The Penalty Box

Canon recently came out with a new DSLR, the EOS 450D (better known as the Rebel XSi).  It’s the next generation of the Rebel series which have been pretty good already with the XT and XTi.  Now I want it.  Street price will be about $799 USD in the States, $899 kit.  So probably about $1000 here body? I dunno, most of the photography nerds I know say the body isn’t as important as the lenses; “spend it on glass” as they say.  But the sensor on the new 450D looks so awesome, along with the custom menus and spot metering system.  What say you, camera nerds? Yeah or nay?
Also, this is…um…interesting? Yeah, let’s go with that.

Dumbass - Bicyclist who decided it was a good idea to cut off a bus at 30 kph.  Perhaps he’s good enough to make such a maneuver regularly, sorta like those crazy Richmond drivers that drive way better than anyone.  But really, it’s dumb enough to cut off a bus in a CAR.

Disappointment - John Ferguson Junior gets fired as GM of the Toronto Maple Leafs.  Shame really, I rather enjoyed his puzzling free agent signings and bumbling trades for #1 goaltenders.  It’s refreshing to see there’s actually a team with a worse draft record than the Canucks in the last 15 years.  Granted, part of his failure stemmed from terrible ownership forcing him into some bad decisions (like signing Tie Domi), but it was funny all the same.

Hilarity at another team’s expense - Cliff “Draft Shmaft” Fletcher gets hired on an interim basis to replace John Ferguson Junior.  This guy got fired from the PHOENIX COYOTES (for those that don’t follow hockey, the team sucks.  A lot.  Mostly due to bad management).  He fits right into the “trade youth for aging veterans” mantra the Leafs have been chanting since 1993.  In other words, continued laughter in the general direction of Toronto.  Huzzah!
Weird idea - Maple syrup diet.  You read that correctly.  This was something one of my co-workers talked about, at lunch break of all times.  Apparently you’re supposed to eat nothing but maple syrup for two weeks and you can lose some ludicrous amount of weight.  Problem is, the only that reminds me of is the scene from Super Troopers.

Word - Grubbles.  I heard it from Tanya and thought it sounded neat.

Quote - Something said from one co-worker (male) to another (female): “Oh, you decided to dress pretty for once! (Pause) Wait, that didn’t come out right…” Open mouth, insert foot.

The tech world was abuzz today because of Steve Jobs’ keynote address at Macworld.  I wasn’t nearly as bored compared to last year, when the iPhone was introduced at the keynote, so I wasn’t following along on the live feed.  Last year, the hype was the iPhone and how cool it would be.  Certainly, it has some neat features, but to be honest, it’s a terrible phone and I’d rather have the non-phone functionality of it with a better battery life.  And, you know, without the standard Apple Markup(tm).

This year, the buzz surrounded the rumoured Apple ultraportable.  Macbooks are decent and all, but I’d like my next hardware cycle to consist of a desktop and an ultraportable/pocket PC type device.  Ultraportable for the Macbook line (dubbed “Macbook Air”) seems nifty, but the end result was less than stellar.  The aesthetics and general “gush & awe” features made it look appealing initially (stupidly thin, awesome screen) but the practicality aspect once again took a back seat (13″ screen which is big for an ultraportable, non-solid state for a non-stupid price).  It’s also $1800, which is a $400 markup over similar products like the Fujitsu Lifebook series and the Lenovo Thinkpad X61s series, and $1400 includes >1 year warranties for those two.  Okay so you made a Macbook thinner.  Not exactly the point of being an ultraportable.  The Internet was, predictably, awash with MBA news, but I did stumble upon this gem.

I’d like to see something like the eeePC, but with a 9″ or 10″ screen and at least 6 hours battery.  Currently, the eeePC stands at 7″ screen (which I suppose I could live with if absolutely necessary) and a 3 hour battery life (this is the killer for me, because an ultraportable is supposed to sacrifice features for weight and battery life).  Asus has retracted anything about a 10″ eeePC, but if the 7″ series sells well, rumours are they may come out with the 10″ sometime this year.  I’m not looking to spend a large amount on this thing either, because it’s essentially going to be an Internet surfing/very light coding/e-book reading tool.  Since I’m not in school anymore, I don’t really mind that my main machine is chained to a desk; when I’m on the go, I’m doing other stuff now, not really working.

I’m willing to wait a few months to get a good ultraportable.  In the meantime, anyone have recommendations on the current crop? I’m looking for 6+ hours battery life, ~10″ screen, <$1200 total (taxes, warranty etc), < 3 lbs, no optical drive, SSD preferable but not absolutely necessary, Linux compatibility, good wireless connectivity.
In other areas of technolust, my desire for a DSLR seems to rise and fall.  My current camera does a good job for everything except low light conditions.  That’s when I’d really like the directional flash and low aperture lenses that come with a DSLR.  It hasn’t been very good photo taking weather this winter, aside from the one or two days of fresh snowfall and the odd clear day.  I might yet again be browsing for a DSLR sale in the flyers come summertime, when the weather yields some fantastic nature shots.