Thursday, July 31, 2008

Nikon DSLR - D90?

I have been looking at picking up a Nikon D80 for almost a year now, and just haven't moved on it. Not really sure why actually...

Now that I am about ready to move, finally, I am reading that the D90 is expected to be announced within a month or two. A friend of mine who is a true photography geek mentioned that more than likely this model would use similar hardware to the D300, possibly giving it a much improved ISO performance. This sounds like a feature I may like to have!

Plus, he may be nice enough to let me borrow his spare D200 for a month or so for me to start playing and get some photos of Nolan along the way. Considering I have waited this long to purchase a camera, it might just make sense to wait a couple more months.

If I do borrow his D200, I will probably go ahead and buy a prime 50mm f/1.8 Nikon lens that I was considering picking up first (I think I will hold off on the Nikon 18-200 VR for a little while). For about $100, it sounds like a good place to start.

Bodies the Exhibition - Controversy?

While we were in San Antonio in May, we visited "Bodies... the Exhibition" at the Witte Museum. It was actually very interesting and not "gross" at all. At $20 to visit, anyone iffy about viewing probably would not shell out the cash anyway.

This exhibit is now visiting Indianapolis. The IndyStar is reporting controversy and concerns over the exhibit. First of all, anything the Star doesn't like is suspect for actually being interesting. This is regarding the fact that the origin of every body is not exactly known. If you are interested more, read into their own disclaimers. This is in comparision to Body Worlds, in which are bodies are donated to this program.

I highly recommend a visit to this exhibit if you are close to the area. I believe it was well worth the $20 I had to pay and it is definitely a one-of-a-kind view into how our own body works.

Friday, July 25, 2008

Daddy

Just wanted to post that being a dad is wonderful! Yes, its tiring. Yes, its worrying. But when he looks at you, you just melt every single time. And since I think mom has most of the hard work, I just try to make her day a little easier.

Nolan is two weeks old today, and the time is already flying by. I was lucky enough to spend a lot of that two weeks at home, but this week I began working again.

I hope to get to post some pictures this weekend. They will be on http://www.chrisandkacey.com/

Sunday, July 20, 2008

ShamWhatever

If the ShamWow "sells itself" (according to their own TV commercial), then why do we need to see so many ShamWow commercials on TV with that guy that wears the gay headset?

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Craftsman Club

All real men out there should have a brand of tools they prefer; the name of the brand doesn't matter as your reason for picking that brand probably is based on what your dad had.

Me, I'm a Craftsman man. And yup, I have been all my life since I started using my dad's tools and then eventually purchasing my own. Are they the absolute best? Who knows, but they are my tools. They are easy to find parts for (I can order the armature for my grandpa's old drill that died) and I do love their return policy :)

As an avid Craftsman tool and appliance man, I absolutely love the Craftsman Club (it's free). I only really learned of it a couple years ago but am glad I did, and now I pass the information on to you. Each month or two, I receive a small catalog of the current sales and specials for Craftsman Club members. The first pages usually covers what each member can purchase that month for usually about 1/2 off. I generally almost always find something there I need.

This month, I think its time for a new multimeter. Mine is about 10 years old and off brand. I would kind of like two (well three, I still have my old analog meter) and can't seem to talk myself in to the price of a personal Fluke. This month Craftsman has a multimeter and EMF detector 40% off.

Friday, July 11, 2008

Our Son, Nolan Isaiah Phillips





Born Friday, July 11, 2008 at 12:29am. He is 5lb 15.8oz and 20 in long.

The happy family,
Chris, Kacey & Nolan

Tuesday, July 08, 2008

RSS Feeds and Sharing

I have been using Google Reader for about 6 months now, but not to it's fullest extent. Until recently (about two weeks ago), I still visited many web sites each night to read the day's news. Now, I have set up numerous feeds and am simply reading in Google Reader. I know, this is not new technology. But, as I am catching up in this space, I really love it. I save a lot of time each night, can share items I feel others may also enjoy, and have opened myself up to more sites as it is much quicker to "skim" the web.

Any of my acquaintances out there care to share their personal feed with me? I am still on the hunt for interesting news sites.

Any tips and tricks?

Thursday, July 03, 2008