Cheap China Batteries for Canon 5D and 7D

I bought a couple of Li-ion batteries from a Chinese vendor on eBay for about $20 for charger and batteries. They came in about 12 days.
This vendor had good feedback from other Canon EOS purchasers who bought these batteries, so I thought I would give it a try.
Upon careful inspection the charger looks cheaply made. The contacts to charge the battery are thin tin or some other material. I had to straighten them out some with needle nose pliers.
The batteries also have cheap contacts. What is disturbing about the contacts is they are not 'all contact' contacts, but rather two plates with two small pin size dimples pointing inward. I tested it to see if they were sharp by running an exacto knife in them and seeing it the blade was scratched. It wasn't, but I wanted to be sure before I stick these things in my 7D. I don't say this is the best test as blades are pretty hard metal and hard to scratch anyway.
The next thing I did after charging them up was check the voltage. 5D and 7D runs off of 7.4VDC. These batteries were measured at 8.4VDC even though they are listed as 7.4VDC. I'm hoping and thinking there is overvoltage protection in the 7D. One would think this high end circuitry would have that. It may be also that the voltage will drop to something more the 7D and 5D uses upon receiving it's load.
I have not put them in my camera yet, but I will since I haven't heard of any trouble from other users on them.
It's a risk I know, but so is life.

Studio4 Productions Focus Puller or Indifocus

I have a Canon 7D DSLR and love it. But the challenge with any HD video machine with great DOF (Depth of Field) is keeping the focus where you want it.
Hence, the onslaught of 'Focus Pullers' as they are called. Mechanical devices that help you do the job of focusing.
After looking at several focus pullers I came to the decision to try the Indifocus Focus Puller made by Studio4 Productions.
The first problem I had was getting the item. It took about 4 weeks to get the item. During that time they never answered one email on the status. I created a 'chargeback' issue with PayPal of which Studio4 Productions never responded to. I was about to close the case when it finally showed up. Still no email correspondence with Studio4.
My first impression was "This is a pile of junk". After looking it over it is a conglomeration of off the shelf parts that probably cost about $20 which I don't have a problem with, but the main issue is the operation. First of all, the gear that operates the toothed belt that goes around your focus ring does not mesh. The gear tooth spacing and the belt spacing have a different pitch. They could have said "put a rubber band around your focus ring" and it would have worked better that this toothed strap which looks like it came from a car power window rack and pinion system. Second, the 'strap' that goes around your focus ring is very stiff, is almost impossible to securely fit on the focus ring (which by the way you have to attach foam pads to the strap or it will not work at all and they are cheap).
The other issue I have with this is the block that attaches to your rods is rough sawed metal that looks cheap as hell and is about as heavy as lead.
So my second impression after trying to make this work was, "Yep, this is a pile of junk". I have no hope of contacting them and returning the item as they say on there website they may or may not accept returns and as they have not replied to me by email on the shipping issue, I'm not going to waste my time. I'm also not going to put this junk on someone else by selling it on eBay. What I'm going to do is dump it in the trash, look up at the sky and say, "Dad, you were right. If you buy cheap, you buy twice."
I'm off to find a decent focus puller. Enjoy my $200 or so bucks Studio4. Have fun selling useless junk to other filmmakers.

Where To Start With Applescript

I want to record my adventure with learning Applescript.
The Apple manual says to first begin with "Getting Started With AppleScript".
Where was that? I couldn't yet find it. But I have found several good places to start.

First is the Mac Library volume "Introduction to Applescript Overview" here:
http://17.254.2.129/mac/library/documentation/AppleScript/Conceptual/AppleScriptX/AppleScriptX.html

"Applescript the First Step" here:
http://www.macosxautomation.com/applescript/firsttutorial/index.html

Then the Applescript Wiki here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AppleScript

And last but not least the Applescript forum here:
http://discussions.apple.com/forum.jspa?forumID=724

Funny how people go off the deep end.

So, I asked for a voice over person on Craigslist for a project.
They said they would "love to talk to me", then never called.
So I wrote back and this is what I wrote:

"Evidently you wouldn't 'love to talk to you', or you would have called.
Actions speak louder than words missy."

And this is what Sara Garofalo of Voice Tech wrote me:

"Actually, I don't want to deal with uneducated garbage like yourself. Clearly, you're unable to write properly (grammar). Let me correct you so next time you speak to an educated woman, you can appear at least somewhat educated. Here we go, big boy. You ready?
"Evidently, you really didn't "love to talk to me". Otherwise, you'd have called.

Actions speak louder than words, missy."

Seriously, dude, how about getting some education and getting a real job so you don't have to spend your days and nights looking for Taylor Smith sound-alikes? Why not go get at least an AS degree? $50 says you reside in a trailer park and another $50 says you're a smoker.

I mean, what kind of loser says "missy?" Clearly, you're from the south (Florida) and, clearly, I'm not. Again, how about going out and getting educated so you can get yourself a real job instead of scouring the Internet for women? I showed interest; your move should have been to invite me in for an interview. Anyone with a brain would have figured that one out. Now, do I need do draw conclusion #2 or have you caught on at this point?

On that note, as much as your big boy ego wants to reply to this email you'll never be able to do so. I have already blocked your email address. I'm sure you'll be needing some way to retaliate, so how about putting all that fury and rage into obtaining a degree? Or, if you can't handle that how about maybe just heading straight out into the work force and working for McDonald's?

Oh, and of course, big hugs and big kisses MISTER :)

Sara G."



Funny how some people get bent all out of shape when call them 'missy', hehe.

Sardines with Chemical Smell

I just had to write about this.
I like Sardines, but the latest batch of Brunswick Sardines in Olive Oil had such a putrid chemical/cleaner smell on the outside, I could not eat the fish inside. When I opened the can, all I could smell was that cleaner smell.
I am going to take them back to the store. Something is not right.
The code on the can was H8X1 315Q.

3DMagix rips of Blender

3DMagix is out to charge for what is already free. 3DMagix is nothing more than Blender 3D repacked, repackaged, and sold for $47.
Blender is free and be found at http://www.blender.org
For more information about the 3DMagix scam read about it here:
http://www.blendernation.com/2009/06/11/3dmagix-re-branding-and-selling-the-free-software-blender/

Blender is the most amazing free 3D software available comparable to other programs costing $3,000.00 and more. I love Blender. I have donated to Blender. I am a Blenderhead.
Long live free Blender.

FireFox Crashe a lot

What's up with FireFox 3.0.1? It used to be the best browser. Now with Gmail and CNBC it seems to crash a lot. The crash reporter sends out a report each time.
Has Google reconfigured their Gmail to not work well with FireFox enticing people to jump to Chrome? Is Google taking a play out of the play book of Microsoft?
And with CNBC I just think it is crappy code with Active X, but I don't have proof of that.
But Firefox should handle the errors better.
Come on Firefox, don't let me down.