Photos Around Austin

 Today was a good day to drive around Austin and get some good photos.  Here are some prime positions I located to get some shots of the state capital building, the UT tower and others.

Gmail Displaying the Incorrect Time

Are the messages in your Gmail account showing the incorrect time stamp? Mine were. But the situation was weird. Here’s how I fixed it.

I have two laptops. The “primary” system displayed the time in Gmail just fine. When I got home and used the other system (which I used less frequently), the time stamp of incoming mail was one hour off. The “help” on Google was not exactly what I was looking for. It lacked specificity.

To fix the problem, I made sure the clock in Windows was correct. I had not turned this system on since the last time change. I synchronized it with one of the time servers.

Next, I made sure all of the time zone settings in Gmail were correct.

Next, REBOOT. If you don’t reboot, it won’t work. I hope this helps. I would have never thought you would have to reboot after the time was correctly set in Windows and Gmail. I was wrong.

Lakeway, Texas City Park

I took these photos yesterday at the park in Lakeway, Texas. City Park provides 64 acres of beautifully maintained parklands for the residents of Lakeway and their guests. The park is located at 502 Hurst Creek Road and can be reached by water from Hurst Creek Cove on Lake Travis. City Park is also a wonderful place to relax. Sit on the beach and people watch. Stroll in the wildflower meadow. Identify the different species of trees and other native plant life.

Wolf Camera

Two months ago, I felt the need to upgrade my camera gear. I went to the Wolf Camera store at 40th and North Lamar in Austin, Texas. I knew which camera I wanted. The Sony Alpha A100 was at the top of my list after seeing the quality images my old friend Jay takes on a weekly basis with his Sony Alpha A100. To make a long story short, I bought that camera and a couple of lenses. I was (and still am) in heaven with this camera.

Now it’s two months later. I am seeing a streak in the bottom left quarter of all my photos. It looks like someone with oily fingers has tried finger-painting on my pictures. Perhaps there was something on the lens.

After cleaning both lenses very well and taking some test shots, the streak is still there. After consulting with a friend who knows a hell of a lot more about cameras than I do, he tells me that the streak is probably on the CCD, and under no circumstances should I attempt to take the thing apart and fix it myself. That probably means that I send it back to Sony, right? Not so fast.

I called the store where I bought it and described the problem. They agreed that it was probably the CCD, and if it was just some condensation or a piece of lint or debris stuck to the CCD, they can probably take care of it. I took the camera to them at lunch in hopes of getting it fixed.

Not only did they not charge me for a service that is normally $99.00, but they got my camera working like new again. The pictures are as crisp and clear as they were when I first got the camera. Granted they did nothing more than blow some compressed air into the camera to dislodge the debris, but the level of concern and customer service was excellent.

I found this camera for $50.00 less at a different store a couple days after I bought it. They told me they’d refund the difference, but I never had time to go do that. In the end, I am glad. Good customer service is still worth something. On top of that, I don’t have to send my camera to Sony where it will spend two or three weeks getting a 10 second repair