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I think Derek and I are in competition on our August spending spree. I have been wanting to buy an SLR camera for quite sometime. So I was pleased when Dell had a sale on the Canon Rebel XT 350D for just $739.

I snapped a few photos (view the original size to get the full effect), which are an amazing 3456 x 2304 resolution. Of course this comes with a price, each photo is 4MB. I think this will do nicely for our trip to CES this year.

Features:

* Fast start-up time–.2 seconds
* Powered by rechargeable Lithium-ion battery (included, with charger)
* 8.0-megapixel CMOS sensor captures enough detail for photo-quality 16 x 22-inch prints
* Includes Canon’s EF-S 18-55mm, f3.5-5.6 zoom lens
* DIGIC II Image Processor provides fast, accurate image processing; captures images at a rate of up to 3 frames per second

For a limited time you can get two free Xbox games if you order Showtime from DirecTV. And unlike Showtime, the games don’t suck.

You’ll get to choose two of the following games:
FORZA MOTORSPORT™ / You are what you race / Rated E for Everyone
DESTROY ALL HUMANS™ / One giant step on mankind / Rated T for Teen
ATARI ANTHOLOGY™ / Over 85 arcade originals / Rated E for Everyone
MECHASSAULT®2: LONE WOLF / The massive destruction continues / Rated T for Teen

The rules are pretty simple, if you have to sign up for Showtime between June 20, 2005 and July 31, 2005. And you have to maintain your subscription until October 31, 2005. Okay so if you sign up on July 31st, you have to maintain your subscription for 3 months, that’s a total of $36 if you have no other premium channels.

Game prices:
Forza Motorsport - $49.99
Destroy all Humans - $49.99
Atari Anthology - $19.99
MechAssualt 2 - $29.99

So assuming no drastic price drops in the top two games, you could get 2 Xbox games that would retail for $100 for only $36. Could be a good deal if you had any plans to buy any of these games, or just happen to actually want to watch something on Showtime.

Microsoft has been good at giving away some really good books lately. This latest is trying to prepare developers for Whidbey, namely Visual Basic 2005. Introducing Visual Basic 2005 for Developers is not an overly technical book by any means, but seeks to prepare VB 6 and VB.NET developers for VB 2005. I think Microsoft has hit a wall trying to get VB 6 developers to move to .NET.

But anyone who thinks they will be moving to Visual Studio 2005 might want to check out this free download. My only complaint is that each chapter is a separate PDF file, instead of being one PDF file.

From the site:

Get a focused, first look at the features and capabilities in Microsoft Visual Basic 2005, Visual Studio 2005, and .NET Framework 2.0. If you currently work with Visual Basic 6, these authors fully understand the adoption and code migration issues you’ll encounter. They’ll step you through a quick primer on .NET Framework programming, offering guidance for a productive transition. If you already work with .NET, you’ll jump directly into what’s new, learning how to extend your existing skills. From the innovations in rapid application development, debugging, and deployment, to new data access, desktop, and Web programming capabilities, you get the prerelease insights and code walkthroughs you need to get productive right away.

Chapter List:

• Chapter 1 - Microsoft .NET Framework Primer for the Visual Basic Developer
• Chapter 2 - Language Enhancements for Visual Basic 2005
• Chapter 3 - Visual Studio 2005 Integrated Development Environment
• Chapter 4 - Building Datacentric Applications
• Chapter 5 - Constructing User Interfaces
• Chapter 6 - Building Web Applications
• Chapter 7 - Microsoft .NET Framework Enhancements
• Chapter 8 - Deploying Applications

The Linksys Wireless-G Broadband router is probably the most ubiquitous router for home users. And for good reason! There are numerous firmwares to hack this device to fit your needs. And even without the rebate is this a good deal. The list of availble firmwares is always growing, from Earthlink’s IPv6 hack to Sveasoft, which adds dozens of features. Read more about the WRT54G at Wikipedia or visit the Linksys Info Forum.

Just in time for Memorial day, AAA has debuted a new fuel price finder. You may already use the Gas Buddy or the new Gas Buddy powered by Google maps. Which uses the Google Maps API. But whereas Gas Buddy relies on volunteer sponsers, AAA gets it’s data from credit card transactions. Now I will admit I am a touch worried about what form they actually get this data. But there is also a delay to get the data, it appears some of the prices are anywhere from 0 to 7 days old.

The service works by the user selecting a city and state or entering a zip code. And selecting a 3, 5 or 10 mile radius. It then displays a map and a list of service stations with the prices for regular, mid, premium, and sometimes diesel. Click on a service station and the finder will center the station on the map.

Enjoy.

Instead of low budgeting gaming, I have no budget gaming. There a many fine games that can be downloaded for free. And you don’t have to sacrifice quality. Here they are ranked in the order that you should download them.

First on the list is Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory. This is a stand-alone, team-based, first-person shooter that you play online. You can download it at fileshack.

The next two games are updated from the old Kings Quest series. Kings Quest 1 & 2 have been updated with new graphics and sounds and are free to download. If you are not familiar with KQ, it’s a point-and-click adventure game, very popular in the early 1990’s.

I have always been a fan of the space program. I had Space Shuttle: A Journey into Space for Atari 2600 and Microsoft’s (short lived) Space Simulator for the PC. Who wouldn’t want to get a chance to pilot the Space Shuttle? Well the next game, er.. simulation, will let you do that and more. Orbiter: Space Flight Simulator is a must have for any sim fan. Warning: Sound is downloaded seperate from the rest of the program. Check out Dan’s Orbiter page for Orbiter Sounds 2.5. Then get ready for lift-off.

Can’t afford the latest Microsoft Flight Simulator? Then check out FlightGear. This is an open source flight simulator that has accurate terrain world-wide and has 20,000 real world airports.

Before Vice City and 3-D graphics, Grand Theft Auto was a isometric car jacking game. Rockstar Games is now allowing people to download GTA Classic. Graphics are a bit dated, but hey it’s free. Warning: Soul-sucking registration form required.

This should keep you busy for a while.