Canon Powershot S2 Digital Zoom

Here is a test picture taken with the Canon Powershot S2 that has gone beyond the normal reach of its optical zoom. This picture is into digital zoom range, and its not good. Not many cameras are though, even much more newer models. It is so much harder to control the camera shake, and the chances of taking a photo that comes out blurred are very high.

The cat is a stray, but I call him Toby. He's a little ruffian, fighting any cat that is unfortunate enough to wander into his territory. Can't really blame him though, he's never been domesticated, so he's still quite wild in nature. Still, a lovable rogue!

Ripple Effect Water Current

Yeah, I've gone camera crazy. Been playing with some cameras lately and decided to take some pictures of random stuff. This is an image of a pond. The pond looks like its been man made. It has a tough black sheet-like material underneath. The wind was blowing hard and it created a ripple effect in the water. Here is the underwhelming picture.

Pictures can win prizes. But mine never have! Maybe one day.. But, to be honest, I never post my "good" photos here, I only put my worst here. Sorry. This is one of my "anything", random crap blogs.

Messing Around With The Canon Camera

Just messing around with an old Canon camera again. This time taking pictures of some blue / purple / yellow flowers. Is that blue or purple, I don't really know! Looks more purple-ish. Am I colourblind.. I don't think so. Anyway, this was in super macro mode, but it doesn't seem so close to me. Looks like normal "macro". Do you know the name of the flowers? Comment below.

Red Flower - Old Canon Powershot 5mp

Messing about with my old camera - a Canon Powershot S2 IS 5 mega pixel. Check out my rubbish picture of a red flower. Actually, looking at it here, it's not that bad. This was in super macro mode. Thing is, outside the camera performs really well. But indoors the pictures don't come out so good.

 
But that is the way it is for many digital cameras, even some of the really expensive ones like top-end DSLR's with professional lenses. Don't get me wrong, sometimes I get an absolutely cracking image indoors with the Powershot S2 IS, but that isn't very often. Good old school digital camera though.

Stinging Nettles Picture

Picture of those annoying, and very itchy stinging nettles!. Whats the cure for stinging nettles. Dock Leaves are the best remedy. I should know, I always used to need to use them when I was a little kid, always playing out and ending up in the stingers! Not on purpose of course. But they can catch a person off-guard. Here is the image so you can identify them.

I believe you can actually eat nettles, but they have to be boiled first to get rid of the sting and most probably impurities as well. Never tried them but I'd imagine they'd taste terrible. You never know, though, they may be nice. A picture is enough for me thanks.

I want to watch this film but haven't been able to track it down yet. I love these old Finnish films made by Aki Kaurismäki. I've got Man Without a Past, The Match Factory Girl and Drifting Clouds. I'll get this one soon. Check out the funny clip from the film below.

Aki Kaurismäki's - Ariel - 1988 Scene

Previous Post: How to listen to the Police free online

Listening to the Police Free Online

I love the old radio scanners. Back in the day there was so much to listen to. Cordless phones and live Police frequencies being right at the top of the list for a lot of people. But now, especially in the UK, most of the radio communications have gone digital, which now leaves the old analogue scanners unable to pick up those signals.

But there's a lot of country's that haven't gone digital just yet, and that's what this post is about. As well as there being new ways to listen to scanner frequencies, such as SDR radio, where you typically need an RTL-SDR receiver dongle. These can be picked up on eBay, but obviously you do need to buy it.

The free alternative is to listen for free online. There are many websites that offer this service, but the one that I use is https://www.broadcastify.com/. You can't listen to the UK Police because their communications are now encrypted. But you can listen to many other countries that are still analogue. I listen to USA mostly. In some of the areas where there is a lot of drama, so there's a lot of action to listen to.

Places like Philadelphia, Chicago (Districts 10 and 11 which covers, North Lawndale, South Lawndale, and the Lower West Side; 11th District - Harrison: Serving West Garfield Park, East Garfield Park, and the southern half of Humboldt Park), New Jersey, Detroit and many more. You can listen directly to Chicago Districts 10 and 11 here (Link removed due to Broadcastify removing the feed).

Blood Orange Canon Camera Macro Test

How do you like my camera skills. I'm just testing an old canon camera I got my hands on. A 5mp Powershot S2. I think this was shot in super macro mode, but it look more like your average macro. It seems to be a good oldie digital camera. The only thing that's really annoying is that it takes AA batteries. 4 of them to be exact.

I've got rechargeables in it but they run out so fast that it makes the camera unusable for using when out and about. I could buy some new batteries but I've got other digital cameras I can use which run on Lithium Ion batteries, so can't be bothered to buy new rechargeables just incase they're no better than the ones I'm already using. Shame really, because the old Canon seems quite capable. Although in this day and age Smartphones can definitely beat it. But still. Might post some better pics soon.

Samsung Digimax 530 Broken Screen

Seen this camera for sale on eBay UK. It was going cheap and came with all leads and accessories, so I thought I'd buy it. I like older digital cameras as I find them to be cheap but still very capable. This one was a Samsung Digimax 530. And as soon as I received it I was met with a broken screen. The silly sausage of a seller sent the item in its original box but with no wrapping to stop the camera from moving around while in transport.

I reported the problem to the seller and they gave me a refund. They also let me keep the camera, although it is of absolutely no use with a broken LCD screen. Waste of time. I really wanted to mess about with this camera as well. I'd seen some sample images on Flickr and they looked really good. But more than likely had been edited / enhanced to death. This camera is not worth repairing as it would cost too much for a replacement screen. More than I paid for the camera. And to be honest, I doubt there would be any for sale anyway. Actually I just looked and they are for sale. But like I said, they are more to buy than what I paid for the camera.

Wenger Watch With Analog Compass

Here's another watch that is Swiss made, the Wenger. This brand is very old, found in late 1800's. I never knew this until recently, but Wenger also make Swiss Army Knives. Anyway, here's a quick picture of a Wenger Analogue Watch which has a cool little compass style design at the bottom on the face.



Casio

Raymond Weil Geneve (Automatic) Watch

As a watch brand, Raymond Weil is not as old as I thought it was. The company was founded in the mid 1970's. 1976 to be exact. Compared to brands like Longines, which goes back to the 1830's, Raymond Weil is still a baby. They are a Swiss company that can boast to still being a family run business. Not many of those left these days. They make some nice watches.

NeoCore N1 Latest Model In Stock

NeoCore N1 Review. Few Neocore models are as elusive as the N1. Sometimes there's a few in stock and most of the time its nowhere to be found for sale. At the moment it is in stock on Amazon UK. It's cheaper than the most popular NeoCore Tablet, the E1, which is more expensive because of the higher specification.

But don't let spec fool you. The 2019 model N1 can definitely hold its own. It has everything needed to be a decent little tablet for general everyday use. Great for browsing the Internet, checking emails, social media, very light gaming, Youtube and much more.

N1 from neoCore with a Quad Core CPU and ultra slim design, gives you an impressive tablet at budget price.  10.1 Inch IPS Display (1280x800), Quad Core Processor @ 1.3GHz, 1GB RAM DDR3, Android Oreo Operating System, WiFi, Bluetooth, 16GB storage space,  SD Card Slot (Can hold an additional 400GB), 2 standard cameras front and rear, Micro HDMI, Good battery duration, Micro USB connection, internal microphone and a headphone jack.

It also comes with a 2 year warranty which, considering the price of this tablet, is very generous indeed. Back in stock at the moment. Buy one while you can.

Just to add an update: The N1 is now sold out on Amazon, but is available on the neocore.store website. But, if I was you, I would not buy the N1. On the Neocore website the only N1's in stock are refurbished, and the price isn't that much different to buying a brand new Neocore E1, which has just been upgraded to have 3GB RAM, a more up-to-date operating system (Android 9) and a bigger memory card capacity (half a TB). I would buy that model instead. The N1 only has 1GB RAM. The 2020 E1 is only £20 - £30 more. Find it for sale here. You can read a review on the Neocore N1F here.

Casio Edifice Chronograph Watch Face

Beings as the most popular post on this blog is about a watch (The Pulsar Y182-6B20 Chronograph Watch), I thought I'd post another one. This time its the Casio Edifice Chronograph watch. A very nice sporty but casual analogue watch with an alarm and water resistance to 100 meters.

Thunder Strikes The City Of Chicago

A quick picture straight from the heavens. Thunder strikes the city of Chicago. The landscape shot is nice enough, but is topped off with a lightning strike to the roof of one of the tall city buildings. Nice image. Taken with a Canon EOS RP. Thunder / lightning never strikes the same place twice. Or does it..

Ninetta Boat Image

Nice sea view picture, including a little red and blue boat called Ninetta. This picture was taken with a Olympus Tough TG-4. Cracking camera, very tough, and waterproof!