I cracked my Dell E1505 LCD screen so I ordered a new screen for $99. Along with the new screen I also ordered the second replacement battery but soon I found out that the old battery was not the problem! The laptop won’t charge the new battery either!! It probably has a faulty motherboard that can not charge.

Dell has the worst laptop and battery, and I won’t buy another Dell laptop!

Since the histogram on DSLR is not real reflection of RAW data, I have been trying to use UniWB method to recalibrate my Sony A700 settings to get a better histogram.

Based on trials and errors, here’re my current settings: Create Style -> Neutral; Contrast -> 0; Saturation -> 0; Brightness -> +3. My UniWB setting is 3900KG9 based on a fully blown out image. Here’s how to set up UniWB.

The histograms (mainly around right side) look closer on camera and in Lightroom (imported without any preset changes).

When shooting a high dynamic range scene, I first get a reading on the main subject and then check both highlights and lowlights (+/- 2-3 stops without clipping); shoot one and check the histogram and adjust exposure to push the highlight to the right side for maximum utilization of camera’s capabality.

I’m also using the zone system for exposure.

The alternative is just using exposure bracketing of +/- 0.5 to 1 stop.

I found myself liking more my Maxxum 7. To make it easier, I also ordered a scanner that converts the negatives/slides into 5M pixel file.

I just tried Kindle for PC. Downloaded a few free books and started reading one of them. However, reading a book on PC does not feel comfortable for me. Kindle for iPad probably will be much better fit for reading.

Reading on PC is better fit for articles or short stories.

I have been playing Call Of Duty 4 online on WII for a while. I was wondering if the online game mixes the different consoles from XBox and PS3 or each console has its own network and only works with same type?