Playing with Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 Lens

July 22, 2010 by · 4 Comments
Filed under: Photography, Tech 

This isn’t meant to be an authoritative review—for that, you can go to Ken Rockwell’s review of the Tokina 11-16mm lens, or any of the other myriad articles that come up in Google (or Bing). I’m just posting some explorations and my own experience with the new lens (new to me that is).

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Twice-Baked Mother Board (or Refried Logic of my MacBook Pro)

July 6, 2010 by · 9 Comments
Filed under: Apple, Coeur d'Alene, Tech 

Refried MacBook Pro Logic Board

Wondering what pairs best with a refried MacBookPro logic board? Well, just in case you were, my suggestion would be a 2008 Viognier from Coeur d’Alene Cellars (full-disclosure: they are a client of mine and they keep me supplied). I would also recommend as an après-bake maybe a Merlot. I happened to have the remains of a 2007 Hogue Genesis Merlot that filled in quite nicely. I needed it as I was In the process of baking my MBP logic board for the second time.

This is a follow-up article to my 4/27/10 Cooking The Books post for those who might be wondering how long a baked mother board lasts…

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Trademark Infringement of Mascot Logo! Texas High School Gets Mauled by Penn State

Buna H.S. infringing on Penn State Nittany Lions logo

Buna H.S. infringing on Penn State Nittany Lions logo on their helmets

Like many high schools with little budget and no clue as to what institutes true trademark infringement, Buna High School in Buna, Texas had been “assured” by a local sportswear vendor that using this cool cougar image would be perfect and different enough than Penn State’s Nittany Lion logo that they would be safe in using it. Not sure what alternate universe this sportswear vendor was in when they were viewing the Nittany Lions’ logo because it was a rip-off all the way to the same color, but I’m sure they felt some sense of protection in the relative obscurity of being a small high school in the middle of Texas (actually they’re closer to the coast, northeast of Houston) that no one would notice that they were using someone else’s registered trademark for their school mascot. But…someone did, and that someone notified The Collegiate Licensing Company (CLC) in Atlanta, GA, who just happens to manage the licensing of trademarked merchandise for many high-profile NCAA schools and is also charged with enforcing the protection of the trademarked Nittany Lions logo of Penn State in particular. A curt Cease and Desist letter was promptly sent to the small high school with the requirement that they immediately remove the logo from all their uniforms, paint over walls with the logo and stop using the logo for any other printed material or clothing.

Penn State Nitanny Lions Logo vs. New Buna High School Cougars Logo

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Random Razor Rant: I Need More Blades In My Razor

June 10, 2010 by · 9 Comments
Filed under: Life 

22 Blade Razor!
I finally caved in and bought a Gillette Fusion 5-blade razor last week. I’ve been using an old Mach 3 for I’ve lost track of how long (at least 15 years!). I’ve been in rebellion against the ridiculously high prices of razors and typically overuse my razors until they start to feel like flesh-ripping weasels. Then I head off to Costco and marvel at the insane thought of paying over $40 for a bazillion-pack of razors and chicken out and go to local supermarket or Target and get a 4-pack for the ridiculous price of $9+. My rebellion may have backfired last week in that I was looking for the cheapest option of blades but let the seductive siren-song of a 5-blade Gillette Fusion tempt me and I determined to get out as cheaply as possible (buying price–not per unit price) and I bought the slick new new razor handle along with two new blades on sale for only $6!

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Cooking the Books (or, Baking My MacBook Pro Logic Board)

April 27, 2010 by · 442 Comments
Filed under: Apple, Life, Tech 

Well, it’s taken me a little while to get this post up—not to mention the fact that its taken me a long while to get any posts up—but I thought this one was worth it just as an encouragement for anyone else who might be dealing with a fried MacBook Pro logic board that is out of the AppleCare warranty coverage. I also needed to get this post up before I forgot most of the details.

As a little background, I put my MBP (17″ 2.5GHz-early 2008, Model A1261 to be exact for you that are searching) to sleep by closing it up for the night, which I’ve done for the past 2+ years with no problems. The next morning I noticed that the glowing power light on the latch release was off and thought it strange and then went to open and wake it and nothing happened. After futilely trying to wake it by varying degrees of banging on random keys and quickly pressing the power button I waited several minutes before I committed to powering it down. After powering it down, I tried to start it back up. While I could hear the hard drive spin up and the optical drive go through its start-up whirrings, there was no start-up chime and no effort to display anything on screen. I tried all the start-up key combinations to start in safe-mode, reset PRAM, start diagnosis—nothing worked. Tried to insert original system install disk and boot from that, all to no avail.

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