Many of the photos I've taken in low light situations seems to have what looks like red or green dots on them in random locations.  I thought these were "hot pixels" resulting from the longer exposure required for a low light picture.   I also thought this was a sign that my camera's sensor was becoming defective.

After doing a little research, apparently these "hot pixels" are actually "stuck pixels" as found on a Flickr discussion regarding this topic:

Stay away from Pixel Mapping unless you have DEAD or STUCK pixels...

Pixel Mapping is NOT for hot pixels...

DEAD pixels are ones that no longer work, and would result in a black dot at the same spot on ALL images.

STUCK pixels are ones that are stuck on and would result in a colored dot (usually always the same color) in the same spot on ALL images.

Those are the ONLY pixel issues that Pixel Mapping will resolve.

I think I read that Olympus recommended that you DO NOT run pixel mapping to often as it could result in good pixels being mapped as bad, and once a pixel is mapped as bad it is turned off and can not be turned back on (at least not by the user).

I addition to being able to remove "stuck pixels" through pixel mapping, a feature I never used on my camera was the noise reduction.  A F.A.Q. section on the Olympus web site explains how noise reduction works on the E-500 and how to turn it on:

How does the EVOLT E-500 combat noise commonly found at high ISOs?

My online search seems to show that hot pixels and/or stuck pixels are just part of the dSLR world and having a few spots on one's image isn't justification for throwing-out one's camera.  Between using the camera's pixel mapping and noise reduction, or through manual photo processing, the hot pixel issue is one that I have to learn to live with but can fix.

Another cool tip found on the Flickr discussion group was how to get use data out of my camera, such as how my pictures I've taken with it:

Hot pixels is normal on almost every SLR camera and can be removed quite easily.

I would be more concerned with shutter activations because that is a major mechanical part in the camera that can go wrong.

Apparently, Olympus guarantees the E500 for 50,000 shots. I’ve taken 61,565 shots and there is no sign of failure but I’m ready to accept a problem!

If you want to check the usage stats on a E500 follow this procedure…

1. turn the camera on
2. open the memory card door
3. press “play” and “OK” at the same time
4. press the following buttons in the following order - "up" "down" "left" right"
5. fully press the shutter release button
6. press the “up” button
7. press the “right” button – takes you to page 2

On page two you will see…

R: wwwwww – how many times the shutter has fired
S: xxxxxx – how many times the flash has fired (includes hot shoe flash)
M: yyyyyy – number of times mirror lockup has been activated
U: zzzzzz – SSWF count - number of times sensor cleaner has been activated

My E500 says:

R: 061565
S: 014403
M: 000088
U: 008833

If you shoot RAW then isolated pixels aka hot pixels is an easy situation to deal with. Lightroom and Photoshop ACR will automatically remove them for you and other RAW processors will give you an option to remove them.

During the last cold snap, my wife and I were waking-up with sore throats nearly every morning, along with dry skin, static 'shocks', and a constant feeling of being cold even when the heat was set relatively high.   Most of these are symptoms of overly dry air, so I started research humidifiers for our home.   The previous owner had a relatively large, portable unit sitting in the kitchen.   However, I didn't want to go that route for several reason:

• You have to constantly fill the tanks unless you pipe a water feed into the unit.
• You have to constantly adjust the humidity level manually which can be a science in itself (based on outdoor and indoor air temperatures).
• A portable unit won't humidify the air in the whole house.
• The larger portables can be quite a drain on the electric bill.
• Having a big, brown, plastic box sitting in the house is not very attractive!

I decided that a whole-house humidifier was the answer for me.  Of course, that opened-up a whole world of things I didn't know.  For instance, there are several types of whole house humidifiers: by-pass, steam, and forced air (and maybe more.)   Of the 3, the by-pass system is the most common, relatively easy to install, and uses very little power.   By "by-pass", it means that air travels from the return ducts, through the humidifier, and then through the supply ducts.   Basically, the furnace does all the work as the water in the humidifier is evaporated into the air.

Once I decided on a whole home humidifier, the next issue was choosing a brand.   Most big-box retailers seem to carry a Honeywell system and you can purchase an installation kit for an additional $75.   However, the Honeywell system, like most other systems online, require you to manually adjust the humidistat as the weather and relative humidity changes in your house.   That sounds like a pain-in-the-butt to me, so I opted for the Aprilaire 500A unit from FiltersUSA.com. 

Pretty much the only difference between the Aprilaire unit and most other by-pass models is the control unit.   It can read the outdoor temperature and use that to make decisions on how to control the humidity in your home.

Thanks to the forum moderator "Jay" on the DoItYourself.com forums and a rather details blog post, "How to install a whole house humidifier in 10 steps", I pretty much new what to expect with this project and what parts to by.

For the most part, the installation was pretty trouble-free, with one exception.  When I cut the whole for the 6" pipe in the return duct, the center pin on the circle cutting tool I bought started moving and resulted in a whole shaped more like a "9" than a circle.  As a result, I had to put a square patch over the whole and try again.

Rather than use a tin snips for cutting the whole for the humidifier in the supply duct, I used a steel cutting disc with my Dremel tool and that worked great.  The edges weren't sharp and the whole was the perfect size when I got done.

Finding wiring to complete the project was kind of a pain and I just opted for a 50' section of 18 gage / 2 wire thermostat wire.   I used it for everything, including the outside temperature sensor (which I mounted inside the intake PVC piping for my furnace near where it comes into the house.)   Seems that this was the smallest gage wire I could get w/o going into 24 gage data cable.  

One challenge I had was wiring the humidistat.   My Armstrong Air furnace has a control board on it and not being an electrician, I had no idea how to make sure the humidistat stayed on at all times but knew when to humidify the air, and I didn't want to screw-up any of the voltages and blow something up.  After asking a lot of questions, I found that I should wire the 120/24v step-down transformer that came with the humidifier to the connection marked "HUM" on my furnace.   This is apparently a 120v switch that only has power when the furnace is kicking in, which is exactly what the humidistat needs (but at 24 volts).  

To get the 24 volts of constant power for the humidistat, I noticed that there was already a step-down transformer powering the thermostat.   I opted to just piggyback on the "R" and "C" connections for the thermostat, hoping that neither the thermostat nor the humidistat drew too much power to be an issue.  After firing everything up, it all seems to work just fine.   The transformer I installed in in the lower left-hand corner, and the 120 volt wires from it are coming-out from behind the panel at the upper-left (black and white wires... white to the "Common" pin, black to the "HUM" pin).

If I find myself with some more time, I'll post some more detail installation photos.  But for now, he's the final product:

These two terms seem to be getting a lot of use these days, especially in the battle for "gay rights" and "gay marriage".  If you believe that marriage is between a man and a women, just as it's always been, you might have already found yourself being called one of these terms by someone who is apparently not a bigot and is completely tolerant of your views, right?  After all, what sense would it make for someone to call you a bigot or intolerant if that person was every bit as bigoted and intolerant as you?  (Assuming that you actually are either of these things.)

For my own understanding, I looked-up these two terms on Dictionary.com:

big⋅ot⋅ry [big-uh-tree] –noun, plural -ries.
1. stubborn and complete intolerance of any creed, belief, or opinion that differs from one's own.
2. the actions, beliefs, prejudices, etc., of a bigot.

in⋅tol⋅er⋅ance [in-tol-er-uhns] –noun
1. lack of toleration; unwillingness or refusal to tolerate or respect contrary opinions or beliefs, persons of different races or backgrounds, etc.
2. incapacity or indisposition to bear or endure: intolerance to heat. 
3. abnormal sensitivity or allergy to a food, drug, etc.
4. an intolerant act.

Let's say that I chose to call another person "intolerant" or a "bigot".  It's logical to conclude that my justification for doing so is that while I am tolerant of and respect the other person's opinion or beliefs, the other person is not tolerant of or does not respect mine.  My goal of drawing attention to the other person's unacceptable behavior only holds water if I am tolerant and not bigot, otherwise, I'm merely stating that the other person is just as guilty as I am.

For those who are calling people who support traditional marriage "bigots" and "intolerant", I would like to introduce a new word to their vocabulary:

hyp⋅o⋅crite [hip-uh-krit] –noun
1. a person who pretends to have virtues, moral or religious beliefs, principles, etc., that he or she does not actually possess, esp. a person whose actions belie stated beliefs.
2. a person who feigns some desirable or publicly approved attitude, esp. one whose private life, opinions, or statements belie his or her public statements.

After hearing only good things about Robert Lewis's "Men's Fraternity" and the courses that go along with it, I signed-up at my local church to start the first course, "The Quest for Authentic Manhood".

After only going to one session so far, I'm very excited about this course.  Contrary to what many may think, it's not a Bible study for men, although it does contain scriptural references.

So, why on earth would I waste my time taking a course on how to be a man?  Don't men 'just know' how to be men?  Don't I have anything better to do with my time?  I view my time spent in this course as vital to improving myself as a husband, a son, a friend, and someday a father.  The more I watch the news and the more I observe the people around me, it's clear to me that many of today's men don't really know what it takes to be a real man... and our society is paying the price for it. 

The following quotation from John Rankin of the Theological Education Institute does a great job of explaining what I've learned through studying and observing:

"We need first to understand how the world's greatest social evils are rooted in 'the chosen absence of the biological father,' whether physical or emotional in nature. The reality of broken aspirations permeates the full spectrum of human life and history."

"If we listen to the children of divorce, we can trace most pain back to what is, or is at least perceived to be such a chosen absence."

"If we listen to women forced through an abortion by the chauvinism of irresponsible men, we can trace most of the pain back to such a chosen absence."

"If we listen to men and women struggling with issues of homosexual identity or actions, we can trace most of the pain back to such a chosen absence. And likewise for many who struggle with heterosexual promiscuity."

"If we look at the emerging soul-searching pain of the children of donor sperm, such a chosen absence is not only deliberate, but mockingly so for perhaps a pittance of cash."

"If we look at the poverty in the ghettos of the United States, we can note how at least seventy percent of black children grow up in the pain of such a chosen absence."

"If we look at polygamous cultures where sons do not have the chosen full presence of their fathers -- in the midst of the sibling rivalries due to the positioning struggles of rival wives -- then we can understand people like Osama bin Laden."

"Historically, the pain of such a chosen absence, an din a unique way, most deeply affects the Arab and Muslim soul tracing back to Abraham and Hagar. Abraham's absence was chosen yet unchosen -- he chose the folly of breaking his marriage covenant with Sarah, at her initiative, but then to keep his marriage intact, yielded to her war against Hagar and Ishmael; yet he never stopped yearning for his son Ishmael, to be a full father to him, but had no power of choice to make it a reality."

- John Rankin

Spend a little time observing the world around you and I think you, too, will find that we men are dropping-the-ball.   I may not be able to change how men around me behave, what they think, or what they do, but I know I can change me... and the quest has begun.

The American Family Association is presenting a 13 part series television series entitled, "Speechless: Silencing the Christians".   After each show is aired, it will become available online as a web cast.

If you've been wondering why it seems like "right is wrong and wrong is right" in today's society, I highly recommend taking the time to view the episodes (They're really short because there are no commercials in the online versions.) 

My typical New Year's resolution is to never make another New Year's resolution.   This year, I'm breaking that trend a little by making a personal commitment to myself that I don't intend to break.  

For 2008 and beyond, I'd like to make the commitment to become involved in the men's ministry at my church.   My wife and I have been involved in the children's ministry for a couple of years now, and will continue to do so, but I feel it's important that I establish relations with other men who know who #1 is (that would be Jesus, not me.)

Like many guys, I seem to be Ok with being somewhat of a loner most of the time and find that having friends that are only an email, instant message, or forum post away is good enough.   However, 'connecting' through the Internet to 'virtual friends' (even if I do know the people I'm communicating with) is no replacement for real male bonding.

To start in my quest to fulfill my resolution, I'll be attending the 10th Annual Hungry Man's Breakfast on January 19th followed by the No Regrets Conference on February 2nd.   It's going to be awfully hard to give-up my Saturday mornings, the only morning I get to sleep-in, to attend these events, but I feel the 'sacrifice' will be worth it.