I have now successfully taken and downloaded my first photo with my new camera, a Canon PhotoShot SD600 Digital Elph. I actually made several attempts to photograph the camera itself in the mirror, but that didn't turn out very well. So instead, I am showing you my camera case which the camera just fits inside (and no, I did not pick this particular camera because a spiffy red leather case was available; that was just fortuitous). The camera is small, but not so small as to be a real pocket camera in my opinion (nor will it function as a Mission Impossible/007/"his bowtie is really a camera" spy camera); however, for carrying around in my purse, it should work fine.
Getting a new piece of technology is kind of a mixed bag for me because I hate having to learn the new system. (I don't have this reaction to computer software, however; it's really about a physical object that has knobs and switches and settings and things that can break and confusing menus and unclear labels and so forth.) So far, this machine has been pretty intuitive to use as I set it up and played around a little bit with the various options.
Getting a new piece of technology is kind of a mixed bag for me because I hate having to learn the new system. (I don't have this reaction to computer software, however; it's really about a physical object that has knobs and switches and settings and things that can break and confusing menus and unclear labels and so forth.) So far, this machine has been pretty intuitive to use as I set it up and played around a little bit with the various options.
The starter's manual was fairly good, but I did love the fact that only after it told you how to insert the memory card with a drawing and a few steps did it then say "Ensure that the memory card is correctly oriented before inserting it in the camera. It may damage the camera if inserted incorrectly." OK, thanks, if I just broke my camera, now I know how that happened. This is a crazy idea, I know, but ... shouldn't they put these warnings first? One thing I did appreciate a lot was that they included separate Spanish and English language manuals; I hate it when they give you this one huge manual that includes both languages. [Note to self: accidentally pushing Ctrl-S instead of Shift-S will cause your post to spontaneously publish itself whether you're ready or not. Avoid this in the future.]
When I was showing Robert the case photo on the camera, it did this weird thing where it suddenly switched the orientation of the photo for a split second and then switched it back. Of course when I tried to show Robert this bizarre phenomenon, it didn't happen. But then I made it happen again and was able to show him. He said that I must be pushing some button somewhere and I tested pushing around on various parts of the camera but couldn't make it happen. Finally I asked Robert to look it up in the real manual, that has all the details and everything, but right after that I realized that the camera was responding to the angle at which I was holding it and adjusting automatically. And Robert indeed identified that the camera has an "Intelligent Orientation" system for this. We got a good laugh out of that one. No doubt there are more laughable Sally mishaps to come. At least it doesn't have a lens cover that I can accidentally leave in place.
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The other day in my software engineering class, we were talking about the fact that the new Mac laptops have some kind of acceleration sensor that allows them to brace for impact when you drop them. (Actually, I think they do the opposite of "brace" - I think the main thing they do is let go of the hard drive so it doesn't get scratched...or whatever happens to hard drives.) (I am picturing this like the needle coming off a phonograph record, but it's been a while since I had a computer that stored its data on record albums, so...heh.)
Anyway, apparently people have made all kinds of interesting software since the Macs have this functionality. Warren showed us (admitting that this made him a terrible geek) that he has software that makes his laptop make appropriate light saber sounds if you swing it around. Some people have installed software that lets you switch programs (the equivalent of alt-tab in Windows) by just smacking the side of the screen. And Warren also showed us that when he tilts his laptop to the side, it changes the orientation of the whole screen, like your camera did. Nifty!
I hate to admit it, but the light saber thing sounds pretty cool.
It was hilarious. He had mentioned it before the break, but I didn't really get what it did, and after the break he said, "OK, I'll show you guys even though this makes me a giant dork," and picked up his laptop to wave it around, at which point the light saber sounds kicked in. I almost died.
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