Zandoná Mobile® : Misc.

Group Shot from Microsoft Research!!!

fzandona — Wed, 18 Jan 2006 21:33:00 GMT

For my photographer friends:

We are happy to introduce Microsoft Research Group Shot.
MSR Group Shot helps you create a perfect group photo out a series of group photos. With Group Shot you can select your favorite parts in each shot of the series and Group Shot will automatically build a composite image.

For more info and download, point your browser to: http://research.microsoft.com/projects/GroupShot/

That is VERY cool!

Tags: [Microsoft] [Group Shot] [Photography]

New version: Microsoft RAW Image Thumbnailer and Viewer for Windows XP

fzandona — Mon, 19 Dec 2005 23:15:00 GMT

For the photographers around, I'd like to just to let you know that there is an update version of the Microsoft RAW Image Thumbnailer and Viewer for Windows XP available here. From the readme file:

What's New in Version 1.0 (Build 50)?

This updated version of the software includes the following enhancements and fixes:

Support for the latest cameras from Canon and Nikon, including the Canon EOS 5D, Nikon D50, and others. (See the list of supported camera models below.)
A new 'Save As...' button has been added to the Toolbar to allow you to save the current image as either a JPEG or TIFF. (See 'Saving images' below for more details on how to use this feature.)
Significantly improved performance when displaying previews from certain Nikon cameras, including the D70, D70s, and D50.
Reduced memory usage when generating NEF thumbnails for most Nikon digital SLR models.
In Setup, 'TIFF' is no longer selected by default as one of the image types the RAW Viewer opens when you double-click the image in Windows Explorer.
A separator has been added to the Toolbar between the 'Highest Quality' and 'Edit' buttons to reduce the chance of the photographer accidentally pressing the wrong button.
Fixes for several known issues in version 1.0 of the software, including an issue that could cause certain files to become locked, preventing them from being moved or deleted in Windows Explorer.

And don't forget to visit MS ProPhoto site - it has great info targeting the "advanced amateur" and the professional photographer.

Tags: [Microsoft] [Photography] [RAW] [RAW Image Thumbnailer and Viewer]

Blame it on the left kidney!

fzandona — Thu, 10 Nov 2005 17:19:00 GMT

As you have noticed, I've not posted during the last weeks. Although workload has been huge these days, the main reason for the silence is my left kidney! No kidding!

A couple of months ago, during an annual health check-up, docs discovered I had an issue on my left kidney. Several exams after that I was diagnosed with "Ureteropelvic Junction Obstruction" - it was a congenital obstruction and my left kidney was barely working and had lost almost most of it functionality. For some reason the UPJ obstruction (see picture) was never discovered while I was a baby/child and I have never had any symptoms of it. Thanks God, kidneys work on a high availability cluster, so the right kidney assumed the workload.

Cool! So how does one treat it?
Simple: surgery! So last Tuesday I was submitted to a pyeloplasty - an open surgery were the obstruction is removed and the kidney reattached to the ureter. Not willing to get into details here, it turned out that the obstruction was bigger than expected and the surgery was a bit tougher than planned which resulted on five days in the hospital and a big incision on my left side.

Humm, does it hurt?
Oh yes, it does! :-) It hurts so badly that, for a couple of days, I was connect to a Patient Controlled Analgesia (PCA) pump - it was attached to my spinal cord and with a simple press of a button it injected morphine to make things a little easier for me. That was cool! :-)

I'm getting better everyday and hope to be ready to re-start travels and full work on the next weeks.

Wish me luck!

Maryam, it also beeps down here!

fzandona — Fri, 21 Oct 2005 21:51:00 GMT

I read Maryam's post about her issues with Scoble's Smartphone and thought it was pretty funny how they resolved the issue :-) To my surprise, today, I had the pleasant surprise of having one of my Windows Mobile devices beeping loudly very early in the morning.

It was not so tragic as Maryam tells us, but it took me some time to shut the thing off. Due to my recent trips, I'm carring several devices to show to mobile operators and partners and for some reason one of them had the alarm set for 6AM. Those devices were spread around home as I was charging most of them to get ready for another trip.

So the device goes beep beep, I wake up and think to myself... "no... maybe it's just a text message or voice mail notification...". Beep, beep... "Ok, it is the alarm!". At this point my wife is already asking me what is going on and I get up to turn it off. Now comes the hardest part, how do you find the private device that is beeping while very, I mean, very sleepy??? There I go from device to device until I locate the one causing me trouble.

It ended up being the HP iPaq hw6515, which was not only beeping but vibrating as well... Alarm turned off and back to the bed wondering why it was scheduled to beep at that time - that's something I will never know.

Tags: [Windows Mobile]