Trackitback

A local Zellers store is having liquidation sales of everything in the store.  I was browsing through some electronics the other day--not planning to buy anything--when I came across this "trackitback" package.  It's just a sticker you are buying, physically, but the sticker allows someone who found your lost camera to return it back to you.  Each package costed $9.97 but as Zellers is closing this store, they reduced the price down to $5.00.  On the day I was there, they further reduced it down to $1.  I picked up all three that remained.  I don't hope my $3 investment will pay off big time but just in case .... :-)

BUT ... I was just checking out trackitback.com this morning.  Their website was down.  Does that mean they are out of business or the website is just down?  I hope for the latter.  Trackitback is a good concept, assuming everyone is honest.

Addendum:  Uhh ... it looks like the company got disbanded earlier this year--why the heck was Zellers still be carrying their product!!??  See it for yourself:  http://www.wbrettwilson.ca/dragons-den-deals/trackitbackcom-inc/#/dragons-den-deals/trackitbackcom-inc/

Practice makes perfect

This old adage ... why is it that people don't follow it?  I talk the talk but don't walk the walk.  Just the other day, I was shooting a graduation event outdoors.  I did not think much about the event, only knowing that it would be outdoors.  I should have given it some more thoughts and prepare myself through the process, thinking of the different scenarios I might face and know how to dial my camera settings for the respective scenes.  Well, I did not, and so, I was shooting and thinking at the same time, how do I set the camera on high-speed sync with the flash gun!  I know there is a setting but as I scrolled through the menus, I realized I should have practiced the shots beforehand.  I gave up the search for the setting because I just did not have enough time.  It was hours after the event had concluded I started the remember--right, high-speed FP sync is not available in aperture-priority mode (which I was using)!  I had to switch to manual or shutter-priority mode.  Well, I will try to remember to practice before an event next time.

QNAP TS-109 Pro II

My 600GB NAS that I built with Slackware Linux on an IDE-CF card, has been running quite smoothly over the last four years.  I have filled it to 83% capacity so far.  I think this NAS can go on for easily another few years by adding another 320GB drive to the RAID-5 array, but will I run it for that long?

The fan has been fairly noise over the last couple of years.  Because the NAS sits in another room, I don't really hear it so it does not bother me much.  Whenever I go into that room however, the noise is quite irritating.  I don't know how guests that are using that room can stand it.  Also, I kinda prefer a GUI interface for controlling the system instead of all command-line now.

Well, today, I decided I would buy a quiet NAS.  I found a QNAP TS-109 II on Craigslist for $165.  I went out last night to pick it up.  The NAS came with a 2TB drive, way more than my current NAS, but there is only one drive.  Eventually, I need to connect an external drive and configure the NAS to auto-sync to it (i.e., creating a RAID-1 system.)  Soon, my current NAS will be decommissioned .....

One note about the QNAP TS-109 II ... this NAS is Linux but does not support NFS out of the box.  However, I found an article that talks about hacking the NAS so it appears as a QNAP TS-109 Pro II, which will show the NFS option in the menu.  I followed the simple instructions and now got NFS shares running.  George Zhu's blog was where I found the instructions:  http://george.insideiphone.com/?p=614.

In case George Zhu's website is no longer accessible, I am copying and pasting the relevant instructions here:

1. SSH onto your TS-209 II, then enter:
   
   mount -o loop /dev/mtdblock5 /tmp/config
   cd /tmp/config
2. Now edit autorun.sh, add the following lines:
   
   ln -s /sbin/config_util /sbin/set_hwtype
   /sbin/set_hwtype 2
3. Then unmount the partition:
   
   cd /
   umount /tmp/config
4. Reboot

The instructions are for the TS-209 II but it works for the TS-109 II as well.  (I noticed a number of people use WinSCP and other tools for editing autorun.sh.  I just used the built-in "vi" editor to create the file--yeah, the autorun.sh did not exist--and set its permission with "chmod u+x autorun.sh".)  There is a second method mentioned in the blog but the first method seems to work just fine.

So now, I am going to order a 2TB external SATA drive and will connect it to the TS-109 Pro II NAS.  I think I will start shooting in RAW mode from here on since I have so much more space for RAW storage now.

Pec-Pad for sensor wet cleaning

After reading many articles on the web about the Pec-Pad wipes, I am convinced the Sensor Swabs used to perform web cleaning of the CCD/CMOS sensors are just way over-priced.  Pec-Pad wipes will do and have done very well cleaning sensors over many years.  I just started using the Copper Hill method a week ago, and I am quite pleased with the result.  While I cannot recommend it to anyone, because of liability issues, I will certainly keep on using it for my own cleaning.  (Sending my camera in to Nikon for wet cleaning will easily set me back $50, and that's not yet including shipping and handling charges.)

The oddest things I found though ... I cannot find the Pec-Pad wipes on Henry's website.  In fact, there are only two sources for Pec-Pad wipes I can find in Canada:  on amazon.ca and at Vistek's.  The Pec-Pad 100 4x4 package sold through amazon.ca would cost me over $20 including tax and shipping.  I will just drop by Vistek's to pick one up for about $15 including tax.

It really sucks if you live too far away from a major city and would have to order these items online in Canada, but it sure beats $50 and time lost leaving your camera with Nikon.  If you follow the Copper Hill method however, just know it's not sanctioned by Nikon/Canon, so do so at your own risk.