A Special Offer to Come and have a Look-See.

From now through Saturday, March 6, 2010, at 18:00 (your local time) you can purchase any of my prints, any size, at 40% off. That discount applies to the print only, as I do not set any other pricing (such as mattes and frames). But they have a great selection and pricing.

Best place to begin looking is: http://matre.com

This will be a little tricky because it’s a private sale. If you do find a print you like, and not a frame, you’ll order it through me, and I’ll have it shipped to you. If you decide on a frame, also, I’ll bump up the discount to 45% on the print. Please contact me as soon as you can since I’ll need to figure out the best way to do the entire package.

Legal: A strict maximum of 100 prints per person — NO exceptions! And, 18:00 is 6:00 PM.

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The previous image I announced was WILD ROSES — a painting from a photo I captured of two roses, next to the cabin, but far from the rest. I wanted to include a wide shot of the location to show the cabin. I was very focussed on WILD ROSES and I had not evaluated the wide shot beyond using it as an insert for the story.

When I published the post on WILD ROSES, I received a positive comment about the inserted wide photo from TABS, a good friend and customer. After taking a much different look at the wide shot, I began the detailed process of preparing it for the finest printing, a tedious process I do to prepare all my images.

ROSE CABIN is now available as either a fine art giclée print, or printed on canvas.

Please CLICK HERE for more information.

Thank you TABS. I had my eyes checked and I’m also getting new glasses. That may allow me to see things differently, too. 

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These roses had literally covered an abandoned cabin of some lifetime ago, high on a cliff overlooking the Pacific shoreline, no more than 100M from the cold Pacific waters. Finding the shack was pure luck, though I don’t recall how exactly I came upon it.

These two roses struck me with a sense of romance, since they were further away from the rest of the roses, but side-by-side. This is the very first time this image is available as a limited-edition print, and with Valentine’s Day looming, I wanted to make my own gift by offering them at an initial price of 43-48% off (the actual percentage varies by size — the larger the print, the higher the discount).

What are Giclée Prints?

Giclée (zhee-CLAY) prints are superior in every visual way to standard, silver-halide, photographic prints that have not changed substantially in the past 30-40 years. Giclée technological improvements make leaps-and-bounds yearly, the same as any other high-demand technology.

My chosen printer is Fine Art America, and the prices already reflect the discount.

My Choice of Frames, or just the Print only?

You bet! You can frame it anyway you’d like, with literally thousands of options, or you can order just the print if you prefer to do the framing yourself. But if you like gallery framing (as above) such as I do, then you can simply use the information below if that particular print size is acceptable.

Print Size: 20″ x 14.88″
Paper: Luster Photo
Frame: Gallery Black Wood 1.25″ (Style HP4)
Mat: 4″ Arctic White
Finish: .125″ Clear Acrylic — Foam Core mount
Finished Size: 30.25″ x 25.13″

Full, 30-day money-back guarantee.

Framed or Unframed

Order WILD ROSES as a Print (Framed or in a Tube) >

Order WILD ROSES on Canvas (Stretched or in a Tube) >

< View my Other Prints as Thumbs (all)

< View my Other Prints LARGE (not all)

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This new gallery will showcase only the photographs and photo-illustrations that I currently have available for sale. My prints can be purchased without framing, but I believe you’ll see the savings and simplicity of ordering your print custom-framed, and ready-to-hang.

I will create a separate opt-in mailing list for the gallery, which will cover only information related to prints and limited-time specials on prints. The specials will only be available to those on the mailing list … so, when I have the mailing list form completed, I will announce it on this list.

The new gallery is located at: http://Gallery.Matre.com

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Last night, it was a Preference Panel that monitors the internal sensors of this Mac G5 DualCore, with this specific menu reporting temperatures and fan speeds. The 151° temp displayed at the top, in blue, is actually reporting the same Backside temperature as the top menu listing right below it — or at least they should be. The 151° listed is obviously the correct one, since the smoke alarms are silent.

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Never mind about the Antec Notebook Cooler that I mentioned in my previous Amazon post. When it arrived, I wanted to see the actual cooling benefit in terms of heat reduction, so I got geeky and ran a battery [no pun intended] of tests.

Here’s what I wrote to summarize the results …

INTRODUCTION

I received the Antec Unbeatable Notebook Cooler 200 today, and as intended, I first ran an analysis of its efficiency. One will notice that there are no claims by the manufacturers, whatsoever, as what to expect in heat reduction. I was hoping for at least a 15-20 degree drop.

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NOTEBOOK COOLERS?

All these manufacturers seem to get away with calling these “coolers.” None that I know of have any cooling capability … it’s a fan, and a fan only moves air. An air conditioner cools, but not a fan. A fan can make our bodies feel cool, but that’s because our bodies have our own internal air conditioners … perspiration.

I see a lot of satisfied customers with positive reviews, but no where did I see results of any testing.

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HARDWARE USED IN TESTING

MacBook Pro 17″ (July 09)
4 GB memory
500 GB 7200 RPM drive
I also utilized iStat Server, which sends very detailed internal information to an iPhone or iPod Touch.

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CONSISTENT HEAT LEVEL

I pushed the DualCore processor to the max, as well as the drive, by upscaling two movies, simultaneously, in QuickTime, while another movie played in Quicktime on a second display, a 42” HDTV plugged into the MacBook Pro. This MacBook Pro has two graphics cards, one for regular use, and a second, high-performance one. I used the high-performance one due to the second display … it also increases performance … and heat.

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TEST PARAMETERS SUMMARY

• OAK TABLE, 20-25 min … The MacBook Pro laid flat on the oak table I use. I monitored the internals.

• ANTEC 200 w/FAN on HIGH, 30-40 min … I slipped the Antec Notebook ‘Fan’ underneath my MacBook Pro, plugged in the USB, and switched the fan to high (low was never tested). The first thing I was pleased to note was the lack of fan noise, which is why I bought this model. Small fans make more noise. I monitored the internals with all the exact same processes running.

• ANTEC 200 w/FAN OFF, 20-25 min: After that, I left the notebook on the stand, but unplugged the fan.

• TWO LITTLE BOXES, 20-25 min … I finished by placing the MacBook Pro on the two little boxes I’ve been using to provide an air space.

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TEST RESULTS: The temperatures ranged from 193-201 degrees, NO MATTER WHICH SET-UP WAS IN USE. The temps stayed in the same range. The ANTEC provided NO noticeable drop in temperature.

CONCLUSION: The Antec Unbeatable Notebook Cooler 200 DOES NOT cool a laptop. Setting the MacBook Pro on two little cardboard boxes, to provide a one-inch airspace, performed just as well.

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• This item is getting RETURNED •
  I consider it a total rip-off.

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If you’d like, view some of the iStat reports here … [...]
>> read the note below about the bracketed dots, por favor

And in the customer’s video, he points out the little piece of plastic being moved by the fan. Mine does that, too, but that’s it.

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After I removed it from beneath my notebook, one of its flaws became quite apparent. Even with the fan on high, it was moving so little air, that it was difficult at first to determine if it was pulling air down, or pushing it up (it does push it). I laid a piece of plastic on it, the plastic that I had taken off the box it came in, and that plastic just sat on top of the fan, without moving … while the fan was on high.

Of course, it does have that blue light … if that’s worth the money to you.

THE ‘BELOW’ NOTE ABOUT THE BRACKETED DOTS: interesting, but after Amazon reviewed, approved and published my review, they came back and removed the link. The link showed images that recorded all the internal operating data … what could be considered the real hard evidence. The images are so telling, that it would not surprise me if Antec (i.e., the company who distributes the product) asked Amazon to nix my link. I always like to make an impression.

This is the link they removed. It’s worth a quick look …

http://show.me-the-money.com/antec/

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SUB-TITLE: When Amazon Ships the Wrong Item.

BUYING

I try to be a smart shopper, but when I take the time to select the best item in its class, I want it now … not a week from now. Tomorrow would be perfect, the day after is still quite excellent.

Last year, after adding up shipping costs, I realized I’d be saving a bunch of money by joining Amazon Prime.

I believe it runs $79 per year. Then during that year, virtually every item purchased is shipped free, via two-day express. If you’re like me, they have the overnight option, too, for just $3.99 — I occasionally justify the additional expense.

RETURNING

And what they are well known for is how easy returns are … within the first 30 days, it’s all done online with ultimate simplicity. So easy, in fact, there were times I procrastinated and just forgot.

Check out the return mailing label they provided, and see if you notice anything different.

RECEIVING THE WRONG ITEM

So (said the seamstress), today was the first time Amazon sent the wrong item to me, so wrong that it’s not even related. The item I ordered was a cooler stand for a laptop PC, something a laptop is placed on when it’s used as a desktop PC. What they sent instead was a vacuum cleaner.

NOT SO UNRELATED

As I was just considering all the high-tech systems in place to prevent shipping errors, it occurred to me that I was wrong when I first thought they sent a completely unrelated item.

I ordered a notebook cooler and Amazon shipped a vacuum cleaner … one item blows and the other sucks.

  … there’s more to this on the following post >>

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So, I’m including a few static images for those who see something other than what this thumbnail shows. I’ve also included a reduced view of the entire image above … which is a smidgen under 3000 pixels wide.

One is looking due north … the other due south.

See them now on GOOGLE MAPS

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That milestone is that PCs are now smart enough to mess with you. They know you’re working late, maybe all alone, you’re tired and that extra beer didn’t really help — and then your PC grabs the opportunity.

A minor, insignificant, unobscured thing just to mess with your brain, but be gone just before you get the opportunity to show it to someone.

Like this one which got me the other night …

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I sure do hope this didn’t cause you to miss your bus.

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