New Camera

So my old camera, an Olympus Ultra Zoom is busted. There seems to be some sort of short in the power supply, but regardless of how simple the issue may be to fix, it's a $175 flat rate to repair, plus shipping. It's a nice camera, and it's decently new (though not new enough to be under warranty), but at that price, it's simply not worth fixing.

I wanted to be able to take pictures last weekend when we ran the game, since I was going to be at the start site and the end party, and Linnsey was going to be staffing a number of clue sites.
I've also been meaning to learn how to take much nicer pictures. So I caved and bought a Canon Digital Rebel XT, which was recommended to me by several friends, as well as half the goddamn internet. It's a digital SLR, 8 megapixels, 7 point auto focus, a few thingymajigs, some whosamawhatsits, and I think, if I can navigate the menus right, that it will make me some toast as well.

I have no clue how to work this thing! But you can see my pictures anyway! Here's my picasa gallery!

Terrarium Fun

Many of you may remember a goal I set in a previous post: "after May 19th, I plan to ... tak[e] on any side projects for a minimum of 2 months." Well, I am happy to report that I have kicked off the voracious pet project undertaking by building a terrarium out of my leaky 20 gallon tank. I have posted some pictures in a picasa album. For those of you familiar with the layout of our apartment, the terrarium has replaced our TV, which we no longer need now that I have a nice projector.

For anyone interested, some good instructions for building terrariums can be found here. The plants in my terrarium are:

• Maidenhair Fern (back left)
• Big leafy plant whose name escapes me and whose plant tag thingy I can't seem to find (back middle)
• Pink Polka Dot Plant (back right)
• African Violet (front left)
• Button Fern (front middle)
• Blue Star Creeper (ground cover)

I selected the plants both for looks and because they should all do reasonably well in slightly moist, medium light conditions. I also put in a frog decoration and a couple pieces of deadwood I picked up at the local fish store. Since it used to be my fish tank, I have a hood that fits and a nice bulb that mimics solar light. Add water, close the top, put the light on a timer, and it should go for months without maintenance!

On a somewhat related note, I've already started porting my comics script to python, I'm researching names for when I open source my puzzle solving scripts (Pyzzle is already taken), and Linnsey and I are discussing where and when we want to have our wedding. Yay for staying busy!