gmf journal

Product Review: Canon PowerShot S90

Posted on May 23, 2011May 23, 2011 by georgefattell

I bought my Canon PowerShot S90 one year ago and it has been a great camera. At $399.00 it was on the upper end of the price spectrum for a point and shoot, but it was well worth it imo. The S90 takes outstanding pictures, but it is small and light.

Canon actually retired the S90 several months ago and replaced with the S95, which is basically an S90 with a few new bells and whistles, including the ability to shoot HD video.

I’ve taken hundreds of pictures with the camera and it has proven to be quite durable. The enclosure is all metal and I’m glad it is because I’ve dropped the camera a few times on hard surfaces from a height of three to four feet and it has not suffered any damage.

On a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being best) I would give this camera an 8.

Here are several of my favorite pictures from the last year, including a few night shots. I think one of this camera’s strong points is that fact that it takes great pictures in low light conditions.

Christmas Snow Storm in Easton, PA. 2010.

Hollywood & Vine Metro Station — Los Angeles Metro Station at Hollywood & Vine

F-22 at Nellis AFB. Las Vegas. Nov 2010.

View of Mission Bay and the Pacific Ocean from Kate Sessions Park, San Diego.

NBA Playoffs: Western Conference Finals

Posted on May 18, 2011May 19, 2011 by georgefattell

Dallas vs Oklahoma City: I’ll take Dallas in seven games here. OK City should present Dallas with a very formidable challenge, but I think this deep Dallas squad will prevail with home court advantage. I thought the loss of Caron Butler would emerge as a problem for Dallas in the playoffs, but after shutting out the Lakers they have clearly proven they have plenty of offensive firepower. In Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook OK City has two of best young players in the league and I think OK City will be a serious contender for years in to come if they keep those two together. However, I think it is still too early for the Thunder to make it to the finals. Give’em a few years though, they will probably be there.

NBA Playoffs: Eastern Conference Finals

Posted on May 15, 2011May 16, 2011 by georgefattell

Chicago Bulls vs Miami Heat

Hmmm, this is yet another very call. I’m conflicted because the team I want to win is not the team that I think will win. I want the Bulls to win, but I am picking the Heat to win. I expect this series to go at least 6 games.

Chicago’s Derek Rose, the league MVP, has been pretty much unstoppable in the playoffs, and he has carried the Bulls on his back, but I don’t think Rose alone will provide enough offensive firepower to take out Miami. Chicago did win all three games it played against the Heat during the regular season, but Heat are now playing at their best. Miami’s vaunted Big Three (Wade, James & Bosh) are now playing their most well coordinated basketball of the season and spells trouble for the Bulls.

Playoff Prediction Record

So far, my record this year is 6 right and 5 wrong. I also picked OK City to defeat Memphis. We’ll see how that goes.

Update: OK City wins and that makes me 7 and 5.

The Drudge Report adds a few reporters

Posted on May 13, 2011 by georgefattell

What is Charlie Hurt’s Secret? – FishbowlDC.

Looks like Matt Drudge is building his bench by hiring two reporters to contribute to his now iconic Drudge Report (see the story on the link above). I must admit I envy these guys. I would consider that a dream job.

The Supertooth Disco

Posted on May 8, 2011May 10, 2011 by georgefattell

I purchased the Supertooth Disco bluetooth speaker several months ago via Amazon. I’ve used the speaker for a while now, with both my iPhone and my iPad and it works well. I paid around $135.00 for mine, but I see that this model can purchased for as low as $100.00 now on Amazon. There are quite a few small, portable bluetooth speakers on the market now, but I think the ST Disco is one of the best available for under $150.00. It is not the smallest bluetooth speaker out there, but it only weighs about 3 1/2 lbs and it is small enough to easily travel with. It is great for a bedroom, study or a hotel room. It is not a substitute for full blown high fidelity speakers, but with 28 watts I think it delivers good sound. The battery is supposed to be able to last 10 hours, although you can operate it plugged in as well, using the included AC adapter. The ST Disco also comes with a carrying case to help protect it on the road or outdoors.

On a scale of 1 to 5 (5 being best), I would give the ST Disco a 4.

Lamborghini Aventador LP 700-4

Posted on May 2, 2011May 8, 2011 by georgefattell

Well, I’m adding this car to the list of vehicles I will purchase if I win the lottery, or invest in the next Google at the ground floor.

Spec’s:

6.5 litre V12 engine, with 691 hp!!

Weight 3473 lbs

Distribution 43/57% front/rear

Performance: Top Speed 217 mph 0-62 in 2.9 seconds

Cost: $379,900.00

NBA Playoffs 2nd Round Predictions

Posted on May 1, 2011May 1, 2011 by georgefattell

My record for the first round was 5-3. I was wrong about Dallas, Atlanta and Memphis winning. I wasn’t especially surprised by Dallas and Atlanta winning, but #8 Memphis defeating #1 San Antonio was a surprise. The two teams split 4 games during the regular season and I thought it would be a hard fought series, but I also thought SA would raise their game and that the vast advantage in playoff experience they held would give them an edge. Wrong. Memphis wasn’t the least bit intimidated. The young Grizzlies also did a great job exploiting their match-up advantages, which they seemed to have at every position except PG. The Spurs have been on of the best teams in the NBA throughout Tim Duncan’s storied career, but an era may have come to an end with the loss to Memphis

Oklahoma City vs Memphis: I think OK City will win this series, but it won’t be easy. Any team that can take out San Antonio is obviously dangerous. I expect this to go 6 0r 7 games.

Miami vs Boston: Now we get to see if the Heat can really live up to the preseason hype. I do think that James, Wade and Bosh will win at least one Championship, but not this year. I think the Celtics still have edge over Heat because of their experience and overall depth. Boston wins in six.

Los Angeles vs Dallas: LA is seven. Dallas is lacking the services of Caron Butler. Ultra fast PG’s like NO’s Chris Paul usually give the Lakers trouble, but Dallas doesn’t have one. Dallas All Star Dirk Nowitski will be tough and get his points, but LA still has too much talent and they have home court advantage.

Chicago vs Atlanta: I think Chicago has too many weapons for Atlanta. Of course, the big weapon is Derek Rose, the favorite for league MVP. I don’t think Atlanta can contain Rose, esp. since starting Atlanta PG Kirk Hinrich will be one more games with a strained hamstring. Chicago in six.

Film: X-Men First Class

Posted on April 27, 2011June 13, 2011 by georgefattell

When I went to see Atlas Shrugged I had a chance to see the trailer for the upcoming X-Men prequel, X-Men: First Class on the big screen.

They have decided to try to reboot the series with a prequel which explains the 1960’s origins of the X-Men and I think the trailer looks pretty cool.

I like the 1960’s setting and the cold war background. Check out the 1960’s weapons. I love the totally sci fi, highly modified, version of the SR-71 Blackbird that the X-Men use, which seems to have a cargo bay and VTOL capability. Now that is imaginative.

Of course, a good trailer never guarantees a good movie. There are many examples of that. A fairly recent example would be Ironman II. That film had a great trailer, but was nowhere near as good as the first Ironman and was a big disappointment imo.

Film: Atlas Shrugged

Posted on April 26, 2011April 26, 2011 by georgefattell

I saw the much anticipated film version of Atlas Shrugged a few days ago, which was based on the classic Ayn Rand novel of the same name. Overall, I thought the film was very good. It was a made on a relatively small budget ($15 million) and features what could fairly be described as a B rate cast, but I found the film entertaining and thought provoking. Some of the dialogue is a bit stilted and even a little corny in some parts, but the actors do a good job of playing their roles with great conviction. I thought Taylor Schilling, the actress who played the Dagny Taggart, the protagonist of the film was especially good. She really commands the attention of the viewer when she is on screen.

Unlike most films Hollywood is turning out these days, this film examined some serious issues. It has something important to say about the role of government and the danger that oppressive rules and regulations can pose to a free society.

I gave the film a 7/10 rating on IMdB.com.