Digital Memories - Handle with Care

My father recently visited the Raigad Fort to attend a ceremony on the fort. He was carrying a Canon digital camera to capture the beautiful moments of the ceremony.

I had purchased Canon PowerShot A400 digital camera in Dec. 2004, which was always a companion to me and other family members on any outing. My father misplaced the camera on the fort. The news was shocking to me as it was a first digital camera and had captured very good and important moments. The reason for writing this blog is not to inform about the loss of the camera but precautions to be taken before you face such situation in life.

You cannot avoid such situations, as you are not aware when you will lose a camera or when your camera will be faulty etc. The best precaution is always backup the images when you return home.

Eg:- Once you come return home after visiting any destination or capturing images of any ocassion, make sure that you transfer the images as early as possible to your computer.

To be on safer side, you can keep a copy of same images on an external hard drive which are easily available in the market at best prices. If not then backup the images on a CD or a DVD and name the same to find them later in the future. You can also save those images on a CD/RW or a DVD/RW, so that you can add more images in future, if there is ample space remaining on the disk. The best way of transferring images is by using a Media Card Reader, instead of connecting the camera to the computer directly.

You can also upload these images on file or data sharing sites on the internet. There are sites which charge on monthly or yearly basis. But, I would personally suggest you to check esnips website, which provides 5GB data storage space. You can save images, videos (less than 100MB), audio files etc. The best part is you can save the images without changing the original resolution. It also has a feature called Private Folder, where you can hide the images from the public visiting the site. Hence, the images remain safe and secured without displaying to anyone.

There are some sites like Flickr, Picasa, Snapfish, Aminus3 etc. which allow storing of images and videos but they compress the original images and then upload the images. So, this naturally reflects the quality of the images and videos.

Once you have backed up the images or videos, format the Memory Card present in the digital camera. This will help you saving time when you are about to leave for your next shoot with your digital camera. Also, try scanning the card for viruses from time to time.

The idea of backing up the data (images, videos etc.) also applies to the data present in your mobile phone. Try backing up the data using a data cable, infrared cable or bluetooth by backing up the data from time to time on your computer.

Hope these suggestions would help you in taking care of your images in future. If you have suggestions to add, please mail me.

Thanks and Regards.

Track the Rain

Image Courtesy: Mahesh Vhatkar (VU2IIA)

Finally, the monsoon arrived somewhere around 4th of June this year in Mumbai. Everyone in the city was excited and eagerly waiting for the monsoon. I, along with few other friends were not that eager, as we were aware about the status of the monsoon.

One of my friend named Mahesh Vhatkar is a ham radio operator. His call sign is VU2IIA. Mahesh is a very down to earth and helping person. You will never get a negative reply from. He is very much interested in electronics and is busy with some or the other activity. When Mahesh informs me about his new recently purchased gadget, I have to ask him when he will be opening the gadget or has he opened the gadget to research. He has been of great help in installing and maintaining VHF amateur radio repeater at Matheran.

Being a ham radio operator and keen interest in electronics, Mahesh decodes the weather satellites from time to time. He decodes at least 3-4 satellites daily and sometimes more. In simple words, he decodes the images transmitted by the satellite, when they pass above the country, India. There are restrictions to reach MET Dept. to get the update on the weather and most of the times these are not clear or the weather is unpredictable. But Mahesh makes it possible by decoding the images regularly. Mahesh is currently using a Turnstile Cross Dipole home brew antenna (home made) to get those images.

Along with the radio and the antenna, Mahesh has to use the an international satellite image decoder software named WXtoImg, which is the world's best weather satellite (WXsat) signal to image decoder. Wxsat is competetor programm from UK to WXtoImg. Mahesh is doing a great job without any monetary gains and no doubt it is very interesting for other people to get the monsoon update.

Currently, the monsoon winds have flown far away from the west and you can notice them on the East coast.

For more images on daily basis, check Mahesh's blog.
(Click on the images to enlarge them)

I am sure you will enjoy watching those images.

Thanks and Regards.

Nehru Science Centre

Every Sunday I plan to take a rest by lying lazily throughout the day, watching TV or reading the fully loaded Times of India. There are hardly any Sundays when I stay at home. I get out of the house to enjoy trekking, ham radio, sailing or to see some exhibition in the city. This Sunday, I planned to visit Nehru Science Centre (not Nehru Planetarium) with my cousin named Parag, who has just given his SSC board exams.

This place is 10 minutes away from Mahalakshmi Station on Western Railway. Nehru Science Centre is a museum with loads of information for kids, youngsters and adults too. I was eager to visit this place from a long too. This place is full of knowledge, information tips and that with some examples and samples. This helps kids and a person with less education to know things in better and clear way. As soon as you enter the premises of the centre, you will find a garden which has some facts and examples explaining scientific facts like Sun Dial, How Friction works?, Echo Tube, A Simple Camera, Perceiving Depth, Polarization of Sky Light, Semaphore etc. You can also see the huge Steam and the Electric Locomotive engines here.

Further you go, you will notice a big building dedicated for the museum, which has huge halls with various themes. There are scientific models displayed in a glass cabinet, which have a button to light them and make them work. The first hall has some more scientific facts and examples like Planetary Motion, Vortex (with a live model). You will also find a huge model which explains Inertia, Kinetic Energy and Potential Energy. This hall also has a small shop where you can purchase Science based Educational games explaining the facts about light, sound, energy, light and heat etc. You can purchase these games at reasonable costs.

The second hall has some real simple and easy to understand facts. You will come across a Kaleidoscope, Interactive LCD Kiosks providing useful information. There are models displayed on Impossible Mixture, Size and Distance, Sense of Taste etc. One can actually experience a mild Electric Shock and Lightning and also get detailed information on Braille Communication.

The third hall has very interesting facts about Sound. Here, you will increase your knowledge by understanding the facts on How do we hear?, Testing your own Voice, How Sound travels?, Doppler Effect etc. Later, you enter the very interesting hall of Light. This hall has all the information on Invention of Light in the ancient period and the journey of light upto Modern Times. You can see the examples on Light used for Security Detection, Optical Illusions, Laser Applications, Telescope and Microscope, Holography, Early Lighting Devices, Invention of Lamps, Artificial Lights, Colour Rendering and also a very interesting fact on How Light can create moods?

Later, you move towards the hall with loads of Information on Reptiles and Mammals, Evolution of the Man, The Great Ice Age, Evolution of Mammals, Evolution of the Reptiles, The Age of Reptiles, The Story of Life and Evolution of Plants.

Two separate halls have been dedicated for subjects like Mathematics and Aviation.

Photography and Video Photography is allowed in the centre without any extra charge, so please do not forget to carry your camera along with you and also extra batteries along with you. Approximately, you can capture around 200 images within 2-3 hours.

The best thing I liked about this place was, the security guards do not allow anyone to enter the Science Centre with any baggage and NOT even a water bottle. Very good step to maintain cleanliness in the premises. If possible try avoiding visiting this place on Sunday as NSC is on the Mumbai Darshan list. NSC has a large canteen providing light food, lunch, tea, coffee and soft drinks.

Timings:
The Science Centre is open to public every day including Sundays and public holidays throughout the year, except two days, i.e. Holi(2nd day) and Diwali.
Opening hours: 10.00 hrs to 18.00 hrs
Ticket Counter Timing: 10.00 hrs to 17.30 hrs

Fees:
Admission Fees (Per Head) for general visitors is Rs 20/- and the Parking Charges for four wheelers is Rs 10/- and for two wheelers is Rs 5/-.

How to Reach:
The Centre can be reached by public transport i.e. train, bus, taxi or private vehicles.
It is situated on Dr. E. Moses Road between Mahalaxmi Rly. Station on the South and Worli Naka on the North at a distance of about 1 km from either end.
The nearest bus stop is Jijamata Nagar.
The nearest railway station - Mahalakshmi (Western Rly.), Byculla (Central Rly.);
Bus Routes - 50, 80(Ltd.), 91(Ltd.), 124, 154, 164, 165, 168, 172, 351.

You can check the NSC images at,
http://picasaweb.google.co.in/vu2sfh/NehruScienceCentre

Thanks and Regards.