Trying to keep up with the times

I'm not always the quickest when it comes to keeping abreast of the latest technology, but in the last month or so I've replaced two major pieces of personal use electronics. The first was the purchase of a new HP laptop to take the place of my six year-old Acer 宏碁. Today it was time to finally say goodbye (and good riddance) to our four year-old Pentax ペンタックス. The new kid on the block is a Casio カシオ Z450, for which I paid NT10,000 (¥29,000/$315) at NOVA in T'aichung 台中. The difference in picture quality was immediately apparent. Here is one of the last photos taken by the old Pentax, of my daughter playing a 和太鼓 at her kindergarten this morning (although today was Sunday, the school was holding an event to celebrate its founding):

The first image recorded by the new Casio:

The photo was snapped while driving through downtown Fengyuan 豐原 this evening. The difference in quality between the two cameras is most noticeable with night shots.

I'm looking forward to exploring the possibilities and potential of the new toy, er camera. The first real test will probably come this Tuesday, when I plan to do some walking in Tak'eng 大坑. If the weather cooperates, we'll see what kind of scenic shots the Casio is capable of taking. As for my next high-tech investment, next up will be a decent bike, so I can join the cult of those who go...I mean, get rid of some flab by Cycling in Taiwan.

On a completely unrelated but Taiwan-specific note, there was this short AP item in the Daily Yomiuri ザ・デイリー読売, "New 'strawberry' crab species found off Taiwan":

"A marine biologist says he has discovered a new crab species off the coast of southern Taiwan that looks like a strawberry with small white bumps on its red shell. National Taiwan Ocean University 國立臺灣海洋大學 professor Ho Ping-ho says the crab resembles the species living in the areas around Hawaii, Polynesia and Mauritius. But it has a distinctive clam-shaped shell about 1 inch (2.5 centimeters) wide, making it distinct. Taiwanese crab specialist Wang Chia-hsiang confirmed Ho's finding. Ho said Tuesday his team found two female crabs of the new species last June off the coast of K'enting National Park墾丁國家公園, known for its rich marine life. The crabs died shortly thereafter, possibly because the water in the area was polluted by a cargo ship that ran aground."