Content Preview: rss
noreply@blogger.com (AktoMan) 30 days ago
I snapped my neck round as I heard Jools Holland mention my home (sort of) town of Stornoway. It turns out that they are a young band from Oxford. Good luck to them. BBC band page Click here to play
noreply@blogger.com (AktoMan) 46 days ago
Some photographs taken with my new Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX150 down at Aberdeen Beach today. I haven’t tweaked these beyond horizon straightening, selective crops and resizing. Did you spot the photo taken in pinhole camera mode? I can’t see myself using it too often. Click here to playnoreply@blogger.com (AktoMan) 46 days ago
I’ll blame some of my students for this morning’s trip down to the beach at 0630am. In the cold and dark, I stood taking some snaps to compare my new Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX150 with last year’s Canon Ixus 950 IS I had read the reviews on DP Review, and so was a bit concerned about the noise, but Play.com had knocked a lot of money off the price, taking it down to the price that I was looking for. It was too good to miss. I wasn’t bothered about the 14.7mp (just under twice that of the Ixus), as quality is measured in more than mega-pixels. I was finding the Canon Ixus a bit ‘flat’. I know that I won’t get a decent depth of field with a point-and-click, but speaking to some students and talking about our cameras had given me the impetus to go looking. The camera arrived yesterday, and had a fun time in the cold, wearing my Alpkit down jacket and liner gloves. Things I noticed: in fully-auto mode the Lumix remembers flash settings (unlike the Ixus, which will switch the ...noreply@blogger.com (AktoMan) 48 days ago
I ordered a new petrol tank from http://www.everycarpart.co.uk on Monday. The money was withdrawn from my account. There has been no response to emails asking where the part is or when it will arrive (Wednesday noon; Wednesday evening), or to my cancellation of the order (Thursday evening). My car still has no petrol tank, and I have lost 4 1/2 days because of promises made on their website (next day delivery; responding to emails within 2 hours). Nochexs is investigating, but my credit card company say that without a stated delivery date (as opposed to ‘general’ promises made on the company’s website), they have to default to 30 days for delivery, so can’t chase them up until November. With help, I have got another tank coming from a company that emailed me 2 hours after placing the order last night, and again at 7am this morning to confirm delivery to the garage (http://www.bradgatemotors.co.uk). What a difference! I also had 2 responses from another website to my ...
noreply@blogger.com (AktoMan) 67 days ago
It was the start of a long weekend break. It was maybe my third trip out this year. I was planning on heading up to Loch nan Cnapan as I hadn’t got there last year due to the bout of cellulitis in my leg. So I had packed for 3 days – which is pretty much my overnight kit, but with extra food and fuel. I took my first break after crossing the Luibeg Burn at the ford that the NTS has been working on. They’ve done an amazing job. I didn’t, and misjudged the water depth. Time for a snack. I had been out of the buffeting wind along the valley, but moving back out on to the hill’s shoulder got the skloogs running back up my nose. I had my camera out ready to take a photo of the jet fighter, who’s engine I could hear, only to realise that it was the wind in the glen beside the Bod. Whichever way I turned, the wind seemed to be in my face. If this was at ground level, I was already ruling out getting up to the open plateau – especially as the wind ...
