When trying to install my Visioneer 9120 Scanner, I got this weird error:

Running Vista, I have installed the Canon provided RAW codec for CR2 format.  It allows you view those files natively. 

I was browsing through a folder of pictures.  I noticed that it got slower and slower as I went through the pages.  Eventually, it gave me an out of memory error.  I didn't have anything else open.  I brought up Task Manager and saw that I had memory left.  I closed the picture viewer and just watched the memory get reclaimed in about 20 seconds.  The total delta there is about 1.5 gig.

I tried to import pictures for the first time in Lightroom on my new Vista machine.

I kept on getting the mysterious:

"Problem with Importing Files - the file was not imported. Could not copy a file to the requested location."

At first I thought it was my card reader.  I got a brand new, built in one.  But I was able to read the files directly.  So I tried copying the files to my desktop and importing them from there.  I got the same error.

I double checked the file permissions of the target and they were all fine.  I also tried not applying any Metadata templates or "Rendering Standard-Sized Previews."   Same result.

Normally, I organize the imported pictures with the following options:

I went ahead and changed to:

surprisingly that worked! However, that is frustrating because I like to auto create a separate folder for each day based upon date taken.

After looking around on Adobe's website, I found the following:

http://www.adobe.com/go/kb401508

If the By Date path you select for your folder in the Import Photos dialog box contains a forward slash, then your photos are not imported.

So it is a Lightroom bug with Vista.  I changed the option to:

That will work fine.  I can then rearrange after import.  I really want an option that makes it YYYY/MM/YYYY-MM-DD/.  For now, I will manually create that structure. 

One thing that is weird:  this is one of the few "template" things that you cannot edit in the application settings folder for Lightroom.

The other day my wife had a tire blowout.  She doesn't think she hit anything.  Nonetheless, it was a loud "explosion."  Fortunately, she was only driving about 40 MPH and could immediately pull over.  As you can see below, a huge 4" gash was in the sidewall.

Last night I ordered a new computer.  I haven't upgraded for several years...it was time.

I ordered it from NewEgg.com and paid for it with Discover Card.  They have this feature called Secured Online Account Numbers.  It is pretty nice.  You log in and get new credit card number for each vendor that you pay online.  That number is only good at the vendor.  I did that last night.  This morning, I tried to use my card and it got rejected/flagged.  I also got an email and phone call from Discover.  I called them up and told them that I really did buy that computer.  Some people might find this annoying or irritating.  I think it is a good service.  I would rather this happened and error on the conservative.