I know that my summer fun has caused me to neglect the blog a bit - but what can I say? I LOVE SUMMER. I've been traveling (check me out at the U.S. Grand Prix and my I ♥ Speed shirt) and spending lots 
of time at the beach (there's little technology allowed at the beach - hands are often full with refreshing cocktails). One of the most amazing days was the 4thofJuly at New Smyrna Beach, where we witnessed the most awesome shuttle launch I've ever seen (and I've seen nearly all of them!). Here's a pic of my friend
Kirk with the shuttle passing over head.
I've got to tell you about Pearl. How better to get around during
the summer if not on a Vespa Scooter?? I got it a few months back, have put a total of
$13 in gas and have logged 450 miles! Get one, just get one. Here's a pic of my Nona - she's 97 - on Pearl.
How about I tell you of the gadgets that are making my summer even more fabulous? This could take a while, so...
First, I was on my way to the beach one day and realized I had
forgotten my camera - I don't go anywhere without my camera. So I
popped into the New Smyrna Beach K-mart planning to buy a "cheapie." My
camera at home (a Fuji F44) which served me very well was starting to
show its age and I figured I could use a back-up anyway. I quickly
thought about what I might want in a new camera. Two main things 1)
one that's regular battery powered as opposed to rechargeable
(traveling with my Fuji and having to bring the cradle along was a little bit of a pain) and 2)
one with a standard memory card that I could pop into anyone's reader
or laptop (the Fuji uses a less popular XD card). With not too much to
choose from I took the Samsung A503 - it is small, uses 2 AA
batteries, the same SD card as my Treo and it was moderately cheap -
$125. The bonus? I had some reading material for the beach. Yes, the
manual - we've gone through this before. RTFM! And I am so glad I did. This little camera has some of the coolest features EVER. The
main thing, which has brought me and my friends to tears with laughter
- are the built in "fun frames". Such as the
"SmartCar to Hell" frame
and the "I ♥ You" frame. Not to mention this Queen of
Tech photo. It takes composite shots, you can
crop pictures right on the camera and the BEST
part? I can take the SD card out, stick it into my Treo and email pics
right away. Imagine, going to see a client or going on a site visit and
being able to send your secretary the pictures back instantly sans a
laptop? (see how I work the business angle back in here?) I've loaded a few pics in an album if you want to see the camera in action as well as some other misc Summer Pics.
What do you get when you cross a video iPod
with an Epson S3 projector and an iBall wireless speaker? THE WORLDS GREATEST AND
PORTABLE HOME THEATRE OF COURSE!! A while ago, I needed a projector, I'm not rich (just an independent trainer trying to get along here) - so I did some research and found this very affordable and very good projector. Which, of course, I really needed for work.
Another day, I decided that I wanted to be able to blast my music around the house, in the backyard and at the beach when I traveled. Enter the iBall. Well the other night, I was showing-off the iBall to a friend, when I noticed it had an S-video connector in the back! I thought there's no way this will work. Well holy crap within minutes we were watching South Park FROM THE iPOD on my wall - HUGE - the quality of the picture made our jaws drop and the sound was AMAZING coming from the iBall. The speakers on laptops and projectors aren't what I consider action-movie quality. One of these days, when I'm bored, I'm going to figure out how best to get a PowerPoint to do this (see that business angle again?).
So, how's your summer going?
