Save your precious Data

Publish Post

One of the things we all fear is getting the blue screen of death on your computer or not being able to boot up the computer. Usually it results in lost data and of course I was going to back up yesterday. Recent tragedies with a couple of my friends has made me re-examine my practices. Hard disk storage has got a hell of alot cheaper, so there is no excuse. I run  a couple of Laptops and regularly back up to portable hard drives. I also load images to Smugmug and use dropbox, However I don't have  a system and am hap hazard so I decided to look for a solution. I was down at my local Officeworks and noticed a Western Digitial 2Tb My Book World II Dual Drive Nas.  Okay what caught my eye with this drive is it uses RAID Technology so it has a dual-drive system which provides an extra safe solution for backing up the data on all the computers in your home. RAID Technology is basically using two disc drives that mirror each other so your data is actually written to two disc drives each of 1Tb. Now I am no computer tech head but my understanding is as your data is written to two drives if one drive dies your data is still on the other drive. You are still able to access your data and once you replace the faulty drive it automatically copies the data from the other disc. This system is able to sit wireless or wired on your network and you can set up an automatic backup program for all your digitial media. Best of all for $300 you have a great system..cheap insurance. 1Tb not enough? there are bigger systems.

The Curse of the GPS

A few years ago I paid a princely sum for a  Uniden Trax 350 GPS including Australian and NZ maps. I have also used a Garmin that my father had prior to buying a Tom Tom with a wide screen, because he is a bit deaf he prefers to see where he is going...I know a scary thought, rather than hearing instructions. I also used a Tom Tom in the UK.  As my Father did not have internet I set up his Tom Tom to update the maps and install the NZ map bonus. I also decided to purchase for him future map updates, as like all parents, it gets hard to buy presents for them when they have everything. It was through this process and transferring the update process to his laptop now having internet access that I decided to look into my GPS. So I hooked it up and went searching for map updates. After Googling and going to the Uniden website to no avail. I then thought I would send an email to ask where an update maybe found. Now to be fair to Uniden I sent an email around 4.30pm in the afternoon and by 10.00am the next morning they had replied. Their reply however stunned me.

Hi Steve,







Thanks for your email.






Unfortunately we will not be releasing the mapping for the GNS Series


You may be interested to consider an upgrade offer below, to the latest Uniden model.






Latest Model Upgrade


Simply send in your unit to the address below with $149.95 and we will upgrade you to the latest model IGO 43, Or for $199.95 an Upgrade of the IGO50..(International mapping is available for this on NAVIEXTRAS.com)

Okay so do I go with this or buy a Tom Tom? A quick search of the internet soon tells me I can buy the complete unit without sending my old one for less than Uniden want. The one retailer selling them at RRP has none in stock. The write up on the manufacturers website sounds good but will they deliver on map updates? Hmm another email to Uniden I think to see if they can convince me otherwise.  I think Tom Tom might have another convert...

Pro Runner 450 AW - My Review

Not my Gear

As you all know I bought my Lowepro Pro Runner 450 AW when I was in England in December/January. I have used it extensively the last 5 months and recently took it overseas to Dubai with me. I packed two camera bodies, a 1000D with battery grip , a 20D with Battery grip, a 70-200mm 2.8 lens a Tamron 24-75mm lens, a EFS 17-85mm Lens, a 50mm lens, a 2x converter, a hoodman loupe, one flash, two battery charges, assorted cables, Filters, Rechargeable batteries, a raincoat for the camera, a poncho and my netbook in the laptop packet. I then weighed it....Gulp 12.5 kilos. Hmm this will be interesting as I am aware Brisbane International is one of the few airports that tend to weigh carry on bagage which is suppose to be 7 kilos. I also took my Carbon Fibre Tripod in it's bag. Come departure day we fronted to the check in counter, the  checked in went through okay now for the next hurdle, the carry on baggage. Now I had the Pro Runner on my back, my wife had her carry on wheelie case, the normal size. As we went to enter through security screening for our carry on baggage, my wife was asked to weigh her bag....oh oh here goes...I was about to remove my backpack..you want to weigh mine? "No sir you're right." Now I have a theory, if you have a wheelie case you can tend to overload it, but if you have a backpack, well who in their right mind would carry 12 to 13 kilos on their back? Why a dedicated photography traveller does! It is okay our secret is safe...just watch as you try to place the bag in the overhead locker though. And be careful when standing in line to board the plane...if you swing around you might wipe out a fellow traveller. On my return trip I took out my netbook and carried it in a laptop bag. I must admit the Pro Runner without a laptop in the envelope between the bag and your back is more comfortable. So want to travel? Want to take a bit of gear? buy a Pro Runner 450 AW.

Visit to the Mall of the Emirates

Okay last day in Dubai we fly out  tonight 9.20pm. We have nearly visited all the Malls in Dubai so today we went to the Mall of the Emirates...you will know it, it is the one with the Ski Slope. This mall has all the Designer label outlets including a Harvey Nichols store. What really strikes you in Dubai is most Malls offer valet parking and when you look at the vehicles, there are Porsche Cayenne 4WD's, BMW X6 and X5's, Ferraris...I have never seen so many Ferraris in my life.  In fact some makes and models are as common as Falcons and Commodores  in Australia. As Malls go, for some reason Su and I like this one better than the Dubai Mall at the base of the Burj Khalifa. Once you see one mall, you have seen them all but not all Malls have a Ski Slope. I was able to view the Slope from the 1st floor of the mall and whilst the Mercury was touching 39 outside, the Ski Slope was -4, the snow looked real and there were plenty of people rugged up playing in their, whether skiing or tobogganing. I let the girls wander off on their own whilst I sought out the electronic and Camera stores. Must admit having packed my bag there were things I could buy but talked myself out of any purchases. Surprisingly when I caught up with the girls Su had been very restrained and had not bought anything either. So off we headed home to freshen up before the long haul home.

High Tea at the Burj Al Arab

Okay I have watched that programme on National Geographic about the Building of thr Burj Al Arab so to actually finally see it and to go inside.....stunning. No visit to Dubai would be complete without gong to the Burj Ala Arab. The hotel is situatedon a man made island at Jumeirah, Dubai. Reputedly the worlds only 7 star hotel. Katrina organised before we arrived a high tea for us, so we could soak in the atmosphere. Let me tell you the 275 DHS about $70 Australian was well worth it. We had a 7 course high tea, which started with Sparkling Wine, followed by a selection of Sandwiches, then a cocktail, then scones jam and cream, followed by pastries with tea or coffee....I know only six courses but  I am sure I have missed something. Anyway we had reports that it was a small meal etc...for goodness sake this is a high tea a snack but let me tell you the girls were full and even though I had polished off all that was put in front of me I could not finish off what they had left. ( I did consider asking for a doggy bag but thought it would well and truly reveal my breeding).

Whilst we ate in luxurious surroundings a Quartet of piano, Cello and two Violins provided the background music. In between this was the delicate plop of water from the fantastic water feature that runs from our floor down to the Lobby. Both  esclators from the lobby to the first floor have aquariums along side them. The shops on this level are devine and if you need to ask the price then quite obviously you can't afford to buy. The view was back towards Jumeirah over looking the Jumeirah beach hotel which constantly changed colour. After dining we wandered around the hotel, we asked to go to the 27th floor bar and when we arrived via the lift we were unfortunately denied entry. Oh well such is life. We went to the lobby and waited for our car to be retrieved, meanwhile I snapped the three white Rolls Royce's waiting for me...and in the meantime a white Porsche Cayene Stretch Limo pulled up. out got two older gentlemen and I think their daughters as they took photos of them against the limo.You be the judge.

A trip over Dubai with Seawings

Yesterday I did something that I had seen on Trip Advisor, to take  a Cessna Seaplane ( Cessna Caravan)  and fly over Dubai taking in the local sights. I was orginally to go from Dubai Creek however the weather was realitivley gusty around the creek. This meant I had to get to Jebel Ali instead, lucky Katrina had decided to get me to the creek early and the company paid for a cab to take me to Jebel Ali. This was adventure in itself in that the cab driver spoke little english ( a bit like back home) and had no idea were he was going. I had no idea so some frantic mobile phone calls from the driver to Seawings I eventually made it being 5 minutes late for the 3pm takeoff. I was taken  by Golf Buggy to the.Jetty and along the way we collected our other passengers ( Family from the UK who have recently moved out here to work). A quick safety breifing, put our  seatbelts on and the plane taxied on the water to take off over a newly constructed Palm Island. We then flew over Jebel Ali and made our way over the Palm proper down to the World  Islands around the Burj Al Arab over parts of Dubai City out for a closer look at the Palm with the Alantis hotel then back towards Jebel Ali. It was a forty minute flight and with my two camera's and using a 17-85mm and the 70-200mm lenses, the cameras  mounted on R-Straps I was like a gun fighter rapidly shooting, I took over 300 photos and really happy with what I got.  Some will need photoshop to clean up etc as one thing here is a haze some of it heat but also the fine sand the wind picks up which makes looking into the distance difficult. Overall a really good experience and could not but highly recommend it. The slight inconvienece at the start was soon over shadowed by the experience. I was then taken back to Dubai Creek by the Seawings driver Barber, a Pakistani young man who has been here for six years, we had an interesting conversation about the recent events in the world. Unfortunately I had to get a cab back to Mirdif but I think I still had a big grin on my face when I arrived for Su to see.

Palm Island & Alantis Hotel

Burj Al Arab Hotel

Dubai City

Jebel Ali

Alantis The Palm Hotel up close

A Ride on Dubai Metro

Last night Costa and I went to the Photoworld Expo at the  Exhibition centre. We decided to take the Metro. Costa drove to Al Rashidiya Station.The Station has  a multi level carpark and bus station. The Dubai Metro uses a tag card which I suspect is similiar to the Queensland Go Card which are all based on the Oyster system of London. Costa had a Gold Card which allows us to sit in a special section of the train which has leather seats. There is also a Ladies only section. Each train is 5 carriages and completely driverless. The stations are similiar to both Singapore and parts of Paris Metro where there are glass doors on the platform which open at the same time as the train doors. We arrived at our destination and proceeded to Photoworld Expo. The expo was not quite what I expected, plenty of gear in regards to film making and wedding albums a few other bits and pieces. The expo was quite small but took a few brochures and cards so will follow up later on once home. After the Expo Costa and I waslked through to the Dubai International Finance Centre. A district where dubai government is the Stock Exchange and other financial insitutions. One thing in Dubai there are many tall buildings which on there own are impressive but together you just shake your head. At the bottom of the Governent buidlings was a Cartier store..Costa said to me they are like 7 Eleven here....only dearer. We returned from our juant by Metro back to Al Rashidiya Station.We are now on the count down to our last few days here. I certainly want to come back as there is still more to explore.

Stock Exchange Building

Government Buildings

In the Gold Souk

Today we went to Deira old Dubai and to the Gold Souk. Katrina drove to Deira City Centre shopping mall. We had Coffee and Apricot Anglaise at Pauls which has become a bit of  a tradition since arriving in Dubai. The Girls could not resist a quick look in the shops and then we grabbed a taxi to the Gold Souk. I have never seen so  many jewellery shops, where gold is sold by weight and much of the gold is 24 carat. Even more interesting is the narrow lanes and seeing hand barrows wheeled through whilst the operator is on a mobile phone. Touts line the streets trying to sell you watches, pashminas, fake bags. At the same time cold drinks are also offered to you at every turn. I had a fantastic time snapping away.  Su was having a great time bartering away. In the side lanes were stores selling clothing, pashminas and abeya's- some beautiful sewing work.This was a busy place and it is hard to think how all of them make a living and survive. More images here.

A Night in the Desert

Yesterday, Sunday, afternoon we headed off in a 4WD for some dune bashing with Fun Adventures then an Arabian meal in the desert with Belly dancing. We were picked up from Katrina and Costa's and Joined our other travel companions from the UK and France. Our driver was a Pakistiani who has lived and worked in Dubai for eleven years. We headed to the meeting place a store on the outskirts of Sharjah that was a toilet stop and a chance to buy water and trinkets.  The gathering of several million dollars worth of Toyota land cruisers brought a tear to my eye. The driver let air out of the tyres and we then went down the highway a few kilometres before we started our dune bashing. The girls in the car screamed aong with the the three year old with them. I tried to take photos but getting flung around made it difficult to take photos. One of the passengers said "Can we roll over in the sand?"  "Madam, yes we can but I will try not to." said our driver.
We stopped part way through for a photo opportunity. I must admit the one thing that worried me was whether another 4WD would come rushing over the Dune whilst we were there. We set off again with some more Dune bashing before pulling up at a compound. There were camel rides and for cash you could go quad bike riding. Inside the compound where we would eat dinner were some stalls selling wares as well a sthe bar. Once again I was surprised to see a place selling alcohol. At one stage I was invited to hold a falcon whilst I take photo with your camera...ahh okay but i need to show you how to operate it...too late 10 DHS please...sucked in wasn't I. However I went and got Su and took my own photo...another 10 DHS but worth it.

Before long we were called to take a seat(kneel on cushions) and the first entertainment was presented being a man who continually twirled and so too did his costume. Next up was our meal BBQ, but not like an Aussie BBQ. Next up was a belly dancer, followed by various other dancers. The local boys were whilstling and cat calling the belly dancers. Soon our night was over and we were brought back to Costa and Katrina's. I took a lot of photos and the full lot maybe found here.