When trying to install my Visioneer 9120 Scanner, I got this weird error:

Running Vista, I have installed the Canon provided RAW codec for CR2 format. It allows you view those files natively.

I was browsing through a folder of pictures. I noticed that it got slower and slower as I went through the pages. Eventually, it gave me an out of memory error. I didn’t have anything else open. I brought up Task Manager and saw that I had memory left. I closed the picture viewer and just watched the memory get reclaimed in about 20 seconds. The total delta there is about 1.5 gig.

I tried to import pictures for the first time in Lightroom on my new Vista machine.

I kept on getting the mysterious:

"Problem with Importing Files - the file was not imported. Could not copy a file to the requested location."

At first I thought it was my card reader. I got a brand new, built in one. But I was able to read the files directly. So I tried copying the files to my desktop and importing them from there. I got the same error.

The other day my wife had a tire blowout. She doesn’t think she hit anything. Nonetheless, it was a loud “explosion.” Fortunately, she was only driving about 40 MPH and could immediately pull over. As you can see below, a huge 4″ gash was in the sidewall.

Last night I ordered a new computer. I haven’t upgraded for several years…it was time.

I ordered it from NewEgg.com and paid for it with Discover Card. They have this feature called Secured Online Account Numbers. It is pretty nice. You log in and get new credit card number for each vendor that you pay online. That number is only good at the vendor. I did that last night. This morning, I tried to use my card and it got rejected/flagged. I also got an email and phone call from Discover. I called them up and told them that I really did buy that computer. Some people might find this annoying or irritating. I think it is a good service. I would rather this happened and error on the conservative.

Here is picture that my daughter drew:

Definitely not another Y2K, but it still was interesting. Here is what I noticed:

• All my computers had no problems
• The usual VCR clocks had to still be manually changed.
• Our cable box from Time Warner did not change at 1:00 AM. I was up and saw it say 1:35 AM (which never existed). It was fine by the morning.
• Our Honda Odyssey which has a built in navigation always updates by itself. It set the right time based upon where you are. However, it didn’t understand today’s change. It was still an hour behind. The clock is not settable. However, you can offset it by +/- hours. I imagine I will have to do this again in a few weeks.

One personal note, both of my children were born on DLS weekends (both spring and fall). In fact, if my son was born 5 minutes later, they would have had to indicate which 1:00 AM he was actually born on. This was because there were 2 “1 AM” times that night (the fall). It was a little confusing because the nurses were updating all of the clocks beginning at midnight.

DAM as in Digital Asset Management. One of my hobbies that I have had great interest in since high school has been photography. I have always enjoyed the whole experience: taking pictures, developing, printing and sharing. In fact, I really wanted to create my own darkroom in my house just before digital photography became available.

I have been evaluating the following products for quite some time:

• Google’s Picasa2
• Microsoft’s Digital Image Suite 2006
• iMatch Image Management
• iView Media Pro3 (Microsoft Elements)

Others that I have researched but did not try were the following:

Tonight’s selection of #2 college football team will clearly demonstrate the broken BCS system. In my mind, Florida is only possible choice to play against Ohio State. Michigan is always a losing pick for the BCS. If they would lose to Ohio State (again), why did they play? If they beat OSU, we need a rubber match and clearly there is no winner.

I have heard all of the arguments about how great rematches have been in sport history…such as Ali – Frazier. But football is really not a rematch sport. Also, rematches are not consecutive games.

My wife urged me to enter the Meijer “It’s What I Want” contest. Basic premise is that you take a picture of what you want and tell why you need it.

I chose the Canon EOS XT digital camera. Our camera had died 3 times in the last year (all warranty claims). Last year, it died on the first day of Kindergarten (hence the caption). About it a month ago, it died on our vacation to visit my sister in California. She let us borrow her EOS and I loved it. A great camera.