, 43mb storage, and CMOS sensor. Comes with a 2 year Canada warranty.

The Pentax X90 is 26x zoom (26-676mm), aperture 2.8-5.0, best lithium battery, SD card, 31.6mb storage, and CCD sensor. One year warranty.

The Olympus SP-800UZ is 30x zoom (28-840mm), aperture 2.8-5.6, not as good lithium battery, SD card, "2GB" storage, and CCD sensor. One year warranty.

Prostate Remedies - an update

06.10.11: Prostate drug may increase cancer risk


For those of us with BPH, some doctors prescribe 5-ARI type drugs  - known as finasteride and dutasteride - to reduce the size.


There is now evidence these drugs (Proscar, Avodar, Jalyn, Propecia), which reduce the risk of low grade cancer, may now increase the risk of high grade prostate cancer.


It is a little confusing, as the study indicates the benefits (of taking 5-ARIs) may outweigh the risks. 


Check with your doctor to endure he/she knows about this study, before considering (or continuing) with 5-ARI type drugs.   


4.17.11: I have done a little research on BPH (enlarged non-cancerous prostate) and learned that every man will have this problem, to varying degree, as they age.

Good understanding of what the prostate is.


Stages of (non-cancerous) BPH.




The only information I would seriously consider is The 6 Steps to a Healthy Prostate - paraphrased here (leaving out the pill):
1. Eat Healthy Fruits, Vegetables, Fish, And Avoid Fatty Foods
2. Exercise Daily
3. Have 35-50g of Soy Protein Every Day
4. Visit your Doctor Regularly
5. Have More Sex
6. Go Easy On The Booze - drink red wine

Apparently, if a man lives long enough he will die of prostate problems.
This description outlines the difference between BPH histology and disease.
From what I can see, men tend to ignore minor prostate problems and feel the occasional test by their GP is adequate. The discomfort continues/increases as we age and, from time to time, due to other influences (such as alcohol).


We are men ... we live with it.


Well, some men decide to try alternatives, in order to have a more peaceful sleep each night (aka, to decrease the sense-of-urgency to urinate).


The emphasis in remedies seems to be pills containing the following natural ingredients:
1. nettles root extract 
2. saw palmetto extract
3. tree bark extract - pygeum africaum
4. lycopene (high concentrations in tomato paste)
5. vitamin e
6. vitamin d
7. zinc
8. selenium
9. pumpkin seed oil


Non-natural ingredients include:
1. beta-sisterol
2. quercitin


There are studies underway with beta-sitosterol  and 5-alpha reductase inhibitors to determine applicability to prostate reduction but nothing of any significance yet. 


I have checked into a lot of the following solutions and noticed quite a few complaints about not refunding the cost.



The one now being infommercialed is Prosvent. It contains all the above natural ingredients.


Another 'solution' appears to be Prostavar.
 Prostavar mostly contains saw palmetto, beta-sitosterol, pygeum extract and quercitin.  It also contains vitamin E, zinc and lycopene.


Another 'solution' is Prostate Miracle.
The ingrdients are: beta-sitosterol, zinc, selenium and vitamin D3. Their claim is the very high concentration of beta-sitosterol. See Best Prostate below.


Here are just a few others you may have heard of:

Vasotrexx, Prost-RX, Prostanol, Solaray Pygeum and Saw Palmetto, Super Beta Prostate, Prostate Defense, Maximum Prostate, Prostate Relief, Prostate RX, Better Prostate, Best Prostate, Liquid Prostate, ProstTec, Prosvent, Royal Forte Prostate, Prostate Health, Prostalex Plus, Provelex Plus, Super Prostate Formula, Prulato, Flotrexx, Prost-8, Prostate Formula, Antiiva, Prostate Wellness I would like to continue to add to this item, when new worthwhile information comes available. Let me know if you become aware of anything new and interesting.

Peat areas in Indonesia used for palm oil production

It caught my interest that Indonesia was third (behind USA and China) in CO2 emissions. 


In reviewing further, the reason appears to be hacking away at the rain forest and planting palm trees for palm oil.
Apparently, if peat is more than three metres deep, they are not allowed to plant palms, as it will then release the stored up CO2. There is a lot of stored CO2 in peat in Indonesia! There are a lot of companies (and independent palm oil producers) providing palm oil to major companies who do not care where the palm oil comes from.
Indonesia appears to be responding but not much has changed. 


Stronger international measures need to be brought to bear on commercial ventures in Indonesia.


The problem here is that the palm oil produced is merged with all other palm oil and very difficult to track the source.


More pressure needs to be placed on companies who do not differentiate where they buy their palm oil.


Green peace is helping but it will take more focus before companies comply.


We need to voice our objection by not buying from companies that don't care (Nestle is one)! Further action focusing on Nestle.
Don't buy a product using palm oil if the company doesn't spell out that exactly where their palm oil comes from.


If this information is correct, it amazes me why more people aren't making their opinions known!


Where are the environmental-active youth today?  
It amazes me how they are afraid to speak their mind and initiate action to focus on a healthier planet for the future! 

Water - do we drink a lot?

For some reason, I have never ingested a lot of water each day. 
Don't ever feel thirsty ... and didn't want to waste time going to the bathroom.
This report (as with many others) outlines the problems associated with low water intake.







"High blood pressure, and high cholesterol are adaptations by the body to the problem of insufficient water."


While the Mayo Clinic doesn't include water in its top ten list of controlling hypertension, nor in any preventers for hypertension,there really hasn't been anything I can find that indicates ingesting a lot of water each day is a bad thing.


How much water should you drink per day?


Anybody have anything to add concerning their experience with water consumption?

Sugar - something to watch

I have always felt sugar is the lesser of serious health concerns.
Trans fat has always been high on my watch list, followed closely by cholesterol (80% created internally) and salt.
While I don't ingest a lot of added sugar (except in coffee), I will now pay more attention to reducing my usage.
But, as we all know, life is too short and we must try to balance all the goods and the bads ... not go overboard in either direction ... so as to enjoy the little time we have.
And performing exercise regularly (not enjoyable but necessary) will always curse some of the evils of over-indulgence. 
Having done the above (except watching sugar intake, I still have some concern about hypertension and high cholesterol ... my doctor indicates it is hereditary... 

While my frequency of colds and flu is very low (see immune system impact of high sugar intake in below article), it may be time to start watching sugar intake (and looking for alternatives).


"The health dangers which ingesting sugar on an habitual basis creates are certain. Simple sugars have been observed to aggravate asthma, move mood swings, provoke personality changes, muster mental illness, nourish nervous disorders, deliver diabetes, hurry heart disease, grow gallstones, hasten hypertension, and add arthritis."


Anybody have anything to add on their experiences with sugar?

Online Free Tax Return

04.09.13 - An update of what is available online with automatic filing with NETFILE.
I have used various services the past few years and found them easy to use and some are FREE.

StudioTax is a FREE service. Like the others, you cannot import past returns, as they only manage past returns for returning customers.
I am using it this year and will advise of any concerns.

WebTax4U is a FREE service this year, for taxpayers without outside income (self-employed, rental, etc).

Ufile has an online version ($16 you, $9 spouse) and a Windows version ($20 for up to 8 returns). Here is a comparison of their services. Not free.

There are a few more but cost is higher.






03.22.10 - I cannot recall anything I do NOT like doing more than taxes!


Each of the last few years (now that we are retired), I look into the various online alternatives and always seem to find a "better alternative".

This year, it is a very easy process with myTaxExpress which cost $6.99 (taxes included!) for one return or $13.99 for up to 10 returns.

The last few years, I used WebTax4u ($12.99 for one return and $5.99 for each additional - taxes not included) and was pleased at how easy taxes have become.  


If you have found something/better cheaper, pls comment.


Of course, I will wait until the last minute to submit, as we always seem to have to pay ... a good thing?!

It's worse than we thought - says Al Gore

(left click to enlarge)
Yesterday, Al Gore placed this on his Twitter site.
Apparently, the arctic is worse than we thought or hoped for.
The ice is not nearly as thick as it looked from the satellite views.

2010 Olympics - CTV has made it easy

Ah! Technology!
Check out this CTV website that allows you to select the Olympics TV channels you want included on your PC and the time zone you prefer.
It then shows you the up-to-date schedule for every event in the Vancouver Olympics, for that channel.
It also allows you to send reminders to an e-mail address and a cell hone for any events you don't want to miss.
Now, if i only had an iPhone, I could be watching an event while being away from my TV or PC ... not much chance i will be away from either for the duration!

cell phones and plans and the iPhone

01/19/10 - These six pics are the various phones offered and comparison of options. For some reason, none of them include the iPhone ... which will take over the market ... and greatly reduce computer usage (see below).
I have to thank Best Buy for this paper information. 

All six carriers in the same pkg with all their phones and plans and phone options options.

This was published for December 2009. The information is available on their mobile website.
For some reason this information does not include the iPhone (my next cell phone) which I have outlined separately. 

These three charts compares the 3G vs the 3GS iPhone features. The difference in price is $100 with a 3-year plan. It seems everyone wants the 3GS version for the speed, video camera and voice control. 

I have being reviewing the applications that are developed for the iPhone. There are well over a 1,000 (a lot more coming) that are free or relatively inexpensive at the apps store, that make this the cell phone for the immediate future ... if you can get one. All the carries have it.
I have seen the GPS app (includes traffic conditions) and am quite impressed. It also acts as a hansfree speaker-phone while driving. 
I am very impressed with the web browser (the best I have seen yet on a phone) and the Internet speed is quite fast ... may result in less computer time. 
It comes with a 3MP camera but it should be a 5MP to compete with the HTC Hero phone (offered by Telus). Here is a comparison of the two. There are also quite a few YouTube comparisons.
If you hear anything interesting about the iPhone, add a comment and it will be included in this post.

01/20/10 - CNET scan and shop app - this app allows you to scan the bar code of a product in a store, before you buy,  and instantly see the CNET reviews, locations for purchasing along with prices, and directions to the various stores. It also allows you to hold in a wish list and attach a price and will notify when the price drops to what you want to pay.

02/03/10 - I am ready to buy the iPhone ... now can install a Golf GPS app!

The next pics are the various carrier phone plans.

Reducing Standby Power Usage

01/02/10 - There are a couple of devices available that will show you how much electricity you are using in your home.
1. energy monitoring device (previous blog item)
2. whole house meter
Using these tools on a regular basis, enables a home owner to determine where exactly the power eaters are. 
Now, if the libraries would allow borrowing the whole house monitor (as they do with the energy monitor), instead of the $150 to buy, it might be more attractive to home owners. 


Part of the energy usage equation relates to standby power of household appliances.
As per a BC Hydro article, the power saved could run 400,000 homes, here in Canada. 






Use of surge protectors (and turning them off when not in use) would go a long way in reducing our standby power utilization. The surge protector uses very little electricity and your appliances are protected when the protector is turned off.
Were you aware how beneficial it is to buy Energy Star appliances for reducing standby power? 




 


California is leading the way in this standby reduction by demanding new appliances use a maximum of 1W standby power by 2011 - just for TV sets. 


This is a result of a test showing up to 26% of total household electricity usage could be related to standby power. By reducing power required to run stanby function to 1W, would reduce standby power use by 68% and overall electricity usage by 7% annually.

POIs to add to your GPS

Web communities, such as POIfriend, are popping up on the web.

Although most GPSs have at least 6 million points of interest (POIs), it is not nearly enough.

If you are looking for a retail store not in your GPS, you may want to go to one of these communities and add their POIs to your GPS.

It is very easy to do, if you have your GPS connected to your computer.

Some POIs are 'direct' (click on it and your computer will automatically install it on your GPS.

You may also download and install POI Loader (here is the Garmin site), if the POIs you want to add are more than 50 locations.

If you use the 'direct' loader approach for your GPS, it will install only the first 50 locations of the POI closest to your home location.

If you are/become aware of POIs of interest (not included at POIfriend), let me know and I will update this blog item.

kill-a-watt ... or two

01/01/10 - Quite a while ago (Feb 21, 2008), I did a study using a metering device borrowed from the library.
The device was a Kill-A-Watt and it somewhat accurately calculated the electrical usage of some devices within our home.

It is now time to determine our energy reduction items. By the use of a Kill A Watt (P4400 Energy Meter at Lee Valley Tools or  Blue Planet Energy Meter at CTC), I will find the big items we can do without ... old fridge, old freezer, non energy star remaining items, etc. 








Here were the results from the 02/21/08 analysis:

A few more conclusions from the data gathered:

1. a 100W incandescent will cost you $.23 for 24 hours usage.

2. a 100W fluorescent will cost you $..047 for 24 hours usage.

3. a 250W incandescent will cost you $.60 for 24 hours usage.

4. a 4ft double fluorescent fixture will cost you $.15 for 24 hours usage.

5. a laptop will cost you $.097 for 24 hours usage.

6. a desktop will cost you $.389 for 24 hours usage.

I used my laptop and three fluorescent 4ft lights at a cost of approx $.32 a day or $9.62/month.

A laptop kW usage cost is half that of a 100W incandescent but twice as much as a 100W fluorescent.

A desktop is four times as costly as a laptop to run.

A 100W incandescent bulb usage cost is 5 times a 100W fluorescent. Time to convert all incandescents to CFLs.

We now have both the laptop and desktop computers on surge protectors and turn them off nightly.