Williamo’s Blog.

Canon has released their RAW codec for Windows Vista.  To download it:

• Visit http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=DownloadIndexAct
• Category = “EOS (SLR) Camera Systems”, Product Type = “Digital EOS Cameras” and then choose your camera model from the third dropdown
• Click Go
• Click the “Drivers / Software” link at the top of the page
• Choose the Canon RAW Codec  1.0
• Download and run the executable

The codec will support .CR2 RAW files, but not .CRW files.  It includes support for the following cameras:

• EOS-1Ds Mark II
• EOS-1D Mark III
• EOS-1D Mark II N
• EOS-1D Mark II
• EOS 5D
• EOS 30D
• EOS 20D
• EOS 400D DIGITAL
• EOS DIGITAL REBEL XTi
• EOS Kiss Digital X
• EOS 350D DIGITAL
• EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT
• EOS Kiss Digital N

(via Windows Live Photo & Video Blog)

Hopefully, some of you fellow ASP.NET/C# programmers out there who’ve found this blog while looking for the Visual Studio 2008 post can give me a hand with these issues:

Invalid length for a Base-64 char array.

Error Message:
Invalid length for a Base-64 char array.
ExceptionType:
System.FormatException
Stack Trace:
   at System.Convert.FromBase64String(String s)
   at System.Web.UI.ObjectStateFormatter.Deserialize(String inputString)
   at System.Web.UI.ObjectStateFormatter.System.Web.UI.IStateFormatter.Deserialize(String serializedState)
   at System.Web.UI.Util.DeserializeWithAssert(IStateFormatter formatter, String serializedState)
   at System.Web.UI.HiddenFieldPageStatePersister.Load()

Invalid character in a Base-64 string.

Error Message:
Invalid character in a Base-64 string.
ExceptionType:
System.FormatException
Stack Trace:
   at System.Convert.FromBase64String(String s)
   at System.Web.UI.ObjectStateFormatter.Deserialize(String inputString)
   at System.Web.UI.ObjectStateFormatter.System.Web.UI.IStateFormatter.Deserialize(String serializedState)
   at System.Web.UI.Util.DeserializeWithAssert(IStateFormatter formatter, String serializedState)
   at System.Web.UI.HiddenFieldPageStatePersister.Load()

I’ve been browsing forums and newsgroups most of the day trying to figure out what might be going on with both/either of these errors, but I’ve had no real luck so far. Any help from the community is very much appreciated in regard to this issue.

Thanks!

-Will

I found this on a forum post, and just wanted to verify that this information is correct:

for base64 the valid charset is:
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwx yz0123456789+/
the = is used as filler for the last bytes, as the length must be mulitple
of 3

(via thescripts.com/forum)

The charset looks reasonable, but must the length be a multiple of 3? (Seems like a multiple of 4 would make more sense.)

Comments very much appreciated!

This sounds really cool; one step closer to getting back a fraction of the time wasted by the ridiculous Orwellian security procedures in place at airports around the U.S. =P

First came the kiosk, a strange addition to airport terminals when Continental Airlines began offering it as a check-in option in 1995. It was followed by Web check-in, introduced by Alaska Airlines in 1999.

Now, with 80 percent of passengers using these self-service options, the next step is electronic boarding passes, which essentially turn the hand-held devices and mobile phones of travelers into their boarding passes.

At least half a dozen airlines in the United States currently allow customers to check in using their mobile devices, including American, Continental, Delta, Northwest, Southwest and Alaska.

But so far, Continental is the only carrier in the United States to begin testing the electronic passes, allowing those travelers to pass through security and board the plane without handling a piece of paper. Their boarding pass is an image of an encrypted bar code displayed on the phone’s screen, which can be scanned by gate agents and security personnel.

When using the other airlines’ mobile check-in services, customers still have to print a boarding pass at an airport kiosk, though most carriers are eager to eliminate this step once the Transportation Security Administration gives its approval.

(via New York Times)