Chris Ullrich @ micro dot blog

This is pretty cool. People with talent amaze me. I wish I had some. Is being a pain in the ass a talent? Well, if it isn’t, it should be. Or something like that.

Happy Wednesday everyone.

From the “oops” department. Amazon.com accidentally leaked the details of the yet to be released update to the Power Mac G5 Tower. Of course, now they have pulled it. And of course, here’s what it looked like:

Click on the image for a larger view. Too bad, doesn’t seem like much of a bump. I do like dual-layer DVD burning though. I bet Steve J. wishes he hadn’t promised the machines would be to 3Ghz by now. That’s kind of an “oops” too, I guess.

Someone at Amazon is so fired.

If anyone is offended that i have adds and sponsors just realize that the it costs something to maintain a website, even one as modest as this. So, i am just trying to cover that cost, no more. Believe me, I don’t expect to get rich from this site. Besides, who wants to be rich anyway? All that trouble deciding which high-performance car to drive around LA, where we can usually drive no faster than about 20 mph.

Or, the tedium of having to deal with non-Mercedes drivers on the road who simply can’t understand why they can’t change lanes at the last second, without a signal, while talking on the phone and reading the newspaper. The fact that people get upset and sometimes even make obscene gestures must be so emotionally taxing on the rich that they spend thousands of dollars pouring their hearts out in therapy. I feel bad for them. Really I do. But, its their own fault.

I’m not rich. Probably never will be. So, please don’t give me a hard time about a few adds. Besides, the girl from Busted Tees is cute, right? Anyway, the actual purpose of this post was to introduce you to another sponsor who I personally use and recommend to everyone who uses Photoshop and has a digital camera.

I’m talking about, of course, Mr. Fred Miranda. So, click on the link at the left that says “FM Software” to go to his site for the best Photoshop actions and plugins out there. I use them and recommend them to my clients all the time.

Now to go to the vault and count my money again.

I was wondering what my problem was. (besides the obvious). Apparently, if you check your email too often your IQ begins to drop. More so than if you smoke weed (aka pot, gonja, mary jane . . . you get the idea).

Here’s the info about that. Although, this study was apparently done in England so who knows. Really, what do the English know about good weed? Oh well, I don’t smoke and I have tried to curtail my constant checking of email. I’m trying not to get stupid.

At least I went to an interesting party last night. Some details. The party was at the home of my managers (yes, i have managers. and an agent and a lawyer too. fun.). They invited a bunch of people, mostly actors, to come over and have drinks, snacks and good conversation. I went with Mr. Tony Mark as the wife and his girl were not interested in “networking”. So, we went, had a few drinks, walked around, talked to people, etc.

The interesting thing about the evening to me was how many of the actresses that were there were 19 years old. I spoke to at least four and they were all 19. And, all of them were from somewhere else (Seattle, Oregon, Texas, wherever) and they had all moved to LA in the last few months. Plus, they all seemed really interested in what I had to say. Which is, of course, a good boost to my already healthy ego. You need that now and again, even if deep down you know it can’t be real.

Now, I know I’m interesting and all and what I say is really interesting and important but come on, I’m not that cool. Only 19, just here off the bus (or whatever) and they already know how to play the game. You gotta love LA.

In my quest to chase the latest and greatest electronics, I have picked up a new Digital SLR. I have decided to make a giant leap and switch to the Canon 20d (at least until Nikon comes out with something even cooler). Although I have loved my Nikon gear for lo these many years, the Canon 20d offered me features and improvements over the Nikon D100, my usual DSLR, that I really wanted to take advantage of.

I am working on a full-blow review of the 20d and comparison with the D100 which will posted soon. I want to get a feel for the Canon and use it before I talk about it too much. However, I will say that right out of the box, it was a quick trip from pulling off the protective wrapping until I was shooting some, what I consider, pretty decent pictures. Especially when printed on the Epson 2200 using the Imageprint RIP. I will also get more into digital workflow and color correction, photoshop and all that other fun stuff as well. Questions like “what is a RIP and why do I want one?” That kind of thing.

As always, I will make the disclaimer that I am not the typical user for this or any other piece of sophisticated electronics. For me, it was easy to get going. For others, especially if this is your first time with a DSLR, it might take a little longer. However, the manual is pretty good and there is also a “quick start” guide which helps as well so don’t be intimidated.

Obviously, both Nikon and Canon make even more powerful and expensive DSLR cameras. If I had unlimited funds or was a professional photographer, I would most likely have those cameras too. But here, I will not be talking about those. This will strictly be a comparison between what is know as “prosumer” devices. Although, some would argue that while the D100 is definitely “prosumer”, the 20d could be considered more in the “pro” area. For my purposes, they are both “prosumer” cameras and will be taken as such.

Look for the new review soon.

I want to extend a laurel and hardy handshake and welcome the good people of Busted Tees. They are graciously putting a link here so that you folks can click through and order some of their cool shirts. So, click away and go get yourself something pretty or funny (or both!) to wear.

The link is right there on the left. Click on the cute girl in the tee shirt just like the one above. That shouldn’t be so hard to see. I wanted to make it easy for you. I’m cool like that.

I didn’t think it was possible but I guess it could be. To tired to have sex? What’s the world coming to? How will we keep the population going? Is this the end?

New Pope. Now with 20% fewer calories than regular Pope.

Did you remember to file? I did. Unfortunately, all I do is pay and pay and pay. I need more deductions next time. Now, what can I buy?

Apple announced Tiger (aka OSX 10.4). Tiger will actually be available on April 29th at 6pm. Expect some lines at the Apple stores. Apple loves to see lines at the stores.

Feel free to click on the link at the right if you want to get your copy of Tiger from Amazon. They are taking pre-orders right now. Clicking on the link would be a nice thing to do. I think I make about a penny every time someone clicks on something here and buys it.

A few billion more clicks and I can retire.

My personal favorite chefs, Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger, are in the running for a very important job: Executive Chef(s) in the Whitehouse (yes, THE Whitehouse). Juliette Rossant, of Forbes Magazine, started the campaign. Cribbed from her blog:

In February 2005, superchefblog brought the idea of White House guest chefs to public attention; cooking duo Mary Sue Millken and Susan Feniger won, announced on March 1. Less than a week later, Women Chef and Restaurateurs (WCR) brought the idea of a woman as full-time executive chef at the White House to public attention. Superchefblog feels responsible for setting this in motion (see previous article): it seems high time to get some actual names out as well. So, superchefblog is running another poll, this time to vote for who should be the first woman executive chef at the White House.

Her goal is to get hundreds of thousands of votes by the end of this month when the contest ends, and she says, “I think the White House will listen – this is going to be really big.”

I think it would be really cool, especially as the wife works with Mary Sue and Susan every day (she produces their radio show for KFI here in los angeles and SO much more).

Lincoln bedroom, here we come!

I’m not sure if I am going to try this or not. Sleeping is fun for me. To only do it for three or four hours in a twenty-four hour period seems bad.

What would my favorite doctor, Fergie, say, I wonder? (i like to call her Fergie. and no, its not the redhead princess that shills for weight watchers). She would probably tell me its a bad idea but who knows, maybe its just what i really need.

I’m not sure if I am going to try this or not. Sleeping is fun for me. To only do it for three or four hours in a twenty-four hour period seems bad.

What would my favorite doctor, Fergie, say, I wonder? (i like to call her Fergie. and no, its not the redhead princess that shills for weight watchers). She would probably tell me its a bad idea but who knows, maybe its just what i really need.

These are the top ten must-haves. At least according to CNet. And here they are. Two Apple products on the list. Not bad for a company that was supposed to go out of business a few years ago.

Also, I am working on the second part of the Treo 650 review so stay tuned and thanks for reading.

The Pope has died. He was 84. No matter what your religious affiliation or lack thereof, he was a great humanitarian and leader to many people. When one of the good guys goes, I feel like I should say something. So . . .

Rest in Peace J.P.

This is great. Harold Feld of the Media Access Project blogs about his day watching the Supreme Court as they hear arguments in the MGM v. Grokster case. The “Because you talk too much bitch . . ” quote alone is worth the trip.

Interesting article at the Business 2.0 site on the future direction of Apple Computer. Even if some of it’s true and most isn’t, the future looks good for one of my favorite companies.

“The rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated” – Mark Twain (a “think different” kind of guy for sure)

Bush hits new low in job approval. Maybe he should stay out of private family business and not use the government to try to impose his personal morality? If only the election were next week.

And, on the blatant self-promotion front, be sure to read my articles at LAist. It’s a great site about all things Los Angeles. Check it out (not just for me, it has some other good writers too).

I have several jobs, much like the characters in that “In Living Color” skit. I don’t work in the gift shop, though. (dating myself a bit?). Anyway, one of those jobs is in IT or Information Technology, to the folks who don’t know. I have come across this same problem for many years because we do quite a bit of work with the Macintosh. Although, in truth, we are actually benefitting from this.

We usually get the call because the in-house IT department either can’t or won’t support a user who wants to use a Macintosh. So, good for us. I hope those Windows-only IT slugs never learn about the Macintosh and never want to support it. More business for us. I’m not saying that the Mac is the best thing in every situation. Sometimes, it isn’t.

I have had to make decisions and recommend Windows solutions sometimes when a Mac solution just isn’t in the best interest of the client. Do I wish that the Mac was the best choice all the time? Sure. But that’s just not how it is.