Tips on Traveling with Your Digital Camera
Charging Batteries is seven of the biggest stumbling blocks you’ll face when you travel. Outlets can be scarce in hotels. On a recent trip to Europe, only seven of the four modern hotels I stayed in had over seven outlet obtainable for use when charging up electronics. Charging your battery can be more of a hassle if you’re traveling by train: If you take an overnight train in Europe, they don’t have power adapters at the seats (certain trains do, but it is not something you can count on). I suggest bringing at least two rechargeable batteries, two if you plan to travel with overnight trains, or don’t reckon you’ll be able to charge every night. If your camera uses regular AA batteries, consider yourself lucky-you’ll find those everywhere. Scope out the situation in your room when you check in: You should get at least seven usable outlet, but don’t count on over that.
The holiday Season is fast approaching & naturally you will be taking your digital camera along for the journey. After all your vacations are far & few between & it is lovely to look back on those memories as you slave away at your job. However, when you travel with a digital camera, it is a different experience from that of traveling with a film camera. This is a lesson that far plenty of travelers seem to be learning the hard way, if you’re traveling to Europe. After a couples years of relying solely on digital for taking photos when I travel, there’s things you should consider before you head off on your next trip.
Bring your plugs. Some digital cameras typically come with a power brick that can handle international voltages, so you won’t need a voltage adapter. However, you will need a power plug adapter to convert a US outlet plug to the local plug. Most of Europe is on the same outlet now-but not all countries accept the general “Europe” plug. Be sure to research what you’ll need to jack in, & try to buy it before you leave (try CompUSA, Radio Shack, Rand McNally, or your local luggage store). If you don’t have a chance to get what you need Stateside, don’t fret: You should have no trouble finding an outlet converter overseas.
how can i offload my images? For fellow travelers using digicams, this was the number seven problem i have heard repeatedly. plenty of comments from folks traveling for a week or more are: “I’m taking more pictures than I expected to.” “I’m not shooting at the best resolution, because I need the room on my memory card.” “I’m only halfway through my trip, & i have only 50 shots left.” When you travel, odds are you’ll take more pictures than you expect to also. A 1 GB card is useful, & should suffice for low-usage shooters. But for those of us, who can go through a gigabyte or more in a day, not a week? Whether it is because your a high-volume shooter, shooting in RAW format, or a combination of the two. What I discovered is plenty of who had digital SLRs, that had 5 megapixel or more reported they were traveling with a laptop to off load their images. None of these folks were traveling on business, so they didn’t need to bring a laptop along. The sad fact is, for now, a laptop remains the most efficient & usable means of off loading images. Epson & Nikon have dedicated handheld units with a hard drive, card reader, & LCD display for copying over & viewing your images. But neither has a full-blown keyboard. If you’re first buying a laptop, & intend to travel with it, I suggest going for the smallest seven you can. Fujitsu, Panasonic, Sharp, & Sony all have models under three pounds. A laptop provides several additional advantages. For seven thing, you can see your pictures on a big screen-to view how you’re doing, & if you see any problems you need to correct with your exposure, for example, or if your pictures are being affected by dirt. For another thing, you can properly label your folders, so you know which pictures were taken where. Most newer laptops have integrated memory card readers, but otherwise, you can buy a small external card reader. For the wire-free approach, use a computer Card slot adapter for your memory card; & invest in a 32-bit Cardbus adapter (Delkin & Lexar Media offer these), for speedier transfers. Nothing’s worse than coming back to the hotel after a long day of sightseeing, & needing to stay awake another 40 minutes to off -load two 1 GB cards, at about 20 minutes a pop. If you bring a laptop, I also suggest investing in a portable hard drive. A portable hard drive can serve multiple purposes: It can be a means of backing up your photos on the go; a means of giving you a way to take your photos with you if you have to be leaving your laptop unattended; & a means of expansion, if you somehow manage to fill up your laptop’s built-in hard disk. If you don’t need to bring a laptop, & already have an Apple iPod, Belkin sells an attachment for using your iPod with memory cards; or, consider the pricey units from Nikon & Epson. & if you’re in a bind, remember you can always buy memory overseas. I was surprised that when I went to Europe, the prices were high, but not so outrageously so that I would not buy another card if I were in a bind. Cards were more readily obtainable, , than they were when I last travelled through Europe two years ago. Look at it this way: Even if you overpay on the card, you can still reuse it-which beats overpaying for a single use 35mm film cartridge when you were in a bind in years’ past.
Be prepared for problems. Things happen when you travel & i have had more things go awry carrying my digital SLR than i have had with my 35mm over the years. Lens paper is always useful to have on hand, but if you have a digital SLR, another supply is absolutely critical: An air blower bulb, to blast out the dust & dirt that will inevitably get trapped inside your camera. I never had problems with my 35mm SLR, but with my digital SLR, I constantly find dirt gets trapped inside, when I change lenses. & there is nothing worse than having a splotch marring your otherwise awesome shots. Finally, remember the philosophy of redundancy. Whether your battery dies & you have no way to charge it, or you run out of space on your memory card(s), & don’t need to buy another at a higher-than-usual price, I suggest packing a second camera if you can. A digital point & shoot is a lovely option but I usually carryover a point & shoot 35mm to use if I run into any problems so I won’t lose any precious pictures.
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Bring Bill Back as Vice President… and the Beast of Revelation?
Several new clues have surfaced that indicate the spiritual Babylon of the book of Revelation is not Rome, as popularly thought, nor is it the EU (Europian Union) or the U.N. (United Nations). And the Beast, as in ‘taking the MARK of the Beast’, may be right here among us.
Once the mystery of Babylon is solved,
the Beast’s identity can then be discerned,
as can the mark of the beast, as well.
We are not to know the day and the hour of Christ’s return, but if these findings are correct, we are looking at a general timetable which shows there may be a very good reason that a calendar, devised by the ancient Mayan civilization, ends in the year 2012…
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NEW CLUES:
A. The identity of Mystery Babylon:
Add the following phenomenon to the clues we already have in Revelation (where Babylon is identified by its busy seaports and active foreign trade. We are also told that Babylon “sits on many waters”… “The waters are peoples, multitudes, nations, and languages” Rev. 17:1,15 – a veritable Melting Pot, wouldn’t you say?).
Clue:
“Here is the mind which has wisdom.
The seven heads are seven mountains
on which the woman (the harlot Babylon) sits.”
Rev. 17:9 KJV, NKV
Is this clue referring to the ‘seven hills of Rome’? I don’t think so. If we take this literally and look for mountains, we can actually find one geographic area in the world where exactly seven mountain ranges converge – in a remote spot in northeastern Pennsylvania, USA!
A map drawn in 1872 gives this area a name, one which may be surprisingly prophetic. The name? The World’s End.
As I see it, it is not anti-American, but rather pro-truth, to strive for wisdom in discerning the true identity of spiritual Babylon, which may very well be the United States. God spoke through Jonah to tell the people of Ninevah they were doomed – but they repented, and He relented. Couldn’t the same be true for us?
B. The Identity of the Beast:
Clue, Part One:
Revelation goes on to say the seven mountains are also seven kings. If the United States of America is spiritual Babylon, then our country’s equivalent of a king would be the office of PRESIDENT.
Clue, Part Two: Revelation 17: 9,10
“Of those seven kings (presidents),
five have fallen (from office),
one is (currently holding the office of president),
the other (president number seven) has not yet come;
but when he (gender neutral) does come,
he must remain for a little while”
(something happens to shorten that president’s term).
We have had a period in recent history, from 2001 to 2004, when there were six living presidents, five of whom had fallen from office, and the sixth was then – and still IS now – our acting president, President George W. Bush. If he is the one that is, then we are talking up-to-the-minute current events here, and the person who is elected president in 2008 will be number seven, the one who will preside for a little while.
Who will take the office of president when something happens to number 7? None other than the one Revelation identifies as the BEAST, himself!
Clue, Part Three:
“The beast, who once was (president),
and now is not, is an EIGHTH KING
(he resumes the office of president once again!).
He belongs to the seven and is going to his destruction.” Rev. 17:11
Okay, this is getting serious. When you mull over the list of those five ex-presidents, (Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush, and Bill Clinton) two have already passed on, and only one would seem to be in the age range where another stint in office could be feasible… but that one can’t be president again, can he?
Clue, Part Four:
“And I saw one of the beast’s heads,
as if it had been mortally wounded,
and his deadly wound was healed.” Rev. 13:3
What could deal a fatal blow to a presidency where the fellow still comes out alive, as this one did? Wouldn’t it be the act of impeachment? One of these five actually WAS impeached (mortally wounded) by one body of congress, then acquitted (his deadly wound was healed) by the other! Constitutional lawyers are in hot dispute right now, as to whether this particular ex-president could potentially run as a vice-presidential candidate and be a heartbeat away from resuming his place behind the desk in the oval office.
As an aside, I would mention here that scholars have found only one U.S. president whose official signature, when the letters are tallied as a numeric equivalent, add up to 666 in both the Hebrew and the Greek alphabets – namely, this same man, who signs his name William J. Clinton.
See the Clinton/666 chart by Walter R. Dolen, Copyright ©1997, 1998 http://becomingone.org/666/
This is not partisan prejudice, but rather Bible and history-based evidence that puts the spotlight directly on a specific leader alive in our time. Who knows, maybe the whole scenario could fall into place – again – with every factor repeating itself, sometime in the future. I guess we won’t have to wait long to find out if this is just a coincidence.
C. Identifying the Mark of the Beast:
Clue, Part One:
The words mark and seal are the very same Greek word
in the New Testament.
NOTE: We have the chance to avoid the mark of the beast by receiving, instead, the seal of God: “having His Father’s name written on their foreheads”… “And I will write on him the name of My God”… “They were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.” This means we’d better get some understanding and acknowledge the One called Father as the Most High, the Father (Source) of the eternal Son and the eternal Spirit – and every other good and perfect gift.
Clue, Part Two:
An exercise in logic…
If mark and seal are the same,
what special mark can only a president use?
Answer: The Presidential Seal!
It makes sense, given all the other pieces to this puzzle, that Revelation’s mark of the beast, refers to the presidential seal, which implies the president will approve and institute the mark all citizens will need, in order to buy and sell. According to the 17th chapter of Revelation, this president will also bring the United States to ruin and leave her naked, while he joins forces with ten new leaders – who follow him to the final fight, at Armegeddon.
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NOTE 2: Christians think they are safe because they know they would never WORSHIP the beast, as Revelation says people will do, but beware – the Greek word used for this type of worship is proskuneo , which does not mean the religious worship of one’s God! This is the word used in Matthew 18:26 KJV, where a servant worshipped his master (paying homage or honor, which is the kind of recognition you would comfortably give a person you perceive as being honorable – or [in the servant's case] supplication, – but not religious worship) :
“The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.”
Many Christians believe that the word worship always means an act directed to one’s God. Unfortunately, this leads to the conclusion that THEY themselves will be worshipped as God, when they read the words of Jesus to the overcomers in Revelation 3:9 –
“Indeed I will make those of the synagogue of Satan,
who say they are Jews and are not, but lie —
indeed I will make them come and
WORSHIP BEFORE YOUR FEET,
and to know that I have loved you.”
At the risk of losing life and limb, I would challenge you to use a concordance to look up all the instances of worship in the New Testament. You will find that the words which actually DO mean religious worship of one’s God (often translated as serve) are directed exclusively to the Father – or to idols, our false gods.
Again, this is a time to let Jesus bring you to God, to receive the Father’s name on your forehead, before any temptation comes to take the mark of the beast.
“For Christ also suffered once for sins,
the just for the unjust,
that He might bring us to God”
1 Peter 3:18
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Please take a moment to look at my recent release,
PIVOT POINT by Fern Holm
with reviews and excerpts on Amazon.com
( http://www.amazon.com/Pivot-Point-Jesus-Your-God/dp/1598868748/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-7051571-4004865?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1192812571&sr=1-1 )
Contact Fern@pivotpoint.us
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The Twelve States That Will Decide Election 2008
Between now and Election Day, you will see both Barack Obama and John McCain campaigning almost exclusively in these twelve states. If you happen to live in any of these states, you should be preparing yourself for a media blitz that will surely make you dream of a quiet, remote vacation long before Election Day. Over the next several months, political pundits will refer to these dozen states as the battleground for the 2008 Presidential election.
A combination of recent polling, state voting demographics, and political history is a powerful formula that can be used to predict the likely outcome of thirty eight American states. In fact, if both candidates run a respectable and credible campaign, today’s polling results in these thirty eight states should not be much different than the actual results on Election Day.
The truth is that when reviewing the 2008 electoral map, Republican John McCain can now count on 174 safe electoral votes, while Democrat Barack Obama can feel comfortable winning 204. Therefore, it is the voting in only twelve states, representing 160 electoral votes, that will ultimately determine the outcome in this Presidential election. An outcome that requires the next President of the United States to obtain a minimum of 270 electoral votes on Election Day.
The twelve battleground states that will decide the 2008 Presidential election are; Florida, Missouri, Ohio, Nevada, Colorado, Iowa, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Michigan, New Mexico, North Carolina, and Virginia. Let’s briefly look at these battleground states in the 2008 Presidential election.
Florida has voted Republican with its 27 electoral votes in each of the last two Presidential elections. Of course, we remember how close the voting was in 2000 when a few thousand votes determined the outcome for Republican President, George W. Bush. Currently, the state has a popular Republican Governor in Charlie Crist, who is also a potential candidate for Vice President on the Republican ticket. Recent public opinion polls in Florida shows that Republican John McCain has a double digit lead over Democrat Barack Obama.
Missouri almost always cast its ballot for the candidate who wins the White House. In fact, with the exception of 1956, no candidate since 1904 ever has won a Presidential election without winning the state of Missouri. Current polls indicate a dead heat in the race to capture Missouri’s 11 electoral votes in Election 2008.
No Republican has ever won the White House without winning Ohio’s 20 electoral votes. In fact, no candidate has won the Presidency without winning Ohio since 1960. Current polls show both political candidates in a statistical dead heat in the Buckeye state.
The states of Colorado, Iowa, Nevada, and New Mexico in total account for 28 electoral votes. Democrat Barack Obama enjoys a modest lead in recent polls in Colorado and New Mexico. Both these states voted Republican in the 2004 Presidential election. John McCain maintains a modest lead in Nevada while Barack Obama holds a lead in Iowa. If this recent trend continues, Nevada will vote for the same party as it did in 2004. However, a Democratic win in Iowa would be a change from the result in the Presidential election of four years ago.
Pennsylvania voted for the Democratic candidate in each of the last two Presidential elections. However, the final margin of victory was very small. Recent polls indicate another very close election in 2008 to win the state’s 21 electoral votes.
Michigan has cast its 17 Electoral College votes for the Democrats in each of the last four Presidential elections. However the margin of Democratic victory in 2004 was very slim. Recent polls indicate another very close race between Barack Obama and John McCain in 2008.
As far as the final three 2008 battleground states are concerned, Wisconsin’s 10 Electoral votes went Democratic by a very close margin in the last Presidential election. Recent polls show another very close vote is likely in 2008 as well. Both Virginia and North Carolina (total of 28 electoral votes) were found in the Republican column four years ago. John McCain holds very slim leads in both states in public opinion polls at the current time.
The party primaries are now over and the fall Presidential election campaign is about to begin. During the next several months, there will be televised debates, and the usual give and take of any Presidential campaign.
However, the truth is that in order to win on Election Day, each of the candidates have to work to deliver the right political message. It will need to be a message designed to win in America’s political battleground, the twelve swing states of Election 2008.
James William Smith has worked in Senior management positions for some of the largest Financial Services firms in the United States for the last twenty five years. He has also provided business consulting support for insurance organizations and start up businesses. Visit his website at http://www.eWorldvu.com or his daily blog at http://www.eworldvublog.blogspot.com
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