DIY Camera Bag

Tagged as: DIY, Idea, Learn, Photography Jul 15

So I recently purchased a Canon 40D. And there is a whole world of accessories out there. For the first couple of weeks I was keeping my camera in a FedEx bag because it is:

1. inconspicuous
2. cheap
3. slightly padded
4. water resistant

That seems like a pretty good list to me! But alas I knew that it could not last. Unfortunately, bags (from companies that market them as camera bags) are fairly overpriced. Okay they’re not terribly expensive compared to the actual camera, but I rather enjoyed some of the unique aspects of my FedEx bag. I wanted to keep most of its positive attributes without having to bear the shame of actually holding a FedEx bag all of the time. Here is my bag.

First I got:

1. a canvas bag from my local Army/Navy military surplus store, which was a lot less rugged than I would have imagined
2. craft foam and ripstop nylon fabric from JoAnn Fabric and Crafts (the higher quality foam that I wanted to buy online had an unfortunately prohibitive shipping cost that was higher than the foam itself)
3. cardboard from a shipping box that I already had
4. my sewing machine (which isn’t actually mine and which I had never used before this project)
5. velcro with adhesive backing (I already had this)

My idea was to create my own padded inserts to put into the canvas bag. I was going to use the craft foam as the filler, cardboard to stiffen the insert, and the nylon to wrap the whole deal. I made a number of inserts, and each of them had a similar method of creation.

I guess that I didn’t take any pictures of my initial steps, but all I did was measure and cut the desired size of foam, cardboard, and nylon. I cut enough nylon to wrap the foam and cardboard like a present.

Next I pinned the fabric according to how tight I wanted it to be around the foam. I generally was going for pretty tight because I thought that it would give it a more professional appearance. For the most part I think that was correct because I saw other examples of loosely wrapped inserts that people made online that did not look as nice.

I inserted the foam and cardboard into the sewn nylon. This was actually one of the most difficult steps because the nylon was getting sewn with the intent of there being a tight fit. And a tight fit it was! I was able to eventually get all of them into their nylon sleeves, but some of them were quite difficult.

I then closed up the nylon and pinned it so that I could hand stitch it.

I used (or tried to use) a hidden stitch when I was hand stitching.

So I repeated that process a number of times so that I could have the appropriate number of bag inserts.

My final step was to attach some velcro so that the pieces would hold their form. I’m still working on this step, though, because I have since found that the adhesive on the velcro is insufficient to keep the velcro on the nylon. I am pretty sure that using some kind of glue (maybe even fabric or super) will do the trick.

It’s fairly inconspicuous, modestly priced (total for everything is under $50 compared to over $100 for the bags that I wanted, and I have leftover material), padded, and now I have skills that I didn’t have before!

Inspiration came from:
Wired – How To Make A Stealth Camera Bag
Make Your Own Customized Camera Bag

Barefoot Running

Tagged as: Exercise, Idea, Learn, Personal, Read-It, Seen-Around Jul 10

That title probably gets your attention. As is common knowledge, we need shoes in order to run. Running barefoot is impossible to comprehend. Except…it’s not. There are so many reasons that I have found that compel me to run barefoot. And I figured that now would be a good time to post them here.

I have been running barefoot for over 9 months now. I started off running a few blocks, and I have progressed to now run a few miles a couple of times each week. Yes, it will sometimes be briefly uncomfortable when I step on a pebble, but it is usually gone in the next step. However for most people the thought of pain is enough to prevent them from ever trying to run barefoot. On the other hand, just because I run on the street does not mean that everyone has to.

Running on sand or grass would definitely be more comfortable, but it’s really not that bad running on the pavement (in my opinion). I believe that running barefoot is better, and I want my behavior to be in accordance with my beliefs.

• I was not born with shoes. (Of course I also wasn’t born with clothes, but clothes don’t injure me. If they did, I wouldn’t wear those either.)
• Injuries increase with the price of the shoes according to surveys from runners.
• It’s recommended (by pediatricians) that young children be allowed to walk around barefoot so that they can develop their feet. There must be something there, right?
• By the laws of physics the force of each step when running has to be translated and absorved somewhere. Running sure isn’t hurting your feet. Where does that leave? Perhaps the knees and hips?
• Tough and hardened feet are much more useful than soft tender feet. Soft feet are nice to the touch, but they can’t nearly do what used feet can do. If you had to run away from danger, you can’t exactly stop to put on your shoes.
• Without the artificial support of shoes, your feet need to balance and adapt. That is, the muscles and tendons in your feet will get stronger. It’s similar to why it’s excellent to do exercises without artificial support. You need to balance while also performing the task at hand. And that will make you stronger and strengthen the entire structure.
• There sure are a lot of people from other countries that are awesome runners without the need for shoes. Have you ever thought about that? Not only are they awesome, but they have lower incidence of injury. Just because I wasn’t born in a culture like that does not mean that I cannot become like that!
• I stand for freedom!. I always have, I always will. But it is a different kind of freedom that I feel when I’m running barefoot. It kind of makes me feel like a little kid, and I love that.
• The arch is one of the strongest structures known to man. We use it for bridges to hold up amazing amounts of weight. Have you ever seen an arched bridge have something filling the entire arch? No. That’s because the arch is strongest when there is nothing filling that gap. Surprise, surprise guess where we have an arch.
• One of the most important reason to consider running barefoot is that it makes you more conscious of your running form. So while your form might suffer when you’re running with shod feet, you won’t modify your behavior because it doesn’t manifest itself until years of running have beaten your body down. However you will definitely notice the difference with bare feet. You will not strike your heel. You will land on the balls of your feet. You will be careful of where you go. You could learn how to run with better form from someone teaching you. But that doesn’t mean that you’re necessarily going to change. Pain is a much better way to modify your behavior than mere information. It’s a reminder every step that you need to run correctly.

I run barefoot. I enjoy it.

References:
SportSci – Running Barefoot
The Painful Truth About Trainers
Barefoot Rick – I enjoyed reading some of his articles and thoughts about running barefoot.

Tips For Saving Gas

Tagged as: Learn, Money, Tip-For-Life Jul 16

In these current days of high gas prices (currently around $4.50/gallon where I live), it pays to do as much as possible out of what you have. And while I am not ever going to be a hyper-miler, I can at least do as well as I can. (It’s hard to get superb gas mileage when you drive a truck.)

While I do drive a less than ideal automobile, I am still able to get 20 MPG. And that might not sound too impressive to most people, but for trucks that’s not bad. But besides that, the tips are still good. They’re by no means new, though. But I didn’t just read it on some other site and paste them here. And remember, sometimes it’s just fine to be Coming Up With It Yourself.

1. Minimize Braking – This is of the utmost concern. Some of the other tips could also be generalized to this. Why is braking bad? Well every moment of braking is a moment where energy that was expended by gas is being needlessly lost. That is, you get the most use out of your gas when you’re not braking at all because all of the energy from the gas is being used to power the vehicle. And while this is not feasible with the traffic laws that we have, it’s still a true fact.
2. Coast Into Red Lights – When you see a red light up ahead, don’t continue with your foot on the accelerator! Why are you in a rush to sit at a red light? Instead, take it easy on the accelerator and ride out your momentum.
3. Cruise Control Is Your Friend – For periods of driving that are going to be stop-free, utilize that cruise control. The car will consistently apply gas to continue at the speed that the cruise control is set at. And the car will probably do it better than your attempts at keeping your foot steady.
4. Coast Down Hills – Gravity will accelerate your vehicle down the hill. So put your transmission into neutral (this is more normal with a manual transmission) and let gravity work its magic.
5. Turn Off The Car – Instead of idling, turn the car off when you know that you’re going to be sitting for awhile. While most modern cars are not built to constantly be turned on and off (like at every red light), it’s probably best to turn it off if you’re waiting for someone to run into the store.
6. Proper Maintenance – It’s hard to do your best when your vehicle isn’t up to snuff. So keep up with those oil changes, regularly inflate those tires, and make sure everything is as the manufacturer intended.
7. Slow Down – Probably one of the most important, this has numerous benefits besides gas savings including (but not limited to) overall safety.

These seem simple enough. An added bonus for doing all of this is decreased road rage. You’ll care more about what’s going on with you and your vehicle than you will about how that jerk cut you off. Save a headache, save some money.

Coming Up With It Yourself

Tagged as: Learn Jul 02

Have you ever realized that there are so many things that you do not know? I mean, even besides the things that humanity doesn’t know (e.g. the cure to any of a whole slew of diseases, the details of all of the other planets and galaxies, where Amelia Earhart is), there are things that you just don’t know like how to program a complex program, how DNA works, how to create a bookcase from a tree, how to cook a perfect turkey for Thanksgiving, and the list goes on endlessly.

So in life, we’re always learning. You’ve probably heard that it’s pretty good for you to learn something new everyday. And I concur, that’s a great thing. Having an open mind, being amazed, willing to be taught. It’s all swell!

I’m interested, though, in how there are differences to learning. There is the kind that we learn because someone has taught us (i.e. in the classroom setting at school), but there is also the learning that comes out of a totally different intelligence/mind set. While the former is good, I’m apt to think that the latter is even better.

Newton, Socrates, Einstein among a few all had to come up with things on their own. They used logic, research, and intuition to arrive at the results that we now know all about today. And while there are many things that have been figured out already, it’s still pretty good for someone to separately arrive at the correct solution without having been taught it explicitly. At least I think so.

So do you know anyone that solved the Rubik’s cube without looking at the answer? Yeah me neither. Give the people that figure it out on their own their due.

My Reminder System

Tagged as: Idea, Learn, Tip-For-Life, Useful Mar 14

Remembering something is usually a case of you did or you didn’t. I’ve often found it amusing for things like birthdays when people will say that they remembered, but they just didn’t say anything about it. Really…well that’s hard to imagine.

The thing is, some people have better memories than others. Everyone is different and is able to remember things in different ways. Laugh if you must, but I remember wanting a photographic memory like Cam Jansen when I was a kid. Then I could rapidly flip through books and not need to study! How wonderful that would have been! But alas, my dreams did not come true. Even now I often wish for a better memory.

But just as remembering something is pretty binary (i.e. you did or you didn’t), those of us lacking in the memory department have to make do with what we have. Otherwise we will be mocked. Who will mock, I do not know. All I know is that mocking will occur.

3 Memory Aids That I Use:

1. Remember The Milk

   (RTM for short)

   Besides having a pretty amusing name, this is a website whose sole purpose is to create TODO lists. It’s refreshing for a website to be so singular in its purpose in this day of do-everything-until-we-take-over-your-life websites. In any case, I initially signed up for an account on the site, thought it was cool, and promptly did not hardly ever use it because visiting another site everyday wasn’t too practical.

   But then they developed a Firefox extension that changed that up! They developed an extension for placing an RTM pane whenever a Gmail tab is opened! It maintains the overall look and feel of gmail so you (or at least I) don’t feel like it’s out of place at all. Since I much more often have a browser tab open for Gmail, I was much more able to use the service. And I have. And it’s great!

   The concept is nothing new, you just put in due dates. But since it’s in front of my face at least once a day (since I check my e-mail once a day), it’s actually useful. And it’s on a remote server so I don’t need to worry about losing it or keeping different lists in sync.

   So there are 2 ways to use this baby:

   • Gmail for RTM extension
   • RTM website

   Either will do, just do.

2. Phone calendar

   Okay so I don’t have a smart phone. But that doesn’t mean that my phone is dumb! (Ha…ha…)

   But almost all phones nowadays have some sort of calendar feature. And that’s fine and dandy for checking what the date is. But there is often also the ability to schedule events. So I use my phone (a Motorola, by the way) and put in reminders for certain things that I need to get done.

   This is especially useful when I’m out and about. Often my phone is one of the few things that I’ll carry with me. I could actually text message a reminder to RTM which is cool. But I’ll be honest, I’m cheap when it comes to text messaging. And Verizon charges $.15 per message. For the amount of reminders that I put in for myself, that could get pricey. Haha laugh if you want, but the calendar reminders are free.

3. Google Calendar

   Calendars have been around for ages. The print versions are still quite popular and understandably so. But as computer usage becomes more and more prevalent, we are transferring much of the things that we do in tangible form to things that we can do through using the computer.

   Personally I use the Google calendar, but really there are many such applications floating around. I figure that I already have a Gmail account, so why not. (Of course, this line of reasoning sounds that in my post Google’s Taking Over The World…And I Don’t Like It.)

   Anyways, a nice feature of Google calendar is that I can have it e-mail me before the event occurs. I don’t use the application everyday, but awhile back I input all of my friends’ birthdays. Now it will e-mail me the day before someone’s birthday, so I’ll never egregiously forget a friend’s birthday!

   Granted, it’d be better if I just remembered. It would show that I care more. It’s not that I don’t care. It’s just that I don’t want to make a mistake! It’s my failsafe, if you will.

   • Google Calendar website

Do you have other tips for fellow forgetful fellows (or gals)?